Category: Healthy Habits

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6 Surprising Outcomes of Counting Calories

The most recent post about 3 Places to Find Motivation really had me stuck in my past. When I took my own advice and seriously considered things I used to do that helped me feel my best, there was one thing that came to mind: counting calories.

This week I’m weighing in on counting calories because it is essential on the journey to get fit. Before you can make changes to what you’re eating, you have to know what you’re eating.

I know that it might sound a little nerdy, but I really did count every single calorie that I consumed for about two years. However, I can assure you that it wasn’t as intimidating as it sounds. I simply used the My Fitness Pal app to keep track of the calories I consumed as well as the calories I used. After that last post, I was inspired to start counting those calories again, and I haven’t missed a morsel. Over the past few days, I’ve realized that there are six outcomes of counting calories that may catch you by surprise.

1. You’ll want to move more.

When you initially sign on with My Fitness Pal, they ask you a ton of questions to get to know what you’re hoping to accomplish; they want to help you meet your fitness goals. Then they’ll let you know how many calories you’ll need to consume each day in order to reach those goals. If you also log your exercise (or link a fitness tracker), your calorie count will be readjusted, and you’ll be inspired to move more just to see the numbers change.

2. You’ll start thinking about portion sizes.

If you want to get an accurate calorie count, you’ll need to enter the correct portion sizes when you add your meals. It won’t take long for you to be completely astounded by portion sizes. In some cases, you’ll learn that the portion sizes of some foods are much smaller than you think is appropriate. In other cases, the portion sizes are much larger than you can eat. You might even start making different choices about food based on what you’re logging in the My Fitness Pal app.

3. You’ll consider options with fewer calories.

When you realize that some serving sizes are rather small, you’ll have to make a decision: are you going to eat the foods that might cause you to go over your calorie limit or will you eat something else that’s perhaps a bit healthier and just as tasty, but with fewer calories? If you’re anything like me, you’ll go with option 2…or at least eat half of option 2.

4. You’ll realize which foods you need to limit or eliminate.

Before I started counting calories again, I knew that I had an unhealthy relationship with sugar, but counting calories has really caused me to see just how much refined sugar I eat. I’m starting to see that I need to replace sugary foods with natural sweets like apples and oranges. When you start counting calories, I’m sure you’ll notice some trends in terms of foods you need to cut back on or foods you need to add.

5. You’ll probably start planning your meals.

While you’re trucking along taking care of business, you might have a day or two where you don’t log your calories right away. As soon as you log what you had for dinner, you realize that you are dangerously close to going over your limit for the day. In order to make sure that doesn’t happen again, you might start planning your meals in advance. That way you’ll at least know your calorie baseline for the day.

6. You’ll think twice about mindless snacking.

When you have to log every morsel of food that you eat, even samples at the grocery store, you might not be so willing to snack on those samples…regardless of how enticing they are.

Hopping on the Scale!
Don’t forget to hop on the scale and see where you are this week. Remember: if you were able to maintain and not gain, that’s still a win!

Click to join “The REAL Get Fit With Charity” Facebook Group!

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Three Places to Find Motivation

Three Places to Find Motivation

You’re here! You’ve made the decision to get fit with me. You know it won’t be easy, but you’re up for it. Getting back in shape is something you’ve been thinking about for a while, and now you’re ready to act. But there’s one small problem: you’re having some trouble finding the motivation to do get things done. I’ve discovered three places to find motivation to get moving: Your Past, Your Present, and Your Future.

Motivation is tricky because the word has multiple meanings.

On one hand, motivation means “reason”, and I’m sure that you know why you want to get fit. Maybe you want to lose weight. Perhaps you desire more energy. It could be that you simply want to enhance the quality of your life. You could have any number of reasons for wanting to get fit.

On the other hand, motivation means “drive”, “ambition”, or “a strong desire to accomplish something”. I’ll have to speak for myself here and say that even though I have a 5K coming up in three weeks, (August 28th, to be exact) I find it really hard to get out of bed while it’s still dark outside in order to go for a run. Maybe you can relate to knowing that you need to get fit, but not knowing where to find the motivation to do so.

Your Past

Whoever said that experience is the best teacher, knew what they were talking about. The first place to find motivation is your past.  Visiting this location with require you to go back in time, but how far you go back is totally up to you. Not too long ago, kids and teens were extremely busy and very active. Even if they didn’t play organized sports, most kids spent time playing outside after they finished their homework during the school year, as well as after dinner during summer. Think back to that time in your life. What were your favorite activities when you were a kid? Did you enjoy exploring the neighborhood with your friends? Were you fond of playing pick-up basketball, going to swim lessons, playing tag at recess? Finding adult versions of activities you did as a child could be a great source or motivation.

Another way your past can serve as a source of motivation is by thinking of a time when you felt more fit or had more energy. You can start by asking yourself two questions: 1) What were you doing in your life when you felt fit and energetic that you’re not doing now? 2) What are you doing now that you weren’t doing back then?

