How's that resolution to lose weight coming along? Not so good?

It's not surprising.

We get all excited in December to make a change and over the weeks building up to the new year, we come up with a general plan: to eat less, make better choices, exercise more and pick-up better habits.

And that’s the EXACT roadmap to failure!  Why?

Often we're unrealistic with our goals, our goals are unclear and we are unprepared for what it takes and don't have enough support to make the needed changes for the long term.

But it doesn't have to be that way.

Here are 10 ways to get -- and keep -- motivated this year:

1. Track your progress. Celebrate your successes and learn from your slips.

2. Allow yourself to not be perfect.  No one is, so when you miss a work-out or have a fast-food meal, admit the slip to yourself and move on.

3. Remember YOU are YOU.  Not the skinny gal on the treadmill next to you. Focus on YOUR goals at the gym.

4. Get support from anyone who wants to give it to you. Friends, family, a spouse, a personal trainer -- anyone who can help you stay focused and accountable.

5. Split workouts are okay. You don't have to live in the gym to get great benefits from shorter, focused workouts.  Just find a time and place that work for you and get busy.

6. Sugar sucks energy from you -- avoid it. And that includes overdoing carbohydrates like breads, pasta, sweets. When you eat "clean," you'll feel better and have more energy.

persocomholic / veggiefrog / TheKarenD, flickr
persocomholic / veggiefrog / TheKarenD, flickr
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7. Enough with the negativity.  Instead, focus on the opportunities and benefits ahead of you. Reinventing yourself should be exciting.

8. Learn the right way. It's important to be brilliant at the basics. So if that means getting a personal trainer to show you how to exercise correctly, do it.  Or sitting down with a dietician or nutritionalist to come up with a long-term eating program. If you're going to invest the time, effort and money in rebuilding yourself, you deserve to have the right tools for the job.

9. Reward yourself. When you hit a milestone, buy that pair of jeans. Go on that weekend trip. Post some new pictures on Facebook. Celebrate your progress.

10. Adapt. If your program isn't working, be brutally honest with yourself and look at WHY it's not working. Talk to your trainer and your supporters. Look at your activity and eating logs. Then armed with that input, adapt. But keep moving forward.

 


 

JR Burgess is the Fitness Director at Rejuv Medical in Waite Park. He and his staff work with Central Minnesotans every day to reinvent their bodies. Find out more about their weight loss and fitness programs or other wellness programs.

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