When it comes to New Year’s Resolutions there’s already been an abundance of blogs, articles and features published about the do’s and don’t’s of these lists; the how’s and why’s, and the pros and cons of conventional resolutions versus more alternative ones.
There’s information telling us what we should and shouldn’t do, and how we can makes ourselves better in 2016, how we can be more rounded, more active, less negative; how we should give up smoking, booze and chocolate; how we should eat less and exercise more; how we should save a certain amount each month, see our relatives more often, travel more, take up a new hobby, be happy and do more positive things.
It’s easy to get lost and to blur the boundaries between a) doing what’s best for yourself and b) doing what you’re being told or what you think you should do according to everyone else’s standards.
One area and industry that will and always does benefit massively from New Year’s resolutions is the fitness industry. You can try to argue it but fundamentally, January means big money and big business for gyms, sports clubs, health foods, supplements and fad diets.
Thousands of us will invest in new training gear, take out expensive gym memberships, buy into ridiculous diet crazes and gimmicky health fads, promise that we’ll work out and eat well for most of the week…only to fail miserably come January 31st.
There’s so much information on fitness, health and diet that it can sometimes be bombarding and confusing. There’s the supposed nutritional experts out there, and the Instagram stars with their six packs and ‘too-good-to-be-true’ bodies (which they are by the way; ever heard of good lighting and a flattering filter?); and then there’s the celebrity diet culture – the fads, the DVDs, the books and the shameless self-promotion; and all of these sources come with conflicting and often misleading, dangerous and false messages!
No wonder it’s hard to stick to those resolutions you made about grooming your dogs more often and using Facebook less, when you’re trying to combine it with a punishing exercise regime or a complicated diet that’s unrealistic and impractical for any average Joe on the street.
The people of Instagram and the celebrities who endorse things such as ‘power shakes’ and ‘five-minute body blasters’ are paid to look good; they’re paid to work out and they have far more time and money to spend on looking hench than you or I do. They have people to help them achieve their goals but for ‘unfit Sarah, mum of three from Devon’, or ‘tubby Dave from Manchester’, who might lack in motivation and expect overnight miracles, not achieving the results they were promised by the end of January can leave them disheartened, ready to give up, wondering why they bothered and feeling like their efforts were futile.
I am no fitness expert and no dietician or nutritionist (although I do have a certificate in nutrition, thank you very much) but I have put my body and mind through the mill. I’ve struggled and battled with my weight and my appearance for years; I’ve been a member of countless gyms and have put myself through rigorous training sessions; I’ve starved myself and cut out certain food groups; I’ve gorged on chocolate and alcohol and binge-eaten till I’ve ballooned, and I’ve also experienced denial when it comes to my previous bad eating habits.
I’ve squeezed into dresses too tight for me and I’ve hated what I’ve seen in the mirror; I’ve taken diet pills (legal and illegal) and laxatives for [supposed] quick fixes (they don’t work); I’ve tried the Atkins Diet and the Cabbage Soup Diet, the Cambridge Diet, Slimming World and Weight Watchers. I’ve joined boxing gyms and run half-marathons; I’ve lifted weights and swam lengths; and as a result I’ve ruined certain parts of my body beyond repair.
Fifteen years after first becoming aware of my need and desire to be fit and healthy and to ultimately look good, I have realised that the key to success is simple. So simple in fact that I wonder why I tortured myself for so long. The key? Everything In Moderation.
Experts speak of the Mediterranean Diet and how this is probably the most ideal way of eating that we should strive to adopt; they say we should aim for at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day. And I tend to agree (although the experts will probably be telling us something different in two years time).
After years of struggling to find a balance and struggling to decide which diet to adopt and what exercises to do, after countless failed New Year’s resolutions in which I’ve promised to give up chocolate or lay off the booze or got to yoga twice a week or join a tennis club, I’ve finally found what works. And that’s combining a healthy diet with moderate exercise. You don’t need to slog it out in the gym everyday to stay healthy. You don’t need to cut out carbs or stop eating after 5pm to lose weight. You don’t need to deprive yourself of anything or try to sustain an unrealistic regime. It’s false information created for an industry to make money out of gullible and vulnerable people who want to change their lives at the start of a new year.
If you eat a well balanced diet for five-six days of the week, and this includes treating yourself to the odd biscuit or packet of crisps then you’ll do just fine. Have a cheat day where you can indulge on ice cream and pizza. If you exercise regularly (and that can be as easy as taking the dog for a walk or cycling to work or doing street dance in your living room) you’ll keep your heart healthy and you’ll notice mental and physical differences within a few months. And you know what? It’s all easy to maintain.
Confusing yourself with fad diets and punishing yourself because you don’t look like those posers with pecks who constantly post strategically angled pictures on Instagram isn’t healthy. What is healthy is choosing to adopt a routine that works for you. And it’s choosing to accept that you don’t have to do anything radical to feel good about yourself and to get fit.
As we sit down to decide what our New Year’s resolutions will be (whether we’ll make any or not), being healthy and keeping active should be something we all aim for in 2016 and beyond. But it should be a lifestyle change rather than a chore; a positive modification rather than something daunting we feel we should stick to because we’ve put it on a list.
Being healthy and including physical activity in your everyday life is great: it makes you feel better, it improves your immune system, it keeps your mind active and it will change your attitude towards a lot of things whether you think it or not.
So instead of making it a resolution to get fit or join a gym, or lose ten pounds or fit into those size eight jeans by February, make a conscious effort to make more healthy choices and to make fitness and the way you perceive food fun.
Here’s 15 ways you could start to make a difference, switch things up and begin to feel good about yourself without having to make an official resolution:
- Drink more water. Lots more water.
- Eat more fruit and veg.
- Don’t cut out food groups…any of them.
- Eat a breakfast every day!
- Try to experiment more with food – if that means swapping your daily BLT for a jacket spud with tuna then that’s all you need to do.
- Limit your intake of fizzy drinks or swap them for water with fresh lemon juice or sparkling water.
- Watch your sugar intake – and that includes artificial sugars and sweeteners which are usually worse than real sugars.
- If you enjoy a drink, continue to enjoy a drink…but maybe switch those calorific ciders for a vodka and soda water.
- Move more – take a walk, go swimming, join a jogging club, do sit-ups and squats while brushing your teeth, run on the spot while watching Jeremy Kyle – anything to get a little physical activity into your day.
- Find a hobby or activity you enjoy and make time for it. Choose an hour out of your week to concentrate and lose yourself in something new or something you’ve always wanted to do.
- Don’t punish yourself if you have an off day or haven’t exercised for a week. You’re only human and nobody is perfect. Don’t see this as a failure, but as an obstacle to overcome, something to work at.
- Enjoy food; savour it, make friends with it; love food and look forward to eating. Food is the best thing in the world.
- Support each other; if your husband or wife, or mother or son, or best friend or brother is trying to maintain a healthy and sustainable lifestyle change then support them and in turn they can support you in your efforts too.
- Try not to compare yourself to others. It’s your journey, nobody else’s and every person whether they are trying to get fit or trying to lose weight achieves their targets at different paces; it’s not a race and it’s not a competition.
- Most of all, enjoy it! Try and see the changes you’re attempting to make as positive things; things that will enable you to live a healthy and fulfilling life. Not only will you begin to look better on the outside but you’ll feel better on the inside too.
Chasing Amy-Lou 