Have you ever felt as though attempting to live a healthy lifestyle required as much work as a second job? Between the meal prep, the hours of exercise, waking up early, counting calories, getting 7 hours of sleep, it can be exhausting!

We, simply by human nature, are creatures of habit. Everything from how we style our hair to the meal we cook when we forgot to plan dinner, is done out of routine. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, habits are defined as “A settled tendency, or usual manner or behavior; an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary.” (1) You know which word sticks out to me most in that definition? Involuntary. The fact that our habits are actions we just DO, not actions we have to think about doing.

An easy way to simplify your health and fitness journey and cultivate a fat loss lifestyle is to create HABITS that align with the final goal you’re striving to reach.

No matter the goal, here...

Has your diet stopped working for you? I hear it all the time, I was doing this 90-day program or following that 21-day diet but now, months later, the scale won’t budge!

 You’ve cut out every unnecessary component, the milk in your coffee, the bread on your sandwich, the glass of wine on Friday nights, and you haven’t thought of a treat in months. You’re basically eating chicken and broccoli for every meal, right?

 OY!! I have been there too, if the almond milk was sweetened I would debate avoiding it for the “Extra sugars,” you know what I mean?

 Here is something you need to remember, weight loss and fat loss are two ENTIRELY different beasts. So, eating less and less, and cranking up your cardio doesn’t ultimately mean success.

3 reason why this could be happening...

  1. The diet is focused on weight loss.

Maybe you’ve had amazing success following your diet plan, lost a great amount of...

Maybe you were a competitive athlete in high school, but haven't trained in a few years. Maybe you have been doing home exercise programs for a while and need to  switch up your routine.

Regardless,  hitting the gym can be intimidating to say the least.

I didn't see the inside of a gym until my freshman year of college, and even still I stuck to the group fitness room and the back row of treadmills. The goal was to just get in and out and avoid public humiliation. If someone asked me, “Would you ever be a personal trainer, fitness instructor, or have no problem walking into the gym and making a fool of yourself.” I would have said, “NO WAY!”

Over the years, though, I have picked up a trick or two when maneuver the gym scene and have built up the confidence to go alone. Today, I want to share FOUR of the biggest strategies that helped me overcome the intimidation factor and get comfortable in the weight room.

1.  Go at an OFF Hour.

If...

Real results come from getting CLEAR on what it is you're working towards. Sure you can say "I want to lose weight," or "I want to be leaner," but at the end of the day, those are simply words. What you need is an action plan, so let's create one together! 

Habits are created from CLEAR goals.

How do we set clear goals? By getting SMART about our intentions!

Smart Goals stands for goals that are:

1. Specific (What EXACTLY do you want to achieve?)

2. Measurable (Put a concrete number or feeling with the goal, something measurable.)

3. Attainable (Ask yourself, is this a realistic goal I can achieve? Reach for the stars, but keep one foot on the ground.)

4. Relevant (Is this goal what you genuinely want to achieve? Does it makes sense to go after it NOW?)

5. Time - Based (Pick a date at which you aim to hit specific milestones. Even if you do not achieve them exactly as planned, you are actively making progress forward; which is still a success!)

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