STOP making excuses.

Why not start today!?

Still have junk food in the house?  Donate it to the local food pantry!

There are SO many reasons why you SHOULD start living a healthier lifestyle.

For more energy, to feel better, and to look the way YOU want too.

START TODAY!
Wake up and start with a nice quick morning walk.

Then have a nice and simple healthy breakfast

Followed by a healthy lunch and dinner.

If you have time in the evening go out for another brisk walk!

YES IT IS THAT SIMPLE!

Want to get back on track but you just don’t know how to start?

Starting is the HARDEST part!
First you have to pick a day.  Pick a day that you want to start living and eating healthier.

On this day start first thing in the morning when you wake up.

The best thing to do is to start fresh at the beginning of the week (like Sunday or Monday).

Here are some day-by-day things you can do to help you get on track:

Day One:

Today try to drink at least 1.5 liters or water.  Try to substitute your favorite afternoon sugar drink with a glass of water.  Or have your favorite drink BUT also have the extra glass of water.  The key is to start incorporating more water into your diet

Day Two:

Make a healthy snack choice.  Instead of having chips with your sandwich at lunch try some veggies or a piece of fruit.  You want to start making healthier food choices for your meals and snacks

Day Three:

Go for a brisk walk.  You want to walk at a pace that is faster than a casual walk and you want to keep up that faster pace for about 30 minutes.  You want to get your heart rate up but you also do not want to push yourself too hard starting out.

Day Four:

Regulate your meal choices.  You want to try to eat several small meals throughout the day.  You want your first meal to be within two hours of you first waking up.  Once you have breakfast try to have more small meals (around 400 calories each) every 2-3 hours.  This will help kick-start your metabolism and allow you to fuel your body as you are going through the day.

Day Five:

Create your own stretching routine.  This routine should be done before AND after you workout.  It does not have to be a long drawn out routine, just something that will stretch your major muscle groups and allow you to stretch your muscles.

Day Six:

Try to drink 2 liters of water!  If it helps try to get a large water bottle or container that you can monitor how much you are consuming to help you keep track.

Day Seven:

Go through your cabinet and collect all of your unhealthy foods.  If you still have some food that is unopened donate it to a local food pantry or other type of food service.  You will not be as tempted to eat bad foods if you do not buy them or have them at home.

Day Eight:

Go for another brisk walk.  This time make sure to stretch BEFORE and AFTER your walk.  Do not forget to keep up the fast brisk pace for at least 30 minutes.  You want to keep your heart rate up to help you start to burn those extra calories.

Day Nine:

Go one full day without eating anything “unhealthy”.  This means cutting out carbonated beverages, candy bars, greasy foods, chips, or anything else that you know is unhealthy.  If you even have a doubt if it is unhealthy or not, do not eat it! Stick to simple things like chicken, fish, beef, turkey, veggies, fruit, whole wheat pasta or bread, etc.  This will allow you to dedicate one full day to fueling your body with healthy low processed foods.

Day Ten:

Today try to do more physical activities.  These following exercises do them for a minute and record how many you can do.  A month from now do them all again and see how many more you were able to do in that minute.  That should help show you how much you are progressing!  Try these exercises: jumping jacks, sit ups, push ups, lunges, air squats, and mountain climbers (if you do not know what these exercises are you can type them into Google or YouTube and see how to do them!)

Day Eleven:

Today try to combine several of the things listed above.  Try drinking the 2 liters or water and eating healthy for a full day.  Or try the brisk walk and drinking 2 liters of water.  Whatever you choose, try to do at least two of the items listed above.

Day Twelve:

Start a health and fitness journal!  Write down what you have been doing and how you feel.  You can write down how much you weigh now and also keep track of the exercises you have been doing.  There are some great online fitness journals (like myfitnesspal.com) or you can buy a regular journal to write in.  Writing down what you do will help you to keep track of what you are doing and will hopefully hold you accountable for the healthy choices that you should/want to make each day.

Day Thirteen:

Today you should drink 2 liters of water, walk briskly for thirty minutes (and do not forget to stretch!!), and lastly you should also have a regulated day of eating every few hours.

Day Fourteen:  

By this day you should have already started some healthy habits!  Today will be the toughest day!  Today you should make sure to drink 2 liters of water, eat healthy ALL day, have regulated eating (every 2-3 hours), go for a brisk walk (with your stretching), and keep track of all of this in your fitness journal.

This is just a sample of some things that you can do to get you stated on living healthier.  Most people ask me “where do I start” or “what are some good things to start doing”.  These are all some great things that allow you to make your own wise choices.  The key is to not completely jump into things head first.  You want to gradually start to make positive habits so the will become a good habit and you will stick with them.  Try this for fourteen days and then see how ready you are to start living healthier!

To reach your goals YOU have to want it

No one can reach your goals for you…YOU have to want it to achieve it!

