Happy new year to everyone in the Get Results community. I hope that somewhere in your New Year’s resolutions includes getting fitter, maybe something more specific such as running a 10km; maybe you plan to get healthier, or lose some weight. If this is this case then introducing these 5 fundamental pillars will make sure that 2014 is your healthiest and happiest year to date.
Create Your Vision
Just like you would create drawings of your dream house before you start building, we recommend that you do the same with your health and fitness plan. Grab a pen and piece of paper and answer the following questions;
- If there was no way you could fail with your health and fitness plan in 2014, what would you like to achieve by the end of the year?
- What would be the benefits of achieving these? (try and think of as many positive ways that it could affect your life as you can)
- Where are you now in relation to your goal?
- What are the three key actions you must take to reach these targets?
Avoid Dieting
Before you dive into the latest fad diet or have another go at dieting, take a step back and think of everyone you know that has lost weight on a diet or what your previous attempts have resulted in. I am guessing only a very small percentage of those that have had ‘success’ with a diet have managed to keep the weight loss off in the long term. Dieting will almost always result in short term weight loss and long term fat gain because dieting slows down the metabolism and makes the body more likely to store fat in the future. But another problem with dieting is what is happens psychologically: by telling yourself you are on a diet you’re programming your nervous system to learn this is only a short term thing. The results of this is your brain will automatically expect you to get off it and back to your old routine as soon as you can.
This year make a change and learn how to eat healthy in a way that will boost your metabolism and reduce cravings for sugary or fatty foods. In doing so you will change your mind set to a more long term and balanced view of eating. (Which does not involve counting calories, avoiding fat or weighing yourself regularly!)
Train Smarter
For most people the three main barriers to consistent exercise are lack of time, lack of results and boredom. A well designed training program can banish these barriers almost immediately.
Moving away from doing the same old boring workouts on the cardio machines to doing more varied dynamic movement based workouts will have you enjoying the gym and you will avoid viewing it as another boring task to include in your day.
Time is often a major reason given for not going to the gym. If your plan is to do cardiovascular training as your main mode of exercise, then the 6-7 hours per week that you will need to dedicate to exercise to really see results will undoubtedly become an issue. But what if I told you that three 45 minutes sessions per week is all you would need to do? Would this be more realistic? A workout that challenges the body at the correct level will raise your metabolism for up to 48 hours after a session. A poorly designed program will only do this for 1-2 hours. A good program will build lean muscle which will also help raise your metabolism and training smarter will promote the release of the optimal hormones for health and fat loss.
Combining a well-designed exercise and eating plan should results in you seeing and feeling positive changes in as little as 2-6 weeks . This success will encourage you to keep going and become more consistent. Too many people blindly keep doing the same things in a hope that one day it will suddenly all click into place and you will start to see results. If you are not seeing any results or the level of results you wish for, it’s time to review and make some changes!
Create a Routine
Creating a great routine is essential for long term results with your health and wellness. This covers everything from getting to bed early, preparing meals in advance, scheduling exercise sessions in your diary, bringing good snacks to work with you and finding time to stretch and relax. Over the years I have seen many clients whose results stall or go backwards when their routine begins to unravel. Put simply: A great routine = great results!
Get Expert Advice
A brilliant piece of advice I received on one of the training courses I attended was to find someone who has achieved what you wish for and learn from them. Having a mentor to guide you through the changes you need to make can be a priceless investment: it will help you avoid the common mistakes and pitfalls out there, it will give you someone to be responsible to and most importantly it will provide someone to hold your hand when you inevitably come out of your comfort zone and start making real changes.
At Get Results our 14 years’ experience in health and fitness has led us to establish a 5 step program to ensure that you achieve a leaner body and optimal health. This has helped 100’s of clients achieve their health and fitness dream. In 2014 we aim to support more people than ever before. If you would like to learn more book your free consultation today.
