Fitness Goals To Help You Live A Healthier Life This Year
Getting started on your journey to fitness goal is never easy, and you have to remember that this is not an emergency diet; It's a lifestyle. Don't panic and think you have to do all of this at once because it will probably overwhelm you. You can also opt out because crash diets are out of whack.
The best approach is to make simple changes to your daily habits, and over time you will find that all the bad habits have turned into good ones.
According to a study by Phillipp Lally, a health psychology researcher at University College London, it takes on average more than 2 months to automate a new behavior – 66 days to be exact. And the time it takes for a new habit to form can vary greatly depending on the behavior, the person, and the circumstances.
Here are fitness goals to help you on your journey:
Drink More Water
WH Auden said it best when he said, “Thousands of people lived without love, and no one without water.
The most important thing to remember with any diet is to stay hydrated. Drinking water will help your body digest, transport nutrients to your bones and muscles, and even improve your cognitive function.
Ideally, you should be drinking about half your body weight in ounces per day, so if you weigh 150 pounds, you should be drinking 75 ounces of water per day.
Add A Little Lemon and Apple Cider Vinegar to The Water
Sleeping around 8 hours a day is recommended, but that means we spend around 8 hours a day dehydrated. Therefore, it is absolutely essential to hydrate your body first thing in the morning.
The best way to stay hydrated is to start your day with a glass or even two of water. For extra strength, add lemon juice and ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar. Lemon apple cider vinegar will help your body detoxify, cleanse, and digest it.
Stop Drinking Calories
Yes, staying hydrated is important, but try to avoid high-calorie drinks like sodas, specialty coffees, and juices because they're loaded with fast-acting sugar.
Work really hard to quit drinking these drinks, and before you know it, you'll notice the benefits.
Start Stretching More Often
The benefits are enormous and the consequences of not being able to stretch can be dramatic.
Do yourself a favor and always stretch before and after training. This promotes healthy cooling, improves flexibility and reduces soreness the next day. Failure to stretch can lead to injury and muscle damage.
Add High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
You may have heard of HIIT training because it's the most important thing right now, and trust me when I say it works and should definitely be included in your fitness goals.
Benefits include less body fat, increased stamina, leaner muscles, and fantastic hormonal benefits.
HIIT is intense exercise for a very short period (about 30 seconds) followed by slower exercise for about 90 seconds.
Performing HIIT 1-3 times a week yields great results.
Focus on Your Breathing During Exercise
Most of the time, breathing is second nature, but you can hold your breath during exercise, which can have negative consequences.
It is important to consciously inhale deeply through your nose and exhale through your mouth as this will fill your lungs with oxygen and give you the energy to continue training.
Build More Lean Muscle Mass
We all want lean muscle. Not only does it look good, but it also has tremendous health benefits, including:
corrected posture
reduced fatty tissue
Improved metabolism
strong bones
Protects and improves joint health
Increased immunity
You can build lean muscle by lifting weights or doing other specific exercises.
Fat Reduction
It may seem obvious, but it's one of the most important steps to becoming healthier. Fat reduction has many benefits, such as:
Improved joints and tendons
Less risk of diabetes
Reduced risk of heart disease
reduction of inflammation
Better performance and resistance.
Improved appearance and confidence.
Better hormonal profiles in your body
Remember, this is not a race to see how fast you can lose body fat. A healthy weight loss is around 1-2 pounds per week for fitness purposes.
Going on a crash diet or overexerting yourself in the gym can lead to an unrealistic goal and can restore all the weight you've lost.
Think of it as a way of life and take it slowly and steadily.
Eat More Vegetables
What you eat is the most important factor in a healthier lifestyle. It's important to make sure you're consuming as many nutrients and vitamins as possible.
Focus on dark green leafy vegetables as they will provide you with a wide variety of vitamins, minerals, nutrients and antioxidants – everything your body needs!
Remember to avoid processed and manufactured foods. They are generally high in fat and minimal in vitamins.
Start Eliminating Sugar
Another main goal you can start right now is to reduce the amount of sugar you eat. It costs you nothing, saves you money and improves your long-term health.
No wonder we consume too much sugar, and this should be one of your main fitness goals for the future. Limiting liquid calories is a great way to start. If you're looking for something sweet, look to fruit and even dark chocolate.
Be sure to slowly cut sugar from your diet. Cutting everything out at once can cause sugar withdrawal symptoms, which may cause you to go back to sugary snacking.
Allow Yourself to Rest and Rejuvenate
Training is all about breaking down muscle tissue and regenerating through proper nutrition, rest and regeneration. It can be tempting to hit the gym for two hours a day to achieve your goals, but it's not the most effective approach.
If you don't allow adequate rest and recovery, you can take a few steps back. Your body is more prone to injury and even disease as it can weaken your immune system due to the progressive intensity with which your body struggles.
More Sleep
Lack of sleep makes it almost impossible to reach your health and fitness goals. Lack of sleep can increase levels of stress hormones in the body and over time can lead to inflammation and chronic disease.
Make sleep a priority so your body can heal and regenerate. A good approach is 7-8 hours. Also take time to rest and stick to your bedtime routine to get more regular sleep each night.
Focus on the Habit, Not the Outcome
It's easy to get caught up trying to achieve a certain look or waste your time, but the most important goal is a habit that will get you closer to those fitness goals.
Don't look at your weight, your inches or your body fat percentage. Focus on the habits that will lead you to those accomplishments.
Don't compare yourself to others; you are exactly where you need to be.
Break Out Your Fitness
It can be difficult depending on the weather, but the longer you can be outside in the fresh air and sunshine, the better.
Getting stuck in the gym doing cardio while staring at a wall won't affect your mental stimulation much.
Try to challenge your body on the way out. Hikes are great as well as running and walking. Give yourself better access to nature and an ever-changing environment. It's also better than breathing gym air.
Do at Least One Pull Up
This is a great end goal to focus on as it is a great test of strength and a test of how well you are progressing in your fitness.
If you haven't been able to do this, you know how difficult it can be. Setting a goal to do at least one pull-up will not only show you the progress you've made, but it's also a great way to become dedicated and motivated.
The Main Thing!
These fitness goals will be more achievable throughout the year if you stay consistent in your fitness. Give yourself a specific timeline of when you want to achieve some or all of them to create realistic short-term goals. In fact, start making one of those goals a reality this month!
