"Fitness and the New Year"
Nutrition. Exercise. Lean Muscle. Strength... N.E.LM.S. Fitness

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If you are like most people, the concept of a New Year brings to mind hopeful thoughts of lower numbers on the scale, smaller clothing sizes, and the future potential of a miniature “you” smiling back in the mirror. For many women, aspirations and visions of a leisurely walk along the beach or afternoon of relaxation at the pool, as the sun shimmers off your newly-purchased swimsuit and tanned, trimmed waistline, produce an air of excitement while you plan and prepare for your weight loss adventure. For men, the consideration that you will finally achieve or reclaim a chiseled set of six-pack abdominals and biceps that turn the heads of a few admirers drives you to start research on the perfect workout that will help you achieve your aesthetic goals. Finally, for many seniors, you seek to regain the health, vigor, and physical appearance of 10 or 20 years ago, and you are propelled forward with the certain knowledge that the extra time awarded to you after retirement is going to make all the difference in your unwavering devotion to creating your own fountain of youth.

You subscribe to fitness magazines, research articles online, and buy another diet book to replace the last one that didn’t work. Along the way, you sign up for a few newsletters that promise jaw-dropping weight loss results or your restoration to the heights of yesteryear. Your friends and co-workers chime in and relive the glory days when they lost over 30 pounds on the “Insert Latest Fad” Diet, but then “life changed” and they mysteriously gained it all back. Some of you rush out and sign a 1-year commitment to a gym that declares they have the best equipment in the Tri-City area and that their trainers are second only to liposuction for the fastest method of stripping body fat.

You’re excited. You’re ready to go. This time, you’re going to do it!

Statistically, 80-95% of you will not. Ouch! That hurts, but it’s the truth.

There is a method, however, that has been proven to keep you out of that unfortunate and unsuccessful 95%. Interested? I hope so – your physical fitness, health, and wellness goals ‘heavily’ depend on it.

In a controversial longitudinal Harvard study, 3% of the 1979 MBA graduating class had clearly defined goals with a written plan to achieve them. 10 years later in 1989, those 3% were supposedly making ten times more money than the other 97% combined. Whether the study is true or not, it certainly makes a good illustration: those that set goals and make a plan are much more likely to succeed. Each year, the most successful businesses in the world develop a written plan, which is exactly where you need to start, too.

Written plans, however, are always preceded by SMART goals:

Specific. Measurable. Attainable. Relevant to overall objectives. Time-bound.

Research has proven that people with written New Year’s resolutions are approximately 10 times more likely to achieve goals. One of the traits of those who have successfully transformed their body is immediate action, so it is important that you start today. Begin writing your goals right now, and next week I will discuss a proven method for achieving them.

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Jeremy Nelms is the head trainer at Prescott Racquet Club and co-owner of Prescott’s Adventure Boot Camp for Women. He can be reached at www.PrescottBootCamp.com or www.NelmsFitness.com. Each week, this e-zine will bring you the concepts and methods and tips that have been proven to create lifelong, effective results for individuals – just like you – who started off with a strong desire to change his or her appearance, health, and future.

 

Nutrition.

Exercise.

Lean
Muscle.

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