Around the Hook Today – February 2011
New Year’s resolutions are easy to make but harder to keep. The secret to keeping an exercise plan throughout the year is for fitness to become a routine rather than just another resolution. A healthy lifestyle must become part of a long-term regular routine rather than be thought of as a short-term solution. The number one New Year’s resolution people make is to lose weight. Many expect it to happen overnight and then lose their motivation when that doesn’t happen. Often when a person makes a resolution, they put up so many obstacles before they even begin that they sabotage their success. Or, they don’t realize that they really have to change. Try to stay open to the process and be willing to do things differently. Think about it, if you’re ideas about fitness worked you’d already be in shape. You made a resolution because your way didn’t work.  Here are our top recommendations to help you stick with your new year’s resolutions.
1.   Document your goals! Studies show that people who write their goals on paper are more successful at achieving them. Keep them in a place where you can see them every day.
2.   Make short term, reasonable goals. Reaching small attainable goals will help keep you motivated.
3.   Make exercise a priority, not an afterthought. Schedule exercise into your calendar making it part of your daily routine. Join EPH&F’s Real Results 8 Week Customized All-Inclusive Health and Fitness Program to kick start your fitness routine.
4.   Move! Besides the obvious physical benefits, regular exercise does a better job of enhancing a person’s mood than sporadic activity, a U.S. study found. The study, published in the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, focused on middle-age non-exercisers.
5.   Join a fitness center that is conveniently located…someplace close to home or work.
6.   If you have children, choose a fitness center that offers child care. EPH&F offers childcare 6 days a week- FREE for members! You can workout for hours and not worry about your kids or pay for nannies/sitters.
7.   Ask for personal attention. Most gyms have personal trainers that can help navigate equipment and devise a fitness plan. Working one on one or in a group with an EPH&F Personal Trainer to create an individual customized Exercise Program will give you the motivation and accountability to keep you on track in the New Year.
8.   Get the OK from your health professional before beginning a new workout routine.
9.   Make sure your eating habits become part of your fitness routine. Meet with EPH&F Nutritionist Kim Garrity for aNutrition Assessment and Consultation. She can help design an Eating Plan or Weight Loss Program to jumpstart you in the New Year.
10.   Try a Detox program. EPH&F offers a cleansing program with Isagenix products. The cleanse helps to detox your body so you can begin the New Year fresh. It is gentle but effective. We also have many other packages for you to consider.
11.   Find what you like to do! EPH&F has two group fitness rooms with over 40 high energy, FUN classes a week! Enjoy Zumba, YogaLates, Kickboxing, Spin, Pilates, Body Sculpt, Beginner’s Yoga, and much more.
12.   Have some health limitations? Do not let that deter you! Working with EPH&F Chiropractors, Physical Therapists and Massage Therapists will help you be stress, pain and injury free in the New Year and improve your overall health, relaxation and well being. Finish your day with our detoxifying, purifying saunas!
