Health Matters With TSET: New Year's Health Goals

Sticking to New Year's resolutions can be difficult, especially when it comes to health and fitness.

In today's Health Matters with TSET, News 9 Health Coach Dottie Small talked to personal trainer Robbie Treadwell about what makes keeping a health and fitness resolution so hard as well as some tips for staying on track.

Q: What is your approach to health when it comes to training clients or coaching them through their health and wellness?

"First is, how can I keep it simple? Right? I think a lot of people, especially with New Year's resolutions, set a giant goal, and they try to hit that home run, but it's all those little, tiny hits that really matter. People want to skip over those steps and just go for that big one."

Q: Can you give an example of too big of a goal?

"I think the one that I see the most is someone who is not a morning person; at first, it's going to work for a few days, and then you're going to get tired, and then you're going to just burn out or not want to do it. Instead, simplify it. Let's do it five minutes early, and then let's do it 10 minutes earlier, let's do it 20 minutes earlier, you know? Let's do something that we can actually sustain for the long term, and then eventually you get to that hour and a half before, and then it lasts."

What are some of the biggest challenges you think people make when making health and fitness-related goals or New Year's resolutions?

"The biggest challenge is probably not being able to create the systems, like scheduling it in their day; a lot of people might have kids and have a job and are very busy. The biggest challenge people have is they have the goal, 'I'm gonna work out four times a week at this time of day,' but then life throws you curveballs. The biggest challenge is just time management for a lot of people."

Q: What advice do you give to viewers at home?

"The best advice I give people is just start small, start simple, master the basics. Give yourself some time and some grace, be patient, and just stick with it. Focus on hydration, focus on your sleep and another one would just be finding accountability partners, having a friend and just being nice to yourself and forgiving yourself. A lot of people want to look better, but I think if they focus on doing things and making the right nutrition choices, exercise choices, to feel good first, eventually all the other stuff will be a byproduct of that."