Make Your New Year’s Resolution Stick

The holidays come at you fast: One moment you're planning your Thanksgiving drinking schedule, the next you're standing in line waiting to cash in all those Christmas gift cards (because nothing says intimacy like $25 worth of Starbucks). Then it's New Year's, and you're facing another 12 months of empty promises and emptier calories. The key to successful resolutions? Getting a jump on them before the ball drops. Here, a few tips to make the most of your fitness resolutions.

1. Don't Deny Yourself During the Holidays--but Let's Not Get Cray

One of the great joys of the holidays is guilt-free eating. If you're one for counting calories every day of the year, Thanksgiving is your Christmas. Even if you're not a strict dieter, we all tend to let loose more during the holidays. But Thanksgiving is just one day, not the entire month of November... and December... and the first weeks of January. If turkey isn't the only thing you want stuffed, you should confine your bingeing to only a few days rather than making it your default state for the final months of the year. Then you'll be one step ahead in ensuring success once the new year starts.

2. #GOALS

There's a reason gyms offer sales, specials, and deals as soon as January 1 hits. Human beings love a fresh start, but what can easily be a fad can also be a real moment to commit to change, so goal-setting--whether it's losing weight, building muscle, finishing a marathon, or entering a bodybuilding competition--is crucial to realizing that change. Some would say it's best to set realistic goals, but if Liza Minnelli taught me anything, it's that "reality is something you rise above." Reach for the stars, kids--just give yourself enough time to reach them.

3. Change You Can Believe In

Completely overhauling your life seems like a gargantuan and (if we're being honest) real pain-in-the-ass task, but if you look at fitness as a lifestyle and not simply an inconvenience, change isn't that hard after all. By starting small--replacing soda with water, walking instead of driving, choosing healthier snacks--you can slowly build up your changes until they've spread, Zika-like, to all areas of your life.

4. Track Your Progress
Gym selfies are not only shorthand for letting people know you're the worst; they also help you stay positive and motivated. It's easy to forget or ignore the progress you make day to day since you're there in the trenches, fighting the good fight, squatting the good squat, but taking update photos every few days allows you to see how far you've come in the past week or month, or since January 1.

5. Don't Go It Alone

Speaking of motivation, being your own cheerleader is hard. Who's going to spot you on your layouts? But if you have friends who have resolutions of their own, you can motivate each other, thus making it easier for everyone to stay on track. Remember: A good workout partner is like a good sex partner-- hard to find, easy to spot, and prone to heavy sweating.

6. Get Passionate

Passion is the key to not only achieving a great orgasm but also to realizing your resolutions. Getting as worked up about your fitness as you do about not going home after last call will keep you from blowing your workout wad...as it were.

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