Happy New Year!
The last few years have been a hot mess. 2023 is the year that we are finally getting back to normal. Back to work, school, travel, and.. our favourite, back to fitness!
With the New Year comes that familiar feeling of a fresh start, new pathways, and the ever-popular New Year’s resolutions. New Year’s resolutions don’t often last – Sadly, by the end of January, about one-third of people will have already given up on their resolutions, and by July, that jumps to half. People fail because they lack motivation and willpower, and when temptations and challenges arise, they quit.
If the last few years have been a bit of a write-off, we want to help you make 2023 YOUR year to achieve your health and fitness goals – here are our top 9 tips to help you do it!
1. Make a resolution
Simply MAKING a resolution (in other words, setting a goal) increases your chance of success compared to someone who did NOT put a resolution/goal.
2. Make it a SMART goal
A good goal needs to be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant/Realistic, and Time-bound. Something vague like “get fit” or “get healthy” is almost guaranteed failure. Make sure it’s very Specific – “I want to lose weight”. Measurable “I want to lose 10kg” must be realistic and attainable (not 10kg in a week). Then Time-bound – “I want to lose 10kg by July”. Now you have a real target to shoot for.
3. Make it tangible
You can commit to your goal by making it tangible and writing it down, sharing it with a friend/family member, or posting it on social media. By making your goal tangible and making others aware of it, you give yourself more accountability to stick with it.
4. Make a plan
A Goal without a plan is just a dream, just like if you plan a road trip, you need to map out exactly what you’re going to do each day to get you towards your end destination. If you start driving randomly, it would be doubtful you would end up at your chosen destination. Fitness is the same. If you start exercising randomly, who knows if you achieve your goal – you need to train with a purpose. Setting many short-term goals and steps to achieve your ultimate goal is crucial to success!
5. Be accountable to someone
Whether it’s a workout buddy, an app on your phone, or a real-life Personal Trainer, having someone or something you’re accountable to will make it easier to stay on track regularly. If there is a financial penalty for failing, you’re even MORE likely to succeed. The success rate for people who ONLY set a goal is about 29%; it rises to 59% when there’s a person to who they are accountable and rises again to 71.5% when there’s money at stake. When a contract includes a person for accountability AND financial stakes (like working with a Fitness Enhancement Personal Trainer), the success rate is nearly 80%.
6. Measure and Track your progress
It’s essential that you know where you are starting to measure your progress. If your goal is weight loss, you need to know your starting weight. If you have a performance goal, like a number of push-ups, you need to know how many you can do now! And if you want to change the way you look, it’s a good idea to take pictures and girth measurements to see changes as they happen. It’s a good idea to re-evaluate every 6-8 weeks.
7. Make it part of your lifestyle
If you want to maintain your results, health and fitness must be a way of life. If you can’t fit your nutrition and exercise routine into your daily work and family life, it will not work in the long term. Start small, focus on just one or two small changes at a time, and once they have become a part of your weekly routine, you can look at changing something else. It has to be sustainable for the long term. Short-term programs give you short-term results, and then you’ll go right t back to where you started.
8. Don’t be discouraged
Remember that changes don’t happen overnight, and habits develop with lots of repetition, so you need to be patient with yourself. You will have hard days and weeks, and you might slip up, make mistakes, and even feel like quitting. Stay focused on the end goal, and don’t give up! Even a short workout is better than no workout. If you fall off the wagon, jump right back on – if it were easy, everyone would be doing it.
9. Strike while the iron is hot
Whatever your goal is, today is the day, and the time is now! Please don’t put it off until the kids are back at school, the holidays are over, or whatever the next thing you’re waiting on is. Take the first step, write down your goal, and recruit a workout buddy. Or, if you want the help of a Personal Trainer, give us a call! Make 2023 your year!
