7 Important Habits of Fit People

There are a bunch of lists like this one so I scoured several of them and made my own list of 7.  Some listed up to 30 items to do, let’s be realistic at 7 things you can work on.  In fact only work on 1 at a time and when you have it nailed down, move on to the next.  If you struggle at 3 or 4 new things STOP adding new ones until you can safely say you have the habit ingrained into your lifestyle.  You see that?  This is a lifestyle change, being fit and healthy is about changing how you live, eat, sleep, work and play.  So get ready to take on one good habit at a time and watch your fitness needle move up.

7 Habits of Fit People

1. They set goals and set a timeline for them- what do you want to work on?  How soon do you want it?  By giving yourself a time line to work with you automatically have an incentive to get started and stay motivated.  Mark you calendar for when you want to reach this goal and work backwards to today and see how you need to progress each week to get there.  If you want to lose 30lb in 6 weeks that is 5lb a week.  It’s not impossible but it’s probably unreasonable and not sustainable.  30lb in 30 weeks may be a more reasonable target.  If you aren’t sure, talk with your coach.
2. Drink plenty of water- most of us walk around all day partly dehydrated and don’t even know it.  Are mental AND physical performance is affected by this but we can easily work on this.  The guide is to drink half your body weight in ounces of water.  So if I am at 200 lb then take half that, 100 and that’s how many ounces of water I should drink each day.  That’s just over 6- 16 ounce bottles of water.  If I have one at each of 3 meals that leaves just 3 more to drink halfway between each meal and in the evening.  How do you know if you are getting enough?  To be blunt, check the toilet.  If you have dark or medium colored urine, you are most likely short on water.  As your urine gets lighter in color you are getting more hydrated.  But don’t overdo it. You can have trouble with electrolytes if you drink too much and your body will “short circuit” from flushing out too much of your salts.  Be smart and work you way up to the target and monitor how you react.
3. Fit people find a way to enjoy exercise- yes give yourself a challenge to show up every day as a target, know that you will get a rush of feel good endorphins after the workout, joke with your workout buddy and just give it all you have in the workout and laugh it off if it all goes wrong.  (I’m getting good at THAT one)
4. They don’t eat perfectly 100% of the time- they stay consistent most of the time and when they do go off the regular menu they don’t let it sink the ship.  They go right back to it the next meal and get back on the horse.  One person I know won’t let themselves do 2 bad things in a row such as miss 2 workouts in a row.  They hold themselves accountable that the second one HAS to be done no matter what.
5. Fit people get a lot of sleep- getting 7-8 hours of sleep should be mandatory for all of us.  Yes, there are people who say they work best on 5-6 hours of sleep but the research studies don’t support that.  Reaction times, cognitive functions and cortisol levels (fat production) all suffer if you are consistently short on sleep.  It is estimated if you are short 1-2 hours of sleep constantly, you can expect to gain weight every year.  Some top level CrossFit athletes work on 9-10 hours of sleep.  Not sure how to do that?  Look at what you spend your evenings on, TV, internet, YouTube, Social media all can be cut back.  Your Welcome!
6. Fit people hang around with other fit people- it’s a self fulfilling prophecy.  You have common interests, can identify with each other’s challenges and successes and look forward to working out together, sharing active events and support each other because you know how hard you work.  So make more friends at the gym AND outside the gym, runners, kayakers, hikers, coworkers etc.
7. Fit people know to eat whole foods- processed foods are not helping society with their weight issues.  For one thing, it’s too easy to just drive through Taco Bell and grab whatever it is they offer and then you suffer with poor quality food for your convenience.  Planning ahead and eating whole foods is your safest bet for healthy nutrition.  It doesn’t all have to be fresh either.  There are healthy options in the canned and frozen areas.  Not only are they cheaper, they are available year round.  Just stay away from the Eggo’s, Pizza, and Chef Boy R Dee.  I can help you with those options so just ask.  Remember that 80% of your health comes from the kitchen.  Make good choices there and your workouts will improve too.

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This Week’s Schedule- MONDAY THE GYM IS CLOSED FOR LABOR DAY.  Tuesday through Friday 5am, 6am, 4:30pm and 5:30 pm  Saturday at 8 am- Filthy Fifty for a change of pace, of course there will be scaled levels, too.

WORKOUTS THIS WEEK- USING SOME OLD SCHOOL PROGRAMMING THIS WEEK-

TUESDAY- CROSSFIT TOTAL- FIND YOUR 1 REP MAX ON BACK SQUATS, DEADLIFT AND SHOULDER PRESS

WEDNESDAY- SQUATS AND RUNNING

THURSDAY- TIRE FLIPS AND BOX JUMPS

FRIDAY- HELEN

SATURDAY- FILTHY FIFTY

THIS WEEK’S PALEO RECIPE IS

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Grilled Veggie Skewers