The following shows how many of these resolutions are maintained as time goes on:
1) Past the first week: 75%
2) Past 2 weeks: 71%
3) After one month: 64%
4) After 6 months: 46% ⁽¹⁾

But don’t let those stats convince you to plop down on your couch with a bag of chips. People who explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don’t explicitly make resolutions. ⁽¹⁾ So, if you want to lose weight or just get more fit in 2007, then resolving to do so may be beneficial to you. Just make sure you have an action plan that helps ensure your success.

A Department of Labor survey of adults asked them to identify the biggest issue that prevents them from achieving their New Years Resolutions or goals. The top 3 reasons identified were as follows:
1) Procrastinating 33%
2) Lack of discipline 24%
3) No game plan 19%.

Here is a specific action plan for diet and fitness related resolutions that will help eliminate these three top issues.

• Find a positive support system
  For some, family may be just what they need. But, if your family members are struggling with the same diet or weight loss issues as you and aren’t ready to commit themselves to change, then you might want to look elsewhere. Friends may also be an option, but again if they are struggling with their own issues then you might want to enlist other help. Try finding a local support group of like-minded people, go online for a virtual support group or seek out the help of a professional personal trainer or dietician.

• Don’t put off tomorrow what you can do today
  One of the biggest obstacles new dieters/exercises face is just getting started. If you continue to say “I’ll start tomorrow”, then you may find that tomorrow never comes. You repeatedly push it off and before you know it another year has passed by while you remain in the same place you were before. If you promise to start tomorrow, then do it! Don’t allow any other “priority” to get in the way. At the risk of sounding cliché, Just Do It!

• Start a new exercise plan slowly but remain consistentand build up on it. Follow this example:
  • Week 1: Walk for 20- 30 minutes just 2 times per week.
  • Week 2: Increase your walking frequency to 3 times per week. Add in one day of strength training. Try 5-10 exercises to target your entire body.
  • Weeks 3-4: Maintain the three days of walking and increase the strength training to two times per week.
  • Weeks 5-6: Increase the intensity of your walk sessions by increasing the speed and/or increasing the incline. If possible, walk four times per week and strength train 3 times per week.
  • Weeks 7-8: Time to change things up to keep your body challenged and avoid plateaus and burnout. Try adding a different cardio option at least two times per week (swimming, jogging, playing a sport, etc.). For the strength training, try new techniques like pyramids or supersets. You may need to enlist the help of a personal trainer for new ideas.

• Start a new diet plan slowly but consistently.Avoid labeling any foods as “bad”. Eat a variety but in moderation and include more of the nutritionally dense foods.
  • Week 1: Improve your hydration through your daily water intake. Try to consume approximately 64 ounces per day.
  • Week 2: Add in one extra vegetable a day until you are eating 5 servings of vegetables every day.
  • Week 3: Include one serving of lean protein at every meal.
  • Week 4: Limit starches and sweets (simple carbohydrates).

Find more help with weekly dietary guideline advice.

The above exercise and diet recommendations give you a substantial game plan for your first two months. All you have to do is implement it.   Post this action plan on your refrigerator or somewhere else that will force you to look at it every day. And, mark every action on your daily calendar to ensure it doesn’t get bumped by some other priority.

Also, remember that setbacks are normal and should not spell disaster for your resolution. If you are following your game plan 90% of the time and only 10% of the time falling off the wagon, then pat yourself on the back and cut yourself a little slack! If you find yourself starting to really wane from the plan, then tap back into what helped you initially get motivated. Don’t give up. Just start where you can (even if that’s taking a few steps backward) and head toward your goal.

If you’d like the help of a guide who can personally help you reach your goals this year, help is available, and free! Contact an email mentor today and they will help you. (This is a free and confidential service.)

⁽¹⁾ Source: Auld Lang Syne: Success predictors, change processes, and self-reported outcomes of New Year’s resolvers and nonresolvers, by John C. Norcross, Marci S. Mrykalo, Matthew D. Blagys , University of Scranton. Journal of Clinical Psychology, Volume 58, Issue 4 (2002).

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According to Statistics Canada, 23.1% of Canadians aged 18 or older (5.5 million people) are obese, with another 36.1% (8.6 million) are overweight. This means that over half of Canada is overweight.

Although I am not overweight myself, neither is my lifestyle particularly healthy. But about two months ago I heard some friends from church talking about the P90X workout system, and decided to give it a try. P90X consists of a 45-60 minute workouts as well as a complete nutrition system. The idea is that you can go from flab to buff in 90 days.

Let me just say, it has not been an entirely enjoyable journey so far. (Also, I should make it clear that it is certainly NOT me in the photo to the left.) For one thing, I don’t have a pull-ups bar, which makes it impossible to do the pull-ups exercises. Pull-ups, plural, might be a bit optimistic for me anyways. Also, the nutrition plan is pretty hardcore. I imagine most people, like me, would have a very difficult time having the willpower and patience to keep to it. There have been times that, through pain, instead of shouting “Bring it!” along with the videos, and I’ve considered throwing out all this exercise stuff and buying some donuts instead!

Yet despite my struggles so far, I do feel healthier. And it does seem to be getting a little easier to keep it up now that I’m getting used to it. One thing I’ve found particularly helpful is keeping track on a calendar which workouts I complete to help me chart my progress.

Do you exercise? What is your favorite workout? What are the excuses that people often give for not working out?

