Skip the yo-yo dieting and follow this personal trainer’s 5 simple health tips
According to many of our New Year’s resolutions, we’re making 2020 our healthiest year yet.
We declare, “This is the year we will get in shape, and eat better.” We pile our refrigerators with “that healthy food” and resist — for a few days — delicious tacos at that hot new restaurant and avoid all the breweries and their countless beer calories.
For a moment, we find willpower in our nutrition and exercise goals. But soon enough, we realize it’s not sustainable to always avoid yummy food and nights out just to stay home eating another despised meal, sweating to workouts we don’t enjoy. Eventually, we resort back to last year’s same plan: Nothing New Here.
Guess what?
You can enjoy occasional dinners with dessert and also find freedom from the yo-yo cycle of dieting, and subsequent, unhealthy eating. You can get your body moving to activities that won’t bore you to tears. You must still work for your nutrition and exercise goals — and not every day will be awesome — but you can reach and sustain these new habits for life.
Read below for five tips to get in shape in the new year.
(1) Mix in spices with your healthy foods
Add sauces, oils, and herbs to foods so they taste more palatable. Long gone are the days when fat was bad or bland chicken breast was the only route to health. As a nutrition coach, many clients are surprised when I tell them they can design their food to taste great.
Oils, for example, add incredible texture to bitter cruciferous vegetables, such as asparagus and Brussels sprouts. Sauces are not the enemy if you look at the back of the bottles.
Can you pronounce the ingredients, or are they laden with nasty chemicals? Find appropriate ingredients that add desirability to food so you’ll enjoy consuming them weekly and/or daily.
If you need to revamp your meals, Savory Spice in South End can help you to find the best pairings for your next entrees and sides.
(2) Keep portions in mind
Portion control cannot be underestimated. Measuring cups and spoons are extremely helpful in the beginning of your health journey until you can eyeball a serving.
Also, remember that everyone is different. If you are still hungry, it’s OK to add an extra ½ -1 cup of rice to your plate, for example, but don’t make it a plate full. Your goal is not to starve and then binge later at your favorite fast food joint. You are teaching your body and mind how to re-feed in a healthy way.
When dining out, stick with your planned meal amounts. Flower Child serves healthy portions and organic ingredients that don’t sacrifice taste. Bonus: If you can’t make it to its South End location, this healthy restaurant delivers.
(3) Switch to interval training to beat boredom and get results
Interval training helps you scorch calories in a short amount of time and continue to burn those calories for days later, through a process known as EPOC, or Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption.
This unique type of training helps you to lose body fat and inches, and beat any boredom with varied templates. Having managed and taught at fitness boutiques such as Orangetheory Fitness, and gyms including Lifetime Fitness, I have seen members make progress much faster than steady-state alternatives.
Examples of interval training are: 2-3 minute bursts of uncomfortable treadmill or floor cardio followed by 1 minute of moderate pacing work, or 10 repetitions of body-weight jump squats followed by 20 total slow reverse dumbbell lunges with overhead presses. For a literal kick-start into interval training, try RockBox, which has multiple locations in and around Charlotte. It combines boxing techniques with cross-functional training to get you in fighter shape in little time.
(4) Sign up and compete in a local race
You won’t procrastinate if you have a deadline. A race gives you incentive to train, and you will be so proud of completing the race that you will have a greater chance of keeping the momentum.
Grab a few friends or your partner and hit the trails at Ragnar or climb through mud at Spartan relay races.
And don’t worry about your race time. The goal is to finish and earn your coveted medal, and you may gain a few new workout buddies in the process.
Even better, a lot of gyms and online race sites have training plans to help you prepare for your next local race.
(5) Add recovery days to help sustain your new habits
Recovery is a great way to balance out your intense workout days. Adding a couple of yoga sessions per week will help you increase flexibility, improve range of motion and circulation, provide relaxation and give you the much-needed boost to tackle your next tough workout.
Don’t think you have to know the poses before you go. This is often the first obstacle of prospective students. Rather, just show up — many classes are meant for all levels.
When you begin to breathe deeper and stretch your body, you open up tight spaces in your muscles and joints and allow yourself to heal and find calm inside and out. Khali Yoga in NoDa allows yogis to flow, deep stretch and rejuvenate among a picturesque wooded landscape.
You will leave with a more peaceful mind and a strong, balanced body.
Christy Siebert is an American Council on Exercise certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor, Precision Nutrition certified nutrition coach, 200-hour registered yoga teacher and STOTT Pilates-certified instructor.
