3 easy ways to be more productive when pursuing New Year wellness

1. New Year Revolutions
by Steven Gillespie
3 easy ways to be
more productive when
pursuing New Year
w e l l n e s s

2. Setting the Scene
Once the festive season is over and the
unnavoidable excess pounds are well and truly
on, there comes a point in our minds when we
have to take positive steps towards mending
our mid-section of misery.
Some people act
fast and burn off the calories in early January,
however for others the denial that they haven’t
gone deep into excess can last up until as late
as the middle of February. There was a
memorable phase for me one year when I
thought that I looked in pretty good shape in
the mirror, however once I looked back at our
families festive photo reel I realised that my
face appeared inflated by a bycycle pump, and
I was now the stunt double for the Michelin
man!
Surprisingly I thought that I could outtrain my terrible diet, however this was not the
case. As I am not the type to wallow in selfpity, this wintery-cold reality check got me
thinking on how I could solve my own, and
quite possibly other people’s New Year fitness
woes.
These three pragmatic steps are not groundbreaking by any means, however they do take
into
consideration
more
realistic
and
sustainable thought processes to succeeding
in wellness at this time of year as opposed to
haphazardly burning out short of the finish line.

3. Step 1 – Short Term Wardrobe Fix
We all want to look good in the aftermath of
the festive season, but the problem is that
most of us will have been a little excessive.
One of the biggest ‘put off’s’ of getting back
into the gym and into shape is that we don’t
want to be seen in public looking obvious that
we are out of shape…”I see John was no
stranger to a mince pie or two this year”...are
the fearful words people might want to avoid as
they sneak back onto the cross trainer. One
memorable moment for me was that I seriously
did not look good in my pre-christmas workoutwear, so I decided that to solve the problem of
feeling negative in my clothes I would banish
any item of clothing in my wardrobe that was
either ill fitting or too tight around the midriff.
These clothes were locked away in a suitcase
so that when I went to my wardrobe I didn’t
waste unnecessary time picking out clothes
that weren’t doing me any favours and more
importantly wasn’t making me upset. This easy
but short term step ensures that whilst we are
making amends to our bodies that we feel
psychologically comfortable in the process, and
don’t feel embarassed about getting active
whilst looking like the Pillsbury doughboy.
Once the pounds come off, the clothes come
back out…simple, but remember that the
clothing ban is only a short term fix!

4. Step 2 – Plan Smart
How many times have you set out to do
something and never seen it through? Never is
this done on such a large scale as often as the
cliched New Year resolution.
Grand designs
and promises of devotion to wellness are
frought with impending failure this time of year
because we simply don’t plan them through
thoroughly enough. The best restart plans are
the ones that can be easily achieved and that
leave you with a resounding feeling of positivity
upon completion. Realistically, I know that if I
plan to train 7 days a week I will fail due to my
heavy workload, but if I plan to achieve 2 or
even 3 days per week I can complete and even
overachieve this easily. Plan each workout for
success, and make the outcome pleasing. My
aim for January is to only train 3 times per
week and to make my workouts not too easy,
but not too difficult. I want to be productive
and finished under an hour, but I don’t want to
make the workouts exhausting or off-putting.
Sounds pretty achievable for a fit guy in his
late twenties. This is a successful plan specific
to me, as I know what I have been like in my
previous January states of mind where I wanted
to perform marathon workouts each day, but
never got round to completing it all due to the
plan being mentally and physically depleting.
Overall if you plan to succeed, then you will!

5. Step 3 – Don’t Diet
Choosing a branded diet is a very popular
option for people who have went ‘over the top’
during the festive period and can be a
successful pursuit, however there is a huge
demographic of people that sign up to these
programs
but
don’t
see
them
through.
Ultimately people waste time and resources on
a totalitarian approach when they have never
came anywhere near this level of commitment
to healthy nutrition in their life!
For a more
sustainable approach make small changes and
not drastic ones. My approach this January is
to eat a little bit more protein, and a lot less
refined carbohydrates at every meal. I aim to
to eat more whole and natural foods and I
won’t neglect fruits and vegetables.
Fat can
come from natural sources and of course will
be kept to a minumum. Once I am full, I will
stop eating.
Snacking is fine but I aim to
space my meals out 3 or 4 hours at a time and
have at least 3 square meals a day.
I also
plan to cheat, at least once a week I will allow
myself to ‘come up for air’ and have whatever I
want the whole day in order to sustain my drive
and enthusiasm.
These changes aren’t huge
for me, but for someone not used to sustaining
this they should make fewer changes and stick
to them for better adherance to their own
personalised wellness pursuit!

6.
“Leave
absolutism
to
the
professional
athletes
and
magazine
cover
models
this
New
Year.
If
you‘re
an
‘Average-­‐Joe’
and
had
an
excessive
festive
lay-­‐
off
but
are
looking
to
get
out
of
January
feeling
healthy
and
in
shape,
then
make
slow,
gradual
and
measured
steps
towards
wellness
that
you
know
you
can
achieve.”
“Consider
the
tortoise
and
the
hare
when
designing
your
approach,
the
latter
will
get
you
quick
results
but
the
chances
of
the
weight
piling
back
on
are
higher
than
if
you
take
your
time
and
above
all
else,
try
to
enjoy
the
process!”
Steven
Gillespie
holds
an
Honours
Degree
in
Sports
Management
and
is
a
REPs
UK
&
UAE
registered
Personal
Trainer
with
10
years
industry
experience.
He
currently
works
as
a
Fitness
Manager
for
Fitness
First
Middle
East
and
North
Africa
E:
sgpersonaltrainer@gmail.com
W:
www.fitcampscotland.co.uk