New Year's Resolutioners
The picture in this post is me the day I went to the gym at my university for the first time. More on that later.
Yes, it’s that time of year again. We’re all sitting there at the end of December telling ourselves that 2020 is the year that we’re going to get fit, the year we’re going to lose weight, or the year we’re going to start taking care of our bodies (or if you’re my dad, you’d have a resolution of not drinking soda – I’ve heard that for the last 20 years and it still never gets old!). For some reason, we like the idea of January 1st being the day where we draw a line in the sand and commit to a change because it’s just easy to measure results and divvy up stages in our life by years. With that said, I think it’s important for all New Year’s gym goers to think about a few things as they gear up for the gym.
First, let me just start off by saying we don’t need a specific day of the year where we have to do something. January 1st is just like any other day of the year – do not think you have to wait until January 1st to do anything. One problem I think we all have is we defer our goals. It’s so easy to say “5 more minutes of browsing Facebook” or “let me just snooze the alarm for another 15 minutes”. Same goes for the gym – if you’re sitting there and it’s December 15th, do NOT tell yourself that you have 16 more days to mess around and eat poorly because “January 1st is it”. You’ve already wasted enough time by not marching toward your goals, act NOW. That’s 16 days of your life that you’re not going to get back, so start going! Do not put January 1st on a pedestal or peg it as some magical day where things will “start” for you. Start early if you can — start now.
Second, you’re going to miss days, and while you do need to try your hardest not to miss days, do not let it bring you down. Look, if you don’t miss a day, great, you’re superman, but there is inevitably something that is going to come up that causes you to miss a day, and you know what, it could even happen as early as January 2nd. That’s just life. What you need to do is think long term. Whatever cliché resonates with you, whether “this is a marathon not a sprint” or “it’s about the long game not the short game,” take it to heart because it’s true. I highly recommend you read some of my other posts about working out while on vacation or having to take long breaks from the gym – your body will bounce back. Muscle memory is a real thing. Now, what you don’t want to do is weaponized this reasoning. What I mean by that is telling yourself “yea, I’ll just get back into it later because muscle memory is a thing” – NO! See the first reason above! You are wasting days. The only days you should miss are the days where you absolutely need to, not because it’s convenient. Don’t forget that.
Third, and I know it sounds so simple, but you need to stay committed and understand that this is going to be a journey full of trials, tribulations, and errors. Let me give you an example. When I went to the gym for the first time, I walked a mile across campus to get there. It was in the middle of summer, I drank a few egg whites (thank you, Sylvester Stallone), and made the journey. In fact, the picture on this blog post is the day before I went to the gym – aka my first photo of what I wanted to be my eventual “progress photo”. Guess what? I was turned away at the front desk because I was not enrolled in summer courses. Talk about that being so anticlimactic. So, I had to walk back. Imagine not only my frustration, but my anxiety and embarrassment (not that anybody cared – this was purely internal to me). I had built up the courage to finally start going to the gym only to get turned away at the front desk. In hindsight, it’s funny to me, but in the moment, I was slightly mortified. BUT, the most important part of this story is that I let that beat down my morale and I didn’t work out another day that summer until school started in the fall. Do I think I missed out on 2-3 months’ worth of “gains”? Not really – I don’t think working out that summer has an impact on what I look like today. But, the point is, instead of going to the gym and achieving my goals, I ended up just working and playing video games that summer. It’s all a blur and a lost memory. Of all the days that entire summer, the one I remember the most is getting up early to go to the gym only to get turned away. I guarantee you that I would have remembered more days that summer had I just found a workaround or bought a monthly membership from my university. These would be days that I remember because I overcame my anxiety and learned new skills at the gym that would stay with me the rest of my life — THAT is what I missed out on. I basically “lost” three months that I won’t get back – do NOT let that happen to you here. The days you decide to “sleep in” because you’re tired and don’t want to go to the gym, or the days you tell yourself you are “too busy” – these are days you won’t get back. Go to the gym, hit personal records, get motivated by your own progress, and HAVE FUN (which is my next point).
Last but certainly not least – HAVE FUN! I’m telling you, the first few months are going to suck. I know when you workout your legs for the first time in an eternity, you’re going to tell yourself you’re never doing that again because it hurts to just tie your shoes or to sit on the toilet. This is all FUN – those thoughts will pass and you’re going to feel better because you’re eating healthier. You no longer will feel sluggish or slow. You’re going to look in the mirror and notice muscles that you didn’t know existed! You’re going to be proud of that accomplishment. You’re going to enjoy your off days by reflecting back on the last week of accomplishments. YOU are going to HAVE FUN throughout all of this. Going to the gym for the first time is akin to starting a new relationship. You’re getting to know the equipment, what works, what doesn’t, which one is your favorite, which one is not – it’s new, it’s novel, and it’s all just so interesting. The difference between the two, though, is that it’s 100% you at the gym and all about you. You are doing this for yourself and it’s just you focusing on you. It will be fun, I promise, I promise, I promise – so please, stick with it. Love every second of it, and I hope it becomes a part of your routine to live a better and healthier life.
Reach out if you have any questions. If I did, so can you.
Thanks,
Shane
