How Do I Get Started With My Fitness Goals?

How has your New Year’s goals been since January? 3 months has passed for 2024 already and there’s still time to achieve your fitness goals. However, that’s much easier said than done!

You may have said, ‘New year, new me,’ and set some fitness goals on New Year’s Eve with the best of intentions, but it turns out that following through — and even just starting out — can be tricky. But don’t worry! We’ve all been there, and I’ve got some tips that will help you see some progress on your fitness goals in no time!

Tips for Getting Started With Your Fitness Goals

1. Set Small, Measurable Goals

One of the biggest mistakes people make when setting fitness goals is starting too big. Yes, ambition is a great thing, capable of getting you all fired up, but it can also quickly lead to demoralization. After all, if your initial goal is overwhelming and unrealistic, chances are you’ll feel discouraged when you don’t make as much progress as you’d hoped.

Instead, it’s better to start with smaller, more achievable targets. For example, instead of heading into 2024 with the goal of losing fifty pounds, you might decide to go for a ten-minute walk each day. Instead of resolving to run a marathon this year, you might start with a 5K, then a 10K, and maybe a half marathon.

2. Get A Gym Buddy

Going to the gym can be a hassle. Forcing yourself to wake up early to head to the gym before work takes a lot of willpower, and finding the energy to hit the gym after a long day is equally challenging. That’s why having a gym buddy can make all the difference.

Not only will a gym buddy add accountability (you can easily ignore your alarm and sleep in if you were planning on working out alone at the gym, but you probably wouldn’t want to leave your friend hanging!), but they can also make the entire process more fun. You’ll be able to workout, socialize, and receive the motivation and support you need. It’s a win-win!

3. Schedule Time On Your Calendar

Life can get really busy. With all the hustle and bustle, it’s easy to let fitness take a back seat, so scheduling dedicated time for your workouts is a must. Treat your fitness routine like any other appointment. In the same way you’d mark a coffee date or a doctor’s appointment in your calendar, you should also carve out a special slot for your workout sessions. This helps create a routine and ensures that you prioritize your health and well-being.

4. Prioritize Protein

Many people forget that getting in shape isn’t just about working out. Nutrition also plays a significant role in achieving fitness goals — and that means eating protein. After all, not only can protein help when it comes to muscle repair and recovery, but it can also help you feel full for longer, which can support any weight loss goals.

Not quite sure what to eat? Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered! You should try to include lean sources of protein like chicken, fish, beans, and nuts to support your fitness endeavors.

5. Get A Trainer

If you want to meet and even exceed your fitness goals, the best thing you can do is hire a trainer.  Not only can a personal fitness trainer assess your current fitness level, but they can also tailor a workout plan to help you meet your specific goals. With their expertise, guidance, and personalized attention, you can establish a safe and effective workout plan or level up your current one.

A trainer can correct your form, offer tips, and provide accountability. They’ll also know when it’s time to switch up your workouts for variety and can offer invaluable advice when it comes to your diet. Sounds pretty great, right?

If you’re ready to tackle your fitness goals, get in touch with me today at happyhelen@gmail.com today!

Why Don’t I do Aesthetic Goals or Scale-Based Weight Loss Goals?

In my 7 years as a personal trainer, I’ve never seen a client happy long term with their health and fitness journey when they have an aesthetic based goal.  For one, how do we measure what “looking good” looks like? Too subjective and vague.  But okay, you argue, what about a number on the scale to work towards? This is usually what most clients ask for help for - figuring out how to lose X pounds on the scale.  The problems with using scale as the SOLE WAY to measure progress are these: 

1. Your body weight changes daily.  If you track your weight everyday for 1 month, you will see it goes up and down DAILY.   It can fluctuate up and down even if you are doing everything perfectly.  Which leads to #2…

2. Perfection does not exist.   No one eats perfectly everyday for the rest of their lives.  Which leads to #3…

3. Example of a typical scenario: A client eats “perfectly” for 2 months and then goes out for a birthday meal.  The next day she steps on the scale and is up 5 pounds due to more carbs, salt and water.  She loses her mind and decides to throw out all the 2 months of hard work away because of what she read on the scale.  She couldn’t believe all those months of hard work still equated to a higher number.  But what she’s missing are all the benefits of the last 2 months — feeling stronger, gaining muscle, preventing injuries, having better sleep and energy, etc.  Not to mention having a consistent workout routine! 

