5 Ways to Keep Your New Year’s Fitness Resolutions

Do you struggle with New Year’s resolutions every year? Don’t worry you’re not alone. A lot of people who make resolutions for the New Year often don’t end up keeping them for various reasons, whether they’re too hard to maintain, they get distracted, or they just stop caring.

Here are five ways to make and maintain your fitness New Year’s resolutions in 2016.

The new year is seen as a way to start fresh, a way to forget about all of the bad things that may have happened in the last year and leave them behind. Many people use this restart button to give themselves goals. They say “I will buy a house” or “I will lose 30 pounds by July of next year.”

The truth is, most people who make these resolutions never seem to actually keep them. They end up working at it for a month or two, and then suddenly the slump happens and all motivation is lost. Now you’re suddenly down to one workout a week, or your healthy diet has turned into a thing of the past.

It’s a sad truth, how many resolutions are abandoned before the year is even half over. So, how do we prevent this from happening? How do we make sure that you stay on your fitness goals and become strong and confident in a way you always knew you were? Let’s go over The Plan:

Be Realistic

This might be the most important rule we’ll go over today. Remember all of those people I mentioned that stop working towards whatever goal after just a month or two? The reason that they fall off the wagon is because they make goals that are actually too big.

That may seem strange to say, but it’s the truth. When you make a huge goal for yourself like “I will workout for one hour six days a week” you’re setting yourself up for failure.

This sounds harsh, but the truth is that if you aren’t already in the fitness circle in some way, whether through personal training or boot camps, you can’t just jump in 0 to 60. You need to ease yourself in to the fitness circuit. We purposefully make our boot camps 30 minutes long because that’s truly all you need, and as long as you attend a few times a week, then you’ll reach your fitness goal in no time. But you have to ease yourself in, and eventually you may even surpass your original goal.

It’s like someone said to me at my first Fit Body Boot Camp session: “You can’t start at 100%, you need to start at 50% and work your way up, otherwise you’ll burn out.”

Make a Plan

So, now you’ve got your very realistic fitness goal, it’s time to make a plan. When you make yourself a set plan that helps you towards your resolution you set yourself up for success.

Portrait of an athletic girl. Beautiful young sport fitness model getting ready for jogging in city park.

Set small goals. If your big goal is “I want to lose 50 pounds” then you need to know how you’ll get there. Make yourself a smaller goal like “I will attend three boot camp sessions a week.” If you start yourself small you can work up to the bigger things you’re aiming for, and even surpass them in the future.

Now you’re going to make a schedule. Truthfully, when you don’t make a schedule for yourself, you’re more likely to not do anything. Especially with the colder weather coming our way, it’s good to have something solid to work on. If that means setting a phone reminder at noon to say it’s time for squats, then do it! But you need to make a plan in order to keep your eye on the prize.

Get Outside Support

Friends and family can be great motivators for keeping resolutions. When you keep your goals to yourself, you have less risk involved because you’re the only one holding you accountable. The minute you have another person involved they can become a great supporter of everything you’re working for.

Do this: share your resolutions with family members or friends. Maybe ask them to check in on you, or even join you as a way of helping you stay motivated. You may even discover that someone in your life has similar goals as you! This can be a huge help as the two of you keep each other accountable throughout the year.

And, of course, Fit Body Boot Camp trainers are always there to help keep people on track. Whether that means calling you to find out why you’ve skipped the last few sessions, or helping set up a carpool so you’re less likely to skip a session, they want to help you succeed. If you feel as though you have no support in your personal life, the Fit Body Family is here to be that for you.

Reward Yourself

New year's eve fireworksIt is so important to celebrate the small victories. When you reach one of those small goals you set for yourself a reward is definitely in order. Sure, the end reward of a great body that you feel good in is a fantastic one to look forward to, but you don’t want to lose your motivation from lack of incentive in the middle.

Maybe buy yourself a new dress to celebrate losing those five pounds. Or let yourself have a spa day when you’ve consistently worked out four days a week for a month straight. Whatever it is, set yourself a reward to work towards each step of the way, that makes this entire process less of a chore, which keeps you motivated until the end.

Part of our own nutrition plan is that we allow for one cheat day a week, that’s how much we believe in treating yourself once an a while when you’ve been doing a good job. Constant work and no play makes anyone a dull and unhappy person.

Don’t Lose Sight

Now you’ve got all of these tools, it’s time to go an build yourself the future you want. Be realistic, take small steps, and keep your eye on the prize. Soon you’ll be strong and confident in everything you do, and everyone will see the person that you always were.

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Real People With Real Results

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