A friend of mine called the other day and the conversation turned to New Year’s resolutions. She’d just come from the gym which she said was more crowded than usual. She had difficulty finding a parking space, had to wait for the cardio machines and reported seeing many more new faces than the week before. I’m not usually a naysayer but I am a realist and said, “That will end soon enough. Give it a couple of weeks and things will be back to normal.” Gym memberships spike in January when many people, fueled with optimism that this is the year they’ll lose weight and get fit, sign up for annual memberships that they won’t maintain. In fact, according to http://www.statisticbrain.com, 67 percent of people with gym memberships never use them.
So, how do you keep your New Year’s resolutions without getting derailed? According to fitness expert and nutrition specialist Joey Thurman, founder of The Lifestyle Renovation, people tend to think too narrowly about the New Year’s resolutions, and that can cost them in the long run.
“When folks approach the New Year with a goal – any goal – they often don’t think big enough,” says Thurman. “For example, if the goal is to lose weight, people often overlook the incredible health benefits of actually doing so. Instead of aiming to look good in a bikini or eat fewer carbs, resolve to adjust the things in your life that cause you to turn to food for comfort.”
Below are Joey’s top five tips to keeping your resolutions and renovating your life in 2015.
1. Set the right goal: This might seem intuitive, but it’s a critical first step. “This is about setting realistic goals that address the problems you want to fix most,” says Joey. “So, if you want to eat healthy, start by resolving to substitute unhealthy desserts for fruit. That way, you’re making smaller changes that will have a bigger impact.”
2. Lose the negativity: Although you may have tried and failed in the past, this is now, and you can do it. “When people think about failure, they set themselves up for failure,” says Thurman. Think positive thoughts about your resolutions each morning, and that positivity will stick with you all day long.
3. Rid yourself of enablers: Everyone has that friend who encourages them to eat unhealthy food or skip the gym. “Be up front with the enablers in your life,” suggests Joey. “Let them know your goals and ask them to be supportive or stop hanging out with them.”
4. Stay accountable: Whether it’s working with a fitness coach or tracking progress on an app with friends, accountability is the key to success. “When my clients aren’t accountable to someone else, they often rationalize cheating on their resolutions, which is a very slippery slope.”
5. Celebrate your successes: Setting goals only works if you celebrate your success. “Achieving milestones is something to be proud of and celebrate,” says Joey. “Plan how you want to celebrate and do so with vigor. Then, get back to work the next day.”
New Year’s resolutions don’t have to be recipes for failure, and renovating one’s lifestyle can be beneficial to folks in every stage of life.
And here’s one last tip from me: If you miss a workout or blow your diet, don’t beat yourself up or think, “Well, I’ll get back to it tomorrow.” Get back on track right away. Just remember that every minute is an opportunity. Use them to your advantage.
About Joey Thurman
Joey Thurman is a fitness, lifestyle and nutrition expert, FITchef, celebrity trainer, cover model, television personality, published fitness author, owner of Morph Personal Training, and creator of The Lifestyle Renovation. Joey has appeared on CBS, FOX, WCIU and ABC and has been published in BodyBuilding.com, Racked, TimeOut Chicago, RedEye, and American Global Traveler. Joey is also a fashion model who has landed covers on Healthy for Men, TimeOut Chicago. He has a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies from South Illinois University, is a Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) with the American Council on Exercise and is a Fitness Nutrition Specialist (FNS). Check out his website http://www.thelifestylerenovation.com and follow Joey on Twitter and Instagram at @JoeyThurmanFit.
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