Everyone has dreams and visions for their life. Few people have plans, and even fewer people have a day they start and commit to the journey.
If you have a dream for you health....LIVE IT! Start today.
This article is going to tell you what to do to reach your goal of health and weight loss. The best thing I can give you is a list of things to do today to ensure your body changes tomorrow. It's the tips I give to my clients when they start.
Remember January 1st? Was your New Year Resolution to be healthier this year or lose some weight? Why did you make the resolution?
My top three reasons to workout:
1) Look good naked
2) Don't die as early -- barring a crazy accident
3) Do cool things -- Climb hills to Temple's in Thailand (Thank you Contiki tours for the memories)
When I don't feel like making a healthy choice, one of these will get me through.
Answer those questions, decide your reasons and now add to it the fact that summer and bathing suits are around the corner. Find the motivation to get healthy. Being fit let's you experience the world, and make the best memories. I'd love if it was simply because you value a healthy life, but I realize sex sells.
What ever motivates you, here is your list to get results starting right now.
1) Buy a scale -- Not for you, for your food. It's refined, it's pre-cooked, and it's void of any nutrients. We eat way to much of it. When most people decide to get fit, they buy "health food." Great! But it has calories just the same as "junk food." You actually need to look at serving sizes, even on healthy food, and measure out how much a serving is. Try to eat three meals that are about 450-500 calories, and one snack that's half that. That's going to give you 1500-1800 calories. Yes the ideal is to eat six times in a day...but we are starting out here. Let's just get eating proper serving sizes of healthy food. When I welcome my clients, I send them a website that has a full menu planner. It has meals, shopping lists and recipes. It makes the planning simple.
2) Make appointments -- Find a friend or a trainer and start by having a regular planned session with them. I realize professionals are cost prohibited. So use friends. Have check-in workouts. It will keep you honest. If you are going to be active five days a week, your body will change every two weeks. That means your trainer or friend will see the results, and it will set expectation. No results? How many workouts did you skip, and what bad nutrition habits crept in? Losing 1-2 lbs a week is sustainable until this health kick becomes a lifestyle. Set the appointment and don't break it.
3) Start by only trying things -- Week passes at gyms (try a few out, they are all different), 5-10 classes (Yoga, Spin, Kickboxing), rent equipment. Make your next few weeks the time you spend trying to find fun! You don't need the gym to get fit. You are committed to you, not a trainer, gym, or product. As you actually start to love something and fit it in to daily life, Commit! REMEMBER: Fitness isn't going to the gym. You can get healthy, and lose weight being active. Going to the gym is the best way to create muscle and definition. The gym is for getting "pretty" not necessarily to be healthy. You can do healthy outside, or anywhere you can move!
4) Write everything down -- Get a journal and start writing. It will keep you honest. It's the reason I get people to blog and use social media. If it's public, people hold you accountable. You don't need to be "that person" that updates every five minutes. But posting two or three times a week, really does a lot for keeping you motivated. It also can make a little side money. It's what I do with my clients who blog for me at One Fit City.
5) Start slow -- Do something today that makes you sweat. Add in an easy workout, or something active. Keep building over a few weeks. The problem with most people is they go to a bootcamp and can't walk the next day. In 48 hours, people go from excited to get healthy and do this to being sure there is no way they can survive the lifestyle. Avoid burn out at all cost. If today is the day you are deciding to get fit, go for a walk.
6) Most importantly, clean out your cupboards. No junk food -- throw it out. I'm amazed when I ask people to do this, how few can. Panic sets in, they can't "waste" food and the excuses set in. Prove to your mind you are in control. Throw out anything that isn't healthy or fresh. If it's processed, don't keep it around. This purge is a big deal. Those treats creep back in and ruin all your hard work. REMEMBER: You can not reverse bad, high calorie food choices with a workout. This is why people gain weight even when exercising.
Do a few simple things on the first day you decide it's time to start. Don't leave room for doubt. Take it one day at a time. Get your eating under control, add the simple things, make sure you keep the promise to yourself to be healthy.
This is it! This is your time to fix your health and live with energy and confidence.
