Why Charli Cohen Has Already Started On Her New Year Goals!

Come January 1st, there can be a huge amount of pressure to make drastic changes to improve our fitness, health and overall wellbeing. Most of this usually revolves around what we aren’t going to do.

We asked fitness and activewear champion, Charli Cohen, for her tips on setting realistic goals, when and how to get started, and the question we know many of you will ask yourselves… to join a gym or not to join a gym?! Is it what you really need?

Charli, how are you preparing mentally for 2015?

Rather than putting unnecessary pressure on January, I’m getting started or have already started working on the goals that I’m hoping to achieve in the New Year. If you know what you want, start as soon as you can rather than succumbing to ‘I’ll start on Monday’ syndrome – the time is going to pass anyway so why not use it to get a head-start!

How do you ensure you set realistic fitness goals?

It’s important to allow a realistic time frame for your overall goal(s) and to break that down into weekly and monthly goals to keep you focused. The small steps you make every day are what get you to the end result, so whilst knowing your end-game is important, don’t overwhelm yourself worrying about how much work is involved to reach it. If at the end of every week, all you can think about is how many more weeks you have left, it’s going to be very difficult to see it through. Conversely, if you have something to feel good about each week, you’re far more likely to stay motivated to the end.

Why Charli Cohen Has Already Started On Her New Year Goals! — Image: Charli Cohen

How are you reflecting on 2014 and using that to reshape 2015?

In 2014, my own health took a dive due to excessive stress and a lot of my friends – fellow entrepreneurs and business owners – have experienced similar issues. I’ve learnt that all work and no play eventually bites back! It has a detrimental effect on productivity, physical appearance and mental wellbeing. As someone who’s always used hard work as the solution to everything, it’s been a real eye-opener – I’ve never been more motivated to create a healthy balance!

For me, training regularly and eating well is habitual – the things I need to work on are relaxing more, rediscovering ‘fun’ and learning to switch off my 100-mile-an-hour thoughts!

If any of this sounds familiar, I’d highly recommend taking a small step back and building in more ‘me’ time – it’s a much longer, tougher journey if you wait until your body physically forces you to make that decision!

To join a gym or not to join a gym – is it a good idea?

This entirely depends on where you’re going to thrive. I’ve had gym memberships and a home gym, so have experienced the pros and cons of both. A gym tends to be a more motivating environment to push yourself – there’s an element of competition that you don’t get at home. If you get bored easily, a gym is probably a better option, ideally one that offers lots of classes in addition to being able to do your own thing.

Also, unless you have lots of space and a huge budget, you have access to much more equipment. On the flip side, when you’re training at home, it’s more time efficient and easier to fit into your day, so can often help you stick to a plan more effectively. Plus you don’t have to wait on equipment and you can train in your PJs if you want to (I did regularly). If you’re unsure, why not try a month of home bodyweight workouts and/or independent classes. If after that you still feel you’d do better in a gym, take the plunge get a membership.

What are your fitness goals for 2015? Share them with us in the comments below.

For the team at welltodo London, December is certainly a time of mental preparation for the year ahead. With our official launch just two months ago, we’re busy making very big plans for 2015! We’re looking forward to supporting you through your healthiest and happiest year yet.