It’s no secret, I’m a foodie and I don’t plan on changing that anytime soon. I love food, and the saltier, the fattier, the better. On top of my love for food, I’m also an overeater because… I love food.
This has not been particularly helpful to my goals as I work to try and get some semblance of fitness back. I’ve been yo-yoing for for last few years; I’m Jillian Michaels for a week or two before I go back to making excuses and eating my favorite pot stickers on the couch (the shrimp kind from Trader Joe’s). But for the last 2 months, I’ve been able to really get into what I call; “the fit cycle of love”! This is where you work out consistently enough to actually see results, which encourage you to continue being consistent thus seeing even more results.
I’ve seen more results over these last 2 months than I’ve seen for years, and I know that it’s because of the below changes that I’ve made. By incorporating these things, I’ve been able to gain muscle, wittle my waist, increase my endurance and stamina, and most importantly STAY CONSISTENT. Hopefully these will do the same for you!
So without further ado:
6 Changes to Help You Get Fit FAST!
I am not a healthcare of fitness professional, so before making any changes to your diet and/or exercise routine please be sure to consult a trusted Physician/professional.
This post contains affiliate links of which I earn a small commission from any purchases, at no extra costs to you. All of the below opinions are my own and I have not been paid to endorse any of the linked items.
More Water
Everyone should be sure to have enough water throughout the day. But I’ve found that making sure that I have a sufficient water intake not only makes me feel good, but helps me burn fat. By drinking more water, I’m staying hydrated, which helps with muscle growth (source) and we’ve all heard that muscle helps to burn fat cells. Also, by staying hydrated, I also curb my appetite/over-eating habit. There are often times where I will eat a plate of food and still feel hungry. The over-eater in me says “Grab seconds!” but I’ve found that I’m usually just thirsty and that I feel satiated after just having a bit of water.
Intermittent Fasting
There are a TON of Youtube videos, blog posts, and scientific research on intermittent fasting, and the benefits that it can have on a persons overall health, digestive health, and weight loss, so I won’t belabor the point. I will say, however, that I personally have seen amazing results from intermittent fasting with my fitness goals, and my digestion. I’ve linked a few videos for more information.
Increasing my Cardio
For me, cardio is one of the hardest workouts to get in while working out at home. I can strength train 5 days a week, but for some reason, finding exercises that increased my heart rate (and doing them consistently enough to see results) was a serious struggle. I’ve told you all about my favorite fitness Youtubers, and Youtube videos that have helped me stay cov-fit. But the truth is that, in order to see the results that I was looking for, I needed to increase my cardio. The Youtube workouts were great, but I just wasn’t consistent and it was too easy for me to spend more time looking for a video to follow than actually working out. That’s when I decided to get an exercise bike.
It completely changed my workout gains!
I’ve seen more results in the last 2 months using my exercise bike than I did the last 6 months with my hit or miss self guided cardio. This exercise bike made it really easy for me to get a hard round of HIT cardio and make absolutely no excuses. I didn’t have to find a video, I just had to hop on and start pedaling.
BCAAs Before Workouts
Branched chained amino acids, or BCAAs, are well known in the workout/fitness community as a supplement that aids in muscle synthesis, muscle recovery, and overall increased energy for your workout. Now, while the verdict is still out on the muscle synthesis claim, I can absolutely attest to the fact that BCAAs allow me to work out longer, harder, and with less muscle fatigue which then allows me to work out just as hard the next day with little to no soreness.
Wearing a Sweatband During Workout
As a lover of savory foods, and someone whom has absolutely no plans of changing that, I hold a lot of water. I wrote a post about different ways to reduce water weight, or edema, and one of those ways was to get in more exercise so that you sweat more. While exercise alone will definitely help you to sweat and reduce water weight, I’ve recently started using a sweatband and sweat twice as much. This has helped me to reduce any bloating in my face and body overall. And by using my sweatband in conjunction with my increased water intake, I haven’t had to deal with my salt-induced puffy face in weeks! What does this mean? Pass the salt! (just kidding…)
Using a Looped Resistance Band
Resistance Bands have proven themselves tried and true when it comes to helping us ladies sculpt out bodies (mostly booties 😉 ) just the way we want to. I for one and a resistance band fanatic, but sometimes I found that the flat bands would often roll up when performing certain exercises. That’s when I started using this resistance band and that issue stopped happening. Because of it’s design, It allows me to easily slip the loops over each leg, and the foam handles holds them in place throughout any movements. This helps me to not lose momentum while working out because I distracted by the constant readjusting.
Have any of these things helped you on your fitness journey? What are you doing to stay fit, at-home?
