EXERCISE
Kickstart your year by performing mini exercise sessions (no more than 30 minutes) each day. You can even break this down into three 10 minute sessions – brisk walking uphill or cycling to work are great ways to start burning off the Christmas calories. If you're struggling to get motivated, find a friend to get fit with for the New Year. Setting some fitness goals between you and trying some new activities and classes together will help spur you on.
NUTRITION
Drink eight cups of water every day. Most people need about three litres a day, where one litre comes from food and two from fluids. Eat lean protein with every meal, including breakfast. Examples of this include eggs (boiled, poached and scrambled), as well as fish like salmon and mackerel – and remember, eating fat doesn't necessarily make you fat. Consuming mono and polyunsaturated fats like those found in fatty fish, avocados, extra virgin olive oil, walnuts, almonds and cashews can accelerate fat loss and provide a wealth of health benefits to the body.
LIFESTYLE
What’s your 'why'? Changing your lifestyle means having real purpose and a sense of why getting into shape is important to you. Think longer term and keep a note of what you want to achieve so you can check back at a later date. Don’t take on too much too quickly – making a big lifestyle change requires lots of small steps. Focus on actions, not outcomes. You have much more control over actions, so be consistent with eating well and exercising and ignore the scales.
As well as running his London gyms, Matt Roberts also writes and blogs about nutrition, health and fitness. Look out for him in this month's Square Mile – he chats to us about his career as a personal trainer and interviews England international rugby player James Haskell. Get the iPad version here.
