by jc | Nov 17, 2023 | Diet/Nutrition, homepage, weight loss, Workouts
Jump-start some serious results and get in shape fast!
Do you want to get in shape fast? Are you already working out? Do you already do some form of strength training? If not, then you really don’t need to read much further, you simply need to get started and you will see results no matter what you do! Remember, it’s all relevant to your current situation. If you do already do some type of strength training exercise though, and you have hit a rut, or simply just want to boost results, then these 3 EASY TIPS will help you.
1. START RUNNING
The first of our 3 easy tips to get in shape fast is to start running.
Now, I know, immediately some of you had all these running-defense mechanisms pop up telling you why you can’t run. I’m sure there is a long list of reasons why not. And, for some of you, this may be true. But… for most of you, you can run, even if you don’t think that you can. If you can handle running to any degree, then you should strongly consider it.
How much running? That answer is easy – simply more than you already are doing. But, to be more specific, it would be good to do a plan, such as a couch-to-5k type plan. Or a plan to get up to 2 miles. Don’t worry about getting into “running” and running long distances. The goal here is still to try to stay under 30 minutes of high intensity cardio, but just to make that cardio running.
I also think a treadmill running plan is great. The benefit of the treadmill is that it makes you work hard. When you are running outside, sometimes your body will automatically slow down when you get tired, but when you are on a treadmill, you have only two options, do what the treadmill does, or get off. Basically, it is harder to cheat on the treadmill.
(For a FREE progressive treadmill running plan, click HERE and request treadmill running plan)
Note: I am not saying get into running for sport and running long distances. Running for sport is different and can wear your body down and cause chronic problems. I am saying running for cardio and trying to keep it to like 3 miles or less on a regular basis. If you stay in this zone, you will avoid joint problems and other problems.
If you take a look at those people who are in good shape, or those who have seen the results that you would like to see, then you will see that one common denominator usually is that they run, in addition to strength training. Myself included.
If you want to run, but honestly can’t due to physical reasons, then try another form of cardio, just make sure the intensity is high and that you are working hard! The reason that I recommend running is because it is an easy way to work hard. It is very efficient. But, if you can work hard on another machine, then by all means, go for it. Just make sure it is as difficult as running.
2. CUT SOMETHING OUT OF YOUR REGULAR DIET
The second of our 3 easy tips to get in shape fast is to cut something out of your regular diet.
You don’t have to eat all the time! I know, you are probably thinking about everything that you have heard about having to eat every few hours to keep your metabolism going, etc., but you don’t! I see so often people eat just because they think they have to or they think that if they don’t eat then they will starve or they will lose their muscle, or even worse, they will tell themselves that they have to eat so they can justify eating and not have to have as much discipline.
When it comes to health and fitness, everyone seems to freak out a little and think that if they don’t eat that something bad will happen. People always tell me that if they don’t eat then their metabolism will slow down. So what do they do? They go and add all these extra calories that they now have to burn.
You can look at it like this – Jane wants to reduce her caloric deficit by 300 calories per day. She hears that if she doesn’t eat then her metabolism will slow down. Her goal was to burn an extra 300 calories per day. But, since she doesn’t want to slow down her metabolism, she eats a 300 calorie snack between meals or a 300 calorie meal that she didn’t want because she didn’t want to slow down her metabolism. The way I look at it is that any amount you slow down your metabolism by not eating (which I do not believe to be all that true) is definitely not 300 calories worth of slow down. The benefits of eating when she thought she had to were not 300 calories worth!
Another way to look at it is to think about fasting. I used to think it was bad for me not to eat, and then I started fasting for spiritual reasons and then after many long fasts I realized that if fasting wasn’t bad for me when I did it spiritually then why was it bad for me when I did it for diet reasons??? Your body can go a long time without eating. And a lot less of your energy than you think is derived from food. I am not telling you not to eat, but what I am doing is trying to inform you that you don’t have to eat as much as you probably think and that it’s ok to skip a meal to save hundreds of calories!
This tip is just one of many in my Calorie Budgeting System. If you really want to get in shape fast, read my short eBook, Calorie Budgeting 101.
3. DO SOMETHING EVERY DAY FOR 21 DAYS
The third of our 3 easy tips to get in shape fast is to do something every day for 21 days.
Years ago, I started The 21 Day Fast Blast at Hoover Fitness. The goal of the 21 Day Fat Blast was for people to workout 21 straight days. The results were great, but the real success was that it developed a habit of working out and exercising for people. After the 21 Days, going down to 4 to 5 days per week wasn’t a problem.
The important thing here is to develop the habit. If you can do it for 21 days straight, then you will prove to yourself that you can do 4-5 times per week on a regular basis and that you will be able to finally incorporate exercise into your lifestyle and rise above your previous excuses and limiting factors.
The other part of 21 days straight is that it can help you get fast results because you will be doing more in those 21 days than you normally have been doing, even if you have been working out regularly. If you are working out 3 or 4 days per week consistently and you are stuck in a rut and not seeing great results, 21 straight days could get you out of it.
Need ideas or workouts to follow for your 21 days? My Virtual Personal Trainer will deliver them to your inbox daily and comes with easy to follow instructions and video demonstrations.
