CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Changing your lifestyle is a marathon, not a sprint.

Dr. Chad Peters of Armadillo Sport Chiropractic knows just that. He told 3News it’s important for those who are interested in improving their health and fitness in the New Year to keep it in mind as well. 

“It’s a huge migration. This is like the monarchs coming from Mexico everyone wants to start their fitness journey at the start of the year.”

Dr. Peters Is a sport-based chiropractor. He says there’s one thing that leads to failure when it comes to fitness.

“Well I’m gonna learn how to run faster. I’m gonna lift heavier, I’m going to start working out. But their shoulders, their hips, their ankles are not moving the right way so they get injured.”

Peters said is alright to step on the gas, but it is necessary to pace yourself.

“You can break it up into these little chunks, can I make a difference in these three months? And these three months? But give yourself a year. You’re not going to see changes overnight on yourself. But you give yourself a year, and you can make yourself unrecognizable.”

He said consistency is key. That, combined with healthier eating habits can be significant to your success.

“The exercise program you can stay with, and you can go day to day with and it’s not drudgery and you don’t hate it,” said Peters. “And you wake up in the morning looking forward to it. That’s always going to trump what the best fitness solution is.”

Peters believes that Slow and steady wins the race.

“Something we used to laugh at in the personal training world is by the time the Super Bowl comes around, ninety percent of the planet is already off their plan.”

The chiropractor continued, “So give yourself a little bit longer on this. Find something that you love to do. Use the beginning part of January just to figure out what you like and don’t like. That’s gonna give you a much better chance of success down the road.”