We’ve all been there, the former year has ended and now we find ourselves feeling the anxiety that comes with setting new goals for the coming year… What should they be? How will I achieve them? What will make this year different than last year? I want to answer these questions for you today, and maybe a few more you hadn't thought of as well.

There are so many “experts” out there, so many options, so many diets, so many supplements, so many systems and programs…! The list goes on and on, and it can be difficult to know where to start and what to choose. So I want to help by breaking this down for you, and sharing with you seven tips that will help you as you begin to sort through the sea of information, and make the decisions that will best fit your lifestyle. As you look at your desires, and set new goals for your health and fitness this year, here are seven tips that will help you run your race.

1. Change your relationship with food

Who you are today has a direct connection to your relationship with food. Your relationship with food has shaped who you are today. It literally affects every part of your life.

➤ Physique

➤ Mood

➤ Physical abilities

➤ Energy levels

➤ Attractiveness

➤ Mental state

➤ Health

➤ Ability to think

➤ Emotions 

➤ Longevity

➤ Feelings 

➤ ALL your physicality's

If you want to achieve your health and fitness desires, you need to start with establishing a healthy relationship with food.

A recent CNBC article stated that poor eating habits are the leading cause of noncommunicable diseases worldwide, things like diabetes, heart diseases, most cancers and kidney diseases.

I don’t know about you, but I believe that’s an insanely high number! Those deaths could be significantly reduced by people simply changing their relationship with food and creating good healthy eating habits. So if you want to achieve your health and fitness goals and start living a better life, you must start by changing your relationship with food.

 David Hernandez is the founder of Body by Purpose and creator of the Elite Champion Fitness Academy, a company designed to equip individuals mentally and physically to fulfill their purpose in life.

Whenever we lose something, subconsciously we tend to want to find it again. When we lose our keys, our watch, our money, anything… our initial instinct is to find it.

So psychologically, when we say we want to lose weight, our subconscious mind struggles with really wanting to let it go. Loss also produces fear, uncertainty, and insecurity, because we really don’t like to lose things in life.

Therefore, when we say “I want to lose weight.” it can sometimes affect our ability to take action, because we are saying, “…lose weight,” “…lose weight.” And the whole time our subconscious mind is saying, “Then if you lost it, I’ll help you find it again!” So in this mental struggle we can sometimes reject or resist taking action.

This mental battle can subconsciously produce uncertainty, doubt, and fear, and all these mixed feelings then lead us into procrastination, and we avoid taking action.

So, instead of losing weight we want to focus on releasing weight. Releasing is a much more powerful word. Releasing is in line with letting go. Therefore letting go of the weight produces less anxiety and uncertainty, which then allows us to take action.

The best way to release weight is by making changes in the areas that are causing us to be overweight, but that’s another subject.

Stress eating and emotional eating are unhealthy behaviors that affect our mind in unhealthy ways.

➤ Guilt 

➤ Embarrassment

➤ Shame 

➤ Self-judgement

➤ Condemnation

➤ Pain

75% of all overeating is because of stress eating and emotional eating, and overeating is one of the main causes of obesity and an unhealthy lifestyle.

In fact it causes health problems, mindset issues, emotional pain, and lifestyle complications worldwide! I recently did a study and found that 83-88% of people admitted to stress eating or eating their feelings. This is a very high percentage, but it can be reduced.

Diets and restrictive meal plans seem to be a good idea when we hear the latest fitness guru talking about them.

The reality is that they do work, but only for a short time. For the average person, trendy diets and restrictive meal plans are not sustainable long-term.

That’s why these options are not the best solution to help you develop a healthy, fun, fit, and engaging life. It can NOT be a quick fix! It has to be something that will become your new lifestyle forever. These short-term solutions only set people up to fail in the long run.

➤ Anything that is restrictive, will only cause you to want more of the

       forbidden foods.

➤ This begins the cycle of an unhealthy relationship with food, which

       then leads to unhealthy actions, like:

                                 ➣ Stress eating

                                 ➣ Emotional eating

                                 ➣ Overeating

                                 ➣ Binge eating

The solution isn’t being restrictive, the solution is learning how to properly structure a nutrition strategy that is going to line up with your lifestyle. It’s learning how to make better food choices, learning how to adopt better eating habits, and learning how to properly structure your own nutrition plan without giving up the foods you love.

Simplicity is the answer!

Far too many times we invest in things that don’t provide us long-term value, or they simply depreciate as time passes. For example cars, jewelry, clothes, phones, any electronic equipment, etc. etc. Most times we don’t even think twice about it, but when it comes to investing in ourselves, in our health, oftentimes we DO think twice about it. We tell ourselves things like, “I have other needs that are more important.” “I have to take care of this bill and that expense.” “I just don’t have the means to do it.” The truth is, these are often just excuses.

The reality is, there is nothing more important than your health. NOTHING! Without your health your entire life is limited; everything is impacted. There are things you can’t do.

Without your health you end up struggling in your relationships, on your job, physical movement can become difficult, your ability to travel, do fun things, being active, even something as simple as going up the stairs.

Without your health nothing else matters. The most important thing you can give yourself is a healthy BODY and a healthy LIFE. Being strong, fit, energetic, and becoming the best possible version of you, is more important than anything else you can do for yourself.

For years, over and over again, I’ve spoken with men and women who are struggling with their health. They’re overweight, they battle physical limitations, many are emotionally devastated, some even hate their lives!

They can't enjoy their kids or grandkids the way they’d like to, they can't play with them, run with them, throw a ball with them, or even walk through the amusement park with them. These important relationships are suffering.

➤ Have you had to take time off of work because of chronic health

      issues?

➤ Have you had to tell your kids, friends, family, or significant other,

      “No.” because you’re:

                                 ➣ Too tired?

                                 ➣ Too weak?

                                 ➣ Too depressed?

                                 ➣ In too much pain?

That is not what you deserve. You deserve to have a thriving, healthy, energetic, fit, emotionally stable, and encouraging life! You should be an example and an inspiration to your kids, your family, and your friends, so that they will see how they can also live strong, healthy, and happy lives!

Investing in ourselves and in our health is the best gift we can ever give ourselves, our kids, our family, and our friends. A healthy YOU and me impacts everything around us in a powerful positive way! So I ask you, are you ready to invest in you and your health?