We begin 2012 with the best intentions, excited with possibilities, hope and aspirations and we want to make sure that you aren’t including any of these five worst resolutions in your daily plan. Here are a few resolutions to avoid and some great e84 tips to help keep you on target!

1. Banning all 'bad' foods

If the diet you’re following bans all your favorite foods (chocolate, cheese, ice cream, chips…) you will feel deprived. You might last a couple of weeks, feeling more and more bored with the monotony of your regime — but then you’ll crack. And when you do give in, you end up stuffing yourself with those forbidden foods to make up for days of self-denial.

e84 Tip – Our products are healthy for you and they taste great! Almost like you’re “cheating” – they certainly won’t leave you feeling deprived!

2. Cutting out meals to save calories

Nutritionists agree that skipping meals can have a negative impact on your metabolism. What happens is that your body might start storing extra fat in anticipation of more missed meals. Instead of eating less, consume small, nutrient-dense snacks and meals more often – every three hours is ideal – and try not to eat after seven o’clock at night when your metabolism is at its slowest.

Eating often also makes it easier to stay on track because denying yourself food isn’t a sustainable practice.   According to  nutritionist Aviv Allen “The biggest mistake is to think of your diet as a temporary event to reach a specific weight-loss goal,” says Allen. “If you plan to return to your old habits once you’ve reached your goal, the weight will quickly return.”

e84 Tip – One of our main goals with the e84 Challenge is to help people make small daily changes in their lifestyle habits so new healthy habits become your “new” evolv’d way of living.  The Evolv shake is nutrient dense, high in fiber, and also contains that added benefit of Cha de Bugre to help with satiety and appetite suppression.  Evolv Thin and Evolv Energy are great healthy options to choose when you are tempted to reach for a high calorie, low nutrient value snack.

3. Committing to the same fitness routine every day

No matter how good the fitness plan, sticking with the exact same routine day after day is hard—and discouraging. Hollywood trainer Harley Pastnernak recommends a different workout for every day of the week, each focusing on a different body part. Whether you vary the number of reps you do, or make a switch from cardio to resistance training, it’s important to vary your routine enough so you don’t get bored. “At least one thing should be different daily,” Pasternak suggests.

e84 Tip – The Evolv Exersciz program is personally designed to address this exact statement. You have the best personalized exercise program at your fingertips. Be sure to take advantage of it!

4. Resolving to follow the latest fad diet

Fad diets, or diets that require you to purchase special food or plans that require you to cut out certain food groups altogether, often end up with you right back where you started on the scale. “Stop yo-yo dieting, because eventually your metabolism will conk out from all the up and down and it will be harder to lose weight,” says Joey Shulman, a registered nutritionist. Instead, choose a diet program that works for your lifestyle and work the best parts of it into your routine—even after you’ve lost the weight.

e84 Tip – The e84 Challenge is not a fad diet. It’s a way of life and exactly why we’ve developed the three levels. Once you’ve lost the weight on our Burn Challenge we want to make sure you maintain those new healthier lifestyle habits and the Fuel and Edge programs are perfect to do exactly that. Our e84 Challenge is so easy to integrate into your life helping you to develop healthier lifestyle habits in just 84 days.

5. Eliminating carbs from your diet

Cutting out food groups means you might be missing out on nutrients you need to lose weight and stay healthy. “Avoid cutting out important food groups such as carbohydrates, for example,” says registered nutritionist Aviva Allen. “Complex carbohydrates such as whole grains, legumes, and vegetables are important sources of fiber, which is essential for keeping us regular and removing excess cholesterol, fat, and toxins from our bodies.”

e84 Tip – The Evolv Shake is loaded with nutrients and has a balance of protein, fats and carbohydrates to meet your dietary needs.  It’s a great way to start your day!

The tips were taken from http://www.besthealthmag.ca/get-healthy/weight-loss/the-worst-weight-loss-resolutions

Getting fit and losing weight are two of the most common New Year’s resolutions. We are all well aware that diet and exercise play a fundamental role in achieving those goals. Exercising, however, is one of those things that I hear many people talk about as something they “don’t like to do.” In a way, it reminds me of Newton’s First Law of Motion: a body at rest will stay at rest—and likewise a body in motion will stay in motion—unless acted on by an outside force. This is the way scientists talk about inertia, but in everyday life, we experience inertia in that we seem to like to keep on doing what we are already doing, whether we are at rest (couch potato) or in motion (fit and active). So according to physics, laziness leads to more laziness!

