Staying on Track with Resolutions and Goals
Happy Spring! We're a few months into a new year and it's a great time to reflect on what we liked last year, how we're doing on resolutions and goals, and what we might want to change in the months ahead.
For many of us, we kick off a new year with intentions to get back into the gym, have better spending habits, or improve that work balance ratio.
It’s been a few months, and perhaps we are starting to lose our momentum…
Staying on track means we need to have sustainable and achievable habits.
Below are some science-proven tips to set ourselves up for success and achieve our goals:
Get great sleep: This is more than just hours. Make your environment comfortable and cozy. Some studies are showing that decreasing your body temperature by 1-2 degrees can help achieve deep sleep.
Start small: Rome was not built in a day! If you are trying to add a behavior - maybe walking 30 minutes - start with it once a week. We recommend adding a little bit 1 time per week. Especially with workouts, we often start out too strong and either injure ourselves or burn out. Allow your muscles, tendons, and heart to catch up to your grand plan!
Don’t load your plate: In the same breath as start small, also start with one goal. Anytime we start something, especially if it is hard, we want to see change and success. Because you are taking on a new task or idea, you will need to put time and effort. Having one goal, one priority, makes it manageable to achieve success without sacrificing other parts of your life.
Make your goal challenging and rewarding: If your goal is too easy, the arousing parts of your brain are not activated and there is no learning. If your goal is too hard, there isn’t any positive reinforcement. You lose motivation. Goal not achieved.
Have objectives: Simply stating that you want to “be healthier,” for example, is too vague. How can one measure that? What’s the baseline? Where’s the change? If you break that down to what “healthier” means to you, you can create objectives to measure.
Example: walk 30 minutes once a week, drink half a glass of wine twice a week, or only have one cup of coffee in the morning. Whatever you choose.
The above bulleted areas have proof behind them, and are related to our happy/motivating centers of our nervous system.
My PT 2 Go is here to help you reach your goals. Reach out today! (858) 224-2242
How to Fit your Shoes
Take the insole out of your shoe and stand on top of it.
Your whole foot should fit inside of the insole while standing. If not, the top of your shoe is holding your foot in and can cause excessive pressure, friction, and loss of function of the muscles of your foot.
If your forefoot is hanging over the side of the insole, you likely need a wider toe box. If your whole foot is hanging over the side of the insole, you likely need to get your shoes in Wide. There is a large difference between a wide toe box and a wide shoe size.
Monitor the height of the heel of your shoe. The flatter the shoe, the more mobility it requires from your ankles---this is why people use lifting shoes in the gym so they can have a deeper squat without having ankle mobility. If your achilles is flared up, it can help to have a small heel short term.