2015: a new year, a new you! or…not?

haaaaappy new year! we’re a week into 2015 & it’s time to take a quick survey: how many of your new year’s resolutions are still in tact?!

*cricket*cricket*

are you still there? don’t be afraid to be honest! if you’re right on track, good for you & keep it up! but don’t worry: if your resolutions for a “new you” have fallen to the waist side, you’re absolutely not alone. the thing with new year’s resolutions is that there’s this magical aura surrounding the fact that we now date our checks with 2015 instead of 2014 (or, we write 2014, only to angrily grumble to ourselves while we try to turn the 4 into a 5…). i'm sorry to burst your champagne-induced bubble, but a new year doesn’t automatically come with a 2.0 version of you. instead, it gives you a buzzfeed list completely annotated with animated GIFs depicting hopes, promises & expectations for the next 365 days that you didn’t really ask for, but were shoved into your face at 2am while you peruse all forms of social media. you're practically guilted into choosing a bad habit to try & get rid of, or you’ve reluctantly signed over your soul & first-born for a new gym membership because those emails promising a “reduced membership” kept flooding your inbox & wore you down. but worst of all, you’re predestined to believe that who you are right now is not good enough to carry over into the new year without some kind of makeover.

well nerds, i'm very happy to tell you that this last thought is most definitely not true.

the ugly truth is, january 1, 2015 was just another thirsty thursday, shadowed by the thought of going back to work the very next day. you didn’t wake up suddenly a 100% healthy person or with the work ethic of bill gates, ryan secrest or beyoncé (& definitely not with their bank accounts or personal assistants). instead, you woke up with a minor headache, slightly dehydrated & most likely with your makeup smudged from your midnight kiss the night before. the good news is that the hype from the new year was still present, so your resolutions were still squeaky clean & gleaming bright. but now as the christmas lights come down & the stores are already putting out valentine’s day candy (like, really?!) the “new you” resolutions are starting to lose their steam almost as quickly as your christmas trees are losing their needles. but lucky for you, i have some tips on how to make your resolutions last longer than that overpriced NYE open bar.

do you.

you need to be the person who comes up with your resolutions, no one else. you have to want it more than your sister, brother, parents, friends, roommates or cats. even if you join in on “group resolutions”, make sure it’s something you desire, or you’ll most likely be the first person to come up with an excuse. if it’s something you want, you’ll make it happen, no matter what other people say. you'll make the time & you’ll stick with it. but if it’s an idea someone else came up with, you lose ownership & you won’t bat an eyelash as soon as someone suggests returning your bag of resolutions for a glittery tote full of bad habits. so do you & you’ll be the one in control. it feels mighty nice, if i do say so myself.

baby steps.

rome wasn’t built in a day & quite frankly, neither was channing tatum’s super hot magic mike bod. don't kid yourself & think that you can suddenly eat a vegan diet, run a marathon & shake off all the haters before you even get dressed for work. the reality is, if you set tiny goals for yourself, they’ll build upon themselves, your confidence will grow & you’ll ultimately find your way down the yellow brick road. so start off with one change & as soon as that change turns into a habit, you’ll be ready for the next one, & so on & so forth & sofi shorts.

moderation.

along the same lines as taking baby steps, don’t forget to let yourself live. jesus may have said that man cannot live on bread alone (mmmm carbs…), but man also can’t live solely on overpriced green smoothies. we all need a little bit of the good stuff every now & then. & the best part is, if you make a choice to allow yourself a treat every week, or an extra rest day once in a while, you’re more likely to be less upset about it. you won’t think of it as a failure & a binge session of self-loathing is less likely to occur. so treat yourself to a girls’ (or guys’) night out after a week full of sweaty gym sessions & kale soups, because that one treat will be a mental refresher to jump start another week of commitment.

accountability.

