Commit to healthy lifestyle changes in the new year

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - As we rang in the new year and said goodbye to 2020, many people are looking to be the best versions of themselves in 2021.

Weight loss is the number one resolution each year, but not everyone sticks to it.

Weight loss might be on your list of New Year's resolutions this time around, but the owner of The Complex Fitness Training Facility, John Cook, has another name for the goal to hold yourself more accountable long-term.

"We look at it as not a resolution but as a commitment," Cook said. "Resolutions don't last long. They probably last 'til the middle of February."

The owner of the complex wants people to see the gym as a healthcare provider, just the same as going to the doctor when you are sick.

Obesity is very prevalent and can cause other major health concerns like diabetes or heart conditions, but a newcomer should ease hitting the gym.

"If somebody is 40 or 50 pounds overweight, they don't need to be doing deadlifts at 300 pounds," Cook explained. "First of all, they need to come in, they need to understand that their nutrition is probably more of a problem than their lack of exercise."

Nutrition, diet, sleep, and exercise are the key to a healthy lifestyle. Cook lists one key indicator of being overweight.

"I need you to be able to see your toes," Cook stated. "We'll worry about developing a six-pack ab after that."

40% of COVID deaths were diabetic; therefore, it is critical to take preventative measures now, but it's important to make it enjoyable.

"Exercise has to be fun or you're not going to do it," Cook said. "Food at the restaurant has to taste good or you're not going to eat it."

When exercising, you can burn carbohydrates to build muscle and lose fat which is how commitment can be achieved.

"So, it's nutrition, increasing cardiovascular endurance, and then at the same time, starting with resistance training because muscle is the source of energy burning," Cook stated.

Dr. Cook says it's important to know how to exercise right, and if you're not sweating, you're not working out hard enough.