What are Your Goals for the New Year?
If you want to sharpen your vision for 2020, forget about resolutions, which come with heavy pressure and high failure rates.
Instead, I prefer thinking about positive steps you can take every day.
Living the life you want to live takes steady, concentrated intention. Why pin it on the calendar changing?
Consider these 20 things we can all do all the time to improve our lives. And contact me soon. I’m here to help you live your best life by being fit – with strength, endurance, flexibility and fun.
- Move your body every day. You don’t have to go to the gym every day but do something – walk around your neighborhood, do body-weight moves at home, take a dance class. Whatever. Just move.
- Limit your calories if you’re trying to lose weight. It’s a simple formula: Eat fewer calories than you use, and you will lose weight. Eat slower and more mindfully.
- More fruits and veggies, less candy and chips.
- More lean protein, fewer candy bars and donuts.
- More water, less alcohol and soda (even diet).
- Lift weights. People over 50 need to practice strength training two to three times a week. It won’t make you bulk up. It will improve your functional abilities, health, mood, balance and looks.
- Don’t eat in front of the TV. In fact, turn off the TV and talk to someone, play with your pet, read a book, or prep tomorrow’s meals.
- Consider hiring a trainer. You’re more likely to get the results that you want in the most efficient manner.
- Or enroll in small-group training. Working out with a buddy can help defray costs as well as provide social interaction.
- Either way, talk to your trainer about your goals (you want to go on a ski trip, or you want more confidence with your grandkids). Your motivation matters.
- Also share your limitations or concerns. A good trainer knows how to accommodate you.
- Tell your loved ones you love them more often.
- Meditate, pray, or practice mindfulness every day.
- Do the thing. You know the thing we mean. Do it.
- Focus on losing fat more than weight. The scale doesn’t tell you everything.
- Sleep well. Rest well. Relax well. It’s so important, no matter what your level of fitness or exercise intensity.
- Remember, exercise is the miracle drug. It’s good for your bones, muscles, balance, heart, breathing, mental health and sleep.
- Practice an attitude of gratitude. Exercise is a celebration of what your body can do. Be thankful you can move as well as you do.
- Remember exercise is fun – even when you don’t feel like it.
- You do you. Nobody else can, after all. And one of the gifts of being older is the confidence to evaluate options and embrace your choices.
As a fitness expert, I know that plenty of people start each New Year wanting to get in shape.
I’m here to help. And I look forward to talking and answering any questions you have. I offer face to face training either in-home or at a private studio in Eden Prairie. You also have access to online coaching for fitness & nutrition to help you build healthier habits and get lasting results.
Contact me today to get started!
To 2020 – and a perfect vision of you!
