5 Tips to Help You Stick to Your Fitness Resolutions 

It’s that time of year to start making your New Year’s resolutions!  If you’re like most people, creating some fitness goals will be near the top of your list for 2023. The most common health and fitness-related goals each year are:

1. Eating healthier
2. Losing weight
3. Exercising more

Unfortunately, most of the people who set these types of goals end up setting the same goals year after year. The reality is, setting goals is easy – but keeping them can be a challenge!

Fortunately, there are steps you can take to better ensure you’re able to achieve most, if not all, of your fitness resolutions. Here’s 5 great tips:

1. Set SMART Goals

Creating vague goals like “get healthy” or “workout more” is a great way to fail at your New Year’s Resolutions. Instead set SMART goals:

• Specific: Don’t just say you want to “lose weight.” Instead, be specific such as lose 20 pounds. The more specific you are, the more likely you are to achieve your goals. 
• Measurable: Keep goals quantifiable so you can track your progress and overall success. 
• Attainable: Make sure you’re able to physically achieve your goals. You’re not going to be able to run a triathlon if you need to lose 75 pounds beforehand.
• Relevant: Make sure your goals really resonate with what you want, not what you think you should achieve or what other people want you to achieve.
• Time-Based: Give yourself a target goal date to meet your goal by.

2. Write Your Goals Down

As humans, we are designed to be more likely to achieve a goal if we write it down. So give yourself the benefit of this tool by writing out your goals and also tracking your progress! Get a notebook or use an app to track the progress that matters for your goal. This may include:

• Weight lost or gained
• Inches lost or gained
• Number of workouts completed
• How you feel after working out
• Time, weight, or distance progress

As you keep track of your progress throughout the year you may also want to consider rewarding yourself as you meet your goals. Feeling good and looking great are some rewards, but to truly form a habit of doing something you need to enjoy and celebrate your accomplishments. 

When you love your workout and your rewards, you’ll be more likely to stick with them and start seeing the results you want.

3. Get an Accountability Buddy

An accountability partner will help keep you motivated when you start to lose steam or go off track. When you’re feeling like you’re falling behind, they can build you up and vice versa. Plus, knowing someone is counting on you is a great way to stay motivated, even when you don’t want to pursue your goals.

4. Fuel Your Body Properly

Don’t make the mistake of trying to achieve your fitness goals on willpower alone. You need actual, physical power and motivation to do so, which means you need to fuel your body properly. This means eating enough protein daily, including complex carbs, and hydrating properly.

5. Change Things Up from Time to Time

Take some time each week to check in with yourself and see where you’re at when it comes to meeting your goals. Are you starting to dread your workouts or skipping them? If so, it might be time to switch things up. Adding variety to your routine will go a long way in helping you achieve your goals.