Banned Together Fitness

Spring is near. And I’m so looking forward to being able to be outside and enjoying outdoor activities again. When the weather is warm, I spend less time in the gym and prefer to adventure around outside. ... Last year, I got my first taste of hiking through the mountains and I can’t wait to do a whole lot more of it. It is such a relaxing activity for the whole family. I also purchased a road bike which I didn’t have a chance to use last year, so I’ll definitely be zooming around in that, as soon as I overcome my fear of riding on the road. What activities are you looking forward to doing outside?

If you don't start, you will never move forward. You don't have to jump in the deep end and go all out as soon as you decide you want to change your life for the better. You can start slowly if that suits your lifestyle and as long as you are consistent, you WILL reap the benefits.

Strive for Consistency NOT Perfection So often when we start something new, we are encouraged and motivated with an ALL or NOTHING attitude. While this may work initially for a short while (until we burn TF out), life happens and the ALL or NOTHING attitude never lasts. SO, where do we go from here?... We walk on over and knock on the door of our dear old friend, CONSISTENCY. S/he ain’t the most fun friend. She ain’t the most humorous friend or energetic friend. She ain’t the most talkative or adventurous friend. BUT, she’s a dependable friend. She’s a supportive friend and most importantly she’s a reliable friend. Good ‘ol reliable consistency. She is definitely not the all or nothing friend. We depend on that friend to help us reinforce the daily habits that become our lifelong rituals to better health and a sustainable lifestyle. Tag your reliable friend below

This vibrant soul took a leap of faith and joined my 21 Day MERRY & BRIGHT Challenge in December and 2 weeks ago entrusted me to work with her to get her mind and body in a healthy, sustainable place. Since the challenge she has lost an amazing 14lbs. I'm not sure she even realized it until I mentioned it.

One of the biggest deterrents and demotivators of moving towards a better quality of life are the slip ups we make on our journey. REALITY CHECK YOU DIDN’T REVERSE YOUR PROGRESS OVERNIGHT.... Maybe you allowed yourself a free-for-all and then felt guilty about it afterwards? Maybe you were stressed and drank a little too much. Maybe Netflix was more inviting after a busy day of kids and chores. Did that guilt turn into a feeling of failure? Well, I already messed up today, it might as well be the whole weekend/week/month. Our bodies are amazing at balancing our metabolic processes and a cheat day here or there will not regress us, just like one day of not eating will not melt away all our fat or muscle. But we do need to ACKNOWLEDGE, ADDRESS and ALIGN. Acknowledge that it was the tiniest of blimps and the reason behind it. I overate because I was starving. Address the actual issue. Have you gone too low in calories, been in a deficit for too long? Has the workplace been stressing you out with short deadlines and colleagues who don’t pull their weight? Are you lacking time management at home when you’re with your family? Align your goals with the issue and ask if you’re doing things for the right reason. Are you setting your goals unrealistically high and setting yourself up for failure and preventing yourself from moving forward? Give me a if you’ve recently had a slip up.

So, you’ve been doing something for a while and feel stuck, nothing seems to be changing and you figure it must be because you just have to try harder or maybe you need to add an extra day of exercise or cut out an entire meal. I’m here to tell you that isn’t always the case. More is not always better! Sometimes, a small tweak here and there is all you need to push through that Plateau.... After being stuck at the same weight for well over a month, we made a couple small adjustments and decreased the amount of time spent at the gym and we’re off again! Kudos for not letting your plateau discourage you from continually improving on yourself and working towards better health. It’s important to realize, although we might not always see changes reflected on a scale, that does not mean they’re not happening elsewhere.