As girlfriends we want each other to live our best life, right?

Well, that probably also means living a happy, healthy life so we’re focusing on girlfriend advice for fitness in January. And we’ve got a great girlfriend to share with you! Stepfanie will be our guest this week on our Friday, 2:00pmEST BlogTalkRadio show – listen in! (And you’ll have a change to win one of five books that we talk about below!) Thanks for sharing this guest blog and a whole bunch of girlfriend inspiration …

Enlist Your Friends to Make Your Resolutions Stick

by Stepfanie Romine, SparkPeople.com, co-author of The Sparkpeople Cookbook: Love Your Food, Lose the Weight

Did you set goals, make resolutions or take inventory of your life this year?

Are you keeping them?

Your closest friends might just be able to help you. And all it takes is a phone call or email.

If you’re keeping quiet about your goals, you might be setting yourself up for failure. At SparkPeople, we frequently talk about setting goals and holding yourself accountable. But if you set a goal and don’t tell anyone about, will you stick to it? We know (and research has proved) how important and effective a supportive network of friends can be when you’re trying to live a healthier life.
You share everything else with your girlfriends, why not share your goals as well? Sure, they’ll support you and encourage you, but they’ll also give you the push you need when your goals seem insurmountable.

It’s not too late to ask for help. Call, write or text your goals to your friends, and ask them to be the coach, mentor, therapist or fan club when you need it.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• If you decided to train for your first 10K, ask a friend who’s a runner to help you devise a training plan. Check in with her each week, and meet for a workout when your schedules allow.

• If you’re trying to lose weight this year, make it known. That way, your friends won’t be offended when you take just a bite of their killer cheesecake you or skip out on a second round of cocktails. Gather for a healthy potluck dinner, and ask your friends to share their slimmed-down recipes.

• If you vowed that this would be the year you quit smoking, enlist a friend to talk you down from the ledge when you’re craving a smoke. Give her a call or send a text instead of lighting up when you’re feeling stressed.

• If you’re afraid to pursue a goal on your own, team up with a friend. Whether you want to learn to speak Spanish, lose 25 pounds or get organized, having someone who can not only sympathize but empathize (and commiserate) can give you the edge you need to succeed.

This year will be different! You will reach your goals–and get in some quality time with your girlfriends in the mean time.
Regardless of what your goals are for 2010, be sure to check out “The Spark,” the new book from the motivation and healthy living experts from SparkPeople.com. Already a best seller, this book will connect the dots between weight loss, fitness, better health and lifelong goal achievement.

Stepfanie Romine is editor and writer of dailySpark.com, the healthy lifestyle blog by SparkPeople and NEW co-author of The Sparkpeople Cookbook: Love Your Food, Lose the Weight. She is an experienced writer and editor and a certified Ashtanga yoga teacher who has lived and cooked on three continents. In addition to healthy green living and from-scratch cooking, her passions include learning new languages, throwing vegetarian dinner parties, and teaching and practicing yoga with her girlfriends. Stepfanie tries to promote kindness in all she does and loves sharing stories about people and their passions.

Just a note. I received a review copy of The Spark and have found it very inspiring! It is helping me go after my health and fitness goals in a sane, no-crazy-diet way. Thanks SparkPeople for this great resource and for all the inspiration you provide in the book and through the site!

Do you or a girlfriend need some fitness inspiration? Check out SparkPeople, The Spark and The Sparkpeople Cookbook: Love Your Food, Lose the Weight!

Tags: dailyspark, exercise, fitness, health, new years resolutions, Sparkpeople, sparkpeople cookbook, stepfanie, the spark, Women

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 at 6:10 pm and is filed under Be a Better FRIEND, Health and Fitness, Podcasts/BlogTalkRadio Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.