So you set out on a path to get healthy, lose weight and get fit 

But how committed are you really? 

Do you have a back-up plan or an escape route already in place? 

Maybe you have a few pit stops you’d like to take along the way to make your journey a little more fun. By the end of this blog, you will be able to determine if you have prepared yourself for success, or set yourself up for failure.

Commitment Phobic
People do not like commitment. Ironically, pretty much anything that’s amazing requires it. Marriage, work, family, finances, where you live – you can’t be successful in any of these things unless you fully commit. But commitment is not just about what you hold on to, it’s about what you have to let go of.
When someone gets married, they say “I do” at the alter. They list all the things they promise to do, but they don’t list what they promise to NOT do. Of course, that does without saying but, with fitness, I think we need more closure. We need to remember it’s more than just what we plan to do – but what we plan to stop doing.

Can You Let Go?
When we set out to get fit and eat healthy, I believe one of our biggest problems is that we refuse to let go of certain things. There are still foods we want to eat, things we want to do (or not do), and a certain lifestyle we want to lead. Even if we plan to get rid of stuff for a while, we still have plans to go back to them, or at least make it an option. The evidence of this may be in your pantry, or it maybe in the big clothes you still keep in your house (just in case). Holding on to some of these things might be holding you back from achieving success.
When you hold on to these things, it’s like you have a back-up plan – a Plan B (or what I’d call a Plan F, for Failure). If you truly want to turn your life around, there should be no option to “going back”. You need to completely let go of the things that created the old unhealthy you, and grab hold tightly of the new you and new healthy lifestyle.

Breaking Your Food Addiction
I’m going to give you the perfect example to help you think a little deeper on this. First, let’s use a recovering drug addict as an example. Even if the addict gets rid of all the drugs in the house, how successful do you think he will be if he keeps all the paraphernalia and friends that enabled that lifestyle? There must be a complete disconnect with that world in order for most addicts to kick it for good. In many ways, living healthy can require some of the same steps – and overeating can be a very real addiction.

Are You Ready to Say Goodbye?

Are you so sold out to change your life, to get rid of your weight once and for all, that you are ready to say goodbye to your old ways? Or are you going to keep your “Plan B” just in case you fail? I challenge you to dig deep and challenge the things that you are holding on to that could be holding you back. A new life awaits for you – but only if you can say goodbye to your old one.

Have a Happy & Healthy Day, Cheers :)

Diet Mistakes that Erase Your Workouts

The Most Common Mistake Made When Exercising 

is Not Focusing on Diet

What you eat makes a huge impact on your performance. If you have started exercising to lose weight, you must be in a calorie deficit (take in fewer calories than you need to maintain your body weight.) I often hear clients, friends, and family complain that they have started exercising and end up gaining weight. You have to concentrate on caloric intake to ensure you lose weight, I always recommend tracking your day with a food journal. It is amazing once you see in black and white the reality of your eating habits how much easier it is to make little changes to ensure diet success.

If you run or have tried to run, you know the time and energy it takes to run a 5K, 10K, half marathon, or a full marathon. Running a mile burns on average 100 calories.

Here are some examples of how much food you would have to eat to equal the calories burned at a race:
• 5K (3.1 miles): 2 Reese’s peanut butter cups and 1 cup of 1% milk (310 calories)
• 10K (6.2 miles): An order of cheese quesadillas and 1 lite beer (620 calories)
• Half marathon (13.1 miles): A thick burger, medium French fry, and 20 ounce regular soda (1310 calories)
• Marathon (26.2 miles): 5 slices of supreme pizza and 20 ounce regular soda (2620 calories).

Do you see how easily you can overeat and surpass your calorie needs while exercising?
Do not view your new exercise regimen as a free pass to eat whatever you like.


You need to eat healthy foods and watch your portion of splurge foods. If you are trying to lose weight and you exercise enough to burn 300 calories but then consume 300 calories as a reward, you will not lose any weight even though you are moving more.

5 Diet Mistakes that will Sabotage Your Workout:

Going too long without eating. Eat every 3-4 hours. When you go too long without eating you tend to overeat. Eat 3 meals/day and 1-2 snacks (a good rule is to snack on fruits or vegetables).

Eating fast food and fried foods. Avoid fatty French Fries and monster hamburgers before workouts. High fat foods sit in your stomach causing you to be overly full and bloated. Do not use working out as an excuse to make fast foods a habit. Remember, you really are what you eat – and you will feel it when you eat poorly.

Overloading on sports drinks. Drinks such as Gatorade and PowerAde contain calories. If you are trying to lose weight or maintain your weight, drinking water during a workout that lasts an hour or less is sufficient. Sports drinks are needed when you exercise for over an hour or when you exercise in the heat. Preferably continue to drink water, but you can choose low calorie options such as G2 and PowerAde zero.

Exercising on Empty. Do not plan a workout at 11 a.m. if you have not eaten since 7:00 a.m. Eat a low fat meal or snack that contains carbohydrate and protein about 1 hour before workout out. For example, fruit with yogurt, tortilla with veggies, or sandwich with salad.

