Post Attributed to Jeff Bloom, AT, CSCS

Foothills Acceleration and Sports Training is a Phoenix personal training program with facilities located all over the Valley. We help athletes and exercise enthusiasts at every experience level improve their strength, speed, power, and agility. If you’re interested in starting a training program, you can schedule a free assessment of your current fitness level here. For more information about strength performance programs, follow our blog.

Our Phoenix personal training expert and FAST program director Jeff Bloom has worked with youth, college, and professional athletes. He has helped FAST expand to locations across the Valley, and has years of experience giving advice to athletes and clients. These are his helpful tips for sticking to your New Year’s resolutions!

We’re a few weeks in to the New Year, and there are already many people who have broken their fitness resolutions. It’s not uncommon, and you’re not alone because New Year’s resolutions are often flawed. We may think we need to commit to huge life changes to see a difference in our health, but this just isn’t true. For those of you who hope to achieve big goals and dreams this New Year with an overly strict diet or extreme workout routine, these tips are for you.

Start Slow.

An intense workout program or a crash diet seems great in the short-term. You will lose weight. You will start to get fit. However, it is nearly impossible to follow through with in the long-term. Eventually, you will be hungry or exhausted and return to your old habits. Yo-yo weight loss is not only frustrating, but it is extremely unhealthy. Instead of diving head first into a crazy new routine simply because the year on the calendar changed, you should focus on creating a long-term plan that will result in a permanent lifestyle change –not a short-term crash diet or exercise plan.

Simply dropping 500 calories a day, either by eating 500 fewer calories or burning calories through exercise, will lead to losing 1 pound a week. That means you will probably reach your fitness goals over the course of a few months. Examples of 500-calorie workouts include 30 minutes of running, 45 minutes of stair climbing, or 60 minutes of swimming. Cutting your daily food intake by 500 calories is even easier. Often times we consume 500 calories through mindless snacking or just in our beverages. A grande Starbucks Frappucino, Dunkin Donuts medium Coolatta, and a regular Jamba Juice Drink each contain hundreds of calories.

Be Held Accountable.

Tell someone what your goals are and how you want to achieve them. This person can be a friend, trainer, co-worker, or family member – anyone who will positively encourage you to stay on track. You are more likely to follow through with your plans if you know someone else is paying attention to what you do. Also keep yourself accountable through daily reminders, writing down your goals for the week, and looking at them every day.

Plan Ahead.

For any achievement, you are unlikely to be successful in the long term if you don’t dedicate some time to planning. Preparing all your food for the week in advance is a great way to get your diet on track. Don’t have time to prep all that food yourself? There are now numerous companies that cater to busy professionals who want to eat healthy. Writing down your weekly workout plan is a very effective way to stay on schedule. You wouldn’t schedule a work meeting without writing it down on your calendar, so why should workouts be any different?

Our advice for keeping your New Year’s resolutions is to forget your resolutions, and start making realistic changes that will become a lasting part of your daily life. Making less extreme positive changes will have a greater impact on your life in the long run, so you will be able to attain the results you want and keep them.