Healthy for 2022: Northampton personal trainer shares his top tips for New Year resolutions

It's officially 2022 and it's that time where you are guaranteed to hear people start saying ‘new year new me’. You've probably said it yourself and set new year resolutions like ‘get fitter’, lose weight and be healthier.

While motivation is high you dive straight in with all the new fitness goodies you got for Christmas.

You're in the gym five times a week, all the chocolate and crisps have been taken out of the house and you're on the latest new diet trend.

It's all going well, but then motivation starts to fade.

You remember how hard all this ‘getting fitter and healthier’ business is and by February or March, those new year resolutions feel lost.

If that sounds familiar, you're definitely not alone.

According to a 2016 study in the USA, of the 41 percent of Americans who make New Year's resolutions, by the end of the year, only nine percent feel they are successful in keeping them.

How to make resolutions/goals sustainable and achievable?

1. Setting realistic goals

A large reason people fail is that they set unrealistic goals. They set goals like going to the gym five times a week, giving up eating chocolate, or trying to lose three stones in one month.

Firstly, If the goal has an unrealistic time frame, you will likely be disappointed when you realise it is going to take longer than you thought.

Secondly, if the daily and weekly habits you have set are unsustainable, you will probably feel like a failure and give up.

My recommendation is to try your best to be realistic and build up slowly with your goals.

Set mini-goals and review them regularly.

Maybe start with exercising one to two times per week, increasing veggies and fruit portions and begin to drink enough water each day.

Once you are consistent with the more simple habits and feel content with continuing them, you can look to stack more on top of these.

This way, you are giving yourself a chance to complete your goals that will feel good and allow yourself to build habits for life.

2. Tracking your progress

If you are not tracking your progress, then you may easily lose motivation and forget why you started.

Some weeks you will not make progress, some weeks you will make progress but not be aware and some weeks you will make clear progress.

So it's important to have some data that will allow you to assess and make decisions to continue.

These can be simple things like your weight, body measurements, progress photos, energy levels and workout specific data.

It's also really important to celebrate all the small wins to remind yourself how far you have come. Each week I get my clients to list their wins (big or small).

Just the simple task of writing these down helps you to stay on track, see your progress and stay motivated.

How to stick to them?

Sticking to those resolutions can be hard, especially when the motivation starts to wear off, but you can do things to improve your chances.

Make yourself accountable

Accountability is hugely powerful. It can come in many forms.

The simple act of telling your friends and family works well because you will not want to let people you have told as well as yourself. The people you tell will hopefully support you too.

Other things you can do to help provide accountability is join groups with a community where others have similar health and fitness goals as you.

Some people even post on social media regularly to help them keep accountable

Find a method that works for you

Of course, another great option is to hire a coach, not only does parting with money add ‘skin to the game’ but they also will speed up your results with their expertise.

Stop trying to be perfect

Something I see all the time is people trying to be perfect which causes them to be all or nothing with their exercise and nutrition habits.

If someone's week doesn't quite go to plan with sticking to their diet, then the mindset that they have failed and might as well ‘start again Monday again’ kicks in.

This mindset makes it hard to stay consistent, which is crucial for people to get in shape.

Life is full of unexpected events and it is unrealistic to think you can stick to your exercise and nutrition habits all the time.

Learning to be more flexible with your approach is important.

Strict diets that cut out whole food groups and intense five day a week training programmes will most likely set you up for failure

A big tip I always tell my clients is instead of viewing your approach to nutrition and fitness like an ‘on/off’ switch, instead view it like a dimmer switch.

Some days you can turn the dial-up and others you turn it down, but never off.

This analogy can be a game-changer for staying consistent with nutrition and exercise habits.

⁠How to change to a healthy lifestyle in 2022?

The basics aren't sexy, but they work.

Becoming a healthier version of you isn't a quick fix unfortunately.

You likely know all the things you should be doing already, but it's implementing them and being consistent that holds people back.

Here are some of my best tips:

-Eat roughly with an 80/20 approach

80 percent of the time make sure to eat a variety of foods from whole food sources (vegetables, fruit, meat, diary and oily fish). The other 20 percent can be more of what you fancy and enjoy (crisps, cakes, chocolate etc).

This approach will provide you with all the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients your body needs and allow flexibility to include those soul foods we all enjoy that tend to be less nutritious.

You might be tempted to jump on the latest diet, but if they are restrictive and cut out whole food groups, they will be doing no good for you long term.

-Get enough sleep and participate in regular exercise

Consistently getting seven to nine hours of sleep each night will help keep energy levels high and help control your appetite.

Undertake a combination of aerobic and resistance exercise regularly to support healthy ageing, physical and mental health.

Most importantly, choose a form of exercise that is enjoyable and easy to stick to.

-Drink enough water

Dehydration can impair cognitive function, immune function and physical health. It can also be misinterpreted as hunger, so it's important to drink enough water each day.

A simple method to stay hydrated is to try and maintain a clear (ish) urine colour

Things to avoid or reduce

-Reduce highly palatable processed foods (cakes, crisps, pastries etc) are very easy to over consume and may contribute to weight gain and consequently poor health.

-Reduce high sugar drinks and swap with low sugar alternatives - essentially empty calories, which make it easier to over consume and contribute to weight gain.

-Avoid restrictive diets that cut out whole food groups or are super low in calories. They can be unhealthy and don't provide the education/habits to be able to sustain weight loss.

Where people can find me and my free challenge

For people that are looking to get their health & fitness back in shape in 2022, I'm running a free seven day shape challenge in January.

It's completely free and will include daily fitness, nutrition and mindset challenges to get people set up for a successful year.

You can find all the details on my Instagram page @thebar_tristan where I share all my best tips and tricks.