By Emily Etheredge
The opportunity to get healthy, lose weight and establish goals for a better lifestyle is often a popular resolution in the new year.
Although many times sticking with the goals is difficult, fitness experts in Chilton County provide tips for sticking to a healthy fitness routine for the entire year.
CEO Executive Director of Chilton County YMCA Mary Beth Wyatt and Anytime Fitness owner in Jemison Nate Fuller both said one of the most important tips for establishing a healthy fitness routine is having a buddy or partner to work out with.
“Having someone to commit to going and working out with you is great because it provides for an element of accountability,” Fuller said. “It helps to have someone to motivate you to work out on a regular basis.”
Wyatt said having an accountability partner makes it harder to quit a routine due to having someone else counting on you.
Other tips from Wyatt and Fuller for starting a routine included, setting achievable goals including small goals along with large goals and recording a starting point by taking measurements as well as weighing prior to beginning the weight loss journey to record in a weight loss journal.
Wyatt said when you first start to establish a healthy fitness schedule, to pick a routine that works with your particular lifestyle.
“If you are not a morning person and you set your workout schedule for a 5 a.m. class, odds are pretty good that you will not achieve your goals,” Wyatt said. “It is possible to lose weight and not be any healthier, if you lose weight the wrong way. If you make a resolution to get healthy, then every time you make a healthy choice you are closer to your goal.”
Fuller said he typically sees an increase of membership at his gym between January and March with people having good intentions of continuing a fitness routine for the rest of the year. However, Fuller said many people lose motivation and focus and tend to stop routinely coming to the gym after the first few months.
“I think a lot of people don’t allow their schedules to make time for a workout routine,” Fuller said. “Thankfully, Anytime Fitness is open 24 hours so you can come workout whenever you have the time.”
Wyatt said many tend to get discouraged by lack of results and start drifting from their New Year’s resolution to lose weight quickly.
“Discouragement, unachievable goals and life getting in the way are a lot of reasons I hear people typically lose focus with their resolutions,” Wyatt said.
Fuller said one of the biggest things to avoid is not doing anything at all.
“Get off the couch,” Fuller said. “Even if you have to start off really slow, just start doing something rather than nothing.”
If trying to lose weight, Wyatt said it is difficult to out-train a bad diet.
“Some people are under the impression they can eat whatever they want and will lose weight as long as they workout,” Wyatt said. “Part of being healthy is nourishing your body.”
Fuller said one of the most important things to avoid is useless calories such as soda that always contain large amounts of sugar.
“The best thing is to drink water,” Fuller said. “I know a lot of people who will drink six soft drinks a day. When you think about that, six soft drinks amounts to roughly 600 calories a day just in soda.”
Both Wyatt and Fuller said the benefits to working out are endless and include more energy, better endurance and an overall boost of health for your body.
Wyatt said the best tip to remember when trying to keep up with a New Year’s weight loss resolution is to join a workout facility that has a free intro to the equipment included. Wyatt said this allows someone who might be new in a gym facility to know exactly how the machines work and how to make the machines a part of a workout routine.
“Do not stress about the other people in the room when you are working out,” Wyatt said. “Just remember they were in your shoes once. No one was born knowing how to work out.”
Fuller said another important thing for people to remember when first starting to work out is that communication is key.
“People are scared to ask questions but that is what we are here for,” Fuller said. “We don’t know how to answer questions and help people if they don’t ask.”
For more information on a developing a lasting fitness routine contact Wyatt at 755-2382 or call Fuller at 688-5060.
“If you are unhappy with where you are it needs to be a lifestyle change,” Fuller said. “It is possible and the benefits to sticking with a healthy fitness routine are endless.”