Set Realistic Fitness Goals And Achieve Them This Year!

It’s a new year for people in Totowa, NJ, and the time of year to reflect on necessary changes for better health, more energy, and weight loss. If you’ve had New Year’s resolutions that only lasted a few weeks, maybe it’s because you didn’t set realistic fitness goals. Unless your goals are believable, you won’t achieve them. Anyone wanting to lose 80 pounds in a month knows it’s impossible, even if they ate nothing and exercised 24/7. It’s a setup for failure.

Focus on possibilities and break your goals into smaller ones you can conquer quickly.

Let’s use that 80 pounds as an example. It sounds overwhelming and unachievable until you break it down into smaller amounts. What’s achievable? It takes a 3500-calorie deficit to shed one pound. That’s a deficit of 500 calories a day. If you lower your caloric intake and increase your activity, losing two pounds a week is a possibility that still provides a challenge. While losing more initially is possible, since the more you weigh, the more weight you have to carry, and the more calories you burn, don’t make it part of your goal. Stick with one or two pounds and feel great about the weeks you lose more. Divide the pounds you want to lose by two to find how many weeks it takes to reach your goal.

Don’t starve yourself.

You don’t have to stick with a strict diet that only allows rice cakes and water to lose weight. That type of diet isn’t sustainable or healthy. Instead, focus on increasing healthier options that are lower in calories, like vegetables and other whole foods, and eliminate highly processed food and food with added sugar. It automatically cuts your caloric intake and provides a healthier diet.

Create an exercise program that fits your goals.

Someone who wants to lose weight won’t do the same exercise program as a person who wants to build big muscles for competition. Not everyone starts at the same point either. Some people are more active than others, some have more endurance, and some have physical limitations. A good program is designed specifically for your needs. Trying to do too much can be discouraging, but doing too little won’t get the results you want.

• A trainer can help you by designing a program specifically for your needs and showing you how to do each exercise correctly. Doing an exercise wrong can cause injury or minimize results.
• Track your results. Winners keep score. Find the best method to reflect your goal. It could be blood pressure, resting glucose level, energy level, or weight loss. Keeping records provides valuable information and motivation.
• Be consistent, and don’t give up. Schedule a consistent workout time. If you miss a day, don’t give up. Start again the next day.
• Realistic goals mean making goals for things you can change. If you’re fully grown and five feet tall, you’ll never be six feet tall. If you’re big-boned, you won’t be petite. Make your goals reflect the best you that you can be.

For more information, contact us today at Prime Fitness Studio