As a Certified Personal Trainer and Nutrition Coach, I have seen the rewards of what I do in my career in the fitness industry. Both in one-on-one and group settings, it always fun to see positive changes in someone’s life making a commitment to change to live a better quality of life through fitness and nutrition. Although nutrition can bring a great impact of seeing amazing results, you cannot see that lean fit body and/or losing fat until we start moving and exercise at a certain level of intensity.
Even for people who do not like to exercise, small changes make a difference in how you feel emotionally and physically.
In seeing amazing results, you cannot expect to see changes overnight. It takes persistence and knows your why in seeing yourself fit and strong. Just like most things in life, you cannot see the full fruit of your efforts if you are not committing to a well-designed exercise program and getting 7.5 to 9 hours of sleep each night. You must be persistent in getting 7.5 to hours of sleep each night to recover since our muscle tissue needs time repair from our workouts. At the very least you will be proud of yourself of completing a full week of a fitness plan and getting adequate sleep.
Sleep
If there is one tip to take from this article is to stick with a consistent sleep schedule. Make sure to go to bed at around the same time each night. This is very crucial since our bodies are creatures of habit. It’s not recommended to take a nap after 3 PM since it will be harder to go to sleep. Make sure to not over plan your evening since its key to wind down at night and not do anything stress related before bed that can raise your cortisol levels.
Exercise, Goals, and Tracking Your Weight
Set realistic goals for yourself each week. If you accomplish that goal, add in another goal of working out consistently the following week. For instance in a week’s span strength train 3 times. The following week, strength train 3 times and go to sleep an hour earlier. Keep adding new goals each week as you accomplish the previous goals.
Do not weigh yourself every day! Any changes you see in weight from day to day will most likely be water weight. It will not say much about lean muscle. It’s better to use a scale that gives you body composition like body fat, lean body mass (lean muscle). Your welcome to weigh yourself every 3 days but not every day. If you want to make a further investment in your health, get a DEXA scan which will not only show your body fat percentage but also your bone mineral density levels which can detect potential risks of osteopenia and osteoporosis.
Support and Accountability
Get a support system! Partnering up with a friend can help you both stay motivated and even make you competitive so it becomes fun to exercise. Below is a link to the written workout that I created for you that is simple for beginners. If you are ready to transform your life in a BIG way, don’t hesitate to invest in a Life & Apples planner to see if this program will be a good fit for you in having more clarity in your life!
Sources: Brennan, Nathan. “Simple ‘Stress Less’ Solutions.” LinkedIn, 4 Feb. 2019, Joy, Elexe. “Elexe Joy on Instagram: ‘How Do You Get Motivated to Eat Healthy Again after the Holidays? Here Are Some Tips to Help Motivate You: 1️⃣ Set Realistic Goals for...".” Instagram, @holistic_lex, 9 Jan. 2019, www.instagram.com/p/Bsapctjlzqm/.
