18 small changes that add up

deciding to get healthy and/or fit can seem like a monumental decision. like you have to do an entire remodel on your life in order to make it work. but that is definitely not the case. 

making the decision to eat healthy or exercise should never be a quick fix. anything that's telling you that you'll get to your goal and be on your merry way in 30 days is absolute bullshit. being healthy and fit is a lifestyle. hence why trying to change your entire life in a day is not going to be sustainable. you should focus on making small changes that will add up into a fully healthy lifestyle. 

*but i can just do it all right now!* 

okay but if you totally change your lifestyle all at once, will you be able to sustain it?

if you decide to cut yourself off from every food you like will you be able to do that for a long enough period of time to make a difference? 

if you haven't worked out in years and all of a sudden you want to start marathon training do you think you'll stick with it? 

for most people the answer is no. and that's okay!!! if you could change your life at the drop of a hat then everything would be so much easier... but that is so not real life. 

so, here is my list of *small* changes (in no particular order) that add up into a very big lifestyle change: 

• cut out soda
  • if you need something fizzy and flavored go for sparkling water. super tasty and none of the calories. 
• drink so much water
  • drink water with every meal and in between meals. Especially in the summer because you need more water than you think! 
• park far away from the entrance of the grocery store
  • every step counts! it all adds up! 
• take the stairs 
• take a walk around the block (or up the street or around the office) 
• pack your lunch 
  • money saver and that way you know exactly what you are eating!  
• eat your fruits... don't drink them
  • keeps the fiber in your fruit and keeps them way more filling than juice or smoothies!
• don't eat mindlessly (no TV snack binges) 
  • make the couch a no snack zone! eating mindfully helps make sure that you are not overeating and that you are eating when you are hungry, not because you are bored. 
• don't eat out / make more meals at home 
  • just like packing your own lunch - saves money and calories. restaurants add extra butters and oils to make everything taste good (it works! and oils and butters are great! but you don't need all of the extra fats in your diet on a regular basis) and you can lower your calorie intake easily just by cooking your own meals!
• don't keep unhealthy snacks in your home 
  • out of sight and out of mind! seriously, if its not readily accessible you probably won't miss it as much as you think you would! 
• shop from a list 
  • and don't shop hungry! go in with a plan and stick to it! that way you don't end up with unnecessary snack foods in your home! 
• don't cut out all your favorite foods... add new healthier foods into your diet
  • you know what sucks? taking away all of your foods that you enjoy. instead of that, add in new foods! try to find new favorite healthy foods to have in your diet over foods that aren't nutritionally dense
• eat your colors (variety of fruits, vegetables, proteins)
  • nutritionally dense and tasty! 
• choose greek yogurt over regular yogurt (higher protein!) 
  • straight forward and easy swap
• start your day with protein 
  • have eggs or a protein shake or something that you enjoy that has protein in it to start your day off on the right foot! plus, protein will keep you fuller longer!
• prep your snacks 
  • easy way to have something good to eat on hand anytime!
• use smaller plates/cutlery 
  • makes the meals and bites seem bigger. your plates seem fuller and your bites seem bigger. i love small cutlery (to the point that my loving boyfriend makes fun of me for it <3) because it makes me take more time to eat my food so I tend to eat less than if I use larger spoons and forks
• enjoy small treats! (don't throw out all your chocolates, just eat smaller portions)
  • i have desert or some sort of treat almost every day. this may seem counter-productive to weight loss and health but having small treats makes it so you don't ever feel restricted, which helps you to stay on track long term. 

Did I miss any tips that have helped you during your health and fitness journey? Leave 'em in the comments below! 

favorite health & fitness apps

getting healthy and fit can be intimidating, but it doesn't have to be! 

there are SO MANY resources you can use to make your health journey as easy as possible! 

I have used a lot of different apps over the last few years but the following are my favorite and most consistently used apps! 

1. My Fitness Pal 

I mentioned that one previously but I can honestly say that MFP has been the most valuable asset in my weight loss & fitness journey. I use MFP every single day. 

