Fitness Resolutions: Make 2015 the Year of Success

If you’ve ever vowed to lose weight or get in shape, you know it’s easier said than done. While 40 percent of Americans make a New Year’s Resolution, only eight percent actually stick with it, according to a recent story on Forbes.com. These statistics aren’t entirely shocking. After all, we are creatures of habit, and changing a learned behavior is hard work. Not all hope is lost though. Fitdigits’s iCardio app allows you to review your fitness progress over time and gives you the boost of confidence needed to stay motivated. Along with this helpful tool, learn how to stick to your New Year’s resolution by avoiding these common mistakes:

A Vague and Unrealistic Resolution
The most common resolutions are to lose weight and get in shape. Such goals are vague and undefined and leave you with little direction. When defining your resolutions, be as specific as possible so you know exactly where you want to end up. For instance, instead of planning to “exercise more,” set a precise target like training for an upcoming 5K. While goals should be clear cut, you also need to be realistic. Unreasonable resolutions will lead to frustration and failure.

No Plan
Just like driving without a road map, attempting to reach a fitness goal without a plan will lead you in the wrong direction. That’s why it’s important to devise a plan with a series of concrete steps needed to change your behavior and reach your goal. Such steps may include joining a gym, signing up for personal training sessions, skipping Friday night happy hour, or waking up an hour earlier to run before work. Then write out the individual steps so you can cross each one off as you complete it and feel accomplished.

No Progress Tracking
If your goal is not measurable, you can’t track your degree of success, and visualizing your progress is essential for staying motivated. When devising your resolution plan, include specific numbers like a target running pace or fat loss percentage. Then review your progress and note achievements along the way. Tools like Fitdigits’s iCardio app monitor important health metrics like heart rate, pace, distance, calories and more to help you realize the improvements in your health and fitness, while boosting the confidence needed to stick to your resolution.

Burnout
Creating new habits takes time and dedication, and many people expect it to happen overnight. Though enthusiasm for reaching your goal is essential, changing your entire routine overnight will inevitably make you feel burned out. While limiting the number of drinks you consume on a night out with friends is important, completely disconnecting from your social circle and hitting the gym for three hours every day will make you feel alienated. Since it’s a lot easier to commit to a small-level change than a complete life overhaul, commit to a small change until it becomes a new habit, and move on from there so you don’t burn out.