As the New Year creeps up on us, many are thinking of getting healthier in 2016. Many want to lose weight. Some are trying to decide if they can actually handle running a marathon, and a lot of men will be flooding my squat rack in the next two months with the goal of bulking up in the next year. However, what are you really missing to make all of your fitness dreams come true?

Before I start preaching from fitness pulpit, let me just say I am no dietician. I am not scientist. I’m not a trainer. I’m just a woman who used to be obese and hated fitness. I hated running. I hated sweating. I hated not eating all of the sugary food I thought I needed. I didn’t know anything about my own metabolism or caloric intake. I now shudder to think about all of the crap I was putting into my body.

This blog post isn’t about politics, but it is about current events, and let’s face it: tons of us have fitness goals for 2016. Let me give you the information I have learned in my own fitness/weight loss journey. I’m not satisfied with where I am, but 2016 will be the year I get to that 14% body fat that I’ve been chasing.

Before you run off to the grocery store to buy all of the “healthy” foods that are being marketed to you right now, read this article. In in, scientists and researchers have found that these “diet” foods are actually make you fat. They are being shoved at you, and you think they aren’t as filling or calorie dense, so many people are gorging themselves on too much of them. Not to mention “low fat” or “fat free” foods just aren’t good for you.

I’m a powerlifter. I try to feed my body for my sport. Most days I feel like eating is my job, and I actually intend to kick my food game up this year from about 3000 calories a day to almost 4000 calories a day because I want to build a little more muscle to burn more fat. Hear that? Muscle burns fat like crazy because it takes more calories to fuel bigger muscles.

Now, as a woman, I’m not trying to look like Arnold, but those toned women you see in fitness magazines aren’t getting that way from cardio alone. They lift, and they lift heavy. So, ladies, forget all you’ve heard about weight loss. You NEED to lift heavy. Those huge female bodybuilders you see aren’t doing it naturally. They are taking steroids. Women WILL NOT gain muscle like that. We will look toned and sexy – like the fitness models or elite athletes like Holly Holm.