New Year’s Resolutions – Progress Not Perfection
The start of a new year is just around the corner, and we are all ready for 2022 and hopefully looking forward to a better year ahead. With the start of the new year, we are often tempted to make resolutions – to exercise more, or to eat healthier, lose weight, etc. While all these things are not necessarily bad things, sometimes we set ourselves up for failure by resolving to do too much. Here are a few tips to keep things attainable and successful for 2022!
Start small.
If your goal is to start a workout plan, make sure it is one your body is ready for. Often the workout plans online are 6 days a week, an hour at a time. If you are just starting out, this is likely too much.
The American Heart Association exercise recommendations are 30 mins of cardio five times per week and strength training twice per week. Remember that walking at a steady pace counts as cardio, you do not need fancy equipment like a Peloton or elliptical. At the same time, if you are not used to doing any physical activity, we recommend picking 3 days per week and starting with low intensity exercise.
If you are following an online training plan that requires 5 rounds of an exercise, start with 2-3 rounds, and see how you feel. We encourage you to wait and see how you feel the next day before increasing intensity and time to ensure you can do so without increased muscle soreness.
Pick one thing.
Again, our tendency is to bite off more than we can chew sometimes with new year's resolutions. We want to eat better and workout more and drink more water and get more sleep. Again, these are all good things, but often it is too much at once. Pick your priority and get good at that before adding anything else to your plate.
On the other hand, if overhauling your workout routine seems too daunting, pick something that is very manageable to start. For example, you could aim for 10-minute walk 5 days out of the week or add one serving of fruit or vegetables to your day. Once you have mastered that habit, add in something else small.
Give yourself grace.
Recognize with any new habit that it takes anywhere from 3-6 weeks (or longer!) to make it more routine to you. If you “mess up” one day, start fresh the next day. If you “mess up” a week, start fresh the next day. Remember that January is not the only time it is ok to start a new habit or routine – you can start at any time!
“Progress not perfection” is my favorite phrase when it comes to goal setting. Even if you only managed to eat one fruit today and your goal was 5 servings, if it was more than yesterday, count it as progress! Find ways to reward your goal setting and keep it fun to ensure a higher level of success.
If you are looking for guidance on how best to start a workout routine or have some aches and pains that need to be addressed before jumping in to a new program, reach out to us at 319-200-6102 or info@keprospt.com and we will help you get going.