Are you a fitness ‘resolutioner’?

They fill the gyms in January, and are the bread-and-butter of fitness centers and weight loss programs worldwide. I’m talking about the new faces the regulars see using their cardio machines and attending their exercise classes. They wear brand new spandex outfits. They are all decked out with FitBits, smartphone armbands, and an unscratched sippy cups.

They dominate our Facebook feeds with announcements of their fitness goals and healthier food choices, sharing articles about the benefits of healthier living, claiming they’ve adopted a new lifestyle or activity plan. Sometimes we know they’re not convincing us any better than they are convincing themselves, but we let it go anyway, giving each post a like here and there, knowing that any motivation is better than none. 

Post-holiday guilt 

I’m talking about the “resolutioners” – those who have resolved to lose weight after the holidays. The Christmas season is packed with unavoidable indulgences – from company parties, family reunions, and all kinds of get-togethers. Even the most fervent dieter finds it difficult to resist all the good food within their reach.

Resolutioners put their money where their mouth is. They pay expensive gym fees and purchase gear and equipment to make them follow through with their commitment. Sometimes they retain costly memberships long after they’ve stopped going, just to make themselves feel they’re still following through with their January promise. 

Sadly, most of the time the gear remains. We all know how many ellipticals, treadmills, and exercise bikes end up as clothes racks. We keep saying, “One day I’ll have the time/energy/patience to exercise,” but we never really do, until the machines break, Spandex outfits lose their elasticity, or we get even heavier to fit in them or even use the equipment for more than a few minutes. By then it’s covered in dust, broken, or buried in a corner somewhere.

A resolution is better than none

Of course, making a conscious statement to ourselves and to others in January is better than not resolving to do anything at all. Sticking to our own promises remains to be another challenge though, and must be accompanied by a firm commitment and a realistic examination of goals. 

Here are some tips to make fitness resolutions last: 

1) Don’t do anything drastic.

Focus on health goals, your self-image and emotional outlook, instead of before and after pictures. Don’t plan on losing 30 pounds in one month!

You don’t need to sign up for a gym until you are certain will use it for the rest of the year. There are many other ways to remain active outside the gym setting. Simple steps such as resolving to use the stairs to and from your office instead of the elevator could jump start your new active lifestyle.

2) Create a plan you can follow, and then keep yourself accountable 

Don’t commit to three-hour daily heavy workouts, or strict juice fasts designed for drastic weight loss. Not only are these dangerous, they also set you up for failure because they are unreasonable and impossible to maintain in the long run.

Create a plan that includes a healthy and nutritious diet. Don’t plan on losing more than five pounds a month. Assign people to call you out when you are falling behind on your promises. There are numerous free fitness apps to track your calorie intake and exercise. Employ social media apps  or websites like FatBet if you really want the pressure of your peers to lose weight. 

3) Don’t beat yourself up. Recognize your triggers, food addictions and bad habits. 

A healthy lifestyle is a state of mind. This means recognizing that we often use food to soothe ourselves when we’re stressed, sad, or bored. By identifying these triggers, and replacing comfort food with better options, we may address the psychological factors that contribute to our bad eating habits. 

Getting enough sleep and minimizing stress levels also help decrease late night cravings and metabolism-slowing cortisol levels from stress that lead to weight gain.

4) Don’t obsess with the number on the scale. Change your lifestyle and weight loss will follow. 

Simply cutting out simple sugars, processed starches, and white grains from your diet may result in an immediate weight loss. Sleeping early to forgo the midnight snack will eliminate up to 500 calories you would have consumed otherwise.

A long walk would result in a burning calories where there would have been a surplus if you spent that hour sitting at your desk.

Record how much better you feel being more active. Enjoy your endorphin high and make your date with your endorphin “dealer” a part of your daily routine. Even if it’s just a walk, a short jog, or taking the stairs instead of the elevator, your body will get used to the benefits of exercise and you might just make it a habit once you get started. 

5) Some fad diets work, but it’s up to you to follow through afterwards.

Some people who have a lot of weight to lose benefit from drastic weight loss because the initial loss is very encouraging and helps them realize what path they want to continue on. 

However, it’s been the case that once the weight has been lost, many people revert to old habits and poor food choices that got them to their bad state in the first place. Any weight loss plan should be accompanied by a lifestyle change that must become permanent in order for the weight to stay off and for the healthy state to continue. Otherwise, lost weight is often gained back (plus a few more pounds), and it gets harder and harder to lose it once one has failed to keep it off.

6) Find fitness friends and activity buddies. 

Let’s face it. Committing to a healthier lifestyle is hard. It’s much easier to not be mindful of one’s eating habits or fitness levels.  Results aren’t immediate, and there are no material rewards other than a better self-image and a healthier body. Friends and family members who think you need to lose weight are the even the first ones to call you a killjoy, obsessive, or pretentious when you are actually motivated to make necessary changes. 

Fitness buddies keep you accountable. They make it harder to skip workout dates if they are waiting for you at the gym. They make it difficult to eat poorly when you have to log your food intake into your daily public record. 

A few years ago, I joined a peer fitness website called PeerTrainer and lost 15 pounds as a result. I found that simply logging your meals and activities with people who have the same goals helps a lot in keeping you on track. Fitness buddies also help give you support on days when your will is not as strong, when you are stuck in an emotional eating cycle, or simply when you need an objective friend outside your regular circles.

Don’t just follow diet rules and exercise schedules. Changing your lifestyle for health reasons removes the focus from food and fitness restrictions and puts the spotlight on how good and fit you feel.

Once you get used to your improved lifestyle and see its benefits, it will no longer be an effort (or even called a lifestyle). It will just be part of who you are, with physical activity and better food choices as part of your daily routine.

This way, the new and healthier you will survive past February and March, and even past 2015, 2016, and beyond. – Rappler.com