Get Back on Track With Your Health and Fitness Goals

Do you have health and fitness resolutions? Are you still keeping up with them? Many of us are consistent to follow through at the start but how about the months after? 

Do you keep your fitness resolutions or does your enthusiasm start to fade? Don’t worry, it’s perfectly normal to lose track of your vision and plan. However, we must not let laziness or negative thoughts of failing get the better of us. 

If you want to learn more about how to stay motivated, read on. 

Why do people struggle with their health and fitness resolutions? 

There are many reasons why people find it challenging to stick with their fitness resolutions. Can you relate with some of these reasons?

They don’t have the time to work on them 

Are you a superman or superwoman trying to juggle work, your family, and some personal time? You’re not alone. For people working from home and at the same time doing chores and helping with homeschooling, finding some time to just slow down and relax must be difficult. 

They did not come up with their resolutions properly 

One of the reasons why people get discouraged early is because their goals are too confusing. It can be that their goal is too broad (“I just want to lose weight!”) or too unrealistic (“I want to look like a teenager again!”) so if you’ve written your resolutions like this, then you may have to reassess them. 

There are no consequences or accountability

Some people would just write down their health or fitness resolutions without any accountability structure in place. What this means is that if they fail to achieve these goals, there would be no consequences. At the same time, no one is checking on them or tracking their progress. This is one of the fastest ways to lose your interest or forget about your fitness resolutions. 

Do you have the right health and fitness resolutions? 

A good resolution starts with evaluating your past year and finding areas for improvement. Have you written down the correct resolutions? Or do you need to reevaluate them? 

Have you gone for a health check? 

To know which areas of your life and health need improvement, you must do a proper and thorough health check. What’s a health check? Well, a health check or a health screening is the process of running tests on an individual who may not be necessarily exhibiting symptoms of diseases. The purpose of health checks is to assess one’s overall health and to catch diseases early. 

Of course, you can do a health check anytime within the year, but doing it in the New Year can also be a good reminder and motivation. This is to set the tone for the rest of the year. For example, if you find out that you have high cholesterol, then you can make changes to your diet and include that as part of your resolutions. 

How do I come up with an achievable health and fitness resolution? 

Coming up with a health plan may require the assistance of professionals such as doctors or nutritionists. This is the case especially for those people who are dealing with serious diseases like heart ailments, obesity, or cholesterol. 

However, if you’re in good shape and may not necessarily need the help of medical professionals, then you can certainly draft a plan on your own. It doesn’t need to be complicated. For example, when setting up goals, you must remember that they should be SMART goals: 

• Specific - If you have a big, overarching goal, then the best way to attain it is to break it down into specific action points. If you want to lose weight, do you have an idea how many pounds you want to lose? 

• Measurable - You have to include measurable amounts or dates when making your goals so that you know exactly if you’re successful or not. For example, you can indicate how many calories you want to take or how many levels your cholesterol to lower. 

• Attainable - Goals have to be achievable. When you’re writing your goals and health plans, you have to be realistic. You don’t want to be setting yourself up for disappointment. Writing something like, “I want to look like Celebrity A” may not be the best way to go about it. Instead, you can write down that you want to be the best version of yourself.
  Relevant - Choosing relevant goals is important to your overall objective. For example, if you want to improve your health, if you choose to include meditation in your resolutions, then it’s still relevant because of the link between mental and physical health. 

• Time-bound - Make sure to include a time frame to complete your goals. Adjusting the deadline for some of your goals may lead to laziness or procrastination so it’s better if you have a definite date in mind. 

On the other hand, if you think you need help with coming up with resolutions and sticking to them, you may need close guidance on the matter. The best way to go about it is by joining a health programme like what we have here at BodySlims. 

How do I keep my resolution to lose weight? 

Now that you’ve written down your resolutions, the challenge is how do you keep it? For example, how do you stick to your weight-loss resolutions?

Here are some tips on how you can keep your health and fitness resolutions:

Write them down

Did you know that there are studies suggesting that by simply writing down your goals, you are 1.2 to 1.4 times more likely to successfully accomplish them? Neuroscientists are saying that this is helpful because of two reasons. The first one is that there is external storage for your goals and plans. If you’ve written them down in a journal, then it would be easy to go back to that journal to review your resolutions, in case you forget them. 

The second reason has to do with how our brain works. There is a process called encoding which is how the things we perceive travel to our brain for analysis and storage. Writing things down improves this process, and in turn, the better the chance for recall.

Track your progress

If you’re not tracking your progress then what’s the point of doing your resolutions? And the good news is that there are apps that can track your progress now. 

There are specific apps that can help you track your weight loss journey or days when you quit vices like smoking. Here at BodySlims, when you join our programmes, you are also given access to our app that helps you track your wins and challenges. 

Create a vision board 

What is a vision board and why do a lot of people swear by them? Simply put, a vision board is a representation of your goals and desired life. People make them by cutting out photos from magazines and posters. They can also contain words or quotes of motivation. 

Vision boards have proven to be helpful especially if you put them in a place you can see everyday. This is because they become constant reminders of things you want to achieve, thus motivating you more. 

Reward yourself

When you are making progress on your resolutions, it’s important to celebrate little wins. You can even break down your goals into weekly or monthly goals. And if you hit that mark, then you can treat yourself to a little something. 

Just make sure that your treat won’t take you a step back in terms of reaching your goals. For example, if you want to lose weight, maybe having a full cake to yourself as a treat isn’t such a good idea. Instead, you can plan a movie night with your family or friends. Or you can buy that bag you’ve been eyeing! 

Get your family and friends involved 

Believe it or not but tracking your New Year health resolutions can be easier if you tell your family and friends about it. They offer moral support and they can also cheer you on when you feel like giving up. With their help, it would also be difficult to get away with “cheat days”. 

Changing your diet, for example, requires an overhaul of what’s in the snack cupboard. When members of your household are aware of your new dietary restrictions, then it would be easier for them to avoid shopping for food that may tempt you to stray from the path. 

Follow the advice of experts 

If you’re not confident enough to create your own resolutions and track them, why not sign up for a programme? With the unique combination of calorie management, daily walking, and with online motivational seminars, BodySlims is here to help you complete your fitness and health resolutions. 

Check out our programmes, which include a calorie-controlled personalised diet plan, weekly support emails, weekly audio coaching, exclusive video content, personal weekly feedback, and more!

There’s no better way to jumpstart your health and fitness journey! Take a look at our success stories and Book now >