Losing weight and getting in shape are the most common New Year’s resolutions that people make (and break) each year. While we all want to look our best, more often than not, we lose track of our fitness goals as the weeks roll by.
The demands of our daily lives affects our energy and commitment to working out, while celebrating special occasions (like birthdays and holidays) can easily end up derailing our healthy diets. So, where does that leave our New Year’s resolutions? More often than not, they end up on a piece of paper, in the trash can, until next January rolls around.
Fitness Experts’ Tips for Losing Weight & Getting in Shape
To help us stay on track in 2016 with our health and fitness goals, Inspirations & Celebrations has asked three leading fitness experts for their top tips on losing weight, getting in shape, and sure-fire ways to stick with our New Year’s resolutions.
Jacqueline Hinton (a professional dancer, Pilates instructor, and CEO & Founder of Good Citizen – a manufacturer of luxe Pilates loops), has been helping Los Angeles residents get in shape for over 13 years. She believes in a simple, 4-step process to stay on track with diet and fitness goals every day of the year.
1. PLAN YOUR WORKOUTS: “Some easy ways to stick with New Year’s Resolutions for getting in shape, losing weight, and toning up is to plan ahead of time. Put your schedule into a calendar, so you have your workouts planned into your busy schedule. Look up your favorite classes and put them into your calendar.”
2. PLAN YOUR FOOD: “Plan your food the Sunday before each week by going grocery shopping and getting all of the food you need for that week. When it comes to breakfast, I will have the same thing or a few things for breakfast everyday so it makes it easy and I don’t have to think about it. Then for dinner, my husband and I cook extra, so we have leftover for lunch the next day. If you plan breakfast and dinners for the week, the rest is easy.”
3. TONE UP: “Pilates is a great way to tone up. It’s a full body workout, it’s different every time so it keeps your body guessing. Plus you learn body awareness, so you stop slouching or hunching your shoulders. You build muscle while stretching.”
4. FIND MOTIVATION: “Summer is around the corner, and (now) is the time to build (a) strong body you will want to show off. Find pics of your favorite celebs in bathing suits, save them to your phone, and look at them (on days when you need motivation) to go workout.”
Samantha Kellgren, (a certified health coach, personal trainer, and running coach in Chicago, IL) teaches people how to achieve their fitness goals, including running 5k marathons. She’s currently offering Inspirations & Celebrations’ readers the opportunity to gain access to a FREE “30 Days to a Better You” coaching series via email. To sign-up, simply click here and enter your email address. Below are four of her top tips for getting fit and staying in shape.
1. MAKE SMALL CHANGES: “Instead of vowing to go to the gym 6 days a week, add 1-2 days on top of what you do now. Once that becomes routine, add another, making sure you have 1-2 rest days a week. Instead of cutting out entire food groups or completely changing everything you normally eat, make one change at a time.”
2. AIM FOR PROGRESS, NOT PERFECTION: “Perfection causes an all-or-nothing mindset. Make your goal to continually make better choices, and don’t be as concerned with making the best choice. By focusing on the process and not the outcome you will learn more about yourself and what works best for you, enjoying the journey along the way!”
3. WRITE OUT YOUR GOAL AND SPECIFIC PLAN: “Commit to yourself by writing down your goal and the small steps it will take to get there. Large goals are overwhelming, but seeing the small steps it takes to get there, makes it tangible. Put your goal where you can see it often as a daily reminder of what you’re working towards. If your plan is easily accessible you can physically check off your actions.”
4. HAVE AN ACCOUNTABILIBUDDY: “Just voicing your goal to another person increases your chances of sticking to your goal. Better yet – find a friend or family member who has a similar goal and schedule a weekly check in where you encourage each other!”
Cara Bradley (founder of the award-winning “2014 Best of Philly” Verge Yoga Center Studios, a yoga teacher, and the author of On The Verge: Wake Up, Show Up, and Shine) enjoys teaching her students and readers the art of “practicing mindfulness thru movement.” To help you stick with your New Year’s resolutions, she shares the following tips.
1. START SMALL: “Choose what is both manageable and realistic, for example, working out for 20 minutes per day, cutting out some sugar, etc.”
2. STAY STEADY: “Commit to your new routine by doing it every day for 21 days. Staying steady sets you up to create a new habit.”
3. BUILD FROM THERE: “With consistency you’ll build the confidence to extend you’re workouts, refine your diet even further.”
4. GET MOVING: “Creating change takes commitment and time. When making new resolutions it’s important to recognize the challenging in staying consistent with an unfamiliar routine. In the end, it’s better to do something every day — even if it’s just a little bit — than not at all.”
Now that you’ve learned how these leading fitness experts stay motivated throughout the year, you too can implement these little positive changes into your daily routine, to have a big impact on your overall health and fitness goals. To help you really get into great shape this year, make sure to enter The Fit & Fab New Year Giveaway presented by Inspirations & Celebrations!
For more fab tips, pics and videos, follow Inspirations & Celebrations on Google+, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube and Twitter.
[Main image credit: Shutterstock.]
