What To Avoid When Attacking Your Fitness New Years Resolutions

It’s no secret that the start of the new year comes with a handful of resolutions for most people. Some of which last as little as a week (guilty).  While others might be successful for a few months. If you have a fitness new years resolution, this is for you. Here’s What To Avoid When Attacking Your Fitness New Years Resolutions.

Stop following Instagram “Fitness Influencers”

A lot of women (including myself) have spent far too much time scrolling through Instagram and finding all the new “health and fitness accounts”. We see so many women absolutely CRUSHING and KILLING their fitness game and flashing their amazing results on their Instagram feed. What most of us fail to realize is that a lot of these fitness accounts aren’t going to help us reach our goals. Your goals need to be personalized to YOU. So many of these Instagram “fit-fluencers’” don’t have any certifications.

Even though they are posting their workouts and weight loss tips to help other people lose weight. Assuming their workouts/diets are going to work for you will end up being a huge waste of your time. If you are looking for help, START finding a personal trainer. They have an actual certification and can help you based on your needs and your body.

What they’re doing may not work for you. Your body is completely different than theirs. Just because their Instagram feed looks promising, doesn’t mean you will see the same results that they do. 

STOP The Quick Fix

STOP stocking up on diet supplements and weight loss pills and START learning about proper nutrition and working out according to your body type, needs, and goals. Weight loss will not work unless you do. Sure, the weight loss pills and shakes may help you shed a few pounds initially. But you want to keep the momentum going and lose weight while being sustainable.

Stop investing your hard earned money in supplements and shakes/pills that you do not need. You do not need these to be successful. What do you need to be successful? A healthy diet and a workout plan. This will be the only thing that is sustainable over time. Yes, there are “good” supplements on the market, but supplements aren’t necessary for your success. Supplements are literally meant for supplementing what you are lacking in your diet… they aren’t the ‘answer’ to your weight loss problems

Stop Changing Too Many Things

Signing up for the gym. Going to a daily fitness class. Deciding to cut out carbs and soda. Waking up at 5 AM every day to workout while implementing a 75 day challenge. That all sounds exhausting. Stop changing so many things at once. You will quickly lose motivation and your Resolution will not last longer than a few months. 

Work on eliminating one bad habit at a time/implementing one new change in your routine at a time. Make this something doable for you. I’ve been guilty of this as well. If you’re bad at drinking water, aim to drink 2 liters of water vs a gallon. Then slowly work your way up to your water goal. You only workout twice a week right now? Don’t make a goal for working out 6x a week. Slowly work up to adding 1 more workout every few weeks. Changing too many things at once will automatically set you up for failure.

Recovery Time 

Giving your body the adequate time to rest and recover is KEY. Killing yourself in the gym/at home 7 days a week will not get you the results you are looking for. Your body will eventually be overworked to the point where you are so exhausted. Then getting out of bed will be a challenge.  For your workouts to be effective, your body needs adequate time to rest. The more intense your workouts are, the greater your recovery time should be. I know it’s tempting to workout every single day in order to get to your goals quicker – but unfortunately that’s not how your body works. Here is a great article about the importance of resting and recovering.

Educate Yourself

This relates back to #1 – stop following Fitness influencers who are lifting heavier weights than you, because at some point you will eventually try to lift heavier without the proper form. If you want to learn and work towards lifting heavy weights, do it CORRECTLY. Find a personal trainer that will teach you the basics to avoid immediate injury from following someone incorrectly. Even the “simple” moves you start implementing will start at a low weight until you can teach your body the correct way to complete exercises SAFELY. Just because your favorite Instagram influence is completing 50lb dumbbell rows, doesn’t mean it’s being done correctly. 

Stop Skipping The Stretch

This is something I strive to be better at all the time. The lack of stretching I did when I was playing soccer for 20+ years of my life has really caught up to me. I make it a point to make sure I’m warming up appropriately and stretching the correct muscles out after I complete a workout. Stretching keeps your muscles flexible, strong and healthy. You need to keep your flexibility in order to maintain a good range of motion in your joints.  

After really struggling over the years to find a consistent workout routine that worked for me and my needs, I eventually found the routine that worked for me. And the same thing will happen for you if you stay consistent and make realistic and achievable goals. 

Try To Remember

Just like everyone else, falling off the wagon is completely normal. Life gets in the way. You move, you get married, you have children, or you start a new career. Making a New Years’ Resolution to exercise and be healthier is a great goal to have. But you need to start at the beginning and conquer the basics. If not, you will never be successful. Stop following the women you see on Instagram drinking the flat tummy teas.

Start teaching and educating yourself on what’s best for you and your body. Knowledge truly is power. It will get you to exactly where you need to be. But you have to be patient, and put in the hard work. And if you really don’t know where to start, start looking for PROFESSIONAL help. Just because they mention having a fitness certification in their Instagram bio, doesn’t mean they are legit. Unfortunately it doesn’t take much to earn your CPT. Finding a personal trainer with years of education and can create goals around YOUR needs and YOUR body type is what you should prioritize. 

If you’re looking to start your fitness routine but need some equipment, check out my blog post herehttps://beautified-balance.com/amazon-fitness-and-health-favorites/ about my Amazon Fitness and Health Favorites.