Keeping the New Year’s resolution alive

by Grace on January 9, 2010

Photo for illustration purposes only.

Thank you all very much for your kind words in my last post regarding that could have been TV appearance for me. I did not expect anyone would comment on that post except for Dubai expats, so thank you. I haven’t seen that show as there are no tv channels installed at my home (TV is solely for DVD and Wii) so I didn’t really know some of you are actually watching it. The idea excites me but for all I know, I wouldn’t be able to do it. I am terrible in front of a crowd and the idea of appearing on a television show abroad is overwhelming.

Oh and let’s not forget to mention that people look at least 10 pounds heavier in the boob tube so no, not now.

*****

Speaking of weight — the New Year just rolled in and with the new year comes the string of resolutions. We all know what is the most popular and common new year’s resolution of all. It had been my resolution for years. You don’t?

They gym I’m going to is FULL. The cardio machines are all taken (I am ok with that – I have the weights section all to myself). It is humid and the place stinks of sweat. Everyone looks motivated to burn that holiday blubber. It will be difficult to get on the treadmill or elliptical now – at least for a couple of weeks more. Research reveals that the most popular and common ”I want to lost weight” or “I promise to go the gym regularly” kind of resolutions fade before Valentine’s Day – sometimes even sooner.

Why?

Motivation does not last and I”ve learned over the course of these past few months that the real motivation comes from seeing the RESULTS of our effort.

Some newcomers at my gym – four women who are overweight and having a lot of belly fat to burn are told by the gym manager to step on the treadmill and do steady state cardio (same speed) for 30-45 minutes. No incline. These women work nearby and like me, they try hard to crunch some exercise time in their daily routine by going to the gym during lunch break. I am sure that the last thing they ever want to hear is somebody telling them to walk for 30-45 minutes! They all started last January 2nd and it’s the 9th today – one week after the gym rush, one of the women quit. I don’t know if the other three will be there when I go in a couple of minutes.

As working moms (I’m talking about myself and other working moms here) – we simply do NOT have the luxury of time to exercise for hours. We all like to scream at the top of our lungs: ”We want minimum time and maximum result!”

Hey, if long, steady state cardio works for you, I am happy for you.

But it DOESN’T/WILL NOT work for me. I have done it in the past years with very mininum/zero results. I get bored with 30 minutes same speed walking/running on the treadmill – and please don’t tell me to fix my eyes on the telly because I did not go to the gym for entertainment. If I am alone there, I even turn it off. Such distraction.

Some keys to keeping that motivation is:

Variation – try different exercises, increase intensity, add weights, set the incline on the treadmill, shuffle your exercise program (you do have one, right? If you’re coming to the gym thinking, “Hmm, what will I do next?” then you are wasting your precious minutes). The purpose of variation is to take away the mundane routine and to keep the body guessing.
Measure – get a tape measure and measure every 2 weeks. The scale lies, the tape measure doesn’t. It tells you what you’ve been up to.
Journal – write your exercise and nutrition plans, record the number of repetitions you did and aim to get better next time (compete with yourself), write your body measurements down, let the numbers stare at you in the face!

Back to the treadmill women at the gym – I am a big, big advocate of HIIT (high intensity interval training). It keeps the workouts short (15 mins max) with great results. You can feel the afterburn. I am burning calories even hours after I get out of the gym. It helped me reduce my jeans size from a 14 to an 8 –> the result that makes me empowered and keeps my new year’s resolution fire burning past the first weeks of January.