23/01/2019
We are a few weeks into 2019 and the dust has started to settle on the New Year resolutions. Many of us tend to set out health and fitness related goals e.g. join a gym, train more often, change up your eating habits, lose x number of kilos, run a 5k etc. and that’s great! Some of you might be sticking to your guns and it’s going well so far, others might be starting to wane or have given up already. If you have given up there’s nothing to stop you from starting again. Regardless of which of those descriptions you fit into here are 5 pieces of advice I offer to anyone pursuing a health and fitness goal in 2019:
1️⃣ CALORIES 😋 – Regardless of what your goal is e.g. weight loss, muscle gain, performance, fitness etc. your diet is the most fundamental part to your success or failure and your calorie intake is the basis to this. If you want to lose weight you will need to be in a calorie deficit and if you want to put weight on you will need to be in a calorie surplus. Before you start taking specific macros, meal timing, certain foods, supplements etc. into consideration make sure you are hitting your calories consistently. If you can’t do that then don’t add all the above to the list of things to worry about and focus on nailing your calories! If you have been consistent with your calories for a few weeks then you can probably look into macros in more depth. If you want to work out your calories just read this post I put up:
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1933125806971591&substory_index=0&id=1862435077373998&ref=bookmarks
2️⃣ ARE YOU TRAINING EFFICIENTLY FOR YOUR GOAL? 🤔 – For example, if your goal is to lose a bit of bodyfat and get lean, then stay away from endless hours of cardio followed by a quick set on a weights machine and finish off with a 5 minute ‘fat burning’ ab circuit that your favourite Insta fitspo posted. Or if you want to get bigger and stronger then refrain from training small muscle groups in isolation and skipping leg day. You want get the most out of your training time so make sure your training is effectively and efficiently going to help you reach your end goal. If you don’t know what that is or how to do that then there are many coaches and trainers who would be willing to help. We are all different, so what worked for someone else may not work for you.
3️⃣ HAVE A PLAN AND TRACK YOUR PROGRESS 📈📝 – This will give you a bit of direction, allow you to keep yourself accountable and help you stay on track. If you go into a new week knowing what you have to do in terms of training, i.e. number of days you will train and what you will do each day, it’s going to make your life so much easier. Choose things to track other than just your weight as this can fluctuate and isn’t always a good indicator of how your training is going, especially for women, weight can be extremely variable during the month. Instead, choose to track how much more weight you lift, how many more reps you can do or how much faster your 1 mile run has gotten. This can also work for nutrition; doing your shopping with a plan or prepping your meals ahead, will save time and money and you’re less likely to make worse nutrition choices if you know what you’re going to make or already have the meals ready. There is so much more to training and life than the scales (unless you’re a boxer or weightlifter who needs to be under or over a certain weight for a competition).
4️⃣ PATIENCE AND CONSISTENCY ARE 🔑– Quick fixes often do more long-term harm than good. If you want results that will last, you will have to put the work in for it. If you can manage to consistently stick to your trackable goals, you will see results, maybe not instantly but inevitably hard work does pay off. It might be hard but nothing worth having comes easy. You’re not going to get very far by giving up!
5️⃣ HAVE FUN AND ENJOY THE PROCESS 💪😄 – The gym shouldn’t be a chore, it should be something to look forward to and if it does feel like a bit of a chore then try changing things up. Of course, you should try to get better at things that you may not necessarily like e.g. burpees, however, don’t forget to include stuff you enjoy! Ways to make the process more fun include having a training partner to share the journey with, take part in a group class or hire a coach who will keep things interesting for you. As mentioned previously, if you stay consistent you will see results and then once you start seeing results the process will become more rewarding and enjoyable.
If you got this far thanks for reading and I hope these tips help you smash your health and fitness goals in 2019! 💪 If you have any other questions or need any further assistance then feel free to get in touch. Don’t forget to share or tag anyone you think this would help and, as always, happy training!
A.D.P.