It has a HUGE database of food so you can easily log your caloric intake. And not only does it track calories, but also you can track your macros (carbs, fat, protein), your sugar intake, vitamins, just about everything you can think of when it comes to nutrition. 

AND then it also allows you to track your workouts! Though these calorie burns are definitely estimations, it's still a great way to get yourself motivated to exercise! 

You can track your weight and measurements and add progress photos as you go (the addition of progress photos is so awesome!). It really helps to see your progress and what sort of trend you weight and measurements are taking. 

My favorite part of MFP is the community. If you use MFP go onto the message boards and add people! I promise you won't regret it. Having people to cheer you on when you workout or hit logging streaks or having a moment of weakness is a HUGE help on a weight loss journey. Having a support system is the easiest way to get going on a health journey and MFP is full of people who will motivate and inspire you! 

2. Nike Run Club

Since quitting my job I have gotten to start running outdoors a lot more, which has been SO GREAT. I used it in the past, but I have been using it now way more than ever. 

Nike Run Club will track your mileage, route, duration, ascent, splits, and your estimated calorie burn. It knows the temperature and your average pace. You can also track what sort of terrain you're running on (road/trail/track), how difficult the run was, and your shoes (so you can know how many miles you've put on your running shoes). 

There are different ways to track your runs, too! You can go by mileage, duration, mark speed intervals, or just a quick start (with no specific goal). All of them are great. It really depends on the day and my goals, but I have used them all. And throughout them you'll get updates on where you are in your run (how many minutes or miles left), your pace, and some motivation from a Nike coach or celebrity (Kevin Hart has been cheering me on lately!). 

And, my favorite part (because I'm competitive) are the "Achievements." These can be your longest run, farthest run, or your speediest 1K/1 mile/5k. Plus if you run several times a week, you get an achievement, if you hit a certain amount of miles in a month, you get an achievement. I really like achievements. Competing against Past Me is the best. 

They also have weekly challenges that motivate me to get moving on days I'm being really lazy (shout out to you "Just Do It Sundays"). Other challenges come up, as well. There is a community feature that I haven't gotten into, but I have heard good things about. Once I give it a try, I'll update this! :) 

3. BodySpace 

A recent addition to my "Health & Fitness" folder, but SUCH an awesome app if you do (or want to get into) weight training. (that's any kind of weight too!) They have a huge library of exercises that you can look through and find what you want to do! 

I use BodySpace to track my weight lifting program. It helps me to measure my set/rep schemes, calculate 1-Rep Maximums, and to see how much weight I moved in a given workout. 

Personally, I use my own program but there are SO MANY really, really fantastic programs from world-renowned trainers and you can just click into and fill in the data and know you're getting a great workout. And if you make your own you can go back and track from that workout. 

Also a community feature on this app. You can add friends and like and cheer on people and ask questions about their workouts. 

To be fair, I basically do the bare minimum on here and just track my workouts and log on off, but still definitely one of my favorites. 

4. Tabata Timer 

If you follow me on instagram you'll know that I really love HIIT. Tabata Timer is plain and simple and easy to use. I use it several times a week! 

You set your work time and rest times. And add in how many cycles and how many rounds and your rests between each round. 

Nothing fancy, but everything I need in a timer app. 

Honorable Mentions: 

Instagram! (great community and so many great people to follow!)
 Spotify! (gotta have music for a workout!) 
VideoShop (can slow down video so you can check form!)

Those are my current faves! Do you have any others I should know about? Let me know in the comments! 
 

HOW TO: count calories

losing weight is simple (not easy) for most people. 

it is just calories in vs. calories out. losing weight is making sure you are eating (and drinking) less calories than you are burning. (yes, there are health things and exceptions to this rule... but for 97% of people this will hold true)

(note: if you've struggled with eating disorders, calorie counting may not be the best option for you! it may trigger you into disordered/restrictive eating again. I will eventually cover other ways to work on weight loss while not counting calories. and if you are struggling with ED *here* is a link to people who can help!) 

counting calories seems like an impossible task when originally brought up... but it can be SO SIMPLE. mostly thanks to phone apps. 

