New Year, New Me – Sticking to Your New Years Resolution

New Year, New Me – Sticking to Your New Years Resolution

The fitness industry expects it. Two months of excessively busy gyms, fitness classes and a sharp increase in sales of fitness equipment and diet books. For most it’s a process repeatedly yearly, they start well then fall off the wagon or lose interest. Every year there are some success stories, the New Year worked as the catalyst for them to finally reach their fitness goals, to start living a healthier lifestyle.

I think it’s great that people have that reason to go out and make a positive change. That they can use this time of year as inspiration to go out and try something that is out of their comfort zone. So I’m going to identify some ways that can help you to stick with it, to not become sickened with salads and long runs in the rain.

The first step is to Clearly Identify Your Goals. Write it down, there’s no negotiating with it, there’s no explaining your way out of it. You find your goal and you reach it. Weight loss is the usual one, so I’ll use it as an example. I should clarify that improved fitness isn’t about losing weight, it’s about reducing body fat. The scales are a good (and easy) way to measure initial progress, but further progress should be identified by body fat % reduction. Having your goal as, ‘I want to lose weight’, is not clear enough. Your goals should be S.M.A.R.T (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time Based).  This applies to everything in life, if you want to achieve something then you set small goals that help you/show progress towards your ultimate goal. Applying S.M.A.R.T to the goal, ‘I want to lose weight’ would look like:

Specific: I want to lose weight

Measurable: I want to lose 1 stone

Achievable/Agreed Upon: is it possible for you to lose 1 stone? /If you’re working with a coach do they think it is achievable?

Realistic: Is it realistic for you to be able to lose 1 stone?

Time based: 2 months (My diet plans are usually designed for clients to safely lose 3lbs/week)

This sets out the planning for a short-term goal. I get my clients to identify a short, medium and long term goal. I believe it’s essential for them to write down what they want to achieve. It helps to keep them focused on the goal. Once we’ve achieved one, we move on to the next, or you may identify another goal in the meantime.

Once we’ve identified our goals, it’s time to Plan How We Are Going to Achieve Them. It’s important we pick something that is going to help us on our way, but also something that we enjoy (or like the look of). If you don’t like running, don’t run. Don’t think that losing weight is about doing things you don’t like doing. There’s something out there for everyone. Joining the gym and going to use a treadmill 6 times a week (probably) won’t get you closer to your goals. Look at the internet for inspiration but don’t waste your money on fad fitness things. Check out home training videos, gym videos, look for classes you might like. There’s many, many classes out there. Most fitness classes are based around the concept of interval training, which is the best form of exercise for weight loss. Most classes have pictures, videos and info online. Have a good look and see if it’s something you might like. Talk to the instructors, ask questions and try it out! If you don’t like it, try something else!

Research, train smart not hard(well maybe smart and hard). I once told a potential employer that I was a lazy fitness enthusiast. I said that it meant I always look for the most efficient ways to achieve anything. That being said, when you love doing something, nothing is hard work. Everything you need to know about diet and fitness is online. In fact, there’s too much. You will find disinformation. There’s a simple way to avoid falling into the wrong methods. If you read an article, consider who wrote it and why. If it goes against, what you know to be true, then consider it false. This is the most important part: If it says something that you want to be true, but you know it isn’t, then ignore it. If anyone tells you, you can eat 600g of chocolate a day, as long as you’re drinking a ‘juice based product’, it’s probably BS.

Everything in Moderation, don’t kill yourself off. Train at least 3 times a week, at most 6. But build it up gradually. Ease yourself into it. If you want to see results, I wouldn’t train less than 3 times a week. If you jump right in at 6, then you’re likely to get some sort of injury. Adapt your diet, keep the foods you like but make it healthier. I love cheese, I still eat lots of cheese. It’s about balance, I’ve written several articles about weight loss. Check them out, they’ll tell you what you need to know. Don’t just trade your cereal and take away for 6 salads a day. Adapt your lifestyle. You’re more likely to stick to it if it doesn’t completely sicken you. Also, have a day off each week and eat whatever you want. If you fall off your diet, don’t give up completely, stay as close as you can to it.

Monitor Progress take photos, jump on the scales twice a week. Make sure you’re on track to meet your goals. If you are not, get back to the research stage and tweak your training and diet. Get on the scales even if you know you’re not going to like what they say. Pay attention to your fitness levels, they should improve quickly with regular exercise.

Keep it Fresh to keep constant improvement you have to keep changing it up. When I write programmes I tell clients to stick to them for 3 weeks, diet and training. Once you’ve done a solid 3 weeks, we should see enough progress to mix it up. Your body adapts to certain movements over time and expends less calories in performing them. Keep it guessing, keep it working hard.

I’m in the fitness industry because it’s my passion. I’m not a salesman cashing in.

If you require any help or advice then feel free to contact me at contact@MattRichPT.com.

Or visit www.MattRichPT.com

Also check out my other articles!