Final Thoughts
Get in shape fast by running or improving your cardio, by cutting out something from your diet, and by trying 21 straight days. If you are looking for more results, that means that there is something missing from your routine or you are doing something wrong with your diet or exercise and you need to change something. These are 3 easy changes you can make that will get you results and set you up for more results in the future.
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by jc | Nov 13, 2023 | homepage, weight loss
Do you want to avoid holiday weight gain? If so, then now is the time to put your foot on the throttle…..
How would you like to wake up January 1st in the same shape you are now, or even better? As opposed to being in worse shape than you are now and having to work it all off and start the year with the usual uphill battle?
Most people start to fall off the diet and exercise wagon right around Thanksgiving. They eat bad at Thanksgiving, then they look at December and the holidays approaching and that little diet and exercise devil says to them, “life is just too crazy the next 6 weeks, so just wait until January to get back to the gym and eating good. You’ll be fine.”
Then you wake up on January 1st, with an uphill battle because you are further away from your goals than you are even today. Which makes it even harder to get results, thus increasing your chances to quit and go even further backwards.
Remember this – December should be the month that you go to the gym the most! Not the least. Think of it like money. Do you quit working on your most expensive months? We all know there will be holiday eating and times you have to miss exercise and eat bad. So, it is even more important that you eat good on the days that you aren’t eating bad and exercise on the days that you don’t have to miss.
So, take the holidays and enjoy them. Eat bad. Travel, go to parties, miss workouts, etc. But take a look at all the days when you don’t have to eat bad and miss your workout and cardio. On those days, be super-dedicated and do everything you are supposed to do. Chances are, if you do this, you will avoid holiday weight gain. You will not only break even during the next 6 weeks, but you will probably GET AHEAD! – And, you’ll be able to enjoy the holidays guilt free!!!
Below are 5 easy tips to help you avoid holiday weight gain. Apply these 5 easy tips to avoid holiday weight gain immediately and you will get ahead and stay ahead during the next several weeks and you won’t have to start the new year behind and with some crazy resolution – you will already be there!
1. Change Your Mindset
Stop thinking that the damage is done and that there is no point to even try during the holiday season. That thinking will only set you back further. Don’t throw in the towel during this time. It will only make it worse in January. Change your mindset from the damage is done thinking to it doesn’t have to be perfect during the holidays thinking. Make the most of the situation. If you follow my diet and exercise teaching and my Calorie Budgeting System, you will see how I budget for good and bad on a regular basis. The holiday season is no different, there is just a little more bad than normal.
2. Work Your Calendar
The holidays can be a very busy season. You have a lot going on, so it is important to schedule things on a calendar. Hopefully you use a calendar to organize and schedule the important things in your life. Your diet and exercise should be important to you and should be included on your calendar.
Look at your calendar on a weekly basis from Thanksgiving to New Years. Each week, mark all the events that you have that would keep you from exercising or that would make you eat bad. Then take all the other days and schedule exercise on them and eat good on those days. It is fairly simple, you just have to hold yourself accountable on those days.
Note: if you are a busy person on a regular basis, take a look at these Health and Fitness Tips for Busy People.
3. Do Your Workouts
It doesn’t matter if you have missed lately or how crazy your schedule is. At Hoover Fitness we have 16 classes per week available. Chances are you can make more classes during the next 6 weeks than you did during the previous 6 weeks! If you can’t make those classes or you are at another gym, you can follow the workouts on our Virtual Personal Trainer. You can even do those at home.
If you don’t workout already, now is a great time to start. Don’t wait until January to start. There will never be a perfect time to start. Check out these Workout Tips for Beginners to help you get started.
4. Do Cardio
Now is the time to start a cardio plan to do in addition to your workouts. With Cardio, you will greatly increase your chances for results. During the holidays, you will be consuming more calories than normal. Cardio will help you burn more calories than just doing your workouts only. Think of it like an extra job. If you are spending more money than normal, then you can get an extra job to pay for the extra expenses. Cardio is like a job and the calories you eat are like your extra expenses. During the holidays, not only do cardio, but do extra cardio to pay for the extra calories.
For cardio, my advice is to work hard for 15-20 minutes. If you are working hard enough, 15 minutes on a regular basis is plenty. Often times people walk or do something easy for 45 minutes or an hour and get nothing really from it. Their mind tells them that they are working hard because they went so long, but the reality is that there is a reason they were able to go so long – it was easy. My best advice that I can give for cardio is that it is not how far you go or how long you go, it’s how hard you work. The holiday season is a busy season and you are limited in the amount of time you have anyways. So make the most of it and work hard during the limited time that you have.
5. Eat good when you are not eating bad
Thanksgiving through the entire holiday season, you are going to eat bad. And that is ok! My goal is not to tell people that they cannot eat bad, it is to show people how they can eat bad and still get results.
It is important that you take advantage of the times that you aren’t eating bad and be sure to eat good during those times. Cut calories during the times you are not eating bad. Think of it like saving money. Save the calories for the bad eating. Don’t waste them on the good eating.
If you want to learn how to easily budget your calories to be able to enjoy foods that you love, check out my eBook, Calorie Budgeting 101.
