How to Make Fitness a Priority - Day 9 New Year, New You

Many of us fail to make fitness a priority and wonder why results aren't happening. Do you fall into this category? If you want to make a change in your body and life, it will take evaluating the way you're living now.

Where do you see yourself:

1. Sedentary, not living a healthy lifestyle.
2. Sorta living a healthy lifestyle, but not really committed.
3. Living a healthy lifestyle.

Once you have determined your category, you will be able to move forward with positive changes. The goal for all of you would be living a healthy lifestyle. Understanding how to go from an unhealthy to a healthy lifestyle is an important step in the process. It will be one of the most significant decisions you will make for your life and health.

Fixing the Problem

The problem remains that fitness is not made a priority. Excuses or reasons still get in the way of making healthy choices. Instead of using reasons to validate living unhealthy, you will need to start evaluating your priorities to make healthy your lifestyle. 

Living a healthy lifestyle is the only way you will achieve the body you want and the quality life you desire. It does require time, effort, planning, and discipline. It is a commitment to loving yourself the best you can. The following guidelines will help you make fitness a priority and on your way to achieving results:

• Get out your calendar and review your current schedule.
• What is unnecessary? (be honest - overtime, social, tv, social media, etc) 
• Avoid filling up all your time with busy stuff. This includes good stuff (donating time, socializing, etc). Even too much of doing good can add stress to your life. 
• Remove things causing stress and not beneficial to your health.

Once you have removed all the clutter and reasons from your calendar, now you will have room to do the following:

• Schedule at least 3-5 workouts per week. (don't cancel this appointment)
• Maintain a healthy grocery list and pick the best time to go shopping.
• Plan one of your days off to meal prep/cook healthy for the week.
• Pack your cooler daily with healthy food for work.
• Plan quality quiet time for meditation, reflection, prayer 2-3 times/week (even 10 minutes is helpful)
• Spend more time outside and away from computer/social media.

Remember, creating healthy habits take time. Implementing these steps will be a progressive process but one of the most rewarding. 

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Be well and Stay Healthy

 

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Cleaning Up Your Nutrition For Results - Day 6 New Year, New You

Achieving fitness results the right way will require taking a look at your nutrition. Nutrition does play the largest role in getting fit and maintaining your health. Welcome to Day 6 of New Year, New You in 365 Days!

Eating right for results is not complicated as many believe. This has much to do with unnecessary fitness products and supplements being marketed as the only way to lose weight, get fit, and increase muscle size. Let's put these myths aside and take a simple look at what really is required nutritionally.

Food Journals:

It may be helpful to use a food journal for a short time until you have adopted how to eat right. Food journals are shown to keep you on track and enable you to repeat healthy weeks. This part may sound like a burden to start, but it really is quite simple. Forget about charting calories, grams, weighing food, etc for now and probably won't be necessary later. Keep your journal simple and you will enjoy the process of learning. As long as you're eating healthy throughout the day to support your body and physical activity is the goal. Your journal may look something like this:

• Water intake for the day: 2 quarts
• Meal 1: 1 slice seeded toast, 1/4 to 1/2 avocado, 1 boiled egg
• Meal 2: large greens and fruit blended shake  
• Meal 3: large green salad topped with grilled chicken breast, balsamic vinegar
• Meal 4: sliced apple with 2 tbsp peanut butter
• Meal 5: grilled salmon with lots of veggies
• Meal 6: yogurt topped with raw nuts

Dump the Junk Food

Eating right will require cleaning out the junk food. This is difficult especially if you struggle with tossing out food. If it helps, box it all up and donate to a food kitchen or church. You can do this!

Take a day and go through your refrigerator and pantry. Remove all processed, packaged, frozen dinners, pastries, white products, etc. Unhealthy food products contain a lot of trans fats, high-sodium, and chemicals you really don't want to be ingesting. A short list includes:

• sugary drinks, sodas, and some sport drinks
• white bread
• refined vegetable oils (corn, soybean, cottonseed, canola)
• margarine
• pastries, cakes, cookies
• boxed crackers and chips
• low-carb meals and bars
• yogurt high in sugar and chemicals
• processed gluten-free products
• ice cream, candy, candy bars, and some protein bars
• processed meats (salami, pastrami, deli meats, hot dogs, etc)
• processed cheese (American, cheese in a can, etc)

Eat Clean for Results, Fitness, and Health

Getting fit for life requires eating cleaner which is just another way of saying you are eating healthy. You have taken the steps to remove all processed foods from your house and now ready to replace those with real whole foods. 

Let's go shopping! The best way to stay on track at the grocery store is to first eat a healthy meal, and stick to your written list of items. Having healthy food at home will also reduce eating at restaurants and fast food chains. This keeps you in control of your food intake and is the goal of adopting a healthy lifestyle.

