Out with New Years Resolutions…In with Positive Intentions

Out with New Year Resolutions and In with Positive Intentions 

As we prepare to say a goodbye 2015 and Welcome in  2016, for a lot of people its a time of reflection and making resolutions for the year ahead.
A New year equals a fresh start, a chance to make changes for self improvement.  Most people full of Turkey, chocolate, buffet food  and alcohol make  New Year  resolutions  , often with too many restrictions for you to actually be able to keep it up for any longer than a few weeks and lets face it  we can plan as much as we like, however life happens and can on occasion throw us a curveball which can knock us off track. Then when it all goes wrong, you can be left feeling like a total failure and just give up entirely.

So for 2016, why not try a different tact – rather than make a New year resolution, why not set yourself some Positive intentions for the year ahead.   Intentions are Positive calls to action  – something you would like to do rather than maybe something perhaps you feel you should. Its an ongoing process and leaves room for a little more flexibility especially when life throws those curve balls at you!.

so for example    Rather than say My New Years resolution is to go on a diet and  lose weight, therefore I am only going to eat Salad for the whole of January  and get up an hour earlier to do an hours workout before work  but   lets face it – who wants to eat salad in January – its freezing cold and Salad can get boring very quickly!!!!!!!!  And those dark mornings when you want to bury under the covers just for 5 minutes more…..  why not say this year   I will Love myself enough to make more healthier food choices   and move a little more . You could aim to try a new healthy food recipe  once a week , and/or set yourself a challenge to be active every day  even if its only 10 minutes on busy days –  something as simple as sticking your favourite song on and dancing around to it at home – its a cardio workout!.   Little changes all add up and just by make small changes to your nutrition and moving a little more , you’ll start to notice the positive benefits and want to keep it up  perhaps adding further challenges as you grow more confident in your journey.

or

I challenge myself to try something new   -maybe its a new hobby, experience ,book, a new type of food .

I aim to visit a place I have never visited before  -maybe its a Country / City you’ve always wanted to travel to.

So get your journal/notebook and a pen and think what would I like to happen in 2016 and write it down and keep it to hand as a daily reminder of your hopes and dreams for the year ahead .   After all its the first blank page of a 366  day year in 2016 – make it a good one!.

I’d love to hear what your Positive intentions are for 2016 !  Follow me on Twitter @mis_fit1 or Instagram @Littlemisfitjojo
or facebook /lilmisfit1

Wishing you all a Wonderfully Happy and healthy New Year – may all your wishes come true xxxxx

  Why the Scales are not always the best tool in your Health and Fitness Journey 

How many times have you stepped on the scales, after having what you thought was a really “good” week, only to be disheartened  not to see any movement on the numbers, or even worse a change in the wrong direction???.

As a fitness instructor, this is the most common question – why after doing all this exercise am I not losing any weight or even gaining weight.

We’ve all been there. You sweated buckets and managed to avoid the temptation of the biscuit tin and the scale hasn’t even moved!, all that hard work for nothing. Except it wasn’t  – look beyond the number on the scale. Scales are not always a true indication of how healthy you are. If you work out a lot – you will probably find that actually you maybe weigh more , why? lean Muscle is why . Muscle weighs  more than fat but takes up less room. So yes the number on the scale is higher but your clothes are smaller – hurrah. plus the more muscle you have the more fat you burn.  Look at the picture below – at her heaviest weight – she actually has the leaner more toned body.

Weight-Ratio

(Thanks to Train Like Beauty for Image Use)

A lean body is gained by combining working out with  eating   clean healthy  fresh foods and Limiting the amount of processed foods, alcohol, fizzy pop, and sugar.

By all means continue to weigh yourself on occasion, but also measure yourself and just take a  look at yourself in the mirror – do you see muscle tone start to appear?, are your clothes fitting better than before? – maybe you have dropped a dress size, despite the number on the scale. Do you feel more energetic and positive? .  Do you feel fitter, stronger?, are you able to progress to the next level such as full press up? . Look beyond the scales – if you are working out and eating healthy, little changes are happening and  those little changes all add up to huge progress.

#strongnotskinny

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