Wildcat Fitness Blog

The start of a New Year is a time when many people start to think about getting fitter or losing weight. Committing to any kind of goal relating to your health is fantastic, but it's important to ensure you set realistic goals to avoid disappointment which will ultimately lead to feeling demotivated and maybe even giving up on your new healthy regime. I see many newcomers to the gym in January who set themselves unrealistic expectations, or place a huge amount of pressure on themselves to dramatically increase their fitness, or lose a large amount of weight, and when this doesn't end up happening in a short timescale they become disillusioned and end up quitting exercise altogether. Wanting to achieve a big result like running a 10k or dropping a dress size is admirable, but you need to ask yourself if it is both realistic and sustainable for you - and be honest with yourself as to how long this really will take, especially if you are a newcomer to healthy eating and exercise. Visit Wildcat Fitness for more information.

My advice as a Personal Trainer is to set small, achievable goals and tick them off week by week. Lots of small steps can add up to a big result, and by being able to meet your goals week after week you'll feel more motivated to work towards them and stick to your training. With consistency you'll see results, and soon you'll be able to achieve more than you thought possible, you'll just have done it in a realistic and sustainable way. So instead of saying you want to run 10k in 8 weeks when you've never run before, set yourself a goal to run for a couple of minutes longer every week. So if you can currently manage 20 minutes, next week make it 22 minutes, the next week 24 minutes and so on. Within the first month you'll be running for ten minutes longer but you'll have achieved that with consistent progress. Read our Fitness Blog now.

Crash diets may produce drastic results, but often people who severely restrict calories are actually losing both water and muscle mass (and making themselves miserable in the process), so as soon as they start to eat normally again they put the weight back on - sometimes more than they've even lost due the body being in almost starvation mode and slowing the metabolism right down. Again, better to set a more achievable target, such as trying to maintain a 200 calorie deficit every day (i.e. ensuring that you have consumed 200 less calories than you have used that day which will stimulate fat loss) - which again will add up to a deficit of over 1000 calories in a week - so you'll lose weight steadily, but you'll also keep it off as you've adopted a healthy approach to your nutrition that you can stick to on a daily basis, as opposed to severely lowering your calories or cutting out entire food groups.

If you're not sure what an achievable or realistic goal for you is, don't be afraid to ask the trainers at your local gym, or to message Trainers you respect via their social media. Asking an expert for their advice and guidance will help you set targets you can stick to, which will keep you inspired and motivated, and most importantly seeing the results you deserve. Consistency is key - you can do this!