Fitness Tips

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Fitness Tip #1: New Year Goal Setting

Now that it is the New Year, no doubt many of you have made fitness related resolutions. These resolutions are usually broad goals, such as losing 10 pounds by summer. If you approach goals in this way, they can seem overwhelming. A more effective way of reaching your goals are to break them down into smaller, more easily attainable goals. This will allow you to see your progress, and as you reach each small goal frequently it will help you to stay motivated. Change your lose 10 pounds by summer goal to losing 2 pounds by the end of January. If you reach this goal, you will have an idea of what you need to keep doing, and if you fall short, you can adjust your diet and exercise plan to reach it.

Fitness Tip #2: Lose Weight

Many people are losing the battle of the bulge at this time of the year, as cold weather outside puts a damper on physical activity, and family activities that center around eating are the main focus of attention. To lose this weight, an effective strategy is to try and have a daily caloric deficit of 500 calories. One pound of fat is composed of around 3500 calories, so a daily deficit of 500 calories will allow you to lose one pound of fat per week. The most effective way to have a healthy caloric deficit is to combine both increased exercise as well as reduced dietary intake of calories. Simply increasing daily caloric expenditure by 500 calories or eating 500 less calories per day is less effective than combining the two methods.

Fitness Tip #3: Set Realistic Goals

If you set goals that are too high, you are setting yourself up to be disappointed. The feeling of failure that accompanies constantly falling short of a goal often contributes to a lack of motivation to continue trying to achieve that goal. To avoid this try to set goals that are realistic to you as an individual. In order to do this you must take into mind all aspects of your life. Setting realistic goals that are attainable will not only help you stay on track with your workouts but it will also provide you with a boost of motivation each time you achieve a goal!