The reasons most will not crush their fitness goals in 2019, but YOU can!

The truth is approximately 2/3rds of adults in the United States who make New Year resolutions have set fitness goals as a part of their resolution. Of those, 3 out of 4 people give up before meeting their goals. A research suggests that most Americans want to be in better shape, but few are putting in the work to get there. It also goes on to say that if the reason for staying fit is rooted in love for yourself or being around for your loved ones, chances are that you will succeed. On the other hand if you are motivated merely by looking good, the probability of you sticking with your fitness routine is lower.

A big THANK YOU to my 75 responder friends. Now while 75 responses is not statistically significant, as a marketer, numbers are just a tool to guide insights and hunches. So here's what we got. I will tell you though that 80% were women, which is expected from any social media survey :).

Now, close to 1/3rd of this audience considered themselves moderately to extremely fit. The other 12/3 considered themselves unfit or highly unfit.
In terms of fitness goals and aspirations 63% said they would like to exercise at least 5 days a week, close to 15% said they would like to exercise at least 2 days a week and close to 9% said they would like to learn a new form of exercise and about 8% hadn't thought about it.


Now here's where it gets interesting. Of this audience, 40% wanted to exercise because they needed to lose weight and 16% had health issues. So basically close to 60% absolutely needs to start exercising.

And then, while 14% always made time for exercise, the top 3 reasons for not being able to exercise were - Kids take up all the time (31%), lack of time (20%) and it's boring (15%). 

Motivation (51%) apparently rated as the toughest part of keeping a fitness routine, followed by time(42%) and company(5%).

So while the spirit is willing and recognizes the need to exercise, the flesh has been weak in terms of starting and sticking to an exercise regimen.

There are various practical solutions to get around the reason that's holding you back from not exercising. But you most likely are already aware of these. Here's what I believe at a more psychological level, are the reasons people don't get around to exercising even though they would like to

1. It involves discomfort - Till you reach a point where you really miss working out when you don’t, it's actually a physical discomfort. Mentally, a lot of people want to look and feel fit in the longer term. However, in the short term, actually sweating and working hard is not something they are willing to do. We trade in our long term health and fitness for short term comfort of avoiding a disciplined fitness routine.
2. Most of us don’t really believe we can get fit - Whether it's conditioning, not being athletic or whatever reason, deep down we don't really really believe we can change. We think the reality of being beautifully fit is somewhere over the horizon, just beyond reach.
3. It couldn't happen to me - Every day we come across stats of lifestyle related diseases and we believe that it couldn't happen to us...until of course, it does.

Well, if you do want to get fit, make it intentional. Don't wait for to make your resolution over your last wine (or vodka, tequila, beer or whatever your potion of choice) on New Year's eve. Put your workout clothes out NOW and set the alarm for tomorrow morning and Just do it. 

Action cures fear. Action cures lack of belief. Action busts myths about yourself that are not serving you well.

If you haven't really been exercising for a long time, find a friend or send out a general message on Facebook and ask for someone you could join on a walk, jog or run.

And if you still are convinced you don't have time, reach out to a friend. He or she will help you look at your schedule from an unbiased perspective and help you find 3 slots to fit in your exercise. Or help you with your chores so you could make time. Today is all you have, make it count.






And my message to those who are already crushing their fitness goals, continue to shine and inspire those around you.

If this blog resonated with you, made you think or made you feel something, drop a note, like it and share it. There is great power in people inspiring others, that's how ideas grow into movements.

Look out for my next blogpost on real stories from real people who made their health a priority and changed their lives around.

Cheers to everything that 2018 taught us and to a fulfilling 2019 that beckons!

Ayesha@Choose WellThee

Choose WellThee is about making choices that enhance your Mental, Physical, Emotional and Spiritual wellness. We do events, marketing, sales and distribution of healthy and sustainable products and services. Currently in USA and India.

Pictures courtesy: Greggory Papas, Alec Douglas and Freddie Marriage from Unsplash.com