2017: Your Healthiest Year Ever
Every year on January 1st millions of people decide to make this the year they take control of their lives and their health. They commit to healthier lifestyles, physical routines, and eating habits only to find their great intentions have vanished by the first of February. Don’t let that be the formula for 2017. Instead, create a plan that will help you follow through and achieve your health goals.
Join a Gym
It isn’t enough to simply join a gym and hope for the best. Without guidance, many of the machines at gyms are completely useless for beginners. Even worse, when they are not used properly it is possible for people to seriously injure themselves and derail their fitness plans before they’ve had an opportunity to benefit from their efforts.
Look for a gym that offers personal training and classes in addition to great equipment. Facilities like Fitness 19 make an effort to help support their clients and ensure they have all the tools necessary to make lasting changes.
Meal Planning
Committing to a new diet each year can actually have a negative impact on your overall health and well-being. Instead, make a commitment to cook more frequently and to plan meals out in advance so all supplies are ready. Doing this creates a new mindset and behavior pattern that will better facilitate healthy eating choices. Once it becomes a habit to cook most meals at home and to be fully prepared to do so on a daily basis, it is far easier to transition to healthier recipes and eating plans.
Public domain image/ Kcdtsg at the wikipedia project
There are several ways to make the process easier or more enjoyable. Many companies now have fresh food delivery services which will supply all ingredients required to make new meals several times each week. This can be great for someone who has very little free time and no idea where to start. Other businesses provide full meal plans, recipes, and groceries lists delivered via email or smartphone app. These are a great choice for people who have enough time to shop and are primarily interested in having someone else do the planning and provide them with new dining inspiration each week.
Accountability Partner
No matter what health goals you set for yourself, try to find an accountability partner to check in with on a daily or weekly basis. Knowing that someone is going to consistently ask about your progress can be a powerful motivation to take the actions necessary to make forward strides.
Your accountability partner could be a relative, spouse, or local friend. However, many people find that those in their daily lives can trigger less healthy habits or provide resistance to change rather than support. If there isn’t someone in your immediate life who is fully supportive and willing to help hold you accountable, consider finding an online community that has a similar mission. This could be a Facebook group, an Instagram challenge, or a fitness community. There are free and paid membership sites that can help provide this type of important accountability.
Make 2017 the year you create forward momentum on becoming the healthiest version of yourself. Start with small attainable goals and work your way towards health and vitality one consistent step at a time.
Author: Jimmy Simond
photo/ www.agrilicious.org/
