Crush Your Goals In 2020: How To Make Resolutions That Actually Work

‘Tis the season for healthy resolutions, and with each new year, we get a do-over, a fresh, clean slate that allows us to upgrade and elevate our health and trim our waistline.

I’m a huge advocate for making a commitment versus a resolution when it comes to making healthy behavior changes like improving your diet and exercising more. I suggest doing it with a specific purpose. For instance, this year I resolve to become the kind of person my dog thinks I am, but that’s not going to help my health if I’m not eating more greens, drinking more water, or moving my body more.

Here is a little trick to help make your resolutions stick. It's a system that actually works!

There's a lot of science that proves that these key components are what will guarantee success when we resolve to make healthier changes in our lives physically, mentally, and of course, spiritually. S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym to make it easier to remember and make the resolutions/commitments you make work.

S: Stands for Specific
M: Stands for Measurable
A: Stands for Attainable
R: Stands for Relevant
T: Stands for Time/Timeline (set a specific timeline for this to happen or it’s just a wish)

S stands for specific. Be very specific! You can't just say, I’m going to lose weight. Rephrase that and be more specific, saying, I'll replace my carb and sugar-filled breakfast with a nutritious and delicious protein shake. Another example is, I'll start drinking my coffee black versus adding unhealthy cream or sugar. 

M stands for measurable. I’m a firm believer that regardless of whether it's weight loss or saving money that if you can't or don't measure it, you won't be able to manage it either. When you set your super-specific goal, add the measurement tool to it for the best results.

For example, For five days, I’m going to replace my current carb and sugar-filled breakfast with a clean protein shake instead. This will allow me to lose five pounds in seven days (if you use LynFit Metabolic Boosting Complete Protein Shakes). Be sure to weigh yourself when you start and also at the end of the seven days, so you know.

Measurements used: Five days, five pounds, and weighing yourself (three different measurement tools means you're three times more likely to succeed).

I suggest weighing daily, not to punish, but simply to measure change. Many of us are so hard on ourselves that we don't even know when we lose weight, and we miss the opportunity to celebrate our success, which increases motivation big time.

Measuring also helps you see what's working or isn't working, allowing you the opportunity to adjust things as needed.

If you're a daily wine drinker, another great example is to commit to having one glass of wine on weekends only or limited to two days a week, or five almonds each day, or one meatless day of every week. You see how measuring moderates things and moderation is paramount.

Regardless of what you're removing to do your commitment needs to be measured in one way or another if you're serious about achieving your goals.

A stands for attainable. One of the biggest mistakes I see people make when they set out to lose weight this time of year is that they make severe, not realistic changes, thinking they are going to be perfect all the time. While the intention is good, it's just not realistic.

When it comes to losing weight and getting into better shape, I suggest focusing on progress, not perfection. Even if you're not perfect, you're always moving in the right direction (forward), which makes you feel better about yourself, building confidence in your abilities, and highly motivating.

Also, never forget that perfection is the enemy of progress. No one is perfect; we are all human, and we mess up. Choose an achievable goal such as a healthy, sustainable, positive change. For instance, choose a food that you like to eat, and you know it's good for you, so you won't have to fight with yourself every time you need to do it.

That's why I drink a delicious frothed-up Chocolate Bliss Complete Protein Advanced Shake. I spoon it onto my French-pressed organic coffee every day. I absolutely love it, and I never have to force myself to do it because I like it so much.

You'll want to try this because this mochaccino is as nutritious as it is delicious. In fact, the LynFit Sinful Chocolate Sauce has more antioxidants than most superfoods! Why suffer eating foods like kale when you don’t have to?

Sinful Chocolate Sauce has a higher ORAC score (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) than kale, blueberries, or spinach. All of these foods are known for their health-boosting abilities because of the high levels of antioxidants they contain that stomp out free radicals that can harm health and accelerate aging.

In short, Sinful Chocolate Sauce has a higher ORAC score than the now-famous
Goji berry, which is well-known for being one of the most nutritionally-packed superfoods in the world. Goji berries ORAC score is 25,300, and while these numbers may seem impressive, it doesn't even come close to LynFit's Sinful Chocolate Sauce with an ORAC rating of 95,500!