4. When you lose fat and gain muscle, your scale number can stay the same or go up.  

5. Scale isn’t the full picture of your fitness journey.  It’s one data point. 

6. It’s not really about the number.  Hear me out! We have conditioned ourselves to associate a number on the scale = happiness in our body image.  Which are not facts.  You can be happy with your body at many different numbers (there is a range for health) and body composition as long as the following happens:

• People want to feel good about themselves in their clothes but they think the ONLY way to get there is through losing X number on the scale (which is how we address it through performance based goal vs scale based goal)

• People want to move around functionally and not be in pain

• People want to be capable of doing fun things in their lives, without embarrassment or judgment of others 

There are also many mental health hurdles that happen when you are overweight that you associate with your own self-worth that needs to be further examined by a professional therapist.  But ultimately my point is that it has nothing to do with a single number on the scale, but more the inner hangups of your mind of what that means for yourself.   We are human! 

To be clear, I am not saying the number on the scale doesn’t matter at all or that we shouldn’t lose body fat.  If you are 300 pounds then yes, numbers do matter for a variety of health reasons.  What I am saying is when you make a single number on the scale as your sole goal, or picking goals that are ONLY looks base, you are setting yourself up for a lifetime of ups and downs with food and exercise, and as a byproduct you will end up hating the fitness journey….probably for the rest of your life.  

I want you to enjoy the process and actually like working out and fueling your body.    When you enjoy something, duh, you do more of it! 

Performance based goals associate positivity with your body image.  You are appreciating it for all it can DO.  When you love your body, you will subconsciously start doing all the right things for it — eating better, sleeping better, moving more, etc.  At least, way more than if you hate your body and have an emotional meltdown due to what the scale is telling you.

How this works: You, a client, comes to me who is 20 pounds overweight and wants to lose that weight —  I say, great, how about we pick a goal of “personal best in your barbell squat” to work towards? 

The next 3 months we focus on getting some best and heaviest numbers on the barbell squat (while also strengthening your body overall and doing other lifts).  We also work on food to help you perform your best.  

What does this do? It makes you focus on how strong you are, it makes you focus on the fun of trying to PR, and you shift your mind away from “OMG I HAVE TO LOSE X NUMBER.” 

And guess what? You have fun in the process and you will naturally lose some fat from being a healthier you.

Sometimes we have to shift our focus in another way to get to the result we want.  It’s performance based so we have the evidence and data to support your progress and replicate this moving forward.

Are you ready to pick a performance goal? Email me at happyhelen@gmail.com!

The Benefits of Losing Weight Through Lifestyle Changes

Losing weight is one of the hardest things that anyone ever has to tackle in modern America.   After all, the education around nutrition is terrible, with processed foods surrounding us daily that is convenient and accessible.  Then on top of that, corporate companies are marketing to us with messages saying processed “gluten free/dairy free/vegan” can be healthy - when really, processed foods are not actually healthy for you.  

Then there is the fitness industry out there telling women to do a bunch of cardio to “tone” your muscles (you can’t tone muscles, you can only build or lose) so then we are spinning our wheels, doing a bunch of high intensity exercises and eating food that actually, in the long term, makes us gain weight.  Then we jump straight into an intensive fad diet that requires severely restricting calories, eliminating a whole macronutrient, or drinking meal replacements — and while they may initially shed a few pounds, the weight often comes back.

It may sound obvious but it needs to be said over and over - long term, the only healthy way to lose weight and keep it off is through lifestyle changes that are gradual and slow.  This may take years of work.  You may swing in one direction and back again, but it’s okay, it’s all part of the process.  

