How to stick to new year’s resolutions to get fit
BY NOW most people have abandoned their new year’s resolutions to get fit and lose weight because they have set unrealistic goals. Here’s how you can turn things around.
Moreton Life
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BY NOW most people have abandoned their new year’s resolutions to get fit and lose weight because they have set unrealistic goals and are unable to make exercise part of their weekly routine.
Dolphins Health Precinct personal trainer Nikki Du Plessis says it’s pretty common.
“Only about four per cent of people keep new year’s resolutions, they start and then dwindle off. It’s always better to set small goals,” Nikki says.
These goals should be something you can achieve in 4-6 weeks and stick to such as walking 10 minutes a day three times a week.
Nikki says exercise doesn’t have to be in the gym.
“Find something that’s of interest to you and put it into the calendar and make it something you do,” she says.
“Go for a walk with the kids. Sit less, move more.”
Deception Bay mother-of-three Maria Lethbridge, 42, is proof success is possible if you make it habit and part of everyday life.
Maria is a regular at Dolphins Health Precinct at Redcliffe and says she made the decision to exercise more about seven years ago after years of travelling overseas.
She says she realised she needed to “get herself into line” and adopt a more healthy lifestyle. “It made me feel so much better – standing up is easier and getting up off the floor with my kids is easier,” Maria says.
She says it is important, as an older mum, to ensure she is active and around for her children and grandchildren.
Maria says most gyms have creche facilities to make it easier for parents to workout and her advice is to: “just take that first step and give it a go”.
Nikki says there will be setbacks but they don’t have to be the end of the world.
“Take the good with the bad. Appreciate the failures along the way will make you stronger,” she says.
“Pick yourself up and start again. Start today, not Monday.”
TIPS FOR SUCCESS
■ Set smart and measured goals, and reward yourself
■ Set smaller weight loss goals that are more about how clothes fit and how you feel than kilograms
■ Find someone to exercise with you
■ Get your family behind you
■ Think about the benefits, how healthy you feel
■ Get your children out and about – it will help establish a healthy lifestyle for them to follow throughout life
NIKKI’S EASY EXERCISES
■ Sitting in a chair and standing up is the same as doing a squat
■ Do a couple of push-ups
■ Plan to go for a hike in the bush or a walk on the beach
■ Play cricket in the backyard
■ Use the stairs instead of the lift
■ Go outside on your lunch break and take a walk around the block
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