Red Deer Life - December 25, 2005

Merry Christmas! To everyone, all my best wishes to you and yours through this festive season. As you read this the day will be upon us and we will all be enjoying the company of family and friends. As the day passes and we grow ever closer to 2006 many of you will be gearing up for the largest race I know, the annual New Year's Resolution event. I refer to it as a race because I see a lot of people filled with sudden enthusiasm rush from the starting blocks to stumble, falter, and fall, by March only a few of the die-hards are still at it with a very small group leading the way out front. I think it's time we see a bigger group out front. Here are my New Year's tips to make sure you achieve your resolution.

1) Write your goals down, and commit to read them each day. Recently my wife and I moved to our new home, in the midst of packing I found my written goals from last year (yes I faltered from my goal to read them each day as well.) Interestingly enough, I had achieved pretty much all of my goals. Your subconscious mind is a powerful tool, utilize it by reading your goals daily.
2) Hold yourself accountable. Challenge your co-workers, family or friends, meet with them and review your progress. Or simply recruit them as your workout buddy.
3) Lose up to 20lbs by eating more often. Nutrition is the most powerful aspect of physical change and frequency is nearly as important as what you consume. Because of our tendency to work so much and be continually be "busy" our meal frequency is generally less than what it should be. I have read studies that suggest just by eating 5-6 small meals a day we force our bodies to burn a few hundred more calories over a 24 hour period. If we were to consistently expend 200 additional calories over a 24 hour period this is the equivalent of 21 lbs of body fat over the course of one year.
4) Add exercise gradually. There is nothing worse than waking up feeling like you can't move, or fearing the next workout so badly you book a root canal instead. Implement your exercise plan in stages. If you have not exercised regularly for a long time start with a set duration rather than a set amount of exercises. Warm up and complete exercises at a comfortable pace for 15-25 minutes. Take a day off and try the next workout in your plan again focusing on duration, on the second week increase the duration by 5-10 minutes. By the fourth week you should be able to complete all the exercises in your plan. Working into your plan this way will not only be comfortable but also more effective and considerably reduce the risk of injuries.

Enjoy the holidays, look to the New Year to bring great things and I look forward to seeing a much bigger pack out front in this year's annual race. Until next time.