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New Years Resolutions: How to get them to work for you.

Mark Twain has written of New Year's Resolutions, "Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. Yesterday, everybody smoked his last cigar, took his last drink, and swore his last oath. Today, we are a pious and exemplary community. Thirty days from now, we shall have cast our reformation to the winds and gone to cutting our ancient shortcomings considerably shorter than ever."

The key to staying on track with your Resolutions is to turn them into goals and move toward something positive rather than away from something negative. For example let's say that your 2005 resolution is to lose some weight. This is hard to get excited about, as it generally means depriving yourself of good foods you love. A 1998 survey sponsored by Gardenburger found that more than three-fourths of all women between the ages of 25 and 54 make diet and weight-loss plans each year. Nearly nine of 10 respondents reported only occasional or no success, while almost half lost little or actually gained weight instead.

Those who have been successful in losing weight for the long term have been able to do so by deciding to make a change in their overall health. The studies that have been done on people who lose weight and keep it off long term have only a few items in common:
They all eat breakfast
They all workout regularly
They choose to eat a balanced low-fat diet
They see the choices they are making as positive, have positive self-talk and give themselves credit for what they are able to do

I can cite many cases where I have been hired as a trainer to help someone achieve their New Year's fitness goals. They want to go from not working out at all to working out 6 days per week and even when I beg them to set a more realistic goal to begin, they assure me that six days per week is their new commitment, and it will work this time. To go from not working out at all to working out 6 days per week is a HUGE lifestyle change that many of us cannot manage in the best of circumstances. It took awhile to get out of shape, and the fact is that it will take awhile to get back into shape, so why not set yourself up for success?

If you are going to make a fitness-related New Year's Resolution, or any other resolution for that matter, here are some tips to help keep it long term.

Start by setting a SMART goal in place of a vague or ill-defined "resolution". SMART means:
S-specific
M-measurable
A-attainable
R-realistic or relevant
T-timed

So, instead of saying I am going to "get in shape." Try: I am going to work out 3 days per week for 30 minutes for the month of January either walking outside during lunch or on the treadmill at my gym after work. This is a plan, has a timeline, is specific, and measurable and is realistic for a busy person. It's also a great place to start if you are going from not working out at all and the side benefit will most likely be some loss of weight.

Additionally, what I like about this plan is that every minute you are walking counts toward that 30-minute total. So walking to work, to the bus, in the aisles of the grocery store, to your car in the parking lot. All of that counts toward your 30 minute goal! Makes it easy to fit into your life, wherever you are and whatever you are doing.

I was just talking with a bride I worked with last fall and she told me that during her Mexico vacation she and her friend were trying to save money and so took buses and walked everywhere they went. She said that she got a great amount of exercise during her vacation without even trying!

So often people feel that if they don't get in a full hour workout, they have failed. Not true! The small things count and instead of feeling bad for not getting in that full hour of working out at the gym, feel good about the small things like the fact that you parked at the edge of the parking lot and walked twice as far as you normally would!

Setting yourself up for success, having a resolution that is a goal to move toward, and moving toward that goal with a plan are the ways to set and keep your New Year's resolutions this year!