New Year New You

It’s the beginning of a new year and a new decade, so it’s like a double resolution that is encouraged for the betterment of yourself. You might have told yourself this years prior but did you ever go through with it all the way? Make this your year, make this the starting point of your new life. Starting a new routine is going to be difficult for you have never force yourself to workout in the mornings and afternoons or at all. But nothing good ever comes easy right? It’ll take some time to break some old lazy habits but that’s part of the process. It will take even longer to break eating habits but that’s why cheat days exist, just don’t make every day a cheat day. Breaking eating habits is a personal feat for anyone new to this. you can’t just workout and not change your diet, you’ll basically be working out for nothing, or to just sustain your already poor diet. Cutting down on empty carbs, fatty foods, pastries, candy, soda, etc. is essential. It doesn’t necessarily mean quit cold turkey, just cut down.

Don’t fall for those new trendy diet fads, set up a diet that is right for you, meaning to find out how much a person of your height and weight should intake daily. There are many fitness apps like myfitnesspal or Strava that can record what you eat and how much you need to eat daily as long as you input your correct stats (weight, height, age, etc). Most people know exactly what they have to do to lose weight and become fit but lack the consistency to follow through with it. This is because they’re too focused on the end goal which isn’t bad but you begin to lose track of the now, the step by step, day by day process. Make some realistic goals for yourself and stick with them. It’s going to take a tremendous amount of discipline, adjustment and commitment because your new body isn’t going to just happen overnight, but the payout in the long run is amazing.

Take up the sport you’ve always wanted to try. For me, I got into Badminton a few years ago and I’ve never looked back. It’s the type of sport you can try no matter what your age, and it combines fitness with precision, technique and speed.

It’s also a very good idea to have a friend or significant other to reach a goal with. You can go out together and have fun picking out what gym to join, workout tank tops,hydroflasks, some new workout leggings, just active gear in general so you can be prepared for your journey. A study from Miriam Hospital/Brown Medical School analyzed 109 overweight people. Upon that study it was noticed that those who teamed up with a friend/relative lost twice as much weight compared to those who went solo. Your friends influence a lot of what you do so if you have a friend with the same vision of losing weight and being healthy it’s mutually beneficial. You can both learn from each other and keep each other going by celebrating small successes, milestones, exchange useful tips or new ideas, etc. It’s great because then someone will be holding you accountable. You’ll be checking up on eachother asking “have you gone to the gym today?” or “What did you eat for breakfast?” This is good because you both want what’s best for each other and your opinions matter to each other.

Getting fit will save you money on food for you will be eating out less and cooking your own meals at home. You can go out and pick up chicken breasts, rice, and vegetables for a very good price, and it will last. It will last because you will be meal-prepping. you will be preparing the exact amount of food for yourself. Meal prepping is like making your own “lean cuisine” except its specific to your taste and preferences, and at the same time be brushing up on your culinary skills.You can even meal prep snacks for yourself, healthy snacks. Everybody gets hungry in between meals so if you also prep your snack it’s only beneficial because you’ll still be sticking to a planned diet and be forming a new healthy relationship with food and won’t waste any of it.

Getting in shape will not only improve you physically but also mentally. When you’re exercising regularly you get a natural high from it that’ll just enable you to keep going. You’ll feel like you can do anything. It will significantly reduce your chances of being depressed, which is one of the leading mental health issues in adults today. Exercise will reduce your stress and anxiety, you’ll be sweating it all out whilst helping yourself physically. Your self-esteem will obviously sky rocket. You’ll be improving your physical abilities like finally being able to reach the top of a summit or end of a trail you could never finish before and your physical looks as well when you can finally fit into the pair of jeans you’ve been wanting or coat, etc. which is a double whammy that anyone would be excited to boast about. You will feel more energized in general, your chances of feeling tired and fatigued will reduce significantly. The common remedy would always get more sleep right? Wrong, people who don’t regularly exercise usually get random exhaustion spells. You have to keep your body moving at all times, keep that blood flowing, so that you don’t feel like nodding off. if you’ve got even the slightest pump, you won’t be feeling like a zombie at work, school, a party, etc and will help you stray away from energy drinks.

In this day in age, you have an endless amount of resources to help you lose weight. There’s forums on what types of food to eat if you have certain religious or health restrictions, tips for what workouts are best for you body type and weight, online groups, blogs, and much more. There are literally millions of people out there with the same goal as you, so if you don’t really have someone you know to share this journey with, you’ll have social media and the internet. Losing weight and getting in shape will be a worthwhile journey that you will never regret, so get up, lace up, and start your new long, healthy life.