Go for a fitter me resolution

Ruchi Goyal

If you are making a New Year resolution, chances are that it would be related to losing weight.

Usually New Year resolutions for our body tend to be big and impressive, and this is the first step in setting us up for failure. Most people resolve to lose weight by starving themselves or exercising like a maniac. But, do such resolutions last? Definitely no. Why not dispense with the age-old ‘lose weight’ resolution and look at the problem from a different perspective? Instead of being myopic and looking at short-term ‘weight loss’ plan, let us aim for a more holistic goal.

Fitness over weight loss 

A fitter me resolution would help you focus on understanding your body better, improving nutrition and increasing stamina without cutting down on total food consumption. This can be achieved by making intelligent food choices and exercising regularly. Weight loss will follow inevitably.

Why not “a thinner me”?

Because only a well-nourished and fit body can enable us to perform our daily activities efficiently and that includes our workout schedule. A fitter body would also be disease free and keep us happier.

One can become leaner through strict ‘dieting’ and lose weight, but the whole purpose is defeated if we also lose our zest for life and need to rely on nutritional supplements to overcome the deficiencies caused due to imbalanced eating.

How to achieve?

One should plan the processes to achieve the fitness goal. This would include making a workable health plan that accounts for both our food intake and our exercise schedule. For example, the food intake plan can include short and specific targets like having five different colours of fruits or vegetables every day, drinking five glasses of water and keeping a tab on sugar and fat intake. The exercise goals can be simple - three days of strength training or three days of brisk walking every week. 

It is very important to ensure that the steps are realistic. There are greater chances of keeping and reaching them. Once these small steps get integrated into our daily routine, the next set of goals can be set up.

Measuring our progress

One should keep track of one’s progress in a journal. Measurements can be logged in every three days. That would not only give us a clearer perspective of where we are headed but also motivate us.

A regular Body Composition Analysis can help one understand the actual changes happening in the body, which might not be visible on the weighing scales. It will help one keep a tab on the overall body progress in terms of both the muscle mass and the fat percentage. One can then plan gradual dietary changes in terms of proteins, carbs and fat. 

Plan for the bumps on the road

While most people are able to sustain the initial enthusiasm for a few weeks, but slowly they start to lose interest and get de-motivated. In order to not give up, it is important to have someone there on a regular basis to motivate us and get us through those rough times. 

How do I know if I am on the right path?

If you feel lighter and more energetic after your workout and your meal is not making you feel low on energy, then you are on the right track. The changes in lifestyle would be sustainable, having been incorporated into your daily routine as well as your eating and exercise schedule.

Remember, resolutions work only if one is resolute and changes are effective if they are permanent. This year, make a healthy body resolution and stick with it. (Goyal is a Chandigarh-based clinical nutritionist and dietician)