Just Doing It



Motivation is like a shower, it is needed daily.  Some people require more than others.  It is the fuel that gets us going when we may not feel up for a challenge.  Motivation is the constant reminder as to why your goals are what they are.  Everyone’s internal motivation varies from person to person.  Understanding this will set you on a path thats optimal for your success story as you persevere through obstacles that make achieving your goals that much more worth while.  In fact it is written in the Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology by Healy and others that, "Greater self-determined motivation would then be expected to lead to more positive cognitive, affective, and behavioral outcomes. Thus, it could be that...goal motives are influenced by the extent to which their needs are satisfied." All it takes is a commitment to yourself to take the first step towards a healthier lifestyle.


One of the most important things you can do for your health is maintaining regular physical activity. Benefits that come with regular physical activity include:

·         weight control

·         improvement of mental health and mood      ·         strengthening bones and muscles

                                                               ·         lowering risks of different diseases 


There are quite a few things you can do to achieve your physical goals. Hiring a personal trainer is a great resource. What exactly does a personal trainer do? By definition, a personal trainer is a fitness professional possessing the knowledge, skills and abilities for safe and effective exercise and fitness program design, instruction and assistance for the purpose of reaching personal health and fitness goals

If personal trainers are out of your budget, you can resort to websites like bodybuilding.com. This website is a great resource because it provides free workout plans for beginners, intermediate, and advanced people. The plans also include instructions on how to perform each exercise, motivational articles, etc. On Instagram, there are also many personal trainers that post pictures and videos of different workouts that they do and what muscle groups they are targeting. @twobadbodies @shredzwomen @tanaashleee @chalenejohnson are just a few of the many IG’ers that are great resources when it comes to thinking of new exercises to do. 


Sometimes the hardest part of working out is not the workout itself, but the way that we eat before and after the workout. There are plenty of people around the world that struggle with their nutrition. No one is alone in this aspect. However, I feel that the difficulty in eating correctly has nothing to do with the person being educated on the matter. We've all heard that talk a million times, "Nutrition is important, your body needs good food, get plenty of fruits and vegetables," it goes on and on and on. The issue is, most people do not know where to start when trying to design a meal plan or a diet that works for them. Nutrition can be a very daunting task. How many calories should I have? How many grams of fat, protein and what’s that other thing? It is a lot of work. Lucky for us, we have so many different tools at our disposal that it makes this part of a lifestyle change that much easier. A great place to start is choosemyplate.gov. ChooseMyplate.gov is a government website that tells us what the recommendations are for everything related to our diets. It tells us how many servings of each kind of food we should be having, how much of each vitamin and mineral we should have, different tips and tricks for eating healthier, and anything else that one could think of that is nutrition related. It really is a fantastic website. When it comes to health and fitness, no one person knows all that there is to know so do not be afraid to ask for help or at least search it out. Making a lifestyle and diet change is completely possible and with great tools like choosemyplate.gov at our disposal there is no way that we can’t achieve our goals.


We’ve hopefully given you some motivation as well as a few resources. Now I’ll give you a few healthy lifestyle pointers. Easy ways to increase your cardio and step count for the day are take the stairs, park farther away, or walk at a slightly brisker pace. Diet is all about discipline and self-restraint, but if you’re like me there isn’t too much of that! Trade out candy for fruit, soda for water, focus on having a colorful plate for every meal. I’m no expert so please do your own research check out myplate.com for other nutrition tips. Other helpful hints for getting more exercise are keep extra workout clothes in your car, walk your dog, your kids, or your friends. These simple changes can lead to a healthier and happier life. This is just the beginning for you, just go out there and keep doing it.