Marietta’s Top Ten Fit Tips

Hey readers! I love writing these fitness articles for you all. To celebrate ten years of Saline County Lifestyles, I wanted to share my personal top ten fitness tips.  I hope you can incorporate some of them into your lives, as we are all trying to be the healthiest version of ourselves.

1. Find a workout that you actually enjoy. Try a bootcamp class. If you hate bootcamp, find something you enjoy. I am convinced that many people do not like to work out because they simply have not found something they like to do. Keep trying new workouts until you find your thing.

2. Plan your meals ahead of time. I am not just talking about weeknight dinners. You need to sit down on Sunday and write out a schedule for every single thing you will eat the entire week: breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. You can cook healthful, low-calorie options on Sunday, and divide them into Tupperware containers. If that is overwhelming, there are now food prep businesses that specialize in low-calorie meals.

3. Log your calories into a journal to keep yourself knowledgeable and accountable for what you are eating (My Fitness Pal is a free app). Eat between 1,500-1,900 calories a day for weight loss, split between 3-5 meals. 2,000 calories a day for maintenance.

4. Find a workout accountability partner. To lose weight, you need to workout FIVE times a week for at least 30 minutes. The folks who have intentionally found a buddy to encourage them in their pursuit of getting healthy are the most successful at losing weight and actually keeping it off long term. When one of you tries to back out or sleep in, get in their face! They need that tough love in their life. You both have goals, and it is the role of accountability to keep you on track.

5. Ask a friend or your spouse to help you commit to staying on track with your food. Ask your food accountability partner to come over and prepare healthful meal options for the week. There will then be zero excuses for either of you since you’ll have both prepared in advance to stay on track with your weight loss goals. That goes for your kids, too! Don’t let them eat junk. You are forming and fostering bad habits in them that they will later have to conquer as adults.

6. Drink alllll the water. At least 80 ounces a day. It aids in your digestion, complexion and metabolism!

7. Invest in a fitness tracker. My personal favorite is the Apple Watch. It gives you three move goals a day: exercise, standing and calories burned through fitness. You can even track your friends’ activity to keep them accountable and respond with encouraging or funny comments to their completed workouts.

8. Do not let one cheat meal ruin your progress. Get back on track the next meal! Get back to your workouts. I’ve seen many let a bad day turn into a bad week. Before you know it, you’ve gained all your weight back and haven’t worked out in months.

9. Never compare your journey, progress or results to anyone else. In a workout class, do not worry about what the person next to you is doing; only worry about yourself. If you will stay focused and simply do what you can (even if you’re modifying the exercises) you will get stronger with every workout.

10. Trust the process. I say this over and over. Do five workouts a week. Eat 1,500-1,900 a day. People want a quick fix to their weight loss problems. It took time for you to gain the weight, so give yourself time to lose it.  Some months you might just lose 1 pound. That‘s okay! Big picture: in one year, that 1 pound a month is 12 pounds! Keep it up. It is not glamorous, but it works.

The results are SO sweet! I can attest to this. As of today, I’ve lost 60 pounds – after my third pregnancy.  These are my go-to tips. Try to work some or all into your life. I want this for you! I know you can do it. ν