Trainer Tips: Make your New Year's resolution stick

Contributing trainer Becky Conti is back, and this time she's sharing her tips on how to make your fitness resolution last beyond January.

We all make New Year's Resolutions because we think of the New Year as a new beginning or as a chance to make changes to things in our lives we aren’t happy with.  Perhaps the most popular resolutions come in the form of changing our eating and exercise habits with the goal of losing weight.  It’s easy to make a goal and be motivated around the New Year because everyone’s doing it … but what happens a month or two down the road when the motivation wears off?  How do you stick to your weight loss goal long enough to achieve it?  

Research shows that after 6 months, more than half of people have given up on their New Years Resolutions and, after one year, that number is close to 90%! Change is difficult and we often want “quick and easy” results that require little effort. When we don’t see results quickly enough, we get discouraged and lose the motivation to continue. The problem is, diet plans and weight loss products that claim to deliver immediate results are often the most dangerous to your health. Also, those fast-results plans usually require you to follow strict rules and, once you go off those rules, you’ll gain the weight right back! Instead of feeling frustrated if you don’t see instant results, try these tips for keeping yourself patient and motivated to continue: