Hip new diet and fitness trends can help new year’s resolutioners keep their promises to themselves
One of the more common new year’s resolutions is a promise to get in shape. Whether that means eating healthier, working out more, or something in-between, the turn of the calendar can feel like the perfect time to start a glow-up.
With that said, getting in shape is also one of the most common new year’s resolutions to be broken. Working out consistently and watching what you eat can be tough, and having to change your routine to do so can be even harder.
“Part of the challenge of creating a new healthy habit, whether at the outset of the new year or at any other time, is reinforcing that action until it becomes routine,” Luba Pashkovskaya, CEO of global fitness app Verv, said in a statement.
Techniques to help people who want to slim down or tone up, meanwhile, have been improved and crafted to fit a wide range of needs, desires, and abilities.
This month, BOSS is looking at some modern workout and diet trends helping people get and stay in shape, instead of breaking their annual new year’s promise to themselves.
Diet Trends
New Keto
While Keto has been around for some time, a new, simpler approach to the popular way to lose weight is helping people maintain the diet.
The original idea behind Keto is to have your diet consist of at least 70% fat to put your body into a state of ketosis — causing it to burn fat instead of carbs.
The new Keto can be a lot more palatable, however. Many Keto dieters now eat a high protein diet — previously a no-no — and simply avoid eating sugars, especially ones that contain carbs.
Cutting out sugar fills the same purpose as the original Keto and allows dieters to have a more well-rounded diet. Foods such as cereals, toaster pastries, and chips have helped by adjusting their recipes to allow for a sugarless — but still great-tasting — experience.
Fruits & Veggies
The World Health Organization has issued new dietary guidelines to help maintain health as the COVID-19 pandemic begins to wane.
Fruits and vegetables are at the core of the WHO’s guidance — which is centered around boosting immunity. The agency recommends eating four servings of fruit and five servings of vegetables per day.
Consuming “super foods” that contain high levels of Vitamin D, Vitamin C, and Vitamin E is also important to maintaining good immune health, according to the WHO.
Plant Power
Having a plant-based diet does not mean you necessarily have to swear off meat completely, but limiting your exposure could help you lose weight and feel better, too.
The most important part of maintaining a plant-based diet is ensuring you are still consuming enough protein, and plants can have a lot of it.
Consuming pea protein, pumpkin seed protein, almond protein, and hemp protein are just some of the ways you can get the necessary amount of protein without having to chow down on a T-bone steak.
It is also still perfectly acceptable to eat the occasional free-range chicken or grass-fed meatball, just try not to make it an everyday staple.
Additionally, a primarily plant-based diet is good for the environment, since plants have a smaller carbon footprint than their animal counterparts and are often sourced and packaged in a more sustainable way.
Fitness Trends
Online Class
One of the largest fitness trends heading into 2022 is working out online. Being able to take an online class virtually with an instructor was a huge help during the COVID-19 pandemic, and a boon for the online fitness industry.
The flexibility of being able to work out online with others at any time of the day, and in the comfort of your home, has checked multiple boxes for people who may not have the time, patience, or even confidence to consistently work out in a physical gym.
Gym rats also now have more flexibility about when they work out. Being able to record a class for later is an important feature, as is joining a live stream, which can help a person make new friends or learn new lifts.
Use Your Body
Fitness enthusiasts have increasingly started to come around to the idea of bodyweight training, which allows a person to improve strength and maintain fitness levels all while limiting the negative impacts of lifting heavy weight.
Working out without equipment became more popular during the COVID-19 pandemic, with people unable to go to the gym and having to find alternative ways to stay in shape.
Allowing your body to lead the way and being able to work out at your own pace has also become a promising way to achieve fitness results minus the wear and tear that can come from using heavy equipment.
Further, bodyweight exercises can be a great supplement to lifting with equipment such as weights or resistance bands.
The Great Outdoors
With indoor spaces temporarily closed due to COVID-19, people increasingly shifted their focus to spending more time outside.
Being able to go for a hike on a trail, a walk in the park, or a jog around the neighborhood provided a safe way for someone to stay in shape without the risk of getting sick.
This shift to the outdoors is likely to continue into the new year, as people better understand the benefits of getting a workout in fresh air and sunshine.
Surrounding yourself with the good vibrations that the outside has to offer has been shown to have a positive effect on a person’s mood while helping decrease feelings of anxiety and depression.
“Hiking is like entering a time machine, a timeless experience,” Dick Sederquist, a dedicated hiker, told Everyday Health. “Deep in the woods, away from the traffic noise, all you feel is the exertion, your breathing, and the elements around you. It’s impossible to be distracted by your everyday worries and concerns.”
Runs around the neighborhood also tend to improve the community of an area, as they help people become more familiar with their surroundings and in-tune with those they share their lives in close proximity with.
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