Workout Resolution?

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – With winter here and cold temperatures keeping many people indoors, the conditions are prime for falling into a more sedentary lifestyle and gaining a few extra pounds.

Some people may feel guilty about their holiday eating choices and decide it’s time to shed a few pounds. But those New Year’s resolutions can be hard to follow and Physical Therapist Matt Amicone offers tips for how to start and how to stay motivated.

“I think it’s to look at it as like compound interest,” Amicone said. “I think as long as you can make little investments, things that are easy to do, something that can make that little one percent difference, I think those are the things that start to build on themselves a little bit. I think we set goals, maybe a little bit too far out or we set too many goals at one time. Four or five goals, when really, I think the key is just to do one little thing every day.”

Small easy exercises may not effectively achieve the results you wish but they form habits and starting points that you can build upon.

“I think the easiest way to get started is to start to set your goal based on a healthy goal,” Amicone said. “Don’t necessarily make it based on, you know,  you want to be able to run a certain amount or you want to do a certain thing without getting winded. I think one, the best way to truly meet your goals is to make yourself accountable. Get a friend who will do it with you. I think the best way is to keep yourself accountable by getting somebody else on board with you.”

Amicone noted that the goals you set and how you measure your progress are important because it’s very easy to become discouraged when they are not reached. 

“Yeah, I think people get discouraged by not seeing progress on certain things,” Amicone said. “I think a lot of it has to do with how we measure it. You measure it based on weight or you measure it based on a lot of different things when truthfully, I think the best way to measure it is just based on how you feel, which I think makes it tough because how do you set goals on how you feel. But I think if you can make that one, one percent difference every single day, if it’s something little, whether it’s just even fighting your temptation one time. But acknowledge that and give that credit where it’s due, If you’re tempted to do something.”

Setting New Year’s resolutions are more than simple willpower or achieving physical results; they are about recognizing the small improvements and overcoming mental habits that behave as obstacles.