Earlier this week, I broke up with summer. We just weren’t good together. It seemed like a perfect fit at first, and then like all bad relationships, it spiraled out of control fast.
I’ve spent the last four days recommitting to the healthy lifestyle that makes me feel and look good by implementing my 5 strategies for a fast fitness reset. Today, I’m going deeper and showing you the next steps to help make forward progress and accelerate your results.
Keep doing what we started together earlier this week, and add in these secrets for success. It can seem overwhelming at first, but as you start eating healthier and increasing your activity, you’ll have more energy to do more things. (Honestly. That’s how this whole blog got launched!)
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5 More Strategies for Success on Your Fitness Journey
1. Log everything you eat. Yes, everything. This is my top strategy for staying on track with healthy eating and keeping weight off. After one full year of logging every single thing I ate, I decided to take a break from the food log this summer. I wanted to see if I could handle the freedom.
The answer, definitively, is no. This summer has made that abundantly clear. For me, having to write everything down is an incentive to stay motivated and on track. I think twice about that handful of Teddy Grahams if I know I have to add it to my food journal. It seems less worth it somehow.
How you log is up to you. I use a spreadsheet that I keep on my phone. Before that, I used pen and paper to jot it all down. Many people have great success with apps like MyFitnessPal, which can track calories or macros and visually chart your progress. I found MyFitnessPal to be overwhelming instead of motivating, so I switched to a simple spreadsheet. I log my food after every meal because even the simple action of logging it gives me an alternative to eating more. You could also choose to log everything at the end of the day before bed, as a debriefing for the day.
No matter how you log it, at the end of the day, review the log to see where you made positive choices and where you might have room for improvement. Look at the log weekly to see if there are patterns that you can work to change. Food logging, though time-consuming, has been eye-opening to my subtle eating nuances that I wouldn’t have noticed otherwise.
2. Spend time on the weekends meal prepping. I work full-time so the reality of working-mom life is that if it doesn’t happen on Saturday or Sunday, it’s not happening this week – period. That means I need to meal prep all weekend long. Don’t be overwhelmed thinking that I’m cooking for 8 hours each day. I’m definitely not. But I am chopping vegetables, assembling ingredients, packing lunches and snacks, and making at least one meal (with planned leftovers!) for the week ahead. I just don’t have a lot of time in the evening to be cooking full meals, so I do a lot of reheating Monday through Friday. The downside to this strategy is that the kitchen is a disaster zone by Sunday night. But at least I can eat healthy during the week to come.
3. Find routines that work for you and stick with that. Once you’re planning regularly, you’ll naturally find routines that you prefer. Do you like to work out in the morning? No matter how much I want to, I snooze my alarm for those 5:30 AM classes nine times out of 10. It just doesn’t work for me. But I don’t mind working out at 8:00 PM after the kids have gone to bed. An 8 o’clock class lets me get my sweat in while eliminating the inevitable mom guilt associated with missing bedtime.
Grocery shopping is another key routine to set. Because I’m no longer exciting, I use my Friday nights to grocery shop. I plan and make a list on Friday afternoon, then go to the store on Friday night after the kids are asleep. It’s off my plate before the weekend, and the house is restocked so I can do meal prep tasks on both Saturday and Sunday. This is key for me balancing work and life. If I weren’t grocery shopping on Friday night, I’d probably be binge-watching Netflix on the couch with a glass of wine, so this activity is a win on multiple levels.
4. Determine what keeps you accountable. Would it surprise you to know that I’m not very intrinsically motivated? It’s hard to keep myself on track; I thrive on external pressure and positive reinforcement. Because of this, I learned this summer that I need something or someone to keep me accountable. This blog helps: I can’t share my tips for success with you but not practice what I preach.
Find an accountability buddy, or an online accountability pod, or a support group, or a personal trainer – whatever motivates you, helps you achieve your goals, and holds you accountable. Sometimes just texting a friend is enough. Sometimes a program with structured weigh-ins and individualized coaching is what you need. I’ve learned I need structure and prefer to have someone else “in charge” rather than relying solely on myself. Though I might be technically capable of doing it on my own, I prefer not to because I’m better with other people. You’ll figure out the balance of what you need for success too.
5. Set incremental goals and celebrate with non-food-based rewards. The best way to meet a goal is to break it down into a series of mini-goals. They are less overwhelming and easier to accomplish. Then, when you meet that goal, reward yourself! You’ve worked hard and you earned it. But on a fitness journey, a reward can’t very well be a slice of Portillo’s chocolate cake, so brainstorm non-food-based rewards. My favorites are spa treatments like a pedicure or a massage; beauty products like a face mask or new make-up; workout gear (you honestly can never have too many tights); fun accessories, or other clothing items. If you lose weight or tone up and need a smaller size, celebrate that huge accomplishment with an outfit that makes you feel as hot as you look.
If you missed my fast ways to reset after a setback, give it a quick read and start adding those suggestions into your daily routines as well.
Remember that fitness is a learning process. Many of the strategies I come back to again and again started with the strong foundation I learned in the FIT4MOM Body Back Transformation program. I have completed so many 8-week Transformation sessions with FIT4MOM DuPage County now that I’ve actually lost track. This program was the jumping-off point for my fitness journey and I wouldn’t be where I am to today without everything I learned from the program. Find out more about the magic of Body Back with my blog series or locate your nearest FIT4MOM franchise for schedules and details.
I need motivation and accountability just as much as the next mama! Share your own progress with #NeverDoneWithFun on social media so we can support each other and learn from our missteps (trust me, I make them too).