Okay, so enough with the physics lesson. How does this relate to exercise and New Year’s resolutions? I have used this analogy when I have faced the feeling of not wanting to work out, which is usually because I’m at rest and want to stay that way! But once I made the decision to exercise despite that feeling, it was always easier to keep moving, because then inertia was working FOR me rather than against me. After that, our biology supports us by releasing “feel good” hormones to reward us and keep us going. So in this situation, one of the hardest parts is the very first step of getting yourself off the couch or away from your desk to transition out of couch potato inertia and into fit and lively inertia! Taking that first step is really the most important one, because after that, you will see how much easier it is to keep on going with your chosen workout program.

Another important aspect of why people don’t like to exercise is related to intensity, when people mistakenly think "more is better" right from the get-go. The problem with that way of thinking is that, if you put that kind of pressure on yourself, you are unlikely to enjoy your workouts, especially if you’re just getting started. With the e84 Challenge, we want you to succeed by actually taking pleasure in getting your body moving! Take a moment and read through what the experts at Evolv Exersciz have to say about exercise intensity as it pertains to fat loss.

How hard you work has an impact on the results that you get from your exercise program. If you watch the infomercials and popular TV programs or hire a personal trainer you are often left with the idea that the only way to exercise is all out. How hard you need to work depends on who you are and what you hope to accomplish with your exercise program.
When you are trying to lose weight how hard you work does not seem to have an impact on how much fat you use over the course of the day. A study in the International Journal of Obesity looked at the effects of high or low intensity exercise on fat use over a 24 hour period. The low intensity, easy, exercise used more fat during the exercise session but less fat after the session. The high intensity, hard, exercise did not use as much fat during the exercise session as the easy exercise but caused the participants to burn more fat after the session was done. When total fat use was calculated over the 24 hours there was no difference between the hard and easy exercise.
While how hard you exercise does not appear to play a role in the amount of fat that you burn, it does have an effect on how much enjoyment you get from your exercise session and whether you will stick with it in the long run or not. A study done at Iowa State University looked at the effect or how hard people exercise and the impact it had on the enjoyment of the exercise session. The researchers found that when people were allowed to choose their own exercise intensity they picked an intensity that felt good for them and they enjoyed their exercise sessions. When the same people were told how hard to exercise even an intensity that was only 10% more than they chose significantly decreased their enjoyment of the exercise session.

Exercise plays an important role in a weight management program but only if you stick with it and make it part of your regular routine. Most people are willing to put up with some discomfort for a short period of time if it will help them reach a goal but choosing an exercise intensity that allows you to enjoy the sessions will keep you motivated to keep going and make regular exercise part of your life.

REFERENCES

WHM Saris and P Schrauwen. Substrate oxidation differences between high- and low-intensity exercise are compensated over 24 hours in obese men. International Journal of Obesity (2004) 28, 759-765

P. Ekkekakis and E. Lind. Exercise does not feel the same when you are overweight: the impact of self-selected and imposed intensity on affect and exertion.  International Journal of Obesity (2006) 30, 652-660

Nancy Birchell - e84 FUEL

"The e84 challenge has been amazing. I love the fact that it's delicious and so easy to do. In todays fast paced world it has to be simple and it has to get results quickly. e84 hit both of those points right on the button. My energy is through the rough and when you feel good it shows in all aspects of your life. With the added energy I'm running and getting involved in workout groups which I never would've done before. My kids are even amazed and how hard I can work out now and not be drained afterward. My weight has dropped even more and more importantly the inches just keep coming off. As a women buying small jeans is an awesome feeling!!"

Sharon Hayward - e84 BURN

What I wish I could provide is take a before and after of my mental and emotional changes over these last two challenges. Never before in my life have I felt so in control of my choices, direction, future - everything!!! I feel like my first challenge gave me the courage to take a running start and now I'm just flying down the road. I recently met with a friend in Denver and its been six months since we got together. She told me she couldn't believe the change in me - not just physically with my weight loss, but my transformation. She said I now "glow." I feel it!"

Heather McSorley

Listen to Heather's e84 Challenge Success story here!

Tyler Prince

Listen to Tyler's e84 Challenge Success story here!

Wendie Pett

Listen to the special Evolv'd Living Call with fitness expert Wendie Pett here!