19 Aug Four simple things to help you stick to your goals
Four simple things to help you stick to your goals
I get a lot of questions about staying on track with your health and fitness goals when life seems to get in the way. Let’s discuss four simple things to help you stick to your goals
#1 Make Your Health And Wellness A Priority
You have to make your health and wellness a priority, because if you’re not feeling your best you can’t possibly be at your best for your job, your kids, your spouse – anything!
This morning, I had a really busy day planned with my right-hand person, we both were feeling pretty overwhelmed with what we were doing. She said we shouldn’t do our daily walk because there’s too much work to do, and I said, we’re going to walk. I know we have a lot to do but we’re going to walk.
I’m so glad we did that, and I think she was glad I made her do it, because we felt so much more accomplished when we actually got that out of the way even though we had so much to do. It made it so much more focused and clear because we had taken that time for ourselves.
it’s really important, you’ve got to treat it like an appointment. Put it on your calendar and make a commitment that you’re going to make it happen. Schedule your workouts and walks and don’t say it’s second to other things because it’s not. You taking care of yourself makes you better for everything else.
#2 Every Step Forward Is A Step In The Right Direction
Baby steps are better than nothing, because every step forward is a step in the right direction.It can get really overwhelming thinking of this massive goal that may require gym time and eating special foods.
So start small. What small things can you commit to and feel accomplished about? If you say you’re going to do 10 hours of exercise every day, you’ll be overwhelmed, but if it’s just 10 minutes a day you’ll manage.
You can decide to take a walk every day, maybe during a phone call or walking to a meeting – whatever it is. Every single step forward is a step in the right direction, you don’t have to be extreme!
#3 Plan Ahead To Stay On Track
I understand that takes a little bit of time but not as much as you’re thinking. Here’s a few things to plan ahead for. So you can make sure that no matter what happens with your day, you are okay.
Make sure you always have healthy foods to grab in the refrigerator. That means cut up vegetables, fruits, washed and cleaned, nuts and seeds, quick protein and all that.
So if you don’t have time to make a full meal, you can at least grab things that are healthy. I do that in my bag also; I carry nuts, seeds, sometimes bars, that way if I don’t have time to plan, I can have that fuel there so that I don’t have to starve or go for fast foods.
#4 Carry A Water Bottle With You
Always keep a water bottle around. You have to stay hydrated. A huge reason that we’re tired, hungry and have a drop in energy is because we’re chronically dehydrated.
By drinking more water it’s amazing how your energy will change, how your skin clears up and you stay full and energetic.
A Quick Recap Of The 4 Rules;
first, you have to schedule in your calendar, no matter how short. And it has to be treated like a doctor’s appointment or a really important meeting. You have to schedule the workouts, the walks and other activities in the calendar and nothing should get in the way.
Second, you have to understand that it doesn’t need to be this all-encompassing plan, you can do little things because every step forward is a step in the right direction.
Third, make sure you have healthy foods prepared and on hand, quick grabs. Have nuts, seeds, crackers, nut butter, washed fruits, chopped vegetables, some healthy proteins like hard-boiled eggs, so that if you’re in a rush you have something to grab quickly.
The fourth is to have plenty of drinking water around.
Those are four simple things to help you stick to your goals no matter what happens. You can have a stressful day, but if you have that workout done and with the right fuel, you’re going to power through it! It’s really important to have that foundation.
“Be Happy…Be Healthy…Be FIT!”
-Natalie Jill
Bloat, Fat, and Fatigue BE GONE! Give me 7 days to teach you the habits to get the weight off and change your life FOREVER! Start HERE
At the end of this live broadcast I took a few Q&A’s from the audience. Below are some helpful FAQ’s that came from this broadcast:
Question: I can’t find your coffee recipe.
I don’t really have a coffee recipe but I started showing how I make my coffee six weeks ago, but it’s just randomly. What I do is brew the coffee first, then I add a teaspoon of MCT or coconut oil and a tablespoon of ghee (clarified butter). Then I take a scoop on natural chocolate whey protein (you don’t have to), a teaspoon of raw cacao and blend all that at high speed and that’s my coffee. If I’m having that as a meal replacement, I’ll do that with a piece of fruit. That’s my coffee recipe.
