At the turn of 2016, many have probably made a resolution to change their lifestyle by exercising more, getting fit and eating more healthily. Yet how many will truly stick to that goal? Personal trainer Ian Jones says that many give up quickly because they do not set themselves realistic targets and gives Lorella Fava some tips.

The festive season is well and truly over but the post-culinary effects take far longer to digest.

Most of us may feel guilty of over-indulging in the holiday period. However, we try and pamper that guilt into submission by planning extra visits to the gym, a more healthy menu and a dieting regime.

These are some of the more common New Year resolutions, which usually go along the lines of: “I’ll lose a couple of inches”, “I’ll go to the gym three times a week”, “I’ll go on daily walks”, “I’m going to have a six-pack by summer, you’ll see!”

The journey to the top is tough but the view from the peak is worth the journey

Perhaps we’re all guilty of promising these things to ourselves but most of us do not keep such promises.

This is apparently normal. Forbes reports that about 25 per cent of people who make New Year resolutions give up by the end of the first week. The chances are that when it comes to food, sometimes it’s even quicker than that.

Personal trainer and founder of fitness industry Pathways Method, Ian Jones, confirms that all this is unfortunately true. When asked why people quickly give up their resolutions, he lists three main reasons:

• Lack of appropriate knowledge and starting the year following extreme diets which are not sustainable;

• Skipping ­meals, which in the long term hinders rather than helps;

• Daily distractions such as family, friends and work that tend to get in the way. When this happens health and fitness slowly starts sliding to the bottom of people’s priorities list.

Ian Jones with some of his clients.

Jones sustains that despite people associating the beginning of a new year with taking on a lifestyle change, soon enough the “lack of commitment for working out and eating healthy is left behind, kilos start piling up and old eating habits are the order of the day once again”.

He explains that the key ingredient to maintaining desire and motivation to exercise and live, on a general note, a health­­ier lifestyle is setting “realistic goals”. He emphasises very small steps such as walking 20 to 30 minutes a day, taking the stairs instead of the lift when possible and turning Sunday picnics with the family into Sunday hikes.

In his opinion, these small steps upstart the process and are easier to maintain in the long term.

If, however, one finds 30 minutes a day, five times a week for light exercise or, moreover, time for a “heavier workout” two to three times a week , Jones says it would be a great way to get that body you promised yourself as soon as you finished that five-course meal on January 1.

Turning his attention to weight-loss diets, he stresses that “the healthiest and most efficient diet is the one you can maintain for your whole life”.

He suggests nutritious diets based mostly on fruit and vegetables, lean meats, cereals for breakfast and good fats (such as nuts) in the evenings.

Stressing on this point even further, he emphasises that one should always avoid a diet that is difficult to sustain.

“In the long run, quick fixes rarely work,” he says.

His advice to all those embarking on a lifestyle change this January is to imagine what you would like to be like in a year’s time and take the first step, no matter how small, to try and achieve this.

“The smallest achievement makes a difference to the big picture.

“The journey to the top is tough but the view from the peak is worth the journey.”