Living a healthy lifestyle is something that takes time. It's a learning process. It takes trial and error. Everyone is different. It takes patience. It takes guts. We have to be WILLING to fail. We also have to realize that failure is NOT a bad thing. Failure is a necessary step in succeeding. Sounds a bit counter intuitive, doesn't it? Let me explain.
As humans we have the natural urge to succeed at everything we do. We want to be great. And we want it to happen on the first try. The fact is, we won't always be great at everything! We definitely won't always be great the first time we attempt something. You are bound to suck at something at some point in your life! That's just the way it goes. The key is to use the "suck" as a learning experience. It's a test to your character. You will learn first hand how you react to this type of situation. Will you surrender to the "failure," or will you recognize that you haven't failed. You've simply stumbled upon the perfect candidate for a new goal.
Dieting.
The word diet pops up around every corner these days. It's also something that I see a lot of people become frustrated with. I consistently hear people say they "failed" on their diet, dieting is too hard, I just want to enjoy my food, etc. But what exactly is a "diet"? To me, the word "diet" refers to a quick fix. It's not sustainable. It's a kind of torture that people put themselves through (dreading every single day of it) because they want to look good for an even that's 4-6 months away. Weddings, vacations, class reunions, etc. The problem with this is that once that event is over, they go right back to their questionable eating habits and fail to take care of their body all together! Why does it have to stop there? Why do our bodies not mean more to us than that? Let me share a little secret with you. You can still eat a donut here and there and burn fat. Trust me. I know first hand. This girl loves her donuts and chocolate milk combo once in a while :) The key is TRACKING. If you don't know what you're putting in your mouth how are you supposed to learn what your threshold is? Everyone's body is different. Some of us can eat more fat than others. Some of us can handle more carbs. It's literally trial and error paired with tracking what you're taking in. Playing around with different foods to see what fills us up more, etc. For example, I find that when I consume oats or potatoes for my complex carbs, I feel more full and satisfied than if I were to eat rice. You just have to find out what works best for you. I tried carb cycling for the first time when I trained for my show and learned a lot about how my body reacts to fats and carbs. Carb cycling is an excellent way to burn fat and boost your metabolism.
The point is, always be aware of what you're putting into your body. If you don't track it, you won't know!! Unless you're a magical food genie. It's easy to THINK you've eaten pretty good, but when you actually "put it down on paper" you've probably eaten well over your allotted calories for the day. Now you'll wake up tomorrow, jump on the scale (excited because in your mind you did well and probably lost some weight) then this happens.....
"F**k!! How did I not lose weight??!?! I was SO GOOD yesterday."
DUN DUN DUN......
Now you're discouraged and just want to quit because you feel like a beluga wale. Your next thought is probably something like, "This dieting crap just isn't for me... I can't seem to figure it out." Now you eat like crap all weekend because you already "failed." So what's the point? This is the mindset that will get you. It will get you EVERY TIME. Honestly you guys, for a lot of us it's just an excuse. It's an excuse not to take the steps to that we know we need to take to succeed. We just don't want to put in the extra effort. This is where your true colors will show. Do you actually WANT this, or do you just want it? Self improvement isn't something that just happens. You have to work for it. You have to WANT to become a better version of yourself.
In order to have the body you desire, be an over all healthy person, and feel good (inside and out), you have to make it a
lifestyle. It's a way of living. You have to make your well being a priority. To do so, start by focusing on these three things (one at a time if needed).
1) Sufficient sleep
2) Healthy eating habits
3) Frequent movement
It's easy to overwhelm yourself when trying to get yourself going with a healthier daily routine. Don't bite off more than you can chew. You may need to start small. If you're one of those people who doesn't get enough sleep at night, start by going to bed 20-30 mins sooner for a while, then increase it. Baby steps. Melatonin (a natural sleep aid) may also be something to look into. Once you're getting 6-8 hours of sleep each night, star thinking more about nutrition. What are you putting into your body. Are you eating a lot of processed foods or are you eating whole foods? Do you know the difference? (I will go into more detail about the two in an upcoming post). Try to eat a lean protein and some veggies (greens if possible!) at each meal. If you tend to be more sedentary during the day, it's better to eat a diet high in lean proteins (chicken, fish, etc.) and healthy fats (avocado, omega 3s (fish), etc.) and lower in complex carbs (breads, potatoes, pastas, rice, etc.) If you're very active you'll need to increase the carb number to sustain energy levels. After you've found a routine that works for you and you've become more conscious of getting more sleep and what you're putting in your mouth, you can focus more the exercise portion. You'll have more energy from the extra sleep and healthier foods and it won't seem so terrible once you get your routine down!
People fail to realize is that you don't have to murder yourself in the gym every day to see results. You also don't have to do things that you don't enjoy. I think this is where a lot of people go wrong when it comes to exercise. If you don't enjoy running, don't run! If you're constantly forcing yourself to do something you don't enjoy doing, guess what? It's not going to last. You'll do it for a month, say F this, and quite. Now you feel like you failed. If you aren't exercising then you might as well eat whatever you want because you already failed at the whole gym thing, right? This is the mind game that people play with themselves on a daily basis! I've done it. Multiple times! If you're human, you've done this. It's our way rationalizing our emotions and the actions that follow. What we fail to do is get a couple steps ahead of those thoughts. Want to know how to do that? Read on.
Exercise doesn't HAVE to come from resistance training or killing yourself on cardio equipment for 60 mins a day. You don't have to become a power lifter, cross fitter, or a bodybuilder. You just have to MOVE!!!! It all boils down to two things:
1) Frequent movement (as mentioned above)
2) Eating at a caloric deficit
MOVEMENT
Get up and move! A lot of jobs out there require people to sit at a desk all day, which puts them at a higher risk for injury than those of us who are constantly up and moving around. Your muscles start to believe that the position they are in while sitting is the proper resting position, so they shorten in that position (become tight). This tightness pulls your bones out of alignment, which causes all kinds of issues. This is why the combination of frequent movement and self myofacial release (SMR) is so damn important!!
** Click here for an overview of SMR technique and the benefits ---->
http://blog.nasm.org/training-benefits/foam-rolling-applying-the-technique-of-self-myofascial-release/
Like I said before, movement doesn't have to be in a gym lifting weights and pumping it out on cardio equipment. Do the things you love to do! Play gold, tennis, basketball, bike, hike, or swim. Go for family bike rides and walks. Just get out there and move!
EATING AT A CALORIC DEFICIT
It's simple you guys. If your calories burned are greater than your calories eaten, you'll lose weight. If they aren't, you'll either gain or maintain where you're at. This is why I strongly recommend tracking your food AND calories burned during your workouts. It's extremely important to do both of these things until you're in tune with your body. After a while you'll know what intensity you'll have to go at in order to burn X amount of calories in a workout, etc. But until then it's good to know exactly what's happening. You have to know what you're putting in your body in order to know what you need to burn during your workouts for weight loss. Purchase a heart rate monitor. This will be the most accurate reading of calories burned. I use a basic Polar brand monitor with chest strap and watch. It works well for me. There are a million out there though. Take look!! :)
Questions? Email me at kbriggsfitness@gmail.com
Until next time!
- Kelsey
:)
