If you eat deliciously, it’s zero calories

The Most Realistic Way for You to Start a New Year’s Resolution on Dieting

# 8 Proven Ways for a Successful Diet

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There is a very famous Korean phrase:

“If you eat deliciously, it’s zero calories” — by some Genius

This phrase is frequently used to lessen our guilt of eating something so sinful like “Korean Fried Chicken [Crispy outside and tender and juicy inside]” with ice cold beer [We call this ‘Chimaek’ in Korea]. It’s sinful… and yet so tasty and feels like all the stress you were having is suddenly gone, at least while you are having it. (Sorry to readers who may be reading this at night and happen to be hungry)

The year 2024, which is the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac, is about to begin. At the beginning of the year, these are the months when Gym and Fitness club owners are crying out for joy! It will be the peak period for gyms. All the like-minded people gather up to change their lifestyle and life, with a great passion that’s on fire, burning all the oils.

Many people (including myself, of course) will probably be setting the same resolution we set last year; “To lose weight, lose belly fat, and start exercising regularly.”

I have set this goal N number of times, and I believe it would be life’s mission for all the ladies just like “Like a monk practicing attaining Nirvana”.

But dieting shouldn’t be as difficult as attaining Nirvana if we build great habits and utilize the tips I am going to share in this article!

Why the Gym Always Wins and You Always Lose (Is the Gym the New Casino?)

Before I share the proven ways of dieting, I would like to share why many of us would have failed to do the diet in the past.

Behold! I am about to share some astonishing statistics that will blow your mind.

Top Gym Membership Statistics

1. 12% of gym members sign up in January, making it the busiest month for the gym.¹ This is where our New Year’s resolutions step in.
2. The average monthly cost of a gym membership is $58.¹
3. 67% of gym members never actually use their membership.¹ This is quite surprising considering point number 2, it is quite costly to not even lay your foot in the gym.
4. 50% of all new gym members quit within the first 6 months.¹ By 6 months from the new year, this is the point where our motivation runs out.
5. 30% of gym members use a personal trainer.¹ This is the fee on top of a gym membership, and it can be even more expensive; sometimes costing more than 100~300 dollars per hour for some experienced trainers.
6. The average gym attrition rate (the rate at which members stop their memberships) is around 30%.¹ Many people won’t be willing to continue to sign up, realizing that they are just donating money to the gym. Of course, there are other factors like recession.

Below is a chart highlighting the trend of new gym members coming in every month. You can see the trend of joining in January and it only lasts for 1 or 2 months before the joining rate drastically reduces.

Conspiracy Happening Behind the Gym

So, this is how the gym earns its money.

You are motivated to lose weight and get into consultation with a pretty & hot lady trainer or handsome & fit male trainer, promising you with sweet words that you will be losing your weight in just a few months and there are a lot of perks if you sign up now. What’s more crazy is that they offer crazy discounts for longer terms like 1 year or 2 years etc. What they are saying is true and they are not lying about their promotions and discounts even the fact that you are going to lose weight is not a lie; given that you built a habit of going gym and being consistent with workouts for a few months or years.

Once you have signed up for the gym, it’s none of the trainer’s business whether you show up or not, unless you have signed up for personal training. Having a personal trainer won’t guarantee your diet as well since they can’t monitor and control your day-to-day eating habits and check out on you throughout the day.

Let’s assume there is a gym that can hold a maximum of 100 people. It is okay for them to sign up for 1-year membership for 200 people. Why would it be so? It’s because they know that many of you will even enter the gym a few times, and it’s proven in above stats I shared earlier.

Wake-up Call for Your Action

Despite all the facts that we have learned and conspiracy about gyms, now we should check out, how can we beat the statistics and go to the gym consistently. How can we make our diet easier? I am going to share the most realistic and achievable thing that you can do in the coming year.

The only thing you need to do is to build a healthy and sustainable habit loop. All the below steps are to build your habit loop!

1. Build out Your Implementation Strategy

First, build out your implementation strategy

“I will go jogging at 7 pm after my work around the park near my house.”

“I will go to work out at 6 am every Monday and Wednesday in the gym.”

Notice that this has to be structured like this:

I will [behavior you will do] at [specific time] in [specific location]. It has to be specific to make your mind clear on the goal and actions to be taken.

Not like “I will work out on some days I feel like it at a nearby location”. Do you feel the difference in clarity and willpower?

2. Set Your Environment Easy for You to Continue the Habit

2.1. Create Your Home Gym

Take out your dumbbell, weights, yoga mattress, and all the equipment from your garage and put them in the living room where you always pass by.

