Cori Lefkowith, Author at Redefining Strength Page 67 of 158

10 Weight Loss Hacks (That Actually Work)

by Cori Lefkowith | May 22, 2022 | Blog, Diet, Exercises

You’ve lost the weight…now what? You can’t just go back to what you were doing prior, but you also can’t stay in a deficit forever!

Instead you’ve got to transition into maintaining, knowing that it will be a process as you find the balance right for you. But what does maintaining your results really mean?

Since it can be a challenging process, I wanted to share 10 tips to help you find the lifestyle balance you need to maintain your results forever.

10 Weight Loss Hacks To Help You Keep The Weight Off For Good:

1: Realize your weight will fluctuate.

Maintaining doesn’t mean there won’t be little ups and downs. The scale will still often fluctuate daily due to inflammation, water retention, even your meal timing the day before.

The key is realizing you have the tools to “catch” things before they become an issue or you start the trend backward.

But also be conscious that as you balance out, you may see a slight scale increase. Do not stress! And then use other forms of measurement as you maintain as the scale won’t show muscle gains which can be occurring as you go out of that weight loss deficit.

Focus on how your clothing fits and even take measurements at set intervals!

2: Don’t cut out processed foods.

The more you restrict foods, demonize things, the more you cause yourself to crave things and ultimately derail your consistency.

Part of why we can never maintain our results is because we don’t know how to work in the things we enjoy and love and WANT to eat at some point.

Food is not just fuel.

If you enjoy candy, find ways to work it in as you build those maintenance habits and transition into maintaining your results.

Find ways to work in the things you love first.

And also recognize we have to stop these sweeping undefined labels. Not all processed foods are just evil.

Heck, technically COOKING is processing a food so watch the labeling as it often only creates guilt instead of balance.

3: Create mini cycles.

Most of us don’t do well without direction, with just doing something “forever.”

Even when maintaining your results, set mini goals, set little cycles for yourself where you have a specific focus.

Test out ratios. See how calories impact you.

Experiment with cycles.

Focus a bit more on body recomp or more on gaining muscle. Not so much that you’re cutting or bulking but just so you have a focus for your fueling and training.

4: Set performance goals!

There is no better way to give yourself mini cycles with end dates than to set performance goals.

Not only can these give you direction in your training but they keep you training hard and fueling well which only promotes retention of your aesthetic changes!

If you want to achieve that first full pull up, design your workouts to work toward that. Even make sure your diet fuels that muscle growth and performance so you can train hard each and every session!

5: Track. Yup. Track.

I know we think tracking is just about weight loss, but learning to maintain our results is a process in and of itself and tracking allows us to make sure we are dialing everything in and slowly transitioning out of that deficit.

It also allows us to make sure we are eating enough to fuel our performance goals.

So while in maintenance you may not track as strictly or even every day, remember that tracking can be that accountability and check in especially if you do feel your energy dipping or your pants getting a bit tight.

You now have a tool you can use any time you need to tweak something and move forward!

6: Realize you won’t always be motivated.

Accept that maintaining means that at points you still want to do little cuts for that beach vacation or little muscle gaining periods to lift a bit more.

There will be holidays where you don’t care and times of year you want to lean down to feel extra fabulous.

Ebbs and flows should be embraced and we need to realize we won’t always be 100% motivated in the same way.

So while we want to set boundaries or bumpers so we don’t go to either extreme, we have to realize we will fluctuate with time.

7: Embrace minimums.

When trying to maintain our results, there will be times we really only do the minimum. But that SOMETHING is what keeps us on track and maintaining even if it isn’t driving us forward toward a specific goal.

Minimums may be calorie caps or protein minimums. It may be a Plan B to our workout routine if we’re busy or a modified schedule just so we do something.

But we won’t always be motivated and there may be times life and stresses need to take priority. These minimums help us avoid losing ground while striking a lifestyle balance.

Consistency is key and this helps us be better than we would have been otherwise to keep us maintaining the results we worked hard for!

8: Don’t diet on holidays OR vacations.

There are 300 days of the year you can focus on working toward a specific goal. But holidays and vacations are not one of those days!

Sometimes we may need to set boundaries for ourselves to keep moving forward as fast as possible, whether it is a calorie cap or even pre-planning what we will eat, but too often we worry about gaining weight or losing weight on the holidays or vacation.

