5 healthy habits EVERY fit chick follows
August 12, 2016 Ashley 0 Comments
You know what I loathe seeing on weight loss sites?
Titles exactly like the one I just employed for this article.
(It was a sarcasti-title, for those who’ve not caught on yet.)
For example, I just read this listicle called, “5 habits every healthy woman follows.”
(“Please, tell me more about how I’m not a ‘healthy woman’ just ’cause I don’t fit your cookie cutter fitness plan”)
Honestly, if I had a fitness list, I’d probably add reading that article to it. Because this much eyeroll and sardonic laughter has to burn a significant amount of calories. Every woman? Now, I fancy myself a fairly healthy chick. And you wanna know what? I don’t do any of the stuff listed in the article I just read. I don’t lay my gym clothes out ahead of time. I don’t have homemade snacks. I don’t have a list of healthy restaurants on rotation. But, as I read these things, I often wonder how many other wonder women are perusing these things generalizing femme-kind’s health habits and getting slightly vexed. For that reason, I did come up with my own list. And, today, I’d like to do three things. First, I’d like to rename this article “5 healthy habits this fit chick follows”. Second, I’d like to list those things (in case you’d like to try ’em out). And third, if you’re already fit, looking at my list, and thinking “Nah, I’m good”, then A.) awesome; you do you, boo; and B.) definitely feel free to share your list of fit-liness with the rest of the class. Now, I’mma let you talk in a second, but first, here’s my five point rundown:
1.) Eating clean.
Sure, organic stuff is good. Indeed, I’m all about that non-altered fruit and veg if I can get it. However, more important to me is avoiding the fast foods of the world – that includes drive through and shelf-snacks alike. Once I hopped on over to non-processed nosh, lower sodium content, and fewer refined sugars, my whole world changed for the better. If you’re tempted to skip over this, I encourage you to reconsider. Because you can’t outrun the truth. And the truth is that you can’t outrun a bad diet. Or out-train it. Or out-spin, swim, or karate chop it, even.
2.) Mix that shiz up.
I’m addicted to running. I do it a lot. But, when I started to plateau and flabbify (that’s my verb version of “getting flabby”) on my fanny, I finally sought advice from smarter people than I. (Namely, health professionals and sweat experts.) And you know what they told me? They said: variety is the spice of slicing yourself into a schmexy beast. Thus, I injected some intensity intervals, strength training, and different forms of cardio (Muay Thai and Krav Maga, mostly) into my routine. I’ve never been stronger in my life. Sure, 30 minutes or even 60 of trail jogging’s great. But peppering my repertoire with intensity intervals and strength training’s proven fruitful for the physique I’ve been seeking that’s equal parts sleek and strong.
3. Lotsa Agua
Seriously. I can’t emphasize this one enough. In the morning when I get up, I down half a liter. Then I have half after breakfast. Then I have a full one after my run or any workout. Then half before any meal. Half before bed. All in all, experts say you should be guzzling half an ounce to an ounce for each pound you weigh. Not only does it help you shed weight you’re hanging onto when you hydrate better, but it’ll also do wonders for your complexion on an age-rewind level.
4. Ostracize the adverse cognitive commentary
This one’s tough, but once you see your mind as another muscle, it’s monumentally easier. The key for me is to never invite my negative cerebral discussions into any of my health path plans. In fact, if I were to offer advice on this, I’d say simply don’t invite any self-talk to the table that questions your outlined means of reaching your goals. My mantra – whenever I’m giving something up for a good reason – is the following: “Want is not an option.” It’s served me well for booting foods from my life I didn’t need. It’s served me well on days I don’t want to train. It’s even served me well in the workplace. There’s a reason your present trek seemed like a good idea when you initially set out to make this change. Doubt – wrought from stuff like fear of change, discomfort, or deviation from the norm – is only there to destroy that and drag you back down into that “comfortable chaos” of wherever you were previously. Be a tyrant and take away its voice. Your body’s not a democracy where naysayer thoughts get a vote. This body belongs to you. It’s your land, so make the like the mayor (Mayer?) of it, and make that shiz a wonder land. (Only caveat? If you’re legit injured, then duh. Don’t force a workout.)
5. Have a routine.
A lot of people (including the author of that aforementioned article about what “every” fit chick does) like to talk about “remembering why you’re doing this in the first place”. I say that can be good. I mean, that’s great for the first thirty to ninety days or so while you’re still building a routine and allowing for neuroplasticity to take over (that just means your brain’s rewiring to your new regimen). But, if I’m being honest, having to talk myself into it every day for the rest of my life sounds like a sentence I don’t want to carry out. So, here’s the caramel coated carrot on a stick for you, coming from someone who’s been there: if you practice the right active and mental habits, after a while you won’t have to. For example, provided that you're rejecting all that negative internal talk in the first place for those three months (“I can’t do it”, “What’s the point?”, “What’s the harm in a fourth cheat day this week?”) and replacing it with auto-affirmations of amazingness (“I feel better already”, “I’m getting sexier with every stride”, “I can’t wait to serve my sparring partner his own azz tonight at Muay Thai”), then you stand an excellent chance of just ingraining aerobic activity and healthy habits into your life. And once you do that, you don’t have to actively talk yourself through the motions of pulling out gym clothes or stretching or driving to the gym anymore. It just happens on its own. It starts to become part of your muscle memory – like when you get home after a long day, sit in your car for a second, and realize you recall zero point zero of your whole drive there. You just did it by rote. Similarly, your new healthy eating and exercise regime will start to simply be part of the identity you’ve built until it’s no longer foreign territory you perpetually traverse on the struggle bus.
It’s simply your thing.
“It’s what I DO.”
So, how about you, my present and aspiring perspirers and clean eaters?
What’s your 5 point plan for body awesomery?