For many people, exercise and nutrition are a hot topic for new years resolutions. We start off strong with good intentions, but can quickly lose sight and fall back into old habits and unhealthy behaviors. How can you avoid this, and get started on a new and healthier lifestyle?<\/p>\n
New habits are not born overnight. Start with small attainable goals, do what you enjoy, share your goals with others who can encourage you, and recognize the small victories along the way!\u00a0Follow these 5 tips from a personal trainer to start strong and finish stronger in 2021:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n As unpopular as it might seem, the truth is, it depends. Every individual is a unique person requiring different frequencies, volume, and intensities to meet them where they are. Fitness should very rarely (if ever) be discussed in absolutes.<\/p>\n Even so, everyone has something to gain from moving and moving often! We often underestimate how much our daily activity (outside of exercise) influences our mood, motor function and of course energy expenditure.<\/p>\n Consider an individual with a daily step goal to lose weight. Say they dedicate 45 minutes to exercise out of the 16 hours (deducting 8 hours of sleep) spent in a waking state. This individual would be better off using the 16 hours to move and meet their daily step goal vs. relying on 3% (45 minutes of 24 Hours) of the day to accomplish this.\u00a0Simply do as much activity as you need to and remember to move daily.<\/p>\n When the areas of our lives aren\u2019t balanced and we\u2019re spending too much time on any one area, we will be left feeling overwhelmed, guilty, frustrated and stuck.<\/p>\n Instead of randomly picking goals to fix current problems, start with a goal-setting strategy that cultivates balance \u2013 intentionally setting goals that design a better experience in every important area of your life.<\/p>\n It is important to share your goals with people in your life. Having the support of others can be both inspiring and encouraging. It is much easier to give up when \u201cself\u201d is the only person you are committed to. You will not want to report to your loved ones that you have given up, and who knows, you may even inspire others to join you on your journey.<\/p>\n Verbal encouragement can be helpful, but it can also be important to set reminders or block off time on your calendar to complete the activities you have in mind. Whether it is 10 minutes a day or 30 minutes a day, something is always better than nothing. Consider adding a motivating quote or image to these reminders for that extra push.<\/p>\n Keep in mind that your goals may shift as your work toward them. Discussing your targets with a fitness professional can be extremely useful as they should be able to advise on progressions and offer relevant advice on how to reach your desired goals safely and effectively.<\/p>\n It can be easy to do or plan for too much when enthusiasm is high in the first few days of setting your goals. Dangers like fatigue, overload, injury, or burn out can put a halt or completely stop your progression toward your goals. Start sensibly and slowly so that you can make desired gains over a consistent course.<\/p>\n To put it simply, adhering 80% of the time (if most of the time) is better than 100% (if only some of the time).<\/p>\n What exactly does this mean? It means, being consistent 80% of the time is better than attempting to be perfect. It means dispelling the common \u2018all or nothing\u2019 approach, giving yourself flexibility while remaining objective enough to see the big picture (long-term goal). Attempting perfection often leads to \u2018yo-yo\u2019 dieting\/exercising because we\u2019ve found ourselves overcommitting too quickly or too soon.<\/p>\n 80% gives us the flexibility to: enjoy a night out with friends or spouse, celebrate a birthday or graduation, or just enjoy a slice of pizza from time to time.<\/p>\n 100% brings us: fear of missing out (FOMO), skipping celebrations all together, and constant stress over temptations surrounding our everyday lives.<\/p>\n When we focus on consistency, we\u2019re able to remain objective enough to see the big picture and get back to our healthy habits the next day. A simple way to apply this is following the \u20184:1\u2019 rule. This simply means that you commit to adhering at a 4:1 ratio.<\/p>\n What would this look like?<\/p>\n For many people, exercise and nutrition are a hot topic for new years resolutions. We start off strong with good intentions, but can quickly lose sight and fall back into old habits and unhealthy behaviors. How can you avoid this, and get started on a new and healthier lifestyle? New habits are not born overnight. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":172,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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