COCHRANE— It is a new year, and along with the beginning of a new calendar year comes resolutions to be healthier, eat better and exercise more.
Sometimes those goals can feel overwhelming, or like a chore.
Stephanie Marrello, fitness and wellness coordinator at the Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre, uses several techniques to ensure her clients achieve the goals they have set out for themselves.
“The biggest thing is to take whatever resolution or new goal or whatever it is that you want to chomp away at in fitness, nutrition, health, wellness, is to break that up into small goals,” she said. “If your goal is weight loss and a specific target weight— Let’s say 15 pounds— I would say ‘what can we do on a daily basis to get you there.'”
Marrello said instead of focusing on the overall goal, think about the small things you can do on a daily basis that will help you work toward your goal.
As the old saying goes, shavings make a pile.
Drinking more water, choosing healthy snacks like vegetables and hummus instead of chips and salsa and committing to cooking healthy meals for yourself a few days a week are all small things that will contribute to the overarching goal you have in mind.
“It’s amazing how those small changes will end up becoming big results. I always think ‘today I’ll eat a salad and nothing will change,’” she said with a chuckle. “But if I continue to have my salad or my fruit or vegetables instead of other things like fries or whatever, in a month or two people are going to say ‘wow, what have you been doing,’ and I can honestly say ‘nothing, I haven’t done much, I just made some small changes.’ I think that’s the most important thing for people to remember, you don’t need to make humungous changes to get results, you just have to be consistent.”
For those who are just embarking on their fitness journey, a good starting point is simply committing to a daily walk, Marrello said.
“The average person should aim for 10,000 steps a day. If you think that’s a really big number, that’s kind of the number that everyone in the fitness industry or wellness— We know that if you’re getting 10,000 steps in a day you will maintain or lose your current weight. That’s kind of the magic number,” she said.
There is one piece of fitness gear that Marrello is quick to recommend above others.
“Especially right now with the limited ability to go to a gym since we’re closed, I would say the most important piece of equipment you can get for yourself is a good pair of running shoes, something that will give you good support,” she said.
Going to the gym can be an intimidating prospect for some, but there are great at-home alternatives that can keep you fit in the comfort and safety of your own home.
“If you’re really intimidated to go to the gym or are unable to get to the gym, know that doing bodyweight activities is going to get you results,” she said. “You think about back in the day when you were in school, your gym teacher made you do things like squats and push-ups and [burpees] and you were very successful doing those simple things.”
Life often throws unexpected interruptions our way, especially these days. For those who are avid gym-goers the multiple interruptions to programming at fitness facilities has likely thrown a wrench in their workout routine.
Marrello said that it is important to find daily objectives to keep momentum going in the right direction.
“Always continue to just keep going. Success is found in your daily routine. My personal motto that I’ve always had is small wins daily,” she said. “People think fitness is this big huge thing, and honestly it isn’t. If you look at your day one hour is four per cent, and if that seems too much give me 15 minutes of movement.”
A big component of fitness, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, is emotional fitness, Marrello said.
“I think a lot of people have that barrier going through 2020. There has been a lot of things thrown at us that we have never experienced before ... Before they go after their physical health that they have to also make sure that they’re emotionally doing well, that they’re doing things that bring them joy.”
This year more than ever, it is important to incorporate activities that bring joy into your fitness routines.
“If you don’t like it, you’re not going to do it. It makes sense, right? If you love spinning get a spin bike. If you love running, run. But, don’t do it, if you don’t like it."
