Raise your hand if you are stuck… you are doing it all and you feel like you are not moving forward! You are eating right, you’re working out, sleeping right, but you take a look in the mirror and you got nothing!! You’ve hit that frustration wall, and you are kicking and screaming like a toddler that you are just DONE and GIVING UP and THROWING IN THE TOWEL with this fitness and weight loss journey you are on.
I have been here magic makers, I have been in your shoes and I am here today to give you 10 reasons why you are stuck and how to fix it! Now don’t go thinking you have to get this ALL DONE tomorrow, these are things that you can do one at a time when you are comfortable and ready to fix each one. Pick something that just feels easy to you and start with that one first, then move on to the next until you have gotten through all 9. Listen right here
A confused mind doesn’t accomplish anything, so be sure to do one at a time and you will get to where you need to be.
9 Secrets to Keeping Your Resolutions
The first thing is; going for that fast and quick fix. You cannot lose 40 pounds in a month, it’s impossible, and if you see a program that “promises” you this on TV and social media, then you are going to be eating the minimum amount of calories and be on the verge of passing out every day. These programs ARE NOT for you, and let’s say you by some chance hit your goal in that 30 days, what happens on day 31′ Do you keep up or do you totally stop because you hit that goal’ With these programs, you have not made a true commitment to making the lifestyle change needed to truly reach that goal and maintain it.
So instead of doing something that you are not comfortable with and makes you totally witchy and crazy, start by picking 1 meal a day and totally cleaning it up and start from there. Listen, you ARE NOT Amazon Prime and that body is not going to be delivered to you in 2 days!
The next thing is vilifying food and eliminating food groups. Its either all fat or no fat, dairy or no dairy, meat or no meat, carbs or no carbs.. You get the point, but its people telling you what you CANNOT eat and telling you NO, NO, NO. And I don’t know about you, but when someone tells ME NO, I want that freaking thing even more.
No one EVER got fat from eating too many proteins or vegetables. So just try and get a variety into your diet and your meals. Hop onto Pinterest once a week and find some NEW MEALS that you have never made before and they are healthy and clean meals. And don’t make yourself crazy over this, find something simple and nutritious, and different! Variety is the spice of life!
Our exercise choices are another area that could be keeping us from reaching our goals. Women typically want to just do cardio. Cardio queens, I call them! Cardio feels good, doesn’t it’ We sweat, we release endorphins and our serotonin gets flowing. But it is short-lived and WE NEED strength training for our bodies ladies!! When we do the heavier lifting, the muscle pulls onto the bones and makes the bones stronger. Stronger bones mean we are less prone to developing osteoperosis, and as we age, we lose 3%-5% of our muscle mass so you want to keep that muscle strong.
The exertion in the muscles is where it is at. So when you strength train and lift heavy, you have what is called EPOC for 1-2 days after. (Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption) This is that after-burn that you feel, that is your body working continuously to get into your muscles and last.
Under and overestimating your food intake can be worked on by keeping a food journal, which is what I have my clients do for me. It’s not so I can judge you and your nutritional choices, it is so we can work together to see what is working and what is not. I comb through the journals and look for where I can make a tweak to help her reach her goals.
Just like my clients, I keep my own food journal as well so I can be my own detective and see where I had good days and bad days, and what was working and what wasn’t working. In order to know what’s going on, we need to know where you have been.
Alright, so I know this next one is going to be one of the biggest one for you ladies, whether you know you got it or not, it’s there! And that is Stress! Yup, we all got it, some more than others, but it’s one of the biggesstttt things stopping you from reaching your goals. Trust me, stress was one of the biggest things holding me back but I did some things to change it and I realized I CANNOT CONTROL EVERYTHING! Whether its stressss stress and you know it’s there or its low-level stress and its something you are living with and not noticing all the time, it is what is causing that inflammation around our midsections.
So if stress a huge part of your set back, I challenge you to try these few things throughout your day to decrease your amount of stress. Try to RELAX… Don’t be afraid to ask for help, ask yourself if you did your best today, meditate for 5 minutes, take a 5-minute walk in nature, or spend 5 minutes a day coloring in one of those adult coloring books. Whatever it is, take 5 minutes to get out of your head and enjoy some stress-free moments in the day. If you have any stress you will halt all progress and changes in your body until you get that stress under control.
Sleep does a body good, and you want to make sure you are sleeping enough so that you can see that progress in our bodies. Anything less than 7 hours and our body starts to eat into our muscle, over 7 hours and our body will start to grow good quality muscle. And the more good muscle you have, the more calories your body will begin to burn at rest. So try to create a bedtime routine and have a set bedtime, and remember, nothing is going to happen overnight, but if you start these habits, eventually you will start to see a change.
We have touched on different areas of food already, but this is another part that we have got to talk about because it is an entire market dedicated to this.. And that is eating “natural” foods. The FDA doesn’t regulate what goes on the front of the package. It is what is on the back that they care about, so “Natural” can be such a fluid word. Anything can say natural on it these days, and we are wanting it! But you need to flip over that package and read the ingredients!! If you can’t understand it or pronounce, put that thing back up on the shelf. The more processed food we put into our bodies is just more chemicals our body has to sift through.
If it flies or if it swims, you can dig it up or you can pluck it, then I say to eat it all day long! The things you need to remove from your diet now though are a few things. Almond milk, because it’s all sugar additives and water. So unless it just says almonds, then don’t drink it. Deli meats are another, they are full of fillers, sugars and salts. So unless it’s just carved off the bone, don’t eat it. Granola is another one that is just full of sugar, and when we put it onto yogurt that is full of sugar, well there you’re just eating a giant sugar bomb. And lastly, avoid dried fruits and vegetables. Now you can totally make these yourself and that is fine, but if you are buying them already made, chances are they are too filled with sugars and other things.
I’m a big believer in a good, better best model. So it’s like, you know, what’s the best thing for our body’ What’s a better thing for our body’ And what’s a good thing for my body’ And just be mindful about what you are putting into your body!
If you have put on a lot of weight in a short amount of time, there may be something medically wrong. So I urge you to go and see a doctor and if then there is still an issue, try going to a naturopathic doctor and make sure that your body is working the way it should be and that there is nothing seriously wrong.
Are you emotional eating‘ Do you tie life experiences and milestones, breakups etc, and associate them with eating’ Our society is conditioned to put these things together, but we need to stop eating to not feel our feelings. Take a minute and really think before you reach for food. HALT: Am I Hungry, am I Angry, am I Lonely, and am I Tired’ If you are truly hungry you’re going to reach for broccoli, not comfort foods when you are in that state of emotion.
Lastly, we’ve got to stop drinking our calories! It is so easy to do this with all of the fun drinks we have now! Green drinks, smoothies, teas, moco-choco lates, you get what I mean! YESS they taste delicious, and 70% may be good ingredients, BUT the other crap is in there to make it taste good, and it’s not good for us and full of calories. Be mindful of what is in these drinks and really look at the ingredients and calories. Are those calories empty and do they service our bodies’ And most of the time they will not. So stick with water and other naturally sweetened drinks if possible!
I know this may seem like a lot, but it really isn’t! Just like I said before. Do one thing at a time and continue to move forward 1 by 1. Who won the race, the tortoise or the hare’ Yup, SLOW and STEADY wins the race. So be mindful, be steady, take your time and it will come. Don’t overwhelm yourself and be sure to head over here to get the entire list of 9 Secrets Keeping You Stuck that you can print out and keep on hand! Hang it on the fridge and reference it every day!
And let me know your thoughts! What are you starting with first on the list’ What is easiest for you to dive into first’ Hit me up on the socials on this topic!
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