Getting Fit in the New Year? Read This First

It’s 2020. You’ve decided that you’re sick of feeling like shit and you want to start exercising. That’s amazing! Whether you’ve decided to lose weight, build muscle or simply live a healthier lifestyle, it can be difficult to navigate the fitness world if you’ve been embracing your inner couch potato for a little too long. Are you scared? That’s fine. Starting a fitness routine can be incredibly intimidating. Not sure where to start? That’s fine too.

In a world filled with useless fitness information, I am here to provide you with the truth about getting fit in the New Year. No bullshit. Real tools that you can actually use to achieve your goals. Am I a fitness guru? No. Nutritionist? Absolutely not. Am I selling you something? Nope. But I can tell you one thing: I’ve spent years using exercise as a tool to make me happy – and I want you to be able to do that too.

I just want everyone to be happy.

Truth #1: There Is No Magic Pill

You’ve heard it before and I’ll say it again: here is no magic pill. There is no “secret” to getting fit in the New Year and losing weight. These are the rules of the game:

1. Exercise Regularly
2. Eat Healthy

That’s it. Easier said than done, right? If anything looks, tastes or smells like MLM, then it is – and it’s designed to rip you off without providing you with any results. Tiny tea (laxatives), belly wraps (water weight) or diet pills (probably arsenic) do not work – so don’t waste your money looking for the easy way out. There isn’t one.

Truth #2: “Fitness” Can Be Different for Everyone

I’ve tried at least 50 different fitness routines. Yoga, pilates, kayaking, hiking, crossfit, cycling, rock climbing, swimming, dancing, lifting weights, running, snowboarding, kickball, chopping wood… do you catch my drift? Fitness doesn’t mean that you have spend two hours on the elliptical. You can – and will – find a form (or forms) of exercise that you actually enjoy. You just have to keep searching until you do.

Truth #3: You Don’t Get to Stop Working Out

It always blows my mind when people reach their fitness goals and then they just… stop. It’s lunacy. If you want to be healthy and live to watch your great grandchildren have children, then you don’t get to stop working out. Ever. Now hold up – I’m not saying that you have to be a fitness freak for the rest of your life, but you do need to prioritize moving your body a few times a week. You can take a break for injury, for self-care, for… whatever you feel like, but you should always return to some sort of a fitness routine.

Imagine this: you’ve spent the last two years learning how to speak Spanish. You’ve worked so, so hard figuring out how to conjugate verbs, ask where the bathroom is, and order a beer. At last, the day that you’ve been waiting for arrives: you’re fluent in Spanish! All your hard work has FINALLY paid off!

And then you never speak Spanish. Ever again.

That’s what it’s like when you bail on your fitness routine.

Truth #4: Nobody Is Judging You

You know those super fit people that look like they fell out of the womb doing crunches? They were beginners once, too. Everyone knows what it feels like to walk into your first class, get your first membership or try your first (horrific) round of burpees. We have all been where you are and we’re cheering you on. Laugh at your mistakes and remember that fitness should be fun – sometimes even silly – so don’t take it so damn seriously.

Truth #5: You Deserve to Be Happy

When I was 22, I had a therapist give me a prescription for exercise. She said, “Madison, I want you to exercise for 45 minutes, 3 days a week. I don’t care what you do.” At the time I was incredibly annoyed – “So, you’re not going to refill my Xanax?” – but after a month… I felt better. Healthier. Happier. Stronger. It was like someone made winter a little less wintery. I was eating my vegetables and drinking less booze. I didn’t understand it at the time, but the best side effect of a regular workout routine isn’t an improved appearance – it’s an improved state of mind.

Want more Madison? Send her a message to talk shop about marketing, mobility, getting fit in the New Year and beyond.