FOCUS ON YOU THIS YEAR by Emily Webb and Mary Williams
New Year’s is normally a time for resolutions, and in 2021, resolve to take care of your physical and mental wellbeing.
RENEW YOUR HEALTH Get With the Plan Instead of paying attention to the scale, think about your health and move because it’s good for you. Keep motivated with a new workout routine, virtual program or app. Test out new things – what works for your best friend might not work for you. “Begin by eliminating potential obstacles that will limit your success. Select a physical activity that you enjoy and can see yourself doing for the next 3-6 months. Anyone can do something for a week; however, to be consistent over time, you must be interested and enjoy what you are doing,” says Valorie Sonnemaker, the co-founder of Catalyst Fitness in Buckhead. “Select or create a time in your day that works for you. Find five days a week and ‘pen’ it into your life just as you would in advance for your child or spouse. Allow yourself to be OK with a 10-minute workout if that is all you have time for. Consistency is the key to long-term success.”
Take It a Step at a Time “It’s important to view your fitness level as a part of your greater ‘whole.’ Being the best version of you includes physical health, emotional health, mental health, nutritional balance, sleep and recovery and work/life balance,” says Sonnemaker. “To gain control of all of these can be overwhelming. Your first step is to select one part of the ‘whole’ and work on it until success happens. Give yourself 30 days, making sure you start with one of the parts that you will have success with, and reward yourself when you achieve your goal.”
Turn Your Home into a Gym You don’t have to pay for a home renovation to make athome exercise easy. “Keep it simple,” says Sonnemaker. “Create a circuit using the Five Pillars of human movement. Almost any weighted object that can be held can be used as resistance – it doesn’t need to specifically be a fitness-based piece of equipment.” The Five Pillars are:
n Locomotion: walking, running, speed-agility-quickness, balance n Level change: squats, lunges, step-ups, jumping n Push: horizontally and vertically n Pull: horizontally and vertically n Rotation/anti-rotation: core exercises
Up Your Dinner Game Update your dinner routine with meal prepping or meal plans. Plan out your meals for the week before you go to the store, and have a game plan for each night. Delivery is fun, but reduce takeout to special occasions. Try a new cooking method with sheet pan meals, an Air Fryer or the Instant Pot. Sneak healthier foods into your households. “To introduce healthier foods, eliminate the ones you can live without,” Sonnemaker says. “I always tell my clients, ‘If you don’t buy it, you can’t eat it.’ Add veggies and fruits to your current family staples. It’s amazing how finely grated carrots hide in pasta sauce.” 16 Atlanta Parent January 2021
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