Why You Shouldn’t Make a New Year’s Fitness Resolution

Have you set a New Year's fitness resolution in the past? How did that go? If you're like the majority of the people out there, you never finished what you set out to do. Why is that? It's actually quite simple – you never wanted to do it in the first place. Am I right? You probably felt pressured to follow suit and come up with some lofty goals you really didn't want to hit because it sounded good when talking with family and friends. I have a better idea for you that I want to lay out below.

New Year… New You?

Enough of the New Year’s fitness resolutions that never pan out. You need to figure out exactly what YOU want and work on making it a lifestyle. In my opinion, a New Year’s fitness resolution is nothing more than a fad. Don’t simply set a New Year’s fitness resolution if you are only doing it because that’s the “cool thing” to do every year. Why not do something YOU want to do and accomplish this year?

Just because the norm for this time of year is weight loss doesn’t mean you need to hop on the bandwagon. Maybe your goal for 2020 is to simply START some type of program? Heck, maybe you’re looking to go in the opposite direction and start putting on size and add lean muscle mass?

Here’s an easy to follow guide to make 2020 the year you actually follow through and hit your goals without the need for a New Year’s fitness resolution.

1. Set a long-term goal

What is your ULTIMATE goal? What do you want to accomplish by living a healthier lifestyle? Is it a six-pack? Is it getting lean and showing off your physique on a beach somewhere? Regardless of the goal, it should be something that will take some time to accomplish. WRITE IT DOWN and put it somewhere you’ll see it every day as a reminder.

For the sake of an example, let’s go with a goal of you wanting to lose 50 pounds this year. That gives you 52 weeks to smash your goal.

2. Set a short-term goal

Once you have your long-term goal set, put smaller short-term goals down on paper. Using the same example, you can have a weekly weight loss goal of one
pound. If you were to lose one pound every week this year you would hit a total weight loss of 52 pounds. Not only does this give you some flexibility in case your progress slows, but it also allows you to lose even more weight than what you first set out for.

You can (in a healthy manner) lose 1-2 pounds each week without burning lean muscle mass which can cause your metabolism to slow down. You want to keep your muscle mass because muscle burns calories to function on a daily basis. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn – even while at rest.

3. Make your goals realistic

Have you ever set a goal so lofty that looking back you knew it was next to impossible to achieve? You’re not alone, unfortunately, the majority of people do this without knowing any better. They think setting such an enormous goal will motivate them to go out and work hard but in actuality, what it does is cause them to lose hope and give up.

Make sure you are setting goals that are realistic so that when you hit your milestones, it keeps you motivated to keep pushing harder. If you set unrealistic goals, you’re setting yourself up for failure right from the beginning.

4. Ensure your goals are measurable

In order to see how you are progressing with your goals, you need to make sure they are somehow measurable. In the example of weight loss, you have the scale and body fat testing. Each week jump on the scale and record your weight. This will give you an idea if you are achieving your 1-2 pound weekly weight loss goal. Bi-weekly or even monthly you could get your body fat tested to see how much of your weight loss was true body fat as well as if you gained any lean muscle mass in the process.

If you notice you aren't hitting your short-term goals, you know you need to make some adjustments to your program to continue seeing results. That's why measurable goals are so important. Without them, you'd never know if you were going in the right direction.

5. Go take action

One of the hardest things to do whether you are setting a New Year’s fitness resolution or trying to change your lifestyle is that first step. If you’re not used to eating a certain way, fitting in exercise, and making a conscious effort to improve your health it can be difficult. The best thing to do is to just START. Take action. Put one foot in front of the other and get the train in motion.

Once you get moving, it’s easier to keep them in motion. Far too many people keep putting off their start date saying they’ll start tomorrow, or Monday, or next week, or come the NEW YEAR. See what I did there? New Year’s fitness resolutions are when all of the complacent individuals over the past year come out of the woodwork and think January 1, they’re going to all of a sudden make a change. It won’t happen for a large percentage of them. Don’t fall into the trap of the New Year’s fitness resolution movement or you’re bound to fail like most. Start TODAY.

6. Stay committed

Last, but not least, is to stay committed. Everyone seems to be afraid of commitment and that’s the roadblock preventing people from achieving their goals. Saying you’re going to do something and actually following through are two completely different things. You can talk the talk all you want but can you continue to walk the walk? Make 2020 your year to hit your goals and make a difference not only in your health but your physique.

And if you need some help along the way, we are here to help you every step of the way. Not only will we have fresh new content up in the Beast Blog for you to utilize, but many of our supplements, when combined with a solid nutrition plan and workout program, can help you achieve faster results. Good luck and be a BEAST this year!