The idea that one second after midnight we can become a whole new person is both exciting and overwhelming. In our minds 01 01 is a blank slate. It is this time of year that the majority of us start to revaluate what we achieved the year prior and what we will become. But is this always healthy?
The most common new year’s resolution is to becoming physically fitter. Whether this is to lose weight or becoming stronger.
The former tends to be the most popular with the hordes of people signing up for gym memberships in the first month of the year. However, accordingly to lifehack.com 90% of these individuals will have quit the gym within three months. So why is this?
The initial excitement of the shiny new gym or fitness routine may start to tarnish due to a few different reasons:
You did it because your friends were doing it
You haven’t got a plan
You haven’t seen results overnight
You don’t have time
Therefore, it is important to set realistic expectations when embarking on a new fitness journey. Whether this be simply exercising for 30 min four times a week or getting 10k steps in a day, start small and work up.
Losing weight is more than a waiting game
Now when it comes to losing weight, we have to consider that a lot of individuals want to lose weight fast, which if you are very overweight might be easier than someone who is in the healthy weight range.
It is advised that we only lose 2lb per week maximum to ensure we don’t do any damage. However, the desire to shed the pounds fast can mean we deprive our bodies without knowing the impact. By losing weight rapidly and or restricting caloric intake drastically can cause havoc on our metabolism. By restricting calories for prolonged period of time can cause your metabolism to slow due to it not being required expend as much energy. These means that unfortunately if you return to normal caloric intake, your body won’t be as efficient at burning what is consumed.
Remember a 1,200-calorie diet is the same as what a toddler should eat.
Scale doesn't give the full picture
Other factors include muscle to fat ratio. With muscle being on average 18% denser than fat. That while your clothes may feel looser, the scale may not have changed, and that’s not a bad thing. That is because muscle takes up less space than fat due to its denseness. In fact, by having more muscle your body will expend more energy during normal processes.
Images courtesy of Unspash