Stop making excuses and start TODAY!

Why not create your own!?

There are several different things you can do to surround yourself with motivation and inspiration throughout your days.

You can do like the picture above. Place quotes, words, or saying around your house, office, or at school

You can email motivational things to yourself…or there are applications and other programs that will send you daily motivation if you sign up for it.

Staying motivated is one of the key things needed to help keep you on track with your goals!

It is so important  that you remember why you started your journey!

Because only YOU can help you reach your goals!

Stay focused…stay dedicated…stay motivated!

To achieve your health and fitness goals

Working out is 1/3 of the equation to reaching your goals

Your Diet/food & Liquid consumption is 2/3 of the equation!

You can not eat fried, fat filled, unhealthy food and expect to lose weight!

You HAVE to fuel your body with the right nutrients in order for it to start burning those extra calories!

Eating right has to be consistent!

If not…do not expect to see results!

No worries….get up RIGHT NOW and try THIS:

Even if you get off of track it is ok!

PLEASE do not be harsh to yourself for getting off track

Just get up and try RIGHT NOW to get back on track!

Get back to eating healthy and DON’T miss your workout today!

…Everyone has an excuse as to why the can’t workout/eat healthy…

“I Don’t Have Time.”

…did you know they have 24 hour gyms!? so now you can plan your day on when you CAN find time to workout!

“I’m Too Tired.”

…if you start working out regularly studies have shown that people GAIN power, strength, energy, and endurance to get them through their day!

“I Don’t Get a Break From the Kids.”

…did you know that some gyms offer day care! Or you can ask a local church, friends/family,  or seek other options to find child care for an hour so you can work out!

“Exercise Is Boring.”

…then you must not do the right things!  There are so many FUN options available for you to workout and have fun at the same time! Can you honestly tell me that Zumba is NOT fun!?

“I can’t afford it.”

…if you can not afford a monthly gym membership try workout videos or even trying to create your own workout to do at home!

“I don’t want to get bulky.”

…SORRY LADIES!  Doing simple exercise and strength training will NOT get you big and bulky…

“I don’t know how to exercise.”

…this is your ONE and only time it is OK to be a stalker!  Go to the gym and look around and watch what other people are doing!  DO not try to lift as heavy as they are but you can try some of their moves.  Or you can Go to the gym and ask a worker or even other people working out for some suggestions!  

Any more excuses?

I have an answer to resolve it!!

Do you have your workouts for this week planned?

Do you have your meals planned?

Have you been to the gym TODAY!?

only YOU can make the change!

It will NOT be easy and it will take some time…

BUT it will be worth all of your HARD WORK!

…positive goals at work…

…positive financial goals…

…positive health and fitness goals…

But how do you stay focused to achieve these goals?

Do you write them down? Do you review them on a regular basis? Do you think of personal rewards when you achieve these goals?

When it comes to health and fitness goals it is a good idea to have one main goal.  For example, you would like to lose 50 pounds.  That is a great overall goal to have in mind.  When you have your overall goal in mind the next thing you need to do is set mini goals.  Here are some examples of  mini goals:

• I will work out 3…4…or 5 days a week
• I want to lose at least 5 pounds a week (which is realistic but you have to work hard for it!)
• I will stop having cokes and switch to water
• I will limit how many times I eat fast food
• I will create a menu for each week and stick to what I have on that menu

When you have your main goal and your mini goals set there is one more step you should take!! You should set a reward for yourself! YES A REWARD! What is better motivation to reach your goals than to reward yourself with something you have wanted but have put off getting yourself.

If you give up sweets for a certain period of time, yes you can reward yourself with ice cream after achieve so many of your mini goals.  But the best reward you set should be for reaching your overall goal. Here is a GREAT idea a friend send to me…

For each workout that she has done, her husband will place $1 in her workout jar.  Currently her goal is to lose 30 pounds and she has estimated this to take about 8 weeks to achieve this goal.  Working out 5 days a week for 8 weeks will allow her to rack up around $40!  Wait there is more! If she reaches her goal BEFORE the 8 weeks is over her husband will DOUBLE the amount of money that is in the jar on the day she reaches her goal. Talk about motivation! She is allowed to use that money on WHATEVER she wants…new clothes…new shoes…or a night out with her and her friends to celebrate her fitness success.

When it comes to reaching your health and fitness goals, having motivation is so important! You have to have something that will push you to work hard and dig deep during your workouts.  You have so have something that will push you to stay away from the wrong foods and eat foods that will nourish your body!

Along with that motivation you need support from those around you and encouragement.

Other than the positive physical benefits you will achieve from your health and fitness goals, it is important to have something that you can reward and treat your self with.

Any day is a great day to start your new health and fitness routine….why not start today!

LOOK FOR Infinite Life Fitness writing articles these other websites!