New Year’s Resolutions: Top 5 Ways to Accomplish Your Health and Fitness Goals in 2014

Work-out E-V-E-R-Y-D-A-Y. Eat healthy for breakfast, lunch, dinner. Juice, detox, diet for 14 days straight or whenever you pass out, whichever comes first. No more chips, chocolates or any solid food for that matter. Drop 10-15-20 pounds in 2 weeks or less!

Sounds familiar?

Come New Year’s morn, this may be how most people’s New Year’s Resolution post looks like and mine is no exception (check out my latest post at Fashion Magazine’s #BEAUTYPANEL). I think it’s pretty safe to say that being fit and healthy is on top of everyone’s list and why not? A new year is a promise of a new beginning. It’s like a do-over where we can pretend snacking on 2 pounds of M & M’s before Christmas dinner never happened. Or that our pant size has gradually increased from a single to a double digit but we’ve decided to cut out sizing labels because we’re bad ass rebels like that. How dare you society (or the fashion industry more specifically) put a number on our bodies, we refuse to conform to such vanity sizing of XXS to S to L or XXXL, we are beautiful and amazing, just the way we are. Or so we try to convince ourselves.

For more Beauty New Year’s Resolutions, visit the #BEAUTYPANEL here.

Not to the part of being beautiful and amazing, of course. There’s no argument to that. We are, in many ways than one. We each posses great beauty, qualities, talents and skills that make us absolutely fantastic human beings but does that mean we get to disregard the fact the we still have to take care of our body, mind and spirit?

In fact, we ought to do exactly that, don’t you think? If we want to keep being amazing for all of our years to come, then let’s ensure that we can keep a sustainable way to achieve our health and fitness goals in 2014. This post is not about why working out is good for you, you already know that. This post is, unfortunately, about how it’s actually hard (go ahead say it) to achieve and maintain these get fit resolutions. If it’s that easy, obesity rates all over the world will not be at its all time high, wouldn’t it?ML - BEAUTY PANEL - FITNESS

Work-out #OOTD: Top by Lululemon, Shorts – GAP, Leather cuff c/o Smart Set, Shoes by Reebok.

Fortunately, this post is also about ways to overcome these obstacles. It may surprise you but the key to achieving a sustainable and effective fitness goal is actually the little things and not signing up for a big marathon or the Ironman competition. Those can come later but for now, here’s our Top 5 Ways to Accomplish your Health and Fitness Goals in 2014:ML - BEAUTY PANEL - NEW YEAR

1.      Write it down. For you. You don’t have to publish it or announce to your family and friends, you can if you want to. But if by letting others know you are hoping that they will make your accountable for your actions, you are passing the buck. Only you are accountable for your own action.

2.      Start small. Working out 7 times a week sounds incredible. It may be doable in the short term but if you’re new to exercising or just getting back to it, start small and build up.

3.      Diet and Exercise are best friends. Individually diet and exercise are remarkable but together, they are unbeatable. I don’t mean diet as in starve yourself but eating sensible, nutritious meals, no fancy Paleo, carb-free, wheat-free, taste-free diet needed. With a consistent work-out schedule, this duo combination is your best bet in being fit and healthy in the new year.

4.      Find what speaks to you. For years, I’ve been a certified spinning instructor. I took the rigorous training and passed the exam and can tell you how many rpm (or revolution per minute) you are cycling to with my eyes closed but does that mean I loved it? Not even close. And by not loving it, I never did spinning unless I was teaching it. It was far from being sustainable that I eventually dropped it. You have to find what you like, otherwise you won’t do it. Be it Yoga, Pilates, Running, Belly Dancing, try anything like… yep spinning. 

5.      Dress up to work out. Please don’t mistake this as wear a full on hair and make-up and a head to toe brand new Lululemon outfit. It simply means wear attractive, fitted work-out appropriate outfits that will get you pumped up and excited to go to the gym. Wear something frumpy and dumpy and you’ll feel defeated before you even began. When you wear something proper to any specific activity, you’ll be surprised how it changes your state of mind. When you show up ready to rock those dumb bells, you will rock those dumb bells! You may not be able to lift 45 and 45 on a shoulder press straight from a squat but you’ll be sure to look so damn good trying to!

ML - BEAUTY PANEL - FITNESSWhat about you, what’s your health and fitness resolution in the New Year?

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