When really that one day doesn’t matter. Heck even those two days don’t matter.

It’s all the days AROUND the event that matter.

Stay on track before the event and get right back to your healthy habits after.

It is 100% a-ok to just enjoy those days without guilt or stress or worry.

9: Always have the day after plan.

Often it isn’t the actual missed workout or day of overeating or stress eating that causes us to sabtoge our results. It isn’t the vacation or party.

It’s the fact that we feel guilty and that one day becomes two days or weeks or even months before we get back to the habits we need.

We let the old habits sneak back in and snowball.

Having pre-prepped meals for the next day already available to get us back on track or a progression, with even a plan b laid out, can help us get right back to our routines and habits.

Especially if you’ve gone on vacation or have a party, plan ahead for how you’re going to get right back to your habits the day after. That will allow you to make sure that one day doesn’t add up and you keep maintaining the results you worked hard for.

10: Try new things!

Often when we are trying to lose weight we get into very set routines and even very repetitive in how we are training and fueling because it is working.

But these same habits and routines can get boring. And when we get bored we are more likely to slip back into old habits.

So find new things to challenge you. Find new things to learn and experiment with.

Test out new macros and recipes. Experiment with new training splits and even moves.

Have some fun experimenting and learning to keep your training and eating interesting!

SUMMARY:

Just remember maintaining is itself a process. And with these 10 tips you can maintain the weight loss results you’ve worked hard to build!

Stuck and struggling to see the results you want and deserve?

Watch this video for my 3 Step Weight Loss Recipe.

FHP 420 – The Elephant and The Rope – Question Your Boundaries

by Cori Lefkowith | May 16, 2022 | podcast

Question your limitations!

I had a woman tell me that she was told women can’t get the ab definition I was showing in my picture.

I’ve had people tell me they gave up lifting because they were told they simply shouldn’t after x age…

Do not be an Elephant tied up.

I found this story the other day and thought it so highlighted how we can all hold ourselves back or even let things others have told us hold us back….

A man was walking nearby to a group of elephants that was halted by a small rope tied to their front leg. He was amazed by the fact that the huge elephants are not even making an attempt to break the rope and set themselves free.

He saw an elephant trainer standing beside them and he expressed his puzzled state of mind. The trainer said “when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them.

As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.

Don’t create your own limitations.

So often we hold ourselves back because of one mistake, one failure, one comment that we aren’t good at something.
 We let a barrier that may have even been there before, hold us back forever, never re-testing what we can accomplish.

We let a “false belief” hold us back forever.

We condition ourselves to believe we are bad at something, that we can’t make a change.

But there is ALWAYS a way to improve.

The question is, how can we overcome these self imposed limitations. How can we get ourselves to question and test that rope to break free of it finally?

I want to outline a few key ways we can always keep testing our boundaries and questioning our own limitations.

1: We’ve all heard “You’re only as strong as your weakest link” so keep working on that weak link!

The best way to overcome any limitation is to improve what we aren’t good at, especially if that limitation is something we feel holds us back from accomplishing our goal.

Face the things you don’t like, the moves or tasks that are most challenging head on.

Break them down into pieces. Start by doing the parts you enjoy more or that are easier, but start addressing those weak links instead of running from them.

Bad balance? Work at it. The moves may be uncomfortable but the more you do the more comfortable with them you’ll become. Pick exercises even to start that are closer to your comfort zone.

Over time you may realize your balance wasn’t really bad, you just never PRACTICED it!

2: Realize you can always expand your realm!

Ok so let’s just say you can’t truly overcome a certain barrier. The rope could grow stronger as the elephant did.

You can still take more and more ownership of the realm you have. You can grow that capacity and you can always test it.

Maybe over time you can’t break it, but you may get an extra inch out of it.

The key point is, you won’t know until you’ve tried.

So take ownership of the full area you can and constantly push back at those limits!

It’s the only way to improve even what you currently have for the best potential outcome.

3: Assess why you feel this barrier exists.

We should constantly be questioning our own beliefs. Testing our own limits.

What’s the fun in not improving?

And I think the more we can take changes to reflect on our feelings and beliefs, the more we do realize how many are self imposed or could be outdated!

Think about how many things you were told once early on that, now because of other life experiences, could hold no relevance.

