Building a Healthier You

Here a few fitness tips to help you get on track and stay on track:

1. Ask yourself “why do I want to get in shape?” What is your reason for getting in shape? What or who is your inspiration and motivation? Make a vision board of photos, motivational statements, vacation destinations, loved ones, a new outfit, etc., to help you stay focused on reaching your goals.

2. Create goals that are simple, measurable & realistic. Start with small goals first rather than jumping right in with both feet. For example, pick one thing you can cut out (sugar, pop, processed foods, cigarettes, alcohol, fried foods, etc.) and pick one thing you can add in (vegetables, water, whole grains, etc.) to your diet each week or once a month. Or, commit to going to the gym, or doing a yoga video 3 times a week at home if you can’t get out of the house. For some, it might not be realistic to cut out all bad food choices at once, or commit to going to the gym everyday, so start small. Be realistic, choose something you know you can and will do.

3. Find a good plan that you would enjoy & that fits your schedule. It’s probably not a good idea to join a gym to attend their 5am cycling class if you are not a morning person and just can’t get up. You are wasting money and remember what I said in point 2 about goals being realistic? Find something that is going to work for you. Maybe you have a gym at your place of employment and you can use 30 minutes of your 1-hour lunch to workout. Maybe you enjoy jogging and you have a neighbor that likes to jog too, commit to jogging together either in the morning or in the evening which ever fits into your schedules.

4. Partner up for accountability. 
Having someone to work out with makes a big difference. You will have times that it gets difficult to stay on track, but having someone to keep you accountable will help you keep going. If you don’t have a partner, or the means to work with a personal trainer you can always check out my “Get Fit with Ris” page on Facebook, I am always posting stuff there about exercise, good nutrition, and lots of great motivational pictures and videos to keep you motivated. Check it out even if you do have a partner, the more you have to keep you motivated the more successful you will be!

5. Make fitness fun.
 There are many different ways to get in shape. Find one that you enjoy and you will have a better chance of making this a lifestyle change. Fitness doesn’t have to happen in a gym. Look around your neighborhood, or your home. As you walk through your local park a bench makes a great place to do step ups or box jumps, push ups, tricep dips, and sit ups. You can change up an ordinary walk or jog by incorporating bursts of sprints, or walking lunges, burpees or jumping jacks. Head over to your local school and run the bleachers at the track. You do not need much, you just need to get started and stay committed.

6. Schedule your workouts. Your workouts should be just as important as anything else you do during the day such as going to work, attending a meeting, or going to school. Make time during your day to get in at least 20 minutes of heart pumping activity.

7. Walk before you run.
Take this process one step at a time. You want to set attainable goals so you stay motivated as you go and don’t get discouraged. Maybe you will start by taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or parking further away from the door. It’s never a bad idea to check with your doctor before beginning any type of exercise program, especially if you are new to it.  

9. Have a balance of Cardio, Strength, & Flexibility. You need 20 minutes of cycling, jump roping, rowing, or running to increase your heart rate. I’m not talking 20 minutes while you have a conversation (you shouldn’t be able to have a conversation) you should be “breathless”. You will want to include some strength training exercises which are very important for building lean muscle mass and aids in burning more calories when your body is at rest (yep, you read that right). Make sure you include yoga or some regular stretching during the week to increase and maintain your flexibility.

10. Keep a Journal. Journaling is proven to help individuals stay on track. Writing down your meals, beverages, snacks and workouts is a great way to identify patterns, both good and bad. Make sure to write down the time, the quantity, the meal/snack, and what you were doing at the time. Here is what an entry may look like: 7:00am - ¼ cup cooked steel cut oatmeal with ½ cup skim milk, ½ banana, 2 eggs scrambled with 1 cup baby spinach and ½ cup mushrooms,1 cup black coffee. Reading the newspaper. The reason we look for the “activity” is to determine if you have a habit of eating while watching tv (people tend to eat more, especially during action movies), sometimes you will recognize eating patterns that result simply from boredom, etc. These are habits you will want to address, or replace with healthier options such as cut up vegetables instead of potato chips, for example.

11. Eat often and don’t skip meals. Forget the breakfast, lunch and dinner mentality. You should strive to eat 5-6 or 6-7 small meals a day about 3 hours apart. My favorite is to think “meal-salad-meal-salad-meal-salad”. Staying within your portion sizes is important too. It is not necessary to “supersize” anything.

12. Don’t weigh yourself. Everyone is concerned about quick weight-loss, weight-loss diets, and what the scale says. What we should be paying attention to is a reduction of body fat. The bathroom scale is only going to show you the earth’s gravitational pull. It will not tell you how much lean muscle mass you have and how much body fat you have. Pay attention to how your clothes fit, did you go down a belt loop or pant size? If you are working out and building muscle, remember that muscle weighs more than fat and you will not see that improvement reflected in the scale with a lower weight. So don’t be discouraged what the scale says and pay attention to how you feel and how your clothes fit. To reduce unnecessary body fat it is necessary to burn (through exercise) more calories than you consume.

Here are some other links you might find useful:

My Fitness Pal

Super Tracker Nutrition 

Get Fit! Be Fit! Stay Fit!