get-started tips

Gosh, it's been awhile.  I figured I should pop back on here at some point and actually get into the habit of posting regularly.  I started to type, but then I realized that I have no idea what I want to write about.

I realize that I am not a perfect person and that I am certainly not a health and fitness guru, much as I would like to be one someday.  What I am though, is somebody who wants to be healthy and happy and that is a huge challenge in the world that we live in!  Everything around us moves at the speed of light.  Everything is manufactured for convenience and quantity instead of quality.  After pondering all of these things, I realized that I want this blog to reflect my journey.  I'm not an expert, by any means.  I'm just like the rest of you, just trying to figure out what works for me.

My workouts have been super-spotty since I moved to MN and started my new job.  It's exhausting, which is great, but I could tell that my body was changing over time.  I work in a store where it's really difficult to make smart, healthy decisions because of the lack of healthy options available.  More recently I've found that baby steps have been a great help in getting me back on track and I want to share a couple tips that have helped me.

1.  Pack your own lunch!  Invest in good Tupperware and invest some time on your days off to meal prep.  It sounds ridiculous.  We aren't body builders, right?  Well, I've tried some different things in the last few months and it turns out that the body builders are onto something.  When your meal is prepped and ready to go, it doesn't give you the chance to second-guess you meal.  An additional perk for me is that it saved me money because I wasn't buying something every day.  It doesn't seem like much, but a few dollars here and there definitely adds up!

2.  Trying to start a running regimen?  Start with intervals!  I took this idea from the "Couch to 5k" plans, but I altered it to my needs.  I started somewhere in the middle.  I started with 8 sets of 90 sec intervals with 90 sec rest and increased the interval and decreased rest from there.  Interestingly, I track my workouts with my Fitbit Charge HR and I did similar workouts a week apart and increased the interval period and decreased rest on the second workout and managed to achieve a lower average heart rate during the workout and a lower peak heart rate!  Which brings me to me to my next tip....

How cool is this?!  HR tracker is a great measure of incremental progress!!

3.  Invest in a Fitbit!  I love mine, especially the heart rate tracking feature because it gives me concrete evidence that my fitness is improving, even when I feel tired, sore, or stagnant.  Also, it's great to add friends on Fitbit, as it adds accountability to your goal-tracking.  Even if you don't add a bunch of friends, it keeps you accountable to your true level of activity and it's so eye-opening!

Okay, so that's all I have for now, but I will be adding things as I learn them!

Oh!  And one final thing!  Check out my IG, @itsahealthything for more frequent and more fun updates!

Stay fit!

xoxo