But why? If the end result is the same and you lose the weight regardless, why do it the slow way? Here are some benefits of lifestyle changes through exercise and nutrition.  

The Weight Stays Off 

Do you want to lose the weight and keep it off or gain it back in a year? Should be obvious.  But the longer it takes for you to lose the weight, the longer you will SUSTAIN that weight.  If it takes you 5 years to lose 100 pounds, I promise you will most likely keep that weight off than someone who did it in 6 months.  This is due to behavior modification.  It takes a while to create new habits and behaviors - it could be months or years, but once we create a new habit- it STICKS around! So we need that time to build that behavior for it to stick.  But once we do, it’s routine! 

More Energy

The balance of proper exercise and nutrition will leave you with more energy throughout the day.  With body composition changes, you will get better respiratory function, improved sleep quality, and overall reduction of pain.  Exercise boosts your energy levels and leaves you with a wonderful sense of high as those endorphins kick in.  Those who exercise in the morning will often report their high energy throughout the day.  Short term diets rarely result in a long term, sustainable energy to keep up with your work and family.  

Higher Self-Esteem and More Confidence

The benefits of losing weight via lifestyle changes aren’t just physical. You will also likely have a much higher self-esteem and confidence.  Not only will you be in better shape, but you’ll also have the accomplished feeling of taking control of your body. It can be really empowering! 

When you make lifestyle changes, you can also break out — or avoid — the devastating cycle of weight gain and loss that comes with fad diets. You won’t have to worry about your slow metabolism, raised blood pressure, a higher risk of diabetes and heart disease, lower self-esteem, destroyed motivation and all the other adverse effects that come with yo-yo dieting.

A Better Mood

Using lifestyle changes to lose weight can also boost your mood, as working out releases endorphins, a.k.a. those feel-good feelings! It not only reduces stress and pain but also improves your sense of well-being.  A balanced non-processed meal will give you less inflammation through your body and brain - which can result in a “half-full” outlook on life.  There is a reason why therapists recommend exercise for mood elevation - it is a better drug than antidepressants.  

Better Sleep Quality

Since being overweight can affect your metabolism and interfere with your sleep & wake cycle, these lifestyle changes can also help you sleep better — and longer! With poor sleep comes within a myriad of health issues - so better sleep can reduce your risk of other conditions that may impact your sleep quality, such as osteoarthritis, asthma, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

There are many studies to show that consistent exercise will improve your sleep quality and decrease daytime sleepiness.  Those who exercise regularly will take less time to fall asleep and won’t spend all night tossing and turning. 

Lower Blood Pressure and Reverse Type 2 Diabetes

You can prevent and even eliminate diseases through lifestyle changes. For instance, through food and exercise, you can reverse both high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.  There are many studies to show that through diet and exercise, people can come off their medications and no longer be considered a diabetic.  The right type of food can manage your blood sugar levels throughout the day.  But if you do it through short term fads and diets, it’s much harder to keep the weight off.  You can often gain MORE of the weight back.  

A Longer and Overall Healthier Life

It is not a surprise that making lifestyle changes through exercise and nutrition will help you live longer.  Someone who exercises often, eats balanced meals and sleeps well will most likely to live a longer life than someone who sits on the couch eating processed foods all day. Not only that, your quality of life has improved.   You are in better moods, have better energy, free of diseases and feel more confident about yourself.  What’s not great about that? 

Need a little help? I’ve got you covered! Reach out to me at happyhelen@gmail.com today to learn more!

Should You Bother With New Year’s Resolutions?

The new year is a time for renewed hope and motivation.  So, it’s not surprising that people resolve to make changes for the better in the coming year every January — whether that’s exercising more frequently, quitting smoking, saving more money, or dedicating time in their busy schedules towards self-care.

