Submitted by Curtis Mason, DPT
For The Voice
A standard New Year’s Resolution is to get healthier. This is, of course, following a wonderful holiday season treats and all. The pants start fitting tighter, the shape becomes rounder, and the good feeling that health provides is lower or nonexistent. People then make diet goals, throng to Sears to buy their exercise equipment on sale, or to health clubs to sign up for a membership. Many people fail miserably within two months and they find themselves with an expensive coat hanger, aka the treadmill, or their gym membership goes unused. In fact, if you want an awesome deal on a new and unused treadmill search the Classifieds in March or April!
This may all sound like a downer but the purpose of this article is to help you make this year different. I want you to succeed and so do your relatives, your significant other, your friends, your insurance company, and the government. Here are some tips to make your resolutions for health achievable now.
1. Do not make the goals by yourself. Get someone else to make them with you – someone who wants you to achieve them, and may need to achieve them as well. Make the goal involve your closest allies – your significant other, children, or parents may be your best exercise and diet partners because they are so closely associated with you. Also, if you are going to eat less fatty foods, eat more vegetables, and have less sugar around; they may be involved in the cooking, planning, and eating of this new food. They are also the ones you can coax out of bed at 6:30 a.m. to go for that run. Research shows that you are more likely to succeed in exercise goals when you have someone to work out with.
2. Make your goal specific with an end in sight. If your resolution is to exercise more, what does that mean? Does that mean you need to walk around the block once per month? Put some numbers to your goal that are attainable with the support system you have already enlisted from tip #1. This may look like: I will be able to run for 3 miles in 40 minutes by July 4th to participate in the 5k run for my favorite charity. I will do this by starting….
3. Make your goal something you will stick with because you like it. If you hate to run and your goal is to start running to lose that weight, then you will typically fail within just a couple of weeks. You may like something as simple as playing soccer, touch football, or basketball with your kids two or three times a week instead of channel surfing. Your thumb really does not need that much exercise.
4. Make a change in the way you look at food. Moderate diets take longer to make a difference but are easier to do and stick with than fad diets. Reduce the amount of pre-prepared food and eat more veggies while also reducing the amount of sugar you cook with and eat will change your lifestyle and have a tremendous impact on your overall health.
5. Pick an effective workout. There is a tremendous amount of research on most popular types of exercise. Walking has been shown to be very effective and is the easiest exercise to stick with for a wide variety of people. Running typically has the greatest weight loss results. Treadmills are normally the most effective cardiovascular workout in the gym especially when you use the incline feature. Ellipticals are normally easier on the joints and can simulate running, walking, and stair climbing or hiking depending on the machine. Bikes can also be a very good workout if you keep a reasonable pace. Weight training is typically needed to get the hot body of the movie stars. Mixing a cardiovascular exercise with weight training has been shown to have the greatest effect for losing weight and unwanted inches around the waist.
6. Monitor your heart rate, especially if you are not used to exercise. This is important for a number of reasons. First, it gives you a goal of how hard to push yourself. Second, it will show you how much improvement you are making. This is because you will see that it becomes harder to get your heart rate up as your cardiovascular health improves. Third, it will make you aware of when you are pushing yourself too hard. This is normal when you start exercising again and you will want to keep it in a certain range to avoid working out too hard or too easy. A general rule is 220 minus your age times sixty to eighty percent. (220-(your age)x.6 or .8). You will want to stay below 80 percent initially but elite athletes frequently can exercise at 100 percent. Buy a heart rate monitor with a chest strap for the most accurate readings.
7. Congratulate yourself on your accomplishments and then make more goals. As you notice that you are getting healthier take pride in your achievements. This is made easier by the fact that most people feel a lot better when they are physically active. Your body releases specific hormones when you exercise that improve mood and self confidence. Not only do you look better but you feel better too.
Curtis Mason is a doctor of physical therapy and the owner of the Elite Health Club and Elite Physical Therapy and Health located at 1316 Oakley Ave, Burley, ID 83318 and can be reached at 678-2155. www.MyEliteBod.com