We all differ in nutritional likes and that is great because there is a wide-variety of nutrient-dense food for everyone. You will want to include all the macros in your nutrition which just means eating a balance of lean proteins, carbohydrates, and healthy fats. The following short list includes healthy selections from each category and also takes into consideration vegetarian/vegan preferences:

Proteins:

• B/S chicken and turkey breast
• Salmon, halibut, tilapia, albacore tuna
• Lean beef  (90% lean)
• Greek yogurt (natural, no sugar added)
• Cottage cheese
• Eggs
• Milk (2%), almond milk, coconut milk, low-fat chocolate milk
• Lentils, dried beans, navy beans, no to low-sodium canned beans
• Peanut butter (natural, no-sugar-added), almond butter
• Raw mixed nuts
• Tofu
• Edamame
• Quinoa

Carbohydrates:

• Vegetables (broccoli, peppers, squash, asparagus, etc) 
• Leafy greens (spinach, chard, kale, etc)
• Fruits (apples, berries, mango, cherries, etc)
• Legumes (lentils, chickpeas, peas, and beans)
• Quinoa, kamut, barley, buckwheat, flax meal
• Brown rice (white rice for some athletes)
• Whole wheat, whole grain bread
• Steel cut oats
• Sweet potatoes
• White and red potatoes (baked not fried)

Fats:

• Avocados
• Chickpeas (hummus)
• Walnuts, almonds, pistachios, cashews, pecans, etc (raw-unsalted, not roasted)
• Olive oil
• Salmon (Omega-3 fatty acids)
• Nut and seed butter (natural, no sugar added)
• Ground flaxseed or flax meal
• Chia seeds

You Can Do It!

Eating better is typically the biggest struggle with adopting a healthy lifestyle. I believe in keeping nutrition simple and fun. When eating right is enjoyable, you will repeat it for life. That is the goal working together over this year and I know you can do it! 

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Be well and Stay Healthy

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How to Set Realistic Fitness Goals - Day 4 New Year, New You

We are starting Day 4 discussing another very important part of achieving the body you want. How to set realistic fitness goals will be the start of a successful program and adopting a healthy lifestyle. It is essential to begin your journey of getting fit with a realistic mindset.

Many of us can jump too far ahead wanting instant results. Unrealistic expectations can derail how you feel about yourself and your fitness program. The goal is to avoid frustration and maintain staying positive and motivated.

So, let's slow this down and allow yourself to be a beginner. If you have reached your goals and fallen back into unhealthy habits, this is for you as well. Recovering from injury will also require being patient with you.

Fitness takes time and consistent effort. Achieving your goals is a life-long progressive program. We are always a work in progress. As we enter into working together for a full year, the following tips on how to set realistic fitness goals will be helpful:

• Allow yourself to be a beginner.
• Adopt the mindset of fitness is a life-long journey.
• Results don't happen fast so be patient with your progress.
• It's ok not to know everything at once.
• Start where you are and enjoy the process.
• Take one day at a time and avoid jumping too far ahead.
• Healthy weight loss is 1lb to no more than 3lbs per week.
• Muscle takes time to build, be patient.
• It will feel hard and that is normal, keep going.
• Maintain a fitness journal and repeat healthy weeks.
• Baby steps create big results.
• Avoid quick-fix diets and fitness gimmicks.
• Workout 3-5 days per week for at least 30 minutes. (this is doable)
• Drink more water, eliminate soda, decrease alcohol. (you can do it)
• Focus on today and making healthy choices.
• Don't expect to lose 20lbs in one week - stay realistic.
• Avoid comparing yourself to others.
• Each day you will become healthier, stronger, and better.
• Start by making 3 healthy changes per day and repeat until it's a habit.
• You can do it!

Watch the Day 1 video for motivation!

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New Year, New You in 365 Days - Day 2 - Mental Game

Hi Everyone,

I hope you enjoyed the video covering day 1 of the New Year, New You in 365 Days. No worries if you missed it. I will include it in this blog post and as a refresher.

For new followers motivated to adopt a healthy lifestyle the right way, so happy you're here. It will be helpful for you to read all about our year-long journey of health and fitness improvement.

As I shared in my introduction to the program, I will be covering several important components of getting fit. I will accomplish this goal using several media outlets including my Instagram, Facebook, and mostly here on my Blog. It will be beneficial for you to become a follower of each to not miss daily motivation.

Day 2 of the program - Mental Game

How is your mental game? Day 2 of the New Year, New You in 365 Days covers this very important part of your health and fitness. From beginner to seasoned athlete, we can be hard on ourselves, doubt our ability to succeed, and just feel unhappy about life. 

What you think and believe about yourself plays a large role in who you are and what you accomplish. The body really does achieve what the mind believes. Positivity is a choice and it requires a mental reset of unhealthy thought patterns. Self-bashing, negative thoughts and self-sabotage will need to be replaced with believing you CAN achieve success.

Changing your attitude and thoughts happen one day at a time. Each day you will love yourself more and eventually adopt a healthy mindset necessary for your life and health. The following tips will be helpful to improve your mental game:

• Believe in yourself.
• Choose to be positive.
• Avoid bashing yourself to you and others.
• See obstacles as learning/growing opportunities.
• Take one day at a time.
• Be proud of yourself.
• Celebrate small daily accomplishments.
• Don't feel guilty for eating off track occasionally (this is human not failing).
• Allow yourself to be a beginner.
• You're not being judged.
• You can do it!

Day 1 Video - Core Strength, Posture, and Water Intake

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