How are the New Years Resolutions coming along?

Well, January is almost over and mommy was wondering how your New Years Resolutions are coming along?  Are you losing the weight, working out more, spending more time with your dog, walking 10,000 steps a day, or whatever your “resolution” was to do different.  If you are having a problem with your new plan, mommy has a few tricks that may help you stay on track.

1.  When starting a new fitness routine, find something that you like to do.  Many people ask me, should I get a treadmill or elliptical and my answer is “Get whatever one that you are going to use.” So many people start new fitness programs only to last a few weeks because they are bored or don’t like what they are doing.  Find something that you like and you will stick with it much longer.

2. Did you write your “resolutions” down?  Do you know that writing down your goals and putting them someplace that you will see them everyday will strengthen your chances of success.  Also, make sure you make S.M.A.R.T goals.  Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely.  Don’t just say “I want to get in shape”, that is too general.  When you break it down, it becomes more real.

3.  WHY do you want this goal?  If your WHY is strong enough, you will have a better chance of reaching it.  Do you have a cruise, wedding or hot date coming up? Did your doctor tell you that you are pre-diabetic?  Are you having a hard time walking up a flight of stairs?  These are all strong “WHY’s” for a new fitness program.  A not so good why is “I just want to look better.”  That is too vague and not very strong.  You can buy Spanx for that!

4. No quick fixes.  How many diets have you been on in your life?  And how many of them educated you on proper nutrition so that you could keep the weight off.  Shakes, starving your self, eating cabbage soup and many of the other “quick fix” diets are only going to slow down your metabolism so that not only will you gain back the weight that you lost, you are most likely going to gain back more.  When trying to lose weight find a program that will educate you on the different food groups and what you should be eating for your specific daily lifestyle so that it is something that you will learn from and be able to do the rest of your life.   Everybody is busy with parties, vacations, and life in general so if you learn how to eat properly then you will be able to enjoy all of these things without feeling deprived.

5. What do you celebrate with when you do reach your goals?  After you set your goal and reach it, reward yourself!  You deserve it!  How about a massage, facial, manicure, mini vacation, new outfit, or something that you can look forward to that isn’t food related!

Setting goals can be a rewarding experience.  Just remember that sometimes it may take awhile to reach them and if you fall off of the wagon, don’t get discouraged!  It is Ok.  The main thing is to get back on ASAP!  Set your sight on what you want at the end and every time you do something that may lead you off track think about your WHY!  There is something called the Compound Effect and what it means is that if every day you move only an inch toward your goal, then by the end of 12 days–you will have gone an entire foot!  But on the other hand if you don’t move an inch a day then you will be exactly where you started after the 12 days!  Little things at a time will reap big rewards at the end!

Please let us know if you need any help reaching your goals.  Our gals in our Leash Your Fitness classes have not only been reaching their goals BUT they are having fun meeting new people, doing challenging exercises in every class, losing weight and getting stronger!  Plus their dogs are getting fit, learning to be better behaved and they are meeting new friends too!  I also work one on one with people who want a more specific issue addressed or need a little extra attention.  Sometimes it only takes a few sessions to get you on the right track.  Please visit our new Personal Training Page for more information.

Mommy lives for helping people.  She LOVES it!  She gets so excited when people start taking steps to take control of their health and that is why she only feeds me healthy food and makes me exercise with her every day because she says she wants me around for a really long time!  Please let us know how you have taken control of your health and what your goals are!

Working out should be FUN!