I am super excited for 2020 and to conquer my New Year’s resolutions, along with all of the new adventures, education and experiences it will bring. 2019 seemed to fly by and even though I often feel like I “stood still” the entire year, this site proves me wrong! I am so thankful for all of my subscribers and followers!
Even if all of your dreams didn’t come true in 2019, I hope you take steps in your life to move FORWARD to make those dreams become a reality in 2020!
New Year’s Resolutions
It’s no surprise that two of the top New Year’s resolutions made are to get healthier and lose weight. Few people keep their resolutions for more than a month.
This is attributed largely to unrealistic goals and diets. A diet is a lifestyle, not something you “jump on” for a couple of days or months to shed a few unwanted pounds.
Always consult your doctor or health care provider before adopting any diet or fitness programs.
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Start small to achieve your New Year’s resolutions
Setting smaller goals in a shorter amount of time helps to reach goals and create a sense of self accomplishment and momentum to achieve the next short-term goal.
Keep a journal or track your exercise. Keeping track of your progress is a huge motivator that most people throw out the window. Being able to track your progress and accomplishments (weight, number of steps, workouts) week after week proves you are putting in the work.
Log your food intake. If you have to write down every single food item you eat during the day, you will second guess eating that fourth taco or grabbing a bag of Doritos to munch on.
Start slow. Pushing yourself too hard to quickly can result in injury and cause a major set-back right off the bat.
Purchase a pedometer or better yet, download a free app on your phone that tracks your steps. Follow your regular routine the first week, then set increased but realistic and obtainable step goals.
Secrets to increasing your steps and exercise include:
- Don’t park in the parking spot nearest the door. Every step counts – the farther away you park the more steps you will cover.
- Walk your shopping cart back to the store.
- Clean house. I know that idea sounds terrible but cleaning your house adds up the steps fast!
- Never ask someone to get you something while you are sitting down.
- Go shopping, even if it’s just window shopping.
All of these minor activities add up to big steps which equals calories burned!
Time
Time is everyone’s excuse. We all know if something is important enough ”time” will be found. Go ahead and watch TV but pick up some small weights or fill empty milk jugs with water and get a little strength training in while you are at it.
Motivation for your New Year’s resolutions
Motivation is an actual road block. Life is busy and working out is just not that fun. If you start a new work out program or activity, don’t push yourself too hard too fast. Being wiped out and sore is not going to make you want to go back for more.
Food
I am not going to tell you to put down the burger and eat a salad. The truth is, most people don’t realize with the amount of dressing they put on a salad, they are usually consuming almost the same number of calories.
Make an effort to learn how many calories you are ingesting.
Drink a lot of water. Drinking half of your body weight (in ounces) of water per day is recommended. Water is our life-line. It aids in digestion, helps us feel satiated, relieves fatigue, flushes out toxins, regulates body temperature and much more, so drink up!
Healthy Eating
The Mediterranean diet is the ultimate lifestyle diet for people without any allergies or dietary restrictions. It eliminates sugar-sweetened beverages, added sugars, processed meat, processed foods, refined grains and refined oils.
If you want to start any type of diet as a lifestyle change, I recommend cutting out one thing at a time. Start with sugar and then add processed foods after a month or two and so on.
Consider eliminating soda from your diet all together, “diet” or not.
About my diet choices
Never ever did I think I would not be eating sugar or gluten. I loved my cakes and pasta but developed major inflammation in my body and could barely make it through my work days. I was in horrific pain much of the time and would have to stay in bed all weekend long. Although I still struggle, I feel WAY better having cut sugar, artificial sweeteners, gluten and most carbs out of my diet.
Many individuals have turned to the keto diet for significant weight loss. Although I post many keto recipes, I do not follow a keto diet and I would not suggest anyone following it without a doctor or other health care provider’s recommendation.
Keto and what it is all about
Keto stands for ketogenic. When eliminating sugar e.g. carbohydrates from the diet, the body is forced to find another source of energy to consume. Approximately four to seven days after eliminating sugars from the diet the body enters a state of ketosis and begins to use fat as its main source of fuel.
The keto diet is designed for individuals to eat 75% fats, 20% proteins and less than 5% carbohydrates. The diet is very individualized, keeping carbohydrate counts anywhere between 20-50 grams per day, depending on the person.
The keto diet was originally intended to treat people with seizure disorders. Many are finding that the diet is a way to treat excessive inflammation in the body.
Love yourself
No matter what size you are, learn to love yourself. If you are healthy, you have a perfect body and need to believe as much. Love it and all of its flaws.
I used to be extremely self-conscience but I know I will never be perfect, in any way. I consciously put a positive effort in almost every day of my life and THAT is good enough for me.
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