We're pretty much half way through the month, the month when the whole world put pressure on themselves to change all of their bad habits for good ones.

Did you make any resolutions?

How are you getting on?

Were they specific to you?  

Did they mean something to you if you achieved them?

Did you fall at the first hurdle or are you still going strong?

I personally think resolutions are over-rated.  The New Year puts pressure on people to make a change that they may not be ready to make yet.  Particularly with reference to food and exercise habits.

We're guilty of it too, asking people to follow The Real Food Plan and exercise regularly when they join our camps.  The major difference to this and resolutions though is that a conscious decision has been made to join and we coach our members through the process during the sessions and via our exclusive members website.  We also have a support group on Facebook.

It is the coaching aspect that keeps our members on track.

Sure, they fall off the wagon but we help them get back on it and develop strategies that make it less likely they will fall off again.

Everybody has times of weakness and makes mistakes, if you have slipped up on your resolutions; don't put them to one side and wait until the start of next week, month or even year to get started again.

Hakuna Matata - no worries.  Accept that you messed up and take a bit of time to assess what your resolutions were and if they are important to you.

Be specific about what you really want rather than vague goals of get fitter and lose some weight.  Set a date and a specific number for that date.  Whether that is a 10k run in under 55 minutes or losing 5kg to fit in to your favourite dress, it doesn't matter just be specific about what and when.

You can then take steps towards it, break it down in to smaller steps and keep moving forwards.

Darren 'Pumbaa' Checkley