The Tribune

By ETHAN QUANT

Health Coach

I think that everyone would agree that 2020 was a challenging year thus far for most people here at home and around the world. With that being said, if you are reading this that means that you have time and you can still make the most of it to finish 2020 strong.

As we start this last quarter of 2020, I want to remind everyone that the year is not done and it’s not too late to make progress towards those health, wellness and fitness goals that you made at the beginning of the year.

I have outlined some tips that I used as well that I share with my clients that you may find useful to help you finish off 2020 closer to your goals and get a jump start on 2021.

Simplify the task. We often feel that we need to make this huge change to change. The truth is that even a small change is great, and studies show that making consistently small changes over time yields more sustainable results, so call back on the goal and take away the complexity of it and just think small and simple changes that you can make that are easy for you to implement now.

Start where you are. I remember thinking how I needed money for the gym, and for a trainer, and for new gym clothes and a new bag and how I would have to wait until I had more time after this project at work was done. So many reasons I came up with why I could not start my health wellness and fitness journey. Then I changed the question I asked myself. I said ok given everything that I have going on in my life right now, work, my finances, my relationships, school. How much time can I realistically dedicate to “working out”. Changing these questions I asked myself caused me to really start looking at pockets of time in my day that I could use. And honestly I started out walking for ten minutes around my yard. So you may want to start asking yourself how can you make it work given your current circumstances instead of you can’t make it work because of your current circumstances!

Pace yourself – Remember the race to good health is a marathon not a sprint. So start off slow, pace yourself because you are in it for the long haul. Health, wellness and fitness should be a lifestyle not a 4, 8 or 12 week programme. You will also find that when you pace yourself there is a lot less pressure because you are focusing on the long term benefits and the short term gains.

Start. This is important, you want to actually just start. I know that I fought so much anxiety starting because I felt that I had so much work to do. And really I still feel this way today especially when I come off vacation and I was “loving myself”. I always do some sort of physical activity but boy do I eat, drink and be merry. The thing is once you start you build momentum and then it’s easier for you to get on track, and you do so by starting off small and slow, but you have to start!

If you found this article helpful in any way or you know someone it may help please let me know on my Instagram account @ethanquant. Remember if you would like help navigating this or any other aspect of your health wellness and fitness journey, feel free to reach out to me directly. I would be happy to help!