Make it Groundhog Day and Create Healthy Habits

You may have new motivation to lose weight, eat better, or improve your overall health. You can be successful, if you pay attention to your habits and are open to repeating them each day. It does not have to be boring but a clean, constant plan will help you create habits and reach your goals.

First I would suggest that you create your reachable goal. Make it reasonable, dropping 30 pounds in a month may not be reasonable, but 5 to 10 pounds might be. I like to break everything down, take each day one-by-one and after a week maybe 2-3 pounds is a strong start.

Try to be as specific as possible, for instance what is your goal, to gain muscle, build endurance or trim down. Is there a certain date or event you would like to reach your goal by? I started out wanting to increase my overall health and conditioning so I could coach my son’s baseball team in an active manner. As my fitness levels increased I began to increase my goals to cycling and Triathlons. Figure out what you want and write it down.

Something you hear a lot and should consider is writing down your goals and why you would like to achieve them. Why is it important to you, is it for you, your family, your job or maybe just a change in your lifestyle that will help you start fresh. After you have written them down post them somewhere so you can see them each day. This will keep them fresh in your mind as you make it through your day.

List each step needed to achieve your goal. For example: resistance training three days a week, cardio two days a week and stretching, yoga or outside activities another day. Always schedule a day off each week to let your body recover. Don’t forget your nutrition and plan that ahead as well.

I started using my Google Calender to schedule my time, ALL OF IT! I scheduled my workouts each day at the same time of the day so I had no excuse to miss them. Doing this makes you more likely to commit and make it a routine. I also posted a calendar in my garage where I did my workouts and placed a large X over each day completed, you will be surprised how accountable your kids will make you when you miss a big red star on the wall that they walk by each day.

Don’t forget to congratulate yourself along the way. For example, you lost 10 pounds in 30 days, reward yourself with a gift, for some people it’s a cheat meal, for others it’s a new article of clothing, for me it was a new piece of workout equipment of some Triathlon gear.