The most common New Year’s resolutions are to lose weight, starting exercising and eat healthier. It’s nothing new, every December we tend to overeat and then January hits and the tides turn. We start to see that extra bulge at the waistline and our bodies feel sluggish. So naturally everyone sets a goal of getting fit. In order to make your fitness plan successful, follow these tips.
- Set goals: I’m a goal orientated person. Setting reachable goals will help keep you motivated. Set short term goals and a longer term goal. Make sure it’s something attainable!
- Grab a partner: Find someone to hold you accountable. It is much easier to keep up with exercising if you have someone to keep you motivated. If you can’t find a partner, use one of these fitness apps to keep you on track.
- Start Slow: Don’t put too many restrictions on yourself at once. If you aren’t use to exercising, setting a goal of running five days a week might be toot much. Start with maybe two days of running and walking the alternate days. Same with eating. If you make your diet to strict, you are less likely to stick with it. It’s a balancing act of healthy exercise and eating and rewarding yourself.
- Keep hydrated: An easy way to start cutting weight is to drink water instead of soda. We all know our bodies need water and if your exercising, you really need to keep hydrated.
- Rest days: Remember to factor in rest days. Your body needs recovery time to rebuild muscles. Plus you will prevent injuries with built in rest days.
- Be flexible: If your initial plan is not working, try something different. Maybe you are trying a morning workout but can’t get up in time. Restructure your evenings to allow a nighttime workout.
- Be patient: You didn’t get out of shape overnight and your not going to get in shape overnight. It takes time and commitment to make changes. Hang in there!
- Be creative: If you have a hard time finding time to get a workout in, be creative. Do crunches, pushups and squats while your watching tv. I even do yoga when I watch tv. Walk on your lunch break. Run during your child’s sport practice. There are opportunities during the day, you just have to find them!
- Clear the cupboards: Get the junk out of your house and restock with clean eating food. Junk food is too tempting, so it’s best to just get it out of your house. Once you start eating clean, you will have less junk food cravings.
- Have fun: Yes, you need to have fun! You won’t stick with a program if it’s not fun!
Coming up with a plan before you start a fitness program is essential for success. Spend the next few days getting ready for your fitness challenge you intend to start in January. Remember that it’s not only about weight loss, it’s about getting healthy!
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Renae is a married working mom of two handsome boys. She works as a registered dental hygienist by day and blogs here at How to Have it All by night. She enjoys cooking from scratch, working in her vegetable garden and functional training.
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Awesome post! I stumbled across your blog and agree with everything you said. Most importantly, set goals for yourself and have fun with it! Fitness shouldn’t be a chore, it should be a lifestyle and fun at that. Hope you have a great new year!
John recently posted..Build Mass Gain Muscle
Hi Renae, like many others, I also want to lose more weight and get a leaner body shape by mid of this year. I have gone through your tips and really enjoyed reading them. Being patient is usually a problem to many people, and thanks for outlining that too. It helps me to realize that losing weight isn’t a single day journey. Thanks
Cindy