Why not constantly take time to reassess and reflection?

4: Simply force yourself to try new things!

Honestly, every once in awhile, do something that slightly terrifies you. That pushes you outside your comfort zone.

It will make you see how capable you are and may help you even mentally challenge and question other limitations you’ve put on yourself.

Part of life is the journey, the experiences we CHOOSE to have. Realize that by just wanting to improve, we can achieve so much even if we do fall short.

But at least we got the experiences of the trial and learning! And it may lead to something else amazing we couldn’t have predicted!

SUMMARY:

It’s key we are always questioning our own beliefs about ourselves. Assessing our weak links to improve and grow.

There is always more we can do.

Sure it may never be perfect, we won’t ever fully be free of limitations, but we can constantly expand where we can roam! 😉

See the results you DESERVE and break down those barriers with my 1:1 Online Coaching.

–> Schedule A Consultation

How To Fix Rounded Shoulders (4 EXERCISES)

by Cori Lefkowith | May 16, 2022 | Blog, Exercises, Foam Rolling, Functional Fitness, Pain Relief

So many postural distortions or movement pattern compensations get blamed on a single joint or even muscle.

But often it is overload from multiple different areas adding up.

And that means we not only have to address many different muscles and joints at time to truly alleviate the aches and pains, but it also means we need that full 3-Step Prehab Process of Foam Rolling, Stretching and Activation.

This is especially the case when it comes to our shoulders and that rounded shoulder posture many of us have developed, leading to neck, shoulder and upper back, and even lower back, aches and pains.

This posture, and these aches and pains, stem not only from restricted shoulder range of motion, but also a lack of proper spinal and scapular mobility and stability.

Working not only on the mobility of our shoulder joint but also our spinal extension and scapular mobility and stability are key!

That’s why I wanted to share 4 moves that will help you work through the layers of this postural distortion to move and feel your best!

But before I do, I just want to mention that postural isn’t simply good or bad. We each have different builds and different movement and recruitment patterns.

However, we need to recognize the mobility restrictions and imbalances we personally have that our perpetuating our aches and pains to constantly be addressing them to move and feel our best.

And as we include the mobility and stability work to improve, we can’t simply stop doing these moves when things are “better.”

You can NEVER stop doing what made you better. If you’ve done rehab for a specific injury, that rehab simply needs to become PREHAB, included in your recovery routines and warm ups!

Now what are the 4 moves to fix that rounded shoulder posture?

EXERCISE #1: Lat Foam Rolling

Our lats have a direct impact on our shoulder health and that rounded shoulder posture, contributing to shoulder internal rotation as well as restricted shoulder flexion, or your ability to reach overhead.

Tight, overactive lats can restrict proper shoulder mobility, negatively impact your shoulder stability, and even impact your scapular mobility as well, which is why it is key we include a move to relax this muscle like Lat Foam Rolling.

To roll out your lats you can use a ball or roller. If you’re using a roller, lie on your side with the roller behind your armpit.

Reach your hand overhead with your palm facing up to stretch your lat as you roll.

Roll slightly up and down your side to find a tight spot and then hold. As you hold, reach your arm up overhead then sweep it down in front of your chest.

Move slowly breathing as you go to help the muscle relax and release.

You can even slightly rock forward and backward as you hold on a spot.

Then move the roller to another spot, working down the side of your back and shoulder blade. Then switch sides.

You can also use a ball if you know your exact trigger points and want to apply more pressure or even need to roll out against a wall because you can’t get down on the ground.

EXERCISE #2: Suspension Trainer Snow Angels

This is an amazing multipurpose move that not only mobilizes your shoulders, but stretches your chest, helps improve your thoracic extension and your scapular mobility and stability.

The key is not just going through the movement, letting it all come from your shoulders, but actually engaging your upper back to stretch out your chest and improve that scapular control!

Stretches should also help us ACTIVATE underactive muscles and restore proper flexibility and joint range of motion.

To do the Suspension Trainer Snow Angels, you will need a suspension trainer, rings or even towels or resistance bands anchored behind you. If you use bands, you want something that doesn’t really stretch much with the movement.

Using a Suspension Trainer, hold a handle in each hand and walk away from the anchor point with your back to the anchor point.

