The most common new year's resolution is to lose weight which is also my new year's resolution, to be healthy and be in shape.
Since this is a common resolution, gyms become very crowded and pack at the beginning of the year.
The most common mistake that people make is working quickly and hard thinking they'll see results instantly. Wrong… it often leads to an injury. As I recall I experienced the same thing after graduating from college, I wanted to lose weight so I'll work hard that day and didn't return to the gym the following day. I was also so excited to sign up for the gym membership but then only showed up for 1 week and never returned.
First, you will need to ask yourself if you want to be lean or build muscle. Each routine is different; weight vs. frequency.
Weight loss has been a struggle for me throughout the year. I always find excuses not to exercise; either I'm too busy traveling or working (before I had kids) and now I have two beautiful and wonderful boys and I have more excuse not to exercise. I told myself that I want to go do HOT yoga but it will take a total of 3 hours including the travel time. That feels impossible to accomplish with family, kids, husband and my business. My husband doesn’t really support the idea of me being gone for 3 hours so he told me that I should take advantage of our area. Now, I go hiking and jogging on weekend with family.
I read a book called Tiny Habits, by BJ Fogg, Ph.D. It changed my behavior forever. Though it is very hard for myself, I get up around 6 AM and once I’m up I’ll walk outside up to the hill. Once I’m up on the hill, I don’t want to stop so I’ll exercise for 20 minutes every day. It helps boost my energy, clear my mind, be more creative, and find solutions.
I will also try to work with my kids’ activity schedule. I will drop off my son at his activity and it will give me 30-45 minutes work out time at the gym. At the gym, I will do weight training once a week and outside jogging 20-30 minutes each morning.
I say it’s hard to change our behavior but do one small step at a time and be persistent about it. You will get what you want in life.