So it’s nearly 2024 and time to set yourself some goals for the year!
Before you jot down a long list of fleeting ideas that come into your head here’s some thoughts from me on how you can start 2024 in the right mindset.
It’s pretty easy to start the New Year with the mentality that you’re going to completely change your life from January 1st with a complete overhaul of your current habits. The harsh reality is that 43% of people fail before February and that comes down to a number of factor’s but one of the main issues is - restriction.
You start with an all or nothing mentality and you spend too much time trying to ‘Restrict’ yourself from things rather than develop ‘Restraint’.
Some of those habits you want to change you might have done for years and then you try to cut them out day one. You restrict yourself from drinking, you restrict yourself from eating certain foods, you said you won’t go out to socialise and you might even restrict yourself from seeing certain people as you think they’re the problem..
But what happens when you restrict yourself so much? You fall off the bandwagon you’ve made for yourself; you binge on the foods you said you wouldn’t, you binge and fall back into your past downfalls and you enter into a cycle of feeling hopeless. The issue here is you set unrealistic targets for where you’re currently at with no real thought behind them. What you need to do is learn to develop ‘Restraint’.
Instead of saying “I’m not eating sugar” or “I’m not drinking” - look at your current consumption of those things, your triggers and then why you think you need to make a change.
More often than not you need to develop some restraint from them and learn to say “no that’s enough” or “I’ll just have a couple of drinks” - and stick to it. If you’re drinking 3-4 times per week cut that to 1-2 times per week, if you’re conscious of how much processed food you’re eating then look at which meals it is, what days and times and then see if you can reduce that figure down. Reducing that intake bit by bit the same as with alcohol intake can be much more manageable.
My personal tip - look at what you’re buying in your weekly food shop, 9 times out of 10 if its not in the cupboard you won’t eat it and then keep the weekends for times to go out and eat your favourite foods!
If you want to make long term progress further into 2024 and have success in hitting your goals then you need to change the narrative and look at how you can develop restraint with your daily habits and things you love - not complete restriction.
Creating a whole rounded approach to training, eating well and having a social life is the most important thing if you want to stay on track this year.
Something to bear in mind whilst you get yourself prepped for the 2024 - don't set yourself up to fail.
If you need a hand with setting your goals for 2024 then make sure to speak to one of our experienced team.
Written by Charlie Hitchcock
Owner at Optimum Fitness Tetbury