30 Dec Reset for the New Year
Written by Daniyel Gavrilov, Director of Fitness & Spa
It’s about that time of year again where many want to press the reset button on their health and wellness. I’d like to take some time to offer some practical, simple advice and go through some fundamentals to keep in mind. As a Certified Fitness Professional, below are some basic guidelines that we use with clients.
- Do one thing at a time. Sounds simple and logical, but one of the biggest downfalls of individuals is putting too much on their plate (see what I did there). Saying that you are going to start doing cardio 3 days a week, adding 5 servings of vegetables every day, cutting out all alcohol, and starting with a personal trainer all sounds great, but realistically this type of 0 to 100 mentality very rarely works or sticks. Pick just one thing that you can start with and nail it.
- Eat a variety of real, whole, unprocessed foods that add value to your body. Yes, the whole “organic” thing really matters, and if an item can stay on the shelf of a grocery counter for 6 months, it’s probably wise to stay away.
- Be consistent and “pretty good” every day, rather than alternating wildly between rigid or “perfect” eating and uncontrolled or chaotic eating. Life happens and gets in the way sometimes. It’s this type of yo-yoing that causes constant fluctuations where someone will never be able to get a true, firm handle on their health. Additionally, just because the event you attend may have an unlimited amount of alcohol and fried foods doesn’t mean you have to be ravenous about it.
- Commit to doing a habit consistently for at least 2 weeks before making any changes, to determine how habits are working for you. Prove to yourself and your body, that you can consistently do something for at least two weeks before adding something else on top of that. Change that lasts is change that is gradual.
- Your body reflects what you put into it (food, recovery), and take out of it (activity, stress). Yes, in a way we certainty are what we eat. You can tell how someone eats just by how his or her skin looks. You can tell how mobile someone is by how they get up and down out of a chair.
- Make decisions based on data and close observation of yourself, not “rules” or someone else’s ideas. It really doesn’t matter that a specific nutritional plan worked for a friend or family member, it may not work the same for you. Finding out what works for you comes with experimentation. Additionally, simply being truly mindful of how certain foods and activities make you feel can actually go a long way.
No reinventing the wheel with any of these points above. That’s because at the end of the day simple is the best way to go. Once simple objectives are met and understood, then it is much easier to move forward. Then you can start getting a little more complex and creative with things. The same can be said for running a business. For all of us, our body is our business, and you can’t switch to another company! All you can do is create the most realistic business plan possible for yourself, without getting overwhelmed. Remember, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
So will this year really be “New Year, New You” or simply “Same Old Story?!”