Tips & Tricks

It is easy to get distracted and sometimes discouraged on your fitness journey - but remember that is what it is...a journey.  It won't always be perfect and there will be challenges, but you are strong!  

Take a second to remind yourself - you are a work in progress, this is a long journey, and hopefully one that will last a lifetime. 

Here are a few things to consider to help keep you on course.  Some may require adjusting and others removing.

----------

* Who am I surrounded by? Are they helping me achieve my goals or taking away?

* Is my family clear on what I'm trying to achieve? Are they supportive? Are they included? 

* Do my food choices everyday support my goals? If not, how can I change my food habits to support my goals? What areas of nutrition can I do better to work toward my goals?

* Am I cheating myself by skipping or cutting my workouts? Am I really giving it my all? What changes do I need to make within?

When everything is in alignment and most of the elements in your life are clear and supportive of your goals, it's easier to be that fierce fitness diva you desire to be!

Staying focused and on track can sometimes be challenging. We hit plateaus, loose motivation and sometimes pick up a few extra pounds.  Life happens, just remember it does not mean it's the end.  

Here are a few tips to help regain your drive.

----------

~ **Get some rest** - I know you feel like superwoman, but take a break and take care of yourself.  Try to get 7-8 hours of sleep each day.  You will see the difference in your energy level. 

~ **Change things up**-  If you have been doing the same thing all the time, you will get the same results.  Try a different cardio activity, a new recipe, a heavier weight. Mix things up. Get out of your comfort zone and level up.

~ **Live in the present**-  Don't get stuck on what you did or did not do last week.  Live in the moment and make the best of each second you have.  Don't waste time crying over spilled milk.  Focus on what you can do now.

~ **Make a Commitment**  - set a goal and put the effort in to achieve it. Have a clear vision of what you want the end results to be and go for it! 

~ **Communicate** - let the people around you know you are on a mission and ask for their support and respect.  

~ **Engage** - Stay engaged on the app. Change the settings to work for you but check in often and spread some love.  We all can use a little push and encouragement.

Your body will not respond to something it has gotten used to. You can only do so much cardio or eat the same macros for a certain period of time before your body adapts and stops responding. 

There is so much more to muscle confusion and breaking through plateaus.  Changing up your exercise routine has many benefits.  One of the biggest benefits,  is that you build well-rounded, overall strength throughout your entire body. Adding variety and using different types of exercise equipment and different body part splits, will give your entire body the opportunity to  work different muscle groups together.  It will also help with mobility,  stabilization, strength, power, and muscle growth. 

Change is your friend. It allows us to introduce new things to the body once it has reached a plateau. To a certain point, speaking from a body re-composition aspect, you want to maintain a level of consistency with strength training, cardio and nutrition. There are other aspects that you need to manipulate and change in order reach your goals. This is why things like intermitting fasting and carb cycling can be effective, as well as frequently changing your workout routine.

Stay focused on goals, remain open to change and being constant with our good habits. There are no limits to what we can achieve, as long as we believe! 

Wouldn’t it be nice if our fitness journey was a straight path and the scale always moved in a downward direction? 

The reality is things will not always be perfect, but having the right mindset and continuing to build on the healthy lifestyle habits will help.  Here is a tip to help take charge of your actions.

Know your triggers.  Overeating is typically a long-term behavior; that means that triggers for overeating typically recur or fall into a pattern over time as well. 

You can plan ahead for these triggers by bringing your awareness and recognition to your eating patterns. Do you skip lunch and breakfast only to end up ravenous when you get home, resulting in a nightly pantry raid? Does daily work stress require 2 margaritas and an entire basket of nachos with the coworkers 3 times a week without fail?

Since overeating is often about the emotion behind the food rather than the food itself, getting clear on why and when you overeat is a big step towards curbing that behavior altogether.

Remember to plan and be prepared.  This is a lifestyle and you are in control.

Failing to prepare is preparing to fail!

While this is true in so many aspects in life, it’s especially true with reaching your weight loss goals.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make while trying to eat a well-proportioned, nutrient-dense diet to lose weight and fat is to not prepare your meals, just “wing it”, and hope for the best.

I don't like eating leftovers, so my mentality instead of traditional meal prepping is to simply be prepared. That means having the right food and tools around and available, when it is time to nourish my body. Even though I don't cook a weeks worth of food at one time, I still weigh or measure my food to be conscious of the amount I am eating.   

Being prepared is one of the most important keys to successfully losing weight AND figuring out how to do so sustainably so that you can maintain those weight loss results.  So decide what work for you.

Here are 10 reasons why being prepared or prepping your food is a MUST for successful weight loss:

1. You will eat the right amount of food to lose weight.

2. You will eat at the right times of the day to reduce hunger, avoid overeating, and lose weight.

3. You will have the right food available when you need to lose weight.

4. You will reduce mindless eating and make better food choices to help lose weight.

5. You will eat less processed sugar and reduce sugar cravings so that you can lose weight.

6. You will eat less processed high sodium, high fat foods, which will help you lose weight.

7. You will reduce bloating, inflammation, and water retention while you lose weight.

8. You will waste less money on junk and other foods that block your goal to lose weight.

9. You will get faster, more consistent results as you lose weight.

10. You will be able to manage a caloric deficit you need to lose weight.

These effects combined, form a foundation for success.

So if you’re not meal prepping, prepping your food or simply not being prepared...whatever you decide to call it, that may be the reason why you are not hitting your goals.  Take a moment to assess yourself and keep it real!