Staying on Track With your Fitness Goals

The first month of the new year is almost over.  January is the most
popular month for new gym memberships.  Throughout January, it’s
difficult to find a parking spot at most gyms.  However, after the
first week of February, many people stop going to the gym.  Many
people create resolutions to begin the new year in a positive
direction.  One of the most popular resolutions made is to be
healthier.  We resolve to make better eating choices and to be more
active.  While we have the best of intentions, sadly, most of these
resolutions go unfulfilled.

Making a resolution is similar to setting a goal.  A big reason why
resolutions aren’t achieved is we fail to plan properly.  Here are
some tips to stay on track of your fitness and health goals.

1)  Goals must be reasonable and attainable.  A good idea to avoid
frustration is to set several small goals.  Focus on achieving small
amounts in a short time frame.  Instead of setting a goal of losing 40
pounds, set a goal of 1-2 pounds per week.  This seems much more
attainable.  Achieving this will add up to 8-10 pounds per month.  The
smaller number doesn’t seem so unrealistic.

2)  Write your goals down.  Setting goals is the easy part; putting
the work in to attain those goals is the hard part.  By keeping
written goals visible, we are constantly reminded of our aim.
Successful people not only keep their written goals in sight, they,
also, broadcast them.  They announce to everyone what their goals are.
 This is a key to staying focused and motivated to succeed.  Making
your goals a priority will help you put forth the effort to succeed.

3)  Evaluate your goals every month.  By continuously updating our
goals, we are able to stay focused on our results.  It helps us not to
become complacent and bored.

4)  Don’t let poor results get you down.  Let it inspire you to
honestly assess why it happened.  What part of the plan was not
implemented properly?  After figuring out the cause, we then can
create a new plan to inspire us to achieve the results we want.
Failure, like success, is temporary.

Visualizing were we want to be motivates us to stay on the right path.
 Studies show that it takes about 30 days of consistent behavior to
creat a habit.  Use those 30 days to change your life!!!