Extend your arms straight out to your sides at shoulder height so that you feel a stretch in your chest. You may have to adjust slightly backward or forward as you begin to do the wave, depending on your mobility.

Then, standing still with your arms starting out at shoulder height, engage your back and brace your abs. You want to think about really extending through your mid and upper back without arching your lower back.

Raise your arms up overhead. Keep your arms straight as you extend overhead and even lean slightly forward to increase the stretch.

Hold for a second or two and then bring your arms out and down to the side, lowering them all the way back and down toward the ground.

Keep your arms straight as you bring them down.

Feel the muscles of your chest and even around your shoulder stretching as you lower your arms down.

Then bring them back up out to the side and back overhead. Move in a fluid, smooth “wave” as you lift and lower.

When you do the Suspension Trainer Snow Angels, you want to make sure you’re engaging your upper back to open your chest up as you raise your arms up overhead.

Feel your shoulder blades move as you raise your arms overhead and then lower them back down to your sides.

EXERCISE #3: Dip Hold Shrugs

So often we ignore the stability of our shoulder blades and don’t work to control every movement they do. We may include some retraction exercises to improve our posture, pinching our shoulder blades together, but we also have to remember that they elevate and depress.

Too often when we round forward, our shoulders end up shrugged up by our ears. This is why it’s key we also work on that ability to depress our shoulder blades and drawn our shoulders down.

A super popular move, and one I personally love to work on this movement, is the Mini Pull Up. However, this simple looking move is more challenging than we realize. It takes a lot more scapular control and strength than it seems like it would for such a small movement.

It also can’t be done at your desk.

Whereas the dip hold shrug can!

And an added bonus of this move is that it will remind us not to hunch and round forward while at our desk!

It’s key we also realize that this scapular movement is not only done when pulling but can be utilized during a press!

To do Dip Hold Shrugs, you can do these off a bench or chair. Place your hands over the edge of the bench, finger tips pointing back toward your butt as you extend your legs out and lift yourself off the bench and slightly in front.

Allow your shoulders to shrug up as you hold. Then press the bench away and draw your shoulders down, lifting and opening your chest slightly up toward the ceiling.

As you do this, don’t let your butt drift super far out in front of the bench or let your hips raise up. Often to try to make it feel like a bigger move we start moving other parts of our body instead of just focusing on the small unshrug.

Pause then relax back down, allowing your shoulders to shrug.

Again draw your shoulder blades down. Focus on really feeling those shoulder blades move as you unshrug and open your chest up slightly toward the ceiling.

If it helps, I like to think of this as a turtle popping its head out of the shell!

To progress this move, you can even do it off of dip bars. Or to modify, bend your knees and walk your heels back in toward the bench or chair!

EXERCISE #4: Extended ROM Scapular Push Ups

Along with learning to control elevation and depression of our shoulder blades, we want to be able to control protraction and retraction.

And I think it’s key we can do this through the full range of motion.

Moves like this too not only help improve our posture by allowing us to learn how to retract our shoulder blades, or pinch them together, but moves like this also allow us to learn how to engage our backs to properly row when not starting from a set position.

This exercise also strengthens the Serratus Anterior, which is a muscle often overlooked as being key to strength for our shoulder health!

To do the Extended ROM Scapular Push Ups, start from a forearm plank position off the ground.

You can also do these from your hands or a high plank position, however, that can allow you more room to move your hips. It can though be used to reduce the resistance on your core if needed.

With your elbows under your shoulders and your feet no wider than hip-width apart, make Sure your abs are engaged and your quads are flexed. Unshrug your shoulders to feel your back engaged.

Then round your mid and upper back up toward the ceiling, tucking your hips even to perform a slight posterior pelvic tilt. But do not just round through your lower back.

Really think about the rounding of your spine coming from pushing the ground away with your elbows and forearms.

Feel your shoulder blades draw as far apart as possible coming forward around your ribs.

Then slowly lower back down into the plank and, from here, pinch your shoulder blades together.

Make sure you aren’t shrugging as you pinch your shoulder blades together.

And do not let your hips sag as you perform the small retraction movement. We can often let our hips drop because we’re trying to make the move feel bigger.

Move back into the plank position then and repeat the round up.

If you can’t control this movement yet, reduce the resistance and modify the movement off an incline.