Final Thoughts
Take a serious look at the next 6 weeks. Make this the year that you avoid holiday weight gain. You can enjoy all the good stuff that comes during this time, and still get results. You don’t have to quit during this time. I promise, you will not regret it. The only chance of regret is by throwing in the towel and waiting until January to do something.
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by jc | Nov 1, 2023 | Diet/Nutrition, homepage, Workouts
Has your health and fitness suffered due to your super busy schedule? If you are like a lot of people in today’s world, then chances are it has suffered. I have good news though, it doesn’t have to! Below are 8 simple health and fitness tips for busy people that you can apply starting immediately to get results no matter what your schedule is like.
1. Make Your Health and Fitness a Priority
The first of the health and fitness tips for busy people is to make your health and fitness a priority. If you want to lose weight, build muscle, burn body fat, become healthier, get in shape, have more energy, sleep better, and have the benefits of regular exercise and a better diet, then you have to stop using your busy schedule as an excuse. I get it, your schedule is crazy and the last thing you want to fit in is working out or following a diet. If you want the results that come with improved health and fitness, then you have to improve your health and fitness. There is no other way.
The good new is that you can follow these health and fitness tips to get results, even if you are busy. Before you move on though, you have to decide that you are going to make your health and fitness a priority. It has to be something that you place an importance on moving forward. That doesn’t mean that you have to quit doing other things or try to alter your already crazy life, but what it does mean is that you have to decide that your health and fitness is something that you are going to put into your life on a regular basis moving forward.
2. Adjust Your Mindset
Now that you are going to improve your health and fitness, the next step is to adjust your mindset. Get out of the all or nothing thinking. Your health and fitness doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be better and it just has to be an ongoing part of your life. While your busy schedule doesn’t mean that you get a pass from diet and exercise, it does give you a pass to adjust your thinking.
Doing something is better than doing nothing. In the past, one of the things that probably prevented you from exercising is that you thought that if you didn’t have time to do everything 100 percent then why do it at all? If you get started doing some exercise and make some diet improvements and do them on a regular basis, you will get results, and you will improve over time. Sometimes it just takes enough to get started. Get the ball rolling and then once you make your health and fitness a habit and start seeing results, everything improves from there.
Remember, your results are relative to your current diet and exercise routine, not to a perfect diet and exercise routine. To see results, all you have to do is improve what you are currently doing.
3. Schedule Your Health and Fitness
Working out is not a spur of the moment kind of thing. It should be a part of your life just like work and other non-negotiables are. If you keep a calendar or planner, schedule your workouts on it. Treat them like an appointment. Often times, people put no value on workouts and base them on convenience.
Fill in your calendar for the week with everything that you have to do and then schedule everything else around those things. Include your workouts in this! Schedule in at least 3 workouts for the week (4 or 5 if possible). Probably the number one reason people miss workouts is because they make them optional and they base it on if it’s convenient or not each day.
Do the same with your diet. Look at your calendar and put all the times on there that you will not be eating good because of work or whatever reason you may have and then make sure you eat good the rest of the time. Remember, the diet doesn’t have to be perfect to get results, it just has to be better than it used to be.
4. Be Efficient
The most practical of the health and fitness tips for busy people that I can give is to be efficient with your exercise. You don’t have time to waste, so you have to work hard when you exercise. With your workouts, try doing total body workouts that allow you to get in a lot of exercises in a short amount of time. Try doing combination exercises and supersets where you go back and forth between different exercises instead of resting between exercises. Try to avoid exercises and machines that are easy to do and take too much time to do them. You can get in a much more effective and efficient workout with some dumbbells and an open area than you can by going down the line from easy workout machine to easy workout machine slowly doing whatever single body part move each machine calls for.
With your cardio, the best tip that I can give is to run instead of walk. Run for 15 minutes instead of walking for 30 minutes or an hour. You will get in a way better workout in a fraction of the time and it will be way less on your joints over time. If you cannot run, then I recommend a stair stepper or bike or other cardio machine, but work as hard as you can for 15 minutes instead of working at a low or medium level for 30 minutes to an hour. With cardio, it’s not how far you go or how long you go, it’s how hard you work!
Work hard, be efficient, don’t waste time. If it were easy, everyone would be in shape.
5. Follow a Program
The previous tip of the health and fitness tips for busy people was to be efficient. The best way to be efficient is to follow a program. There are a lot of good workout programs you can find at your local gym or online.
Our in-person workouts at Hoover Fitness are designed with the busy person in mind. We never go longer than 45 minutes and often times are even closer to 35-40 minutes. This leaves you time to get in a good 15 minute cardio session and still be in and out of the gym in an hour at the most. With online programs, you can find programs that are even quicker. My Virtual Personal Trainer workouts can be done in 30 minutes or less and are super efficient because they work every body part and contain combination exercises where you are working your lower body, upper body, and core all at the same time.
Remember, wondering around the gym or at home aimlessly trying to figure out what to do is not only ineffective, it is slow and not a good idea for the person who is trying to figure out how to fit exercise into their busy schedule.
6. Get a Coach
You invest in the things that you want to excel in, so why not invest in your health. If you don’t get results, you will probably end up quitting. If you are a super busy person, then your path to better health and fitness is going to be challenging and you need to set yourself up for success. The best way to do this is have a professional set you up on a specific program based on your personal schedule and your personal goals.