Ready For More?
Work out your stress
Parents: Get active and become a healthy role model

Taekwon Do is a great way to build up muscle tone, flexibility, and lose a few pounds. Practicing martial arts can help develop discipline, reduce stress, and can even help you feel safer by learning self defense moves. It’s an activity that the whole family can enjoy together – students range in age from 5 to 60 or even 70 years old.

Taekwon Do is an internationally recognized sport with competitions held around the world. Based in Vienna, the International Taekwon Do Federation is the oldest Taekwon Do association in the world.

Rod Johnson is a full time martial arts instructor with 27 years martial arts experience and a former Western Canadian champion. His teaching style is positive, inclusive, organized and humorous. He encourages students to excel in all areas of their lives through developing focus and commitment to their martial arts training. Rod believes that the key to a student’s success in martial arts is to create a comfortable learning environment where each student feels welcome and appreciated.

Ready For More?
On the blog: Make a run for it
Work out your stress

If you’re looking for a new challenge or just want to kick start your fitness plans,

For several years now our family has participated in the Vancouver Sun Run, a 10km run/walk through some of the city’s most beautiful neighborhoods.  We take the kids with us so we set a pretty leisurely pace through the route.  It’s a great chance to get outside, get moving and spend some time together.

If you want to participate in a race this year, be sure to check with your doctor first.  Make sure you have a good pair of running shoes to protect your feet and joints and remember to start slowly.  April is a great time of year to take your workout outside.  I’ll see you at the finish line.

More ways to get moving:
A Fine Balance
Take care of yourself

It’s one thing for someone who sits at a computer all day and never exercises to have back pain, but for a bodybuilder,

The reason we say this is because, if you are going to spend so much time, money, and energy trying to build the “perfect body”, you have to make sure that you not only look good, but also feel good.

We’ve identified what we call “Bodybuilding Sins” that lead to back pain, sciatic pain, and other injuries… read ‘em and take action now if you are serious about bodybuilding and are fed up with your back pain.

Choosing the WRONG exercises

Get ready, this is gonna hurt! The exercises most bodybuilders focus on the most, are the ones that cause the most problems. Hopefully, you’re different.

But before we share with you what those exercises are, let’s talk real quickly about what bodybuilding is.

The goal of bodybuilding isn’t to get as big as you can, or at least to us it isn’t and shouldn’t be, but to build a balanced body that is as strong as possible in every way. For example, while being freakishly big may get people’s attention, it serves you no purpose at all. While on the other hand, what if you were not only big, but also extremely strong and powerful, lightning fast, flexible, and agile enough to kick butt if needed?

So many bodybuilders build massive amounts of muscle yet are so unbelievably weak and inflexible. For example, we know a guy who can bench press over 350 lbs but can’t do a measely 50 push-ups!

The point is, the exercises you choose and how you perform them not only determine how big, strong, and flexible you are, but also affect how your body functions and whether or not you suffer from aches, pains, and injuries like back pain and sciatic pain.

Ok, here they are–the exercises that create the most problems and are most likely to lead to back pain:

1. Bench Press
2. Leg Extension

So, any of your favorites on this list?

While there are others, these are the two that cause the most damage.

There are several reasons why these exercises made our list of the “worst bodybuilding exercises”.

1. Bench press

First, all of them target areas that already tend to get worked a lot in everyday life and oftentimes are overdeveloped. By focusing so much on these exercises you end up creating muscle imbalances, or worsening existing muscle imbalances, which pull your bones and joints out of their normal position.

This leads to uneven pressure and wear and tear on your muscle, ligaments, tendons, bones, and joints and will sooner or later lead to a break down or injury.

For example, chronic overuse of the bench press, coupled with little or no exercises targeting the upper back, leads to an overdevelopment of the chest and a lack of strength and development in the upper back.

This all too common combination leads to what we call “Turtle Back”. You know what we’re talking about, when the shoulders are pulled so far forward, lats are as wide as barn, and from behind, their back looks like a giant sea turtle shell!

This “Turtle Back” posture can create neck, upper back, and shoulder pain and injuries faster than you can pop an Advil!

Plus, how many times during your day are you forced to lie on your back and push up a bar loaded with weights? There are so many better exercises for chest development that not only stimulate more muscle, but also build more usable strength.

2. Leg extension

Not only does it place an unbelievable amount of strain on the knee joint, but it also will quickly overdevelop the quads, which are already getting far more work than their counterpart, the hamstrings.

An imbalance between the quadriceps and hamstrings, which is also extremely common in bodybuilders, is a key contributor to back pain. This imbalance is easily identifiable by what people often call “Bubble Butt” or “Ghetto Booty”.

So hopefully you can see how important it is to choose your exercises wisely. We strongly recommend you cut out these exercises, or at least cut back on using them and add in targeted exercises for the opposing muscle groups and targeted stretches for those tight, overdeveloped muscles.

The key to eliminating back pain, or any other ache, pain or injury for that matter, is to bring your body closer to balance.

What good is muscle if you can’t use it? How many more workouts are you going to miss because of back, neck, or shoulder pain? How much bigger and stronger could you be if back pain and other injuries weren’t ruining your training?

Just imagine how bad things will be 10, 20, or 30 years from now if you don’t make changes to your training now, but don’t take our word for it, ask some of the older bodybuilders who are paying the price now. You can spot them easily at the gym because they limp around trying to find something they CAN do.

Used with permission.