*Originally Posted 2020*

New Year’s Resolutions. You may have just cringed hearing the term for the millionth time this week.  You’re also probably sick of hearing about them even if yours is still alive and kicking. Well, I’m about to pile on the potential puke! I will however, only acronym or shorten the term from here on out to save ya the ear ‘n eye pain.

Personally, I’ve never been a fan of NYR’s. Ergo, it wasn’t shocking to find out that they only have a 20% success rate. Statistics show that ½ of the folks whom abandon their resolutions do so within the first two weeks of the year, while the rest drop like flies come February. If your goal is fitnass related, which the majority of NYRs are, the Schnoz is here to assist. This should be perfect timing to help you go from a 2 week’er to a 1 month’er or even obtain elite membership to the miraculous 20% club.

Now, my two Brainiac suggestions aren’t just limited to physical health NYRs but normal every day mental health assistance as well. So by all means Dear Reader, proceed to #2 if you wanna skip the diet stuff.

The following recommendation comes loaded with my experience to hopefully keep you motivated before throwing in the sweaty towel on your fitness goals:

#1. Join a Diet Bet

For those that don’t know, and I didn’t until I signed up for one – Diet Bet is an app in which you pay a small entry fee to join a weight loss/fitness challenge and win actual money if you hit the goal.

It keeps you going because it requires one to put some skin in the game. Slow down there Buffalo Bill, not real skin- just money. So put the lotion back in the basket and bust out your wallet. Good news is, it’s cheap and you will stay motivated to win MAJOR CASH!

How I won my first Diet Bet:

The Bet: $35 to lose 7.6lbs in 4 weeks. 1,287 contestants, $45,045 pot.

Note: The target weight was an actual percentage catered individually based off original weigh-ins and stats.

I only exercised TWICE the whole month. Seriously. For a half hour each time. That means victory was attributed to diet and diet alone.

-Ate whole, natural foods only

-Loosely followed the Beachbody Ultimate Portion Fix method – “color-coded, portion-control containers to take the guesswork out of eating delicious, perfectly sized meals, every time”

-Stopped Boozing (I know… I lost a lot of you just now)

-Started Intermittent Fasting- Intermittent fasting (Wiki) – is an umbrella term for various eating diet plans that cycle between a period of fasting and non-fasting over a defined period.

A quick search on the interwebs shows all sorts of opinions, methods, pros and cons. As usual, I chose the one I thought would be easiest for me to maintain. I stop eating at 9:30pm then pick the fork up again at 11:30am the next day. I find it sustainable and can actually count the cheat days on one hand… Yes, I’m in my late 30’s and still need to count with my fingers.

Result: I lost 9.5lbs and split the pot with 733 others for a whopping $46.03. Mad Loot.

#2: Quality of Life Tip:

Change your social media feeds. This is one that I’ve recently implemented and will adhere to from here on out. The negative aspects of social media are well documented, so I need not dive headfirst into that empty swimming pool. Take advantage of the positive aspects social media can bring into your life with the following actions:

• Channel your inner Marky Mark and “Come on, Come on!” Add/Follow more positive accounts and reciprocate your own Good Vibrations.
• Purge the bad vibes.
  • Simply block/snooze but remain ‘friends’ with people that cast a dark cloud on your scrolling mojo. No feelings are hurt and you are one step closer to positivity.
  • Completely remove the toxic people/accounts and try to avoid reading the comments on your favorite public pages AT ALL COSTS!! You know that rabbit hole leads straight to hell faster than a cannonball. Immerse yourself in the positive light and shine it back with your high beams on. You’ll be surprised at how quickly this works to brighten your mood and motivate you to keep pushing.

There have been countless times my day could have been scrapped from a healthy standpoint (physical and/or mental) only to be redirected by a motivational post by some of the goodness below. My list is growing exponentially but I recommend you start small and test the water first. I chose a few for mind/body heath and of course, NASA – because why wouldn’t you want to see a constant stream of photos from our galaxy? I highly recommend following the following people that I enjoy following…following

IG: @tonyhorton @tracimorrow @shaunt @deepakchopra @realfoodhouse @nasa

Start there and see how it feels over the next week.

‘Till next time my friends!