Olwen Anderson's Blog

How are you progressing with your fitness resolutions for 2009? Still succeeding and enjoying your progress towards your goals, or have you given up?

If you’re having trouble sticking to your resolutions, here are some techniques to help you return to steady progress towards your goals.

Look at your list that you created a few weeks ago. Are your goals measurable? (e.g "be fit enough to enter 5km fun run" is a measureable goal. When you cross the finish line at your first 5km fun run you'll know you've reached it. But a goal like "get fit" is a bit vague, you won't really know when you've got there.) If you already have a measurable goal, is it reasonably achievable? If you were a couch potato last year, it's going to take several months of consistent effort to reach a goal like "enter a triathlon this year".  

The best way to find out whether your fitness goals are reasonable is to check in with a personal trainer for a session. He or she will assess where you are now and give you advice on the most effective way to get to where you want to be.

Once you know that your goals are measurable and reasonable, paste them up in a prominent position, and look at them regularly. How will you feel when you reach that goal? Elated? Proud? Spend some time imagining the feeling whenever you think of your goal.

If you've been training consistently, you’ve probably already had a visit from the exercise gremlin. You're likely to meet this annoying creature two or three weeks into your new fitness regime. It will land on your shoulder and whisper soft, reassuring phrases into your ear like "you don't really need to work out today – you can do it tomorrow instead"; "you're too busy to exercise";  "its too cold/too hot/too rainy". 

The exercise gremlin actually reflects your level of discomfort with change; the more uncomfortable you are with moving outside your comfort zone, the louder and more persistent the gremlin's visits will be.

We all have our personal 'comfort zone' where we know our place in the world and our relationship to others. We feel safe when we're functioning within our comfort zone. Change, whether planned or forced upon you, challenges your sense of yourself and automatically brings on feelings of resistance and discomfort.

There is really only one way to get rid of the annoying exercise gremlin, and overcome your natural resistance to change: Flick the gremlin off your shoulder and slip on those exercise shoes. Until you start seeing tangible results, the best way to get through is to just do it, no matter how you're feeling. Expect that you're going to have days when you just don't feel like exercising, but exercise anyway. Soon the irritating visits of the exercise gremlin will fade away, and you'll be feeling the benefits of a fitter you.

Becoming fitter is a gradual process. Be understanding with yourself, but keep moving forward!