Dont Be Seduced: Achieve Wellness Goals with Simple Actions

Goal setting is glamorous. And we’re really good at it. 

Goals like improving our health, well-being and the way our clothes fit become omnipresent in the month of January. These are emotional goals, though, so we often get seduced by the fad of the moment. 

But goal achievement, which matters most, is a completely different animal. We have proven to be quite inept at it, especially when it comes to our health and fitness.

Ninety percent of people who set New Year’s fitness goals fail to reach them. This is in part due to the lure of new “super-secret” systems. But these extreme options almost always require willpower to stick to something that feels unnatural.  

This year, I challenge you to adopt something far more primitive. It requires nothing fancy, and no extra expense.

3 simple actions for long-term success:

1. Track and up your steps. 10,000 daily steps is not a magical number. The magic is a few more than you’re currently doing. Find your typical amount of daily steps and build on that. Monitor your daily activity, not your workouts, and add a 10-minute walk somewhere in your day. Increase that number by 1 minute each day over the next four weeks. This metric is actually more important than how many calories you burn at the gym or how much weight you push on bench press.

2. Chart your intake of added sugar. Keep it under 30g per day. 

Only count what’s listed on labels of packaged food, not produce or fruits or vegetables. Include breads and baked goods, yogurt, packaged foods, frozen foods, milk, chips, and drinks.

Also include alcohol — for every glass of wine, spirit or beer, count 20g of added sugar. For every mixed cocktail or mocktail, count 30g.

3. Commit to accountability. Report to someone you trust with these metrics every day and simply check off done or not done.

If you do these three things consistently over four weeks, you will feel and look better. It also will provide momentum to push you into good long-term habits. You’ll begin to feed off the endorphins of extra steps and activity. You will begin to retrain your tastebuds and avoid the sugar cravings that crush fitness dreams. 

And you’ll find that having accountability is what we all need in our busy lives. If you can't find that person to hold you accountable, I am offering you free access to my LIVE BETTER app and I'll do it for you. 

Download the Rod Stewart Live Better app, email me at rstewart@clubperformax.com and I’ll be your partner. Happy new year!

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