Celebrating a Milestone, 5 Must Do's for Results

​It’s been a while since my last post! I’ve been SO busy with clients, massage school, certifications, and my own training regimen for track and field.
 
I just had my 10 year anniversary as the owner of Breakthrough Personal Training! That makes 14 years of being a full-time personal trainer. Or as I like to tell people, “Fitness is all I’ve done”.
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Here are 5 “Must Do’s” for results that I have learned over the many years.

Rather than telling you: Do cardio 5 days a week, lift weights 3 days a week, don’t eat carbs, and so on. I much rather share with you deeper concepts of health and fitness that will lead to permanent results.
 
Manage Your Stress
Much of our unhealthy habits are reinforced by stress. People come home stressed and reach for junk food or alcohol. We often don’t sleep enough because of stress and need caffeine and sugar to keep us going throughout the day. Or we just feel unwell so we do or consume something unhealthy. It’s a quick fix and it makes you feel better at the moment. Ultimately, it leads to decreased health and fitness. If you manage your stress, much of these unhealthy cravings disappear making it much easier to choose the salad over pizza or a jog over episodes of Netflix. Here are some examples of changes I have made to manage stress: Traffic --> Listen to insightful audio books. Arriving home with work stress --> pet the cat for 5 minutes. No time to cook --> have lots of easy healthy food ready to eat.
 
Change Your View on Food
Many people make too many impulsive decisions on what they eat. Eating what you feel like too often leads bad choices and bad habits. Of course if you feel like celery and turkey breast then there is no problem, but often it’s on the other end of the health spectrum where people choose. Instead of choosing food solely based on what you are craving, choose based on other factors like: What will satisfy my craving AND is healthy? What will give me good energy for the rest of my day? What is a lighter or smaller version of what I want?

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​Find an Athletic Hobby

​Find something you love doing that is active. Maybe you should restart a sport you used to love playing years ago. Or maybe you just haven’t found your athletic hobby yet. Now days there are SO many groups and clubs for every activity and age range. They range from traditional sports to sports you never could of imagined existed. Sign up with a group or competition to get you motivated.
 
Set and RESET realistic goals
Set goals that are important to YOU and make them attainable. You can still dream big which is a great motivator, but these big goals often need to be general. Set smaller specific goals that are attainable knowing that plans will never go perfectly. If you miss a goal, reset it with a plan to accomplish it or make it more realistic to your situation.

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Know Yourself
Most importantly, know and be honest with yourself. Don’t “trick” yourself into thinking that you are going to follow a workout or nutrition plan that does not suit you. Find out what motivates you: Looking better in a certain outfit, seeing a lower LDL number, running a 10k in under 60 minutes, feeling energized and sharp while at work. These are all VERY different motivators and you need to find what YOU hold in high value. ​

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5 tip for results. Fitness results. Healthy living. Personal Trainer in Palo Alto, CA.