The Thinking Lifter Blog by Philip Stefanov

Strength training for fat loss is a controversial topic. Lots of people out there believe that lifting weights is only useful if your goal is to build muscle and gain strength. And if you don’t want to be ‘big’ and ‘bulky’ you’d be much better off doing cardio instead.

To be clear, cardio can help with fat loss, but using it as a stand-alone tool for the job won’t deliver desirable results.

Weight training, on the other hand, is much more useful for fat loss, even for individuals who aren’t interested in being muscular or ‘big,’ but only want to look good.

One critical factor influences our behaviors more than any other. It’s often left in the dark, but just as gravity keeps us planted on this blue planet, so does this power ultimately shape who we are.

That power is our environment design.

Up until a few years ago, if someone had asked me what separates those who succeed from those who fail, I’d have made some generic statement like, “Luck. Being at the right place at the right time.”

These days, I lean much more on the small daily actions and the environment we live and work in.

Would you look at that?

It’s the new year which means that a lot of people will be making their New Year’s resolutions and fitness goals in the next couple of weeks.

And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

What’s bad is that pretty much everyone will give up by the end of January and revert to their old behaviors.

This got me thinking: “I was once there myself. Hopelessly making New Year’s resolutions and enthusiastically embarking on yet another weight loss journey… for about three weeks. Why not put together some of the lessons I’ve learned along the way and share them?”

And thus, this article was born.

In no particular order, here are the 24 best tips that will help you make lasting changes in your habits and achieve your fitness goals.