8 Tips and Tricks To Start Your Fitness Journey

Are you just starting out on your fitness journey? We have 8 Tips and Tricks To Start Your Fitness Journey. First, I’ll share my fitness journey and relationship with my weight. Then I’ll proved 8 tips and tricks to start making healthy changes in your life.

My Fitness Journey

Since I was 8 years old I’ve struggled to maintain a healthy weight. My weight has fluctuated more times than I’d like to admit. I’m an emotional eater and eat a lot when I’m feeling depressed. My ideal physique seems to always eluded me.

My trouble spot is my stomach. I’ve always hated the way my stomach looked. The only exception was when I did The Whole 30 program. For 30 days I only ate whole foods and stopped eating processed foods, dairy, and sugar. I dropped two dress sizes and my stomach was as flat as it’s ever been. I didn’t worry about what I ate which was liberating.

However, as soon as the 30 days ended I slowly started eating unhealthy foods again.
A few years ago I went to the doctor and found that I put the 30 pounds that I lost 2 years prior back on. My doctor wasn’t concerned about my weight gain. However, I wasn’t happy with my weight or how I felt and looked.

Since then I’ve been lifting heavy weights consistently. It took more than a year but I lost 10% of my body fat. My arms and shoulders looked great and my legs are looking much better. I’ll admit that my nutrition isn’t perfect. I love to go out to restaurants and have drinks with friends. I learned that finding balance is one key factor for living a healthy lifestyle.

Here are a few of my strategies to help me get into shape.

Have Clearly Defined Goals

Establish a clearly defined goal so you can focus on hitting your target. Vague goals give vague results so you have to be very specific. My goal is to drop my waist size to 27.5 inches by September 8, 2020.

Using the word I am in your goals is a powerful for your subconscious. Review your goal twice a day. Writing positive affirmations is another way to retrain your brain.

Your goal may be to feel better or to drink more water. Whatever your goal is write it down, tell one person, and look at your goal 3 twice a day. The most important step is to take action towards your goal every day!

Take Fitness Photos

Using a scale to gage your fitness success is not ideal. Your weight will fluctuate daily based on water intake, food, and menstrual cycle. Using body measurements or full body photos twice a month works best for me. Over time you’ll see the changes in your body or measurements. It also makes for a cool before and after photo if you take photos.

Track Your Progress

Tracking your progress is a key morale booster when your feeling discouraged. You can track your measurements on any fitness app or in a journal. Keeping track of your progress also keeps you focused on your goal. If your goal is to fit in a size 8 dress then you know that you’ll need to be a certain measurement to be able to fit into that dress. Tracking your mood and how your clothes fit is another useful tool.

Find A Fitness Role Model

A majority of my workout ideas come from an Instagram post and Youtube channels that I follow. Here are a few of the girls that I watch and can hopefully get you on your way to a healthier lifestyle.

Nikki Blackketter- Gym Shark fitness model and Youtube Vlogger. 

Instagram: @nikkiblackketter

*Nikki is hilarious and started from the bottom and worked herself up to a successful businesswoman. She also has a line of fitness apparel called Nikki B Season 2 Collection. Go to www.gymshark.com for more information.

Whitney Simmons- Gym Shark fitness model and Youtube Vlogger.

*Whitney is a popular Youtube fitness motivator. She is just a regular girl who wanted to get herself in shape and is now is a Gym Shark fitness model. She has great ideas for workouts too.

Instagram: @whitneyysimmons

Fitness App: Alive by Whitney Simmons

Taylor Dilk- IFBB Bikini Pro

Instagram: @taychayy

*Awesome fitness tips and will through some tips on supplements and nutrition from time to time.

Track Your Macros

Lifesum is an app that I use to track my macros and log my exercise. I’ve used food tracking apps before but I love the layout and design. It’s so easy to use and even sends reminders to eat a snack! You can also track your measurements, weight, and find healthy recipes. I highly recommend that you use it.

Nutrition & Hydration Is Key

I absolutely hate meal prep! However, it’s important to have a plan for your meals or you will turn to unhealthy take-out food. I tend to eat the same thing so many times that I end up hating it. I ate tilapia so many times that now I can’t even look at it without feeling sick. So you’ll have to get creative with your meals.

I highly encourage you to use Pinterest for meal prep ideas and get Whole 30 book. It really changed my way of thinking and I couldn’t believe how easily the weight fell off my body. Most of my weight issues come from inflammation from eating foods that my body can’t process such as dairy, fried foods, etc. It also has wonderful recipes and colorful pictures.

Water is also critical to your success. You’ll need to drink at least a gallon of water a day. Start drinking water as soon as you wake up and have a glass before every meal. You’ll feel better, look better, and your body fat will go down.

Lift Heavy & Have A Plan

Don’t be afraid to lift heavier weights. Muscle is your best friend! Muscles helps to burn extra calories well after you workout. It also makes you look toned and youthful. Lifting weights should be challenging and you need to increase weight over time. I started out with 10 lbs for bicep curls and now I can curl 25 lbs. I love the way that my arms and shoulders look.

I also love lifting heavier weights then some of the men. It makes me feel powerful! Having a workout plan and changing it up on a regular bases is key. You can find plenty of at home workouts online or use Whitney Simms app Alive. These workouts will get your heart rate up! The length of the workouts varies and you can choose which workouts you want to do each day.

Be Consistent

Lastly, stay consistent with your workouts! Decide how many days a week that you’ll workout and stick to that schedule no matter what! It takes a long time to see results but you have to be patient. I didn’t start seeing results until a year after I started lifting heavy weights. I didn’t hit my goal but I was very impressed with how much muscle I put on and decrease in bodyfat.

I know you can do! Leave a comment below if your starting your fitness journey!