The Truth About New Years

The Truth about New Years

Oh the New Year, what does it mean for you? For me, it’s a time where I look back and see what changes I’ve done in the past year. I can certainly attest to how much things can change, how much you can overcome and how much you can achieve in a matter of 12 months.

Sometimes it’s great to let “old acquaintance be forgot”, whether it’s the person that broke your heart, that debt you have, the habit you never dropped or perhaps the workouts you never got to.

When I used to work at the gym all the trainers and gym employees marveled at how PACKED the gym was in January. Some would chuckle and say, “Just wait until February”. Even though deep down we wished the gym would always be this energetic but we knew the unfortunate truth was that when February rolled around the attendance would plummet. And it does, year after year.

So what’s it going to take for you to stick to your New Year resolution? Can you keep the New Years high? Most of us would need more than the month of January to get the body you want.

If you have:
- 20lbs to lose you’re looking at 3 months
- 40 lbs give yourself 6 months
- More than that you’ll need to stay on your program – steady – for a year.

Maybe you don’t need weight loss and are just looking to tone up, well in that case you’ll still need minimum 6 weeks – 3 months, of a dedicated nutrition and workout plan to shape and sculpt out a toned physique.

So instead of giving you a laundry list of best practices, I managed to condense it to 4 straight-from-the-hip points. Frankly, I too get tired of it; you know what you need to do! Only 20% of people keep their New Years resolution. It may only be 20% but it’s not impossible. I know you can do it, get on top of your game and play it full out.

1. Keep a calendar – place it where you will see it every day. Start one week at a time. Most of us know what our schedule is like a week in advance. Schedule your workouts a week ahead. Every day that you complete your workout, mark it with a nice, big W! W for workout, winner, wow, whew, whatever you want it to mean. By the end of each month you’ll be happy to see all those W’s on your calendar. Remember you can make working out some serious fun!

2. Stop making a big deal out of exercise. Losing weight, eating well, exercising daily is a lifestyle change. You will have to cut down on surfing the web, or channel flipping, staying late at the office, or putting yourself last on the to-do list. Making this change is something that you must do. Your body is meant to last 100 years, so asking you to exercise 3 or 4 times per week for just 30-60 minutes – is it really a big deal?

3. Have faith. Many of us go all out for the first 2 weeks and then slowly our momentum starts to fade. Perhaps you didn’t realize just how de-conditioned you were, or how frustrating it is to last on the treadmill for 15 minutes, or how difficult it was to do 10 pushups – then you expected the weight to just start falling off! You must know that with every change you make, with every healthy bite and every drop of sweat, will come results. It only comes with consistence. Know in your heart that if you are consistently eating well and exercising you will lose weight. Stay with it, day after day - keep the faith.

4. Get support. The greatest athletes and leaders all have their support teams and coaches. Surround yourself with people who truly care about your success. Find a workout buddy, or join a class, or find a trainer whose personality and training style suits you and the things you like to do. As you go through the baked good section in the grocery store, phone a friend if you have to in order not to pick up those brownies or bag of chips. Put pictures up of your favorite athletes or fitness photos. Subscribe to your favorite health and fitness magazine, travel or outdoor magazine. Go online and get those daily fitness tips or newsletters. Believe that you are fit, strong, healthy – no matter what condition you are at this time. Get passionate about your health and about feeling good, know that you deserve to feel great and energetic.

The New Year to me is also about freshness and forgiveness. It’s the perfect time to let go and start fresh. There was a time when I thought I could never get back the weight I was in my early 20’s and that I could never feel toned again. But I kept at it, like a race horse, I put my blinders on and focused on the track, not looking back, now I can say that I am in the best shape of life and as each year passes, staying in shape is now something that’s simply, been resolved.


Ivy Lim
Tel: (416) 508-5099
Email: info@ipowertrain.com
Website: www.ipowerfitness.com
"Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them: A desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill."
- Muhammed Ali