FitSugar

Planning Makes Perfect: How to Stick With Your Healthy Resolutions

Leta Shy — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 07:18:26 PST

If you've set a healthy goal for the year, you've probably spent some time thinking about just how you're going to make sure you stick with your resolutions. Here are some tips on how to plan ahead so you can stick with your fitness goals well beyond January!

Source: Thinkstock

How to Jump-Start Your 2012 Workout Action Plan

Heather Dale — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 04:45:08 PST

If you're the type of person who likes to set New Year's resolutions each year, then you've probably already come up with some fitness-related goals to add to the list. With the holidays soon coming to a close, it can be difficult to carve out some time to plan for the next 12 months, which is why I've come up with some easy tips to help you get your workout plan underway. Just make sure your list doesn't include some of these unrealistic resolutions, which are pretty much guaranteed to fail!

Get Calendar Crazy: Don't stress about filling in your calendar for the entire year, but what can be helpful is to plan out the next two or three months. Is there a yoga or spin class you've been wanting to try? Find the class time each week and add it to your calendar so you instantly block off that time. If you know you want to get back into running, carve some time out of your calendar for scheduled running sessions. Also pencil in marathons and anything else fitness-related that interests you and is happening in 2012.

Keep reading to check out the rest of the plan!

Get Fit Challenge 6: My Goals For 2011 Baby!

Fit Community — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 01:00:13 PST

FitSugar reader fitgirl792 shared her fitness goals for the sixth challenge of our Get Fit For 2011 giveaway, and you should too!

TOP TEN FITNESS AND HEALTH GOALS:

1) decrease my body fat by five percent

2) get long, lean dancer legs (Fergalicious)

3) tight toned abs like that of Britney Spears in her hey day

4) high, perky butt

5) increase my endurance and VO2 Max

6) cut down on as many processed foods as possible, whenever I'm hungry I will eat fruits or veggies as a snack

7) bring my water intake to about 90 ounces a day

8) remember to take all my supplements every morning:)

9) drop down a size or two . . .

10) hopefully get my favorite person in the whole world (my sister) to join the journey with me!!!

It's catch-up week since we are midway through in our Get Fit For 2011 challenge. If you missed any of the first five challenges, here's your chance to enter to win a Nike gift card and a chance to win our grand prize - a four-day fitness boot camp in LA!

Love May Keep You From Going to the Gym, According to Study

Leta Shy — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 17:00:11 PST

When trying to stick to your New Year's resolutions, having a support system can be very important. After all, encouragement from your significant other motivates you to stick to your new diet and exercise regimen, right? Actually, a new study says that all that support from your partner may be keeping you from accomplishing your fitness goals.

The study, published in the new issue of Psychological Science, surveyed 52 women and found that focusing on specific ways their significant others supported them in reaching their health and fitness goals made them decide to slack off more than those who did not think about it. Another group ended up procrastinating longer on a task after they thought about the help they would receive from their loved one.

Turns out, when we realize how much support we're getting from our loved ones, it may subconsciously allow us to give ourselves more leeway, a phenomenon called "outsourcing exertion." In other words, thinking about how much your partner shares the burden of your goals allows you to justify working less hard toward them yourself!

If you're paired off, however, you're not doomed to a couch potato life. The researchers said the effect was only seen when respondents focused on a specific goal, and the respondents' dependency on their partners made them more likely to stay committed to the relationship. So while musing about all the ways your partner supports your daily gym run can be detrimental, their actual acts of helping you stick to a diet and exercise routine are all good news!

Worst Excuses For Skipping a Workout

Angelica Marden — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 14:53:48 PST

Most everything in life takes effort. Getting your booty to the gym after a long day at work can require iron-clad motivational techniques, and even then, the excuses are quick at hand.

The other day after a strength training class I overheard two women talking in the locker room. One asked the other if she was going for a run later, to which the woman replied, "Are you kidding me? I just flat ironed my hair. I'm not doing anything to work up a sweat for a week." I giggled, empathizing with misbehaving hair issues, but realized that's just another silly excuse to wiggle out of a workout.

I asked fans of FitSugar's Facebook page to share some of the lamest excuses they'd heard or used to get out of a workout, and the answers were a classic mix of relatable and ridiculous. Here are some of my favorites:

Workout Motivation Techniques From Fit Readers

FitSugar — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 04:00:24 PST

After a long day of work, school and every obligation in between, fitting in ample workout time can be a tough race. With so many readers joining our Get Fit For 2011 challenge and hoping to work out more this year, we offered up some helpful ways to motivate yourself to get your sweat on. Need more kick starts (who doesn't?!)? Here are some inspiring tips we received in comments from readers like you.

