An Easy Fitness Plan For Beginners.
Our mission is to improve your life by helping you become healthier and happier. We have done that by creating effective products to help you rest, recover, and optimize your body to heal itself. The rest is up to you and is easier than you might think.
There is no lack of blogs, websites, or social media pages dedicated to fitness and wellbeing. The internet can be overwhelming if you are new to the fitness world. We want to make healthy living simple. Simple is good. Let's cut out the noise and break down the fitness and weight loss factors without the gym bro jargon or the latest reason you should eat this or that to lose weight. This is for you if you are searching the internet for an easy fitness plan, motivation, and understanding where to start your journey.
The simple fact is that many, not all, fitness gurus are trying to sell you on their way of life, eating, and working out. They want to sell you a quick fix and some of their motivation. It is tempting to look for a quick fix, and plenty of people are selling those, but the simple and inconvenient truth is it takes time and consistency. You can't sell consistency and patience, though. Most people struggle here, and the internet noise will confuse you.
Are there better ways than this to lose weight faster and keep it off with the help of an expert or hours of research and planning? There absolutely are. This is meant to be an easy fitness plan to make a healthy change today and for next to no money. The whole point of this blog is to help you stop overthinking and researching every fitness routine and diet. Just make a plan, find your motivation, and get going. None of what I am about to say is earth-shattering, but it's effective and sustainable, and you can add on and refine things after you get started. I'll break all of the following down into simple steps at the end to make it even easier to achieve your goals.
Motivation Comes From You
Motivation can only come from inside you. The first thing you need to do to be successful is take stock of your reasons for starting this new journey. Get a journal and write it down. Ask yourself if you want to make a change in your life. And I mean, do you really want this? If you have never experienced what your body is capable of, journal about what you imagine it will feel like in the future. Ask yourself why you want to improve your health. Accountability and motivation are vital factors for maintaining long-term fitness success. Setting goals, tracking progress, and seeking support from friends, family, or a personal trainer can all help to keep you motivated and accountable to your fitness plan.
Grab a calendar and write your short-term, intermediate, and long-term goals. I don't suggest shooting for a specific weight or pants size, as that is unproductive. Focusing on the scale can be disheartening because as you start burning fat, you will also begin to build muscle. Muscle is heavy. This can frustrate you when your goal is to lose a certain amount of weight every week and disguise the accomplishments you have made. Muscle also burns fat, supports your frame, reduces joint pain, and looks really good.
Make your goals easy to implement and sustainable. Baby steps will get you where you are going. Track your exercise and diet on the calendar to see how you are doing. Enjoy your daily wins and give yourself credit along the way.
Nutrition Made Easy
The most important fitness and weight loss factor is a toss-up between exercise and nutrition. Let's start with nutrition because a poor diet is counterproductive to even the best workout program.
Diet is the most confusing topic on the planet right now. Vegans will say meat will kill you; carnivore diet enthusiasts will tell you meat alone will cure all your auto-immune issues. Keto eaters are terrified of carbs. Eggs will clog your arter... oh wait, eggs are good for you again. It's mostly nonsense, but it becomes dogma for some people. Can your carbs be adjusted for weight loss? Sure. Did cavemen eat ice cream? Maybe. Almost everyone can agree that processed food and oils are terrible for you and the biggest diet issue today, so start by cutting those out. If it's just you in the house, throw it out or give it away.
Think of food as fuel for your body and whole foods as rocket fuel. Eating whole foods is crucial for providing your body with the nutrients to support physical activity and maintain good health. A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein can help you maintain a healthy weight, reduce your risk of chronic diseases, and improve your overall wellbeing.
If you aren't a cook and wiping out processed foods all at once sounds overwhelming, start by cooking one healthy meal with single-ingredient foods once a day. Single-ingredient whole foods include broccoli, chicken (not dino-nuggets), sweet potatoes, leafy greens, etc. Shop only the outside isles of the grocery store. Once you are comfortable with that, step up to whole-food meals twice daily and eventually every meal. You can even try a meal delivery plan if that will make things easier. Make your diet change easy and sustainable, track your progress, try to improve every day, and celebrate your wins. You can do this.
Exercise You Will Enjoy
The second factor for fitness is exercise. Regular physical activity is essential for building and maintaining muscle, bones, and cardiovascular health. While it may be daunting to start exercising if you last did it a while ago, I promise the endorphins you generate from exercise will begin to fuel you in as little as a few days.
