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January Do’s and absolute Don’ts





The New Year is just around the corner, I hope that you are all well and ready for 2022.


January tends to be the ‘make changes’ month some due to Christmas and New Year celebrations and some because ‘this year’s going be different’. Here are some do’s and don’ts for the new year.

Do: Cut down on alcohol. Some like to go dry during January. I’m generally not that fussed about cutting it out completely but some people do and thats fine. It doe’s seem to be the easiest month to cut alcohol purely because it's quite common and you will find a lot of people doing it so you don’t feel left out.


Don’t: Keep eating the Christmas party food you still have left over. Donate it to a food bank or bin it. I know theres a tonne of quality streets and bottles of wine (don’t take those down the food bank!) but try and resist polishing them off.




Do: Drink the right amount of water. As a general rule of thumb you should consume your calorie intake in litres per day. So If I should be consuming 2500cal per day then 2.5Lt of water would be my goal


Don’t: Buy into ‘Detox’ methods/diets/programmes to compensate for overeating and drinking. Stop eating ‘the crap’. If lemon and ginger tea (as delightful as it is) helped you shed body fat that much it would be too easy!


Do: Learn how to warm up properly and get some good mobility into your body. This really is a clincher for a lot of people, they start off guns blazing and are injured before February and twice the size by May! Warm up!


Don’t: Over do the cardio and forget weight training! Cardio is great for the heart and certainly keeps you ‘fit’ but it has a negative effect on the body. What I mean by that is, cardio’s main purpose (in most peoples uses) is to burn calories. It only really does this while you're doing it. Therefore you don’t really get your bang for buck. Weight training, builds good strong muscle tissue which helps the body burn fat at rest. Now who doesn’t want that!



Do: Get a plan! Oh Ben Scott fitness online training you say… Either way get yourself a solid plan together which is progressive, realistic and as bespoke as possible. Generic training plans online are good but you will find that it’s the implementation of the program rather than the exercises and numbers them selves that really shifts the needle.


Don’t: Guess or just copy the guys and girls training next to you in the gym! Ask for help from someone who knows what they are doing.


Do: Get enough sleep. We can’t make up for lost sleep but we perform so much better when we are not tired. Good sleep hygiene is a must, reduce blue light exposure, cool down before bed and try to not eat too late.


Don’t: Cut out food groups because you think you’ve eaten a lot of them. Cut down on the amount you are eating. Remember calories ARE equal! its a unit of energy so if you consume the right amount you will be both energised and remain lean,


Do: Read the labels of the food you are about to buy, then put it back and buy something fresh.


Don’t: Set unrealistic rules that are hard to maintain. Start easy and build on the confidence. I believe January is the worst month for new years for resolutions! It's freezing cold out side and everyone wants to start running??. They, hate it cause its cold, they injure themselves because it's cold and they generally have a tainted experience of their fitness attempt that can last though until next year when, you guessed it January comes around.



Do: Create daily routines that are easy to follow. This may mean refining your morning routine to be more efficient or creating a night time routine that has a good impact on your morning, such as bags ready for the next day, washing up done and put away, clothes out etc.

Don’t: Try and go 100% with your diet! Adherence is the key to success and if you can’t do something 100% then don’t try, seriously its not a problem. You don’t need to! Maybe start with 60/70% that way you will gradually build towards a more sustainable outcome.


Do: Get your understanding of nutrition on point. Understand your numbers and start putting together a menu of good meals that you can cook at home that will keep you on track.


Get in touch if you need help


Scotty


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