Once again another year has passed, and once again a bit more weight has been gained…sigh! And new years is fast approaching, so instead of making the usual annual commitment to weight loss and then flaking after week or two, try our top tips on getting and staying fit for 2018:
One: Think SMART (smart, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely)
– Smart – plan this journey out, you need to have specific goals to achieve, so spend some time and do your homework. Even if you have to go to a trainer or a dietician, you need to figure out what will work for your body and implement it
– Measurable – ensure you monitor your results; sometimes motivation can be lost when the scale goes up instead of down. But often muscles can cause you to become heavier, but if you monitor your measurements you will see the results more clearly.
– Achievable – Do not fool yourself into believing you can get fit or loose 20kgs in two weeks, when you have done your proper research you will be able to implement a fitness program that will be achievable for you. do not sabotage yourself with extreme unreachable soul destroying goals
– Relevant – ok so you want to run a marathon next year June, that’s a great goal. But do not train like your planning on beating the professionals and are going to win this your first ever marathon after spending their last 4 years playing real money slots on your couch. So unless you have decided to become a professional athlete, make goals that suit you and your lifestyle.
– Timely – be reasonable about the time it will take to achieve your goal. For example – I would like to run a marathon in 3hrs in June next year. Is this a reasonable goal? No, average amateur runners take between 4 to 5 hours to run a marathon, so if you attempt to push yourself into running it n three hours – you will damage yourself (and also not succeed)
Two: Diet
Once you have set up your SMART goals and are ready to begin, do not forget your diet:
– remember the 80/20 rule, 80% of fitness depends on your diet. So if you are eating 80% junk and exercising 6 days a week, you can expect t have some very poor fitness results. You cannot exercise enough to day to make up for that cheeseburger and fries!
– If you do see a dietician, implement their recommendations and stay on it! If you fall off the diet wagon occasionally, do not quit, carry on do some extra crunches, skip for ten minutes – you got this!
– Find food replacements – cauliflower instead of rice, zoodle noodles instead of pasta, butternut fries instead of potato fries. The options these days are just as tasty as the originals, so do your research and find what you like.
Three: Exercise
You do not have to jog or run or do aerobics or swim or any other type of exercise that makes you want to die (and quit). The options for exercise are varied, so if you ate running try weightlifting or swimming.
For myself, after a stressful day at work I really seem to enjoy punching – so my speed MMA box class is perfect for me. Find your favourite exercise (or exercises) ad work on them.
