03 Jan 5 Ways to Get Back in Shape

The New Year is off and running.  Are you? You may have a new resolution in order.  As a matter of fact, most people have “lose weight” OR “start exercising” as there big New Year’s resolutions already.  You already know this, but resolutions don’t typically work.  But, goal setting and forming new habits, does work.  Here’s 5 things you can do right now to get started toward getting in your best shape ever.

1. Get Clear on What You Want. The first step is to get your mind in the right state. What I mean by this is to determine your goals and your plan of attack.  What is it you specifically want to accomplish?  Why?  How will you do it?  Get clarity on what is is you want and be specific, not just “get in good shape again.”  What the heck does that mean?  If you want to lose 10 lbs, decrease your body fat by 2-4%, decrease your waist size by 2 sizes, whatever it is, be clear and objective.  Have realistic time frames set, as well.  The clearer you are on “what, why, and how”, the more likely you can track, measure, and adjust as necessary.  Vague goals provide vague results.  Get clear and go after it with a vengeance this year.  Track your weight, circumferences, and/or body fat percentages.  Track your progress with photos, they tell the story and they don’t lie.  Log your workouts, log your nutrition. Track everything.
2. Start a Daily Success Ritual. This may be a key for you.  Forming a new daily success ritual or morning routine, for example, can be something that radically changes your life.  Are you making the most productive use of your mornings right now?  How can your morning productivity be increased?  Do you exercise in the morning and are you getting in a nutrition dense breakfast?  Whether you use the mornings to exercise, meditate, or start off with proper nutrition, a proper morning routine or daily success ritual could be the “difference maker” for you.  Take a look at your mornings and determine if you can improve that time to make better use for your health and well being.  Exercise, fuel your body, stretch, or think.  Do it for 30 days and you’ve got yourself a new habit and a new “daily success ritual.”
3. Eat for Performance. As I just mentioned with fueling your body, it’s essential you get in the right foods at the right times.  Arguably, breakfast, pre-workout, and post-workout meals may actually be the 3 most important meals of the day.  Now, if you’re exercising the in morning, then you breakfast and pre-workout meals are the same.  But, it is essential that these 3 meals be incorporated into your daily regimen, especially if you are exercising consistently.  Why?  I believe breakfast, for most people, has great benefits in fueling your body for the day.  To start off with a nutrition dense breakfast can set the tone for the day, with your energy and performance, although I know some people have difficulty eating breakfast.  Pre and Post workouts meals and nutrition are equally important, if not more important. Would you take a trip on an empty tank of gas?  Heck no, man!  It’s the same with exercise, you’ve got to fuel up, before you get it going, otherwise you’ll run out of steam quickly and that won’t do a heck of a lot for you workouts.  Post workout meals and nutrition is key for increasing protein synthesis, minimizing muscle damage, restoring muscle glycogen, and improving immune function, to name a few.  Theses are 3 critical meals to maximize for your energy and performance.
4. Cut Your Carbs. Typically, most Americans consume too many carbohydrates in their diets. Unfortunately, it’s easy to do, given all of the foods with have at our convenience.  However, too many carbs can quickly lead to too much extra weight gain.  I have nothing against carbs, other than the fact that we consume too much and eat them at the wrong times.  Try shaving your carb intake down to 150 grams or less, for fat loss and see how you do.  I’m pretty sure the pounds and belly fat will diminish and you’ll actually feel a whole lot better too.  This is too big a topic to discuss here, but to get in good shape, carb reduction is a key player.  Much more to come on this topic, in the future, but avoid all the processed carbs you possibly can and you’ll be significantly better off.
5. Train Smart. Finally, some good training advice.  Do you think you need to train for 60-90 minutes 5-6 days a week to get in great shape?  No, you do not.  You have to do your cardio and resistance training separately, right?  No, you do not. You have to do a lot of long cardio exercise to burn the most fat, right? No, you do not.  I think you get the point.  There are many other training methods that combine resistance training and cardio training together to get great results in less time.  Am I saying it’s a short cut and it’s easy?  Absolutely not, there are no short cuts or “easy ways” to get in great shape, but there are smart ways, such as Metabolic Resistance training or Interval Training, for example.  For more information on this, see a previous post I did, click here.  By the way, Kettlebells are a GREAT example of this type of short, high intensity training that combines cardio and resistance training in one.  If you’ve been reading my stuff, I know you already knew that though.

Well, there you have it.  5 great ways to get in great shape, starting now.  There will be much more details coming on all of these topics.  That’s it for today, hope this year is off to a great start for you so far.

If you’re just getting started again with your exercise and nutrition, remember, commit to your new change for atleast 30 days to make it stick!!!  Focus on 1 habit at a time for the best success.

Best in Health and Live Smart…Scott