In my programs, I work with clients to maximize their time and efforts and set up programming that is doable based on their current schedule. Basically we meet and go over your goals and your schedule and map out a plan to ensure you get results based on what you can do and when you can do it. To set up a free consultation to discuss further, request online coaching information HERE.
The good thing about a coach is that they can set you up for success based on your unique situation. Trust me, there is a plan out there for everyone. Coaches can help you map out a plan and keep you held accountable to continue to see results, especially when your schedule throws you that curveball that would normally lead you to quit.
7. Skip a Meal or Two
This is tip is also mentioned in my 7 Easy Weight Loss Diet Tips post. One of the best weight loss weight loss diet tips is to cut calories. The easiest way to cut calories is to skip a meal. You don’t have to eat 5 times per day and not eating will not mess up your metabolism. These are diet myths. (If you want to overcome several other diet myths that are probably holding you back, check out my eBook). Don’t ever eat because you think you have to. The goal is to burn more calories than you normally burn and to eat less than you normally eat. The greater the deficit the faster the body fat falls off. All that matters at the end of the day is that you created a deficit.
You are super busy, and the last thing you have is time to put towards learning a special diet and preparing food and eating based on a certain schedule or plan you have to follow.
Instead of going on a diet, just cut your calories by skipping a meal or two. Have a cup of coffee or a water or a zero calorie drink instead of those calories you normally have in a meal. This is also a way to enjoy your other meal or meals a little more. Don’t cancel it out by adding the same amount to your other meals, but if you cut out 500 calories at lunch and then add 250 to dinner, then you still came out 250 ahead!
8. Don’t Quit
This is arguably the most important health and fitness tip for busy people that I can give. None of it matters if you quit. You are guaranteed not to get results if you quit. Your health and fitness routine will be good some days/weeks/months and it will be not so good some days/weeks/months. As long as you don’t completely quit then you will get results and maintain results.
If you miss a workout, no big deal, do it the next day. If you miss a few workouts or an entire week, it’s still not the end of the world. Start back the next week. Just don’t let a missed week turn into quitting completely and then waiting 6 months to start back again and then on and off that roller coaster for the next several years.
Your Health and Fitness Path Moving Forward
What’s more important than what you do, is that you do it. This is especially important to the busy person. Start today and apply these 8 health and fitness tips for busy people to your own personal health and fitness routine. Mold a routine to your busy schedule and commit to doing something with your diet and exercise and don’t quit.
Make your health and fitness a priority, adjust your mindset, schedule your health and fitness, be efficient, follow a program, get a coach, skip a meal or two, and don’t quit and you will be set up for success, regardless of how busy you are. If you stick with it, regardless of how good your routine is, you will get results!
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by jc | Oct 27, 2023 | Diet/Nutrition, homepage, weight loss
Below are 7 easy weight loss diet tips that you can start using today to get results and that will set you up for a diet that is easy to maintain for a long time. Chances are, you have probably gone on and off of diets for years. You start a diet and lose a little weight, then you realize you are miserable and the diet is not sustainable so you quit and gain back more than you lost, then eventually you repeat the process again and on and on until you have dieted your way to misery and to overall weight gain. These tips are designed to not only get you some quick results, but also to keep you from quitting and allow you to enjoy life while getting results.
These tips are more mindset than anything. They are designed to keep you from failing. I know you probably are looking for “eat this” and “don’t eat this” but TRUST me here, the information you will read in this article is much more valuable than telling you exactly what to eat. You have probably tried that a thousand times already with little success, so give this a shot!
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1. Do Good Not Great
The biggest problem for people with dieting is that they try to be perfect. They think that they cannot get results unless their diet is perfect. They go on a strict diet and try to do great and deprive themselves of foods they love, thus depriving themselves of happiness and then eventually quit.
One super easy weight loss diet tip is to do good, not great. Good means eating better most of the time, not all of the time. do bad some of the time. Do Good forever, not great for a short time. When you try to be perfect with your diet you quit and end up just eating bad all the time. You go from 100% dieting to 0% dieting and over the course of time you probably averaged good dieting like 25% of the time. Think 80/20 rule. Eat good 80% of the time and bad 20% of the time, but doing this forever. Get out of the all or nothing mindset. You will get better results in the long run.
I have spent my entire career teaching people how to get results and still be able to enjoy the foods they love. Basically how to be a normal person and get results. These tips will easily get you on your way, but if you want to read even more tips that will help you get amazing results, check out my latest eBook that explains even more how you can live a normal life and still get results.
2. Budget Your Calories – Treat Them Like Money
Remember to look at the day as a whole, the week as a whole, and the month as a whole. With that being said, you have the ability to “budget” your calories. Save calories here to have calories there. What ultimately matters is if at the end of the day, week, or month, your calorie totals are where they need to be. And, the answer to that is that they need to be less than you are burning. Remember – eat less and burn more. It’s that simple.
With calorie budgeting, don’t waste calories. If you are eating good, then do good. Don’t waste any calories on the good days. Save your calories for your cheat meals. So, find as many ways as you can to reduce calories on your good days and save them up for your cheat meals.
