The summer is over! You enjoyed yourself. You went to some barbecues, had some beers, drank wine and fancy drinks with umbrella’s in them. Now you are looking at the scale thinking “What happened?”
It’s time to get back on track with your exercise and healthy eating. Here are a few things to help you get started:
- Start moving more. Get more steps in every day. Use a pedometer or tracking device that will track your steps. The American Heart Association says you should get 10,000 steps a day (that is about 5 miles). You may need to work up to the 10,000. If you work at a desk all day, your starting goal is 4,000 steps per day on work days and 6,000 steps on non-work days. After two weeks increase your goal to 6,000 steps on work days and 8000 steps on non-work days. Increase again in two weeks to 8,000 steps on work days and 10,000 on non-work days. After another two weeks increase your goal to 10,000 steps on work days and 12,000 on non-work days.
- Log your food. There are many apps now to log your food (Fitting Fitness In’s Online clients can log their food on our app). When you log it, you lose it! By tracking and seeing what you are eating every day you can make better choices. You find out what time of day you tend to eat more. You can monitor how healthy your choices are.
- Add resistance training to your workouts. Resistance training or strength training will increase your muscle mass on your body and in return increase your metabolism. Don’t be afraid of resistance training. You don’t have to buy heavy weights. You can do a lot just using your body weight (squats, lunges, push-ups, ab crunches).If you don’t know where to begin, work with a Personal Trainer. Personal Trainers will give you a customized program that will help you accomplish your fitness goals.
- Set an appointment in your calendar to work out. Don’t just say I will work out tomorrow. Schedule your workout in your calendar. I think first thing in the morning is the best time to work out because you get it done before you have any other distractions. However, I understand that is not always a good time for people. But schedule it, and stick to your schedule.
These four things are key in getting back on track with your fitness and healthy eating goals. You want to get back into your healthy habits before the holidays and stick with them. Weight gain over the holidays is a whole other topic!
Holly Kouvo is a certified Personal Trainer, Nutrition Specialist, Functional Aging Specialist, speaker and writer.