How To Set Realistic Fitness Goals For The New Year

If you want to succeed, you cannot set yourself up to fail.  If you want to get into shape and start leading a healthier lifestyle you need to learn how to set realistic fitness goals for the New Year this year.

Take Advantage of The Entire New Year

Instead of trying to lose a large about of weight or being able to run a five minute mile in a month, plan out your goals over the course of the entire New Year. If you have a certain amount of weight you want to lose or a certain fitness goal that you want to attain, like running a mile in under 10 minutes, plan to achieve these goals over the next 12 months. In that time you can slowly lose the weight and get healthy, giving you a higher success rate without feeling too much pressure. If you accomplish those goals before the allotted time, you can set new ones, and advance even further.

Give Yourself Time

Not everyone can hit the gym for four hours a day, but try to dedicate at least three hours a week to start. If you can't find a solid 30 minute block of time during the day, break it up into 10 minute increments and spread them out. If you exercise for an hour one day but take a break the next day, do not beat yourself up over it. You will soon find out that the more you exercise, the easier it is to find time to do it. If you still have trouble, try to incorporate more exercise into your daily life - as described in the excellent book, "Move a Little, Lose a Lot" - instead of looking at exercise as an exclusive activity. Start with three hours a week and give yourself the entire New Year to work up to six hours a week, or more.

Make It a Game and Keep Score

Create your own personal score board. Keep track of your weight lost and gained, because it is not unusual to gain back a little bit of the weight you have lost during the process. Write down your calories for the day and also subtract the calories to consume for your resting metabolic rate as well as from exercise and even household chores. One pound is worth about 3000 calories, so for every 3000 calories you can cut out of your life, it will be one pound less you are taking off of your body.

The most important part of getting in shape is keeping a positive attitude and learning how to set realistic fitness goals for the New Year. If you do this, you're sure to achieve them!