Top 5 Ways to Get Back on Track With Your Fitness Resolution for the New Year!

It’s an all too common situation, every year by February, despite the best of intentions, thousands of folks fall off the wagon! Here are the top 5 things to get you back on it, and maintain that wagon ride all year long:

  1. Hire a personal trainer
  2. Make exercise convenient
  3. Have a plan of action
  4. Ask for support
  5. Keep your mind in check

In this article, we’ll discuss each of these items in detail.

1) Hire a Personal Trainer

Studies show that having a personal trainer greatly increases an individual’s motivation to exercise (McClaran, J Sports Sci Med March 03). Simply having the accountability of a trainer is key in maintaining the focus of your health goals. A huge reason folks do not continue to exercise, is that they are confused and don’t know where to start. It can be overwhelming to pick from the vast array of information on what the perfect workout is. A personal trainer takes the guesswork out of your exercise program. You simply show up and have someone else put you through a personalized, effective workout. It can be hard to maintain an exercise routine if you are not seeing results. A trainer can keep track of various types of data to measure your cardiovascular health, strength, u0026amp; body fat. She can then make adjustments to your routine as needed to ensure that you are meeting your goals. A trainer will help to push you and encourage you to work harder, so that you can work through any plateaus.

 2) Make Exercise Convenient

Time is a commodity we all seem not to have enough of these days! Making your exercise program as convenient as possible is imperative to fitting it into your busy lifestyle. The best way to do this is to have a personal trainer meet you in your own home! Think of how much time you save by not having to spend time getting yourself to look presentable enough to go out to the public gym, and how much time you save by not having to drive there. An in-home personal trainer shows up at your front door and puts you through a perfect workout each time, no matter what your hair, make-up, or clothing looks like! Having a trainer come to you also keeps you on track, as you are much less likely not to choose not to exercise, when you know your trainer is going to show up at your front door! The convenience of not having to go out to a gym in order to fit your exercise into your daily routine, is one of the best ways to keep you motivated!

 3) Have a Plan of Action

Knowing the outcome you want to achieve through your exercise program, and planning out the steps to achieve it, will go a long way in keeping you motivated to stick with it. An underutilized technique for this is to work backwards. Decide what your 6 month goal is, and work backwards in the steps necessary to achieve it. For instance, if your goal is to lose 40 lbs in 6 months (1.5 lbs/week), your goal by 5 months out is a loss of 33.5, at 4 months a loss of 27….and so on. Think about the specific things you will need to do to lose 40 lbs. In 6 months. Perhaps you will need to walk 5 days a week, lift weights 3 days a week, and get on a reasonable eating plan. When you work backwards each month, and then each week, by the time you get to Week 1 in your plan, you will have a more detailed direction of what you need to do to accomplish your goal. Perhaps you decide that in order to lose 40 lbs in 6 months, in week 1 you will need to buy new tennis shoes, and research a personal trainer. By week 2 you will need to go through your pantry and rid it of junk food, and outline a plan for healthier eating, etc. Having these step by step goals will feel good, and help you maintain momentum and direction.

4) Ask for Support

Too often, we feel we have to go it alone. We absolutely need the support and encouragement of our close family members and friends if we are going to be able to stay on track with a healthy lifestyle. Have a family meeting to sit down and talk about what you plan to accomplish, and what it will entail. Ask your family to support you in your efforts, and give them specific ways they can help. Perhaps your husband can decide to eat a healthier diet with you. Maybe an older child can watch a younger one while you go out for a brisk walk. Perhaps your best friend can help you research new healthy recipes to try. Too often, our spouses and friends sabotage our efforts because they can see that it’s hard and takes more effort. They want to help you relax and have fun instead, but what you need to make clear from the outset is that what you need most from them is to help you stay on track.

5) Keep Your Mind in Check

Adopting a new lifestyle can sometimes be very challenging. It is helpful to remember that our emotions and mental attitude play a key role in helping us to achieve, or not, these sometimes difficult changes. Keeping mindful of your thoughts, and the role they play in your success, is essential. Edgar Cayce said, “For what we think and what we eat, combined together, make what we are–physically and mentally.” So for instance, if your goal is to lose weight, it’s helpful to practice feeling thin – and getting happy about it! You can take time to write down a scenario where you play the starring role and everyone sees and comments on how great you look. Writing it down and reading it each day, will help you get in that “feel good” space. Then you can remember this feeling as you go about the day – feeling as if you have already reached your outcome of 40 lbs of weight loss. And if you’re open to it, hypnotherapy can be a powerful aid for motivation. Hypnosis works with your subconscious mind to change behavior and emotions. So if your willpower isn’t enough to keep you motivated to exercise and make healthy eating choices, hypnosis can help!

Summary

Don’t despair if you’ve fallen off the wagon with your New Year’s Resolution. There is still a lot of time before warm weather hits! Call a personal trainer today to help you stay on track with a convenient plan of action, that will give you the physical and mental support you need for lasting change!

For a free personal training consultation with Amanda’s Fitness in Greenville, South Carolina, contact Amanda Holt today! Simply click on the Free Consultation tab below!