Greetings Fitness Friends,
This year I celebrate my 20-year anniversary of being in the fitness industry. I’m blessed to have such a wonderful, fun, healthy, exciting, fulfilling career that allows me to work with so many amazing people.
I’ve seen many fads, trends, gimmicks, and diets over the years and I’m grateful for the knowledge I’ve gained about which concepts to follow and which one’s to leave behind as it relates to food and fitness.
Here are 5 things that I know work!
This is how YOU create your best body. Spoiler alert: these tips aren’t sexy, they aren’t anything you don’t already know, but when you do them—you’ll never have to diet again!
Small Changes Equal BIG Results. By making one small change at a time you’ll see big results because that small change becomes a new habit. People who continue to make simple changes such as grilled vs. fried, fruit vs. processed snack, adding an extra vegetable at each meal, walking around the block after dinner, parking at the furthest end of the parking lot, bowling vs. watching TV, will have more success over those who do extreme changes when it comes to reaching goals. Extreme diets or radical exercise regimens only last temporarily and so do their results! Remember the tortoise—slow and steady wins the race!
Movement is a Must!
It doesn’t matter how you move your body or which exercise method you choose, what matters is that you move your body on a daily basis. The typical American lifestyle is sedentary with little physical activity. As much as possible, get up and move! Every moment of activity counts, not just exercise. Walk a little more, take as many steps as you can, stand vs. sit, pace while on the phone, unload your grocery’s by taking in one bag at a time, take a class you love, meet friends for a bike ride or workout--not just for lunches and diners, stretch or move while watching the news or TV shows. You were built to move, so do it DAILY! I promise that if you at least get in 30 minutes daily, you can feel and look better within the first week of starting!
Focus on Health.
It’s a bit of an oxymoron, but as soon as you shift your focus off weight loss and onto health, your body can make amazing changes. The stress of losing weight always backfires, diets backfire, impatient action backfires and odds are you only end up with more weight to lose. Weight loss happens when your focus is on health and taking care of your body, not torturing or abusing it through restriction and punishment. Yes, it may take longer to reach your goal this way, but once you reach it, you can maintain it and feel great about how you look and feel.
Tracking Equals Results.
Education is priceless and knowledge is power right?! Recording your food teaches you so much about your habits, food intolerances, and is the key to losing and maintaining your best body. Logging can be different for everyone. Some people record every calorie, some just record their “difficult” meals or their challenges, some record how they feel after they eat. The point of logging is to teach you what you need to continue, or what you need to change so you can make choices that lead you to your goal. Knowledge from food logging give YOU the power to know exactly what to do next.
Results are Individual.
You are the only one who can make a permanent change to your body. The more you listen to your body, the less money, time and energy you waste on trying to follow the marketing fads that don’t provide long term results for the average person. You know what you need to do, have the motivation and make the time to do those things to improve your life. Know you’ll have off moments and struggles, but know you can overcome any obstacle regardless of your challenges. The mind is more powerful than the body, so use it to create your BEST body and life experience.
I enjoy watching people use these tips to change their body and life for the better. My life has been blessed by following these tips and I look forward to watching many of you create your best body! Here’s to another 20 years!