Unfortunately, it’s all too easy to give up on New Year’s resolutions. Maybe last year, you decided you were going to give up soda. Only, come February, you were back to drinking three cans a day. If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone! Just 12% of those who make resolutions keep them — which has led many to wonder if they should even bother with establishing New Year’s resolutions.

While making a resolution may not seem worthwhile if you’re statistically unlikely to keep it, you should still make a resolution each year! People who set resolutions are a whopping ten times more likely to change their behavior than those who don’t. If you happen to be in the 12% who manages to keep their resolution, you’ll experience a boost in your sense of self-efficacy and a better lifestyle.

The good news is that keeping New Year’s resolutions isn’t impossible. When it comes to sticking to your resolutions, you’ll want to:

1. Choose something that matters to you. If you don’t care about your goal, you won’t be truly committed to achieving it and will lose motivation quickly. So, the most important step is choosing a resolution that matters to you.

2. Be specific. Specificity is key. Vague resolutions like being more productive or getting in shape are difficult to measure and difficult to achieve, so you should opt for a more concrete goal like lifting weights 3 days a week or cooking at least four meals a week.

3. Stick with one resolution. Make sure you don’t fall into the trap of over-committing yourself. You don’t have to turn your life around completely in 2022, so establish one resolution and concentrate your energy on achieving your goal. You’ll be more likely to succeed when your attention isn’t pulled in ten directions at once.

4. Start slow. Shifting from eating out every meal to cooking every meal from scratch won’t happen overnight, and trying to force such a significant change in a short time can lead to frustration. Likewise, overdoing it at the gym can lead to discouragement or injury, so don’t be afraid to take small steps toward your goal. You can set yourself up for success and avoid the discouragement that comes with never hitting your goals by starting with small, manageable goals and working your way up to your resolution.

5. Find support. Your journey to achieving your New Year’s resolution doesn’t have to be a solo excursion! Find someone who can hold you accountable and help you stay motivated — whether it's a friend with the same goal, a mentor, a support group, or a personal trainer — and schedule regular check-ins with them.

6. Keep track of your progress. It can be easy to lose motivation if you don’t track your progress. Consider keeping a journal or using an app to track your progress. That way, you’ll instantly know how far you’ve already come and how far you have to go to reach your goal. You can make sure you’re on track to reach your goal and adjust your habits if you aren’t. Record your successes, your struggles, and the reasons you want to accomplish your goal, and reflect on how you can overcome any obstacles to achieve your goal.

Sticking with your New Year’s resolution is easier said than done, but it will be worth it in the end. If you need some help or accountability to reach your fitness goals this year, contact me at happyhelen@gmail.com today to get started on your 2022 resolutions!

Four Reasons Why Strength Training Will Help You With Weight Loss

Most people who are hoping to lose weight often only focus on cardio workouts for fat loss. While cardio is certainly an effective method of weight loss, incorporating strength training into your workouts can help you lose the weight and keep it off! Here are some reasons why strength training can help you get to your goals: 

1. The afterburn effect. Burning calories at a faster rate than usual doesn’t have to stop when your workout stops. With the afterburn effect, your body’s metabolic rate will remain elevated as you recover after your strength training session. During the 24-48 hours following your workout, your body will burn more calories than usual as it works to repair muscles, remove lactic acid, and restore oxygen levels. 

2. It can improve your metabolic rate. Your body uses more calories to maintain muscle than to maintain fat. Since strength training builds muscle, your metabolic rate will increase over time. With an increased muscle mass, your body will burn even more calories while you’re working, sleeping, going about your daily activities, or doing nothing other than breathing! 

3. It can reduce belly fat. According to a study published in 2014 that tracked over 10,000 men for more than 12 years, weight training is more strongly associated with less belly fat than aerobic exercise. 

4. It changes your body composition. Strength training builds muscle, and muscle is denser than fat. You can weigh the same on the scale but the person who has more muscle looks leaner.  Ultimately, when women want the “tone” look, they actually mean muscle - because the muscle is what gives your body definition.  

