Ready, Set, Go! How To Get Motivated & Reach Your Fitness Goals
Getting healthier and in shape is one of the biggest struggles in most people’s lives. It’s just so hard to get started, and once you do, progress sometimes plateaus and that tends to discourage people from sticking to their plans.
That’s why it’s so important to start right. The great news is, you don’t have to wait until the New Year to start crushing your fitness and health goals. With the right tools and motivation, you can start now! But why should you take my advice? I’m a personal trainer for Aaptiv—a fitness company that produces motivating audio workouts set to amazing playlists—and a Certified Holistic Health Coach. I work with people to create their bespoke “roadmap to health.” I know that everyone’s path is unique, each with a unique set of challenges. Regardless of your health level, you can start wherever you are. Here are my top tips:
1. Set Great Goals
Make sure your goals are SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic/relevant, and time bound. Write out your long term goal—something that takes around six months to achieve—then, write out three three-month goals and three one-month goals that will help you on the way to the larger goal. Note what actions you will take to reach each of these short term goals as well. Checking off short-term goals will aid you in reaching your bigger, long-term goal.
2. Make a Commitment
Commit to joining a workout/nutrition program which lasts between 7-21 days. You can begin to change your entire lifestyle after repeating healthy measures for more than seven days. It takes 21 days to truly change or form a new habit. Once you see a difference in your body and/or you feel a positive change in your mind and body, you will want to continue implementing healthy changes and taking positive steps toward living a healthy lifestyle.
3. Eat Whole Foods
Purchase only foods that were once living—fresh or frozen produce (fruits and vegetables), animal/vegan protein sources, and nuts/seeds. If you don’t have junk food in the home, you cannot eat it. Only purchase foods that fuel your body and mind. Buy mostly vegetables, especially dark leafy greens, as these contain the most nutrients important in crowding out bad toxins which result in illness or disease.
4. Give Yourself The Right Tools
The best health advice that can be found is rarely new or trendy. In fact, the most common sense, old-school tips are often the most useful. Eating natural foods, like I said above, is nothing groundbreaking, but in this day and age can be quite hard to follow. It can also be tough to know what’s the best advice in a time where there seems to be a new health trend everyday, or a new must-eat food. However, by arming yourself with the right tools and information, you can make the best possible decisions for your health, regardless of what’s in. That’s why I love to read books about health and fitness. It augments my training with some of the best insights out there. Want to read some of my favorites? Well, why not try these:
You Are a Badass
by Jen Sincero
You Are a Badass
- 12 min reading time
- audio version available
You totally are! Jen Sincero’s great motivational book really shows you that you can do anything you set your mind to and start living life to the fullest!
The China Study
by T. Colin Campbell and Thomas M. Campbell
The China Study
- 10 min reading time
- audio version available
The China Study explores the connection between diet and disease in one of the largest nutritional studies ever undertaken. Some of the findings are truly life-changing!
The Miracle Morning
by Hal Elrod
The Miracle Morning
- 18 min reading time
- audio version available
The author of this book, Hal Elrod, changed his life around after a near-fatal car accident. In this book, he shares the simple ways that helped him through his recovery, and changed how he approached his health and his life.
The Power of Habit
by Charles Duhigg
The Power of Habit
- 27 min reading time
- audio version available
Habit is something that plays a big part in your health and fitness goals. If you’re in the habit of eating junk food, or of sitting down all day, making changes to your behavior is all the more difficult. This book spent over 60 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and is a really eye-opening read!
Small Move, Big Change
by Caroline L. Arnold
Small Move, Big Change
- 15 min reading time
- audio version available
Before you make plans for the huge goals you want to achieve, learn about the art of “microresolutions” that make it easier for you to take small steps towards big change!
Deep Nutrition
by Catherine Shanahan, M.D. and Luke Shanahan
Deep Nutrition
- 13 min reading time
- audio version available
It won’t surprise you that the modern diet is making people sick. This book will convince about my advice to eat only (or at least, mostly) whole food and avoid industrially processed substitutes.
Fast Food Nation
by Eric Schlosser
Fast Food Nation
- 18 min reading time
- audio version available
The fast food industry doesn’t just negatively affect our waistlines. Its focus on profit rather than nutritional value has a whole host of broader societal repercussions that are sometimes hard to comprehend.
What the Fork Are You Eating?
by Stefanie Sacks
What the Fork Are You Eating?
- 13 min reading time
- audio version available
Do you really know what you’re putting into your body? We trust food companies to provide us with healthy food, but hidden ingredients are often changing how we eat without us even realizing it.
Why Diets Make Us Fat
by Sandra Aamodt, PhD
Why Diets Make Us Fat
- 13 min reading time
- audio version available
Everybody knows that a crash diet is a bad idea, but did you know that following very restrictive diets can actually make you gain weight?! If you want to rethink your approach to food, health, and diet, then this is an essential book to read.
Alright, now you’ve got everything you need to get healthy and strong. So, what are you waiting for? If you need a little extra push, try out Aaptiv and get a special discount for Blinkist readers. Just follow this link and use the code BLINKIST30.
Ready? Set. GO!
