If your New Year's resolution is to get into shape, developing healthy, reliable fitness habits will help you achieve this goal. While signing up for personal training classes at your local gym is an excellent start, you need long-term practice and discipline to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Below are several strategies for making fitness a part of your daily life.

How Can You Create Sustainable Fitness Habits?

1. Set Realistic Goals

Even with full commitment, getting into shape is a gradual process. If you expect immediate results, you may feel discouraged after a few weeks, so set smaller, more achievable goals. For example, start by aiming to lose one or two pounds in your first week instead of focusing on the total amount for a month. When you accomplish this, set another goal for the next week, and use these as small steps toward your overall desires.

2. Choose Activities You Enjoy

If you don’t enjoy exercising, working out will feel more like a chore than an investment in your life. That's why selecting fun, enjoyable exercise makes working out something to look forward to. For instance, if you get bored after running on a treadmill for some time or you don't like lifting weights alone, try a group fitness course so you can exercise with other people.

3. Anticipate Setbacks

Getting sick, falling behind at work, or handling unexpected emergencies can delay your fitness goals by days or even weeks. If this happens, don't let the instances discourage you from the journey. Instead, understand that you’ll likely experience small obstacles along the way. This will help you get back on course when you resume training.

4. Invest in Personal Training

One of the hardest parts of achieving a fitness goal is not understanding how to train for that specific desire. Working out and exercising are complex processes, and hiring a professional personal trainer is an excellent way to get the direction you need. They will provide expertise and knowledge to help you develop a training program. Then, as you grow stronger, they can modify the regimen so that you can continue training toward an end result.

If you need help getting into shape this year, contact Freedom Fitness. With locations in O’Fallon and Wentzville, MO, as well as throughout the Greater St. Louis area, they offer individualized personal training and a variety of new, well-maintained equipment. Visit the website for more information about their personal training programs, or call (636) 926-3364 to speak to a team member in Wentzville. For the O’Fallon facility, call (618) 589-3800.