Get back on track after the Holidays!

Wether you’re new to training or had a solid routine prior to the holidays, it can feel like a daunting task to get back on track. Here are some tips to get you back on track and teaching your goals again!

1. Looks towards the future. The past is now the past and it is serving you no good revisiting the past and feeling guilty for what has already happened. If you do think about the past try to feel gratitude for the the food you enjoyed and the activities you did or the company you had. Then focus on your future and what you can do in the present moment. Think small steps and small wins. Overtime these add up. The important piece is time & consistency.

2. Set a new goal. Goals should build up in increments and feel “easy”. You may feel excited and tell yourself you will work out twice a day, everyday. Don’t make this mistake because you will be sure to slip up before you know it, feel defeated, and it will be harder than ever to keep going. A more realistic goal is workout 2x per week for the next 4 weeks. Once you achieve that goal, then you can create a new goal: work out 3x per week and drink 8 glasses of water a day for the next 4 weeks.

3. Plan, plan, plan. The only way to do everything you intend to do is to plan in ahead. This means the day and exact time you will workout, what’s time you have to start getting ready, what time you have to wake up, what time you have to go to sleep etc. For nutrition, this means, what meals you will prepare for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks for each day of the week, when you will prepare each meal, when you will go grocery shopping, where you will go grocery shopping etc. Also give yourself buffer time or more time than you’ll think you'll need! Things always come up and we have to adjust. Have a few non-perishable/frozen back-up meals always on hand for times when the day just gets away from us. This will help prevent you from reaching the point when you want to eat anything and everything and resort to take-out because you have no other options.

4. Accountability. We can all use a little accountability. The key here is finding an accountability system that works for you. Some ideas are an accountability partner, a habit tracking app or paper calendar, or a personal coach. Try a new system if something hasn't worked for you in the past. Habit tracking is a great tool to build new routines that will eventually become a habit and much easier to maintain.

5. Be sure your plan is effective and sustainable. Nothing is worse than sticking to your plan, doing all the hard work and then not seeing the results you desire. If you are unsure of where to start consider working with a professional so you can build a plan that will get you to your goals and so you don't feel you are spinning your wheel going nowhere.

Let me know which of these tips you plan to try to fast-track you to your goals! Learn more about online coaching or in-person coaching.

#habittracking #stayingontrack #accountability #mindset #planning

Kristin's Personal Fitness Journey & Lesson's Learned

The picture on the left is from April 2015 when I decided I to make a lifestyle change. The picture on the right is from November 2021, 6.5 years later. Here is how I went from feeling over-whelmed and helpless to confident and empowered.

I found myself inactive, eating take-out daily, and unhappy with my lifestyle choices. I decided my goal was to lose 10 pounds. Unsure of of how to best approach this, I decided to commit to the good 'ol Insanity workout videos. I was familiar with this type of workout have gone through the 60 days of insane workouts about 10 years prior. I also become mindful of my nutrition and tried to eat mostly nutrient dense food. Here I am on the left after completing insanity exactly two months later. I should mention now that I do not recommend this type of workout, there are much more effective means to fat loss.

I was pretty lost when it came to nutrition but in August of that year I begin tracking my calories ensuring I was eating in a deficit. Here I am on the right a few months after tracking my calories.

For the next few years, I continued finding circuit-style workouts with bodyweight and light dumbbells. I also started a few challenges but never finished them, but at least I got progress pics out of them :). Here I am in 2016, 2017, 2018, and January of 2019. As you can see not much changed from year to year despite me staying very consistent with my workouts and putting in work. (If you are gonna work hard, be sure the work you are doing is effective!)

Then in mid-2019 I began lifting using progressive overload, a technique in weight-training known to build strength, grow muscles, and speed up fat loss unlike other types of workouts. I also starting tracking my macros and learned how to adjust my macros correctly. In just a month I saw noticeable changes! Here I am just 1 month, 3 months, and 1 year into my new fitness routine.

I took the next year to continue to build muscle, get stronger, and grow. This required me to eat in slight caloric surplus most of this time. While building new muscle tissue, we also build up some fat cells. This is normal and expected. Here I am in 2020 and mid-2021.

After considering a bodybuilding show for a few years, I felt ready to compete! It was time to diet again and show off my muscles. Here I am at the start of my cut in June 2021 and at the end in November 2021.

Lastly, here I am 2 months post-show. It is unrealistic to stay show-lean all the time. My current goals are to build muscle and will be doing another lean bulk.

A few important points about my journey:

• Progress is not linear

• Progress will look different for different people.

• Some forms of exercise that are more effective at building muscle, losing fat, and appear toned

• Nutrition plays the biggest role in fat loss.

• Fat loss is not the same as weight loss

• It becomes harder to build muscle the leaner you get. At this point, a caloric surplus is usually needed followed by a deficit.

• Becomings stage-lean requires a large amount of dieting and consistency and is not sustainable forever.

Your journey is uniquely yours. Be sure to have clear goals, own these goals, then find the most effective way to reach your goals! Reach out for support if you do not feel you are progressing or need help getting started! Learn more about online coaching or in-person coaching.

#fitnessjourney #fatloss #effectivetraining #lessonslearned