Photo Credit: Don Flood

Committed to helping people to be the best versions of themselves and live their happiest and healthiest lives, Jillian Michaels has dominated the health and wellness space in every realm of media – apps, podcasting, streaming, television, print, publishing, and social media with a collective community of over 100 million strong. And now, with her Jillian Michaels: The Fitness App — the top-rated diet and exercise app for women, which has won best-of awards from both Google and Apple — she’s targeting a whole new slew of fitness aficionados (which is particularly important during the pandemic, as health and fitness should be a top priority!). Now, we welcome Jillian to the Haute Living crew as our new Haute Beauty ambassador for health and wellness. For her first piece, the fitness guru shares five resolutions that will help you look and feel great within a month’s time. But first, a few words from Jillian herself!

Photo Credit: Jones Crow

New year’s resolutions have become of a cliché, right? Because we start em and then we stop em shortly after. Which really begs the question: Why are we stopping them? And the list of reasons is not long, but extremely valid. The goals are to extreme – like cutting something you love completely out of your diet. Or, maybe too costly – like going to a yoga class every day for a month. Possibly too inconvenient, like working out every day. Regardless of what your reason is, the key is to not allow for any when you choose your resolutions this year.

So, now that we know what not to do, what should you do? In my literal decades of experience on this topic, I have found for myself and the people who seek my expertise that simple, moderate, common sense goals – which make a big impact over time – work best. The following are 5 resolutions that will have you looking and feeling great within a month’s time – max!

Photo Credit: Don FloodSleep 7-8 hours a night.

This costs you nothing. It can be done anywhere. And the impact on your health is MASSIVE. Sleep impacts practically every aspect of our health from boosting our metabolism, to supporting our immune system, protecting our heart health, improving cognitive function, and the list goes on. Schedule your sleep like you would any other important engagement and make sure you get at least 7 hours of shut-eye a night.

Drink water every day till your pee looks like lemonade.

Hydration is another massive health catch-all like sleep. It helps   support all the aforementioned, from immunity to metabolism. Your skin will look better. Your energy levels will improve. And again… the list goes on. There is no set allowance on water as it’s relative to many factors (climate, activity level, biochemistry etc.), but the simple way to ensure you are hydrated is to drink water and eat water-packed fruits and vegetables until your pee looks like lemonade. If it looks like apple juice, drink more.

Create a 12-hour fast window between dinner and breakfast. 

If you can do a few more hours, that’s amazing. I personally can’t really get beyond 13. 14 is my absolute max. Up to 16 is perfectly fine, but it can cause overeating when you finally do eat, which is why I find the negatives to outweigh the positives. The benefit of this overnight fast is to cut out late night snacking – which can add up calorie-wise over time and equal anywhere from 5 to 10 pounds over the course of the year. Plus, when your body doesn’t need to focus on food digestion, it is essentially freed up to do housekeeping and focus on other bodily functions essential for optimizing overall health.

Move 7 minutes a day.

While I would love to have you training 4 times a week for 25 to 30 minutes with the most progressive techniques, this can seem overwhelming for people who don’t train regularly – to say the least. The reason I say 7 minutes a day is because research shows that people find 7 minutes to be “easy” and manageable. It’s a “gateway” workout of sorts. Over time it helps to build the habit of movement, increases the individuals level of fitness and confidence in their physical abilities, and gradually scales them into longer workouts with less chance of them “falling off the wagon”. For this reason, I created free daily 7 minute workouts on The Fitness App. You don’t need to sign up, pay anything, or become a member. They are totally free. No equipment needed. Try them, and if you don’t like them, that’s totally fine – simply commit to 7 minutes a day of movement and most likely it will help you build up to a regular common sense fitness regimen over time.

Stop drinking your calories.

This one can be a bit tougher, but it’s incredibly impactful and very simple to follow. You don’t need to count calories or put in work to figure this out. Plus, it saves you money. Quit drinking juice, soda, kombucha, calorie-laden tea and coffee. This will save you literally POUNDS of weight gain over the course of a year as well as a ton of cash. Drink flat water, sparkling water, unsweetened tea, unsweetened coffee (splash of milk is ok). Nothing else. As for alcohol, this is a bit of a different beast – but I recommend no more than a drink a day MAX. And if you are trying to lose weight, limit it to 4 drinks a week tops with no sugary mixers.

Photo Credit: Don Flood

About Jillian’s Fitness App: With personalized workout programs to meet any goal, satisfy any exercise preference, and suit any fitness level you can train at home, in the gym, or outside no equipment needed! Whether you’re looking for a gentle yoga class to connect with your body, a power-packed HIIT circuit, a 5K training program, pre and postnatal options, and much more, The Fitness App has you covered! New programs for 2021 include:

• Booty Band Body– Sculpt your legs, booty and abs with this 4 week total body tone up using booty bands for added resistance
• Kettlebell Burn– Boost metabolism, burn body fat, and increase power with this 30 day total body blast
• Slider Shred– Tone and condition your entire body in 30 days with this workout featuring slides to help boost mobility, agility and strength
•     Special Guest Workout – Popular trainer and self-care specialist Jaime McFaden offers two great audio workouts: 7 Day Walk Your Wayto Better and 7 Days of Simple Self Care