Think of this like a savings account. You save up for something and then you buy it instead of charging it to a credit card. If you have the money and are able to buy something, then you are financially ok after the purchase. If you do not have the money and you buy something by charging it to a credit card, then you have to work and work to pay it off over time. The same goes for dieting. If you are trying to get 2000 calories per day, then you have 14000 per week to work with. If you are planning on having a cheat meal that is 2000 calories more than normal, then you should try to cut 2000 out of the rest of the week. If you cut those calories out in other places, then, after your cheat meal, you would still be at 14000 for the week. If you didn’t cut your normal days down some, and just added the cheat meal, then you would be at 16000 calories for the week, thus increasing your weekly total by 2000, which ultimately will lead to body fat gains. You will be working and working to burn those 2000 calories over time, just like you would be working to pay down that credit card.
Treat your diet analytical, but also don’t over-think it. Keep it simple. Think of it like a bank savings account. The more calories you can cut here, the more calories you can have there!
3. Exercise
Yes, one of the weight loss diet tips is to exercise…. When you treat your calories like money, your calories that you eat are like the money that you spend and the calories that you burn are like the money that you make. If you are wealthy, then spending money doesn’t hurt you financially. The same can be said about calories. If you burn a lot of calories, then when you eat calories it doesn’t hurt you as much.
Exercising regularly takes the pressure off the diet. Everyone will fail at dieting. Like death and taxes, diets are also undefeated. The problem is that normally people do not exercise so they place all of their success on their diet. Then when they quit their diet they are back to no diet and no exercise. Get super consistent with your exercise and make it a part of your life moving forward that way when you fall off of your diet (hopefully for only a short period), you will still have your exercise going and still be able to get results or at least maintain and not go backwards.
Not sure where to get started with your exercise? Check out these 9 Easy But Effective Workout Tips For Beginners.
4. Make the Obvious Changes First
One of the big mistakes that people make with dieting and trying to eat better is that people tend to go too far too fast. They also tend to over-think things and try too hard. These mistakes ultimately lead to another failed attempt at improving your diet. Remember to keep it simple! Don’t try too hard too fast.
With dieting and eating better, the two most important things that you need to know are (1) that it is relative to you and your current diet and (2) all you have to do to get results is improve upon what you are currently doing. Too often people pick a diet and switch from their current diet to this new and crazy diet that is light years away from what they are currently doing. The change is too much and this leads to failure. All you have to do is improve on your current diet. Simple logic tells us that if you improve what you are doing, no matter how small or large the improvements are, you will see results. Remember, keep it simple!
So, how do we improve? Start with making the obvious choices first. Don’t overthink your “new” diet. Your new diet is simply an improvement on your current diet. Make the easy changes first. Change the things that you know in your head are better choices. If you can say to yourself “I know better than to eat that” about a specific food, then you already have enough knowledge to improve your diet. At first, make the easy choices that you already know. Get help later. Start with less soft drinks, less fried foods, less sweets, etc. Everyone knows how to diet at this level. This will get the ball rolling and get you some much needed results. Trust that your knowledge will evolve as your diet does. You need to be gradually improving over time. You will hit road blocks along the way, and when you do, then you can ask for help or advice.
Just start improving. It is that simple! Don’t give yourself the excuse, “I don’t know what to do to eat a better diet.” So, the good news is that you already are armed with the knowledge to start eating better. The bad news is that you actually have to do it and you can’t use this excuse anymore!
5. Fix Breakfast and Lunch
The purpose of my weight loss diet tips is not necessarily to give you weight loss foods or just healthy diet tips, it is to show you how to eat to lose weight and still be able to enjoy life. If you eat 3 meals per day, then let’s focus on fixing 2 of them.
Simple math tells us that if you fix your breakfast and lunch you and leave dinner the exact same then you will have improved your day by 66%. Like everything else in this article, this is a mindset change. Remember, it’s all relative to what your current diet, not to a perfect diet. If you normally eat bad 3 meals per day, then you eat good two of those meals and eat what you normally eat one of those meals, then you have improved your daily diet by 66%, while still eating what you normally eat one meal. You have to get out of the mindset of if you do bad then you can’t get results. If you ate bad one meal and you still improved 66%, you will still sea results!
I always recommending fixing breakfast and lunch and leaving dinner the same. For most people this works best because you are more in control of breakfast and lunch and you can apply a little more discipline to those meals and tough it out a little and then you can enjoy dinner with your family and eat like a normal person. The toughest meal to fix for most people is dinner, so leave it the same for now. Don’t make it worse, just leave it the same.
6. Skip a Meal
The overall main weight loss diet tip is to cut calories. The easiest way to cut calories is to skip a meal. And from the previous paragraph, the easiest way to fix breakfast and lunch is to skip one of them.
You don’t have to eat 5 times per day and not eating will not mess up your metabolism. These are diet myths. (If you want to overcome several other diet myths that are probably holding you back, check out my eBook). Don’t ever eat because you think you have to. The goal is to burn more calories than you normally burn and to eat less than you normally eat. The greater the deficit the faster the body fat falls off. All that matters at the end of the day is that you created a deficit. Just like your money, all that matters is that you make more than you spend.
