Since we published our last post, others have come to us to share their accomplishments from the past year. Many thought they were not "shout out" worthy, but I disagree. If you are consciously making healthy choices and are achieving fitness or health related goals then yes, they are "shout out" worthy. So if you are one of those clients who is quietly going about your business, but getting sh*t done, congrats to you too, you know who you are!
It's that time of year again, when the resolutions have been made and many people are trying out new routines in order to formulate new habits. At least, that is how one should go about achieving any sort of goal, however that is not always the case. I read a great article this week about how we derail ourselves and lose our way toward our resolution. I'll summarize the main points here and attach the article in case you want to dive deeper.
1. Severely restricting calories
If you drastically cut your calories you will start using your lean muscle as fuel. This is "no bueno" for a multitude of reasons. You also need to make sure you are eating enough protein to fuel the muscles which burn calories at a much higher rate than fat tissue, which in turn keeps your metabolism high. You need to cut just enough calories to start seeing your body fat drop slowly, cut too much too soon, and it will sabotage your efforts.
2. Eating while distracted and/or stressed
Mindful eating? Yes please. Put down the device, stop watching TV, don't snack and work at the same time. If you eat slowly and mindfully it is a HUGE game changer and it's pretty easy to do. Plus you enjoy your meal more and can maybe have a conversation with your family members at a table; remember those days?
3. Trying to do too much too soon
If you haven't been working out, hitting the gym 6 days a week is a terrible, unsustainable idea. All it takes is setting your sights too high for you to bag it and say, "well I only went 3 times last week and 2 times this week so I might as well give up." BUT if you set your sights lower, like getting 3 workouts in a week instead, then you are closer to meeting your goals and you feel successful. As your new "going to the gym" routine (whether that be virtual or physical) gets established, you can add more days in and feel like you are making progress rather than not meeting your standards from the get go.
4. Having too many non-training stressors
When you workout, you cause your body to go into sympathetic tone and release cortisol, that's your body's response to stress. When you rush from work to pick up the kids, to grab fast food, and then sit in traffic making you late to all the things... your body goes into sympathetic tone, causing your adrenal gland to release cortisol also. Too much cortisol can lead to fat storage in the abdomen. Reducing outside stressors can have a positive effect on your ability to recover from exercise and will lead to less cortisol being released and wreaking havoc on your fat loss ambitions.
For a more well-rounded and scientifically supported version of this same information, feel free to delve into the article- it's a quick, good read.
Resolutions are only as good as the plan you put in place to achieve them.