4 Ways to Make Your Fitness Resolutions Stick

A new year usually brings with it a strong fire to drive change in our lives, especially when it comes to health and fitness. Unfortunately for most, that flame is out before the end of February leaving us with a pile of frustration, disappointment and self-doubt. Here are 4 ways to maintain your “start of the new year fire” to stay on a path to keeping your fitness resolutions.

Partner In Your Commitment
If you have a friend who is interested in making a similar change to their lifestyle, invite them to join you on the transformation journey. When you lose momentum, the support and encouragement from someone else can go a long way. And when you announce your resolution to someone, there’s a factor of accountability that makes is less convenient for you to give in when the going gets tough – and make no mistake there will be times when it gets tough. So find a buddy for support!

DO NOT equate stumbling with failing
Lose the mindset that the moment you miss two days of exercise or eat something you know you shouldn’t or experience a slight injury, it means you’ve failed and it’s okay to give up. Just like a baby learning to walk, recognize that there will be instances where you fall or stumble. It’s part of the process – just get back up and keep trying! Rest assured, persistence is part of your nature – otherwise you’d still be crawling. Remember, it’s a given obstacles will come up – motivational plateaus, self-doubt, scheduling challenges, etc. Whatever the road block, just work around it and keep pushing forward. Small change requires little effort – significant change requires significant effort.

Exercise Isn’t Complicated
Fitness is about activity, not equipment. You can start exercising the moment you make that commitment without the need for special equipment or a gym membership. If you choose activity over sitting on a couch there are an infinite number of ways to break a sweat with just your body:
– Go for a walk or a run…yes, even in the winter.
– Do a low intensity workout combining squats, lunges, push-ups and stretching.
– Step-up to a high intensity workout with a few sets of burpees, supermans, dips, planks and jumping lunges.
Want more ideas? Google “exercise without equipment” – the options are endless.

Pick The Right Friends
If you know someone who lives the kind of healthy lifestyle that you are aspiring to, then find a way to spend more time with them. Also, make a note of the friend(s) you have that live a less than healthy lifestyle and spend less time with them – or more drastically, LOSE THEM AS FRIENDS. You become like the 5 people you spend the most time with – SO CHOOSE CAREFULLY!

Good luck on your journey – success is yours for the taking!