So if you can, skip a meal. Have a cup of coffee or a water or a zero calorie drink instead of those calories you normally have in a meal. This is also a way to enjoy the other meal or meals a little more. Don’t cancel it out by adding the same amount to your other meals, but if you cut out 500 calories at lunch and then add 250 to dinner, then you still came out 250 ahead!
7. Drink Lots of Water and Take Supplements
Drink more water! Shoot for a minimum of 64oz. per day. Try for more though, 100oz or more if possible. Since hopefully you will be exercising, your body will need more water. Plus if you drink a lot of water, it will help you feel more full, thus hopefully help you eat less.
I am a huge advocate of supplementing your diet with certain products. If you take the right things, then you can get results with little to no effort, which is always a good thing to keep you going and keep you happy.
Think of taking supplements like an athlete having the best gear. A baseball player having the best bat and cleats and then taking supplements to get the most out of his training. Or like If you get into running, and you wanted to get serious about it, you wouldn’t just start running without doing anything else. You would probably start by getting good running shoes and then taking supplements for your performance.
There are a lot of quality supplements out there that can help you get results in the gym and with your diet. While there are a lot of great supplements on the market today, I am going to talk about the supplements that I take and recommend professionally. As always, do your own research. But if you want my professional opinion, then I would advise these.
As for workout performance supplements, I personally take and professionally recommend Prestige Labs products. If you are looking for something to help you lose weight and burn body fat without having to do anything other than take a product, then take a look at the Prestige Heat and the Prestige Crush. These are two of the most popular products we sell in our weight loss workout programs. Check out all of their amazing products by clicking HERE.
As for health-type supplements, I recommend Juice Plus+ fruits and vegetable capsules. I have personally been taking Juice Plus+ for almost 20 years and it is a great way to get real, whole food nutrition without having to eat a ton of calories. The recommended amount of fruits and vegetables is 7-13 servings of raw fruits and vegetables per day. If you eat this amount, then you will reap amazing health benefits, including heart health, feeling better, better immune system, and much more. The problem is that it is impossible to physically eat that amount. Plus the cost and the calories would be way too high. Juice Plus+ gets you this amount of fruits and vegetables daily, in a capsule! learn more at by clicking HERE.
Final Thoughts
The 7 super easy weight loss diet tips that you can start using today will go a long way in helping you achieve sustainable results. Do good not great, budget your calories and treat them like money, exercise, make the obvious changes first, fix breakfast and lunch, skip a meal(s), and drink lots of water and take supplements and you will lay the groundwork for a successful weight loss journey.
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by jc | Oct 23, 2023 | homepage, Workouts
Want to know the best workout tips for beginners to ensure that you will get results? These are 9 easy to follow workout tips for beginners that will get you results and also keep you from quitting and ensure that you are set up for long term success with your health and fitness. There are a lot of plans and programs out there you can follow, but if just Googling a workout plan and following it was that easy, you probably wouldn’t be reading this and you wouldn’t need the tips that I am giving you in this article. I have spent over 25 years as a fitness professional teaching normal people how to get results without quitting and while still being able to live a normal life, and these tips will get you set up for that same success. Once you read through these, you will be armed with the knowledge to implement as you move forward with your diet and exercise. (Also, don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to our mailing list to get FREE tips weekly delivered to your inbox)
1. Have the Right Mindset
The most important of the workout tips for beginners that I can give you is to start with the right mindset. You want to set yourself up for success, not failure. Most of the time, people approach their diet and exercise the wrong way and they set themselves up for failure. So what is the right mindset? Think big-picture, and think GOOD, not great. Most people think that they have to get all of their desired results NOW, and then when they don’t see them, they quit and then go backwards and even further away from their goals. You have to think big-picture.
You have to think long term. Remember, diet and exercise have to be a part of your life forever, so you might as well think of it in the long term. Our bodies are designed to be taken care of and if you don’t exercise and you don’t eat right, then you will go backwards. So, yes it is a life-sentence, but it doesn’t have to be a bad one. Your goal is to do good, not great, and do it for a long time. Most people try to do everything perfect. They go from doing no exercise and eating terrible to going crazy with their exercise and going on some super-strict diet. It’s too far from what you were doing and it’s too much to sustain, so you quit and then you are back to not exercising, not eating good, and you start going backwards. (this is the roller-coaster of losing 10lbs, then quitting and gaining 20lbs, then starting back and losing 10lbs, then quitting and gaining another 20lbs, etc., on and off for years and years). It’s all mindset! Think progressive changes. Think GOOD instead of great. Start exercising regularly and start making easy changes in your diet that will help you improve without total deprivation, which causes you to quit.
I can’t express how important this mindset thing is. I have spent 25 years teaching people how to be a normal person and still get results and how to avoid the pitfalls that cause people to quit. I have created a system that allows you to enjoy life while getting results. This is a system for the person who wants results and still wants to enjoy life. I could write several more pages explaining this, and I have… For a quick and easy read showing you exactly how you can get real results while still enjoying life, check out my eBook, Calorie Budgeting 101.
2. Set Your Weekly Goals
It is important to set realistic and achievable workout goals. With your health and fitness you will have results-type goals, such as losing a certain amount of weight, strength goals, health goals, etc, but you cannot reach those goals if you do not have weekly implementation goals. Develop what I call your “workout week” and set your goals for what you want to do daily each week.
