Fitness and Nutrition Lessons

Holy cow. I’m 37.

I’ve got a weird love for 3’s and 7’s so it seems like this should naturally be a killer year. I’m looking forward to celebrating my 10 year wedding anniversary with my amazing husband, having a diaper-free house at some point {pleeeease??}, lots of lake time this coming summer and continuing to build muscles and healthy mindsets at SOS.

I did my 37 pull-ups for turning 37 yesterday. My yearly tradition lives on.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BeBBtYyAti-/?taken-by=amandamaryperry

In continuing with the birthday theme today…

Here’s 37 totally random fitness and nutrition lessons I’ve learned over the years.

It’s really true that as you get older, you get at least a little bit wiser. 😉

Walking is not a waste of time. In fact, it’s more effective to move more in general than it is to sit all day and then do a 30-minute workout at the gym. Get those steps in! Also, winter walking doesn’t have to suck. At least not as bad as you think it might.
You don’t actually have to run at all to be healthy and fit. In fact, many people probably shouldn’t.
Motivation gets you started, habits keep you going
Carbs are not the devil. Fat’s not either. Protein is king for fat loss, muscle building and satiety.
Turkish Get Ups are not only fun, but make for an incredibly effective warm up drill.
Cheddar cheese is lactose free. {You’re welcome.}
Salt baths are incredible for recovery from workouts. They also help put you to sleep. Trust me on this one and make the time.
It’s so important to have fun with your training. Your workouts should feel like a treat most of the time, not a chore. Sure, there are days you just need to show up and get it done, but most of the time you truly should be having fun. Besides you don’t HAVE to exercise. You GET to exercise. Handstands are fun.
Only eat food you like. There is literally not one food in the world you absolutely have to eat to be “healthy.”
Knowledge is good. Action is better. You can know all you want about how to improve your health and fitness, but if you do nothing about it, nothing is gonna change. You know enough to get started right now.
Trying to get to the gym 3x per week sucks. Putting your workouts in your calendar and actually showing up is much better.
If you surround yourself with people who are interested in living a healthy lifestyle, you’re much more likely to live one yourself.
Health looks different for everyone. Your goals will change over time. Your body will change over time. Health and fitness is a lifelong journey.
It’s okay not to have a goal of fat loss right now.
Most diets will work for awhile. Until they don’t. You’re much better off finding a way to eat that’s sustainable for you. Here’s why: you can’t follow a super restrictive meal plan forever. Even if you’re wonder woman. I’m convinced wonder woman drinks wine too.
Scale weight doesn’t tell the whole story, but it certainly can help keep you in check. Even better, learn to look at the number as data. Interesting data, versus an indicator of your self-worth.
Drinking enough water is a game changer for most people. So yes, water matters, but like most great things, you can over do it and too much of it isn’t a good thing. {I did this one. Again, another post for another day.}
You don’t have to eat first thing in the morning. But you can eat first thing in the morning if you like to and it’s what works for you.
You don’t have to eat 5-6 small meals a day in order to be healthy and/or to lose weight. But you can, if you like it and it’s what works for you.
Coffee + protein + unsweetened almond milk makes the best pre-workout. In my humble opinion.
Overnight oats make the best post workout. Again, in my humble opinion.
Sleep is under-rated. In fact, you may need to choose sleep over training during many times in your life. Particularly in those post-partum days when sleep is hardest to come by.
It’s okay to drink wine during the week.
You can be successful at fat loss and/or weight maintenance without food prep, but it sure helps your chance of success.
You don’t have to eat the food your kids leave on their plates. You’re not saving any starving humans by eating the last few bites of mac and cheese {daily}.
Consistency matters. Way more than intensity.
Weight loss, and particularly keeping weight off for good, is not really about the food. You need to nourish your whole body and MIND in order to stay lean and healthy.
You are likely capable of way more than you think.
Be aware of food marketing. Most foods that are labeled as low fat, low calorie, whole grain, healthy, etc. are not the best choices. If a food needs to tout it’s benefits {low fat, low calorie, whole grain, etc.}, there’s usually a hidden agenda.
Working out in front of your kids is a great idea. They learn from you and see that mom is taking care of herself. Plus, they’ll be okay playing alone or watching a show. I promise. If you’re a mom with small kids, one of the best investments you can make is to purchase a few things to create some type of small home gym. Sometimes you’re literally trapped at your house with sick kids, snow storms, traveling husbands, etc. Having a few tools or even some bodyweight exercises to do simply eliminates a lot of excuses.
If you choose to eat healthy some people might think you’re weird. Own it and know that if they are giving you a hard time, it’s likely something they are insecure about, not something you are doing.
There is no wagon. Lucky you, you can’t fall off something that doesn’t exist.
You can actually be happy and love yourself right now even if there are things you want to change. If you’re focused on the fact that you’ll only be happy when/if you lose x number of pounds, it’s gonna be a battle. Related: Stop calling yourself fat. You’ll be way happier. People will like you better. Hell, you’ll like yourself better. And by the way, you’ll probably be leaner too.
Peanut butter and hummus aren’t great sources of protein.
You don’t need any specific amount of time to get in a workout. Some days you may have 5 minutes. Other days you may have 90. It’s all good.
If you want to make serious progress with training, track your workouts.
Saved the best for last: tortilla pizzas are life. Especially when you’re stressed or just need to put things on autopilot.