Question: What’s your advice on low blood pressure?
I used to have that problem too. I used to feel lightheaded, I thought I had low blood sugar at the gym especially, and what I found is I didn’t have enough sodium. So by adding rock salt to my diet that changed.
Question: What brand of protein powder do you use?
There’s a couple of brands I’m a huge fan of, if you want you can go to www.nataliejillfitness.com/protein, I share what I use for my protein and whey.
Question: Does age matter with your metabolism?
I’m 44, and yes I think it matters. Everything matters with your metabolism, and yes age can make it harder, but it’s not an excuse. You’ve got to change it up and progress, we can’t use that as an excuse.
Question: What do you eat in the morning?
I do a number of things in the morning, sometimes I do my coffee drink, sometimes a cook a natural chicken sausage with coconut oil and fruit. Eggs and avocado is another one I might have, sometimes I make smoothies with nut butter (like almond butter), and I’ll add a bunch of fruit and maybe some protein powder – things like that. For simple recipes, check out my book, ‘7 Day Jump Start: Unprocess Your Diet’ www.nataliejillfitness.com/book
Question: How do I shrink the flab?
Through working out and changing your diet and living a healthy lifestyle!
Question: Do you have a good protein bar recipe you use?
I have several protein bars as you’ll see in my new book. I have a couple other bars I’m okay with, and they’re on my website under ‘resources’.
Angela: Do I do functional or regular training?
It depends on how you define either one of them. For me, I’m not a fan of isolated workouts, working out one part of your body, because that’s not functional to me. I like to train where you’re working your whole body as a unit, the way that we’re built. So chin-ups or pull-ups are functional versus strapping yourself down a machine and flexing your arms. I like using my whole body for things, that’s functional training for me. I have a variety of full body workout programs. To learn more, click HERE
Question: Why do I always crave sugar even after eating a healthy meal?
It depends on how you define your healthy meal, because a lot of ‘healthy meals’ are making us sugar burners and not fat burners, and that’s going to make us crave more sugar. So many of us that eat a starch and sugar diet tend to train our bodies to use sugar as energy, and we’re going to constantly crave it and want more. But when you’re eating the right balance of proteins, fats and the right carbs like fruits and vegetables, then we tend to train our bodies to tap into fat stores and crave less sugar. So I would want to look at what you’re eating. Also if you’re using artificial sweeteners that will make you crave more sugar because your body thinks it’s getting the calories yet it’s not.
Question: Do you work out every day?
Yes, I’m active every day. I move my body every day, but focused, intense, workouts are four days a week, 20-30 minutes long.
Question: How do you stay motivated?
It’s got to be a deep within you of why you want to stay healthy. That keeps you going.
Question: How important is cardio after weights?
I’m not a cardio fan. If you love doing cardio; riding a bike or going for a hike and all that, I’m all for it, I think that’s great. If however you’re just leaning on an elliptical, I hate that. That’s like reading a magazine or yapping on the phone to lose weight – it’s not very effective. All it does is make you hungrier, I’m not a fan of that. If you’re doing intense training in your cardio; high intensity workouts like sprinting, that’s different.
Question: Do you do a lot of weight training?
I actually don’t do any weight training, I do only body weight workouts. Body workouts are hard, especially if you’re looking at planks, push-ups, pull-ups, chin-ups and all that. For more of my full body workouts, click HERE
Question: I’m always so tired, how can I change that?
You’ve got to look at your diet; are you eating an unprocessed natural food diet, are you drinking enough water and moving your body? Those things will change that hugely.
Question: What are some tips for starting a wheat and gluten free diet?
I’m celiac, I can’t eat gluten, but I’m going to tell you now that just because you’re on a gluten-free diet does not make you lose weight and it doesn’t make you healthier. Period. However if you’re on an unprocessed food diet, that is naturally gluten free and that is what makes you healthy. That’s what I recommend for everyone. Just going on a wheat or gluten free diet doesn’t help because there’s a lot of processed junk that fall into that category, and a lot of them have sugar that will make you gain weight, hungrier and push for type II diabetes. So an unprocessed diet is better; foods that once grew, simple foods that you can pronounce like fruits, vegetables, proteins, nuts and seeds.