Are you ready to add strength training to your weight loss plan? If you’d like a little help with creating an effective strength training workout, reach out to me at happyhelen@gmail.com!

How to Keep Your New Year's Resolutions

How to Keep Your New Year's Resolutions

It's now almost February and take a look at what you've done in the last month. Have you held up your fitness goals? Are they still intact or did you make some attempts and give up?

The top 3 main reasons why most people's new year's resolution's fail and how to fix them:

1. Goals are too unrealistic. This is the biggest problem. People set unrealistic goals that are more for long-term than short term goals. For instance, if you want to lose 100 pounds as a goal, it's too overwhelming and big of a goal to tackle at once - so after a month, when you potentially may have lost only 1 or 2 pounds, you get discouraged and move on.

   Solution: Setting small, short-term goals along the way is a great way to keep up your motivation and use to check off progress.

2. You are trying to do too much at once. The other problem is that most people set a bunch of goals to achieve and find it very stressful to try to do it all at once. Or maybe, you can keep it up for a month, but pretty soon, trying to accomplish multiple goals means that one will fall short along the way. You only have so much time and energy in a day to devote to each one, which makes it unsustainable for long term success.

   Solution: Focus on one resolution at once. Figure out how much time you have realistically outside your job and personal life to dedicate to your goals.
   

3. You are not ready for a change. Examine your resolutions. Are you the one who want these resolutions or are they influenced by others? Maybe it is your friends, family or even social media making you feel like you SHOULD do it, but you don't really want to.

   Solution: Ask yourself: how much effort and time are you willing to take on to achieve your goals? Are you willing to give up something else to make room for your goal?

If you feel like you need accountability and direction, hiring a personal trainer can give you the guidance you need. Your trainer can help you set realistic goals and help you make gradual change to success. Everyone needs outside help – so don't be afraid to ask for it! Email me at happyhelen@gmail.com to discuss a new you for 2020!

Why Spot Reduction is a Myth

Most newbie clients come to me wanting to spot reduce. They would say, “I want to get rid of this!” while pointing to a specific area of fat on their body. My response: If only we can! I would be a rich woman......

Spot reduction is a claim that if you target a certain area of your body when working out, then that specific area will reduce in body fat. For instance, doing a bunch of crunches will eliminate the fat from your abs. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

There have been many studies done on this subject, showing that resistance training on one specific area actually ends up giving off a generalized fat loss all over your body. In a recent study done by University of Connecticut, participants completed a 12-week resistance training program where their non-dominant arm was exercised - but not the other. They measured their subcutaneous body fat before and after the program and results showed that only overall fat loss occurred, and none specifically in the arm!

The reason? The fat in the fat cells are known as triglycerides and our muscle cells cannot use these triglycerides as fuel. Therefore, the fat must be broken down into fatty acids that enters the bloodstream. This means that the fat broken down can come from anywhere in the body, not just the area you exercised!

So then, you ask...why do we target specific areas when using weights? Why bother doing bicep curls or squats, if fat loss can be from anywhere?

The reason is that even though we can't lose fat from a specific place, we CAN build muscle there! There is no such thing as “being toned” - it is actually just having your muscle pop out after building them! So we need to do some resistance training to build muscle so it can show that defined look you want.

Of course, you still have to have a good diet to get the look you want. However, not everything is about caloric restriction- you want to make sure your metabolism is at a good place before you start cutting calories for fat loss. Otherwise, you can't sustain it for the rest of your life!

Need help with fat loss and muscle gain? Talk to Helen and she can help you get on the right track!

Why Eating Less Can Cause You to Store More Fat

A common problem I see with female clients is that the minute they want to lose weight, they cut calories drastically. And by drastic, I mean anything under 1200 calories is way too low, if you are over 5 feet tall. What makes me crazy is that there are articles out there saying “1200 calories” is the perfect amount for many people – that make no sense! Everyone has different metabolisms.