I no longer track calories (i track macros ~ but i'll go into that later) but i still use My Fitness Pal for all my food tracking.
It's great for so many reasons: 

1. GIANT database of food, and a lot of it is verified (meaning you rarely have to manually add food into it) 
2. Fantastic community (i have met some AMAZING people on MFP! Having people in on your health journey who support you, even virtually, is SO helpful.) 
3. easy way to actually see how much you are eating every day so you can make the necessary adjustments

there are some drawbacks though. when calculating your calories it is pretty generalized (as expected) and if you say you want to lose major weight it will calculate your calories to 1200 per day. which is not really the best way to start your calorie counting journey because:

1) that will be a HUGE cut to your current calorie intake and is hard to maintain
2) long term calorie cutting will ruin your metabolism (which I did... It can be fixed, it just takes time). 

SO! here is my recommendation... don't use their calorie calculator! there are a couple different things you can do!

1) 100% track every single thing you eat for several days in a row (including a weekend day) and just cut calories off of that number. for example... if you track and find that you are eating 3000 calories per day... i would recommend cutting 10-20% of the calories off of that number. So if you wanted to cut 15% of your calories for weight loss you would be at 2550 calories per day. BUT you could even go easier than that and just cut 50-100 calories off your typical diet and then once you plateau you can cut a few more calories (at a SUSTAINABLE rate) and so on until you hit your weight goal. 

2) there are about a million calorie calculators on the internet that you can use! *this* calculator will give you your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) & BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). Your TDEE is basically an estimate on how many calories you burn on a given day that includes exercise and BMR. Your BMR is how many calories you burn just being alive... eating, breathing, organ function, maintaining body temp, etc. 

For weight loss off of that number you would want to calculate 10-20% off that TDEE number UNLESS it goes below 1200 calories (which you should not do ever!) 

"but what about low carb or keto or low fat or vegan or if it fits your macros or intermittent fasting or whatever other thing i heard about??" 

do it dude. or don't. honestly, do whatever you can maintain. if you can maintain a low carb diet for an extended period of time... do it!! if you can't or it will make you miserable.. don't!! and that goes for any other diet style. do what you can and will be able to maintain! this is not (or at least should not be) a quick fix. (personally, i've gone into macro counting/ carb cycling and it has been really great for me! keeps my calories in check while not focusing on being below a certain threshold of calories which works better for me mentally). 

"i haven't lost weight in like 3 weeks should i cut more calories??" 

first things first... sometimes the scale will stall for weeks on end. it happens. chill out and keep tracking and doing your thing but that being said maybe you do! but before you do... check these things out first! 

1) measurements & progress photos (maybe you haven't lost a pound... but you have lost an inch around your waist! that happens!)
2) are you tracking accurately?? (double check that you are tracking your intake correctly! maybe you aren't using the right calorie info in MFP,  maybe you need to be weighing your food to make sure that you are correctly tracking how many calories are in it)
3) are you tracking consistently?? (if you are tracking really well Sunday - Thurs but aren't Friday & Saturday you could be sabotaging your progress!) 

Some tips: 

1) let yourself have foods you enjoy! do not totally cut out foods you like otherwise you won't stick with it long term. i have a dessert of some sort worked into my daily intake basically every day since i started tracking
2) figure out easy low calorie foods you can easily incorporate (watermelon or strawberries or baby carrots are an easy snack that will fill you up. zoodles or spaghetti squash instead of pasta are an easy sub too! wraps instead of sandwiches. things like that!)
3. if you have a bad day/meal/drink/night/whatever...  remember you are never more than one bite to being right back on track. don't let one meal/treat/etc spiral you out of control. (that's a la Syatt Fitness who is full of great advice/tips/etc)

calorie counting is a really, really great way to hit your weight loss & health goals if you do it right and you do it consistently! this definitely does not cover everything about calorie counting so please let me know if you have any questions!