Stay Consistent With Your Fitness Plan
When it comes to making lifestyle changes, sometimes we can all be guilty of expecting to see overnight miracles with our physique.
Even those of you who are patient and dedicated to living a healthy active life can feel that your fitness results are not what they should be. If you don’t see or feel positive changes, don’t get frustrated. Let’s find out what may be holding you back.
Today I want to share with you some small but significant body improvement setbacks that you may not be aware of, so that you can truly maximize the benefits of continuing to live a healthy active life.
Find a protein balance: Many people don’t consume adequate amounts of protein. If you’re trying to adjust your body composition, getting the proper balance of nutrients and activity is essential. If you’re exercising a lot and lifting weights but not consuming enough of this ‘muscle-building nutrient,’ you risk breaking down lean muscle mass and sabotaging your muscle-building routine. For a 2,000 calorie daily diet, the FDA recommends 50 grams of protein for your everyday healthy eating habits.
Eat breakfast: If you skip this important meal, you may be preventing your body from performing at its best and fail to give it the start it needs.
Its name even indicates how important this meal is. Break-fast refers to breaking the fasting time that your body has endured while you were sleeping. If you know a little about the human body, you’ll know that while you sleep your body uses essential vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats and proteins to repair and rejuvenate itself.
Breakfast is considered by many professionals to be the most important meal of the day. Eating a healthy breakfast, especially one that is well balanced, fuels your body for the day ahead and can stop you from making poor diet choices throughout the day. So, try to make an effort to start your day with a nutritious meal.
Watch the hidden liquid calories: The number of hidden calories in drinks is shocking. Even I was disappointed to find out that my favorite mid-day coffee treat packed the same number of calories as a full meal. High sugar drinks provide you with way too many calories but do not fill you up, so you find yourself snacking on top of it. If you’re trying to lose weight, consider tracking all of the excess calories you’re drinking and replacing them with water.
There are so many little things that can hold us back from reaching our true potential. When you combine a few of these body sabotaging habits together, you can actually find yourself getting worse and not better. Making positive health changes for your body is about finding balance and being as consistent as possible with your healthy choices. If you find that your results have stalled or you’re not feeling as positive as usual, look into the reasons why instead of getting frustrated and quitting.
Skipping breakfast used to be one of my personal bad habits. I would blame my busy lifestyle as a mom of four, rushing off to work or simply not feeling hungry. But since correcting this habit, I can honestly share that I have optimized my body composition and I feel much more energized throughout the day.
Lift weights: If you’re not doing some form of resistance based exercise, it’s very difficult for your body to build lean body mass. Having lean mass is important if you want to reduce your body fat percentage. If you’re addicted to doing cardio-style exercise, that’s great. But if you want to get lean muscle, you must add in some form of weight training. If you really dislike lifting weights, opt for simple body weight exercises. Take your cardio training uphill, or sprint to promote muscle building.
Keep consistent with your workout routine: It’s consistency with exercise that will get you great results. So, if you find yourself skipping your trip to the gym, find ways to add exercise into your day at work. I believe that doing a little something each day is better than one big trip to the gym each week. Being active every day is the best way to promote sustainable body composition change.
You may feel like you’re trying your very best with healthy eating and your workout routine, but you’re not seeing or feeling any of the fitness results you hoped for. Maybe it’s time to look into some hidden reasons to improve your progression.