How many days per week should you workout? There really is no wrong answer if you are going from doing nothing previously. But ultimately you will want to get to working out on average 3-5 times per week. The key here is to set a weekly goal, but know that you will not always hit it. Since you will not always hit it, you will hopefully make up for it by exceeding this goal some weeks. The goal should be to average a weekly amount. An example would be that your goal is 4 workouts per week, and some weeks life gets in the way and you only get 2 or 3 in and some weeks you get in a 5th or 6th workout, but over time you average 4 workouts per week. The key here is to not quit if you don’t hit your goal.
Develop your workout week and commit to doing it every week when life is normal. When life gets in the way and you have to miss, just miss that day or two then get back on to your normal schedule and continue.
3. Schedule Your Workouts on Your Calendar
Working out is not a spur of the moment kind of thing. It should be a part of your life just like work and other non-negotiables are. If you keep a calendar or planner, schedule your workouts in it. Treat them like an appointment. Often times, people put no value on workouts and base them on convenience.
Hopefully you use a calendar to organize your life. If you don’t, then you should start (free life tip!). Calendar-setting 101 – fill in your calendar for the week with everything that you have to do and then schedule everything else around those things. Include your workouts in this! Schedule in at least 3 workouts for the week (4 or 5 if possible). Probably the number one reason people miss workouts is because they make them optional and they base it on if it’s convenient or not each day.
4. Get a Workout Plan and Follow it
You are busy and you need something efficient and effective. You can’t afford to waste your own time. If you wonder around aimlessly and get nothing out of your workout, not only will it take too much time, you will not get results. If you are taking too much time and/or you are not getting results, then you will likely quit, and the ultimate goal here is not to quit!
There are lots of good workout plans to use. Their are training programs at your local gyms and there are several online options as well. If you are going to a gym, try one of their training programs, just make sure it is safe and suitable for beginners and make sure it doesn’t take too long. I like programs that are 45 minutes or less. That way you can do the workout and 15 minutes of cardio and be in and out in an hour. If you can’t afford a training program, then I recommend finding a plan online to follow at the gym. The one I recommend the most (of course) is my Virtual Personal Trainer. It is emailed workouts that explain what to do and have video demonstrations showing you exactly what to do. It is like having a personal trainer in your pocket. You can do them at any gym or at home with or without any equipment. You can learn more about our Virtual Personal Trainer or even try it out for free by clicking HERE.
Regardless of what workout plan you choose to follow, just make sure and follow a plan. You will set yourself up for success and you will have a layer of accountability.
5. Workout Tips for Beginners at Home
Can’t go to a gym? Or just don’t want to go to a gym? I have some workout tips for beginners at home. Working out at home can be challenging. There are lots of distractions and there is also the challenge of what to do if you have little or no equipment. If you implement the 9 easy but effective workout tips for beginners listed in this article you will be set up for success, even working out at home. Schedule your workouts and have a plan for them, the same as if you were going to a gym.
You don’t have to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars and build an extensive home gym to be able to workout at home. At the most you would only really need some dumbbells to get in an effective workout. If you have tons of equipment that is fine, and you can use it, but even when I go to the gym, I mostly use dumbbells. And even if you are a very strong person, if you are doing the right workouts, you won’t need super-heavy dumbbells. You can even get in a good workout without any weights at home (or on the road, at the park, etc). You can use household items.
Find an at home workout plan that requires little or no equipment. My Virtual Personal Trainer is a complete workout plan that uses dumbbells, mats, and steps for the most part. It also has an option with every workout for doing the workouts without any equipment at all.
You can also do your cardio at home, even if you don’t have a treadmill or other cardio machine. You can go outside and run/jog/walk, you can go up and down steps, etc.
The key point is to eliminate barriers (excuses) that keep you from working out. So if you can’t get to the gym, you can workout at home and you don’t need a home gym. Very little space and very little equipment is needed.
6. Gym Tips for Beginners
The first step for most people when they decide it’s finally time to get in shape is to join a gym. Unfortunately, more times than not, that gym membership ends in a cancellation and not in results. So to turn your gym membership into a results membership instead of a financial waste, I have some gym tips for beginners to give you.
The first gym tip for beginners is to actually use your gym membership. In the past, the membership wasn’t the problem, the fact that you didn’t use it was the problem. As noted before, commit to working out and schedule it on your calendar and you will be on your way to utilizing that membership.
You can get great results at the gym. One reason is because of the variety of options of equipment and things to do. But the main reason you can get results working out at a gym is that by going there you have a built in layer of accountability. You are there to workout, as opposed to at home, where you have to compete against everything else going on at home.
What to do when you get to the gym? Like we mentioned earlier in this article, the second gym tip for beginners is have a plan! Don’t just wander around aimlessly. Know what you are going to do before you get there. Have a workout on paper or on your phone (like our Virtual Trainer hint, hint…) and follow it. Make the most of your time. Be efficient. The people who don’t get results at the gym and eventually quit are always the ones who don’t have a plan. At first you may feel like you are doing something just by going to the gym and piddling around, and you may get something out of it because it is better than before when you were doing nothing, but that will run out soon.
