7 New Year Healthy Habits to Finally Achieve Your Fitness Goals
New Year is a synonym for new opportunities, new beginnings, new promises. Make yourself a priority this year.
By the end of this article, you will learn how to build 7 health habits. They will help you finally achieve your fitness goals.
Don’t fall into the same trap again.
The healthy habits that will bring you success.
“This is my year. I’ll finally focus on my health. I’ll work out regularly and look like my best self. No junk food, no workout skipping.”
Are you saying those promises every year? Do you find yourself falling into the same trap?
If you start every year with big promises to yourself about improving your health and fitness, it’s time to learn why you never achieve progress.
As human beings, we always try to improve our finances, jobs, health, life. But changing certain habits while trying to build new ones is not easy for us.
You desire to change, but you have to put in the work for it. New beginnings give you the motivation to implement those habits in your life.
Unfortunately, motivation doesn’t stick around for too long.
It comes and goes. Some days it is your best friend, and others - a complete stranger.
You cannot count on motivation. What you can count on is discipline. And if you use it long enough, it turns into a habit.
Exactly your goal, right?!
To build a new habit, you should have a strong reason why you desire it. Is it because you want to change the way to look? Or maybe you want to feel better?
Think of something that has a deeper meaning to you. And remind yourself of it every time you want or try to quit.
The 7 Healthy Habits that will finally help you achieve your fitness goals
The healthy habits I’m giving you are fundamental. They are the basics of a healthy lifestyle. Build those, and you’ll have a strong base that you can easily upgrade.
Eat more whole foods.
Start prioritizing whole and minimally processed foods.
Whole foods keep you satiated for longer. They also improve your macro and micronutrient intake.
Whole foods are not processed or refined. They usually don’t have additional ingredients.
The simpler your food is, the better. Highly-processed foods are full of additives, colors. You can barely recognize the ingredients in it. That’s why many times they have a lot of extra calories.
Eat more protein-dense foods.
Protein is an essential part of your diet when you have a fitness goal. Protein-dense foods keep you satiated for longer. Also, lean protein sources are lower in calories.
Protein is good not only when you want to lose weight. It helps you build muscle. It also supports your skin, hair, and nails.
Protein is the main ingredient in a healthy life. It supports both your body and your mind. Make sure you consume enough of it.
Stay hydrated.
Nowadays, everyone tells you: “Drink water.”
But why?
What makes water so important for your health?
It improves your fitness performance, mood, and sleep.
It supports your brain functionality.
It helps regulate your body temperature and flushes out toxins and waste from your body.
Water supports the proper functionality of your body. Your body itself is about 60% water. Your water intake might be the reason why:
You don’t lose weight;
You don’t build muscle;
You are not regular at the restroom;
You don’t sleep well.
Learn more about the water health benefits and how to drink more water.
Prioritize movement - even if you don’t exercise daily.
“Movement is a medicine for creating change in a person’s physical, emotional, and mental states.”
Movement is a part of every healthy lifestyle. Even if you don’t have a particular fitness goal, you should move every day.
Not everyone has the energy or will to work out daily. But you have the choice to walk to work, take the stairs, go out in nature for a quick 15-30 minute walk. Every movement counts.
Start meal prepping.
Meal prepping is an essential element for achieving your fitness goals. This way, you have more control over what you eat.
You can have satiating and low-calorie meals when you want to lose weight. When you want to build muscle, you can have more protein and more food around you when you need it.
Meal prepping prepares you for situations when you’ll be short on time. It helps you lose weight while eating nutrient-dense meals.
It also makes you happy about the food choices you make.
Learn the basics of meal prepping and get some meal prep ideas.
Make yourself accountable.
An essential part of achieving your fitness goals is to make yourself accountable. Set your goal, make the promise to yourself you’ll complete in x months.
Keep track of your journey. Let your results inspire you. You can be your motivation. In this journey, the competition is between you and you.
A great way to keep yourself accountable is to have a weight loss or fitness journal. Make sure you track the metrics that matter for you and make space for mental health.
Don’t give up.
Even if you don’t make it at first, don’t stop trying.
You don’t have to be 100% consistent. The way you will succeed and finally achieve your goal is to keep going.
Even if you think there are no results, or you’re not consistent enough, don’t stop. 10% consistency is better than none.
Accept failure and learn from it as it is your best teacher.
How to make sure you will stick to those habits?
Be realistic.
Don’t set yourself to workout five times per week if you’re not working out at all at the moment. Set realistic goals you can stick to in your everyday life. Not when you have some extra time.
Focus on quality over quantity.
Don’t start doing everything at once. Many new things at once may overwhelm you. Start with the most important thing to you from the list. Once you implement it, continue with the next one.
Plan ahead.
Schedule your workouts, plan the exercises you’ll do, make a groceries list, make time to meal prep. Success starts with a great plan.
Don’t quit.
Life happens, and you can’t predict everything.
But once you set a goal, go for it. Make space and time.
If something doesn’t work, change it up. Switch a day, skip a day if you have to. But keep the big picture in mind.
I hope this article motivated you to keep going with your fitness journey with more confidence.
Also, let me know about your fitness struggles in the comments below or fill out my survey. Once I know what bothers you, I will put an end to it.
If you found the article helpful, leave me a comment and share it with your friends. Don’t forget to subscribe to the newsletter so you can start thriving while smiling.
