HEALTH: 5 Tips for Keeping Your New Year’s Resolutions

HEALTH: 5 Tips for Keeping Your New Year’s Resolutions
Nelson Beltijar, Certified Personal Trainer and Athletic Therapist

Five, Four, Three, Two, One … Happy New Year!
As the ball drops in Times Square on January 1st, many people make the resolution, “This will be the year that I get my Health, Wellness, and Fitness back.”
Unfortunately, they make the same resolution year after year because by March 1st these resolutions have faded away. Lack of time, money, knowledge, and motivation are some of the most common excuses. Granted, these are all reasonable, but not when compared to the incredible benefits of exercise to not only your physical, but also your psychological health.
As a Certified Personal Trainer, here are my top 5 Tips for how to stay on track when trying to achieve your health and fitness success.
1. Always SCHEDULE and COMMIT to your workout times. Write them on your calendar using Non-Erasable INK.
2. In order to adhere to the physical activity that you have chosen, make sure that you’ll “ENJOY” doing it. You can create your own combination of physical activity. Choose from the following 6 categories: 1) co-operative play; 2) sport; 3) dance; 4) resistance training; 5) specialty classes like Pilates, Fitness Bootcamps, Yoga, Spin Class, Zumba … and last but least, 6) good old “Prolonged” brisk walking on a flat or elevated surface.
3. Support your increased physical activity with healthy eating habits. Consume nutrient dense
foods that are high in nutrients but relatively low in calories like salmon, green leafy vegetables, garlic, shellfish, potatoes, liver, sardines, blueberries, egg yolks, dark chocolate (cocoa). Avoid empty calorie foods that contain more calories than nutrients such as margarine, sugar, cake, cookies, sweets, candy, soft drinks, fruit flavoured sweet beverages, and other foods containing mostly sugars.
4. Track your progress via a daily logbook or a charting system so that you can see how far you’ve come from day one. If you’re not assessing you’re guessing! Success is not about being better than somebody else, it’s about being better than you used to be.
5. Make yourself “accountable” to someone who is uplifting and encouraging. The fact that
another person knows what you’re trying to accomplish may put a flame under your butt and
get you going. If not, the chances of you skipping your workout increases significantly. So, if you know that you’re NOT the type of person who will make yourself accountable to somebody else, perhaps hiring a Certified Professional Personal Trainer might be a good investment.
Your body was born to move! So please do yourself a favour, don’t wait to start taking care of your body.
About the Author
Nelson Beltijar, Personal Trainer and Athletic Therapist
I was diagnosed with cancer in June 2016. Constantly in and out of hospital, much of my life since the cancer diagnosis has been a blur as I have battled complications from my illness and treatment. I cannot work and I have to use a wheelchair whenever I leave my house currently, but despite my physical limitations, I am determined to inject Hope, Positivity, and Direction. www.ThePositiveDrip.com