new years resolutions Archives

It’s February 1st of the new year. One month since the start of 2013. Where are you at?

Maybe you’re not exactly where you want to be. You’ve set goals, but you haven’t quite followed them all the way through. You’ve started your path, but perhaps you’ve diverged somewhat–say eating 4 treats a week instead of 2. That’s okay. It’s important to not get frustrated and throw up your hands. What’s important is to look back and see when and why you cheat and ditch the goal. Here are a few tips on getting back on track…

English: DeBarra Mayo in workout gear 1987. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

1. Evaluate and re-design your goals. Perhaps you weren’t so wise–or realistic–when you set these goals. Maybe you didn’t listen to me when I told you to do your SMART goals. Sometimes when we are trying to help ourselves with truly good intentions (for example, setting goals and resolutions), we shoot ourselves in the foot by being over-ambitious. Now, I am never one to be a dream-killer, I’m in support of getting what you want, but we need to be in the real world when we do them. So take a look at your goals, and decide maybe if it’s too ambitious and you need to take a smaller step first.

2. Be held accountable. I’m not saying you have to tell the whole world what you want to do. But have someone know. And have that someone be a person who can remind you and be your supporter on this mission of yours. You could look into personal training–I know some of my client would not make it to the gym if they didn’t know I was waiting for them. If you don’t want to jump into a trainer, find a gym buddy. It can be a social and a fitness visit–you can go to your gym, or go for runs, or circuit training in the park!

Personal trainer monitoring a client’s movement during fitball / core exercise. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

3. Make a date. Whether it be with yourself, your trainer, or your exercise buddy–write it down in your planner, calendar, iPhone, WHATEVER you have. One of the easiest ways to get back on track and into fitness is to creating your workouts (or at least your workout times before the fact). This way you can look at your phone, schedule, whatever and know, “Okay, Wednesday at 3pm is when this workout is planned, and I think it will be focused on cardio and lower body.” Every week, I would plan it in my schedule, when, what, and where I was working out. And then I would send that schedule to my fitness buddies for them to join in.

4. Make it mandatory. Make it a part of your schedule, not something you could do. I always considered it along the same lines of my classes during college (of which I never missed, weird, I know, but for some reason couldn’t make myself do it). And because I would never miss a class…why would I miss a workout? Unless sick, of course. I made it mandatory, just as attending my Existentialism or Human Rights class. It was a part of my schedule. Make it a part of yours.

Schedule (Photo credit: Marco Buonvino)

5. Share a goal. Have a friend with a similar goal or resolution? Why not go at the thing together? This will double your chances of actually succeeding. You will have each other there for guilt and support, and it’s always easier to do something when you are part of a team. I’m sure if you think about it, you know someone who wants the same thing you do–and I’m sure they’d be thrilled by the idea.

6. Track your goals. Didn’t track those goals last month? Let’s start now. Make a sheet of what you want to do every week, every day. And have check mark boxes to track them. You could do this through Excel or Word, or just write it up on a notepad. Don’t just keep it in a notebook, though, stick it up on the wall where you see it every day.

7. Use apps. If you have a smart phone (and even if you don’t), tap into the wealth of helpfulness you can get from tons of fitness apps. Even if you don’t have a smartphone, you can use these apps online, using your computer. Here are a few that I think are great: My Fitness Pal, Fooducate, Nike Training, Map My Run, and GAIN Fitness.

Use these tips and help yourself thrive to succeed with your goals! Comment with any questions and feel free to email hungryandfit@gmail.com for person-specific questions! Cheers!

Perhaps you’ve recently picked up one of the many thousand illnesses that seems to be going around. Throughout my family, there has been the flu, the cold, costochondritis, bronchitis, Bell’s Palsy, and more! This is really making you want to spend time with us, right? Anyhow, so you’ve picked up a bug, the cold, something and you’re wondering whether to workout. You were all set on your New Years Resolutions and then you get slammed with a cold, but you still want to keep up progress. What do you do?

Chris with an 104 fever during our vacation

It depends. It depends on what you have and what your body is able to do. Say it’s the first or second day of your sickness…that’s going to be hard. Let’s go through a few sicknesses going around…

Poster encouraging citizens to “Consult your Physician” for treatment of the common cold (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You have the common cold. You are feeling tired, stuffy, head pressure, and congestion. You may be wheezing a little, sneezing a ton, and coughing a few lungs out. With colds, you can workout depending on the severity of the cold. Like I said earlier, it depends on what day you are on the cold and how severe it is on your body. If you can barely lift your head off the pillow, don’t workout. Instead, rest the day and maybe in the late afternoon, bundle up and go for a walk around the neighborhood. It will wake your body up a little bit and give you a chance to breathe fresh air.

English: Mimi & Eunice, “Viral Patent”. Categories at the source website: Economics, IP, Suffering. Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Say you’re sluggish, may be a little congested, do a workout that fits your condition. Feeling really stuffy? Don’t do heavy cardio. Instead do a light bike workout and then some strength training. It is vital vital vital to keep hydrated and take plenty of rest time, even if you normally don’t. After your workout, you will leave feeling a bit more refreshed and revitalized. However, stay warm especially if you sweat. If you feel like you can’t do something, then don’t do it. This is a vital time to listen to your body.

You have the flu. Now this one is a bit more risky. It is, again, very dependent on how bad it is. Say it’s the flu without any stomach problems. However, if you have a fever, do NOT workout. This will completely throw your body off as it is desperately trying to fight off the infection (thus, has a raised temperature). You will be helping to defeat your body’s immune system if you workout with a fever. However, if you’ve gotten your fever down to a reasonable temperature (98 degrees region), go ahead and do some light workouts–slow cardio and light lifting. Only if your body is up to it.

Flu Wants You! (Photo credit: alachia)

You have the stomach flu. This should be a no-brainer. DO NOT WORKOUT. You don’t want any…accidents coming out of either ends while you’re on the elliptical or the leg press. Stay home, drink fluids, and eat crackers.

In general, if you are going for gains in muscle workouts, don’t workout while sick. Why? Because when you are trying to gain that mass, or create lean muscle, you are breaking down muscle fibers which will then need to be repaired through your body. Your body will need to go through protein synthesis to repair these muscle fibers and guess what? Your body can only do so much at once. When you’re healthy, your body can devote 90% to repairing itself. When you’re sick, maybe only 10% can be devoted, leaving you not only feeling sick, but incredibly sore and unable to workout because your muscle fibers are still torn.