With the new year upon us, one of the major goals of most people is to start working out/and or getting fit/losing weight, eating better, etc. It seems like such a complicated task that keeps
getting put off until the year starts over and its almost like a clean slate to start. Maybe it's because on the surface, fitness seems so complicated. There are so many diet trends, workout plans and so much misinformation on actual basic fitness. But in reality, fitness can be really straight forward and simple. To help, here are some things you should do, and some you shouldn’t in order to reach your own personal fitness goals.
YOU SHOULD:
Sleep 8 Hours- this is your baseline- everything stems from sleep, blood sugar, hormones,mood, recovery. If this is in line, everything else becomes much easier.
Manage Portion Sizes- Eat until satisfied, not until fullness; its also very hard to over eat whole quality foods.
Move daily- whatever activity gets you moving, do that! It doesn’t always have to be in a gym, walking, biking, pickle ball, and hiking are all great ways to add in movement and activity into your week.
Limit alcohol intake- especially after the holidays where binge drinking is more likely, the less alcohol you put into your body, the better it will benefit you. Alcohol blocks any fat oxidation while being metabolized and also makes you less likely to want to move, workout, or do anything the day after for that matter.
Hydrate- a much harder thing to do in the colder months, but even more important to help keep cravings at bay, food digesting properly, and keeping recovery high.
YOU SHOULD AVOID:
Overtraining and Under recovering- Going hard 24/7 will do the body more harm than good.
Recovery is a fundamental building block of fitness. Breaking your muscles down and never letting them recover is detrimental to progress. Your workouts should be tough enough to make you challenged, but able to recover within the next day.
Tracking every calorie- counting calories can be tedious and lead to an unhealthy relationship with food. It can also be confusing- this is why focusing on portion sizes will be better for *most* people while eating to satiety.
HIIT training- weight training and steady state cardio is going to give you the most bang for your buck. Too much high intensity training- unless training for something specific- can cause more harm than good as it creates high cortisol levels which leads to stubborn fat loss.
Diet trends- keto, fasting, paleo, atkins, etc. When you limit yourself to a single “diet” it becomes restrictive and unsustainable. Eating whole foods and a balanced diet is a lifestyle and lets you live your life without restriction.