So many of us have fitness goals at the beginning of January, so I wanted to go through a few of my favorite ways to get (and stay) fit on a budget (without a personal trainer, expensive program, or lots of extra food costs!)
“Eat right and exercise” – that’s all there is to it, right?
Well, yes… and no.
With a new “fad diet” book popping up what seems like every day, I’m hearing from more and more fitness gurus to just go back to the basics of eating right and exercising and your fitness goals will just fall into place.
To an extent I’ve found that to be true. But I also think that there are some benefits and things to be learned from many of the “fad diets” that are out there.
If you look at the fad diets as ideas to learn from and not as “cure-alls” then I think they have their place.
For example, last January I jump-started my 2012 fitness goals with the South Beach Diet Phase 1. Not because I wanted to stay strict on the South Beach Diet forever, but because I needed something to obliterate my sugar-addiction (which had gotten out of hand during the holidays.) More to come on sugar in my week 1 post next Monday. 🙂
It definitely worked to accomplish my goal and I had WAY less sugar in 2012 than in 2011.
What if your body is holding on to extra weight because there are toxins being stored in your fat cells? Is eating right and exercising going to help there? It might help some, but possibly some kind of cleanse to force your body to release those toxins would be helpful so that your body will be more willing to get rid of the fat (more on that in week 4).
What if you hate traditional exercising (like me)? Is just having the goal to “exercise more” going to help you? Probably not. It doesn’t help me at all. Is paying for an expensive gym membership going to be helpful if you have no desire to get on an elliptical or do zumba in front of other people (or watch yourself doing zumba in a mirror – goodness I look like a COMPLETE FOOL!)? No, you’ll end up wasting that $30 per month that could be used in other ways to accomplish your fitness goals.
So what are your fitness goals?
Did you notice that I didn’t assume that you have weight-loss goals? You might (I certainly do, although they are more size-loss goals than weight-loss goals!) but I don’t want to assume that everyone’s goal is to lose weight or to lose inches.
But I do feel comfortable assuming that everyone wants to be fit. Everyone wants to have energy, everyone wants to stay healthy, everyone wants to have as few medical complications as possible as they go through life. Hopefully it’s safe to assume these things!
Whatever your fitness goals are, whether they are weight-loss goals, size-loss goals, overall health goals, energy goals, marathon running goals (although now some are saying that’s not a good thing?)… those goals need to work FOR YOU!
Don’t just take someone else’s goals and use them. They might not be your goals, and they might not get you to where you need to be.
Everyone does goals differently so I’ll tell you guys a few things that work for me in creating my personal fitness goals.
1. Being realistic with my body type. I’m never going to be a size 0, 2, or 4. My body just wasn’t built to be that small. And I’m okay with that. While I would absolutely be thrilled to be at a size 6 (and I think it would be doable with some major hard work), my “realistic goal” is to be a size 8.
2. Not going crazy with my time-frames. I’m likely not going to lose 30 pounds this month, and if I do, statistically speaking, the chances of me gaining it back (plus more) are very high. If I’m trying to change my eating and exercise habits so that I can have more energy and get up earlier… it’s probably not going to happen in the first week (in fact, I’ll likely be MORE tired that first week or two). I want to have my goals be as doable as possible, and most of the time that means having smaller goals at regular & realistic intervals!
3. Making health my top priority. Even though I do want to lose weight/inches, that’s not going to be my top priority. I want to have more energy, think clearly (although part of my fog could be still having a little one under 3!), keep my immune system strong, and help my body get rid of the toxins that are hiding in it. I can be at my “dream size” 6 and still have a weak immune system, tired by late morning, and all kinds of other medical complications that come from not living a healthy lifestyle. I would personally rather stay at my current measurements and be healthy than to get down to a lower size at the sacrifice of my health (which, sadly, many “quick fixes” do).
4. Keeping things as frugal as possible. And that’s what the next four weeks of this series are for! 😉
I’d love to hear from you guys! What are your fitness goals? Do you have any fitness tips to share with us?
I’d love to hear your frugal fitness tips for the following categories:
- Eating healthy on a budget
- “Fad diets” that you have tried and that worked and/or what you have learned from fad diets
- How sugar has negatively affected you/how cutting out sugar has positively affected you
- Cardio & workout ideas on a budget
- Building muscle on a budget
- How cleanses/detoxing has helped you
I’ll be choosing two random submissions each week to win a $25 Amazon gift card!
If you’d like to enter, just fill out the following form!
*Nothing on this website is intended to be used as medical advice. Please talk to your doctor before starting any fitness regimen or changing your diet.
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