Your New Year's Exercise Resolution - now is the time to make a plan

Here is the scenario: you are standing around at a New Year's Eve party. Someone poses a question to all within earshot "So what are your resolutions for the New Year?" Just about everyone, including you, agrees that they would like to start an exercise program and lose some weight.

Now jump ahead a day or day two. You've got your first workout in for the New Year. This could be a 30 minute walk or a trip to the gym, it doesn't matter. The point is, you've got a start. Over the next week you get in three more workouts, no problem. The following week, you miss one, things got busy at work. The next week you miss all of your exercise sessions, things are still busy at work and you feel a cold coming on. Two more weeks pass, no more exercise and an identity shift happens. You have gone from someone with a positive "I can do it" attitude to one that has failed once again. Your exercise program is history.

This common New Year's resolution scenario leaves us discouraged and with yet another experience of failure chalked up to our behavior change attempts.

There is a simple solution to this problem. It is not that we are lazy, unmotivated or undisciplined. It is that we really don't understand the process of health behavior change. Behavior change experts have developed a theory, which has been supported by numerous studies, showing that people cycle through a variety of stages before a new behavior is successfully adopted over the long term.

Here are the stages as they relate to exercise:

• Precontemplation - I can't or I won't exercise
• Contemplation - I need to exercise, but just can't seem to get started
• Preparation - I am making plans and doing what it takes to get started
• Action - I have started my exercise program
• Maintenance - I have been exercising for six months and it is really becoming a habit with me
  

It is in the preparation stage that the foundation for an exercise habit really takes place. Here are some actions that need to take place in the Preparation stage.

• What do you want to accomplish? Write down the primary goal or goals of your program.
• Given your goals, design a goal-specific exercise program (this one will likely require some assistance)
  
• Create a fitness vision that you intend to realize in the next three to six months
  
• Do your best to foresee the challenges you will face in sticking with your program - things like, busy at work, a winter cold, or uncooperative weather. Put a plan in place for overcoming these challenges as they present themselves.

Remember that this is normal -- if you tried exercising in the past and didn't stick with it, don't consider yourself a failure. Just know that it's time to try again!

By planning and preparing for your exercise endeavor you will significantly increase the likelihood of success in your exercise efforts. Each stage has its own characteristics and best practices in facilitating your progress to the next stage.

Honor yourself by honoring your stage of change. This is a big deal - there is much more to it than just working out. Establishing a consistent exercise habit is a significant life change, it is through proper preparation, planning, and support that you will achieve the goals that you set for yourself.