It’s that time again, when many people start setting aspirational — and eventually fruitless — goals for the New Year. There’s nothing wrong with having ambitions, but the reality is that most New Year’s resolutions fail within just a few months.
It’s not your willpower’s fault — it’s simply a matter of not having a concrete plan in place. Especially when it comes to health and fitness, it can be easy to just give up after a few weeks of aiming for impossible heights. To get your wellness journey off to a better start, one that is more likely to last and achieve results, follow these tips.
1. Rethink the Way You Eat
One of the most immediate changes you can make for your health and fitness lies in your food. People often think they have to cut out red meat, cheese, carbs, sugar, or some other “forbidden” food. Then they inevitably suffer from a feeling of deprivation, struggling to not eat foods they love. A much better approach is to rethink the way you eat. Instead of eliminating entire food groups, categorize your foods into macros and micros and track them.
If you haven’t heard of this concept before, macronutrients are the three primary food groups: fat, protein, and carbohydrates. These foods keep you feeling satiated and energized throughout the day. When your macros are off, you may lack energy or not feel full, so you’ll overeat or reach for junk food. The best approach is to use a macro tracking app to determine which macros you require and how to balance them.
Micronutrients are the essential vitamins and minerals your body needs to stay healthy for the long term. They perform critical functions like fighting disease and keeping your organs healthy and functioning well. You can typically ensure you get your micros by eating a wide variety of plants, whole grains, nuts and seeds, and lean proteins. So when you eat, worry less about what you can’t eat, and focus on what your body needs in terms of macros and micros.
2. Move More No Matter What
It’s not uncommon to set exercise goals and fail at them rather quickly. You might join a gym and stop going within a month or two. Maybe you’ll buy new workout clothes and barely wear them. What’s often happening here is that you’re setting goals that are unachievable for you. You won’t be able to switch from never going to the gym to going at 5 a.m. every day. You won’t suddenly become a yogi because you bought five pairs of yoga pants.
This failure doesn’t mean you’re a failure; rather, it means you set yourself up to fail. Instead of setting such lofty objectives, commit to move more every day no matter what. This commitment could mean something different from one day to the next. What matters most is that you move more than you used to. On slower days, you might take a walk around the block. On more energized days, you could take a spin class or join a pickup basketball game in your neighborhood.
Of course, you’ll want to track your progress, so your goals don’t become the pipe dreams of the past. This tracking could be as low-tech as writing down your movements for the day before going to bed. Or maybe you could invest in a smartwatch that reports your movements to you. Whether you go simple or complex, cheap or expensive, hold yourself accountable to your movement goals.
Engage Others in Your Journey
Finally, a genuinely helpful pathway to health and fitness success is to include others in the journey. It’s one thing to hold yourself accountable. It’s entirely another thing to have someone texting, calling, or knocking on your door. You can start by joining a class offered by your community center and making friends there. Once you find a class you enjoy with people you like, you’ll be more motivated to show up rather than cancel.
Next, you could invite a friend or family member to take walks with you. Engaging someone you already know may even do more than hold you accountable. It will foster the bond between the two of you, which is great for your mental and emotional health. This combination of factors is also more likely to keep you looking forward to the shared activity. Then you may even start thinking of exercise itself as something fun you want to do more.
Another option for enlisting others to hold you accountable is to hire a fitness and/or nutrition coach. These trained experts typically have years of experience working with others. You can count on a coach to encourage you and give you valuable tips and tricks for success. They’ll also help you adjust areas of your diet and exercise that aren’t working. Check online reviews and get recommendations to find the right coach for you.
New Mindset, New Body
Let your health and fitness journey in the new year be one of overhauling old thinking. Make nutritious food and exercise with your friends, and involve your friends and family in your journey. Make your goals incremental and trackable. And stop thinking of these parts of life as rewards and punishments and start thinking of them as elemental aspects of your new lifestyle. This is just who you are now: happy, healthy, and possibly an inspiration to others.