Dear New Years Resolutionists,
Hello! Welcome to the weight loss community, or the fitness community, or Fitocracy, Tumblr, Weight Watchers, Curves, the gym or wherever you’ve decided to land yourself for the new year. You have goals, you haves hopes and wishes and dreams and things you’d like to accomplish. You’re ready for a great year, or month or week or day.
First of all, congrats. The first step is the hardest. The first aimless workout in the gym can be the worst. What am I doing? Why did I sign up for bootcamp? Did I really just wake up at 5am to go to the GYM? You’ve done it! You’ve started the long, hard road to an active life. It can be really tough at first but you’ll soon find that the fitness community is a big, wide sea of people that can be your support system.
But not all of us are like that.
You may have encountered resistance. Sneers. “Oh, look, another Resolutionist, gone in a month, taking up my weights or my favorite treadmill.” Hey, it’s tough. We have a routine and we’ve been doing this for a few more days or months or years than you. We can get stuck in our ways and our head slowly begins to ascend up our ass. My advice? Ignore those people. They’re not the type of people you want in your support system, right? Who needs a negative Nancy?
But don’t freak out – there are others. Those of us who smile instead of frown when we see a new face, or who high five after your first mile run or first full depth squat. We’re there. Look for us.
There are some ways to make this transition easier. Maybe you hired a personal trainer you meet with – awesome! Maybe you’re starting with just the group fitness classes – great! Maybe you decided to just walk into the gym and do anything…that can be tough. Don’t worry, there are SO many resources out there. We can help you. We WANT to help you.
So, New Years Resolutionists, we wish you the best of luck. We WANT you to succeed. We WANT you to quit smoking or drop a dress size or run your first marathon or deadlift your body weight. We WANT you to join our community and become another likeminded healthy person. Because, as a community, we are loving and supportive.
Good luck!
