Keeping on Track with Your Health and Fitness Goals

A new year, a new life. To many of us the new year is not complete without new year's resolutions. And many of those resolutions revolve around health and fitness -- we resolve to lose weight, to start an exercise program or to reduce stress. But did you know that 80% of us fail to keep our new year's resolutions by the third week in January? "They make these resolutions with the best of intentions, but it becomes reality day on the 24th when diets begin to crack, smokers begin to cheat, and most of their resolutions fizzle out," said Robert R. Butterworth, president of International Trauma Associates in Los Angeles.

What goes wrong? Do we all suffer from a serious shortage of willpower? Why do we give up on the goals that a mere three weeks ago we were so determined to keep? It's easy to blame a lack of willpower, but that really has little to do with it. The problem lies in the sorts of goals we choose for ourselves. We actually set ourselves up for failure.

So what's wrong with our goals? Check out the following and see if any of these apply to your new year's resolutions.

* Our goals are based on "shoulds". Such as I should lose weight, I should start an exercise program. What's wrong with shoulds? Shoulds tend to be based on either old goals that are no longer valid to us or on other peoples' agendas. So when you say I "should" lose weight, do you really want it for yourself, or are you just echoing the words you heard in the doctor's office during your last checkup?

* Our goals are unrealistic. Or our timeline is unrealistic. It's perfectly reasonable to decide that by the end of six weeks you'll be walking two miles four times per week. It's a lot less so to decide that at the end of six weeks you'll be ready to run a 10K -- especially if it's been over a decade since you last laced up your sneakers.

* We see a health and fitness program as a finite sort of thing. We talk about diets as something that will eventually come to an end, an exercise regime that we will do only until we "get in shape". In reality, health and fitness are a lifelong commitment.

So what can we do to improve the odds in our favor that we'll stick with our new year's resolutions and fitness goals?

* Don't think about depriving yourselves of food...or of forcing yourself to exercise. Instead think about taking extremely good care of yourself. Make that your goal instead. So that instead of saying "I should lose 10 pounds," you say to yourself "I am going to take extremely good care of myself". Then ask yourself: does taking good care of yourself include overeating? Is grabbing a donut on the way to work versus making yourself a proper breakfast the way to take good care of yourself? When you spend the evening on the sofa with a bag of chips instead of going for that walk you'd promised yourself, are you taking good care of yourself? Aren't you worth it after all?

*Take one day at a time. Make healthy selections today and let tomorrow take care of itself. It's hard to resist dessert today when you're thinking ahead to a lifetime of dessert deprivation. Stay in the moment instead and make today's choices based only on today.

* Go easy on yourself, be realistic. Think of your health and fitness program as a lifetime way of taking care of yourself. Start out slowly -- determine that you'll take a walk around the block after dinner and that tonight, instead of ice cream and cake, you'll have an apple for dessert. When you're comfortable with that change, add to it. Start to get up earlier and walk a mile before breakfast. Determine to add five fruits and vegetables to your daily diet as often as possible. Slowly incorporate good habits into your lifestyle and drive out the bad.

* Notice how you feel. When you've spent the day eating well and moving briskly, how do you feel? How does your body respond to that level of care? On the other hand, on a day when your choices haven't been as good and you've spent your time on the sofa in front of the television, how do you feel? Noticing the difference will go a long way toward keeping you on track with your health and fitness goals.

Try changing your attitude toward health and fitness and see if you can't make this year's resolutions be the ones that change your life. Remember: take extremely good care of yourself, worry only about the moment, start out slowly and notice how you feel. Good luck!

Margaret V. Loudon is a personal and professional coach who works with people to help make their dreams become a reality.