Print some inspirational photos of someone from the internet and post them in your living room or put a wall screen on your mobile phone. Also, you can put it on to your fridge to remind you not to choose the junk food. Print out your vision to visualize it and put it near your home gym environment.

I did Photoshop of myself (Apologies for the poor Photoshop!) and put it on my mobile screen and closet so that I could see it as many times as possible throughout the day and year. Also, whenever you see the future photo of “You”, you will feel motivated to do something that drives you closer to that goal.

2.2. Go to the Gym

Sorry for contradicting myself after sharing all the conspiracy of the gym but I did highlight that you will lose weight if you go to the gym and work out consistently. Duh, who doesn’t know that right? It’s a fundamental truth that the sky is blue, the water is wet, and the sun rises in the east.

But the gym is a great environment where you will meet motivated people like you, who have the same goal. You will get to meet gym buddies, and sometimes even better sign up for the gym with your friends or colleagues who can go together.

You will get motivated by people working hard to achieve great goals and will be more likely to work out harder than doing it alone at home. It’s a similar concept to going to the library if you want to read something and surround yourself with people who are studying or reading.

Talking about the environment, proximity to the gym is also the key here. If the gym is far from your house or your workplace, you will more likely not go there. Try to find the gym which you will never miss out on the way back home or way out from your work. Convenience is the key to building consistency and habit.

2.3. Clean up Your Fridge

The next thing you must do is to clean up your fridge. Throw away junk foods and fill the fridge with healthy yet tasty (I know it won’t taste as nice as fried foods or instant foods) foods and drinks.

If you want to avoid giving in to temptation and eating the food you’ve already bought, try placing it at the back of the fridge where it’s harder to reach. For example, put your Coke hidden in the corner and surround it with water and other healthy drinks. It’s some trick to make your environment easier for you to choose a better option.

3. Make the Small Victories Everyday

This is the part where every one of us fails to do. We often set goals like going to the gym 3 times a week which sounds reasonable to do. But we often forget that our willpower is not that strong yet and the habit loop is not yet built!

We must make it even more granular and smaller habit so that it seems too trivial to achieve. Yes, that’s right. Trivial yet meaningful victories will lead us to success!

Your goal should be something like this. Instead of hitting the gym 3 times per week, your trivial goal can be something like below:

“I will wear my running shoes and run for 1 minute right after my dinner.”

“I will do 1 squat whenever I am waiting for the elevator” (I know that if someone sees you doing it, they may think that you are a freak, that’s why you have to do it faster!)

“I will put on my shoes and present in the gym for 5 minutes”.

After achieving these small yet meaningful victories, it’s up to you to continue. Normally, people would do more than just 1 squat or 1 minute of jogging or spend more than 5 minutes in the Gym once they reach there.

Try it out for yourself and let me know the outcome in the comment whether you did more than what you have set!

4. Make it Attractive to Workout!

Do some of your favorite activities together with the workout. For example, you can try jogging while listening to your favorite songs. Also, reward yourself with tasty protein bars or protein shakes after the workout.

Some other applications for linking your favorite activity with a workout:

1. Yoga with Nature: Try to practice yoga daily in the garden or the park. Relaxation and deep thinking can be motivated by the natural environment.
2. Dance in the Living Room: Choose your best track, and enjoy an indoor dance party. It is the best way to improve your mood and body.
3. Bike Riding and Photography: Take a detour on your bike to stop and capture the breathtaking views you come across.
4. Hiking with a Podcast: One can enjoy the favorite audiobook or podcast during a nature walk. Exercising is proven to be beneficial as it enhances mood and learning while working out.
5. Cooking and Squats: Engage quads and hamstrings by performing leg lifts to make the most of this time!
6. Gardening as Exercise: Sow, weed, and water like you’re doing squats. If you want to do a creative exercise then planting, and outdoor work sounds nice.
7. Swimming and Sunbathing: Make your work out with a good relaxing time by the beach. After swimming for a few minutes, relax at your own pace.
8. TV Workout Challenges: Utilize the time between episodes and during commercials to do a few workouts like sit-ups, push-ups, etc.
9. Skating with Friends: Go out with your friends to skate or have a day outdoors. It is a workout that you have to do in the form of a social activity.
10. Walking Tours: To explore an unknown area, it is better to walk than drive. You’ll get exercise while sightseeing.

My favorite reward is to have a very hot sauna in the gym and take a cold shower afterward. It just feels amazing!

5. Make it Unattractive Not to Do It!

You can make a bet with your wife or your friend that if you don’t keep above small promise, you must pay them some money or buy your friend some treats. This makes not going to the gym or working out as promised as unattractive as possible.

