However, according to the same research,\u00a0only 8% of people<\/b>\u00a0reported achieving their resolution by the end of 2015. \u00a0Also not terribly surprising.<\/p>\n
But forget 2015. \u00a0It\u2019s now into the third week of 2016, and\u00a0this year is the year<\/b>\u00a0that you can actually achieve your fitness\/weight loss goal. \u00a0It\u2019s completely possible; you just need to go about it the right way.<\/p>\n
Yes, it will take hard work and dedication. No, it doesn\u2019t mean that you have to give up everything you enjoy doing (unless what you enjoy doing is surviving on exclusively burgers and soda). \u00a0Follow the below steps and by this time next year, you\u2019ll be celebrating the beginning of 2017 with\u00a0a new, fitter you<\/strong>.<\/p>\n This is key. In 2016, you\u2019re going to part with your bathroom scale. Why? Because it\u2019s been serving you\u00a0a steady stream of lies<\/strong>\u00a0every time you\u2019ve stepped on it in the past.<\/p>\n How?<\/p>\n You say that you want to lose weight. \u00a0But what is weight, really? It\u2019s really\u00a0just a number, and seeing a number rise or fall on the scale doesn\u2019t tell even close to the whole story. What you\u2019re actually trying to say when you say you want to lose weight \u2013 whether you realize it or not \u2013 is\u00a0you want to lose fat.\u00a0<\/b>Pounds of fat.<\/p>\n The truth is: your body isn\u2019t just a vessel that weighs a certain amount; it\u2019s made up of a lot of different things, including fat, muscle, bone mineral, and body water. \u00a0This way of dividing your body into its parts is called your\u00a0body composition<\/a>. \u00a0When you lose (or gain weight), the actual changes in your body that your scale registers as weight changes are actually changes in\u00a0one or more parts of your body composition<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 changes in muscle, changes in fat, etc.<\/p>\n Weighing yourself on the scale when you\u2019re trying to lose weight \u2013 or worse:\u00a0weighing yourself every day<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 can set you up for failure by not accurately reporting your progress, causing you to become discouraged. \u00a0Here\u2019s how.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a profile of someone who is just beginning their fitness program, and is doing moderate to heavy weight lifting as part of their plan. \u00a0Here\u2019s the same person, about three months later.<\/p>\n As a result of a proper diet and consistent exercise, this person has lost 5 pounds of fat. But because this person has been building muscle as well, their weight hasn\u2019t changed at all.<\/p>\n If this person\u2019s goal was simply \u201cweight loss,\u201d despite their positive gains in muscle and losses in fat, this person might think that no progress was made. \u00a0After months of kicking yourself into shape and being super careful about your diet, a lack of movement on the scale can be extremely discouraging.<\/p>\n This is why you need to focus on improving your body composition \u2013 not weight loss. \u00a0Weight loss doesn\u2019t mean anything if you don\u2019t know what you\u2019re losing and gaining.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cCounting calories.\u201d<\/p>\n For some people, this phrase brings feelings of the purest dread. \u00a0Not only do people think it\u2019s a lot of work, but that it also means the end of eating anything delicious.<\/p>\n Fortunately, keeping track of calories isn\u2019t that hard, and depending on what your goals are, you may be able to eat more than you think. \u00a0But first, here are some basic truths on calories.<\/p>\n First<\/b>: let\u2019s get something straight right now \u2013 from an energy storing perspective,\u00a0it doesn\u2019t matter all that much how often\/when you eat<\/b>. \u00a0According to the\u00a0Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>\u00a0(bold text added):<\/p>\n The time of day isn\u2019t what affects how your body uses calories. It\u2019s the overall number of calories you eat and the calories you burn\u00a0<\/i>over the course of 24 hours<\/i><\/b>\u00a0that affects your weight.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n It helps to think of your caloric needs like a daily budget. \u00a0If your needs are 2,400 calories and you \u201cspend\u201d a 1,000 calories on breakfast, that\u2019s fine \u2013 it\u2019s just that you only get 1,400 calories until breakfast the next day.<\/p>\n Second<\/b>: everyone\u2019s caloric needs are different; so that 2,000 daily recommended calorie intake on the nutrition label? Consider that to be the most general, vaguest set of guidelines that almost certainly will set you up for failure, especially since it was picked in no small part because it was\u00a0just an easy number to remember<\/a>, rounded off to the nearest thousand for convenience\u00a01<\/sup>.