New Year’s Resolutions
It’s that time of year again! The time for new beginnings, new goals, a new year.
I’ve always known health and fitness goals were popular New Year resolutions, but after doing some research it surprised me just how popular they are. According to the most recent Forbes Health/OnePoll survey, the top five New Year’s Resolutions for 2024 are:
Improved fitness
Improved finances
Improved mental health
Lose weight
Improved diet
Four of the top five center around health! But crucially, only 20% of people said they believe they can keep themselves accountable to these goals. This is exactly the statistic that I was looking for. I’ve had numerous health related resolutions over the years, and I’m pretty happy to say that I’ve stuck with many of them, but they are tough! Changing habits is a difficult task and all health related changes take time. That said, there are things you can do to help set yourself up for success. Having the proper support system in place is a surefire way to do this, and health coaching is a great option to help you set achievable goals and stick to your plan.
Whether you choose to work with a coach or not, keep these tips in mind for your health related resolutions (really any resolution):
CHANGE TAKES TIME. Be patient and compassionate with yourself. There are no overnight successes in health. Quick fixes in health are often fleeting and unsustainable.
SET REALISTIC GOALS. Unless you have hours and hours every day to train and cook, you aren’t going to look like Thor or Wonder Woman. (I (embarrassingly) know this from experience. I tried to put myself on the Chris Hemsworth workout plan for the movie Thor. Truthfully, the workouts were tough but doable. It was the eating that was ridiculous and unsustainable. Chris would eat 6-10 meals and around 4,000-5,000 calories per day. I neither have the appetite nor bank account for that kind of diet!)
START SMALL. Incremental change is much easier than doing everything at once. Let your successes snowball into the change you want to see. You can always increase the amount of time you workout, the intensity of the workout, your caloric deficit for weight loss, etc. It’s much harder to start with an unrealistic goal that will be too difficult to reach and leave you feeling disappointed and/or lead to self judgement.
FIND WHAT YOU ENJOY. I cannot emphasize this enough. You will never adhere to a plan that you hate, even if it’s “good” for you. I didn’t do cardio for years because I thought that meant running, and I HATE running (future blog post coming discussing why running is the worst). There are other options out there - you need to find what excites you. I’ve rediscovered my childhood love of biking. I cycle 3-4 times a week or basically every other day. My love of “cardio” is now at the point where on my days off I’m disappointed that it’s not a bike day. Find your love and cardio becomes something you look forward to.
BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. You are choosing to get healthy for you. Be your biggest cheerleader and supporter. You deserve it.
Happy New Year Everyone! Let 2024 be a healthy, productive, and prosperous year for us all!
