You’re probably already planning to make your New Year’s Resolution to be thinner and in better shape than before. But here’s the thing, why not start right now? There is no time like the present to make progress on your future goals, and getting a head start can help you in the long run.

Come January; the gyms are quietly waiting for people who have the same idea for their year of change. I mean, it’s 2020, a whole new decade to change our lives. Who wouldn’t give in to the temptation of being a better version of themselves? Despite wanting to change, more than half of the newcomers to the gym will disappear by February. Hey, no shots fired here and, I get it. Life can be hard enough already, add trying to change your old habits on top of that, and it gets a bit more stressful. 

So, here are a few tips to help you kickstart your health journey. 

• Start slow. I mean, look at the foods you eat first before you run off to the gym. If you hate cooking or you’re not good at it, try some baking chicken and eating it with a salad for your lunch or dinner. Eliminate excess sugar, snacks, and soda from your diet. Make a shopping list based on the food you know that you can prepare when life gets hectic, and add veggies. 
• Walk. Take a walk in the morning or evening. According to the FDA, you should walk about 10,000 steps a day. If you aren’t there yet, do a 20-minute walk three times a week until you can do it every day. 
• Drink water, lots of it. Drinking enough water to help your body stay hydrated can be a hard task. Currently, depending on your weight, you need to consume, on average, a gallon of water per day. You can use different apps to calculate the exact amount. (I have yet to break the one-gallon requirement, but I am working on it.)

Take these three tips and apply them diligently to your life for a month, and you will see the difference. When you reach a place where you start seeing the results from your lifestyle changes, you can further change your plan to suit your new goals. And hey by that time, you might be ready to give the gym a try and stick to it. 

The most crucial part of changing your life is your mindset; once you evaluate that part, the rest is just hard work and dedication. 

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