12 Fitness Tips for a New You!

Whether you’re just getting started on your fitness journey or you’ve been away for awhile, it’s very easy to allow your enthusiasm to lead you down the wrong path. Even experienced fitness practitioners tend to make a series of very common mistakes.  Having and using the right exercise and nutrition information and maintaining proper motivation are all keys to long-term fitness success. Here are a few tips from my experince

Nutrition Tips

1. Did you know that when it comes to losing weight, nutrition or diet is more important than exercise?  If your body is being feed too much of the wrong things and/or not enough of the right things it will be extremely difficult to reach your goals no matter how much you exercise.

2. You should try to diet on as many calories as possible as opposed to as few. Not eating enough can stall your progress.  While overeating can cause you to gain weight, under-eating can keep you from losing it.

3. You can gain or lose weight on the same number of calories a day depending on where those calories are derived.  Certain foods or certain eating practices can cause your body to store calories a lot more readily than other foods or the correct eating practices.

4. It’s much better to eat 5-6 smaller meals a day than 2-3 large ones for ideal weight management.

Exercise Tips

5. Don’t try to go from doing nothing to doing everything.  The body can only change so fast.

6. Do only as much exercise as you need to do to improve as opposed to as much as you possibly can.

7. Too much cardio can cause a loss of muscle resulting in a slower metabolism making getting leaner more difficult and regaining lost weight more probable.

8. Lifting light weights for a lot of reps with light weights IS NOT the best way for a woman to workout if she is trying to lose weight.  It is quite difficult for most women to gain a lot of muscle so don’t be afraid of training and lifting as heavy as you can with proper form if you want to see the best results.

Motivation and Self-Belief

9. Believe in your own self importance and in the value of investing in yourself and the things you want.

10. Believe in the value of your goals and the things you will be able to do once they are accomplished for yourself and for others.

11. Believe in your ability to achieve all your goals.  No one can do it for you, but no one can stop you from doing it either.

12. Being physically fit won’t make you special, it simply allows you to bring out and better showcase the special qualities that you already have.

Good luck making this the best fitness year you’ve ever had!

Marcela