Sometimes simple tips and steps can add up to big weight loss or fitness improvements! Implement several of these tips to start achieving the results you want!
1. Focus on nutrition, especially if you’re just trying to get in shape. Focus on cleaning up your nutrition first! 75% of weight loss happens in the kitchen, the remaining 25% happens in the gym!
2. Realistic sub-goals are key – While your overall goal may be big, it will take time to achieve. Small goals or sub-goals can be achieved in a shorter period of time, giving you the goal of achieving the satisfaction you crave! For example: If your overall goal is to lose 25 pounds, have secondary goals of losing 3 pounds in a week and losing 10 pounds in a month. Mark off those bad boys as you hit them one by one; instant satisfaction and motivation!
3. Track your exercise days – Have a monthly calendar and every time you miss a day, shade that square bright red. Three dazzlingly red days in a row will tell you to get your butt in gear! Don’t get three strikes!
4. Eat from a smaller plate: Using smaller plates can lower your overall caloric intake! Recent research found that large packaging and plate size can lead to overeating, even if the food didn’t necessarily taste good!
5. Make your workouts cost you! – You really can’t motivate yourself? Make your wallet hurt if you skip a workout. Achieve this either by hiring a trainer, taking a paid class, hiring a training consultant, or training online. This will make you train in that training; Nobody wants to waste money!
6. Train for the Endorphin Rush: Sometimes the best motivation is simply working out to feel better right after your workout! The endorphin rush that accompanies an intense workout can produce a general feeling of well-being that can be a great stress reliever.
7. Stay away from the scale: Some people get too discouraged when the scale doesn’t budget quickly. Weigh yourself once a week and write down those numbers and plot them in Excel. Long-term progression of your weight can be very motivating.
8. Rest days don’t equal binge days: If you don’t exercise that day due to recovery, you should still stick to your normal healthy eating schedule. Just because you’re not exercising doesn’t mean a box of cookies is fair game!
9. Focus on your workout: At the gym, put on your headphones, turn up the volume, and focus on your high-intensity workout. Exercising over and over again will keep your heart rate elevated throughout the entire process and burn more calories!
10. Write down what you eat for a whole week. You will see how unhealthy/healthy you have been or how much you have eaten. When you become aware of your consumption you have more possibilities to control it!
11. Chew your food longer – Chewing your food longer will not only aid in the digestive process, it can also help you feel fuller faster. People who chew their food longer actually consume fewer calories overall!
12. Forget guilt: Don’t feel guilty if you skip a workout or overeat. Guilt only leads to self-pity or depression, which can lead to even more overeating. Miss a workout, just go the next day!
13. Get out of the artificial sweetener mindset: Just because you’re consuming diet soda or sugar-free cookies doesn’t give you free reign to binge on something else. There are plenty of carbs and other things that can increase your waistline in these sugar-free products.
14. Walk at least 45 minutes a day. Seriously, that’s a great place to start! Walking 45 minutes a day, compared to a sedentary lifestyle, can have massive effects! It can also help you build your endurance until you’re ready for more demanding forms of exercise!
15. After losing weight, get rid of all your “fat cloths” – You shouldn’t need them again, right? Getting rid of her clothes will tell her there is no going back and will cost her a new wardrobe if she does; lay down that mantra!
16. Keep Your Guilty Pleasure: You need to keep the things you love in your diet to make it sustainable. Try to cut your consumption in half! That’s a lot of calories if you were to consume them daily!
17. Superset, superset, superset: To increase training intensity, speed up your workout, and induce muscle growth, superset your exercises. This means performing two exercises in a row (usually working opposing muscle groups) with little or no rest between sets.
18. Do you need a drink? Have some wine: New research indicates that people who drink a glass or two of wine a day are more likely to maintain a healthy weight than those who don’t. I’m not saying hit the whole bottle, but a glass won’t hurt!
19. Choose the kids’ menu if you’re going out: Not only is it cheaper, there are also fewer calories in the reduced portion size. How many times have you ordered a normal meal and eaten too much? The kids portion might just be the right size for you!
20. Vegetables are the key: I insist on vegetables because they really are the key to losing weight. What other food can consume a ton for so few calories? Its content in fiber, nutrients, proteins… etc will be incredible for you. You can consume an amazing amount of vegetables for as little as 100 calories!
21. Black Coffee: Coffee is great, I have to have my caffeine in the morning or else I’m a zombie. The problem occurs when people add hundreds of calories to their coffee with sugar and cream! Stick with the black coffee!
22. Selfies work! – Take photos (front and side views) before you start your exercise program or today if you have already started one. When you think about quitting, take a look at your progress photos! You may notice that your abdomen is slimmer, which gives you instant motivation to continue with the process.
23. No food is off limits! – When you cut out a food completely, especially one you love, it will only lead to a binge episode. Try to cut your intake in half for a few weeks and gradually stop!
24. Green Face – I got this from Jonathan Goodman of the PTDC. It basically means eating mostly foods that are green (or vegetables) and things that once had a face (or other high-quality protein). This simple rule can help you plan your meals and keep eating healthier!
25. Half your meal should be vegetables – A tip I borrowed from Jonathan Bailor, try dividing your plate where half your plate is non-starchy vegetables. You will eat more for less calories!