Using a bench or incline reduces the resistance on your upper body and core.
 Really focus on feeling the movement of your shoulder blades. As you round, feel the muscles around your ribs and abs.

As you retract, focus on feeling the muscles of your upper back engaging.

Just make sure you do not shrug as you pinch those shoulder blades together!

SUMMARY:

The best rehab is prehab.

Include these 4 moves as a quick mobility routine in your day, just even 30 seconds per move or side, or add them into your warm up before an upper body workout.

But make sure to keep using the things that help you stay mobile and strong!

Foam Roll+ Stretch + Activate to prevent injuries and improve your mobility…

–> The RStoration Method

Hate Step Ups? Try this move instead!

by Cori Lefkowith | May 9, 2022 | Blog, Bodyweight, Butt, Exercises, Functional Fitness

Not every variation of every move is going to be right for you.

Especially if you’ve had injuries in the past you’re rebuilding from.

If you’ve struggled with knee or hip pain, especially on one side, you may want to focus on unilateral moves.

Unilateral, or one sided moves, can help you correct imbalances while making sure that your stronger side isn’t taking over and compensating.

They can allow you to rebuild that weaker side while also avoiding overloading the weaker side by doing a move that your weaker side can’t keep up on.

But what if you’re including unilateral moves like the step up and they are still a struggle? What if you want to target your glutes more because you tend to be quad dominant?

Well then this variation is exactly what you need…

THE STEP DOWN!

Sometimes it is small tweaks to moves that really add up. These adjustments can help us target specific muscles more and work better with our builds and current mind-body connection.

With the Step Down, this top down approach, can help you better focus on the hip hinge and only work through the range of motion you can truly control.

It is a great way to focus more on your glutes than your quads.

And you can really limit the range of motion to exactly what you can control without being able to cheat and push off your other foot.

It can also work well if you don’t have a range of box heights because you are so in control of how far you lower down.

So how do you do this great step up variation to improve your balance and target your glutes more?

How To Do The Step Down:

To do this move, start standing on top of a box to one side of the box. You want to place the opposite foot from the side you’re standing closest to close to the edge so the foot on that same side can actually hang off the box.

Press that foot on the edge into the box. This can help you better balance as you lower down, especially if you struggle.

Make sure you push the foot on top of the box solidly down into the box. Too often we don’t focus on that foundation to help us better activate muscles up our leg and even improve our stability.

Think of your foot as a tripod and push the two points in the ball of your foot and one in your heel down into the box.

Then begin to push your butt back. You want to start by hinging at the hips as you then bend your knee to lower your foot off the box to the ground. Do not be afraid to slightly lean forward as you lower.

You do not want to round your spine as you hinge.

Lower down only as far as you can control.

If you can lightly graze your toe on the ground, great. BUT you don’t want any weight to shift to the foot lowering down if it does touch the ground.

You will then drive back up to standing off the foot on top of the box. Stand tall at the top and squeeze that standing glute before repeating the move.

You can increase the height of the box as needed or even lower only half way down on the box if needed to start.

But you want to lower down only as far as you can control.

Because of the hip hinge with this movement over the traditional step up, you will be able to target your glutes more while still working your quads and hamstrings.

Make sure as you do this move, your knee stays in line with your hip and ankle. You do not want your knee caving in or bowing out.

Part of keeping everything in line relates back to you also focusing on that foot. Push through the entire foot and be conscious if you do feel yourself starting to rock in or out.

Modifications:

To modify this move, you may start with a smaller range of motion and increase as you build up. You can even start standing on a plate weight or only lower a few inches down on a taller box if that is what you have.

You can also create a balance assist by holding on to a pole or suspension trainer in front of you.

If you really struggle with your knee caving in, to help you better activate that glute medius to stabilize the hip and knee, you can also anchor a very light band to the opposite side of your standing leg and put it around your leg.

This gives you tension to push out against to activate the glute medius or that side butt muscle that stabilizes your hip and will improve that knee alignment. Just go light so you have that reminder but it doesn’t pull you into an incorrect position.

To advance the step down, you can hold a weight in close at your chest or even increase the height of the box to increase the range of motion.

Using This Move:

This is a great unilateral accessory exercise to include and most often will be done for 10-20 reps, although if you are adding loads you may find you do try to create a challenge at 8 reps.