Not only does it have thirty times more antioxidant power than most superfoods, but it also contains a significant amount of prebiotic fiber, which makes it taste even more delicious. The combination of raw cacao, combined with a generous serving of prebiotic fiber, make it taste out of this world and has several health benefits such as:

• Killing cravings and taming hunger
• Promoting weight loss and accelerating fat burning (studies prove it)
• Studies also reveal that prebiotic fiber improves immunity and helps increase energy naturally while improving cognitive function
• Prebiotic fiber was also shown to help reduce visceral fat (“under the skin” belly fat) at the Kagawa Nutrition University in Japan

Not convinced? Prebiotic fiber also helps your body better process glucose.

LynFit loves inulin because it satisfies your sweet tooth better than sugar, without spiking blood sugar levels that cause your body to resist weight loss and stop the burning off of belly fat.

Everyone should add Sinful Chocolate Sauce to their daily clean-eating routine because the inulin, as well as the fiber inside raw cacao, has been shown to feed the healthy flora living inside your gut, which is where all health begins. 

Healthy intestinal flora improves digestion and gut health, enhances immune function, and helps balance hormones. When you can control your hormones, you can control your weight.

So for me, my commitment is to dark chocolate in Sinful Chocolate Sauce every single day to protect my health and make me happy!

R stands for relevant. Make sure that when you resolve to make a change that it's relevant to your goal. It should contribute in some way to your life’s core values, goals, or your purpose. For instance, I wanna become healthier so I can enjoy more quality time with my family and friends, or walk my dog more often.

I resolve to be the kind of person my dog thinks I am and stay more focused so I finish tasks in a timely manner, which will allow me to take my dogs for more walks. I'm going to do this by not allowing distractions to mess up my routine or eating, along with drinking more water in the afternoon so I have the energy to walk them. 

Maybe yours is you commit to eating healthier foods that make you feel better, and less of the unhealthy foods that make you feel tired, or you need to commit to walking your dog every day or commit to getting enough sleep.

All of these healthy choices make it easier to reach your goals and also add to your core values. 

T stands for time. If you're serious about reaching your goals and you want it to be more than just a wish, your goal needs to be linked to time. Making goals measurable creates a sense of. Urgency guarantees your success.

A few great examples are telling yourself:

• I’d like to lose five pounds in seven days versus I’m going to lose weight and I’m going to do this by...
• I'm going to walk for 30 minutes before I leave for work (versus I’m going to walk)
• I’m going to eat 3 cups of leafy greens at lunch every day not just eat more greens 
  
  NOTE: Choose leafy greens you like versus ones you don't. Romaine is one of the best for weight loss. Why not kale? Believe it or not, kale is not the best for weight loss. Kale is a goitrogenic vegetable, meaning it contains goitrogens that disrupt the production of thyroid hormones and interfere with iodine uptake in the thyroid gland. This affects thyroid function (slowing it down) and triggers the pituitary to release the thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), which can then promote the growth of thyroid tissue, eventually leading to a goiter.

We need to quantify it, so we nail our target! 

Lastly, we all need to be accountable to someone. Accountability is key when it comes to slashing weight loss. Choose someone you trust who is brutally honest, so they won’t let you slip when your pants no longer fit. This can be as simple as asking a friend or spouse to join you or announcing it to someone you're close to.

This person is even more valuable when it comes to catching you doing something right. They can celebrate your success with you by getting your nails done, or a massage or new workout clothes (Not going out to splurge on food, but rather a nice, healthy meal.)

We are also here to support you at LynFit. We encourage you to join the private LynFit Nutrition Facebook Group, where you can ask questions, vent, etc. to people just like you.

The best part about this plan is once you've decided to lose weight, it gets easy!
Deciding to and surrendering to change is the hardest part. The Metabolic Boosting Lose 1 Pound Per Day Plan makes losing weight and melting off dangerous belly fat faster and easier, with the least amount of time commitment. It saves you time so you can focus on what’s important in your life. 

The Lose 1 Pound Per Day System comes with a free guide /meal plan that shows you what to eat, when, and how much. It also has the popular and delicious Metabolic Boosting Smoothies that boost weight loss as well as the nutritional supplements (aka nutrients) you need to succeed, making sure you stay healthy, and also making it faster and easier, so no matter how old you are or how stubborn your metabolism is your success is 100% guaranteed. The only limit is YOU!