When you answer the second question, I’m sure that major lifestyle changes such as getting married, starting a career and having children might be some of the responses, and that’s to be expected. You’re not visiting the past in order to replicate precisely what was done back then. Visiting the past gives you solid ideas about activities that will motivate you to get moving, and it reminds you of positive, healthy habits that may have slipped your mind. Being aware of your past success gives you stepping stones that will serve as a path to get back there.

Your Present

When you’re going out of town, you have to design your route based on your starting point. If you were planning a trip from Seattle to Cancun, it wouldn’t make much sense for you to search for flights from Denver to Cancun. Doing so would only lengthen the trip and might even lead to a bit of frustration. Since the fitness journey isn’t all that different from a regular journey, another place to find motivation is the here and now. It may seem hard to believe, but your present can hold the key to discovering your motivation.

Let’s imagine that you really are traveling from Seattle to Cancun. You wouldn’t just wake up one morning and say, “I’m going to Mexico today!” You may know where you want to go, but you still need to take a look at where you are. Then create a plan in order to get to Mexico. Chances are you won’t create that plan on your own; you’ll consult travel experts and seek counsel from those who’ve been there before. The same is true of your fitness journey. You may have an idea of your desired results, but you’ll need to assess your current condition and create a plan to get there. Fortunately, you won’t have to make things up on your own since you’ve made the decision to get fit with me.  

One thing you may want to l need to you may want to investigate as look into your present is how often you sit during the day. The average person spends about one third of their day sitting. Even if you don’t sit and average of 8 hours a day, I’m pretty sure that an assessment of your day may provide the motivation you need to get moving.

Your Future

The last of the three places to find motivation will require you to go somewhere you’ve never gone: your future. In order to get there, you will have to use your imagination. Although there’s no way you can know what the future holds, creating a realistic view of where you want to be can give you the motivation to make that dream a reality.

When it comes to forecasting your future, it’s a good idea to start small, but don’t be afraid to go big. First, think about where you want to be in a month. Then look ahead to three months, six months, and finally a year. Some questions to consider are: What do you want to look like? How do you want to feel when you wake up in the morning? How many races do you want to run or sports teams will you have joined? What will a perfect home-cooked meal look like?

After you have created a solid vision of where you want to be, you’ll need to determine what you will need to happen in your life in order to get there. By doing this you are actually creating a path that will help you reach that level.

Wrapping It Up

What I’m really trying to say is that the three places to find motivation are within you. If you take a close look at your present, your past, and your future I’m confident that you will find all the motivation you need to get fit with me. Simply reflecting on those three locations may not be enough. You may want to jot things down in a journal.

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3 HUGE Benefits of Stretching

Today is Wednesday…that means it’s time for our first Weekly Wednesday Weigh-in! On this day of every week, I will encourage you to hop on the scale (more on that later) and I will share my thoughts on some health and fitness or nutrition topic in the hopes of encouraging you to be and to do your best! Today’s topic is stretching.

If you ever participated in organized sports as a young person, you probably started practice with warm-ups and stretches. I don’t recall any of my coaches ever explaining why we had to stretch, but we weren’t allowed on the court or the field until we were done. If we were late, we still had to do warm-ups on our own. As a kid, I didn’t see a purpose for all of that. I figured the coaches were stalling or using the time to set up equipment that could have been taken care of before we arrived.

Before I became a fitness professional, I really thought stretching before a workout was seriously overrated. If I planned on doing a 30 minutes run, it didn’t see the point of stretching for fifteen minutes before and after my run. I mean, who has that kind of time?!?!? I’d just head outside, run for half an hour, then head back in and get on with my day.

I have since learned that there tons of benefits that come as a result of stretching. And that lesson wasn’t learned during my coursework.  

Improves Circulation

When you stretch, you’re stimulating the blood flow of the muscles engaged in the stretch. Have you ever sat at a desk for a prolonged period of time? I’m pretty sure that when you stood up, you arched your back for a quick stretch and suddenly felt much better. Your muscles pretty much have that same reaction when they are stretched. If you haven’t stretched in a while, it might be a little painful at first, but if you stick with it, it will be more comfortable in no time!

Minimizes Risk of Injury

Participating in strenuous exercise with cold muscles is very dangerous. Referring to muscles as “cold’ has nothing to do with how those muscles feel when you touch them with your hand and everything to do with what’s going on beneath the surface. Stretching literally warms up your muscles and gets them ready for movement. If you’re short on time and need to stretch before your workout, head over to YouTube for my quick lower body stretch routine.

Enhances Workout Experience

There’s nothing worse than having to stop a workout because your legs pretty much stop working. Actually, there are quite a few things that are much worse than that, but it’s pretty discouraging not to be able to finish something you truly had your heart set on doing. When you stretch before your workout, it gives your muscles an extra boost, so you’ll be able to push through.

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Hopping on the Scale

Weighing yourself every week is crucial. Why? Knowing how much you weigh allows you to reflect on your week to see just how much your day-to-day activity impacts your life. If you have a really active week, you may see the number go down. If your week is really sedentary, the number could either go up or stay the same. The point is: you have to know your number. So hop on that scale. Then write that number on your calendar. I’m excited to see what happens next!

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