Community Corner
Fitness Tips for 2012
Stay fit all year long with these easy tips from the Mauldin Sports Center Fitness & Wellness Director
It’s a little more than a week into the New Year, when everyone is diligently following their checklist of resolutions.
How do we make a Life Style change and not a short term “resolution”?
Determine why you need to make a change, such as the need to lose weight so you can fit into your favorite jeans, lower your cholesterol, or prevent a chronic disease. Whatever it is, it can be unique to you, no judgments made.
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Create a goal. If weight loss is your goal, set a total realistic amount, but then break it down into weeks. For example, if 20 pounds is how much you need to lose, commit yourself to losing 1 pound per week for 20 weeks. This way when you don’t drop 20 pounds in January, which is unrealistic, you won’t feel like a failure.
Make a plan that includes many steps. It’s one thing to say “I will lose weight in 2012,” but how? Maybe you need to start eating breakfast (Step 1), perhaps you need to bring a snack to work to avoid the vending machine (Step 2), turn the TV off earlier and go to bed so you don’t raid the refrigerator (Step 3), or join a gym or try a yoga class instead of being a couch potato (Step 4).
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Record your efforts. Whether it’s a food journal, a fitness journal, or even a sleep journal, write down everyday what you are doing, positive or negative. If you monitor your actions you can easily see where your success and/or failures lay, and use that to keep you motivated. Keeping yourself accountable for your actions is essential for success.
Now if you fall off track at any time, you get back up immediately. You don’t need to wait until Jan 2013 to try again—a new change can be incorporated into your life just as easily in March, June, or August. So forget the word “resolution,” especially if it’s becoming synonymous with procrastination, defined as: 1) delay, 2) put off, and 3) postpone.
Bottom line: Living a Healthy Lifestyle is LIFE LONG.
Jennifer Edwins is the Fitness & Wellness Director at Mauldin Sports Center. She is an Ace Certified Personal Trainer and Health and Wellness Educator.