“No matter what I do, I just can’t seem to get in shape.” Does this statement sound familiar? Do you put effort out each week in trying to eat right and exercise, only to fall short by the third day?
If you are constantly starting a healthy exercise and eating program, only to let it fall by the wayside by the middle of the week you are destroying your metabolism, and killing any motivation you might have had.
Getting in shape is just as much as a mental approach as it is a physical one. If you want to get in shape once and for all you have to make some changes. Below are some tips on how to get in shape to prevent falling off the wagon again.
Tip #1 on How to Get in Shape
Make a committed goal to get in shape – Goal setting, blah, blah, blah. You may think this is an unnecessary step and a waste of time, but NOT making a committed goal can be your biggest reason for failure.
As cliché as it is, it is true… Failing to plan is planning to fail.
Goal setting doesn’t have to be a written contract outlined like a house deed; it can be as simple as marking out your training and nutrition on a calendar for a quick, daily birds-eye-view. Simply map out a week or two on your calendar and follow it.
Tip #2 on How to Get in Shape
Stick to your goal - Don’t keep changing your mind – Sure, just because you have some goals written down or outlined on your calendar doesn’t mean you will get in shape. You have to actually follow your plan.
The problem many people have with goal setting is they make the decision in their mind, and they may even write it down, but they keep changing their minds of what they want on a weekly basis.
You have to decide, do you want to lose fat, build muscle, or transform? There are no right or wrong answers here, and it’s not anyone else’s decision. You have to decide what you want to do, and stick to it.
Constantly changing your goals every week will only cause you to lose motivation and lead to frustration.
Set a goal, and stick to it.
Tip #3 on How to Get in Shape
Eat balanced meals – Eating balanced meals is one of the most important aspects of getting in shape. Most people tend to think that a can of tuna or an apple is a meal. Wrong. A meal is a combination of a complete protein and a carbohydrate.
Your body needs nutrients from all the macronutrients in order to build hormones, burn fat, build lean muscle tissue, and just keep you healthy and functioning.
To keep your energy levels high and to stay motivated, eat several balanced meals throughout the day.
Tip #4 on How to Get in Shape
Eat real food – Any food won’t do. You should be feeding your body quality nutrients in the form of natural foods.
Far too many people rely on processed food-like items in boxes labeled “healthy,” low-fat,” low-carb,” etc. for health and weight loss.
There thousands of synthetic chemicals in processed foods, and many of them have carcinogenic properties. The human body isn’t designed to process chemicals to the degree we are putting them in our bodies.
These synthetic chemicals become lodged in your fat stores as toxins and make fat loss an even greater chore. To add to the equation, the amount of toxins trapped in your body makes your body work even harder to purge them, adding stress to your immune system and leaving you open to illnesses and diseases.
For the best quality food, eat those that Mother Nature has provided. If you can hunt, pick, gather, or harvest it, you can eat it. More importantly, it would be wise to eat organic as much as possible.
Tip #5 on How to Get in Shape
Don’t skip meals – Many people think that in order to get in shape they have to be in a caloric deficit mode. While this might stand true to an extent, most people are going about it in the wrong manner by skipping meals.
Your body relies on food from your meals to rebuild itself, to keep you healthy, to build lean muscle tissue, and to burn fat. When you skip meals you miss out on opportunities to get in shape and transform your body.
Missing meals leads to metabolic downgrade.
Tip #6 on How to Get in Shape
Don’t cut the carbs – The no-carb craze is still in high gear. Granted, lowering carbs can have an effect on fat loss to a certain degree, but there’s a certain procedure you have to use to do it correctly to prevent fatigue, burnout, and excess muscle loss.
Too many people jump into extreme low carbs and burn out in a matter of days. Take the lowering carb process slowly for it to be fully effective.
Tip #7 on How to get in Shape
Don’t kill the Cardio - Cardio is fine, provided you are eating the right nutrients to support it. The problem many people have when trying to get in shape is that they drastically cut their calories AND carbs, and then suddenly jump on an hour of high intensity cardio a day. This is simply as recipe for disaster because it leads to metabolic downgrade.
Cardio does not need to be an all out torture session. When you eat the correct combination of macronutrients and implement cardio by listening to your body, you will achiever far greater results than going through dieting and cardio abuse.
Tip #8 on How to Get in Shape
Don’t put your faith in the latest wonder drug - People become desperate when they want to shed pounds, build muscle, or just get in shape. This can lead you to taking “fat burning supplements” with high promises and disappointing results.
Supplement companies prey on your emotions. They know you may be feeling hopeless and despondent. Therefore, they use that opportunity to employ deceptive marketing techniques with misleading before and after pictures, false claims, and a whole host of other marketing tactics used to draw you in, and make you buy their “latest breakthrough supplement.”
Now, don’t get me wrong. There are a lot of effective supplements on the market, but you have to know what they are and how to take them for them to properly work.
Conclusion to How to Get in Shape
Now that you have some crucial guidelines to follow to get you on the right path and to literally get you in shape, use them to your advantage. Nothing worth having comes easy. So, put forth the effort and the time it takes to get you in the best shape of your life.
About The Author
Karen Sessions has been in the fitness industry since 1988 and is a certified personal fitness instructor and specialist in performance nutrition. She is a nationally qualified natural female bodybuilder, holding numerous titles in the southern states including two overalls.
Karen has written six e-books on fitness. She also writes articles for several fitness websites, and distributes two monthly newsletters regarding weight loss and female bodybuilding.
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“No matter what I do, I just can’t seem to get in shape.” Does this statement sound familiar? Do you put effort out each week in trying to eat right and exercise, only to fall short by the third day?
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