It’s that time of year again.  The holidays are here and we’re all going to do our best to have a good time and celebrate with friends and family.  Then we will get into the New Year and see the consequences of our celebrating.  We then resolve ourselves to fix it and create our “New Year’s resolutions” to get fit, slim down, or just get healthier.

I’m talking to you now to help you succeed in the future.  You see, in order to succeed, you have to set yourself up for success.  That means you have to prepare.  So many people completely miss their New Year goals simply because they go into it almost on a whim and don’t put in any preparation.  So How do we prepare for a New Year’s resolution?

The first step is to think about your goal.  Yes, figure out your goal before it’s time to work towards it.  Make the goal realistic but challenging and set smaller goals to hit along the way.  Every little success is going to help motivate you on to the next step and the ultimate big end goal.

Now that you have the goal in mind, think about what it is going to take to get there.  Put some research into the methods you are considering and don’t just jump on the next big trend.  Put a plan together that includes a scheduled routine.  Creating good routines greatly increase your odds of success.

The last part of preparation is practice.  Yes, you are going to practice changing some habits now so that when you mess up, or “fall off the wagon” right now, you don’t have to be discouraged and give up on your goal.  It was just practice!  Practice now also helps you refine the plan and routine that you are going to put in place once the New Year starts.  It will also give you a jump start on that goal.  So what do we practice now?

Since we are talking about health and fitness related goals here is 4 simple things you can do now to get in the practice of a healthier lifestyle:

  1.  Start drinking more water – start increasing your water intake a little bit now.  Then when you start really working on your goals, higher water intake won’t be so foreign to you.  Drinking a half gallon to a gallon of water a day can have dramatic health benefits for most people because they don’t get near enough water intake.
  2.  Stop negative self talk – Be nice and compliment yourself.  You get what you focus on.  Tell yourself about your positive attributes and where you are going.  Forget about the negatives that you are planning to leave in the past.  How you feel plays a great part in your ability to hit your goals and you have the greatest influence on how you feel.
  3.  Cut out Perfectionism – Working towards goals is great!  Shooting for perfection is unrealistic and can discourage you very easily.  We are all human and have flaws.  Know what you can accomplish and work towards that.
  4.  Eating better – Now don’t tune out here.  I’m not talking about eating clean.  We’re in the height of the holidays and I get it.  Eat whatever you want.  Yeah, I just said that.  Pay attention to your portion size though.  Eat more meals but less at each meal.  So when you sit down for that holiday meal, have just 1 plate.  Then a few hours later go get your seconds.  Spacing out your food intake will boost your metabolism and leave you more able to be active after your meals.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year from all of us at Priority 1 Fitness!

Remember, if your plan requires new equipment to help you meet your goals, come see us and let us help you “Do it Right!”