With the holidays winding down it is time to reflect on 2016 and move forward into 2017. Each year we make New Year’s Resolutions and think: “this is the year I’m going to get in shape, this is the year I am going to eat well.”  We enter each year with every hope and intention of becoming a healthier and happier individual, but do we succeed? For the past 4 years I’ve been telling myself that I’ll lose the extra weight I’ve put on, but here it is, the same goal, at the top of my New Year’s Resolution list once again. Well in 2017 it stops. Today, we make a vow that by the end of 2018 our resolutions will be – “maintain my exercise program, maintain my eating habits, enjoy my newfound health!”

Here are just 3 quick tips to fulfilling your New Year’s Resolutions and making 2017 the year you are more active than ever!

1. Be SMART with your goals

S: Set specific and significant goals

M: Make sure they are measurable, meaningful, and motivational!

A: Always make them attainable/achievable

R: Ready, set…be realistic! – If not, you’ll set yourself up for failure and end up putting this back on top of the 2018 list!

T: Track your progress and make goals tangible by selecting a realistic time-frame!

• Use a calendar or various apps to track progress. If you feel like you need a little more help setting up a program and keeping yourself on track and accountable then allow us to help you! At the Princeton Longevity Center we have a Remote Personal Training program which allows us to help you devise an appropriate exercise program and keep you on track! We design and implement these programs, taking all the excess work and planning out of your hands! Through this program we’ll track all of your workouts and the progress you make from week to week! For more information, give us a call at (888)-8000-PLC.

2. DO WHAT YOU LIKE!

Exercise is hard enough, why make it harder by doing something you absolutely can’t stand? What comes to mind when you think of exercise? Walking or running on a treadmill for 60 minutes? Bench pressing and doing sit-ups for repetitions on end? Take the month of January to experiment with exercise. Take a spin class, try Zumba, or look for the nearest Orange Theory and try an interval workout you may never forget (or forgive me for). Exercise doesn’t have to be long and monotonous. Have some fun with it! Power walk along the beach, sing your heart out in soulcycle, challenge a friend to a game of 1-on-1, find your zen in yoga. The more you enjoy what you are doing, the more likely you are to stick with it long-term.

3. Anything is better than nothing

Before we get in to why you can’t exercise, let’s start with how you will. Make a plan. I am sure you have a calendar of some sort, whether it is on your desk, hanging on your wall at home, or on your phone. If you’re a Type A personality like myself, then you probably have all 3. Regardless of you how plan out your day; you need to start planning out your exercise. You scheduled a meeting for 9 am on Thursday and wouldn’t miss it because it’s on your calendar and someone is depending on you to be there – exercise shouldn’t be any different. You schedule a cardio session at 5pm on Wednesday and you can’t miss it. Why? Because you have an obligation to yourself to be healthy.

The good thing about exercise is that it can be scheduled for whenever is most convenient for you. Are you a morning person? Workout before you go to work so that you don’t come up with excuses throughout the day as to why you don’t have time. Not a morning person? Okay, workout on your lunch break or after work. Maybe you do not have all the time and flexibility in your schedule day-to-day but this is when we move to the “anything is better than nothing” concept. Exercise does not have to be a 60+ minute process every day. Do you have time for a 15 minute walk at lunch? Go! Have 30 minutes to cycle before dinner? Do it! Have 6 flights of stairs separating you from your office? Skip the elevator and start climbing. Be as active as possible in your day to day life – it’s better than doing nothing at all!

• For more information on quick exercise routines, check out my blog on high intensity interval training!