Ah, the infamous “New Year’s Resolution!” The yearly promise we make to ourselves to change something about our lives that we don’t like. Or a promise to do more of the things we did in the previous year that made us happy. No matter what you want, a resolution means commitment.
Year in and year out, the two of the most popular New Year’s Resolutions are “Lose weight” and “get fit.” For most people, especially in America which has a high rate of overweight people, losing weight and getting fit are goals we want to achieve no matter what time of the year. After lots of indulgence through the holidays, the first day of the New Year seems to be the opportune time for changing our habits to get a better body.
Unfortunately, most people never reach their goals when it comes to weight loss. Many will make progress for the first few weeks then regress into old habits that lead to being overweight. Some give up on their goals before they even start.
Don’t let another year pass you by! If you’re going to make a Resolution to yourself, keep it! Even though its cliché, New Year’s Resolutions are actually a good motivator for losing weight and getting fit. Here are some tips on how to help you keep them.
1. Have a Good Plan
You won’t lose weight for the New Year if all you do is occasionally go to the gym or eat healthy every once in a while. It’s likely you can lose a few pounds this way, but it’s only temporary. As soon as you go back to your old habits, then your weight will return to where it was too.
Real weight loss is due to daily commitment. Moving towards your goal every day and building momentum. Going from overweight or obese to fit and healthy will not happen overnight, and it won’t happen without effort. It’s hard work to change our bodies, no matter which way you want to look at it.
We recommend the P90X Workout as a great plan for weight loss. It is a 90 day program that will get you fit when you commit to the program. It’s not some useless machine you hide in the closet to bring out when you’re feeling motivated or a pointless diet you can’t stick to.
P90X provides all of the tools you need for losing weight, getting trim, and keeping in shape for a long time. A diet guideline will give your nutrition throughout the 90 days. The P90X diet is not difficult to follow since they are simply guidelines on what you should eat. It is designed to give you energy for the P90X Workouts. You won’t be starving yourself or eating only vegetables or anything extreme like that.
The daily P90X Workouts will start burning body fat immediately. As you progress, the workouts get more challenging and you push yourself harder. Your cardiovascular ability builds up and your muscles get stronger and more toned. By the end, you should feel like a completely different person in terms of how healthy you feel.
P90X is great for anyone who wants to lose weight for the New Year. Whether you’re overweight or in shape, P90X has helped thousands of men and women lose weight.
2. Success = Motivation + Momentum
Success, when it comes to losing weight and getting fit, means reaching an end goal. We all have a defining point where we consider our health a “success” or not. Most of these goals are “Lose 30 pounds” or “Fit into the skinny jeans I got for Christmas by March.”
To attain success in a long-term goal (like make more money, improve my personality, lose weight, etc) requires two things: motivation and momentum. Motivation is what kick starts our minds towards a goal. Momentum is what allows us to reach those goals over time. A combination of motivation and momentum is the formula for reaching any goal.
So what’s the difference?
Motivation is the “incentive for action.” It’s what we imagine or desire to move us towards a goal. In simplest terms, it’s the reward for our hard work. Sometimes this motivation is positive, like “I want my body to look like this Hollywood actress’ body so I am working hard for it.” Other times, we motivate ourselves with something negative, like “If I don’t lose 20 lbs in the next 2 months I will be very unhappy with myself…”
The New Year’s Resolution is for many of us great motivation, even though it can be negative. “Did I just let another year go by with me being 50lbs overweight? I need to do something!” Most of the time though, we are excited to a new beginning, a new year to start over and make better than the previous years.
But motivation doesn’t last. On the night of December 31st, right before the New Year, we are usually drunk with excitement (while many are literally drunk too.) When the ball drops, we give love to the people around us then start thinking about the upcoming year. We make plans to go to the gym, eat healthier, quit smoking, get a 6-pack, or do whatever necessary to reach the goals we have.
This cocktail of emotions is very powerful. The problem is that we can’t replicate such powerful motivation over and over. The effects seem to wear off after only a few days, and from there we are on our own.
That’s what we need momentum. Momentum is “strength or force gained by motion or by a series of events.” Sure, motivation can work for the next day after New Year’s Eve, but momentum will be the reason we reach or do not reach our goals in the next few weeks or months.
Momentum means taking action! Every single day we must do something that moves us towards our goal. You must build momentum (it starts with motivation) and you must keep it going if you want success.
This means going to the gym on schedule, doing our daily workouts, and eating healthier for every meal. These actions add up to build momentum and they will be the reason we actually lose weight. Momentum means work! Every single day that moves us towards our goals means a tiny success we can cherish.
Motivation is usually in our heads and momentum is usually physical action. It’s why coaches can motivate a losing football team at half-time with a powerful speech but the momentum of a game doesn’t really change until that losing team scores a touchdown to change the direction.
Success can only happen when we have motivation and momentum. Too many people get hung on motivation. Few take the action necessary to build momentum, a process that takes time and effort on our part. Commit to a long-term goal of losing weight, and reach it by making progress towards it every day.
3. Positive, Daily Motivation
While we’re on the subject of motivation, it’s important to know what kind of motivation works best.
Daily Motivation – Over time, we build momentum with our actions. Every time we spend an hour at the gym or finish a good workout, we are building the momentum we need to reach a long term goal.
The problem, of course, is getting ourselves to the gym or starting that workout. It’s especially true during the dark winter months when most of the country is freezing and snowed in. This is why we need to motivate ourselves daily. We are trying to build momentum and that means taking action every day. You absolutely must motivate yourself every day to take these necessary actions.
People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily. — Zig Ziglar
Every time you need to work out and can’t get yourself to do it, just think about all the reasons you are doing it in the first place. Get yourself pumped about it and start. For most people, the trouble is with getting started. Once we do though, most have no problem finishing their workouts.
Positive motivation – When we motivate ourselves, it usually means giving ourselves a mental pep-talk. It’s important to avoid using negative thoughts to motivate ourselves, especially if we want any long term success. We say stuff to ourselves like “I’m so fat! I’m disgusting and need to work out!” or “I need to lose weight or he will never ask me out!”
Focus on the positive. Focus on what you want – “I want to do this work out because it will make me feel good!” “I want to prove to myself I can do this!”
Being mean to ourselves is temporary motivation. We use it as a mental trick to feel in control, when in reality, we are not (otherwise, you’d be in shape and healthy, right?) Don’t say things like “I need to lose weight…” or “I should be getting healthy …”
It is much easier to figure out what we want and focus entirely on that (internal motivation) then forcing ourselves to do something because we “have to” or “need to” to please someone else (external motivation)
4. Take Advantage of Winter
New Year’s Day happens during the winter in the Northern Hemisphere, which can help us and hurt us at the same time. When it gets cold out, we try to avoid going outside unless we absolutely have to. Trips to the gym get set aside for a movie and a bag of popcorn. Since we don’t have to wear revealing clothes, we are not very motivated to get in shape either since we can cover ourselves up with a big coat.
The upcoming 3 to 4 months of winter are a great opportunity to get into shape. When springtime rolls around, anyone getting healthy during the winter has a huge head start on someone who has been lazy during it. Someone who starts a diet and exercise program now will be much more successful then someone who wants to wait 3 months and try to rush in a bunch of exercise to catch up before the warm weather comes.
Workout programs like P90X and Insanity are great for winter because you do them at home. You have no excuse when your gym is right in your living room!
