“Discipline, is remembering what you want.” ~Jim Rohn
Losing weight is simple: burn more calories in a day than you consume. The suggestions I have below require discipline and hard work. You have to choose if you value looking and feeling good over eating what you want all the time. You can get into the best shape of your life in 3 months, you just have to decide you’d like to. When you’re tempted to veer of your plan, remember the outcome you desire and it will help you stay disciplined. Here are some tips I’ve learned over the past 5 years that have helped me get into the best shape of my life:
Photo Courtesy of Everydayhealth.com
1.) Schedule Exercise in Your Calendar and Don’t Miss it – Put it on the calendar. I’d recommend 5-6 days a week. Too busy? I saw a cartoon once of a doctor asking a patient, “What works better on your schedule, working out 1 hour a day or being dead 24 hours day?” Again, if your physical health and fitness is a priority to you, you’ll make it happen.
2.) Remember that the Best Workout is the One You’ll Do – For me, it’s P90x. For you it might be going to the gym, Zumba, Pilates, Chalene Extreme, or Insanity. If you haven’t found a workout you love, keep trying different types. You’ll eventually find one you can’t live without!
3.) Get an External Force – Henry Cloud says, “Where your maturity isn’t good enough to sustain you, bring in an external force!” For me, it’s P90X! It does my thinking for me! It provides a workout that I can go through without thinking. It gives me a nutrition plan to follow! It makes living a healthy and fit life easy, I couldn’t do it on my own! This also includes an accountability partner! Who is going to hold you accountable to working out and eating right?
4.) Track Your Calories – On smartphones and the internet you can track your calories. Track them so you know how much you’re actually consuming. Then learn how many calories you actually need to consume, and create a plan to only consume that amount or less. I personally use MyNetDiary.
5.) Have Someone That Can Tell You the Truth that You’ll Listen To – I did P90x for 2 years and thought I was in the best shape of my life. My future father in law came to me and told me that if that was my goal, I wasn’t even close to it achieving it! That changed my life. We need people to tell us whether or not we’re actually hitting our goals, not just pampering us to make us feel better.
6.) Don’t Pay Attention to a Scale – Instead, take pictures of yourself twice a month, see if you look any different.
7.) Stop Dieting – They are not sustainable. You want to create a healthy lifestyle that you can live by all the time, not just for a season.
8.) Use the 80/20 rule when eating – Eat good 80% of the week, Enjoy the other 20%! If you can, go 90/10!
9.) Plan Out and Pack Your Meals for the Day – Once you discovered how to eat healthy. Shop for the right foods and pack all of your meals for an entire day in the beginning of the day!
10.) Stop Drinking Pop (Even Diet!) – Pop is horrible for you, whether it’s diet or not doesn’t matter. Stop! Drink your water people!
11.) Get Educated – Read and study! Find a nutrition plan that you can understand and follow! The more you know, the better the quality of decisions you’ll make!
Thoughts?
If this post helped you and you believe it could help others, please share it on Facebook, Twitter, Stumble Upon, and the other social media sites listed below. Also, I would love to hear your thoughts on this post. Consider leaving a comment below! Thank you!