But, at the same time, I get it. I went through this myself — if you want to lose weight, you create a caloric deficit. You can do this by eating less or working out more. Some people choose to do both at once (which I don't recommend but that's a whole other topic).

However, when you eat less than ideal for your body weight, the problem most people run into is that after a certain amount of time, it slows down your metabolism. Your body is smart- it is always trying to be efficient and saving energy. If you eat a lot, your body is like, “Hey! Food is plentiful so we can keep using the energy stores!” But if you eat less, your body thinks, “Oh crap, survival mode so let's slow down the metabolism to store the energy as fat for later!”

How do you know when you are eating too little? Some potential signs:

1. You don't feel hungry a lot. When your metabolism is slow you don't feel as hungry as frequently or at all. (Keep in mind you can also eat too MUCH and never feel hungry so this is varied from person to person).

2. You workout frequently and feel tired. If you are active (do some physical activity everyday) but you feel tired a lot, then your body is telling you you may not be eating enough.

3. You track your foods and are under 1200 calories a day.

How to Change Your Metabolism to Lose Fat

1. Lift heavy weights with compound movements with appropriate rest intervals.

2. Lift consistently – at least 2-3 times a week.

3. Eat enough calories to support your heavy lifting. On days you lift, you should definitely be upping your calories with healthy carbs and protein.

4. Get your calories up to a decent amount before cutting. Decent amount should be at least over 2500 calories for a woman. (Yes ladies, I am blowing your mind that you can eat this much and not gain weight). This strategy is called reverse dieting.

5. Get a trainer to help customize the best food and training program for your goals.

Contact Helen to help you with changing your metabolism to a roaring one, to a point where you can burn calories while sitting on your butt at work! Email HelenLinFitness@gmail.com for your free phone consultation today.

Why Cardio Sucks For Fat Loss

Want to lose Fat? Stop doing a bunch of cardio!

Are you someone who wants to "tone" and lose fat but spend your time running or doing a bunch of cardio and wondering why the fat is not coming off? Diet of course is important but also understand what you are telling your body when you do cardio all the time. 

CARDIO SUCKS FOR LONG TERM FAT LOSS.

Cardio is great for cardiovascular health.  It is great for improving your endurance.  But it is not going to build you muscle, aka the "toning" you desire.  When women want to "tone", what they really mean is they want to build muscle.  

Our body is a great machine that is good at any adaptation that we throw its way.  When you do a lot of cardio, you are sending an adaption signal to be good at endurance and you don't need a lot of muscle for endurance.  In fact, what happens is over time with excessive cardio, your body starts to store fat.  

Believe me, I was a marathon swimmer- I swam for 3-6 hours in the ocean or pool (5-6 days a week) and not lost a single pound - and my body composition looked the same.  My body had no reason to lose fat because as it adapted, it became more efficient to swim long distances which means it got easier and my body was not using much energy to do it.  

So what's the answer? RESISTANCE TRAINING.  When you do resistance training, you are now sending a whole different signal to your body to BUILD muscle.  

Why build muscle? It increase your resting metabolic rate! Even though side by side, an hour of cardio burns more calories than an hour of weight training, but every pound of muscle you gain you increase your resting metabolic rate by about 50 calories a day.  That's your body burning calories by doing nothing.  

For your cardiovascular health, keep your cardio to twice a week for 30 minute sessions.  Your daily movement can count towards your cardio.   Or a walk around the block with your dog.   But no need to spend 60 minutes on a treadmill each day.  Do resistance training 2-3 times a week is way more beneficial than a daily run (if your goal is to lose fat).  

As you build muscle and have a proper nutrition that goes with it, your body composition will change.  But the scale can go up or down depending on a variety of factors- sleep, diet, carbs (holds water), stress, and/or your workout.   You CAN LOSE WEIGHT AND NOT LOSE ANY BODY FAT!  You can also see an increase in scale when you start to build muscle as well.  That's why it's beneficial to work with a trainer who can help you monitor all these different aspects since the scale is very deceiving when you start doing resistance training.