#27 New Year's Wellness Guide to a Stronger Body in 2019

#27 New Year's Wellness Guide to a Stronger Body in 2019

How many times have you committed to a New Year’s resolution only to fall off the wagon just as you’re getting started? You’re not alone. Statistics show that 80% of New Year's resolutions fail by February--yikes! The problem with New Year’s resolutions is that we get amped up and commit to major life changes, then get derailed by life. We’re not pointing fingers here, but you or someone you know have probably made a resolution at some point to go from zero days at the gym to 5-7 days per week, cold-turkey off of fast food and sugar, or even switch to a vegan diet.


The secret to keeping your New Year’s resolutions is simple: make small, adaptable lifestyle changes over time for your best chance at success. We’ve put together a quick reference guide to help you move into the New Year (specifically next month--hint, hint) with power, strength and confidence.


Here are 9 fitness, nutrition and wellness success tips to help you build a stronger body and better habits this year:


Fitness


Tip 1--Find a Gym Buddy

The majority of us will commit to someone else more than we’re willing to commit to ourselves. Find a gym buddy or accountability partner to check-in with on a weekly basis. Share your goals, your strategy for achieving them and your contingency plan for possible challenges. Alternatively, you might hire a personal trainer or nutritionist to help whip you into shape, provide dietary guidance and keep you highly motivated.

Tip 2--Talk a Walk


This fitness tip is so easy to implement, and goes a long way with consistent practice. Take a brisk 20-30 minute walk after dinner each day. You carry your own body weight when you walk, making this a weight bearing exercise that’s great for helping to reduce body fat. Walking has also been proven to aid digestion, support cardiovascular health, improve balance, and increase muscle strength and endurance. Warm up by starting out at a slow or moderate pace then gradually increase your speed. Warm up safely and minimize injuries using your PowerDot Smart Muscle Stimulator, which provides discreet electrical muscle stimulation that you can use anywhere.


Tip 3--Incorporate EMS into Your Fitness Routine


That brings us to our next fitness recommendation for the New Year. In a word, it’s EMS, or electric muscle stimulation--which is becoming increasingly popular among pro athletes and celebrities. Electrical muscle stimulation offers many possible uses and benefits. Warm up, improve your fitness performance and recover faster using EMS technology that’s been clinically proven and FDA cleared to support stronger muscles, peak athletic performance and optimal recovery. Electrical muscle stimulation is part science, part technology; EMS sends electrical impulses to your muscles, causing them to contract. Results vary depending on whether you use electric muscle stimulation for warm up, strength and endurance, or recovery.


Increase blood flow and circulation to ease muscle stiffness and everyday aches and pains with our recovery and massage programs. With correct and consistent use in recovery or massage modes, electric muscle stimulation also helps decrease muscle atrophy, heal tissue and reduce the risk of injury. Use electric muscle stimulation in between or post workout to strengthen muscles, improve muscle endurance and fatigue resistance, and overcome performance plateaus.


Nutrition

Tip 1--Start Your Day with Protein

You may or may not be a breakfast person, but it really is the most important meal of the day. Most people who skip breakfast end up eating more throughout the day. Incorporating protein into your morning meal is not only a delicious way to start the day, it’s smart too. Your body uses protein to build and repair muscle tissue and produce enzymes, hormones, and other chemicals in the body. Protein helps reduce hunger, boost your metabolism and increase your energy. Although a protein shake might be an easy grab-and-go choice, there are many other breakfast proteins you can opt for including an egg white or tofu scramble, avocado toast with egg, apples and peanut butter, Greek yogurt topped with fruit and nuts, breakfast burrito, smoked salmon on toast, quinoa breakfast bowl, or overnight oats.

Tip 2--Make Meal Modifications

Order what you want… with modifications. This is a great way to stick to your New Year’s resolution to eat healthier while still enjoying a meal out. Reward yourself with a well deserved treat from time to time, but instead of your regular burger and fries, order your burger without the bun and swap your fries for fruit or a side salad. If you order pasta, skip the bread. Want dessert? Share it with a friend. You can even cheat and eat a healthy snack beforehand to resist the urge to splurge.

Tip 3--Curb Your Late Night Snacking

Now here’s the culprit when it comes to breaking your New Year’s resolution to lose weight. Late night snacking can cause you to eat more calories than you need to in a day. This can lead not only to weight gain, but to other health problems as well including depression, eating disorders and insomnia.

Nighttime eating happens for a variety of reasons. Your diet may be too restrictive during the day, causing you to become ravenous at night. You might have developed a bad habit of eating in the middle of the night, are bored or are suppressing negative emotions using food. Whatever the cause or trigger may be, you can overcome late night eating by eliminating junk food from your home, establishing routines, planning your meals and snacks, eating small meals throughout the day, and tracking your meals and fitness activities.

Wellness

Tip 1--Put Your Priorities on the Calendar

Schedule, schedule, schedule! Your calendar reflects your real priorities. If the gym is important, add it to your calendar. This will prevent the possibility of double booking yourself or making excuses to skip your workout. It may also help to keep a digital calendar and set up notifications or alarms that remind you of your next workout 30-60 minutes prior.

Tip 2--Drink Water

We can’t overstate this wellness tip enough. Our team of fitness professionals recommend drinking 6-8 glasses of water a day to stay hydrated. Drinking water helps boost your metabolism, break down food and flush out toxins. If you are a person who normally drinks very little water, begin slowly increasing your water intake each day. If you don’t like the taste of water, simply infuse your water with fresh fruit, cucumber, mint or sugar-free flavor enhancers.

Tip 3--Catch Some Zz’s

Electrical muscle stimulation isn’t the only way to support faster muscle recovery. Sleep is just as important as any type of recovery treatment. The National Sleep Foundation recommends that adults get 7-9 hours of sleep each night. Sleep is the body’s natural way of resting, repairing and restoring itself. A good night’s sleep helps reduce stress, depression and inflammation in the body. Sleep also improves your memory, keeping your mind sharp and alert throughout the day.

Yes, the New Year is the perfect time to turn a new leaf and set big goals. Just remember to keep your fitness, nutrition, and wellness goals realistic and manageable so that you have a better chance of meeting or even exceeding your health goals. Set milestones and celebrate the small wins. There are lots of ways to strengthen your body and create better habits, but the overall key is consistency. No workout routine or diet will transform your body in a week. Give yourself time and find ways to create sustainable, lasting changes in 2019. Your body will thank you.


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