Why your new year fitness resolution could be short lived

Probably, the busiest time of the year for a gym could be the beginning of the year. Many of us have good health and a fitter body as one of the top resolutions for the new year and we start with a bang. However, we realize that this turns out to be quite short lived. So what goes wrong really? What are the top mistakes we make and how can we avoid them?

1. Set medium- long term goals: If one doesn't have a medium to long term horizon for achieving a health goal, one is bound to fail. A new year is an opportunity to make a fresh beginning but to sustain, one needs to look at a period of at least 6 months and above to make some visible difference. Remember, you took a long time to accumulate those extra kilos, so you should also give yourself time to lose them.
2. Target an event/special occasion: One of the effective motivators for me personally has been to link my health goal to an event or an occasion, say your next vacation or a family event or gathering or a marriage etc. Potentially, you could be meeting new people or old friends after a long time. Imagine the compliments you would receive once you show a visible change in your health or imagine the new wardrobe you are able to buy and wear those body hugging clothes if you reduce that waistline.
3. Set a comfortable routine: Set and stick to a comfortable routine or join a gym closer home, even if its with basic facilities, such that you are able to follow your fitness regime with ease. Distance should not create an unnecessary barrier and disallow you to hit the gym. This is one of the common reasons why we aren't able to continue.
4. Start slow and practice being consistent: Don't plan for a workout routine where you begin lifting weights from day one or run those miles which you cannot sustain and also let boredom sink in. Remember, the easiest part is to get started and the most difficult part is to hang in there. So start slow, let your body get used to a minimal workout, practice consistency, let your memory build in. Once this happens, your routine becomes your habit.

So here's wishing everyone a healthy 2018 and stay fit!

Your fitness could determine your paycheck in the future!

Recently, a leading insurer in India tied up with a fitness device company to help them calculate the insurance premium based on the fitness levels of the individual. Another company launched a plan offering 30% discount to those who maintain a healthy lifestyle by monitoring health habits through their app. Quite obviously, insurance companies would want to charge a higher premium amount to those whose fitness levels are poor and less to those whose fitness level is better.

It won’t be long that your fitness could be an integral part of all future jobs at various stages including recruitment, promotions and pay hike. The math is very simple, companies would be interested in assessing whether your body and mind is fit to take on the job challenges in a competitive environment.  

And it’s not only about physical fitness but also about an agile mind. It’s quite well-known that a regular health regime not only impacts your body, but also the mind. An hour of exercise every day leaves one with a fresh mind and a positive outlook. Researchers from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden revealed that regular exercise boosts the brain power of young adults. It improves blood flow to the brain helping build new brain cells.

Organizations would soon start asking candidates and employees to include their ‘fitness score’ during recruitment and promotion. They would want to assess whether candidates and employees are ‘fit’ to perform and deliver on a consistent basis. Organizations might also start creating a fitness culture as a part of their ‘employee social responsibility’ if they make it mandatory for employees to stay fit. They might also look at linking incentives and bonuses to the fitness progress achieved by employees. This isn’t such a bad idea because certain things like fitness can best be effected when a carrot and stick approach is adopted. Organisations are increasingly starting to include in house sports facilities or club memberships so this access is already available; for them to start creating a healthy organization is just a matter of priority. Like a CMO, CTO or CFO, why not have a Chief Health Officer who would drive this initiative?

While one doesn’t necessarily have to wait for the organization to effect these changes, one can begin immediately and start monitoring fitness. Today, monitoring health has become easy, there are so many fitness gadgets and apps available to kick start immediately.

A modest beginning could be made by asking simple questions to gauge your fitness levels on an ongoing basis, as follows:

·        What’s my body weight? (against an ideal weight for my height and age)

·        What’s my fat percentage? (approximately 24% for women and 18 % for men)

·        What food am I eating? (Fried/ cooked/raw/processed etc)

·        What is the nutrition my food contains? (carbs/protein/fat/vitamins/minerals etc)

·        What do I need to reduce/increase in my diet? ( eg: reduce fried food and increase salads)

·        How many calories did I consume today?

·        How many calories did I burn today?

·        What level is my cardiovascular strength? (how much am I able to run/brisk walk/cycle etc)

·        What level is my muscular strength? ( how much weights can I lift?)

·        How much is my flexibility? ( how much can I bend forward/backwards/sideways?)

·        How much do I need to gain or lose to get to an ideal fitness level?

For a beginner, one may find pointers like these taxing and confronting initially, however, this would become a normal part of routine in due course. It makes sense to start making a habit and incorporate such parameters as a part of daily routine and make that small beginning.

Who knows your next incentive or bonus could be dependent on your fitness levels!

Making a small difference

On a drive along the countryside, I happened to visit this hamlet of about 300 people along with my cousin who has worked in this region supporting the lives of these people through various social initiatives. All the residents in this village are small farmers and herdsmen. Almost all the produce that they are able to make just about sustains their food supplies for the year. They don’t make much money to support their other needs and rely on government support for their education and other needs. Needless to mention, it’s a poor hamlet with limited resources for livelihood.

What was fascinating was that I could see a lot of small children and many of them had a very basic lifestyle just about enough to satisfy their needs or in some cases even less but they were all cheerful!

I was touched by the love of the people here and  they were extremely warm and welcoming. Everybody’s face lit up when I started talking to them and asking how does their daily routine look like. Most of the youth in the hamlet was literate but due to limited opportunities, went back to farming, although not so lucrative. 

Since the festival of Diwali, India’s biggest celebration was round the corner, I wondered if it would be possible to make this Diwali special for this hamlet? Could I do something within the limited time I had? The challenge was that I was about to go back to Mumbai the following day and whether it would be possible to organize something while I am back home especially when one tends to drown in one’s daily routine. Nevertheless, I decided to give it a shot and prepared a small write up/slide of this initiative, this village, its people and requested people to donate their used belongings such as clothes, bedsheets, shoes etc. anything that they are willing to give. Nothing in cash only in kind. I circulated this in my groups and connections on social media, mainly whatsapp and Facebook.  Slowly people started responding asking me more information about this initiative.

Within a week, I received an overwhelming response, a lot of them sent across whatever they could including colleagues at Qlik. Some came personally with their gifts, some sent their drivers and for those who couldn’t come, I collected their gifts. In one particular incident, I received a call from a gentleman whom I didn’t know personally but when he received information about this initiative through social media, he took all the effort to come over with a bagful of his donations. In fact, after meeting me, he arranged for another bag of clothes the next day! The gifts came pouring in. At the end of this drive, my car was full of all the goodies and donations I received. At one point in time, I had trouble stuffing in all of that in my car- a rather good problem to have!

The following weekend, I drove back to this village and the folks were thrilled to know when I told them that there was something special for Diwali this year. The kids were ecstatic with what they got.  There was something for everyone, clothes, household items, bedsheets, blankets, winter clothes, toys. People had generously donated and I was able to share all that with these people.

Fortunately, every family in the hamlet received something for themselves. 

All this felt great and it was an extremely gratifying experience, especially when this happened just before Diwali.

As the next step, my plan is to create employment opportunities for the youth of this village through some skill building activities or projects.