Heads up: This post was sponsored by Meijer, where you can find all kinds of products to help you meet your health and fitness goals, whether or not they’re New Year’s Resolutions 🙂
Let me just get one thing straight: I don’t do New Year’s resolutions. When I want to start doing something or make a life change, I do it as soon as it makes sense to do it. Toward the end of law school, I realized I was totally out of shape, so I started my fitness journey a few days after taking the Bar Exam in July 2014. That was my “new year.” Starting new habits on January 1 seems high-pressure and arbitrary at the same time! But I know a lot of you probably have health and fitness goals for 2016, so this seems like a good time to share my wisdom. If you’re anti-NYR like me, feel free to save this for later. 😉
Find a good reason to start. Thinking you’re ugly or fat and need to be skinny to find a boyfriend or a job is not a good reason. Not wanting to die of heart disease or diabetes before you see your kids get married is a good reason. For me, being a former dancer who now felt worn out climbing 2 flights of stairs was pretty depressing, but also a wake-up call.
Find motivation. A photo of a Victoria’s Secret model is not good motivation. A photo of yourself at your best is good motivation, and it’s something you know you can achieve. Or you can always go with the old fit-into-your-skinny-jeans trick. My motivation was knowing that I had just survived law school, and I wanted to be as strong physically as I felt mentally.
At the bottom of my 30th pushup on my 30th birthday last August. I’m hoping my form will be better by my 31st!
Be aware of what you’re eating. For many years, I paid basically no attention to what I was eating, just falling back on my good metabolism and the fact that I’ve never been one to clean my plate. I started by finding out a basic estimate of how many calories my body needs to function, and then I downloaded the Myfitnesspal app to help me track what I ate. That in itself was really helpful because it meant I had to look at the nutrition facts of everything I ate. Then I found easy snack and meal options that I can always keep on hand. I’m not much of a cook or meal prepper, so I’m all about the pre-packaged stuff! As long as you look out for hidden sugar and sodium, there are plenty of good options out there. I’m a fan of anything that comes in bar form because they keep forever, they’re portable, and they fulfill my sweet tooth.
These are a great afternoon snack when I’m at work because they’re under 200 calories and they mix salty and sweet! My other favorite snacks are Yoplait 100 Greek yogurt, hard boiled eggs (you can buy them pre-made!), apple slices, cheese slices, and popcorn.
I usually work out right after work or first thing on weekend mornings, and I like to eat a protein bar about an hour beforehand so I have energy but my stomach doesn’t feel full.
Make sustainable changes. I have never been a gym person, and I’m still not. I used to go to the small “gym” at my old apartment complex, but I had to force myself so I never got in the habit. In August of 2014 I went to my first Pure Barre class, and I’ve been hooked ever since. The first class was incredibly rough, but instead of being discouraged, I was motivated to get stronger so it wouldn’t be so hard! I’m not saying everyone will love barre classes, but I think there’s something out there for everyone, and you have to find what you actually want to do. Diet wise, cutting out carbs for life is just ridiculous if you ask me. Cutting out anything you love, really, is just setting yourself up for failure. I’ve gotten in the habit of eating super light and healthy during the day so I can still go to great restaurants or indulge in wine and dessert on a regular basis. I jokingly call this my “balanced diet.” 😉
Educate yourself. Just because a “fitness guru” says something doesn’t make it gospel. Detoxing is achieved through having normal kidney function, not through drinking juice. Gluten doesn’t make you fat. You can’t magically get abs from doing situps, and tricep pushups don’t “melt away” bat wings. You can’t exercise away a bad diet. There are tons of great resources out there to help you with a diet and/or exercise regimen, but read everything skeptically and do your research. Not all advice applies to everyone and some advice is just plain wrong.
Keep improving. I don’t mean you should keep losing weight or gaining muscle forever, because that’s obviously not healthy either. But focusing on different aspects of your well being will help keep you from becoming complacent and falling back into old habits. I’m happy to say I finally started going back to dance classes a couple months ago, and I’m trying to drink more water because I’ve never been good about that.
I’ve read that filling up a big water bottle everyday helps you remember to drink more H2O, so that’s my latest goal. We’ll see how it goes! I can also track water intake on my Myfitnesspal app.
I know no one likes taking diet and fitness advice from someone who still wears a size 2 when she’s “out of shape,” but trust me when I say that skinny does not equal healthy. The difference between my before and after photos might be subtle, but I’m really proud of the changes I’ve made over the past year and a half. If you’re starting or continuing your own fitness journey, I’m rooting for you!
