Have you physically and mentally prepared yourself for the choices you are making for 2009? Winter is in full swing and the New Year has come. How are your exercise resolutions coming along? What has made them any different this year than last year or even before that? Are you on track and ready to take on the lifestyle you have created and dreamed of?
Have you mentally and emotionally prepared yourself for the change you are going to put your mind and body through? Strains and sprains are common to the overzealous weekend warrior or the person who hasn’t exercised in such a long time but has now made up their mind to get in shape.
By promising yourself that this year’s resolution would be different, you are ready to go full force into that gym and lose weight. But hold on, you need to take some precautionary steps or you just may walk out of the gym in a couple weeks with a lot of sore muscles or possibly an injury.
How will you feel in February if you do injure yourself? You may feel like you have failed again, you may once again hate exercise and put your fitness goals on the backburner until a health crisis arrives. You may even feel more stress and become an emotional eater which will not only increase your weight, but also your health risks.
We know we need to integrate exercise into our daily lives. How many times do you say to yourself; tomorrow I’m going to exercise, only to get an important phone call, have an unexpected item suddenly put onto your to do list or the day just got away from you. Whatever the reason it’s an excuse not to make you important enough.
If you are the type of person to let everyday activities take over and get in the way with keeping that promise to yourself, then you have to be more consistent, put it in your calendar and make it your first to do of the day.
How do you mentally and physically prepare to reach your goals?
• Being healthy consists of mental and physical factors that we can measure by how much energy and vitality we have or don’t and by other medical means like taking our blood pressure.
• Check with your physician first to make sure your body is ready for exercise and that you don’t have any health issues or restrictions that may require modifications to your exercise program.
• You should make sure you get enough sleep, research shows that the less you sleep, you increase the stress hormone cortisol and its catabolic in nature, meaning it eats away at muscle and can also cause binge eating and increased hunger. You may also injure yourself because lack of sleep causes fatigue.
• Nutrition is key to a healthy life. The internet can give us great information or conflicting opinions. Use common sense, eat sensibly, maintain an optimal weight, don’t cut out any food groups or get help from a registered dietician.
• Drinking water is important and lack of it can lead to constipation, poor skin conditions or possibly other metabolic diseases.
• Join a gym or hire the services of a fitness professional. Don’t let your enthusiasm go by the wayside when you walk in and don’t know where to begin. Go down that healthy path by asking for help in developing an exercise program fit for you and any medical issues you may have instead of trying to do on your own one more time.
• Nothing can stand in the way of achieving those new goals, creating a healthy mindset, committing to a healthier lifestyle and keeping that positive mental attitude no matter what life throws at you.
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