<\/p>\n To find your individual caloric needs, you need to estimate something called your\u00a0Total Daily Energy Expenditure<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 the amount of calories that you burn in a 24-hour period. \u00a0Generally speaking, your TDEE has two major components:<\/p>\n To get TDEE, multiply BMR with Activity Rate. For example, someone with a BMR of 1600 calories and is moderately active (exercises 3-5x a week) would have a total caloric need of around 2,480 calories,\u00a0nearly 500 calories more than the traditional 2,000 calorie diet<\/b>.<\/p>\n Use your TDEE as the baseline from how you create your diet. \u00a0\u201cCutting calories\u201d doesn\u2019t mean \u201cstarvation\u201d \u2013 it means making a moderate reduction in your caloric intake as determined by your daily needs.<\/p>\n Based on what your goals are, designing a diet and knowing what\u2019s an appropriate caloric intake does get a little more complicated, but there\u2019s a\u00a0complete guide to using BMR to creating a diet<\/a>\u00a0right here.<\/p>\n In 2016, you\u2019re not going to think about \u201cweight loss\u201d any more. \u00a0Instead, you\u2019re going to think about choosing from one of the two following goals: \u201cfat loss\u201d or \u201cmuscle gain.\u201d \u00a0Both of these goals will have the effect of\u00a0reducing your overall body fat percentage\u00a0<\/b>but achieve it in different ways.<\/p>\n But just one goal \u2013 not both at the same time? Can\u2019t you lose fat and gain muscle at the same time? Maybe. But it will be extremely difficult to effectively do both over any extended period of time. \u00a0This is because the nutritional and caloric needs your body requires to gain muscle effectively\u00a0are different from those when you want your body to lose fat<\/b>.<\/p>\n If you want to lose fat, you need to encourage your body to enter what\u2019s called a\u00a0catabolic state<\/b>\u00a0\u2013 a state when your body breaks down body tissue instead of building it. \u00a0This requires you to take in fewer calories than you bring in.<\/p>\n But remember: your TDEE is made of two parts, BMR and Activity Level,\u00a0so taking in fewer calories doesn\u2019t necessarily (and shouldn\u2019t) mean you have to cut out breakfast completely or something equally drastic<\/b>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>If you weren\u2019t working out at all before, simply increasing your activity level by starting an exercise program while\u00a0maintaining your caloric intake<\/b>\u00a0may be enough to trigger fat loss. \u00a0If this sounds like you, simply beginning an exercise program is a good way to get started.<\/p>\n However, most people will need a combination of caloric reduction and exercise to achieve consistent and healthy fat loss. \u00a0How many calories you need to reduce will vary based on your individual body composition and goals.<\/p>\n You can\u2019t lose fat forever, and at some point you will need to work on developing muscle \u2013 or at the very least, work to preserve the muscle that you have already. \u00a0This will require a different diet and exercise plan than the one designed for fat loss. \u00a0Instead of getting your body into a catabolic state, you\u2019ll want to enter into an\u00a0anabolic state<\/b>\u00a0\u2013 a state where your body builds tissue instead of breaking it down.<\/p>\n To build muscle, your body needs resources. \u00a0This means proper nutrition \u2013 sufficient protein intake is critical when trying to increase muscle mass \u2013 but equally as important is eating enough calories. \u00a0There is a popular misconception that taking in excessive amounts of protein is the key to muscle gain, but in a\u00a0Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition<\/a>\u00a0publication, high performance athletes who failed to meet their caloric needs were found to have limited lean body mass gains,\u00a0despite increasing their protein beyond their daily recommended needs<\/b>.<\/p>\n So what is a good estimate of your caloric needs for this goal? \u00a0Although nutrition plays a large role in determining diet, from a caloric standpoint, research suggests that maintaining an\u00a0energy surplus of about 15%<\/a>\u00a0is appropriate for developing musculature. \u00a0This means, all else being equal, the moderately active person with a BMR of 1,600 calories would want to shoot for around\u00a02,852 calories a day<\/b>.<\/p>\n In a world where virtually every piece of information in all of human history can be searched for in seconds by anyone with a smartphone, people are used to getting the results they want when they want them. \u00a0Unfortunately, you can\u2019t expect the same from your body.