Goals such as quitting smoking, getting out of credit card debt or living life to the fullest continue to make up a high percentage of resolutions. However, losing weight and becoming more physically fit never fails to take the top spot on this list.
Staying on the topic of statistics, here is an unfortunate one: 80% of all New Year’s resolutions fail. What we can deduce from these numbers is that many of us plan to lose weight every year and consistently come up short.
If you’re reading this, there is a good chance that you’re one of these individuals. Maybe you set a goal to lose weight this year and were unable to do so, maybe you did lose the desired amount of weight but couldn’t keep it off, or this may have been the first year you decided to shed some pounds.
Whatever the case may be, here some helpful tips on how you can realistically lose weight and keep it off!
Free Report: How To Stick To Your Weight Loss Goals3 Simple Tips To Lose Weight And Keep It Off
1. Avoid Crash Diets At All Costs
Society today has an obsession with getting what we want and getting it now. Losing weight is certainly not immune to this trend. If your goal is to decrease your body weight this year, you’ve probably done some research into what diet plan or list of foods to stick to. Unfortunately, a Google search containing any of those keywords is going to bombard you with the latest fad diet or magic pill promising to transform your body in no time.
The problem with these things is that they either don’t work, have the potential to negatively affect your overall health or are so extreme that there is no way to stick to them long term. While we won’t get into specific diets to follow or foods to eat, there is a universal principle that needs to be made clear.
Most of us know what types of foods are considered healthy and what is complete junk. Eating healthier and losing weight is far from rocket science. Instead of buying into a fad diet, take a day-by-day approach in which you only eat wholesome foods and drink the recommended amount of water.
Don’t completely deprive yourself of your favorite snack. Just reduce the frequency in which you give in to your guilty pleasure!
2. Exercise Alone Is Not The Foundation
A common misconception is that your favorite piece of cardio equipment or a strenuous workout can make up for your poor diet. Think again! While exercise is certainly something you should include in your lifestyle, if you’re routinely eating high-calorie foods and drinking soda, you are basically trapping yourself in a perpetual hamster wheel of weight loss failure.
Physical activity does in fact burn calories, but not nearly to the extent in which you can consume them! For example, the average human burns about 100 calories during a mile on the treadmill, while a normal piece of chocolate cake contains over 300 calories. Do you see the issue here? Exercise alone is not going to get you where you want to be regarding weight loss. Nutrition is the foundation.
3. Let Your Results Become A Lifestyle
Let’s now assume that you’ve stuck to a consistent, sustainable and healthy diet, committed to an exercise routine and the results are starting to show. This is certainly an achievement and you should be proud of yourself! However, this is when another, just as important issue needs to be addressed. If this weight loss goal that you’ve worked so hard to bring to fruition doesn’t transition to an overall lifestyle change, regression is inevitable.
Don’t let your success cause you to become complacent and fall back into your old habits. Instead, use these results as a tool to transform your newly established healthy habits into a part of your lifestyle. This is the only way to maintain and continuously progress with not only your weight loss, but also any other fitness goals you set for yourself in the future!
Free Report: How To Stick With Your Weight Loss Goals
Making a resolution, a promise to ourselves that we’re going to do something different than we have done in the past can be a challenge. Statistics show that by the end of the first week of setting a goal, 25% of people have given up and gone back to their pre-resolution ways. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Download my free report, How To Stick With Your Fitness Resolutions to see how you can lose weight and keep it off!
