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Did you spend January all fired up to do something about your fitness and nutrition for once and for all?

Joined gyms, started up a work touch rugby team, run 10 km three times a week, signed up for fitness boot camp, stuck the latest Women’s Weekly diet on your fridge, and bought a dog just so you’d be forced to take it walking?

And now that February is here, your resolve is starting to waver right? Well, you’re not alone. Approx 50% of people who sign up at a gym in the New Year have quit by February, and another 25% have pulled the pin by the end of March. You may have a little more luck with the social sports, but the diet didn’t even eventuate did it? Hey, just because it’s a New Year’s resolution doesn’t make it any easier to stick to.

After all, isn’t that the approach you took last year? And the year before that?

Jumping into diet and exercise headlong is certainly to be admired, but there’s really no point in all the hassle if you’re just going to quit. Here’s a better way to approach 2009; follow these guidelines and you’ll form habits you can maintain easily – you’ll sail through March while everyone is quitting around you!

1. Pull your head in

As I mentioned above, don’t try going hard out right from the get go. You’re going to be sore, you’re going to be discouraged, you’ll start dreading your workouts…and then you’ll quit. It’s great that you’re all fired up to make a change, but try to keep your enthusiasm in check somewhat.

Start off slow.

Seriously, if it’s been a while since you’ve exercised; even 5 minutes might be enough to leave you aching. Don’t make the mistake of thinking there’s no point in such a short session – if you do 6 minutes the next day and 7 minutes after that, you’ll be training for half an hour straight within a month. You wouldn’t run a full marathon without building up to it right? So don’t do it with your workouts. Take your time and you might just start to enjoy it.

2. Keep Your Workouts Short and Sweet

Have you noticed that people allocate about an hour for a workout? Most personal trainers charge by the hour and aerobic and group fitness classes take an hour.
Who invented this ‘One Hour Workout’ rule? Anyway, most of that hour is spent waiting for equipment, socialising, or talking on your cell phone.

Once the above mentioned new exerciser reaches 30 minutes of non-stop training, I would recommend now focus on doing more work in that same 30 minutes. After a certain point, longer workouts are not better. Keep it short and intense, and you’ll get better results than those long, slow, boring gym sessions, as well as saving time to do other things. What do I mean by intense? Well, here’s a good way to judge it – do you read a magazine when you’re on the cardio equipment? Not intense….
Are you able to talk with your buddy when bench pressing or squatting? Not intense…

3. Forget about Fad Diets

I’m sure you’ve heard the radio ads for the Lemon Detox Diet. Were you tempted? When most people start a new health kick they’ve a tendency to go for the miracle diets promising incredible results in next to no time, with next to no effort, usually endorsed by a celebrity model/actress.

Come on – you know it’s not that simple.

Find someone who has the kind of physique you want and ask them what they do. Guaranteed they will tell you that they simply eat real food – they probably doesn’t have any special rules, supplements or major restrictions. Try this for a month:

– don’t eat anything with sugar or flour in it except for one day per week – eat as much fruit and veggies as you possible can – every meal. – drink only water, tea and the occasional coffee. – eat something containing protein at every meal

Give it an honest 30 days and you’ll be surprised at the results.

So there you have it. Three simple things to get you started on the road to a better body. Forget about complicated routines and restrictive diets, just focus on the basics, and most importantly, start today!

Article provided by www.gymjunkie.co.nz – for more like this visit www.gymjunkie.co.nz

Darren Ellis has an MSc specialising in Exercise Physiology and Nutrition. He is the co-owner of CrossFit NZ, a functional fitness facility in Panmure, Auckland. His clients range from world champion athletes to stay at home parents, to high school children. He can be contacted at darren@crossfitnz.co.nz