Last year, as with every one before it, the UK’s most common new year’s resolutions concerned fitness and weight management. According to Statista, 43% of Brits pledged to exercise more, 43% to eat healthier, and 40% to lose weight in 2021.
Accordingly, searches for all manner of methods concerning how to achieve this increased, with weight loss tips, diet pills, and even cosmetic surgery, all being entered into Google.
Of course, we should mention here that diet pills work often only temporarily, and once you stop taking them, there’s a big possibility that you will regain any weight you’ve lost. Moreover, the side effects of weight loss pills may significantly affect your health; in other words – don’t take them.
Liposuction is not a weight-loss tool, either, more a finishing touch to other weight loss efforts. That said, its transformative results may help to motivate people to eat better and exercise more, both before and after the procedure. Anyway, we digress.
Unfortunately, it’s been reported that 80% of new year’s resolutions have been abandoned by February. So, you’re probably wondering just how to hit those fitness goals in a more sustainable way that lasts for the whole year and beyond? Here are some top tips on how to stick to your new year’s fitness goals in 2023.
SET YOURSELF A LONG-TERM GOAL
Undoubtedly the most important element of any fitness or weight management journey is to set yourself a clear target to aim for. Without a concrete goal, you will be unable to track your progress, making it easy to give up or believe the challenge is impossible.
Instead, calculate a realistic fitness goal, whether that be a healthy increase or decrease in weight, or a change in physique such as broadening your shoulders, and fix your eyes on that prize. Having something tangible to aim for will get you through that final push on the bench press or mile on the treadmill, and is often much easier to conceptualise than a more general pledge to ‘get fit’.
SMALL, INCREMENTAL, EVERYDAY CHANGE
The NHS reports that ‘’Research shows people who fit moderate activity, such as walking, into their daily life burn more energy than those who make weekly visits to the gym.’’
When it comes to getting fit and, crucially, staying fit, consistency really is key. You’re not going to build commitment and discipline if you overextend yourself early on in your fitness journey. Not only do you risk injury, but you’ll also likely destroy your motivation in the process, too.
So, instead of pledging to run for three hours from 2023’s day dot, commit to a more manageable time and distance, at first, particularly if you’re relatively new to the exercise game.
This could be anything from walking the dog for an extra mile on your usual stroll together to hopping off the bus a couple of stops early on your way home from work. Build these lifestyle changes up – hop off three stops early, then four, then five – and soon, you’ll have developed a disciplined mindset that can be turned into weekly, then thrice weekly, and eventually, to daily workouts.
Incremental – sometimes incidental – but consistent improvement; that’s the key here.
CREATE A WORKABLE EXERCISE PLAN
Once you’re in the exercise groove and you’re looking to step things up to the next level, it would be an act of folly to order a rack of free weights and lift away with zero guidance. Instead, find a well-researched exercise plan which matches the type of body shape you are looking to achieve, incorporating exercises that you are realistically going to perform on a regular basis.
For example, if you haven’t got time to go to a gym, then incorporating a plan which involves bench presses or deadlifts probably isn’t advisable. It is also worth mentioning that weighted exercises (such as bicep curls, bench presses, and other core bodyweight exercises) are often reputed to aid weight loss less than cardio, so keep this in mind before you create an exercise plan that works for you. Strengthening your mindset for fitness relies on a workable regime, after all.
VARIETY MATTERS
Whilst not wishing to contradict ourselves, and with consistency still very much at the forefront of our fitness thinking, variety is not only the spice of life, but it’s also key to a truly effective workout regime. So, make sure you incorporate compound exercises, intense cardio and focused muscle group routines to give yourself the most well-rounded practice you can.
Although you might love lifting weights and running, it’s best to combine muscle strengthening with cardio if you’re to get the very most from your efforts. A holistic, well-rounded approach is what it’s all about, here.
EAT RIGHT
You thought we’d get to the end of an article about fitness without mentioning diet? That would have been irresponsible. Because you can attach yourself to the treadmill with an unwavering dedication and spend more time on the bench than you do in bed, but if your diet isn’t right, so much of that hard work will be wasted.
Extreme eating (or abstinence from it) isn’t going to help you hit any fitness goals; instead, it’ll put your body in a state of shock which simply isn’t sustainable. Instead, approach eating in a healthy, wholesome way for best results. Check out our article on 6 IDEAL ways to stick to a healthy diet for more on the matter.
And with that, we wish you good luck!