How to avoid becoming a fitness dropout

Vowing to follow a healthier lifestyle might be the most common New Year’s resolution. Studies show that many as one out of three Americans make a personal commitment—with the best of intentions—to start  a more nutritional diet and working out. Those same studies reveal 25 percent drop out after the first week and more than 90 percent abandon the commitment in the ensuing weeks.

    The breakdown, says Lisa Ellor of Fairfield, is generally a result of setting goals for oneself that are excessive and unrealistic. Ellor is an accredited personal trainer at Anytime Fitness in Monroe (380 Monroe Turnpike), offering members an electronic key and unlimited access 24/7 to a health center and network of 2,500 global locations ranked No. 1 in Entrepreneur Magazine’s latest Franchise 500 list.

    “Don’t set yourself up for failure,” admonishes Ellor. “Establish goals that are reasonable. Instead of making your objective to shed 20 pounds, aim for five pounds in a month. Measuring your fitness objectives in smaller increments helps you to pursue your aspirations successfully.”   

    Ellor is also a weight loss coach at Body Smart in Monroe (at 111 Main St.) which is offering members of Anytime Fitness access to eight classes over 12 weeks—starting Jan. 14--in low glycemic index eating, based on balancing blood sugar to lose weight.  

    “You cannot out-exercise a bad diet,” she says. Junk food and overindulgence will undermine anything you do in the gym. Weight loss is 80 percent diet and 20 percent exercise. A low glycemic diet is a highly effective approach, a lifestyle change that enables you to eat without feeling deprived.”

    She also suggests engaging a compatible trainer with the expertise you need to devise the appropriate exercise platform for you--and possibly to recruit a gym partner with a comparable level of motivation.  

    “They will help to keep you accountable,” she says. “That’s essential to maintaining whatever regimen you are pursuing. You should also tell the people in your life what fitness ambitions you have assigned to yourself so that they ask you about your progress.”