4 Tips To Stay Committed With Your New Year Fitness Goals

“It’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you are not. “ - Basquiat 

Did you start the year motivated to become a better version of yourself, and you are already failing to stay committed one week into the new year? This set back does not define who you are or what you are able to do this year. 

I'm a corporate change manager and entrepreneur, founder of StepsDirect, and I've lost 35+ pounds by sticking to these four principles in my life. 

The one thing in common that all of these principles have is that they encourage you to minimize the amount of decisions in your day and actually simplify the process of making the right decision in the most basic areas of your life. 

1. Commit and Prepare What You Need The Night Before

This is important. Whether you are going to workout in the morning or afternoon, choosing what you are going to wear and eat before the gym can be the biggest mental burden to making it to the gym. You are probably thinking that you will need at least two hours before or after work in order to make it work because of all the logistics. When in fact, you can probably make it work if you just plan ahead. 

Call to Action: Make the commitment that you are going from the night before. Select a time where interruptions or family activities are going to be rare. Pack a bag with your outfit (even if you are changing at home), toiletries, snacks, meals, and everything else you will need before and after your workout. 

I personally go at 5am to the gym, so I like to prepare the outfit, pre-workout and fruit I will eat the night before. I even prepare which warm up video I want to start my workout with. This makes my life at 4:30am a lot easier! I don't have to think about anything, except getting myself out of the door and into the gym. 

My husband prepares his lunch bag, protein shake and toiletries since in order to make that time work, he has to shower at the gym and go straight to work. 

Do whatever works for you, but make the commitment the night before and prepare accordingly, so it is harder to cancel on yourself. 

2. Multi-Task During Your Workout, Enjoy by Association 

If you associate working out with pain, sweating and stinky people you probably won't want to wake up early and go to the gym. Your desire to be healthy might simply not be strong enough. 

Now, if you are a creative person or entrepreneur who likes to learn new things or listen to other people's interesting stories, I would suggest you start multi-tasking during your workout. 

Call to Action: Select a podcast or audio show that aligns with your life goals and interests. Choose something or someone that you can listen to for hours. Then, during at least the majority of your workout, listen to it. 

This will help you enjoy your workout by association. You are associating making it to the gym, for example, with learning about something new or listening to that next chapter of the story. 

As an entrepreneur, one of the things I want to learn more about this year is marketing. So I found 2-3 Podcasts that I listen to every morning during my workout. This has helped me stay committed to making it to the gym, because I know that if I don't go, then I won't have any other time in the day for personal development. And If don't invest time in personal development, then I won't be able to grow my business (which frankly motivates me a lot more than having the perfect body).  

Whatever the topic is, make sure it is something you exclusively do during your workouts. 

3. Keep it Simple, Then Be Creative

This applies to workouts and food. I know it can be overwhelming to see all the different recipes and exercises that fitness influencers post. Before you try to imitate their lifestyle, keep in mind that most of them do this full-time, as their job. You probably have other priorities! Having all these fresh produce in your fridge, ingredients, workout equipment and meals is simply not realistic. Think about the cost as well! 

If your main goal is to live a healthy lifestyle, then go back to the basics. There are benefits to all different diets, but at the end it goes back to having a calorie deficit and moving your body. 

Something that might help you is choosing a pre-existing meal program or workout program. It has always helped me having either a Youtube Channel or Beachbody Program to follow. When I was overweight, I liked having a workout routine to follow and a list of food I could mix and match. 

Now, I only use one of their programs for my warmup but following their program did help me learn the principles of working out, fix my form and overall improve my relationship and habits with food. Which as a result, increase my confidence and made it possible to live a healthy life long-term. 

Call to Action: Choose a Program or Channel with meal plans and workouts that align with your goals. Let them tell you what to do in a strategic and organized way. You can also just make a list of grocery items and meals that you can realistically repeat throughout the week (and that preferably are easy to reheat/package). Same with workouts. Have a repeatable plan that you can master. 

There will always be family gatherings or exceptions to your plan, but being able to go back and re-focus will increase your chances of reaching your goals in the long-term.

See every exception as a simple event, and not as a turning point in your journey. 

4. Avoid Getting Injured, Be Proactive

Did you know that the majority of Americans, 58.9% of adults, are living with pain? Back Pain is the most common type of pain, affecting nearly 2 out of 5 U.S. adults, according to the findings from a report released by the National Center for Health Statistics. 

If you know that everytime you workout your back, knee, neck or feet hurt then you must proactively do something about this. If not, you are very likely to skip your workout and I can't even blame you. You should never workout in pain.

If it is a pre-existing condition or injury, then talk to your doctor and modify your plan to match the doctor recommendations. If you don't really know why you are in pain and your pain is probably related to the type of work you do, then you need to get yourself aligned. 

Just like a car, in order to run properly you need to get the tires aligned. If the tires aren't aligned, then it doesn't matter how much investment you put in the rest of the car.

Your feet are your tires. The first step to embracing a healthy and active lifestyle is getting aligned from the feet up. There are a ton of options out there, but the reality is that choosing the right pair is often a guessing game. Over-The-Counter Insoles are never personalized for your needs and going to the doctor's office for a common issue is simply too expensive. 

Call to Action: Visit StepsDirect.com. They can choose and hand-craft a custom insole according to your needs cheaper and faster than any other alternative. All you need to do is submit 3 pictures from the convenience of home and complete their online evaluation. You'll have your custom pair in your door that same week! You will also get a lifetime warranty and 90-day money back guarantee if you aren't 100% satisfied. 

Being proactive and setting yourself up for success is the most important part of sticking to your new year resolutions! Don't be afraid to change your daily habits and try new things in order to accomodate for your goals.

Become the best version of yourself, get aligned and be healthy because your family needs you! 

 

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