Another great reason to have a plan at the gym is so you will look like you know what you are doing. People often wonder around the gym and then get intimidated because they don’t really know what they are doing and they avoid trying things or working hard because of this uncertainty. If you have a plan to follow, your plan should tell you exactly what to do.
The third gym tip for beginners is to try out a free personal training session or class. When you do this, there are 3 possible things that can happen. One is that you will stay with the trainer or the program and get premium results. The other two things that can happen, even if you only use it for the free session, are that you will get ideas to use on your own, and you will get help on your form and how to do things correctly.
The last quick gym tip for beginners in this article is to work hard while you are there. To get results, you have to put in the work. If you are not at least somewhat miserable and working at an uncomfortable level, and if you leave the gym not tired or having broken a sweat, you probably didn’t get much out of it. Again, don’t waste your time. Make the gym membership something valuable!
7. Do Cardio
The 3 main components in your health and fitness are to workout, eat better, and do cardio. If you haven’t gotten results in the past, there is a good chance it is because you left out one of these three, and usually it is cardio.
Cardio not only will help you with your heart health, stamina, and health in general, it will also help you burn fat and tone up. In addition to those benefits, cardio will help you have better endurance for your strength training workouts, thus enabling you to get more out of those workouts.
And most importantly, working out regularly and doing cardio regularly take the pressure off of the diet. Your diet will never be perfect, so the more you can be consistent with your workouts and cardio, the less your diet failures will effect you.
My advice is always to work hard for 15-20 minutes. If you are working hard enough, 15 minutes on a regular basis is plenty. Often times people walk or do something easy for 45 minutes or an hour and get nothing really from it. Their mind tells them that they are working hard because they went so long, but the reality is that there is a reason they were able to go so long – it was easy. My best advice that I can give for cardio is that it is not how far you go or how long you go, it’s how hard you work.
As for what to do for your cardio, pretty much anything that causes your heart rate to increase and stay increased for 15-20 minutes will suffice. If you are at home, this could be a jog or run outside, up and down stairs, riding a bicycle, etc. At a gym, you can use the treadmill, an elliptical machine, a stairstepper, an exercise bike, or any other equipment in the cardio area.
Get out of your comfort zone and be miserable, but only for a short amount of time, like 15 minutes. Not only will you get better results, it will be better for your joints and keep you from racking up chronic injuries that accrue over time when you just keep rolling up that odometer.
8. Simple Diet Changes
So by now, hopefully you are well prepared to start working out and ready to get started. I have a few simple diet changes that you can make that will help you as you begin this journey. With the diet, start simple and with small changes. People fail on their diets because they change too much too fast and deprive themselves of everything and then they quit. And when they quit, they quit everything, including their exercise.
Commit to exercising, then the pressure should be off the diet. Your diet will come and go, but your exercise can be consistent.
Find ways to cut calories without being miserable. One way to do this is to take something that you normally eat and replace it with something that you like that has less calories. Then it becomes relative to what you normally eat, not relative to what the actual food item is.
Skip a meal. Yes, skip a meal. This is by far the easiest way to cut calories. The bottom line is your calories in vs. calories out. You have already increased the calories out by your exercise, so find ways to reduce the calories in. The bigger the deficit is each day, the faster you get results. You don’t have to eat 5 times per day, and you don’t have to eat breakfast. Never eat because you think you have to.
Avoid snacking. Grab a cup of coffee or a piece of gum. Cut out those snacks and you have cut out those calories.
Drink lots of water. Water will make you feel more full and also help your body operate better with your exercise. Shoot for 64-100 ounces per day.
I could go on and on about the diet and what to do and what not to do to keep you from quitting, but for the sake of simplicity in getting started, just implement these few diet tips for beginners. For a lot more easy diet tips and help with the mental side of all this, read my latest eBook, Calorie Budgeting 101. It is a quick read and the ultimate diet guide for the person who wants results and still wants to eat the foods they love and enjoy life.
9. Don’t Quit
The only way that you will fail with your health and fitness is if you quit. Our bodies were designed to be taken care of. We have to do preventive maintenance. If you eat terrible and you don’t exercise (like most people) then your body will go the wrong way. Weight gain and health problems are inevitable. And you will feel bad and lack energy. It’s just not optional if you want to get the most out of life physically.
These 9 Easy But Effective Workout Tips for Beginners are designed to get you results at a sustainable level to where you won’t quit. If you don’t quit you will get results. Consistency is the most important thing you can do. Being consistent and never quitting is much more important than what you do or how perfect your routine or diet is.
Treat this like it is a part of your life moving forward forever and not as an optional or as-needed part of you life and you will look better, feel better, sleep better, and be healthier.
Final Thoughts – Set Yourself Up for Success
This post was about setting yourself up for success by using these 9 Easy But Effective Workout Tips for Beginners. Have the right mindset, set weekly goals, get a workout plan and follow it, maximize your workouts at home or the gym, do cardio, make simple diet changes, and don’t quit and you will be on your way to laying the groundwork for a lifetime of sustainable results! Subscribe to our mailing list to receive more beneficial information to help you achieve your health and fitness goals!
CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR MAILING LIST and get FREE weekly tips and advice that we guarantee will help you on your health and fitness journey!
