Now is the perfect time to make healthy lifestyle changes, whether that means weight loss, improving your eating habits, or exercising more frequently. It’s easy to say you’re going to make a lifestyle change, but another thing to execute it – especially changes that last. Here is a realistic plan to make that happen.
Create an Outline
Once you’ve decided what needs to change in your life, you should map out how to get there over a realistic amount of time. The outline is your road map. You’ll be following this week by week to accomplish your goals. Here’s an example from one of my recent clients:
- Week 1: Start logging your food
- Week 2: Follow Bright Line eating plan more closely (this is a plan she chose)
- Week 3: Add one day of cardio, your choice of day, 30 minutes
- Week 4: Recheck week – are you doing the 3 above items consistently?
- Week 5: Add weight lifting program (see below) on the day that you added cardio
- Week 6: Increase the cardio plan to 40 minutes
- Week 7: Increase the cardio plan to 45 minutes
- Week 8: Add extra abdominal exercises to any day (one day)
So you can see how, for this client, we took incremental steps, week by week, to create positive change in her lifestyle. Another important thing to note is that each week, the changes are small, changing one behavior at a time. It might be that you need to move even slower toward your goals. Maybe this seems overwhelming? Then back it up, and go even slower. Change one small thing and do it consistently until you’ve got it down. Each step might be 2 or even 3 weeks. It’s up to you how you would like to do this, but be consistent, as consistency will be the key to your success.
If you don’t feel confident in holding yourself accountable, make a plan with a buddy, spouse/partner or you can ask help from a professional. So you could consider a personal trainer to help you accomplish your goals. But you could also ask a friend or two to work out with you, or start trying classes at the club to help you work out properly and gain camaraderie.
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Written by Melissa Abramovich, ACE CPT, NASM CGT, AAHFRP Medical Exercise Specialist at Elite Sports Club-River Glen
Melissa Abramovich went into Personal Training and Group Exercise instruction after successfully losing 140 pounds through healthy diet and exercise. Her desire to help others drove her forward into a career helping others to make healthier choices. She is an ACE certified personal trainer and now also a Medical Exercise Specialist (AAHFRP), helping clients with a myriad of health issues at Elite Sports Clubs. She holds a Bachelor’s degree, and many group exercise related certifications as well.