- You Are Making Broad Resolutions and Not SMART Goals!
If you resolve to do something or not to do something but you don’t turn this into realistic goals and a plan of how to achieve them, then you set your self up to fail from the start.
I will cover goal setting in more detail in another blog post so keep your eye out for tips and tricks! You must start with a goal which is specific and can be measured in some way; is both realistic and achievable; and that has a time period attached to it.
Now, this doesn’t mean you beat yourself up when you don’t hit your goal on the target date but rather it gives you a focus to your journey – just remember any progress towards the goal is progress well made. Make sure your goals are small enough that they don’t overwhelm you, yet big enough that they challenge you!
“A Goal without a Plan is just a Wish” – Antoine de-Saint Exupery
2. You Fail to Structure a Plan
This is applicable for any goal – any plan needs a structure!
However, it is particularly applicable to fitness goals. If you walk into a gym without a structured workout plan you will likely wander around, not get an effective workout and worst of all, not enjoy it!
Structuring and planning workouts can be tricky if you’re new to fitness or if you have a specific goal to hit, so get some help with this.
Personal trainers are there to do this part for you – a good personal trainer will discuss your goals and tailor a structured program to help you reach them. It doesn’t necessarily need to cost a fortune – maybe you only need to do occasional sessions with the trainer looking over your shoulder, but they can provide you a program to do on your own if you have the self-motivation.
3. You Go All Out and Forget About Recovery!
We all know what it’s like, you are so keen to hit those goals that you dive in head first and start doing ten gym sessions a week with no rest days. By the end of week 3, your limbs just forgot how to work and you can’t even sit on the toilet or open the kitchen cupboard!
This approach just doesn’t work because you need to be able to sustain your training to see those results. Rest and recovery is also where some of the magic happens!
Your muscles repair the tears you have inflicted upon them in training and as they repair, they grow. These growing muscles burn more calories and your body fat percentage goes down. Bring on the six pack whilst you sleep!
4. Trying to do the Complete Dietary Overhaul?
Have you tried to go from eating junk food, drinking beer and never looking at a vegetable one day to eating raw, sugar free, dairy free, gluten free and vegan and only drinking water the next?
Did you really think this was going to work and be sustainable forever? Small, easy to make changes are the ones you need to make and you will see results because you are able to maintain the change
I will talk more about dietary hints and tips in another blog post but I’m going to make just 3 suggestions here:
- Try to eat real food as often as possible (real=unprocessed)
- Try to eat a variety of colours
- Don’t completely ban yourself from eating or drinking something you enjoy
5. You Are Not Your Own Cheerleader!
If you have a negative attitude you will fail very quickly – you need to believe in yourself, set the goals that are important o you and then cheer yourself on when you make progress. If you don’t believe in you, how do you expect anyone else to?
Let Me Be Your Cheerleader
6. Poor Time Management
Think you don’t have time to exercise? I call bulls#*t! Get juggling!
You might have a job where you work 60+ hours per week and be a parent and have other responsibilities but you still have time, I promise! Get off the bus a stop early, take the stairs rather than the lift, choose an activity with your kids which involves some movement, manage your time and prioritise 20 mins per day just for you!
If something is important then you have to put it to the top of the list – put yourself to the top of the list and you can find the time!
7. You Are Not Measuring Your Progress
I am a big advocate of throwing out the scales and not weighing yourself, but you need to measure your progress somehow or you won’t appreciate the forward movement.
Things change by a small amount each day but because you see you every day you won’t see it. If your goal is body composition related, take pictures and use them for comparison – you don’t have to show anyone, but you will feel good when you look back and see where you started and where you’ve gotten to.
Final piece of advice on this from personal experience – no matter how much you detest the “before” pictures, don’t get rid of them!
8. You Are Punishing Yourself
Acceptance and self-love are the keys to success!
Without these keys the door will remain firmly locked. You need to set goals you want to achieve, based on where you want to be; not based on things you don’t like.
Don’t pick faults to correct, set goals and then plan how you’ll get there.
Accept that who you are today is the product is a life of experiences and you can take control and be the best version of you!
Don’t be scared though, you can get stick to your New Year’s Fitness Resolutions, you just might need the professional help and support of a personal trainer like The PT Practitioner.
There’s no harm in looking at what session works best for you, if you want to discuss it more, get in touch and I’m here to help.
