| How
to Renew that New Year’s Resolution
New
Year’s Resolutions are behind us and most resolutions have
been broken or forgotten. Are you one of the millions of Americans
who made New Year’s Resolutions this year? The top resolutions
are: 1. Lose weight. 2. Start exercising. 3. Eat healthier.
Back in 1993 when I worked in a health club in Bellevue as a Personal
Trainer the management decided to do a study on how many new members
continued to use the club just three months after they signed up
in January. Only about 20% remained: that’s 80% gone! They
found that the majority of members who stayed had hired Personal
Trainers for direction and motivation.
Studies have show that for those
who didn’t join a gym and thought they would exercise and
lose weight on their own there is even a higher failure rate.
“Exercise itself isn’t
Rocket Science” says Pete Cohen, a health and wellbeing coach
trained in human psychology and behavior. “It’s getting
people to enjoy it and stick with it in the long term that’s
the real challenge”.
From the very moment you think
to yourself, “I’ve tried this before and it didn’t
work”, you’ve created a self-fulfilling prophecy: it’s
not going to work. You need to change your thinking so you can become
someone who no longer hates exercise.
From
the time I was 12 until I was 28 I started “diets” to
lose weight. I must have lost 30 pounds at least three times, only
to fail in a short period of time. After some extreme stress in
my life and weighing in at 183, I remember thinking “That’s
it! I’m going to lose this weight and keep it off!”
I joined a gym that day and started working out. What made this
time different was only my determination not to give up. I met other
people in aerobics classes and soon had the support I needed to
show up. I learned that I not only needed to do aerobic activity,
but I also needed to build muscle. The more I worked out the better
I felt and the more my diet changed to healthy eating. I now eat
well simply because it makes me feel better.
Enough about me. What about
you?
Setting goals is very important.
Instead of setting a goal like “I am going to be more fit”
or I am going to lose weight”, be more specific. What makes
a good goal? “One that’s challenging but achievable”
says mental performance and life style coach Midge Thompson. Write
your goals down on paper and make sure your words-especially the
verbs, are positive. Set ‘towards’ not ‘away’
from your goals. Instead of “I want to lose weight”,
say “I want to achieve my ideal weight”. That way you
aren’t losing anything as your mind sees losing as a negative.
Losing weight sounds punitive and is all about negative connotations
and emotions. “Achieving” and “ideal” carry
much more positive associations.
The real goal is to make regular
exercise a habit. If you can manage to get through the first few
weeks of exercise you’ll begin to develop the neurological
pathways to make exercise feel normal. Experts estimate that if
you can sustain the habit for 21 days, it will become routine. That
is the ultimate goal.
To start, find an activity you
enjoy. I have clients who ask me “What aerobic activity is
the best one for me?” I always tell them to do whatever they
enjoy. If it’s walking, then get outside and walk briskly
for 30 minutes. If the weather is bad come inside and use a treadmill.
The most important thing is just showing up! When I was getting
started, I used to take my kids when they were one and three to
the high school track when school wasn’t in session. My 3
year old would ride his big wheel while I pushed the stroller with
my one year old. We all had a good time.
If you like to swim, get a
schedule and go to the Bainbridge Aquatic Center. Do you know that
one pool is much warmer than the other? If jumping into cold water
is unappealing, you can choose Nakata instead of Ray Williamson.
Check the schedule online at www.biparks.org/pool/pool_hours.html
to be sure you won’t be disappointed. Write it on your calendar
and stick to it. There are loads of “drop-in” classes
where you can meet other people on the same path. It’s great
support and it’s fun!
Try to do 30 to 60 minutes
of aerobic exercise most days of the week and 2 to 3 days of strength
training each week. Make sure you have 1-2 days rest between lifting
sessions. Your body needs the rest and will use the time to recover
and build stronger muscles.
Losing weight is simply calories
in and calories burned. We know how we take calories in: we eat.
Calories out are burned not just through exercise but also by muscle
mass. This means the more muscle you have, the more calories burned
at rest. You get a “two-fer”. Not only will your body
look more toned and firm, but you’ll continue to burn more
calories all day regardless of your activity level! Can’t
beat that!
~Cindy
Lovell- Certified Personal Trainer
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