How to achieve your New Year’s Fitness Resolution 2014
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This is a guest blog post from Personal Development Coach and Certified Personal Trainer, Shawn M. Rill.
It’s that time of year again. Everyone has a resolution that they are determined to keep. And with fitness being at the top of most people’s list the gym is going to be pretty crazy. If you are not a member already, you’re probably already looking for the best gym for you to join. And yes, it is going to be packed for the next three months because everyone is doing the same thing. But I’m not here to sell you a gym membership. I’m here to help you achieve your New Year’s fitness resolution once and for all.
A Goal
The first thing to achieving your resolution is to have a specific goal that you personally want to achieve. I know this sounds like common sense but I’ve talked to hundreds of people at my gym and when I ask them what their goals are or why they joined the gym the common response is: “to lose weight” or “to be healthier”. Well what the hell does that mean to you? If you’re talking about losing weight do you want to lose muscle weight, water weight, body fat – what? How much do you want to lose? You want to get back to what you weighed in high school? Okay, great, what was that? And yes, I’m sure you know what you want but when I ask people what their goal is they just have a basic response – to lose weight. So if their response is so simple I guarantee you they do not have a plan to achieving that goal.
A Plan
A plan? I have a plan, join the gym, and go and run on the treadmill. Wrong. Let’s back up and finish defining that goal of yours first, shall we? You want to weight 180 lbs., you are currently 230 lbs., so you would like to lose 50 lbs. of body fat. Great! What is your deadline? You need a specific deadline and I’m about to show you why. Let’s say you want to lose 60 lbs. of body fat and gain 10 lbs. of muscle, so you are going to go from 230 lbs. down to 180 lbs. and be more tone in the process. Now, we’re going to set a deadline of 5 months from now, or mid-May. Pick a date, write it on your calendar. So, to lose 60 lbs. of body fat in 5 months you are going to lose 3 lbs. a week. Now, what are you going to do each week to lose 3 lbs. of body fat? See how we took a very specific goal, gave it a deadline, and then chunked down the goal to manageable, realistic weekly goals? Let’s keep going with that!
Fitness
Each week you are going to do cardio 3 times a week for 45 minutes and weight training 3 times a week. Every month you are going to change the cardio you do (so elliptical month one, then rowing machine month two, then swimming month three, etc.). Every month you are going to change your weight lifting routine (so personal training month one, then stationary machines month two, then cable machines month three, then free weights month four, etc.). Reason being, your body adapts to the stress placed upon it so you need to change your workout every month. Now, you can’t target body fat so stop trying to do 500 sit-ups a day to lose the belly and just do your full body cardio. You can, however, target muscle. If you want stronger legs, do more leg work, etc.
Nutrition
Great, so now you have a plan for fitness. Now, a healthy body is only 20% fitness and 80% nutrition. So, get yourself a nutrition/health coach, such as Lee (insert link here), to create a healthy eating plan for you. You are not going on a diet. You may lose weight during a diet but you’re just going to regain all that weight when you stop the diet. It is not a short term fix. It is a lifestyle change for a healthier, happier, you! So, take one eating habit and upgrade it. Drop one diet soda a day and replace it with water. Shift from three huge meals to 4 or 5 smaller meals. Replace white simple carbs with complex carbs (wheat bread for white, brown rice for white, wheat flour for white, honey for sugar, etc.). And try new things! Try raw food, try vegan food, try coconut or almond milk or soy ice cream or snacking on almonds and dried cranberries instead of Fritos and Hershey products. Every week, replace one eating habit with a healthier version. But do not limit yourself. You don’t want to deny yourself things you like or you’ll reach a breaking point and you’ll just pig out and feel like you failed. Everything in moderation – soy, chocolate, cheese-its, ice cream, wheat – everything in moderation.
Stress Reduction
One of the most commonly overlooked areas of someone’s life and the first thing I always ask people is about rest and rejuvenation. What does that have to do with losing weight you might ask? Well, there’s not room in this article to go into it but there are plenty of studies that correlate high stress and weight gain. Simply, how happy are you with yourself, your body, your day, your life when you are stressed and in a bad mood? Simple, you’re not a happy person. Having a healthier body isn’t just about your physical body, it is also about your emotions, mind, and spirit. As someone asked me recently, what are you doing today to feed your heart? Do you go for a walk with your dog, play with your grandchildren, spend time with family, read a good book, meditate, practice martial arts, get a regular massage, pray, or receive Reiki? What do you do to relax, release your stress, and rejuvenate your body and mind? I teach people how to do this through a technique called Body Awareness. You see, we hold energy in our body when we have a bad encounter with others or the world. When we get upset or mad or judgmental or we feel limited or stuck – we hold that in our body. And the more we hold in the more stress we carry with us, day in and day out. So are you releasing all that stress from work, relationships, family life, society, and daily living?
Shawn is a Personal Development Coach who guides people to make breakthroughs in their lives and reach more of their potential. He utilizes Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Body Awareness to shift that part of them that keeps them stuck or limited from achieving their goals and then empowers them with the tools and strategies to become more successful in their lives. Shawn is a certified Master Life Coach, certified Personal Trainer, certified Life Guard, and Neuro-Linguistic Programming Practitioner, and can be reached at 443-789-2615, Shawn@SMRCoaching.com, www.SMRCoaching.com, Linkedin or Facebook.