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Tips For A Healthy New Year

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You ate, drank, and were merry. And now it’s time to get back to your healthy-living routine. Kristin Fergasse of BodyQuest Fitness in Solana Beach says, “First, don’t be too hard on yourself if over the holidays your workout routine and proper food choices took a back burner to parties, overindulging, and lack of control.” Each January we formulate the perfect New Year’s resolution — eat less, exercise more, and renew our self-discipline. While these ideals give us a sense of motivation, we must remember to bring action to them. “Get your body moving!” encourages Fergasse. “Join a gym, set up hiking dates with a friend, take a dance class, lift weights, or learn some new healthy cooking recipes to spice up dinner.”

 

“New Year’s resolutions are so often forgotten after January,” agrees Doreen Hall of Pilates People in Sorrento Valley. To be successful, Hall advises, “Resolve to be true to yourself!” Some need more cardio, while others need stretching or core work. Or some people may have a goal of ridding pain, while others want to shed pounds. Whatever the case, “Set aside some time alone to reflect on what you need to do to improve your health, then create a plan made of baby steps to achieve your goals,” says Hall. To do so, she advises:

 

1.    Create accountability. Get an exercise partner or a trainer.

2.    Keep a diet diary (and be honest!): Write down everything that you eat.

3.    Drink more water!

4.    Incorporate stretching into every exercise routine. You’ll be less likely to injure yourself, thus sabotaging your plan.

5.    When going out to dinner, cut your meal in half right away and take half home for lunch the next day

6.    Be sure to mix up your workouts with both cardio and resistance training.

7.    And remember, a body with greater muscle tone is more efficient and burns more calories at rest.

And keep an open mind when it comes to working out. When you find something that challenges you mentally, physically, and emotionally, it’s worth committing to. “It’s important as a gym owner and trainer to find out what motivates and inspires the person sitting in front of me,” notes Fergasse. “Sometimes it’s health related, like reversing the signs of osteoporosis or heart disease, it can be purely to look and feel better in clothes, or it can be taking their already stellar fitness ability to a whole new level. Whatever the reason, scheduled weekly workouts are key.”

 

Overall, it’s about making a habit out of eating right and exercising. “Create a healthy lifestyle not just a January fling with fitness,” says Fergasse. “Now is the time — not later, not after a new job starts, or you move into a new place, or your kids go back to college. It’s putting one foot in front of the other, opening the door, and taking that first step.”    MIA STEFANKO

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