Days, months, years have gone by and you still can’t seem to get rid of that stubborn belly. Despite your efforts to exercise and eat healthy you haven’t made any progress. What gives?! Why is your plan not working? Read on and I’ll tell you why…

The cause of your problem may be  something you’ve overlooked completely.  Nutrition, exercise and stress all play a huge part of the equation. The issue is how you go about navigating your nutrition that’s holding you back. 

Simply, eating healthy is not always enough. The devil is in the details. I’ll explain.

Problem # 1…You don’t track your food. Without knowing what you’re consuming on a daily basis it’s hard to facilitate any significant change. You can make what you think are healthy choices but do you really know how many grams of carbs or calories are in that morning bagel w/ cream cheese and your coffee with half and half or almond milk? How about the burrito you had for lunch. You figure it’s just ground beef, cheese and some veggies…how bad can it really be? That’s exactly the problem. You don’t know!

Here’s your solution. It’s time to start tracking your food. Today is the perfect day to start and It’s simple to do. Download an app like Cronometer or My Fitness Pal. Plug in what you eat throughout the day including the portion sizes to the best of your ability. You will come up with a roundabout number of your total daily macros and calories for the day. Do this for 1 week and you will have all the data you need to properly assess your diet. Aim to make at least 80% – 90%  of your diet healthy foods. 

Problem # 2…You’ve been doing the same lame workout for far too long. If your week consists of a few “Go-To” workouts where you do the “usual”. The movements, weights and/or intensity have been the same for months on end you can’t expect to create change. You’ve got to continue to challenge your body in order for it to adapt. 

Here’s your solution. Start writing out your workouts in your phone or in a journal. This will help hold you accountable to whether you’re making progress in your workouts or not. You should be recording your sets, reps and weights. Each workout you need to set an intention. It can be resistance based, time based or reps based. A resistance based goal is to add 5 or so more pounds to the movement every week or every other week granted you maintain great form. A time based goal is to complete your workout in a given time. Then you try to beat that time in each successive workout or every 2nd or 3rd workout of course while you focus on great form. A reps based goal is pushing to accomplish more reps with the same weight in each successive workout while maintaining great form.  By following one of these formats, progress will surely come. 

Problem # 3…You have not created and written down meaningful, audacious fitness goals for yourself. Without a set destination, you are sure to go nowhere. 

Here’s your solution. Write down S.M.A.R.T. goals. Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-based. 

– Specific: How many pounds of fat do you need to lose? ( “I will lose 40 lbs of fat”)

– Measurable: You must be able to use a metric to measure it. (lbs, inches etc.)

– Attainable: Make sure your goals are challenging but possible.

– Realistic: Take progressive baby steps toward your goals. It’s not smart to go from sedentary to a full ironman the next day.

– Time Based: Create a by when. (“I will accomplish this goal by a given date”)

 By tracking your food, writing down your workouts and creating smart goals you’ll be set up for success on the journey to your fitness goals.  Consistency is king so make sure your plan is sustainable. 

If you want to learn more about what constitutes healthy foods, then keep track of your inbox I’ll be posting about this soon 🙂

Take the next step and get in contact with me to help jumpstart your fitness and nutrition goals.

Until next time, Be Relentless!