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Most people make some kind of New Year’s resolution whether they like to admit it or not. And most often, those resolutions are based around health and weight loss. In fact, in 2018 45% of Americans listed lose weight or get in shape as their weight loss goals. So needless to say, it’s a common resolution for many people.
Unfortunately, not many people actually meet their New Year’s resolutions. Stats suggest that only 8% of people actually end up achieving their goals.
But it doesn’t have to be that way! I truly believe that the percentage of people who meet their New Year’s resolutions can be much higher! And I think it comes down to proper planning, and setting detailed and realistic goals. Saying simply that you want to “get healthy” or “lose 20 lbs” doesn’t really say anything about how you plan to accomplish those goals.
So that’s what I’m here to help with! I’m going to give you 10 weight loss goals that are realistic and achievable. Plus, I’m going to share how to get started.
10 Weight Loss Goals For The New Year
These 10 weight loss goals will help you get started on a meaningful and successful weight loss journey. The idea isn’t to try to accomplish all the goals at once but to do them one at a time. And of course, the overall goal is to try and turn many of these small goals into lasting habits.
Keep A Food Journal For One Month
Keeping a food journal is an easy goal to ease your way into a successful weight loss journey. It doesn’t involve any real change up-front and provides immediate feedback into how you’re doing. A food journal isn’t for tracking calories but for tracking food and eating habits. By tracking your habits and food choices you can see where changes can be made and where you can improve.
A food journal will help to hold you accountable and encourage you to make healthier food choices. The key is to be real about what you’re eating. If you have a spoonful of peanut butter, write it down, if you have a tiny handful of chips, write it down. You’ll become much more aware of how much you’re actually consuming. And it will allow you to see food trends, and help you to see where you can make easy swaps for healthy foods. For example, if you notice that you tend to have a mid-afternoon snack that typically goes unplanned, try planning for it with something healthy, like carrots and hummus or a protein shake.
Try A Fitness Program For 21 Days
It takes 21 days to establish a habit, so trying a 21-day fitness program is a perfect way to develop a regular fitness habit. A 21-day program, such as the 21-Day Fix, is a great introduction to beginner fitness and doesn’t require a huge commitment.
Being able to see the light at the end of the tunnel is the great part about a short 21-day program. It’s easy to commit too because of its short length and yet, will deliver real results. For example, many people who do the 21-Day Fix lose between 5 and 15 pounds.
Commit To Two Weeks Of 10,000 Steps Each Day
Committing to two weeks of 10,000 steps is another easy weight loss goal that will help you establish lasting habits. A watch like the Apple Watch, a Garmin or Fitbit will help you track how many steps you are taking each day. If you don’t have a watch or aren’t ready to commit to one, try an app like Walker or Google Fit.
Walking is a great way to ease into regular fitness. Even a 15-minute walk at a brisk pace every day will create big changes in your life. Not only for your physical health but for your mental health as well. And in my case, my regular 15-minute walks turned into my running a half-marathon three years later.
One Month Alcohol-Free
Cutting out alcohol for one month is a great way to detox your body, and lose a few pounds. In 2018, I cut out alcohol for the entire year and it made a huge difference in my overall health and weight maintenance. It also made me much less bloated and my skin much brighter and clearer. I now treat myself to a glass of wine every so often but on a whole, I try to limit my alcohol intake.
Try A Health And Fitness Accountability Group For One Month
One of the best ways to make sure you stick to your weight loss goals is to join an accountability group. My first time experiencing an accountability group was during a 30-day yoga challenge in 2016. Being accountable to a group of people helped me make sure I stayed committed and had fun at the same time. It helped to know that other people were expecting me to show up and do what I said I was going to do. We did daily check-in’s and supported each other throughout. Nowadays, I run my own private online accountability groups to help other women.
Do A 30-Day Yoga Challenge
As I already mentioned, doing a daily yoga challenge was one of my first experiences with accountability. A yoga challenge is a great way to ease into daily fitness. It’s easy on your body, good for your joints and you can make it as gentle or intense as you like. The idea is that you get used to moving your body every day. Once you’ve completed your 30-day challenge, you can try another yoga challenge or another challenge altogether, like a daily walking challenge.
Do 15 Minutes Of Personal Development Each Day For One Month
Taking the time to invest in personal development doesn’t mean you have to go out and read every single self-help book but it does mean taking the time to focus on self-improvement. Personal development means trying to build the best version of yourself in all aspects of your life. Focusing on personal development will motivate you in ways you could never imagine and help you to always keep moving forward toward your goals.
When you focus on bettering yourself as a whole person, weight loss soon becomes just one aspect of your journey. Your journey becomes about changing the way you think, spend your time and more. Spending 15 minutes a day reading and listening about self-improvement will have profound effects on all areas of your life.
Other ways to work on personal development include journaling, working on your talents (such as drawing for example), practicing gratitude, and meditating.
Commit To One Month Of A Daily Protein Shake
Drinking a superfoods protein shake is one of the easiest things you can do to improve your nutrition and your waistline. Replacing one meal or snack a day with a shake helps to ensure you are getting the healthy nutrients you need and helps to control your daily calories. And controlling your calorie input and output is key to achieving lasting weight loss.
Personally, I choose to drink a Shakeology shake to replace either breakfast or lunch when I am trying to watch my weight (like around the holidays or during the summer for example). Shakeology is my daily dose of nutrition, helps to control my sugar cravings and helps with digestion.
I talk more about Shakeology and what it is in this post here.
Drink At Least 1 Litre Of Water Each Day For 30 Days
Committing to 30-days of drinking at least 1 litre of water each day is a great way to promote healthy weight loss in your body. Carry a bottle of water with you throughout the day, or set water alarms in your phone to make sure you are drinking regularly.
You can also commit to drinking one glass of water before all meals to help your stomach feel full, and by consuming water with your meals.
Use a water tracker to help keep yourself focused and motivated!
Try One Month Of Intermittent Fasting
If you’re new to this blog, let me tell you that I am a huge fan of intermittent fasting. It completely changed my metabolism, the way I eat, and how my body burns calories. I talk about intermittent fasting here and here.
Practicing 30-days of intermittent fasting can jump-start your New Year’s weight-loss efforts. Remember the key with intermittent fasting is to control when you eat, not to focus on calorie restriction. Intermittent fasters typically pick an eating window where calories are consumed and then fast for the remaining time (many of which are sleeping hours). Intermittent fasting works because the body learns to listen to genuine hunger signals and full cues, and burning calories rather than storing calories.
Commit to 30 days of intermittent fasting alongside some light exercise, like walking, and watch your weight loss take off!
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You are truly an inspiration. I have been eating my FEELINGS and problems and self loathing for the past 30ish years.im just damn tired of it!!
Addressing emotional eating and the true reasons behind our eating behavior is key to a lasting health journey, I truly believe that. It takes some work, but it is absolutely worth it. You can do it, I believe in you!