Introducing the new year is also a great time to introduce a new, healthier lifestyle. New Year’s Resolutions do not have a great reputation. Many of us want a fresh start to really get our fitness goals on track, but few truly know where to start. Despite all the good intentions built into these annual promises to self, things don’t normally pan out the way that the resolver planned. Most of us know the familiar feeling of waking up on the first day of January and having our heads be full of resolutions that we’d like to stick to.
However, maintaining goals usually isn’t as easy as we’d like to think – whether that be due to being too busy to commit to a resolution or being slightly over zealous. Which is unfortunate considering that the vast majority of New Year’s Resolutions have something to do with an individual’s desire to improve their health in one way or another.
So, how can you break this cycle? With a little planning and the right amount of commitment, you can ensure that you’re sticking to those resolutions that have escaped you in the past.
Here are eight major resolutions that’ll help improve your health and can change your life and tips to help you achieve them.
Plan Out A Workout Calendar
Scheduling is key, and setting out your fitness goals week by week can really help put your objectives into perspective. Decide how many workouts you plan on tackling in the next seven days and make sure that you’re putting enough time aside for them. At the beginning of the week, jot out your fitness schedule and tick off your workouts as the time passes. Not only are you going to be able to track your progress, this type of planning also helps keep you accountable and holds you to the goals that you want to achieve.
Whether you’re experienced at scheduling or you’re completely out of your depth, having a timetable and a visual reminder to stick to and keep you consistent is a sure-fire way to see your fitness goals get achieved.
Drink More Water
We've all heard about the benefits of drinking enough water and making sure that we stay hydrated, yet it’s still something that many of us don’t do. This new year, you should focus on trying to ensure that you’re getting enough of that ever-so-important H2O to optimize your overall health. Upping and keeping track of your water intake will help you stay energized, clear up your skin, and it can even
promote healthy weight loss.
It’s as simple as making sure that you have a water bottle tucked away in your bag and reminding yourself to top it up every hour or so. While only being a small change, you’ll see the major benefits sooner rather than later.
Get Enough Protein
In minds of most people, protein is typically linked with muscle. And for good reason. Your muscles are essentially made of protein. So, if you want to improve your athletic performance, loose fat or increase the amount of muscle on your frame, you’re going to need protein.
But beyond specific body transformation goals, most don’t understand the huge range of functions that protein performs in your body. Whatever your exact fitness new year's resolution is, getting adequate protein is vital.
This be a major downfall in trying to accomplish your fitness goals. Protein is generally one of the most important nutrients that our body requires, and not having enough of it can lead to an array of nasty issues that you’d rather not find yourself having to deal with.
Protein, once it’s absorbed and digested, is broken down into an assortment of amino acids. These amino acids, in turn, can be reorganized and re-purposed to build just about anything that your body needs. In this way, protein helps to support just general well-being.
Without enough of the nutrient, you’re going to find yourself feeling lethargic and unfulfilled after eating a meal. Likewise, it’s going to be harder for you to gain muscle if you simply aren’t providing your system with enough of the energy that it needs to
aid muscle growth.
For those looking to lose weight, though, protein works in another way: it suppresses your appetite. One
study even found that people on a high-protein diet ate an average of 440 calories every day, even though they had the ability to eat as much as they wanted. In just a week, this could lead to a loss of about a pound of body weight.
To ensure that you’re meeting your recommended protein requirements, introduce
protein powder into your diet. Whatever your tastes may be or however busy your schedule is, our protein powders make it easy to keep your health on track by using premium ingredients without artificial sweeteners or flavors. Whether you’d prefer to add a scoop to your favorite blueberry muffin recipe, or you just find it easier to whip up a quick morning shake, you’ll be fueling your body with exactly what it needs.
Try Out A New Exercise Class
The new year needs to be reined in by truly getting out there and experiencing new things! That means finally putting aside your nerves and getting involved in that fitness class that you’ve been eyeing up but putting off for one purpose or another. Even if it’s something completely out of your comfort zone, there’s really no reason not to experiment and try out something new. If there’s a trend that you’re not quite sure on or a class that all your friends are raving about, take it in your stride to give a try and see whether it’s for you.
2019 is already a year that’s forecasting a lot of popularity for exercises such as rowing, so it’s the perfect time to jump on-board and you might surprise yourself by enjoying a less traditional way of exercising.
Up Your Nutrition Game
Even though we all want to be as healthy as possible, it’s not always as easily said as done. Making changes to your diet can be especially hard, particularly when you’re trying to suddenly upgrade your nutrition to an entirely new level. Therefore, before you start thinking that you’re going to have to swap out all your favorite meals, start by making small changes to one meal or snack. Up the nutrition of your diet by reducing refined sugars and instead adding some berries to your oatmeal, some spinach to your salad, or some mushrooms to your omelette.
These little extras all add up, and adding more vegetables and fruits into your daily intake will allow you to ensure that you’re getting more of the vitamins that your body needs.
Read Nutritional Labels
Regardless of whether your health-related resolution is to clean up your diet, lose weight, gain muscle or just plain get fit, you need to start thinking about what you put in your body. To be better informed and make better decisions, you’re going to need to get in the habit of reading – and understanding nutrition labels.
Along with the nutrition information found on foods and supplements, there is an ingredients list. And it’s this portion that most shy away from, largely because of the complex, chemical names that become such a common feature in modern foods. These
chemical additives – used for a variety of purposes – can have a wide range of negative effects on your health.
If you want to improve your health in anyway, cutting out heavily processed foods that are loaded with additives is a key initial step.
Walk Rather Than Drive
Frankly, it’s too easy to hop in your car and simply drive where you need to go. For short distances, it’s a bad habit if you’re trying to be more active and get fit. Instead of automatically getting into your car, start asking yourself whether you can just walk instead. Do you really need to drive to the store when it’s a 10 minute walk away? Plus, walking rather than driving will help you get fit while also saving money on gas and doing your bit to reduce your carbon footprint.
It’s not always as easy as just ditching your car and deciding to walk everywhere, especially due to certain work and life commitments. So, if you do find yourself needing the assistance of your car, instead of seeking the closest possible spot to the store, try to park further away where there are plenty of open spots from where you need to go. This way, in busy areas you’ll easily find your car when coming out of the store and you’ll be getting some extra steps in.
Find Something You Love
Often, people don’t stick to their New Year’s Resolutions for one simple reason: they hate it. It might be the diet that they’re forcing themselves to follow or the workouts that they drag themselves through every day. Either way, the fact remains that many people end up resenting the fact that they even decided to set a particular goal. And then they quit.
But all of this could have been avoided, if they just found a way to enjoy the changes in their lifestyle. While eating healthy, find meals that fit within your diet that you look forward to eating. Similarly, experiment with various workout styles until you find one that you’re excited to dive into. Often, trying a new fitness class at least once or developing some other source of accountability helps people to get comfortable when they first start exercising.
Whatever the year ahead might hold, you can make it a lot healthier and get a lot fitter by making a few simple changes to your overall lifestyle. Whether it’s ensuring that you’re getting enough protein and drinking enough water, or getting into the habit of walking everywhere, you’re going to see a whole new world of benefits after tackling these changes.
Read more:
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How To Keep Your New Year's Resolutions