New Year Weight Loss Dos and Donts

     A lot of people make new years resolutions to lose weight and get in shape, in fact losing weight is the most common New Year's resolution of all. It beats out stopping smoking, drinking less, saving more money and spending more time with your family. Losing weight is also the New Years resolution that most people fail to keep and it is by this time of year that most people have stopped trying. This is nearly always down to the fact that people fixate on the what, and don't focus on the how. Losing weight is a by product of getting started and doing the basics.

Do make a start. Don't put off starting until you have everything ready to go. There is no such thing as perfect starting conditions. Better to start imperfectly and adjust and improve when you are underway.

Do get to bed early. Don't sit up past 11pm watching mindless TV, wasting time on the internet or playing computer games. These things will all be there tomorrow so there is no need to do them at the expense of quality sleep.

Do prepare all your own food from scratch. Don't eat anything that someone else makes for you, they don't care that you are trying to lose weight and their food will reflect this.

Do spend the vast majority of your time exercising lifting weights. Don't do spend any time at all doing machine-based cardio. Treadmills, stationary bikes and elliptical trainers are where fat people go to waste time and stay fat. I know you think they help, but trust me, they don't.

Do train through fatigue and discomfort, it's the only way to get better. Don't train through pain. You have to learn the difference between the discomfort of training and the pain of injury. Give up at the first sign of training discomfort and you will never make any progress. Push through the pain of injury and you will end up so injured you can't train and you will lose all the fitness you have gained. Training is like boiling a pot, you need enough effort to keep it on the boil but not so much it boils over.

Do keep trying. Don't expect it to be easy or to have anyone else care about what you are trying to do or to help you to do it. That way it's a nice surprise if someone offers to help. Far better than expecting help and feeling abandoned every time your friends go drinking without you or colleagues bring boxes of donuts into the office.

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