"My gym provides shampoo, conditioner, body wash and lotion - and it's a lot nicer than what I could buy myself. So there are times when I literally won't buy shampoo for weeks or months after running out, but it motivates me to get to the gym since they have it there. A friend of mine doesn't belong to my gym but she does a similar thing: she buys the trial sizes of really nice brands of shampoo and uses them as travel washes in her gym bag, but she can only use them after working out." - laellavita
"I like to visualize how my body will feel both immediately after the workout, as well as in the long run if I continue to go. It helps me get to the gym for both the endorphins, and the toned muscles that will come with time!" - Gabriela Une Vie Saine

Keep reading for more inspiration.

No More Excuses! 10 Tricks That'll Motivate You to Work Out

Angelica Marden — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 03:05:46 PST

It's true what they say: 80 percent of success is just showing up. Once you're there - you're there. Now tell me that when it's Friday at 6:15 in the morning after a Thursday night happy hour and I'm supposed to be at the gym for a class in 15 minutes. Propelling yourself to the gym, pool, mat, or trail can feel like a hurdle in its own right, but it's always one worth jumping. If you've resolved to join our Get Fit For 2011 challenge and work out more, motivate yourself to keep on sweating with these tricks.

Channel that glorious post workout feeling. Whenever you feel the instinct to skip a sweat session, imagine how accomplished and energized you feel after just 30 minutes or an hour of exercise. Just get there already.
Make a date with a friend or fitness trainer. If you set a time to meet someone, you'll feel obligated to go, even when your mind and body are telling you otherwise.
Create a healthy post workout routine and make time for it too. Reward yourself after a workout by scheduling extra moments to relax in the steam room, blow out your hair to perfection, get a hot coffee, or simply sit and enjoy an apple.

Keep reading for more tips.

A Reader's Get Fit For 2011 Goal: Get My Healthy Lifestyle Back

Fit Community — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 02:00:22 PST

Meet FitSugar reader TiffanyG11 and check out the fitness goals she posted in our Get Fit For 2011 community group.

I have been involved in the health and fitness industry for over 10 years. Actually, longer if you consider all the years I spent playing sports while growing up. I was the starting point guard on my college basketball team and at that point I was in the best shape of my life. I was motivated, dedicated, and determined.

After college I became a personal trainer to help motivate and inspire others. Recently, I became the fitness manager at my gym and have now found myself spending countless hours behind a desk and not taking the time to take care of myself. That is my goal for 2011 . . . take care of myself so I can take care of others!

I am going to stretch everyday, read more, get eight hours of sleep, increase my cardio, and register for a fitness competition in May!

Be well and here is to a great 2011!

We're on week two of our Get Fit For 2011 giveaway. For the second challenge, be sure to post a day of your food journal to enter our weekly giveaway of a $100 Nike gift card and a chance to win our grand prize - a four-day fitness boot camp in LA!

A Reader's Get Fit For 2011 Goals

Fit Community — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 03:30:43 PST

Meet Sugar user ku002 and check out the fitness goals she posted in our Get Fit For 2011 community group. By doing so, she entered our weekly giveaway!

2011 Goals

1. Stretch every day! This can be in the form of a yoga class, a quick wake-me-up toe touch when I get out of bed, or a little pause in the workday (in the privacy of my office!). But every day I want to take a mindful moment to stretch and reflect on all the things my body can do for me.

2. Be more mindful about my physical activity. Some days I just zone out on the elliptical and don't get the work that I put the time in for. While this is fine some days (hello stress!), why waste my time if I'm just going to waste my time? On the flip side, I know my activity may not always be the healthiest decision. So I'd like to include some thought into each work out - outlining why I'm doing it and what I want to accomplish.

3. On that note . . . I'd like to run a 10K by September! 5K - check! Now let's step it up!

4. Have fun! With a new rock climbing class this Spring semester, I can't wait to get out there and ROCK IT!

Share your fitness and health goals for the New Year in the Get Fit For 2011 community group and enter to win our weekly prize: a $100 Nike gift card. We're also giving away a fabulous grand prize fitness package!

A Reader's Get Fit 2011 Goal: The Year I Got My Dream Body

Fit Community — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 04:00:49 PST

Meet Sugar user onlysourcherry and check out the fitness goals she posted in our Get Fit For 2011 community group. By doing so, she entered our weekly giveaway!

I’m so excited about 2011 because I’m determined to make this the year I finally reach my dream weight and dream body. I’m 5’6” and currently weigh 137 pounds. By the end of this challenge, or at least before bikini season, I hope to weigh 125 pounds.

My plan:

During weekdays, eat 1200 calories. On weekends, I have more flexibility, but absolutely everything I eat must be recorded on the Daily Plate. I also hope to cut down on my sodium intake. Despite the fact that I eat very little processed foods, never add salt, and typically cook for myself, I somehow always end up over the 2400 mg a day.

In terms of fitness, I want to do the treadmill/elliptical (depending on my mood) for 45 minutes three times a week. Pilates once a week (with a 20 minute treadmill/elliptical warm-up), and yoga twice a week - once on my own (also with a cardio warm-up), and once in a class.

I’ve been keeping up so far with these goals, and I’m looking forward to posting an awesome bikini photo by the end of this challenge!

Source: Flickr User lululemon athletica