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If your New Year’s resolutions included lifestyle changes, follow these tips from the pros at Main Line to achieve those goals.
So, on January 1st, you promised yourself that you would eat a healthier diet and hit the gym more often. How has that gone? Now that we’ve settled into the new year, have you kept up with your resolutions?
Whether you need a little motivation to keep going or a push to get back at it, these Main Line health and wellness experts share their tips for sticking to those resolutions.
Recognize the steps you must take to achieve your goal.
Trainer and former Best of the Main Line and Western Suburbs winner Maria Rossi encourages her clients to write down a long-term goal, even if it seems unattainable at the time. “In most cases, that’s the North Star,” she explains. “It is the great dream that acts as a compass to mark our path. And that path will be filled with smaller, intermediate, and achievable goals.” Recognizing what needs to be done to stick to that final resolution is key. Celebrate those little successes, and you’ll find that the goal that seemed out of reach might not be too far away after all.
Make sure your goal is about you and only you.
If your resolve is related to improving the way others view you in any way, you’re not in it for the right reasons. “When people set goals that are based on pleasing other people, the days of that goal are numbered,” says King of Prussia coach Antonio Davis. “Focus on achieving something that makes you feel good and healthy.”
Write your weekly schedule ahead of time.
As a certified personal trainer and instructor at CycleBar Exton, Abbie Primus believes in writing out your weekly schedule ahead of time. “When she writes it down, she’s more likely to make it happen and plan for her health as a priority,” she says. She blocks her calendar for tasks like preparing a nutritious meal or going to an exercise class, and treats that time like a work meeting that she can’t cancel.
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To be disciplined.
“We start the year with enthusiasm and full of motivation”, says Rossi. “But when that motivation wears off (as it probably will), the only way to stick to our plan is with discipline.” Rossi’s advice is to visualize the person you want to become. If you want to be a person who eats healthy food and exercises every day, tell yourself that this is how you see yourself. “Even if it’s not the case now, this method engages the brain to create a clear vision of how we’d like to look and feel about ourselves in the near future.”
Set aside the time necessary to stick to your resolution.
Making a lifestyle change takes some time, whether it’s preparing healthy meals or hitting the gym. “If you don’t put in the time, you’re not going to make it happen,” warns Emily Murray, a registered dietitian and nutritionist at Radnor. “Think of ways to multitask. Do some work on the treadmill. Try Instacart or other online food delivery systems to help with shopping.”
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Avoid the all or nothing approach.
Main Line Today 2022 Power Woman Dr. Janine Darby of Lifestyle Changes encourages you to give yourself grace to keep your resolutions. “Don’t deprive yourself of your favorite things,” she says. “But be mindful of your portions and the frequency of your unhealthy choice.” Trying to completely cut out some of his favorite and less healthy foods and go “cold turkey” can make you feel resentful of his goal, rather than inspired.
Involve your friends.
Your friends are often among your biggest supporters list, so who better to help you stick to your resolution? Sharing your goals with your friends and including them on your journey helps keep you accountable, but it also makes the process more enjoyable. “Group fitness classes always motivate me the most because it’s a chance to make new friends and hang out with the ones you don’t get to see as often as you’d like,” says Primus.
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Have a motto.
Having a motto or a set of words that you live by can do wonders to help you maintain the lifestyle you want. “I like to work on a personal phrase or motto and hang it where I can see it as soon as I wake up,” says Rossi. One of her goals is to become a professional bodybuilder, so she posted the words: “I am a professional bodybuilder. I train like a professional bodybuilder. Like like a professional bodybuilder”, in his closet. “These phrases are the compass of my actions,” she explains.
Related: Take a spin class at these Main Line area fitness studios
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