2023 Resolution Solutions

2023

RESOLUTION

SOLUTIONSSOLUTIONS

The holidays are over, but the New Year’s resolutions have just begun, and Homeland Magazine is here to help you keep yours. If you’ve chosen to change your life this year, you’re not alone. Nearly half the United States – a stunning 150 million people – did the same.

Many of these aren’t plastic or paper decisions either but life-affirming, soul-quenching, I’m-the-captain-ofmy-destiny-and-I’m-finally-going-do-this variety.

High on most lists, losing weight or getting fit with many deciding the time to act is now. If this sounds familiar, good for you! Recognition that change is necessary is the first step. Desire makes all things possible. Work well begun is half done.

You’re off and running, maybe literally.

Statistically speaking, most of you are doomed. Nearly 90 percent who make New Year’s resolutions fail. That’s a crazy high bust rate. Who would ever bet those odds?

You would and you do.

Let me explain.

At the start of every year -- without fail -- people flock to gyms. They’re recognizable by their new sneakers, stylish water bottles and eager looks. You can practically see their new gym bodies in the bubble dreams above their heads.

Memberships are bought. Trainers hired. Classes enrolled.

And so begins the brief lifecycle of the Resolution Set, a specimen of gym member whose chief function is giving money away for no apparent reason.

All gym vets know their ways well.

They start January like shooting stars, their resolution glow bright and vibe positive and contagious. February finds them making strides.

Cracks start showing in March as they realize that working out can be, well, work, and that maybe the miraculous transformations they envisioned might’ve been a skosh unrealistic.

Then the wheels fly completely off.

This typically happens by May, exactly when the neophytes should be prepping for the big beach season reveal.

They were so close to getting somewhere and then puff. Gone. Another statistic.

But you can break this cycle of boom and bust, and here are some tips to do just that. 1. Set realistic goals. Losing a pound or two a month – and keeping it off -- is a reasonable. Anything more is, hmm, gravy.

2. Start slow. Take it easy as you learn what your body can do. Hurting yourself or being too sore to workout defeats the purpose.

3. Then, ramp it up. You’re at the gym to work, so work. Push weights around, stretch, walk, peddle or paddle. Sweat a little so you can live a lot.

4. Just go. Just as possession is nine-tenths of the law, so too is getting to the gym is nine-tenths of the battle. Get there and you’ll figure out the rest.

5. No excuses. If you have five free minutes a day, you have time to workout. How? Do all the pushups and sit ups you can in one-minute increments. Follow that up with running as far you can for another minute – it will take you two minutes to walk back. Done.

6. Find what works for you. Yoga, pilates, kettle ball, boxing, surfing, mixed martial arts, weights, running, kendo, fencing, cross-fit, judo, swimming, biking, walking, whatever. There are a lot of choices. Find one or three that work for you.

7. Remember the big picture. Attaining your fitness goals takes effort and means pushing through adversity.

8. Find your motivation. Whether you’re doing this for yourself, your family or some other reason, keep that reason in mind when you feel like quitting.

9. Have fun. It’s hard to succeed at anything unless you enjoy it and make it part of your life.

10. Forgive yourself. No one is 100 percent all the time. The best baseball hitters fail 70 percent of the time. The greatest quarterbacks throw interceptions. The most powerful tycoons make bad deals. When you backslide, pick yourself up and keep going.