Adults should engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise weekly. Break this up into four or five 30-45 minute sessions. It could be yoga, a bike ride, or calisthenics in the basement; it's your choice. Pick something you think you will enjoy.
Strength training exercises like weightlifting and calisthenics are the best way to build muscle mass and bone density and shed fat. If you don't have access to a gym or aren't ready for weights, start by walking, running, or riding a bike for 30 minutes daily. Walking is underrated and sometimes overlooked. You can slowly increase the duration and intensity of your walks as you get more comfortable with exercise and then turn that walk into a jog or run if it's right for you. Over time, you can add ten push-ups and ten situps to your daily walk and increase those by five weekly if that feels right.
Most people overestimate what they can achieve in five days and underestimate what they can achieve in five years. Again, start where you are comfortable and make your plan sustainable. If or when you feel ready for the gym, you will have the confidence in your fitness to walk through the door.
Rest and Recovery Matters
An overlooked but essential factor for fitness is rest and recovery. Your body needs time to rest and recover after physical activity to repair and rebuild muscle tissue. Getting enough sleep, practicing stress-reducing techniques, and taking rest days from exercise can all help to support your body's recovery process. Start by getting to bed at the same time every night and waking up at the same time every morning. A regular bedtime will reset your hormones and circadian rhythm.
Listen to your body to determine the right amount of sleep for you.—plan for at least seven to eight hours. Turn off the TV and put down the phone a few hours before bed. You can even set an alarm on your phone to remind you it is time to put it down or turn off Yellowstone. You can also track your sleep and how it affects your mood and energy in your journal or calendar.
Take a rest day or two as you intensify your exercise. You can add "active recovery" days after you get used to exercise and how your body should feel; for now, take a day or two off from your new exercise plan. Listening to your body is very important.
Adding 15 minutes of daily stretching to your new regimen will also help your recovery. Instead of sitting on the couch while you watch TV, sit on the floor and stretch. It's great for your muscles and your mind. Better yet, turn the TV off and stretch.
Reducing or eliminating the harmful stress in your life is vital to your rest and recovery plan. Stress can cause all kinds of physical ailments, impact your sleep, and reduce your ability to recover from exercise. While this is easier said than done, you should take the time to evaluate where you can eliminate some of the stressors in your life. The beauty of this plan is that your new exercise plan will help you tolerate those stressors better.
Summary
Achieving and maintaining good physical fitness requires a combination of exercise, nutrition, rest, and motivation. By incorporating these factors into your daily routine, you can improve your overall health and wellbeing and enjoy the benefits of an active lifestyle. You will find that your new lifestyle improves your mood and focus, reduces chronic pain and stress, and gives you more energy. Careful, healthy living is addictive.
What you need:
A journal
A calendar
Motivation
Comfortable shoes and clothing
Steps:
Find out what your motivation for getting healthier and losing weight is. A journal can help. Post it on the mirror if you need to.
Set short-term, intermediate, and long-term goals for your health and fitness on a calendar. How will you get there? Do you want to start walking a mile daily and run five miles daily by February? Do you want to eliminate processed foods in the next two weeks?
Plan and track your progress, diet, and exercise on a calendar. Give yourself a star on the calendar every once in a while. You've earned it!
Cut out processed foods over time, or all at once, if it's sustainable for you. Start eating healthy meals once a day and increase frequency. Whatever you can get in your schedule. Find healthy, whole foods you enjoy.
Exercise 30-45 minutes daily, slowly increasing the intensity, frequency, and duration. Make it easy at first, and enjoy the scenery if you are outside. It's OK if you just want to walk, in fact it's amazing.
Get 7-8 hours of quality sleep every night. Go to bed and wake up at the same time. Turn off the phone and TV a few hours before bedtime.
As a bonus, add 15 minutes of stretching to your recovery time. Increase it as needed. Yoga may be your new chosen form of exercise. You decide.
Disclaimer: The Blackhouse Botanicals Blog is for informational purposes only and does not replace professional medical advice. While we strive to provide quality links and studies, using the information in this blog or materials linked from this blog is at the user’s own risk. Users should seek professional medical advice for any medical condition they may have. By using blackhousebotanicals.com, the user agrees that this website does not constitute a replacement for health and fitness advice from a professional provider.