Use it for higher reps if you are just starting out and doing more bodyweight based training!

Ready to design workouts AND dial in your nutrition to match YOUR needs and goals?

Check out my SIMPLE recipe for results…

–> 3-Step RS Recipe

FHP 419 – 15 Fat Loss Tips To Kickstart Results

by Cori Lefkowith | May 9, 2022 | podcast

15 Fat Loss Tips To Kickstart Results

Struggling to lose weight? Need that little tip to kickstart your results? Well let me save you a lot of wasted time and effort experimenting to find what works and share 15 fat loss tips tips I’ve found to make all the difference in my results.

1: Working In Foods You Love First

For me this is dessert.

Often the thing we love most is the least healthy for us so we cut it out first. But we need to do the opposite and actually PLAN IT IN FIRST to work everything else around it and create a lifestyle balance.

When we cut out the foods we love, we sabotage ourselves. Restricting them just leads to us wanting them more and ultimately binging on them and falling off our plan.

Work in the foods you love so you want to stay consistent with the healthy lifestyle you are building!

2: Quality Does, And Doesn’t, Matter

Obviously whole natural foods are best for our health.

But you can STILL overeat healthy foods.

If you’ve been frustrated not seeing weight loss results while thinking “My diet is healthy and clean,” realize that your portions could still be off.

And we also need to stop making ourselves feel guilty for enjoying some not so quality foods as we strike the balance right for us.

Follow the 80/20 rule, consuming whole, natural, nutrient dense foods 80% of the time while still enjoying the not as quality foods you love.

And remember, portions still really matter!

3: It’s Not Forever

Nothing works forever.

While we want to make true habit and lifestyle changes, we need to realize that our needs and goals will change with time and our diet and exercise routines will need to adjust and adapt as well.

You’re building a foundation with the changes you’re making but you can’t get so tied to something you aren’t willing to adjust with time.

Focus on truly LEARNING the fundamentals and basics so you understand how things work for you so you can adjust as you need when your lifestyle and goals change.

4: Keep It Simple, Butthead

It’s so easy to get caught up in all of the options out there. And it isn’t stupid to want to overcomplicate things.

But we do need to keep it SIMPLE if we want the best results. As the more details we add all at once, the more our attention gets divided and the harder we make it on ourselves to dial in the big picture plan, which matters most.

We’re being a butthead, and I mean that as a slight term of endearment, if we start worrying about details like meal timing and supplements and best foods for fat loss before we first simply get consistent with our workout routine while dialing in our overall macros and calories for the day.

So set a few big picture things to start with and get consistent with before you worry about anything else!

5: Stop Overcorrecting

We’re human.

There will be days that don’t go as planned, days we just aren’t motivated, days that we just “mess up.”

But instead of feeling guilty, instead of trying to do more the next day to make up for it, we just need to get right back to those habits.

We need to do what we can as soon as we can to just MOVE FORWARD.

It’s like if we get a flat tire, we don’t slash the other three! Nope. We fix the flat or call a tow truck so we can get moving forward as fast as possible. Don’t make the situation worse.

Don’t try to do more to correct it as that will also often backfire.

Just move forward.

6: Focus On Strength Training Over Cardio

Our workouts should be about more than just burning calories. So while we may burn more calories in a single cardio session over a strength session, this shouldn’t really be our focus.

Training is about becoming functional stronger and moving our best.

And if we want to really improve our weight loss efforts, we need to focus less on how many calories we burn in a single session and more on how we can increase our lean muscle mass to raise our metabolic rate and burn more calories even at rest.

So focus on strength training to actually see better results faster, especially as we get older. Since it becomes harder to build and retain lean muscle, we want to do everything we can to promote better muscle hypertrophy!

7: You Can’t Just Listen To Your Body

We wouldn’t be struggling to lose weight if we could just eat intuitively. Intuitive eating needs to be learned.

So if you’re trying to achieve body recomposition, you won’t be able to just listen to your body and eat according to its cues.

Our body don’t like change and they believe the state they’ve been in, the weight you’ve been at, is normal. So your body will resist any weight loss efforts.

You’ll feel hungry.

There will be mental struggles as you make changes to habits you’ve always done.

But change requires change.

