The best way to Approach Your Fitness Goals
The New Year is here and while most of us want to make big efforts towards jump starting our fitness routine, we also need to be realistic with how we’re approaching our fitness goals. My main advice to everyone starting out this year is to avoid the extreme measures and crash diets! My approach to fitness has always been in this order: Health>Performance>Aesthetics. When you approach health and wellness in a sustainable way you don’t fall into the trap of restrictive diets and insane workouts that will not teach you how to have a healthy relationship with nutrition and movement.
So where do you start?
1: Change Your Eating Habits
Start by changing your eating habits and don’t restrict yourself from major food groups that are essential for overall health (Carbohydrates, healthy fats, protein, and micronutrients]. If you start making healthier choices, you’ll begin to see changes in your body composition and the way you feel. Long lasting and/or permanent changes don’t happen overnight, but over time. While a crash or restrictive method provide you with instant gratification, the overall result will be short term and you will never teach yourself how to make long term lifestyle changes. The goal is to sustain your results, not reach them and then lose them.
2: Start Moving
Any movement you add on a daily or weekly basis will help you see both mental and aesthetics changes. You’ll develop much more mental clarity, better moods, sleep and less stress! Don’t feel like you have to jump start though with a 90 minute workout each day. 15 minutes a day might not be your goal but it’s a start and it’s achievable! Mix it up. Do one day of cardio, the next day strength training, and the following day some mobility and stretching. The point is to consistently reach for small movement goals. Do that and you’ll be well on your way towards your bigger goals!
3: Avoid Going From Zero to Hero
Most people start doing workouts that are not functional and up to par with their current fitness level. Rushing into workouts that your body isn’t ready for will only have you quit shortly after you start. Your body won’t be able to keep up if your body isn’t slowly adapting.
4: Log Your Food
Start logging what you eat and how much you move daily and weekly. Both will serve as a reference to make changes weekly. A lot of times we think we know what we’re eating until we start writing it down. Writing it down helps us reflect on our patterns or habits and keeps us more accountable to our goals. The consistency you have is what is going to matter most. Make changes slowly and watch the magic happen!
This is the Bodynamics way. Come and join our community and let me help you make those changes but with a comprehensive exercise and nutrition program. I’m expecting 2021 to be a good year of new beginnings for each one of us! Let’s get it team!