One way for gentle readers to guarantee followthrough on New Year’s resolutions is to make no resolutions. (Not recommended). One way to greatly increase the likelihood of followthrough is to follow these five tips from Jay Blahnik, fitness adviser for the L.A. Times:
1. Buy your gear now. Make a list and carry it with you, so you can pick up these items
while holiday shopping. When Jan. 1 rolls around, you’ll have everything you need to get
started without delay.
2. Set your goals. Start by making a list of your yearly exercise goals,
and then break them into smaller, easier-to-achieve quarterly goals.
3. Lock in a workout buddy. Spend some time during the holidays talking
with friends about your exercise goals, and see if one of them will
commit to exercising with you in the coming year.
4. Share your goals. Tell your intentions to trusted family, friends and
co-workers. This will increase your accountability and adherence,
and it may encourage those close to you to increase their activity
level too.
5. Enjoy the holidays, but get psyched up! Slowly begin making changes in
your daily and weekly schedule to accommodate your new exercise
intentions in the coming year. The last month of the year is a perfect
time to mentally prepare yourself and establish a positive attitude
about reaching your goals.
Make a short term commitment first, but make it big. Join a gym, find a trainer, and commit to that trainer three days a week for four weeks. Its is expensive, but there is no investment more fulfilling or that gives you such return.
On the days you are not training, do cardio, ellipticals are great when you start. 30 minutes is fine, try to burn at least 400 calories.
Watch what you eat and when you eat it. You don’t need to starve yourself, but don’t eat a big meal before bed time. Time a meal for within 1 hour of your exercise.
At the end of four weeks, you will notice substantial improvement in how you feel. You might not lose a lot of weight at first, but just focus on how you feel. You will feel your body changing; your clothes will start to fit differently. You won’t want to lose it; you will want to keep going.
I did this at age 45, at 5’10” and 233lbs with a 40″ waist, it was not pretty. At 48 I am 200lbs (and happy to be there), with a 34 inch waist. Train three days a week (only once with a trainer) cardio on all days (somme of which is no more than hiking with the dog) and have never felt better. If you start, and start big, you will not want to stop. Get invested.