5 Tips for Staying Motivated on Your Diet this New Year:

The new year is just around the corner and with that comes many new years resolutions. While many new years resolutions are doomed to fail, we’re here to help with 5 tips to stay motivated on your diet this new year!

1. Don’t focus on “dieting” – focus on changing your lifestyle

Changing your body is not an easy task. It involves breaking year long habits, challenging your mind, and tons of planning. The term dieting is a recipe for failure. Dieting typically refers to a short-term change in nutrition for a specific purpose. The key here is the word short-term. If you think of your diet as a short-term change, it will be exactly that. There’s a reason a majority of people who ‘diet’ end up gaining more weight once the diet is over than they initially lost. In order to prevent this, you should think of it as a lifestyle change. By viewing your nutrition as a lifestyle you will develop healthy habits that can last a lifetime.

2. Reduce stress

Stress is a major factor in many of our eating habits. While we can’t control it all, limiting your stresses as much as possible can have a profound impact on not only your body but also your mind. The term stress-eating is a real problem. Decisions we make under stress can oftentimes be bad ones. One skill we can learn is how to make better decisions under stress. Learning to deal with stress and make better decisions while under it is not going to come quickly. It is learned over time and gets better with practice.

3. Never go to the grocery hungry

Going to the grocery hungry can once again impose poor decision making. Those salty chips or sweet candies will look that much sweeter when you’re hungry. By going on a full stomach, you will make better decisions and choose healthier alternatives. Need help making better decisions at the grocery? Read here for more information on how to eat healthier!

4. Meditate

Meditation has a plethora of benefits including:

• Reduces Stress
• Lowers Anxiety
• Increases Focus & Attention Span
• Improves Sleep

By meditating, you can learn to relax and control your mind. This will help you make better decisions in the future.

5. Make important decisions in the morning

Making hard decisions in the morning is the best way to make better decisions. Because we make thousands of decisions during the day, we often develop decision fatigue as the day goes on. This means that as the day progresses, we will not be able to make fully informed, good decisions later in the day. To aid in this, make your tougher decisions within two hours of waking up and avoid making them before bed or after work.

These are just a few tips to help you during the new year. By realizing that this will be a journey, and not a “quick fix” you’ll be on the road to success all year long. Be sure to come back and read the latest tips on training, nutrition, and motivation!