8: There’s No Quick Fix

Plain and simple, change doesn’t happen overnight. And even expecting to reverse 10 years of weight gain in a single year, is truly overnight results.

The longer we’ve had the weight on, the longer we’ve been repeating habits that don’t work, the longer it will take to see changes.

And often the closer we get to our goal, the slower the progress will be especially if we are trying to see true fat loss and not just quickly lose weight on the scale through glycogen depletion and water weight being lost!

So get ready to focus on consistency over doing more to get results faster. We can’t out exercise or out diet time!

9: Recovery Is Key

Often we try to do more by training longer and harder and cutting out more from our diet.

But often the MORE we really need is more rest and recovery.

Those “easy” recovery sessions, when we relax and sleep and de-stress, that is when we are actually repairing and seeing the benefits of our hard training sessions and changes in macro ratios.

Without recovery time, you are just going to keep beating yourself down instead of ever allowing your results to build up!

So prioritize sleep. Plan in rest days. Do that rehab work! It may not “feel” beneficial but it is truly what makes your hard work add up!

10: Avoid Restriction

Often we cut out more in an attempt to get results faster. But all this does is make our habits unsustainable.

It’s what makes us feel like we just don’t have the discipline, self control or willpower to see the results we want.

When really we just aren’t being realistic. We aren’t basing things off of our needs and goals.

Don’t focus on cutting out. First focus on small swaps that feel like the smallest changes and realize there can be a balance.

Even start by doing the MINIMUM, knowing results will snowball.

11: Be Active

The more you do, the more you do. And when we stay active, we often want to do more things that keep us moving in a positive direction.

It’s much easier to get lazy and eat extra crap when you’re just lazing around.

So get moving.

Go out for walks. They’re a great way to burn more fat and get in more movement without stressing your body.

But get active and stay.

Especially the leaner you get and closer to your goal you get, as you’ve been in a deficit for longer, the more your body may actually move less to conserve energy.

Be conscious of this and make sure to make an effort to stay active throughout the day!

12: Macros Over Calories

Macros matter most for sustainable results. The ratio you use may impact the calories right for you and impact how full you feel.

And higher protein ratios can help prevent unwanted fat gain if you are in a surplus while helping aid in muscle mass retention during a deficit.

Actually high protein ratios are the only ones shown to even help you build muscle while in a deficit.

So let your macros then dictate how you dial in your calories. Don’t just focus on calories in vs. calories out!

13: You’re Not An All Or Nothing Person

Often we think if we can’t do everything at once, there is no point in doing anything.

This not only gives us an excuse not to start but it makes us feel like we’ve failed if one thing doesn’t go as planned.

But results don’t happen because of what we do when we are perfect. From doing more for a week.

They happen because we stick with the minimum consistently day after day.

Remember that small changes build. And that the more we can ingrain one habit, the easier it becomes to replicate even on days we don’t feel like it.

So focus on those small changes and set some minimums you know you can hit so results can snowball.

14: Stop Doing More

The simple fact of the matter is, you can’t out exercise or out diet time.

And often the more we try to rush results, the more we simple deplete our self control and willpower so we can’t stay consistent long term.

Many of us have repeated this restriction, binge, guilt cycle.

We do so much, burn ourselves out with the restriction, end up binging, feel guilty, fall off, then can’t get back on track for a bit and even dig ourselves more of a hole to crawl out of.

Focus on small sustainable changes. Realize results simply take time and get ready for the long haul celebrating those daily habits as wins themselves.

And I saved the best for last…

15: Tracking

I know people hate on tracking for being restrictive, tedious, boring, annoying, time consuming, frustrating.

But what we measure, we can manage.

Tracking gives you an accurate picture of what you’re doing both diet-wise and in your workouts so you can make accurate adjustments.

If you want to create the right portion sizes for you without having to cut out the foods you love, you need to track.

If you want to make sure you’re getting stronger and progressing in your workouts, you need to track.

So as unsexy and annoying as it is to start, it truly is the best way to avoid wasting time and know what is and isn’t working!

SUMMARY:

So if you’ve been struggling to see results, start with even just one of these tips as your focus and BUILD. Because the hardest part is getting started and the more you do, the more you’ll want to do.

We just often need to get that ball rolling!

Ready to create your own recipe for results?

–> The 3-Step Recipe For Fabulous Fat Loss Results