Overeating because you exercise. You are putting time into exercise. Don’t waste that time by eating too much at the end of the day. Don’t forget to focus on food for a successful workout. Plan ahead so that you can get the most out of your workout. Healthy food + More Activity = A recipe for success.

Have a Happy & Healthy Day, Cheers :)

STOP Diet Sabotage

Here’s a million dollar question for you:
Why is it SO hard to diet?
Well, the answer is easy....We have issues! HaHa!
Seriously, we have 6 common issues, or situations we find ourselves in on a daily basis, that we need to learn to face WITHOUT food.

Boredom
Problem: One of the most common reasons people eat is out of pure boredom. This is most common in the evenings. It’s not like the world will come crashing down around us if we watch TV without a bowl of snacks, but for some reason we feel the need to feed as soon as our fat butts hit the couch. Think about this: 300 extra calories of junk a night is enough to ruin a 3-mile run – and if you aren’t working out, 300 extra calories a day for 365 days a year adds up to a whopping 30lbs of fat!
Solution: Snacking is just a bad habit. You have a learned behavior to entertain your tongue while you entertain your brain, and it probably started as a child. Fixing this bad habit is easy as saying your ABCs! A.) Go cold turkey, and teach yourself not to eat when you are bored. B.) Trade a bad habit with a good one, by learning how to eat lower calorie items instead. C.) Find something better to occupy your time, like going for a walk or going to bed early. People who stay up late watching TV have more time to be tempted. You may just be better off going to bed and getting your beauty rest.

Laziness
Problem: In my opinion, laziness is one of the primary reasons we have a restaurant on every corner. Often times we don’t feel like cooking after a hard day’s work. So, we eat out because it’s easy. We like to be served – who doesn’t?! We don’t have to cook and we don’t have to clean up afterwards. Another reason people are tempted to eat out, or eat poorly, is because we make it too difficult to eat healthy. Our meals may be too complicated and time-consuming, and our snacks may not be realistic for our needs. So, we a grab quick fix or head to our favorite restaurant.
Solution: If you simplify your recipes, cooking won’t seem so overwhelming. But, if you know cooking a meal means spending 45 minutes in the kitchen, slaving over the stove, you will probably do anything to avoid it. Always keep some foods that are quick to cook, like chopped vegetables and defrosted meats. You can have the best intentions at the grocery store, but you also have to make realistic choices you can actually use in the kitchen.

Impatience
Problem: We live in a world filled with instant gratification. We don’t like to wait for ANYthing, and this includes food. Being hungry makes us impatient. The hungrier we get, the more impatient we get – but patience wouldn’t be needed if we weren’t so hungry to begin with.
Solution: Hunger makes us stupid. Seriously, we do some of the dumbest things when we are hungry, so the solution to the problem is to avoid being that hungry to begin with. Keep healthy snacks, like a bag of almonds or a protein bar, nearby. So, when you get hungry, you can have a couple of bites of the bar to hold you off until you can eat something healthy. Better yet, snack periodically BEFORE you even start to get hungry to begin with. By the time lunch or dinner rolls around, you can make healthier choices - and think with your brain, instead of think with your stomach. 3 small meal and 3 snacks per day will keep your metabolism regulated and limit food cravings due to hunger.

Unpreparedness
Problem: This is probably one of my own biggest personal stumbling blocks. I do GREAT – as long as I’m prepared. But, as soon as I eat up all my healthy groceries, and no longer have healthy choices on hand, I am swayed to eat out...Luckily I don't hit up the local greasy chains but I do waste money on a quick fix of packaged salad and chicken.
Solution: Make grocery shopping and cooking a priority. Don’t let your kitchen run low on the things you need to eat healthy. It is impossible to eat healthy if you don’t shop healthy. Set 2 days a week you can cook in bulk so you always have prepared food in the refrigerator. Keep a good supply of Tupperware to make it easier to bring leftovers to work.

Emotional Satisfaction
Problem: We turn to food to satisfy our emotions. We eat when we have something to celebrate, and we eat when we have something to cry about. I don’t know why we turn to food to feed our emotions, but almost everyone does it.
Solution: We have to reprogram our brain. Some people have trained their body to want to go for a run when they are mad, or lift weights when they are stressed, but that didn’t just happen on its own. Those are trained behaviors, which you can also implement. At first, you’ll have to purposefully think of what the best response would be but, eventually, your body will catch on.

Exposure
Problem: When you have money in your pocket, it’s hard not to spend it – and, if you have food in front of you, it’s hard not to eat it. Allowing yourself to be in a position where you are constantly exposed to food, is a great way to set yourself up for failure.
Solution: First, tell friends about your goals and request fewer outings centered on food. Second, Avoid going to events hungry so you aren’t as tempted to eat poorly. Third, drink a LOT of water. Keeping a glass in your hand, and your belly full of H20, can help you resist nibbling. Lastly, learn to say no. The key to saying no is to not even think about it first. As soon as you entertain the thought of tasting something you have said “maybe” – and maybe is the beginning to saying “yes”.

If you want to succeed, you have to figure out which of these above problems could be holding you back. As soon as you diagnosis your problems, you can begin to tackle them and develop the right solutions for you. With a little trial and error, you CAN learn to face your issues withOUT the need to feed!

Have a Happy & Healthy Day, Cheers :)