How To Keep up Those New Year’s Fitness Resolutions
Now January is underway many of us are taking to the streets once again to try and get back in shape, some of us may have skulked back to the gym with our tails between our legs to see if they’ll take us back .… again.
A lot of people take up fitness as their New Year’s resolution but very few actually manage to keep it up, mostly for the reason they weren’t doing it in the first place: life. Life has a tendency to get in the way of our fitness goals, so what can we do to improve the chances of sticking to our resolutions?
We may have packed on a few pounds over Christmas, and some of us have been packing on pounds for a lot longer than that, so don’t worry if you aren’t seeing results immediately. A lot of people expect weight to simply fall off them in their first week of exercise and become disheartened when it doesn’t. Long-term results are only achieved through small, gradual changes, so set your ultimate goal, and divide it up; want to lose 10 pounds? Aim to lose half a pound a week; Want to run a marathon? Start by running one mile a week.
Weight loss doesn’t have to be three miserable nights a week wheezing round a gym and having a torrid time. Make sure your exercise is something you love doing; you don’t have to be a slave to a treadmill, so take up a Zumba class or try Yoga. A lot of guys who hate exercise will happily chase a ball around a 5-a-side pitch for hours, it’s all about finding the exercise that fits you.
Having a friend or partner to exercise with increases your chances of sticking with it. Not only do you have someone to motivate you, but it makes it more fun. You don’t have to become one of those couples who lives in a gym; simply going for a long walk together on Sunday mornings can help you keep up your fitness goals.
All of those foods that claim to be fat-free, healthy-living foods are full of chemicals designed to do one thing: get you to buy more. They are highly addictive and packed with chemical preservatives. Eat real food and enjoy your exercise – you don’t have to go hungry to be healthy.
Unless you’re taking a boxing class, you don’t need to beat yourself up about missing a day. Life happens, and we all have obligations that pop up that we can’t get out of; kids need driving somewhere, boiler on the fritz, maybe you just want a drink with friends tonight. Don’t ever feel bad about the days when you just can’t face working out. Tomorrow is a new day.
Set yourself some targets. Running events are great to take part in and give you something to train for, and when people have something to look forward to they are more likely to keep their fitness regimes moving, and they are a great way at introducing some healthy competition into your regime too.
And as a Brand Photographer, of course I’m going to tell you to take some before and after photos (including the scales) so that you can remind yourself of how much better you look now :D
