The new year is upon us and that means resolutions are on the brain… and for some people that can mean a whole new source of stress with trying to commit to a new habit or a full-on lifestyle change. We don’t necessarily love the idea of resolutions, but if you want to use a new year as motivation to get into a healthier lifestyle, we will help make it a whole lot easier for you.

We have always wanted to set you up for success on MTK. We don’t love resolutions in the vein of starting January 1 because it doesn’t set you up for long term success, that’s been proven by countless studies and you probably already know that yourself by doing this to yourself every year.

DETOXES ARE BULLSHIT

1. These come marketed under a few different names, usually “cleanses” or “detoxes.” Beware. They’re expensive, unproven, and often don’t even do anything but make you feel like shit.
   • Why waste your money on taking expensive shits, btw. You body does that for you for free. I also want to bring up that this is a form of starvation which doesn’t do anything for anyone in the long run.

2. You don’t need to do a detox. That’s why you have lungs, a liver, and kidneys… your body is a pretty seamless self-contained system, drinking hot lemon water with cayenne pepper isn’t going to do much more than give you hella heartburn every day.
   • Again, your body produces poop for free, it may not be spicy, but it’s free. And when you say it outloud: drinking hot lemon water…. does that even SOUND healthy? If it isn’t marketed and you think about it at its base, you’re paying… for water… which is also free

3. Cleanses don’t always, but often do, lack important nutrients that you need… keeping your body from receiving those nutrients can make you feel pretty crappy. Most of these liquids aren’t nutrient or calorie dense, so your body isn’t going to be very happy with you if you stick to the “cleanse” for very long.
   • This goes back to feeding your body. You don’t need to starve yourself. If you really want to “detox” focus on consuming one ingredient foods. (Eggs, chicken, rice, veggies, fruits, etc)

4. Most of these liquids aren’t high in carbs, fat, or protein… you may get an adequate amount of vitamins like A and C, but cleanses often lack calcium, B vitamins, iron, zinc, and essential fats amongst other nutrients. Doesn’t sound so sexy now, does it?
   
5. Wanna add insult to injury? Remember those five days where all you wanted was a french fry but you drank that juice instead? You’re likely going to gain back any weight that you lost during the course of the cleanse.
   • Because you’re starving yourself! When your body goes into starvation mode, it holds onto everything your put into it, or dont. It goes into conservation mode because it doesn’t want you to die. Not saying detoxes will kill you, your body is under that assumption when you don’t eat.

DON’T MURDER YOURSELF WITH CARDIO, OR TRAINING IN GENERAL

1. We’ve discussed the importance of not getting into too much too soon when it comes to fitness… if you dive in too much, you’re going to be sore for dayyyyyys, or worse, you’ll injure yourself because your body isn’t ready for a certain level of activity.
   • If you are wanting to add fitness to your life, whatever your reason is, set attainable goes. As Holly Wiest said on our last episode, focus on doing more than nothing. Small goals make up bigger goals, always remember that.

2. A lot of people take up running as a new year’s resolution, if that sounds like something you’re interested in… we recommend trying out the couch to 5k plan. Wanna get into rowing? Watch a whole lot of videos on proper form and check out The Pete Plan. 
   • If you don’t want to use an app, I recommend people try running around their block, and adding a block or half block every day. If you can’t run the whole block, split it up! Splits can be a ton of fun, actually. Eventually, you’ll build to a mile and more. Splits are running for a certain amount of time (ie: 30 seconds) and then walking for a certain amount of time and then building on those numbers.

3. Exercise is a celebration of what your body can do, not a punishment for what you put in your mouth. Remember that always.
   • Food is fuel. Food is also for enjoyment. By looking at food as earned or otherwise, it affects your relationship with food in a negative way. Repairing your relationship with food could be a positive goal 

DON’T RESTRICT ENTIRE FOOD GROUPS

1. We’ve covered this point before in “Don’t Go Cold Turkey,” but it’s worth mentioning again as a ton of people do stuff like completely cutting out sugar, doing Whole 30, or trying non-therapeutic Keto on January 1.
   • I know when we say this stuff, it goes against every single thing that we’ve been told for some time now. Fad diets are labeled that for a reason. They aren’t sustainable, and they go out of style frequently. At one point we were told to not eat eggs and chicken… remember that.

2. When you cut out entire food groups, you’re sabotaging yourself in a couple of ways. The first way is that you can start to associate negative feelings with certain foods if you cut them out all together, and that’s a slippery slope into disordered eating. The second way you can screw yourself is that your body will rebel against you if it doesn’t get what it needs. I learned that I don’t make enough iron when I went vegan many years ago, I developed an iron deficiency and experienced alopecia areata for a year in my mid-20s… that was a lot of fun. 
   
3. If you’re stressed about carbs, relax. Just focus on putting high quality whole carbs in your facehole instead of the more processed stuff. Eat the bread, just eat a better quality bread.
   
4. The more you restrict your intake, the harder it is to adjust… remember that when deciding what changes you want to make to your nutrition plan. Little changes add up to big wins, so if you need to have a Snickers, have one every now and then. You want to be able to live with the changes you’re making.
   • If you want to try something different, start tracking your food for a week or two just so you know exactly what and how much you’re eating. Tracking your food can also clue you in to what some of your triggers to overeating and things like that are. Are you eating because you’re bored? Are you stressed? Knowing these things about yourself significantly helps you be more aware. You’ll be surprised. Also, it keeps you accountable. Maybe, if you don’t actually want the snickers but are pissed off and that’s why you want one… if you have to write it down you’ll know that’s why you wanted the snickers so bad

FIT TEAS ARE ALSO BULLSHIT, SO ARE FAT BURNERS

1. Supplements in general can be a slippery slope, because it’s so hard to tell what works and what doesn’t… often times, supplements aren’t even FDA approved. Keep that in mind when you’re shopping for supplements to add to your arsenal.
   
2. Fit teas are garbage… the only thing that expensive crappy tasting leaf water is going to do for you is make you shit your life away, or make you sick to your stomach. 
   
3. Beware of ANYTHING that has a “proprietary blend” in it. If they can’t tell you exactly what is in that supplement, don’t take it.
   
4. Also, while we are talking about supplements, a plea from me to you… stop taking melatonin for sleep. 
   • Melatonin isn’t a sleep aid, it’s a hormone that your brain produces in response to darkness. It helps with the timing of your circadian rhythms (24-hour internal clock) and with sleep. Being exposed to light at night can block melatonin production. Research suggests that melatonin plays other important roles in the body beyond sleep. *
   • And when you use it nightly to attempt to sleep better, you’re essentially giving yourself hormone therapy… if you give your body additional melatonin after long enough, it will stop making its own. That’s no good. Only in the US is melatonin available over the counter… so if you’re using melatonin as a sleep aid, we urge you to see a doctor before quitting use. **

Please don’t fall into the resolution trap. If you want to make a change do it now because you want to, not on an arbitrary day because Instagram makes you feel like you have to. If you have any questions, we’re here to help. Hit us up: hello at meathead test kitchen dot com. We’ve been in your shoes, so when things get hard, don’t hesitate to lean on us. You can find us on IG and FB at meathead test kitchen and on Twitter at mtk staff. Hit up our website for useful shit like show notes, recipes, training logs, substitution guide, and our amazon store filled with some of our favorite stuff. 

* https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/expert-answers/melatonin-side-effects/faq-20057874
** https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/news/20181112/as-melatonin-use-rises-so-do-safety-concerns