It's January and many people know what that means, it's time to get that gym membership, get new work out clothes, clear the pantry of all that junk food and start fresh. Let's look as some numbers about resolutions:
-45% of Americans make a resolution for the new year
-10% of those who make the resolutions are actually completely successful
-1 in 3 people ditch their goals by the end of January
-66% of all goals are fitness or nutrition related
If you're one of the millions of Americans with a fitness or nutrition goal, I'm here to help you reach that goal and help you change your life. But here are some things you should keep in mind when making your resolutions and setting those goals.
1. Be realistic. You're not going to be losing 5-10 pounds a week, and you may not even see big changes right away. That is perfectly okay. Your goal should be losing between .5-2 lbs a week. That is a safe amount to be losing without hurting your body in the long run. This is equivalent to losing about 10% of your body weight within 1 year. This may not seem like much, but even losing just 10% of your body weight significantly helps your health and adds years back on to your life when you're over-weight to obese.
2. Find and stick to a workout plan. You don't need to spend hundred of dollars a month on personal training sessions to get healthy. You can go online and find any workout that will fit your needs, free or paid for. One of my favorite places to find new workout ideas is on the Women's Health Magazine website ( womenshealthmag.com). They post new workouts and exercises daily that are all free. There are cardio plans, weight training workouts, workouts using just body weight, and even some videos showing you how to do different workouts. They also review workout equipment, like different fitness bands.
If you can't get to the gym on your lunch hour, after work, or, if you're feeling ambitious, before work, trying taking a small walking break every few hours around the office or the building. This gets the blood pumping and your heart rate up to help burn those extra calories. It will even help you be more focused once you sit back down and get back to working. And maybe when you get home find a workout video on tv! Many cable providers have exercise on demand channels that have short 20 minute videos that you could do while dinner is in the oven or before going to bed. The best part, other than not having to leave your house, is that many of them are free too!
3. Take days off. So many people believe that in order for them to be successful with their weight loss and fitness goals think that they must go to the gym every day. That is not true. Your body needs rest days. Don't over work yourself. If you're working out 7 days a week, by the time you get to day 6 and 7, you won't be able to put your all into your workout and get the total benefits!
4. It's okay to treat yourself sometimes. Just because you're on a diet, does not mean that you can't occasionally enjoy a cookie or a small piece of pie. Yes, you shouldn't be having cookies daily or eating pie all the time. But it is important to treat yourself. If you cut all of these foods out of your diet for good, your are not establishing a healthy relationship with food. One cookie, one piece of cake, one piece of pie is not going to kill you. It's important for you to enjoy this stuff sometimes and not be scared of it.
5. Don't completely change your diet. When you drastically change your diet to lose weight, you decrease your chances in becoming successful. If you didn't eat kale beforehand, you're probably not going to want to eat it straight up now. Try taking the recipes you made before your diet and tweak them a little. Use whole grain pasta instead of regular pasta. Whole grain pasta has more protein than the regular, which will keep you fuller, longer which reduces snacking. Substitute leaner cuts of meat for the fatter ones; for example, have chicken breast or turkey instead of chicken thighs. Use romaine lettuce in your salads instead of iceberg, and while you're making that salad, try a vinaigrette instead of using something thick, like a creamy Caesar, ranch or blue cheese. Maybe take out those frozen and canned vegetables for fresh vegetables from the produce section. Cooking Light puts out recipes that are lighter twists on those heavy classics, but they still all taste great!
Keep these tips in mind while your working toward your goal, and you'll start seeing results and feeling better!
-E
