Start Your New Year Resolutions Now
We still have over 2 months left until the beginning of a new year. Instead of waiting for January
1st to set those health and fitness resolutions, why not set goals to improve your nutrition and
fitness over the next couple of months.
As we close in on the last couple of months with all the holidays, it is easy to put off making
better choices until the beginning of the new year. However, that can mean gaining bodyfat, taking in too much holiday and processed food, and having poor energy levels throughout the holidays
when you need more energy to get everything done.
In this article, I’ll outline some things that you can implement to make going through the
holidays easier and to help put you in a better place when the new year gets here.
1. Make sure you get enough water. I can’t stress enough how good quality water and getting
enough water can make or break your goals. We all need as a general guideline 1/2 our
body weight in ounces of water every day. This means plain, filtered water not flavored water.
You can add lemons, limes, cucumber slices, etc. to your water but not artificial sweeteners
or anything to flavor your water to get the benefit. Also, when you drink beverages that have
caffeine you need to add more water to the amount as caffeine is a diuretic.
2. Choose to cook and eat more meals at home. We tend to eat better foods when making
meals at home and you will eat fewer calories, less sugar, and less salt than when you are eating
out. Make having meals with family at home a priority to help you stick with your nutrition
goals.
3. Get your sleep during the busy holiday season. We not only recover from our stressful days
when we are sleeping but we also will tend to eat better when we are not tired. Studies show
that our food choices become worse when we are tired even if better food choices are
available, and the more sleep deprived we are the worse our choices each day.
4. Track your food intake with an app like My Fitness Pal or Chronometer to help you be aware of
the food choices you are making. Tracking intake is also a way to make sure your food choices
are helping you reach your goals. As we go through the holidays, it is easy to underestimate the
amount of sugar and calories that we are taking in due to Halloween candy, Thanksgiving Day
meals, and all the parties and family gatherings that occur during the holidays.
5. Try intermittent fasting or time-restricted eating. I think we all have been given bad
information, such as we need 3 square meals a day or that we need to eat often so that we
allow ourselves to get hungry. The truth is we need to eat less to give our digestive organs a
break. Intermittent fasting or time-restricted eating can be utilized to fit your schedule. A lot of people using these methods for nutrition hacks skip breakfast and break their fast at lunch or later,
others like myself are more prone to skipping dinner and not eating after lunch several days a
week. A great source of information for why and how intermittent fasting works is Jason Fung’s
book The Obesity Code. The book can be downloaded as an audiobook if you prefer to listen
instead of reading.
6. Start an exercise program now, don’t wait until January 1. With it getting dark earlier and the
mornings being darker later it can be easy to just go home after work and end up in front of the
TV. Now is a good time to get that exercise program going so that by the new year you already
have a constant workout program in place. Find an accountability partner. If you don’t seem to be able to stick to a workout routine by yourself find someone that is already working out and agree to meet them for your workouts. Start today! Don’t wait until January 1 to choose to become healthier, stronger, and more fit.
Make taking care of yourself a normal part of your daily routine and then you won’t ever have
to make New Year resolutions to lose weight or get fit again. At B-Fit we do offer free consultations to help get you started and offer guidance. We have added private one-on-one sessions for those that are not comfortable working out in a group but still need or want some accountability.
Beverly Ivey Johnson
Chek Holistic Health Coach
B-Fit