New Year's resolutions: Do them for your health, not your vanity.

It's the time of year when people are looking to shed the extra pounds, just make sure you're doing it for the right reasons.

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Disclaimer: This article is for general educational and informational purposes only. I am not a fitness professional, just someone who has been through the trenches of this weight loss thing before, and am currently doing so again. As always, talk to your doctor before beginning any fitness or nutrition plan.

The new year is right around the corner, and we all know what that means — New Year’s resolutions and a resolve to get healthier.

For many, that drive lasts only a month or two before they throw in the towel because the initial weight loss ( mostly water weight in the beginning ) that they experience slows down. This can be hard to deal with for many people, as they hang all their hopes on seeing a lower number on the scale every time they step on it. Sometimes that number goes up no matter what you do, and it doesn’t mean you’ve been derailed or gone backwards if you have been faithful and consistent to your diet plan. There’s often a rather simple explanation for it, but finding the actual reason is impossible unless you keep track of your habits. What you eat, when you eat, how much water you drink, even how much quality sleep you get can all play a part.

Our bodies are always changing. We carry around the weight of everything we consume and that reflects on the scale. Sure, weighing in the morning before you’ve had anything to drink is naturally the best play to get the most accurate reading day-to-day, but it can be rather damaging to one’s motivation if it goes against you suddenly. And it will. Often.

My advice? Weigh yourself less often and start with a plan that is well-informed for your specific needs.

So what do you do to track your progress, then? The proliferation of smartphone technology allows us to take photos at any time for any reason, or no reason at all. An instant snapshot in time that we can compile as evidence for a health plan that is working, as well as one that is not. The changes will not only be visible, but you’ll feel different, in a good way.

Now that we’ve got a plan on how to track our progress, how do we begin? Well, talk to your doctor first before beginning any fitness routine or dietary change, and see how any medications you’re taking might affect your results.

As far as beginning to build a plan, the best information to start with, in my opinion, is knowing your Total Daily Energy Expenditure. Learn what your body requires to maintain its current state in a sedentary lifestyle, and chop 500 calories off of that to start. Add in a walk or two and incrementally increase the amount to 10,000 steps a day. This is the most basic, rudimentary plan and is merely meant to get you rolling.

Small changes should follow 1-2 weeks after you begin. Start really honing in on what you’re eating, and eliminate beverage calories as much as possible ( protein shakes are Meal Replacements, not a traditional beverage ) since these can drastically mislead us on our caloric intake.

Macronutrients is a term you’ll hear tossed around, and that just has to do with the big three: protein, carbs, and fat. I think this is another thing that sort of gets skewed a bit. You’ll run into the IIFYM ( If It Fits Your Macros ) crowd, and the crowd that believes if you’re not eating food from the Garden of Eden that hasn’t been tampered and likely costs more than normal groceries would for each meal, then you’re going to be fat and sick your whole life. I’m somewhere in the middle, on that debate. Drive has to give way to pragmatism at some point.

I’ve looked at innumerable articles, YouTube videos, etc. trying to piece together things that work for me, and what I found is that you can very easily wander into the wrong channel and get the wrong advice for your goals.

First: Protein. 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight you would have at your goal weight is the metric I think works best. Anyone telling you to eat 1 gram of protein per pound of your current bodyweight when you’re seeking to lose weight is steering you wrong. And if you’re following that plan and you’re morbidly obese, good luck eating 15 chicken breasts a day.

The next step is your tolerance for carbs. For me, I can live without them, begrudgingly enough. It sucks, because carbs are tasty. And you’ll find that your gut is your worst enemy for the first week or so after you’ve sworn off excess carbs because your body will be screaming at you to eat, even though you already have, because you didn’t feed its carb addiction. Power through those cravings and eventually those hunger pains will subside, as well.

The final part to consider is your fat intake. Don’t believe the hype of yesteryear stating that fat is the enemy, it’s quite the opposite. More than that, it’s essential. Especially if you’re on a keto diet, but just in general since fats help us absorb vitamins — the fat-soluble ones, anyway, such as vitamins A and D. Water-soluble vitamins are absorbed by the body on an as-needed basis. The rest is cleansed from the body through urine. B and C Vitamins are examples of water-soluble vitamins.

Speaking of those, vitamins and minerals are referred to as micronutrients. You might have to rely on supplementation to get the right amounts of these. Consider a trip to a nutritionist or dietitian to nail down ways to get these that might fit your needs and budget. Otherwise, again, supplements are your friend. It’s right there in the name: they supplement your diet.

Get yourself an eating plan that balances all these things, and an exercise regimen that works toward your goals, and stick with it. The progress will become addicting and works as its own motivator. And again — do not derail yourself obsessing over a number on a scale. Take progress photos and compare them as you go.

Whatever your goals and plans may be, my most important advice is this: when you don’t feel like hitting the gym and you just want to sprawl out and watch movies while eating junk food, that’s when you need to be in there working harder than ever. Overcoming challenges like that makes us better, and makes it less likely to run into cravings like that again if they’re defeated handily. After all, the human reward system works best when overcoming challenges, not placating our whims.

Staying faithful and consistent with healthy eating habits and exercise is the only way you’re going to get that weight off, and the battle doesn’t end there. Once you win, you have to keep fighting to maintain that victory. And don’t give in to the hype of fitness gimmicks, there is no magic pill, powder, or elixir. Believe me — I’ve looked for it.

I did speak on the importance of supplements but you need to become an expert at reading nutrition labels before you go buying them. Certain protein powders and such can contain ingredients like creatine already. Creatine on its own in proper doses is not harmful, but if you’re supplementing heavily with a creatine-infused protein powder to meet your daily needs, then you may have to examine how much creatine you’re taking in in one sitting.

Supplements, as well as gimmicky exercise equipment and diets, are where you will find the most charlatans looking to take your hard-earned money for the fleeting promise of a better, healthier body. I’m not saying everything out there isn’t legitimate, but you’d be hard-pressed to find the diamonds among the dirt, in that case.

One way to find out whether someone might be leading you astray or not on the promises of their product or service is to see whether they promise that you won’t have to diet or exercise in order to lose weight. These two things are integral, not only for achieving your fitness goals, but for a healthy life.

And to any charlatans out there who may be reading this that are currently running a fitness scam: eat a bag of dicks. No one loves you and you won’t be missed after you’re gone. Do us all a favor and arrange to be cremated when you die, and have the crematorium tell me in advance so I can come watch you burn.

There is no substitute for consistency and hard work, and don’t let any charlatan fitness product hawker or fat acceptance psychopath tell you otherwise.