fiiiinally we get to the part where i can talk about me ;) just kidding! kind of… but seriously, having people to help hold you accountable for your resolutions is a sure fire way to increase your odds of sticking to them. it's easy to wake up & say to yourself “i'm going to the gym after work today”, but sometimes a rough day at the office won’t put you in a treadmill-running mood. however, if you’ve promised to meet up with someone for a lifting session, it’s much harder to bow out & go straight home. even a quick text or desperate snapchat to your acountabilibuddy could be all the motivation you need for you to decide to change into your gym shorts instead of your PJs. so go out there & find a buddy with similar goals to harass on the daily. follow those motivational instagram & twitter accounts (cough* @TheFitnessNerds *cough) to give you a daily dose of inspiration. read this blog (yes, this ridiculously on-point blog you’re reading right now!) to not only laugh yourself into your very own 6-pack, but to also discover a few things you may not have known before. need more one-on-one help? TheFitnessNerds are just an email away (fitnessnerds@gmail.com)! we're always around for a swift kick of motivation right where you need it ;)

so extreeeemely long story short: you don’t need a life makeover to take part in 2015. you can continue being the amazing, life-living human you’ve always been. but if you do feel the need for slight alterations, i hope this post helped you see that resolutions are only as solid as your own drive & determination. resolutions aside, there’s no doubt that this year is going to be a great one. i can promise you that & we at TFNHQ hope you join us. let's run a lap around the sun, shall we?

lace up!

xx TFNHQ

motivate your mornings.

it’s 6:01 in the morning & you’re awoken from your dream-evoking slumber by a noise that you can’t quite place. it rattles your brain & shakes any remaining ocean views from your thoughts. your beach towel turns into a smooth pillow & the sun on your back is replaced by your hello kitty comforter. i mean, your more grownup-styled comforter… :-\ anywho… that sound persists & you still can’t figure out why no one else has stopped it until you roll over & realize it’s your very own alarm blaring in your ear. what day is it? & why did you ever, in your right mind, set that to go off? & so early? you reach over & without thinking, press the snooze button. this happens again & again & before you know it, you’re jumping out of bed & into your clothes in order to make it out the door on time! another day starts exactly the same as every other morning. your “intentions’ to wake up & workout are long forgotten & you’re neck-deep in work troubles at only 10am.

does this sound familiar? we swear this could’ve been our journal entry every morning for the past year! but you know what? one day we decided that this wasn’t good enough for us & wasn’t what we wanted out of life. if we started out the morning already running around & stressed, how would we possibly calm down throughout the rest of the day? but easier said than done, isn’t it? that’s why we were determined to make our mornings motivational!

-- but how can you do this? is this real, or are you just forcing us into another alliteration?

while we are fans of a properly placed alliteration, this is more than just that! if you make your mornings motivational, your day will become exponentially more productive & enjoyable. so what does this mean to us at TFNHQ? for me, i decided to switch my phone’s lock screen to a motivational picture that i'll see every time i go to press that snooze button. if i can read that quote & still go back to sleep, i'll know i'm not serious yet about changing my life. if you’re one of those who wouldn’t even see the screen because you press snooze with closed eyes, then choose a song as your alarm that gets your heart pumping & your mind thinking about all the possibilities you have ahead of you that can only occur if you get your behind out of that bed!! if that STILL doesn’t work for you, then take the most brutal approach & put that bloody phone on the opposite side of the room so you need to get out of bed in order to press snooze! & if you’re already out of bed, why not stay up?

the moral of this post is: get up & get going! from my personal experience, i know i'm 99.9% more likely to get something done (whether it’s a workout, packing, reading or responding to emails) if i set aside some time in the morning to get it done. if i just wake up & say “i'll fit it in later”, i get busy, tired & put it off to the next morning, where it’s likely to get pushed off again for another day! so why have that hanging over your head all day? i'd rather spend the rest of my day thinking back on how i kicked butt in my morning run or how the chapter of the book i read that morning can help me reach my dreams. i feel so much better after actually accomplishing something so early in the day & those post-workout endorphins don’t hurt either ;) so now we’re asking: how can YOU motivate YOUR mornings? will you dance your way to the kitchen to make your breakfast? write yourself a note on the mirror to get you ready to bring on the day? or will you one day be so committed that you wake up on your own to get those tasks done? whichever way you choose, keep it consistent & don’t let yourself get bored with it! mix up those mornings & you’ll be surprised at how much you get done throughout your day :)

keep studying, nerds! we’ve missed you!
xx TFNHQ

take the challenge!

what if we told you that you only need 25 minutes a day to completely CHANGE your life? commit to our JULY 15 Beachbody Challenge group & you'll finally see results you've always wanted :) email us at FitnessNerds@gmail.com for complete details!! we can't wait to help you make the commitment!! :)

keep studying & see you in class!!

xx TFNHQ