Every year, millions of Americans start the year off by making resolutions to better their health and increase their fitness levels. As many as 92% of them actually fail. While there is nothing inherently wrong with making New Year's Resolutions, there may be a number of reasons why it isn't exactly the best way to get a fitness journey started off right. The truth is, the best time to start a fitness journey is today. Here are 5 steps to getting your fitness journey started off right - and how to keep it going.
1. Set measurable and achievable goals
The funny thing about weight loss is that you actually have far less control over your weight than you think you do. What you do have control over are your exercise and eating habits. This is why setting weight loss goals is actually a bad idea. What is a much better idea is setting goals that improve your overall health, that can also lead to weight loss. Some examples of this might be to set a goal to walk 20 minutes per day or stop drinking soda. Both of these will have a significant impact on your health and both can lead to weight loss.
The other critical factor is setting goals that are both measurable and achievable. In other words, you want to set yourself up for success, not failure. There is nothing wrong with having a goal of running a marathon, but setting a goal to run a marathon in 6 months when you haven't run in years is just setting yourself up for failure. If you want to run a marathon and are in fairly decent shape, then a better goal would be to give yourself 6 months to run a 5K, then another 3 months to run a 10K, a year to run a half-marathon and 18 months to run a full one. It is far better to take longer than you would like to achieve your goals and make sure you get there than to set your goals so high you simply quit rather than achieving them.
2. Start today
Another problem with New Year's Resolutions is that people often set them in advance, but then procrastinate on actually getting started. One of the very best ways to start any journey towards change is to start immediately. As the old saying goes, the longest journey begins with a single step. Another problem with New Year's Resolutions is that they tend to be large, grandiose plans that are meant to be accomplished over the course of a year. Long journeys are only accomplished through the act of taking several thousand steps, but each of those steps can seem small and insignificant in comparison to the length of the journey. So don't start off with the long journey in mind, just think of the single step you can take today and take it. When you start to achieve forward progress, you gain momentum. When you gain momentum, you can start to set larger or more long-term goals. For today, however, set a measurable and achievable goal for today and do it.
3. Find something you love to do and do it
If you are not fit or in shape, the likelihood is, you have never found a fitness activity you truly love. Some people may think they love running, but the truth is running may have at one time simply been a convenient way to stay in shape, but you probably didn't love it or you would probably still be doing it. Most people who are fit or in shape have found something they love to do. They don't do it because it keeps them fit or in shape, they do it because they love to do it and it, in turn, keeps them fit and in shape.
The best thing to do to find this thing is to try several different things. The likelihood is, the thing you love is something you've never tried or you would have found it already. In addition, the thing you love most may actually turn out to be something you have specifically avoided in the past. Weightlifting can be a great way to get in shape, but it is something a lot of women specifically avoid. Yoga can also be a great way to get in shape, but might be something many men avoid. Try and get out of the mindset that there are "good" and "bad" fitness activities and just give them all a try until you find one you love.
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