Your Ideal Form

Helping you on your journey to your best self!

Audrey D

Setting Successful Weight Loss Resolutions

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Setting Successful Weight Loss Resolutions

It’s that time of year again. And with the year this has been, this year cannot come to a close too soon. Bring on the New Year and the Resolutions! Let’s look at steps we can take to make our resolutions a success for the entire year, and not just a January kind of thing.

The Process

Firstly, it is important to focus on the PROCESS, not just the results. While weight loss is a goal that is certainly completely within your control, some others are not. For example, let’s say your resolution was to get a raise. A better resolution would be to make it a goal to call 10 customers every day. Unless you are your own boss, you have no say in whether you get a raise or not. The economy could tank, the company you work for could lose an important contract, or you could get a new boss who just doesn’t like you. You can’t do anything about that. But you can make those calls every day and by doing so make more sales, and likely increase your chances of getting that raise. Similarly, you want to pinpoint those habits that, when done consistently, will be the most likely to help you reach your ultimate goal, and then resolve to do those actions with discipline.

The SMART Formula

These habits should also follow the SMART formula of being Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. So instead of saying “I’m going to eat better”, follow the formula. “I am going to eat 2 servings of fruits and vegetables every day.” You can measure whether or not you’ve eaten those 2 servings or not. You can’t really measure the ambiguous “better”.

The Method

There are two methods for creating change in our lives. It’s a bit like getting into a swimming pool that has water that’s a bit chilly. One method is the jump right in method. You go all the way all at once, getting it done and over with. This method can work well for some people, but for others, it simply leads to failure when they try to take on too much change all at once. If you go from not doing any exercise to deciding to CrossFit 5 times a week, you’re going to get VERY sore and likely quit. The other method involves dipping in your feet, and once you get comfortable, get in up to your knees, and then up to your thighs and so on. As a resolution, it might look something like this: January – write down all meals in a journal. February – track foods eaten in an app that calculates calories for you. March – start measuring your meals to get a more accurate calculation of what you are taking in. April – calculate your TDEE and start slowly lowering your intake to get below that number. May – lower your intake more if necessary, or add in some exercise. And so on.

The Why

Another important component of success with resolutions, New Year’s or otherwise, is to constantly remind yourself WHY you are doing this in the first place. The stronger your reasons, the more likely you are to stick with it when things get hectic. Visualize what a successful outcome will look like for you. Is it looking good on your wedding day or in a swimsuit? Is it being able to play with your children and keep up with them? Is it being able to get pregnant and have a child without being stressed out about potential complications due to excess weight? Is it not feeling ashamed when going or eating out? Imagine yourself at your ideal form. What is different? What is your life like? That is your WHY. That needs to stay forefront in your mind each and every day. You can give yourself reminders with sticky notes on your mirror, a Pinterest motivation board, daily journaling or even meditation. But it is so important to keep your reason for reaching your goal present, to really keep yourself motivated to stick to the habits you resolved to achieve on January 1st!

To Change Your Body, You Must Change Your Mind

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to-change-your-body-first-you-must-change-your-mind

Change always must start in the mind. If you don’t change how you think about something, then you can’t possibly change your actions. If you don’t change your mind to believe you can achieve your goals, then you won’t ever be able to. If you don’t change how you view food, you won’t be able to make healthier choices. If you don’t make that decision to be disciplined about exercise, you’ll never be able to get that body you want. What aspect of health and fitness do you struggle with? Could a change of mind help you overcome that roadblock?

If you wanna be somebody else
If you’re tired of fighting battles with yourself
If you wanna be somebody else
Change your mind
– Sister Hazel

Nobody Cares About Your Excuses

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nobody-cares-about-your-excuses

Some tough love for you today. Excuses are going to get you nowhere. No one can do the work for you, you have to do this yourself, for yourself. At the end of the day, it’s just you inside your own head. Do you want to look back on the day with satisfaction, or regret that you could have done better but didn’t? That cute outfit you want doesn’t care about your excuses, it’s not going to just magically look good on you. Your kids don’t understand your excuses when they want you to play with them but you can’t keep up. While we can all wish that people didn’t make snap decisions, first impressions DO matter, and excuses won’t help you catch a date with that cute someone you’ve had your eye on. So cast off your excuses and take steps toward reaching your goal today!

Are you weighing yourself wrong?

