Wherever you are in the country, this is the week everyone has to come to the realization that the holidays are over. It’s back to normal. The kids are getting back to school. Colleges are getting ready for the second semester. Businesses have flipped their calendars are are ready for the first quarter of 2016.
It’s all…back to normal.
Except!
As the midnight hour approached on December 31, 2015, you had a thought cross your mind. A resolution for the new year. Maybe your family tradition is to share it aloud. For others, even if you don’t believe in making a New Year’s resolution, chances are there was a whisper in the back of your mind, something you’d like to do differently in 2016.
According to the website Happy New Year SMS 2016, the top 10 resolutions for this year are:
- Exercise
- Quit smoking
- Lose Weight
- Quit drinking
- Enjoy life more
- More family time
- Get out of debt
- Learn something new
- Help others
- Get organized
It’s worth noting how several of these are tied to the overall subject of health and fitness! And, one could argue, enjoying life more, learning something new, more family time, getting organized and helping others are all tied to mental health, while getting out of debt (which may also add to your mental health!) is about your financial well being.
Exercising, losing weight, quitting smoking and quitting drinking are all ways to live longer, which gives us more time with family and will help us to enjoy life more. They are all interrelated. Now, I have to admit, as with anything (except smoking), moderation is the key. A glass of wine with dinner isn’t going to make you blow up like a balloon, but you will have to account for the additional calories as part of your overall diet.
No matter how you slice it, outside of a handful of diagnosed medical conditions, weight loss follows a simple formula: calories in versus calories out. To lose weight, you have to expend more than you ingest.
The hard part is in making the necessary changes in your life, affording you the ability to workout more, while eating less — or at least, taking in fewer calories. Ironically, choosing the right foods may allow you to eat as much (if not more) than you are today, keeping you feeling satisfied, while taking in fewer calories than you are currently consuming.
Diet is a huge part of personal health and fitness. Whether trying to lose weight, gain muscle or a combination of the two, it all starts with what you are eating. I have already added a handful of recipes to my site and will continue to grow that list over time because I feel like I need to make those available to anyone, regardless of whether or not they are a client. I want to help people just like me! So, even if you aren’t looking for a personal trainer just yet, feel free to bookmark my site, follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook or sign-up to get my blog and you will always be sure to get the latest recipes I’m sharing with everyone.
I titled today’s blog, “Back to normal, except…,” because even though vacations have ended and it is back to the normal day-to-day of our lives, deep down, we all have something we’d like to do differently. If you’ve tried to get fit and lose weight before and gave up, maybe it’s because you tried to do too much, too soon? Maybe it was not having access to the information you really needed? Maybe it was not having someone there to push you and motivate you? Whatever the case, don’t let what happened in the past affect what you can do today. It’s hard. I know! I’ve been there and I continue to work on my own personal health and fitness goals every day.
Maybe it is back to normal for everyone. But don’t let that stop you from becoming something better for tomorrow. Here’s to wishing you all the best in 2016!
SJD Health and Fitness 