Fitness Tips

I am by no means a fitness expert. I'm just a personal trainer and coach.... for myself. But I've been forcing myself to get into shape lately, and it's really been working. I'm simply going to share a few tips that have helped me lose 5 lbs. in a gradual but healthy way, without spending money on a gym or heavily changing my diet. Hope that these ideas give you some inspiration to help you on your journey!

Fitness tips that helped me in my fitness journey:



1. Save your $$$. Be your own coach.

This step is going to need a little self-motivation. Once you hit the realization that your weight, your appearance, and the way that you feel about yourself will not change unless you get up and DO something about it, you may be ready to be your own personal trainer. Once you get past the initial forcing yourself up off the couch and out of an already developed lazy routine, it's easy to establish new healthy habits and new fitness goals. You just have to pull yourself out of the lazy zone and develop a new lifestyle. Once your adrenaline starts pumping you'll become addicted.

Don't belong to a gym? No problem. Find a safe parking garage with stairwells to utilize. Go do stadiums. Find a nature trail. Do an exercise video. Yell at yourself. Drag yourself. Make a fool of yourself. No one else cares to meet your goals except you- so YOU have to do it. Every time I'm working out and can't run another floor of stairs, I think about what a real personal trainer may say to me. They'll tell me to keep going. So I remind myself that I'm saving money by not going to a gym and not HIRING someone to help me- so that person who is coaching me is ME. I am the only one who knows my own limit, and if I know I'm tired but that I physically can keep going without vomiting, I tell myself that I am not going home until I do another 25 floors of stairs. I tell myself that I can't have a drink of water until I do 10 side lunges up a ramp. I can't check my progress on my health app on my phone until I push myself to run up 4 flights of stairs another 4 times. If I physically am out of breath, I compromise and say to myself, okay we can take a break from doing stairs for a few minutes, but you have to keep moving so speed walk a lap around the parking garage instead. I HAVE to keep myself moving and I remind myself that if I let my heart rate slow down in the middle of a workout it's not even worth it. If my workout isn't at least 20 minutes it's not even worth it. If I'm too lazy to finish the workout, it's not even worth it.  I can't say I did something I didn't finish and "I" am always watching. "I" am never alone when I'm coaching myself, so I can't ever let "myself" down. Make a goal of working out regularly, starting at 2-3 times a week and stick to it.

2. Load up on greens for at least 2 meals out of your day.

If you're into fitness, you most likely make a protein shake or drink at least once a day. If you aren't, start. For me, I make one for breakfast- and to save calories that alone is my breakfast. Half of my shake is ALWAYS greens. 2 large kale leaves, a handful of spinach, a double fistful of fresh wheatgrass and/or a generous dumping of spirolina get shoved into my blender cup before everything gets mixed together. The other portion is protein powder, seeds, nuts, avocado pit (look it up, I promise it's a superfood and SO good for you!), fruits, juice and/or dairy free milk. Besides the color, the greens so unnoticed to my tastebuds because they're so mild. A very easy way to get at least one serving of greens in, undetected.

The second serving will be a bit more obvious (but you can make it tasty!). With lunch or dinner, incorporate greens into the meal. Whether it's sprouts on a sandwich, a huge ass salad as a main entree (loaded with seeds, nuts, whole grains, veggies, fruits, etc.), a small side salad to compliment a meal, some southern style collards, steamed broccoli, green beans, or zucchini as a side dish, zucchini stuffed with something or spiralized into noodles, or anything else (get creative!) keep tabs on how much greens you're eating and keep in mind that most greens are very low in calories, and your metabolism actually burns extra calories just to digest them (therefore making them negative calories!). Way to go- getting extra fiber, adding to a healthy and tasty meal, and using up some calories just to eat em'.

Oh and if you are a pasta junkie (like me).. there are ways around this. Eating pasta alone is a big weight gainer. It's solid carbs and is not really good for you. IF you ever make pasta you should try other varieties besides white wheat pasta- try whole wheat pasta , bean pasta, veggie pasta, quinoa pasta or brown rice pasta. These are all wholesome and more nutritious that wheat. (You can also try other whole grains themselves in place of pasta). Instead of making a package of pasta and eating that alone with some kind of sauce, or spices, or oils.... make an equal amount of greens/veggies to mix in. I love to do steamed broccoli florets and/or slices of zucchini. Cook the veggies separate, then mix in with your pasta. Add the sauce or oil of your choice and prepare your pasta the same way, but serve yourself the SAME quantity you normally would. If you're used to filling your plate with 2 cups of food because that's how much your stomach normally begs for for dinner, that's fine, but with these veggies mixed in you should still be eating 2 cups. You're just as full, but now you're only eating 1 cup of pasta and also adding 1 cup of greens/veggies. Genius!

Not big on greens? Well too bad.. you'll get used to them, I promise :)

3. Drink lots of water.

I try to drink about ¾ of my body weight in oz. of water, but as long as you're drinking at least half of yours, you're technically hydrated enough. Less than that is not enough for your body to do it's job digesting your food, breaking down waste, keeping all your organs working, getting enough oxygen to your heart and your brain, and preventing headaches and keeping you feeling alert and content. Did you know that many times when your body signals to you that you're hungry, you may actually just be thirsty? Sometimes the brain can't tell the difference, but if you haven't been drinking as much as you should be- you can bet on those warning signs being your body just begging you for some H2O.

Not big on water? Try infusing yours with lemon juice, mint leaves, cucumbers, or fruit. Get a reusable water bottle instead of plastic to help save our planet (and get way more water in each bottle).

4. Count your calories.

You may be the healthiest person in the world and still just eat too much. You may not even be eating quantities that are more than your body should be getting, but eating foods too rich in calories. If you want to lose weight, multiply your "ideal" weight goal by 12. That's how many calories you should be eating in a day (or less). Count both the calories you're investing and the calories you're burning with every exercise you do. It's kind of like a credit system- if you insist on eating more that's fine.. BUT you've got to work it off. Every 3,500 calories = 1 lb. whether you're eating another pound or exercising to burn it off.

5. Get outside

Whether it's walking the dog (extend your normal walking routine to be twice the distance/twice as long each day), going for a hike (wear a backpack with stuff or weights in it - a few filled water bottles work great), or walking or biking to get places instead of driving- change up your routine to make some time for the great outdoors and for an opportunity to burn off some calories and get a peace of mind.

6. Have a support group.

Get involved in an online fitness group or get together with some friends who will be your support system. You may need someone to work out with to have the motivation to do it. You need someone to yell at you if you didn't send them/post a sweaty selfie proving you did a workout. Share pictures of your healthy foods on social media to have an incentive to make them. You may need feedback and "likes" from others to help motivate you to keep going.. and that's okay, because even when we are our own coach, sometimes we still need support from others than just ourselves.