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Are You Weighing Yourself Wrong

When weighing yourself to get a measure of your progress, it is important to get accurate data so that you can make an informed decision on whether to change up your game plan. Let’s take a look at four common mistakes that are often made when stepping on the scale.

1. Weighing in too often

Weight fluctuates drastically over the course of the day. Try weighing yourself before and after going to the bathroom to see one example of a difference. As we eat and drink and go about our day, our weight changes. Trying to weigh multiple times a day can just lead to frustration, or at the least, confusion. Weight also fluctuates day to day. Maybe you had a large meal and are retaining water. Maybe your cycle is about to start. Weighing in too often can lead to discouragement when the scale jumps up and down constantly.

2. Not weighing in often enough

Conversely, you don’t want to go for long periods without checking in on your progress. You want to make sure you are on the right path, and not accidentally veering off course. Periodic check ins will let you know whether or not you need to make any changes to your diet.

3. Not being consistent

It is important to be consistent in how you weigh yourself so that you can get data that accurately represents where you are. If you tend to eat more on weekends, and one week you weigh in on a Friday after a week of diligently sticking to your diet, and one week you weigh in on a Monday after a big family meal the previous day, you’re going to get vastly different results. Pick a day and time and stick with it. Since I tend to program in a “cheat day” into my diet plan, I weigh myself first thing in the morning on that day after going to the bathroom, but before eating or drinking anything. Also, if you can, be sure you are wearing the same clothes when you weigh yourself. Ideally, just weigh yourself completely naked to eliminate any variables. If you prefer to weigh in less often than once a week, choose the same time each month to account for any bloating around your cycle. If you prefer to weigh in daily, measure yourself at the same time each day. Also, there are apps available that will track daily weigh-ins, but give you an average of what your weight is doing, so that if one measurement spikes up, you can still see that the trend is moving downward.

4. Relying solely on the scale

Don’t forget to measure yourself in other ways too! You can take some pictures to compare to how you looked months ago. You can try on some old clothes to see how they fit. You can also get out the measuring tape to see if you’ve lost some inches. The scale is merely a tool, and only one of many that you have available to you!

Sweat is Magic

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Confession time: I am a total HGTV home renovation show junkie. It is amazing to watch as they take this dilapidated house, rip it apart, and rebuild it into the buyers’ dream home. It takes a LOT of work though. And they often run into some problems along the way. But in the end, it’s always worth it.

The same can be said for building our dream bodies. It would be nice if a genie would appear and just grant us our wishes. Until that happens though, we’ll need to supply the magic of hard work ourselves to achieve our goals. It doesn’t matter if your goals are fitness, relationship, or financially oriented, the greatest indicator of success is your willingness to put in the effort required. That “sweat equity” you put in makes your success all that much sweeter.

Should You Workout if You’re Feeling Sick?

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I did not go to the gym on Monday. Normally, I really prefer to go on a Monday morning. I feel that it sets the tone for the whole week – starting things off on the right foot as it were. But I didn’t go. I didn’t go because the cold that has been threatening and looming over my head for what feels like months finally decided to make its presence known in force on Sunday. So I decided to rest instead. This time, it was the right call. I slept in, and woke up on Monday morning feeling better, if still congested.

That said, there have been times where I’ve been sick and I’ve gone and worked out anyway. I’ve found that going for a run outside when it’s cold out and I’ve got a head cold sounds like a horrible idea, but between the weather and the exercise, it does wonders for my sinuses.

So how do you know whether you should rest or power through when you’re feeling a bit under the weather? Here are some tips:

  1. Do NOT exercise if you have a fever. Just don’t. Get some fluids and go back to bed.
  2. If your symptoms lie above your neck: sniffling, sneezing, nasal congestion, some light cardio can help clear out the pipes some.
  3. If you have symptoms in your lungs: chest congestion, a “wet” cough, wheezing, then you are better served by resting; exerting yourself will just exacerbate your symptoms.
  4. Listen to what your body tells you. If you feel achy and absolutely miserable, REST! If you are feeling stubborn and refuse to feel sick, and feel “okay” except for that one nagging symptom that just will not go away, then feel free to get in a workout, but try to keep it light and easy.
  5. Wipe down EVERYTHING. If you do hit the gym, be sure to wipe down any equipment you touch with anti-bacterial wipes (your gym should provide these) so you don’t spread your germs to anyone else!

Hopefully you’ll be back to normal in no time! If you’ve got a question about working out while ill, or anything else, let me know!