Just about a month ago, we were celebrating the beginning of a new year, and a new decade. Did you make a New Year’s Resolution? Did you decide that with the new year would come a new you? Did you resolve to lose weight, develop an exercise habit, or change your diet? How is it going for you?

Many people who make these types of vows struggle with maintaining their forward momentum. Maybe you aren’t seeing results as quickly as you’d like, or you feel stifled and tired of even trying. Relax and take heart, for what you are feeling is normal and natural and literally everyone goes through it. How do you get past it, though?

Well, 2010 is here and it’s time to start those New Year’s resolutions. A popular resolution by many people is to increase their fitness level. Well, the first step to doing so is finding a gym. Finding the right gym is a difficult process and in some cases a huge hassle. Follow these simple steps below and you will find the right gym/health club.

Beginner’s Guide to the Gym:

Step 1:  Research several gyms/health clubs and find a few that satisfy your needs/wants.

Step 2: Visit each of those gyms/health clubs and tour them to see if you like or dislike the environment/equipment.

Step 3: Sit down with a membership representative and figure out if you want to do a month-to-month or yearly plan.

Happy New Year! Now that 2009 is safely behind us it is time to embrace the newness of 2010. Not only does today mark the start of a new year, but also the start of a new decade.

There are many New Year’s Day traditions, including eating a bowl of black eyed peas for luck, watching college bowl games, taking down the holiday decorations, and even resolving to make some grand change in the coming weeks and months.

The bowl games sound like the most appealing, but you’ll no doubt find yourself mulling over a resolution. The thing is, most people make some bold decision to make drastic changes in their lives, and no matter how much commitment to that goal they wind up falling short. It’s not because they aren’t capable, but instead that we just aren’t programmed to accept that much change so quickly. Especially when it comes to our favorite food, cigarette, TV show or other vice.

We’re working on a plan for healthy weight management without dieting. If you’re just joining us, you need to catch up. Read the last post, Dieting 101: Getting Started, and make sure this is a journey you want to be on. If you’ve rejected dieting and prepared yourself for changes, it’s time for goals.

Setting realistic goals is so important. You build success upon success. By starting small, you will repeat the easy changes and they add up to big results. So first thing, give yourself permission to set easy goals. Take the struggle out if it!

Goal-Setting Tips

• Think short-term: What is a small change you can do today and repeat tomorrow? Maybe you do no exercise at all. How about measuring how active your lifestyle is with a new, inexpensive pedometer. Wear a pedometer and see how many steps you take. If you have a desk job, I’d be surprised if you get more than 3,000 steps a day and you need 10,000. Does this motivate you to walk 30 minutes at lunch or after dinner?
  

It seems obvious to many that finding a great trainer, mentor, or coach can put you on the right path to meet your fitness goals, but you may not have considered that being a mentor for someone else can also contribute to your personal success.

You do not have to be an expert to learn from your own experiences and share those lessons with others. Sometimes the best mentors are the ones who are more able to remember the difficulties of the journey. It is not important for you to have all the answers to help someone else; even Jillian Michaels has felt stuck when helping others.