Herts personal trainer says 'new year, new me' doesn't work
Ellie Bullock is a Health and Fitness Coach based in Hertford
As people across Bucks, Beds, and Herts ring in the New Year, a personal trainer has told us that the 'new year, new me' concept doesn't work.
"Black and white thinking"
Ellie Bullock is a Health and Fitness Coach based in Hertfordshire. According to Ellie, the idea of 'new year, new me' falls into black and white thinking: "There's a massive danger in that, where you say everything has to be perfect.
"We often get very, very upset when we don't go to the gym one week or where we don't eat well for one day. Then we think we've ruined the whole plan and this is often when people quit.
"When actually, you're learning a new habit so you're going to screw up, you're going to have days where you just don't feel like going to the gym, and that's OK.
"What people need to learn is, it's not about being perfect or hitting your habits consistently, but actually it's just about being enough and showing up each day."
How to build healthy habits
But she says there are ways to build up sustainable and healthy habits: "You need to invest in yourself and have someone to give you support and accountability. Because when you're being accountable to yourself, often you let yourself down. But if you're being accountable to someone else, you tend not to let them down as much.
"You need someone to be there when you're struggling because life isn't perfect and you're always going to have challenges."
She concludes: "My other biggest piece of advice is, do not rely on motivation. Motivation fluctuates and if you rely on motivation, your results are going to fluctuate. Instead, you need to rely on discipline."