Resolve for Results: 10 Tips From Equinox Fitness Club to Help You Keep Your Resoluti...( NEW YORK Dec. 31 /- For over a decade...),Health

NEW YORK, Dec. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- For over a decade, Equinox Fitness Clubs has been known for getting people into ultimate shape. National Director of Group Fitness and Exercise Physiologist Carol Espel offers tips and advice to get even a couch potato started on a fitness routine in 2009.

"The most successful results occur when our goals are gently incorporated into our existing lives," says Espel. "The challenging piece should come in later, once new behavior patterns have been established. In other words, just get off the couch and do something, at least 2-3 times a week initially for whatever length and intensity you can reasonably manage. Most people do too much too soon and end up too sore, injured, or discouraged, and are back at square one before they've left the starting block."

10 TIPS FROM CAROL ESPEL

1. Create your own contract. Write a contract to yourself with your resolutions and all the reasons why you want to keep them, and then sign it! By signing the contract your have committed to yourself that you are going to stick to your resolutions.

2. Make small, attainable goals. If weight loss is your goal then consider starting out with 20 minutes of cardiovascular activity 2-3 times a week, then slowly increase your time to 30 minutes each session. You will begin to see and feel a difference in a few short weeks!

3. Hire a certified personal trainer. Having a trainer will keep you on track and give you the motivation and direction you need to obtain your goals.

4. Clear your shelves and fridge! Throw out all of the junk food in your house; if it isn't in the house you won't be able to eat it when you feel the urge. Replace old snack foods with new ones like cut veggies and fresh fruit.

5. Stay off the scale. Use the way your clothes fit to judge your progress not the bathroom scale. Mu
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