Don't Set a Resolution - Set Intentions! Top 5 tips to stay on track with your health and fitness goals this year

Don't Set a Resolution - Set Intentions

Top 5 Tips to stay on track with your health and fitness goals this year

It's hard to believe that we're already one full week into another year - that we're well on our way to complete another orbit around our Sun. This is always a time for reflection and goal setting. We like to think back to the previous year or maybe even decade...what could we have done better or differently? What was our biggest success? Where is our best opportunity for growth? There are many different aspects of our lives that we can apply this to: spirituality, personal lives and family, our jobs, and the list goes on; however, most people tend to think about their health and fitness goals. Here are the Top 5 Tips in no particular order to stay on track this year, from SOS Fitness: 

1. Find An Accountability Partner: Whenever we face a difficult task in life,  it's always best to have support! We can either find someone who has already accomplished what we're setting out to complete so that they can help to show us the way; or we can find someone who is at the same starting point so that we can figure it out together. This can be a friend, family member or even a new friend who we meet in the gym. You can exercise and meal prep together, share workouts and recipes or simply text each other with motivational memes! We may be bias, but recommend that your accountability partner could be a personal trainer 😉
   
   
2. Set S.M.A.R.T. Goals:  Sometimes when we set goals, they're a little too generic to know whether or not we actually made any progress. For example, if I say that my goal is to "exercise more" and I currently do not exercise at all then technically I could do one single little push-up and claim that I met my goal of exercising more 🤣🤣 So, in order to make a goal more tangible it should be a S.M.A.R.T. Goal. This acronym stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. My generic goal of "exercising more" would then become "I will exercise for at least 20 minutes, 3 days per week, for the next 8 weeks." It's specific, possible, a measurable number of days and duration, and it's a set time period. 
   
   
3. Track Your Actions: I go back and forth in my mind if this should be included in my top 5 or not. The reason it wouldn't be is because it becomes unhealthy for some people to track things because they begin to obsess over every little detail. This group is in the minority, though, so tracking makes the cut! I used to always tell our clients to "track your progress", but I have learned that it's not always easy for people to notice their progress over a short period of time. This is why I like to track actions instead. What changes did you make to or what new things did you try with your exercise and nutrition program this week? Did you hit all 3 of your scheduled workouts or did you have to miss one for some reason? How did this affect your progress? It's also a lot easier for us to see all of the small actions we take begin to add up as we create a new lifestyle 💪💪
   
   
4. Use the Tripod: A stool can't stand without 3 legs. Likewise, your health and fitness needs all 3 pieces to the puzzle: Exercise, Nutrition (including hydration), and Rest. In my experience, you cannot get the full result that you're looking for out of a fitness program without one of these legs to the stool. We need to use and build our muscles to increase our metabolism and keep a strong hormonal balance; and we need cardiovascular workouts for our heart and lung health. Although, it's easy to sabotage both of those aspects of a training routine with poor nutritional choices. Food is meant to be the fuel that our body needs to properly function and recover from all of the activity. And finally, your muscles cannot recover and build back stronger without proper rest. With that being said, I'm going to go take a nap 😴
    
5. Have FUN!: There are not many people who are willing to put in hard work doing something that they don't enjoy. There are so many different ways to exercise that it should be possible for everyone to find something that they think is fun! From traditional weight lifting, to circuit training and HIIT, to outdoors activities, swimming, martial arts, dance, yoga and everything in between - there is not nor should there be a cookie cutter approach to exercise. And remember, exercise should be a celebration of what you CAN do instead of a punishment for what you CAN'T do!! If you're not loving it, try something else. 🥳🥳🥳