Schaumburg Live Work & Play - January/February 2009 - (Page 8) last year’s new you? Most new year’s resolutions last as long as a popped bottle of cheap champagne. Everyone has hopes for the new year. What’s typically lacking, counselors say, are short-term goals and a plan for turning those hopes into reality. In the spirit of the new year, Schaumburg professionals say there are common keys to success in three of the most popular categories for personal makeovers: A New Year, a new you. So what happened to getting fit, going back to school and getting a new job. All three areas see a rush of new participants at the beginning of the year and expect even more now in a struggling economy. The difference between those who drop off after a month or two and those who stick with it, consultants say, is the ability to focus on short-term goals that put you on the road to your long-term goal. Here are a few pointers to turn the dreamers into doers. Get fit Every year, people come into the Schaumburg Park District with the goal of losing 20 pounds. And every year, many disappear after a few visits, no lighter than before. “They set this huge, ginormous, mountainsized goal,” fitness supervisor Jennie Bever said. “Then, every little bit of progress is undermined because they don’t feel they’re moving toward their goal fast enough. They have unrealistic expectations.” Instead, Bever suggests setting small daily and weekly goals, like working out each day, or sticking to the food pyramid guidelines daily. Next, join a group or get a trainer so you’ll have others to work out or eat with who will check up and encourage you. Then, cut yourself a little slack – but stick with your plan. “One Big Mac does not lead to the end of the entire program,” Bever said. The park district’s Fit Quest is modeled on “The Biggest Loser” but measures progress in inches, not pounds, to help people see quicker results. Trainers don’t generally use body weight as a goal at Lifetime Fitness in Schaumburg. They go by body composition, measuring the percentage of body fat to lean mass ratio. That way, if someone burns off fat but adds muscle, he might not lose weight, but he’ll look and feel better. And while many people mistakenly assume what works for their friends will work for them, Lifetime tests each person’s metabolic rate, and tries to tailor a unique workout plan for each individual. For those just starting out, Lifetime offers a Cardio 02 class that gradually works up to an invigorating cardiovascular workout. For those who are already fit, the Boot Camp class offers a high-intensity workout squeezed into a lunch hour. Personal trainer Corey Bern also emphasizes the importance of positive feedback along the way, to know even if the pounds are stubborn, you’re getting stronger, faster and healthier. “We try to replace bad habits,” Bern said, “with a positive mental attitude.” Go back to school Every January, colleges see a rush of new students hoping to start the new year by finally getting the education they always wanted. These new students fall into two categories: those who want to start right away, and those who want to plan it out. Unfortunately, the ones most eager to start are the ones who most often drop out. Joanne Canyon-Heller, associate director of admissions at Roosevelt University, with campuses in Schaumburg and Chicago, says some people don’t realize the planning that has to go into becoming a student again: figuring out what degree you want, what classes to take, the prerequisites, the cost, the scheduling, and the time and motivation to do the work. Much more successful, she says, are those who start planning for the next semester, who take time to meet an admission counselor to figure out the necessary logistics. Some fields, for instance, only require a few months of training for a certificate that can land a job immediately, such as a day-care worker or a paralegal. Undergraduate degrees typically take four years, but can be shortened to as little as two years through the cohort program, a small, intense group class that meets once a week for four hours or more. For some reason, women going back to school vastly outnumber men, by a two-toone ratio at the Schaumburg campus. The average age of undergraduates is 28, while the average graduate student is 32. Tough economic times brought in a record-large freshman class this year. Most students are motivated either by a desire to make more money in fields like business or information technology, or a desire for more job satisfaction, often by helping others in fields like education, psychology and human services. Land a new job Valerie Profit runs a job club for those over 50 and people with disabilities in Schaumburg Township. Eighty-five percent of her members come in with a New Year’s resolution that this will be the year they get a new job. The job club attracted an overflow crowd of 500 – three times as many people as usual – in October, when the economic downturn really took hold. This January, Profit expects more new members than ever before. Profit offers career counseling to club members, as well as interview and resume critiques. With a database of 100 jobs, Profit can sometimes send out a resume during a meeting and get a response back from an interested employer before the job seeker leaves the office. The club’s usual job placement rate of 86 percent has fallen to 78 percent since last summer. The people who don’t stick with it, she says, are those who get discouraged easily by the word “no.” “Even though we all get some ‘no’s, you have to be determined to get that ‘yes,’” she said. “It only takes one yes.” • Page 8 schaumburg live • work • play
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