YMCA Healthy Living Magazine, powered by n4 food and health Summer 2017 | Page 8

THAMSIN DUNN

ROB HADLEY

Thamsin is a Master Coach for Fitness Instructor and First Aid for
the Australian Institute of Fitness (based in SA). Specialising in
fitness, exercise and personal training Thamsin’s fitness journey
started in elite sport, when she began working with high profile
polo players around the world, and later ski racers in New Zealand
and Spain. To find out more visit www.fitness.edu.au

Rob is a Master Coach, Personal Trainer and
Personal Training Specialist for the Australian
Institute of Fitness, based in NSW. Rob works in
chronic health and rehabilitation, assisting
varying clients to reach their goals or return from
injury. To find out more visit www.fitness.edu.au

HOW TO HAVE A
HEALTHY CHRISTMAS
AND NEW YEAR
Leading fitness experts from the Australian Institute of Fitness, Thamsin Dunn and
Rob Hadley, share their advice for the upcoming silly season and how to set inspiring
and attainable goals for the year ahead.
he festive season is fast
approaching and it’s the most
common time for people to let
their health and fitness regimes slip.
As the year draws to a close, we then
start thinking about how we can get
back on track and set new goals for
the year ahead.

this goal important to you, what will
you need to do to achieve it, who can
help you achieve it, how difficult or
easy will it be and, when do you want
to see results by? Once you have
honestly answered all of these
questions, you are on your way to
achieving realistic change.

The key to battling the Christmas
excess and to stay on track is planning
and moderation. But, when it comes to
the New Year, start thinking about your
resolutions in early December as this
gives you more time to set up more
realistic goals.

You want to make sure that you go out
and have a fabulous time around the
festive and new year period, but be
clever about how you do it;
remember, moderation is the key.
Moderation with your food
choices, alcohol consumption,
and making sure you still
exercise and rest. The key is
to have a plan – every
Sunday night, work out
your diary for the
coming week, making
sure to include lots of
exercise and lots of
nutritious food.

T

We all enjoy the holiday period; free
time, holidays and meeting with friends
and family, but this can mean that we
have less structure to our days, relax a
bit more and often partake in festivities.
By mixing up your fitness regime
around Christmas time, you can still
train effectively but also embrace
enough flexibility to enjoy some down
time. Then, when it comes to setting
new fitness goals for the year ahead,
don’t be hard on yourself – stay flexible
and you’ll stay on track.
Many people will tell you that New
Year’s resolutions don’t work, but it’s
not the resolution that doesn’t work –
it’s you. Resolutions are often made
emotionally and they can be grandiose
promises that sound impressive to
other people but are very rarely
thought through. If you choose to
make the turning of a new year the
time to set a new goal, you need to be
serious about it – ask yourself why is

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Here are a few tips
to help you have
a healthy
Christmas and
new year:
• Begin planning
your new year’s
resolutions on
1 December – this gives
you time to consider all
aspects of your goal, and get things in
place to help you achieve it. It’s also a
great idea to get other people involved
– appoint a sponsor, who will motivate
and encourage you to stick to it,

YMCA HEALTHY LIVING MAGAZINE SUMMER 2017