8 ways to stick to your fitness resolution

By Puja Gupta

New Delhi, Jan 19 (SocialNews.XYZ) With a brand new year most of us contemplate on our flawed decisions and make resolutions to do better in the coming year. One of the most important resolutions that is made by many is to live a healthy lifestyle and practice a sustainable fitness regime.

Studies suggest that many resolutions are broken within the very first month of the year, while several others give up as the year ends due to irregular working patterns or low will power or even lack of perseverance. Amaresh Ojha, CEO and Founder, Gympik suggest few ways that might help one to stick to their fitness resolution.

Self-awareness: Change starts when you measure where you stand and how far you need to go. You need self-awareness before you can achieve self-improvement. Keep a regular check on your growth cycle and constantly observe and read what can help you improve, in terms of both your health and wellness.

Maintain a daily journal: Maintain a workout journal to record each workout you do. It is interesting to look back when you see the progress you've made. Depending on your capability, make smaller changes such as run 100 meters more than the past week, do 1-2 more reps more with an increased weight, increase your workout time by 10 minutes etc.

Don't skip breakfast: You must not skip breakfast as it is the first meal of the day and it helps in breaking your overnight fast. If you skip your breakfast, you add to this fast which might affect your metabolism. So, make it a habit to have breakfast within two hours of waking up. Consuming a healthy breakfast reinstates the glucose levels in the body and lowers your stress levels.

Don't beat yourself up: You may skip a yoga or cardio session once in a blue moon, which won't make much of a difference. But if you skip them for days this will disrupt your healthy lifestyle and you will notice strength losses. In order to return your body to pre-holiday levels, begin with 10 to 12 minutes of cardio at a normal intensity. Then gradually, add time till you get back to your previous workout duration. To return to weight training, use the same resistance as before but lessen your reps by about a third and then gradually increase going back to your normal workout patterns.

Eat at regular intervals: It is important that you plan your meals to avoid last-minute hunger-driven decisions which may lead to unhealthy eating habits. Once you disrupt your eating patterns, it is difficult to get back to the rhythm. So, eat as per your diet but at regular intervals so that you do not gain or lose weight in an unhealthy way.

Use health monitoring/fitness apps: Use fitness and weight monitoring apps to have a better understanding of your fitness journey. Install your favourite fitness app and keep a track of your everyday growth.

Exercise wherever and whenever: Do not restrict yourself to gyms and aerobic classes when it comes to exercising. Walk a few extra miles, whenever possible. Moreover, research says that household chores like cooking, laundry, cleaning your car or mopping burn a substantial amount of calories.

Take one step at a time: Last but not the least, go ahead even if you take small steps. It happens to many of us often that if we miss a day of exercise or have a cheat day, we lose focus and feel like we have failed. But that is not the case, we must understand that we are in a continuous process of improvement and every time we fail, there is always the next day to get on track. Do not feel pressured to do it all at once or nothing at all.

(Puja Gupta can be contacted at puja.g@ians.in)

Source: IANS