Making a New Year’s resolution to get in shape is easy. Sticking to that resolution is the hard part. In a college atmosphere where there’s always a meeting to attend, a cool event to check out, friends to see, and homework that demands attention, it’s hard to squeeze an hour in at the Recreation Center. The motivation we had at the beginning of the year disappears and we tell ourselves ‘I’ll do it next year.’
Kill that thought and don’t give up hope! Even if you want to lose 10 lbs. or 100 lbs., postponing a healthier lifestyle not only hurts you more in the long run. And surprisingly, it’s not that hard.
Here are a few tips to keep that New Year’s resolution in motion:
1. Drink Water
Soft drinks have no nutritional value and many calories. Water has no calories. Drinking water 30 minutes before you eat will help achieve maximum digestion. Eight cups of water a day is the recommended amount. Yes, you will pee a lot. Water helps maintain your body’s balance of fluids, helps control calories, energizes muscles, and helps your skin and kidneys. The trips to the bathroom are worth it.
2. Junk Food is Trash
Appropriately named as junk food, pop, chips, cake, cookies and all the other foods we know we shouldn’t eat have no nutritional value. They’re delicious, dangerously addictive, and terrible for our bodies, but we eat them anyway. These foods are fine in moderation, but absentmindedly eating a bag of grapes is much better than eating a bag of chips.
3. Snack Constantly
This may seem backward, but it’s necessary for boosting your metabolism. Snack on healthy fruit and veggies rather than junk food. Working out constantly is great, but only eating 1 or 2 times a day will make your body hold onto your fat instead of burning them. Your body will get used to receiving nutrition often and will burn calories faster.
4. Greens Are Great
We’ve heard it since we were young and we’re going keep hearing it. Vegetables are one of the healthiest foods. Broccoli, green beans, carrots, and all the other veggies are not extremely appetizing but they are the most rewarding for the human body. Stock up on greens in a salad and try to work them in a few times a week. Explore new ways of cooking veggies to make them taste better to you. Work yourself up to eating at least one every day, and then try to eat some veggies with every meal.
5. Fruit is a Friend and Carbs are Frenemies
Sweet and delicious, juicy and refreshing; fruit contains natural sugars that are much healthier than artificial sugars found in candy and fancy coffee drinks. An apple will actually give you more energy than a cup of coffee. Cutting out carbs completely is a simple way to lose weight but they’re not all unhealthy. Carbs give you the most energy on a daily basis and quitting carbs cold turkey is dangerous. Fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are a healthy source of carbs.
6. Get a Work Out Buddy
Setting aside an hour every other day to go to the Rec with a friend or a group makes working out much more fun and social. Having someone to motivate you is wonderful. Whether someone is beside you on the mats or on the helliptical, time will go by faster and you’ll have more fun doing it.
7. Sweat Before Showering
No one wants to get sweaty after they shower, so take five minutes before to do a little workout. Try doing 50 jumping jacks, 10 push-ups, 30 sit-ups, 10 mountain climbers, and a 30 second plank while the water is warming up. All these core exercises will get you closer to a six-pack and you’ll feel like you deserve that shower.
8. Rotate Workouts
It’s easy to slip into the same workout routine at the gym but the best way to shape our bodies is to confuse them. Doing cardio every day and rotating between abs, arms, and legs will keep our bodies from getting used to the same routine every day, preventing a plateau in your workouts.
Your New Year’s resolution goal will be much easier to reach with these tips. Drink water, snack constantly, eat smart, and get a work out buddy to keep you motivated and you won’t be making the same resolution next year!