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why if you hang around enough fitness people for long enough, you\u2019ll eventually hear them talk about a \u201cfitness journey<\/b>.\u201d \u00a0That\u2019s because that\u2019s exactly what fitness is \u2013 a journey. It\u2019s not a sprint, and it will take time to make meaningful changes that last.<\/p>\n For example, in a study published in the\u00a0Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism<\/a>, participants were divided into two groups that created a 25% energy gap between what they ate and what they burned. The first group did this by only dieting (25% caloric reduction) and the second achieving it by splitting the energy deficit by both diet and exercise (12.5% caloric reduction + 12.5% increase in energy use due to increased exercise).<\/p>\n The results were interesting: both groups were able to reduce their body weight by about 10% and their total fat mass by 24%, indicating that for fat\/weight reduction, caloric reduction by any means is critical, regardless of how it is achieved. \u00a0For a 180 pound person, a 10% reduction comes out to 3 pounds of loss per month,\u00a0which is less than a pound a week<\/b>.<\/p>\n This can be challenging for some people \u2013 to not see any measurable changes on the scale after a week of diet\/diet+exercise. \u00a0Even after two weeks, you may only see your weight decrease by a pound, maybe two. \u00a0If you\u2019re measuring your weight by just using a scale, this can be especially frustrating (another reason why you should get rid of it).<\/p>\n Plan for the long term, and don\u2019t expect to see dramatic changes right away. \u00a0And because you\u2019re planning for the long term, that also means that you don\u2019t need to be perfect every single day. \u00a0That\u2019s going to put on too much pressure, cause frustration, and maybe cause you to fail. \u00a0That\u2019s why this guide\u2019s final step is important.<\/p>\n That\u2019s right. \u00a0Break your diet every once in a while.\u00a0Skip the odd gym day and go out for pizza and beer<\/strong>. It\u2019s OK.<\/p>\n Didn\u2019t expect that, did you?<\/p>\n But wait! Isn\u2019t this how you \u201cgain it all back\u201d? \u00a0You hear stories about people breaking their diets and then gaining 5 pounds or more over a cheat weekend, erasing a month of hard work.<\/p>\n This is where your scale \u2013 if you\u2019re still using one \u2013 really can screw you up with negative thinking and discouragement. \u00a0So you gained 5 pounds over the weekend; is your scale lying? \u00a0Not exactly. Yes you gained 5 pounds, but more than likely,\u00a0it\u2019s 5 pounds of water<\/b>.<\/p>\n Your weight will fluctuate throughout the day based on what you eat and drink. \u00a0If you\u2019re dieting, a pretty common\/near universal strategy is to reduce your carbohydrate intake (aka\u00a0\u201ccutting carbs\u201d).<\/p>\n By reducing your intake of foods rich in carbohydrates, you\u2019re\u00a0reducing your\u00a0<\/strong>overall glycogen stores.\u00a0<\/b>Glycogen is a molecule your body converts into energy and is a source of short-term energy; as opposed to fat, which is typically used in cases where energy from glycogen or other short-term energy sources aren\u2019t available.<\/p>\n What does glycogen have to do with scales, water, and cheat days? Everything, actually.<\/p>\nStep 1: Throw Your Scale out the Window<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0832\/8945\/files\/scale_grande.JPG?1411573695421275324\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0832\/8945\/files\/results1.JPG?15810440347644267570\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0832\/8945\/files\/results2.JPG?4555822258902011812\")
<\/p>\nStep 2: Learn a bit about calories<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0832\/8945\/files\/nutritionfacts_12756843-5b84-432f-a3ba-88cb0eda6aae.JPG?1920787876435314517\")
<\/p>\n\n
Step 3: Choose 1 Goal (from 2 options) and Plan Your Diet<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0832\/8945\/files\/workout_grande.jpg?15326384856593261659\")
<\/b><\/p>\nsource:\u00a0Flickr<\/a><\/h6>\n
\n
Fat Loss<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n
Muscle Gain<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Step 4: Plan for a Marathon, not a 100-yard dash<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0832\/8945\/files\/marathon_1024x1024.jpg?10230000931658271897\")
<\/p>\nsource:\u00a0Flickr<\/a><\/h6>\n
Step 5: Let Cheat Days Happen (and don\u2019t feel bad about it)<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0832\/8945\/files\/pizza_grande.jpg?941961452445317241\")
<\/p>\nsource:\u00a0Flickr<\/a><\/h6>\n