Achieve Your New Year's Resolution

Many people see the turn of a new year as a time to make a change in their life. Most who make New Year’s resolutions have intentions to work harder, be nicer, or create healthy habits. All in all, it is a high time of positive change. A time where we look at our lives and think that we could do a little better in some way or another. Often, those resolutions revolve around our life choices surrounding our health; creating fitness goals and making choices to lead a healthier lifestyle. Below I’ve included some helpful tips for everyone to follow to help stick to your new year’s resolution.

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1) Pick ONE and make a plan: It is great to have a bountiful list of goals you want to achieve throughout the year however that list can quickly become quite large and daunting. If you find yourself making a list of changes, try picking just one to start with. For example, a common resolution is to ‘lose 10lbs’.  How will you do this? Eat healthy and work out? Try to be specific. If your goal is to lose 10lbs, make smaller tasks that’s you can follow, and figure out what you need to do to actually achieve it.

• Make a lunch instead of buying food (buy groceries on Sunday for the week, prep lunches night before)
• Take the stairs instead of elevator whenever possible (at work, at the doctor’s, at the mall)
• Work out 3-4x a week (see #3-5 for additional tips)
• Go for a walk (same as above)

2) Sticky note it: Write down your resolution, your goal, on a note and post it where you can see it every day. It’s a great reminder to the fabulous change you are about to make. Having a visual reminder and seeing those words on a piece of paper can keep you focused on what it was that you wanted to achieve.

3) Stay motivated: This is likely the most difficult task. As the days pass and regular life resumes after the holiday season we can sometimes lose track of our goal. Get a group of friends together, or even just a partner, who wants to achieve the same thing! It’s great to have a little cheer squad by your side to encourage you to stay on track. If you feel you’re a lone ranger with your resolution, don’t be discouraged! There are always a group of people who are like minded. Search for different groups (running clubs, fitness groups, social organizations) in your community who are looking to achieve the same goals as you. Having someone to talk to about your challenges and your successes is a great way to stay motivated.

4) Keep track: There are a number of ways to do this… marking off days on a calendar or creating a special chart to monitor your progress. Smart watches, health monitors, pedometers or activity trackers can help you keep track of your daily fitness goals. Whatever you choose, make sure that it is something that is easy to access and/or easy to wear. Also, make sure the data is easy to recall and interpret. The numbers you see can either encourage you to put the fire where you need it or to provide some reassurance on the hard work you’re already doing!

5) Most importantly have fun and get excited! If you don’t enjoy the tasks you have to do, you likely won’t continue to work towards your goal.
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All of these tips will help to keep you accountable, decreasing your chance of losing sight of your resolution. Worst case scenario, you do lose track! It’s not the end of the world. The beautiful thing about life is that you don’t need to wait until the end of 2016 to start again J Pick up where you left off, keep trying to meet your goal. A little bit of something is better than a little bit of nothing.
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Happy New Year everyone!

By Jacqueline St. Martin
Registered Physiotherapist