New Year, New Me?

It’s that time again-

Every January, there are sales for fitness equipment and nutrition plans and your local gym is packed out. These fresh, motivated faces are all on board with losing weight, getting fit, and looking their best. What no one talks about is by February, a lot of those people have burned themselves out and there’s no longer a line for the stairmaster.

It’s new year’s resolution time...

which is a Hallmark way of saying it is the time of year where people decide they want lasting change and set goals for themselves for the upcoming 12 months. While goal-setting is never a bad thing, when implemented incorrectly the outcome achieved is not always the outcome desired. When considering resolutions this year, I’d like to challenge you to utilize an altered approach.

Before you can expect yourself to be able to set these reasonable, effective, and goals that create lasting change, you first have to learn how to recognize a reasonable goal versus an unreasonable goal. The idea that a person is going to go to the gym five times a week and count their macros and calories daily is a large feat for someone who is just beginning to incorporate fitness into their life. For the sake of this lesson, that will be identified as our unreasonable goal.

A GOAL...

is most effective when it both achieves the outcome desired and is sustainable to the individual. Consider this exchange vocabulary when deciding on a resolution:

• Instead of focusing on going to the gym or using the phrase working out, try setting the goal of having intentional movement daily. This phrasing encompasses all movement and will encourage consciousness in your activity rather than solely focusing on one action.

• Rather than setting a goal to last an entire year, set small goals to accomplish over the course of a week or for each month. If your goal is to stick to a diet plan, there is the possibility of feeling overwhelmed or like a failure if you stray one day. Changing the mindset to cutting out sodas for a month or eating vegetables with at least two meals a day for a month is easier to chew. This also allows you to slowly incorporate these desired habits in a fashion that allows for some flexibility.

• While physical health is very important, incorporating mental and emotional health into your goals will significantly increase your overall mood and lasting happiness. ALlow yourself to really contemplate meditation, yoga, or mindfulness activities as part of your physical health routine. Practicing 10 mindful minutes a day alongside intentional movement will build on creating practical, long-lasting healthy habits. Below are some great mindfulness apps if you’re uncertain where to begin.