There are a few things you may or may not know about me:

I have always and will always love sports. Pretty much any sport that comes to hand I’ll have a go at and I’m just a little competitive. I play tennis & netball, have done triathlons, raced Moto-X and sailing and dragon boated across the English Channel breaking a world record.

Heck I even won a Regional Body Sculpting competition eating chicken and broccoli and exercising 3 hours a day for 9 months! But in case you missed it my addiction is chasing after a plastic disc and winning gold medals in a game called Ultimate Frisbee.

Making 2011 Your Best Year Yet
I think it’s a timely topic for two reasons:

1. Most people set their new intentions in the New Year for losing weight, going to the gym more, taking up a new hobby, joining a running club, doing more yoga, eating healthier, starting on a new diet (hate that word – it should be healthy eating for life!)

2. Most people will not achieve their goals because it’s a known fact that 90% of New Year’s resolutions never happen and right about now, or in a few short weeks you will be back to the same old habits and reaching for the chocolate bar and missing that spin class.

Why? Two reasons…

1. We’re creatures of habit and it takes 27 days to break a habit and just one week to un-break it. There are several theories on this but you get the gist – it takes longer to form a new habit then it does to go back to your old ways. Let’s change this starting today!

2. We’re lazy. Let’s face it — we are. We do what’s comfortable and what’s easy most of the time because, well, it’s comfortable and easy. Since when did anything great, amazing, impactful or world changing come out of not pushing through your comfort zone? Yep...NEVER.

Breaking through the health and fitness barriers

I’m here to help you sort that out once and for all because – big disclosure – I’m guilty of doing the same thing and I’ve had enough of it.

Whether that’s a bootylicious butt, an 8 pack (pretty damn hard to achieve by the way, I should know I had one for about 3 days!) or just to get yourself feeling more energized and healthy every single day so that you can do more, be more and have more.

PLUS I know (and so do you) that when I work out in the morning, or go play Ultimate for hours running around like a nutter and loving every second, I feel so much better and I wonder why on Earth I don’t do this more often.
So without further ado here are my two THREE ‘must action’ tips to staying fit and healthy in 2011.

1. Commit to Change
At the end of the day if you really, really, really want to change up how you feel and look in 2011 then get serious about making room for it in your life. Put down the cookie and pick up the hand weight. Turn off the TV and grab your dog, child, husband or iPod and march out the door for 20 minutes for a vigorous walk, run/walk, dance, skip or serious wiggle. Just move your body. Then schedule that in to your calendar 3-5 days a week so that you actually value it as time out from your work day. Put it in as a meeting – with yourself and your health!

2. Enlist Your Secret Weapon
The secret weapon is actually no secret aside from the fact that there’s power in numbers. Not only do you need to hold yourself accountable to commit to change, you need to find a partner or a group to help you too. Don’t try to do this alone if you’re not naturally into exercising. Join a walking/running/dance/nutrition group or get a gym membership. But enlist the help of a friend, mentor or personal trainer to ensure you stick to your goals and actually turn up. That’s the key. There’s power in numbers. Also you don’t want to let them down so you’re more likely to turn up and you keep each other motivated when the other is less inclined to go out riding in the rain (which by the way is lots of fun).

3. Aim Big
I cannot tell you how important it is to find some a BIG goal to work towards. Saying you want to lose 5 pounds is all well and good, but the thing is it’s sooooo boring. How about you want to finally complete a Sprint Triathlon, learn to tango so that you can hang out in any Milonga (tango club) and dance properly, cycle in the Alps and follow the Tour de France?

Yep BIG goals with impending timelines push you further than any goal you could set for yourself. My biggest path to success on the fitness and health front have been entering a competition or training for an event. There’s no bigger motivator – fear of failure, of not finishing, of not being ready to compete. Joy in achieving that milestone, accomplishing that feat are even better motivators and addictive.

It’s time to go big or go home.

What are you still reading this for? Turn off the laptop, put down the phone, push aside the high fat snack and go out and move your beautiful body.

-Natalie Sisson