This time of year everyone is making New Year resolution plans, whether these plans are fitness related or not the most important element of planning is setting realistic goals, without them you are more likely to fail and thus more likely to be put off next time you think its time for a change.
           For example you know you would look 10 years younger by dropping 2 stones so you think if you went to the gym 4 times a week and lost 1 kilo every week by Easter you could achieve this goal, this sounds good though deep down you know 4 times a week 1 hour plus 1 hour with changing, taking a shower, get to the gym and then home would not fit into your schedule, so after a month or so when you start to see results you ease off a bit and decide that if you only went 3 times a week for the next two months you could still lose 1 and 1/2 stones and still would look much better then before. Plus you haven't had take away and pizza for 5 weeks now so you think you deserve it and believe me next thing you know at the end of the second month you didn't lose any weight, with only 4 weeks to go you decide to forget about the whole thing and promise to yourself to start fresh after Easter and will get in shape for the summer.
          It is very easy to set goals but even easier to fail if you were too strict with yourself. Plus the thing is there are many factors that could slow down or even inhibit fat loss, food sensitivity, inflammation of the gut, impaired detoxification health, higher than optimal total GI levels of meals, Dehydration, Inadequate sleep and recovery and the physical stress being put on your body by any or a combination of these. If fat loss was as easy as running 1 hour 4 times a week there would not be such places as gyms and health clubs.
          To minimize the chance of making similar mistakes sit down and write down you goals on a peace of paper, then imagine you have achieved this goals and now write down how do you feel, how do you look, what compliments do you friends make about your new look, what clothes do you wear and how did your life change after all your hard work.
          Feels good, doesn't it, now imagine you failed to achieve your goal and write down how you feel, look, what people think about you going to the gym and not achieving what you wanted and how you would feel about that. Also write a list, an action plan, things you have to do in order to achieve your goal, for example drink nothing else but water, pack my lunch, cook 4 times a week, write my grocery list and stick to it, go to bed before midnight, train 3 times a week, cycle to work etc. It is a good idea to create a list of things that surely contributed to your current weight or well-being and reassess your action plan whether or not you have to add anything.
          Now that you have all these lists you can read them a few times and take time to adjust them, see whether any part of the action plan needs adjusting or  are the any other things that could get in your way such as spouse's negative attitude towards your plans, your favourite tv show, your favourite 9 o'clock snack and make extra notes, discuss them with your partner or family if you think it would help. These might sound pointless but we do need to see things clearly, you might read your lists and say there is to much to sacrifice and wait until you are ready and it might be a much better decision than not planning at all and failing half way through it.
          Have you ever failed to achieve your fitness goal, despite the fact that you did your best and there might be some other factors that you have never considered before and could get into your way this time too? Are you not completely sure what your diet should look like or what exercises are most suitable for you? Do you have any questions? Please do not hesitate to contact me or any other Chek practitioner through ChekConnect!
        I hope you had a wonderful time during the Hol