In the last week or so, we bet you've seen or heard the phrase "New Year, New You". In fact, you've probably more than once! And while it can start to feel a little like a cliche, there's a reason it's repeated so often.
The start of the year always gives a sense that we can make plans and achieve something special. We've got a fresh 12 months ahead of us to make a mark - on the world, on our lives, and on ourselves.
The difficulty is often the fact that New Year, at least for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, coincides with cold, dark, wet weather, which isn't exactly motivating!
So how can we make those "new year, new body" resolutions and manage to achieve them, when the weather outside just makes us want to curl up with a biscuit?
Start the right way
If you want to make changes, do it right. Don't start with crazy schedules you'll never keep up with, or crash diets that offer quick but unsustainable weight loss.
Make a plan that pushes you but is achievable - you can always add to it later once you've made progress, which is much more effective than being behind before you even start.
Part of making that plan achievable is understanding your body and what it can and can't do. Some people find it extremely difficult to lose weight from their hips, others hold onto it around the middle. If your body stubbornly clings to fat in certain areas, starving yourself or exercising to the point of injury isn't going to get you the results you're looking for.
Use the tools you have at your disposal
So what if you do have stubborn areas of fat that don't respond to diet or exercise? Does that mean you can't achieve the look you want? Not at all!
While you may be able to make peace with the way your body stores and shapes its weight, you don't have to. You can choose to selectively target those areas with a non-surgical aesthetic treatment, designed to tone and sculpt your body.
CoolSculpting is perfect for people looking for a way to tackle stubborn areas of fat that don't respond to diet and exercise - love handles, stomach fat, hips, thighs, even double chins, can be melted away.
It gives you the freedom to focus on the types of activity you enjoy, rather than trying so hard to tackle one specific area of the body. So if you'd rather lift weights because you enjoy it, run because it makes you feel alive, or do yoga because it centers you, you can do that without having to worry about whether it's helping achieve your dream body. And if you'd rather not do exercise at all, well, CoolSculpting allows you to get your body in shape regardless!
Plan well in advance
If CoolSculpting sounds like the perfect way to achieve your new year, new body goals, now is the time to get started. Not only because new year is the ideal time to start such things, but also because of the way the treatment works.
Unlike something invasive like liposuction, CoolSculpting doesn't "suck out" the fat. Instead, it selectively freezes your fat cells, using technology developed by Harvard scientists. Once the fat cells are frozen, they die and are eliminated by your body. That process takes a little time - the treatment itself only takes around an hour (per area you want to treat), but your body needs time to get rid of those useless cells afterwards.
After a few weeks, you'll start to see results, and most of the effects will be obvious within a couple of months. But your body continues to flush out the fat cells for up to 6 months. So if you're thinking about a summer holiday with a bikini-ready body, now is the time to start treatment!
Tailor your plan
Following a diet or exercise plan isn't a one-size-fits-all proposition. For everyone who finds they feel healthier on a paleo or low--carb diet, there are others who will be miserable and tired eating the same things. Tailor your plan to your own body and understand the difference between male and female physiology - what works for one sex may not work for the other.
On the other hand, CoolSculpting is suitable for men and women. You may have different areas of the body that you want to treat, but the science works no matter what. Wherever your body stores fat, you can target it and freeze it away. And unlike a lot of diets or "inch loss" treatments, it doesn't get rid of water retention, making you look and feel slimmer for a very short while, it gets rid of the underlying cells that store that fat, leaving you with a long-lasting sleek and sculpted figure.
Review and refine
Just because you made a plan, doesn't mean it's set in stone. Maybe you planned to achieve everything through diet alone, but you find it's not working and want to add exercise or aesthetic treatments to support you. Maybe you tried CoolSculpting on a particularly difficult area of your body and now want to tackle other problem areas using the same approach. Maybe running isn't for you and you want to take up a team sport instead.
Don't feel like change is failure - not everything works for everyone, so if you want to succeed at your resolutions, allow yourself the freedom to adapt your plans.