Commit to your wife now. “I am going to pay $5 whenever you find me skipping the gym.” Let’s hope she doesn’t end up becoming a billionaire thanks to you, not keeping your promise.

6. Stay Away from People with Bad Habits

“You’re the average of the five people spend the most time with” — Jim Rohn

You should surround yourself with someone who has either achieved great workout habits or at least tried to build the habits.

If you surround yourself with friends who are not keen on building healthy fitness habits and healthy diets, they will always tempt you with words like

“What difference will be made, just skip the gym for one day, and let’s go to have beer and fried chicken. You already worked out a lot of last week right?”

You will be swayed by their words. Instead of pushing you towards your goal, these friends or colleagues ruin your habit loop. Maybe deep down inside, they don’t want you to change and stay at the same level as they are so that they will feel comfortable. But you know that if your goal is set higher, you should step up and make a decision.

7. Control Your Diet

Surprisingly, your diet control makes 70% of the results and your workout is 30% which will result in your outcome. We often see people who work out like Spartans but never lose weight, or rather bulk up in the wrong way.

As I shared earlier, my worst enemy was beer and fried food. Ice cold beer in the glass cup which was pre-frozen in the fridge. Amazing. What’s even more amazing is when you have it together with Korean Fried Chicken. But I know it’s fatal for the diet and health (causing gout, I heard it’s crazy painful). It also increases your belly fat which in turn increases your chances of diabetes and hypertension.

Warren Buffet once said,

“It’s good to learn from your mistakes. It’s better to learn from other people’s mistakes.”

You would casually see those people who are suffering from the above-highlighted diseases, and the main cause is their poor diet.

A consequence of building the wrong habit with short-term joy is pain that can last for a very long time.

Have a Cheat Day (For Your Sanity)

Keeping one day of the week as a cheat day has strikingly positive impacts on affecting your new eating habits. This entire day can act as a break to limit your food, and to reward yourself eat whatever you have been craving. An extra cheat day can avoid the feeling of pure stress due to dietary limitations on normal days.

It is important to make the journey of adopting a healthy lifestyle sustainable and enjoyable by maintaining discipline but also finding ways to enjoy yourself. But of course, don’t be a cheater every single day.

Remember: You are only allowed to have one cheating day per week, or bi-weekly if you can control yourself.

8. Reward and Praise Yourself for Every Small Step You Take

One should be motivated and cheer themselves on every step of the way during their fitness journey.

Every healthy meal, the extra time you spend working out, and every day visiting the gym are victories.

Treat yourself to good rewards could be watching a movie, buying some clothes, or eating something you enjoy. They help to keep you motivated and signify that each effort is one step closer to your goal.

Bringing It All Home

Before we go, let’s put everything in our memory again.

• Craft a Clear Plan: The person should set a definite aim about the goals they want to achieve and ideas regarding how to reach that goal.
• Optimize Your Space and Environment: Consider your house as a mini gym where you can feel motivated to exercise.
• Find Strength in Community: The gym can be another setting where your emotions and energy levels are improved providing support similar to a close friend.
• Nourish Wisely: It is said that for a healthy body, you need to keep loading your mind with positive memories just like the way you load your fridge with healthy foods.
• Celebrate Small Wins: You have to build a being out of small achievements; this will be the cornerstone of your healthy lifestyle.
• Blend Fun with Fitness: You should consider exercise as an extension of leisure, similar to adding a little sweetness to your coffee.
• Choose Your Circle Carefully: Be with the people who can make you a better version of yourself.
• Balance Diet and Exercise: Just like how a pair would dance with synchronization, let exercise and diet work in the same way for your body by providing adequate nutrition.
• Enjoy a Guilt-Free Treat: You can have some sweet resting time for yourself as an award. Indeed, because of your hard work and dedication you’ve proven.
• Reward Your Progress: As we appreciate an amazing performance, there should be some mini celebrations for every little success.

Wrapping it up

As the Year of the Dragon begins, remember the little changes you’ve made, and the lessons learned.

Getting healthy and fit is like a marathon, not a sprint.

With determination, a good plan, and self-care, the challenges are worth it. Here’s to a healthier, stronger, and happier you in 2024.

“Let’s keep moving forward, stay motivated, and cherish every moment of your journey for a healthy lifestyle!”

References

[1]: Tyler Spraul (2023) | Gym Membership Statistics in 2023 (Big List) | Exercise.com

[2]: Trafft Team (2021) | Gym Membership Statistics: The Most Interesting Ones to Know Of (trafft.com)

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