Well folks, it’s that time of the year again this year. A time when you can finally make those changes in your life that you’ve been putting of since the it became 2011 a little over a month ago. You had a month to live up to your new expectations and found that after two weeks, getting up at 6AM for a three mile jog and living off of multi-grain Cheerios just wasn’t the kind of 2011 you thought it would be. You want bratwurst. And sleep. Well, we here at Totalvid.com don’t blame you and, in fact, feel a little empathy. That’s why we’re glad that it’s that time of the year again this year! We all get another shot at starting off right.

Come February 3rd, the Chinese population around the world will be celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year (other Asian cultures such as the Vietnamese and Koreans also have similar celebrations by different names). The Year of the Rabbit will kick off with a 15 day celebration, culminating in the Lantern Celebration where festivities and parades and plenty of fireworks will be ringing throughout the many Chinese communities around the world.

In fact, the Chinese New Year celebration has gained in popularity in several other countries outside of the motherland, namely the U.S. which boasts several cities with very high concentrations of Chinese immigrant and Chinese-American populations. Simultaneously, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and the small community of Butte, Montana all claim to have the best Chinese New Year’s celebrations outside of China itself.

Needless to say, here in the west, people have been known to take the Chinese New Year to heart as another reason to celebrate the newness of the year. So why not another reason to reignite those quashed hopes and dreams of a happy, healthy, and exciting new year? Why not use this “second chance” to celebrate the fact that there ARE second chances? Start something new. Take on a new craft. Get back into getting back in shape. In honor of this cross-cultural holiday, we here at Totalvid.com are sponsoring your chance to go back and live up to those lofty resolutions you set at the end of 2010.*

So how come it didn’t work out the first time?

Well there’s probably a number of reasons. One might be weather-related. Since it’s the winter time, you might be less inclined to actually go outside and get exercise than you would if it were a beautiful spring day. Thus you spend your time trying to workout in your apartment or in the exercise room and find no motivation there to keep going. Another could be that the new year brought a bunch of new challenges in your career and you’re waiting until that calms down to get after your health. Or your lease is up and you’re too busy with the stress of moving to get in shape. Maybe you still have a ton of little chocolates and snacks still left over from the holidays that you’re still working through them, very slowly, one by one. It could be a number of things that are getting in the way of working out. Maybe it’s your last semester of school and you’re saying “All I have to do is get through four or five more months of this and then I’m gonna get in shape…”

Whatever the reason was, now is your time to make it right. You told yourself that you were going to do come January. Now January’s come and gone and nothing has changed. Make it right in the (Chinese) New Year and take your life back!

Our first suggestion here at Totalvid. com would be to join a group of people dedicated to getting fit and staying in shape.* Health and Science experts agree that doing an activity in groups greatly increases the chance that you will continue doing so. Maybe that’s why you couldn’t keep up your personal work out schedule: a lack of peer motivation. For instance, if you join a group class, you’re more likely to go and actually exercise than simply belonging to a gym on a membership. So join a class, take up a health hobby – heck,  start a new sport. Martial Arts is one of the greatest devices for life change out there. Sure you could pick up group softball, but ultimately that will lead to excessive beer consumption, and besides, it’s a rather sedentary sport to begin with. Learning the Martial Arts will teach you discipline (which is why you’re here in the first place, right? A lack thereof…), increase your physical strength and your aerobic prowess. Plus, you’ll be able to defend yourself, should the situation arise. Your “group of people dedicated to getting fit and staying in shape”? They’re right here at Totalvid.com. 

Totalvid.com is your source for health, fitness, martial arts, and MMA expertise and entertainment. You can literally become a 5th degree black belt just from being a member here at Totalvid.com. (Of course, we can’t certify you.) One of our martial arts instructors, Master Tabatabai (pronounced tah-bah-tah-bye-EE), lays out an entire martial arts class in 40 volumes!

Our fitness personalities, Amy Dixon, Jennifer Galardi, and Tracey Mallett (here is a link to the bios page) are some of the most sought after fitness instructors in the world, and their videos are streaming right here.

Not to mention that we have an endless array of pilates, boxing, yoga, bodybuilding, and aerobic exercise videos that offer anything from beginner to advanced workouts.

If you need a second chance to get in shape or make that change in your life, the time is now.  If you need somewhere to do it, look no further. The Totalvid.com Community awaits. Happy Chinese New Year!

TotalVid.com | Find Your Passion!

*Totalvid.com, itself is not an expert in fitness or health nor is the writer of this column, however we do offer thousands of streaming videos from people who are experts and know exactly how to get in shape and stay healthy. We suggest you seek advice from them.