Success for 2009 with EA SPORTS™ Active!

Carmen Bott is a Strength and Conditioning Specialist advising the EA SPORTS Active team. Read her tips for keeping fit in the new year below. You can find out more about carmen here.

I love a new year. It almost seems like we can start all over and finally become that fit and healthy person we want to be. The trouble is, the enthusiasm to make changes with respect to physical activity, nutrition and leading a healthier lifestyle tends to fade once we realise we can't change everything overnight. Please don't set yourself up for this potentially negative situation, even the most motivated, organised and seemingly "perfect" people do not put that kind of pressure on themselves for the new year.

Relax, get excited about 2009 and take my advice.

Motivation . . .

Making lasting changes is not about a long list of New Year's resolutions; it is about creating an action plan and having a mindset of focusing on the process of achieving what we want. The motivation to get started begins with a need, vision, dream or desire to achieve the seemingly impossible. In any worthwhile endeavor barriers and failure will be there, that's life! Success is based on learning what works and does not work. It is simply a learning process and what works for you may be very different from what works for somebody else, I want you to start by making some "process-oriented goals.

Saying "I want to lose 20 pound by spring" is an outcome-based goal or more accurately, a reward. Instead, think about the steps you are going to take to achieve success. An example of a process-oriented goal is "I am going to walk my kids to school each day to get 30 minutes of moderate cardiovascular exercise in and I am going to buy more whole, natural and unprocessed foods to make healthy meals each night for my family." By shifting your mindset to the action plan, or the process, you will meet your outcome goals naturally, or better yet be rewarded!

Keeping on Track . . .

With the new year upon us, and our minds focused on our action plan, it can be easy to fall off track. Do you want to know how to stay on the right path? Believe it or not, it is all about attitude. Each day we have a choice of what attitude we bring to the table. If you have the wrong attitude about physical activity and good nutrition, you're already setting yourself up for failure. If you view exercise as punishment for poor eating habits, an obligation, a chore or even painful, you will need to steer your thought process in a more positive direction.

Without the right mindset, how long do you think you'll stick with your program? Nobody wants to do something painful, boring or obligatory. Before you throw yourself into an action plan, reflect on your attitudes about health and fitness. Then, try a different perspective and perhaps view exercise as a break from a stressful workday, a way to elevate your energy levels and mood or a chance to move your body and let your mind take a break.

Committing to a healthier you . . .

This year, I want you to commit to a healthier you. This commitment is going to take some work though. Long-term success requires planning, discipline and finding ways to motivate yourself each day. We are not robots; we are human beings with deadlines, stresses, difficulties and emotions. Each day will be different and each day your level of motivation will be different; that is normal.

You will have to recommit to your action plan each and every day and tweak your plan to fit your schedule and priority list. You will not always want to exercise and eat healthily. Even the most committed and serious fitness buff needs a pep talk every so often so make your action plan based on realistic changes - if you cannot follow it for the rest of your life, then perhaps you need to reframe it so that it fits into your day and isn't viewed as a chore.

Lastly, own your action plan. Create an itemised list of what is important to you. If you value being fit and eating healthily, then write it down. If being active with your family is important, then write that down too, then align your action plan with that list. Physically write down your action plan and the steps you are going to take each day. Use a calendar, or a journal to map out your strategy and remember, keep focused on the process, not the potential rewards, no matter how tempting that is.

Your action plan is for you and a part of your new value system. Now, let's get started!