About this time of the month the resolutions begin to become a bit weaker.
You see, you started out the year with the best intentions, but, it was sooo long ago, and there was sooo much alcohol, and you just thought yes my resolution will be…..
Common resolutions are lose weight, give up smoking, give up alcohol, do a detox, go on a diet, renovate, take up a hobby, study again.
There is nothing wrong with the intent in any of these resolutions, you see they all have a great motivation for doing them, bettering yourself.
But the biggest problem with all of them is that most people don’t know where to start or how big the task actually is.
Believe it or not a year is a long time to sustain any sort of activity, now I know that you might say that the last year has gone by so quickly it couldn’t possibly be that difficult to maintain the pace for that long.
I am going to refer to fitness mainly in this as it is the resolution that I come in contact with the most. But what I am going to convey will relate to just about any resolution or task you set your mind to.
One of the most common ones I see is lose weight, but it seems that with it people tend to start to fall off the bandwagon anywhere from about the 3rd week in January to the 2nd week in February. As with any new activity the first few weeks are the hardest. Your routines have to change, you have to fit in a new activity into your existing lifestyle, or change that lifestyle altogether.
So losing weight is the resolution, but this is flawed. You see the focus is the outcome, not the activity or the process to losing weight. Now if you break that down and set a goal of 30 to 45 mins of physical activity 3 to 5 times a week for the first 6 weeks of the year you will have given yourself the best possible start to actually achieving that resolution of losing weight.
If you have come from a sedentary lifestyle any movement you begin to incorporate into your daily activity is going to result in a loss of kilos. SO that initial 6 week goal will help you to achieve that more long term one. The trick will be to set up a calendar and mark off each day when you achieve the 30 to 45 mins exercise, that way 3 to 5 days a week will become easier, you will have a sense of accomplishment and achievement that you were actually able to complete that small task each day.
And at the end of 6 weeks you will have seen the first shift in the scales, the outcome of losing weight was accomplished by the tasks of getting something done each and every day. It really is that the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. You see when you focus on the factors that make up what you are planning to do then you will get the outcomes you desire. You see if you workout and eat a certain way to look a certain way, then when you get there you will hit what your mind might see as an end point, and then it is very easy to fall back into old habits. If you workout and eat to improve your performance, then your outcome will be that you will not only perform better, but also look different.
Don’t strive for the look or the outcome, strive each day for what you can do now and over a course of time, with consistency the outcome of your resolution will be reached.
About the Author
Jim Ridley is Armidale’s accomplished personal trainer. Having lost over 25 kilos and becoming a PT, Jim knows where you are coming from. He is the owner of Gym Ridz Personal Training and CrossFit Armidale, 2012 Winners of the Health, Beauty and Wellbeing section in the Armidale Chamber of Commerce Business Awards. The only private training studio in Armidale and Armidale’s only CrossFit gym. He is also an avid if not tragic St George Illawarra Dragons fan.