By Mike Carville, NASM/RKC

We know there’s a lot to juggle when starting a healthy active lifestyle. Most of us know that we need to move a little more and eat a little less. But HOW to do these things stops many of us in our tracks. Below we share some tips about not only WHAT to do but HOW to do it. Follow these principles and you’re well on the path to achieving a healthy lifestyle. You can also enroll in our Lifestyle Reboot Challenge that is included with your club membership, and work with our coaches and instructors to lose weight, get in shape, and live better.

MOVEMENT

Whether your goal is to fit into your favorite jeans or just be a little healthier, you need to move your body. The problem is that most of us just don’t move very much anymore. In fact, the average person today is 30% less active than the two generations ago.

Even if you don’t think you like to move, your body does. It was designed for regular physical activity. Movement burns calories, builds muscular and cardiovascular health, reduces inflammation, strengthens the immune system, improves blood chemistry and metabolism, and turns back the clock on aging.

So why do so many people struggle to stick with an exercise program? Exercise products, fitness books and on-line workout programs all make wonderful claims but the dirty little secret is that do it yourself “DIY” exercise is hard, really hard.

Should you train by body part or movement pattern? Is circuit training better than a split routine? When should you change your program? And of course, after you’ve started your new program, your favorite magazine or website says, “Do THIS instead… “. It’s no wonder that people get frustrated, lose motivation, and quit.

People are much more motivated when they know exactly what to do and how to do it. We find that programs with basic exercise movements that combine everything you need to do in one simple session work best – flexibility, cardio, strength, restoration work best for most people. We also know that most people do better in groups than alone – especially when starting a new program.

If this sounds like you, then checkout our Group Exercise and Team Training sessions. Both of these programs are included with your club membership and are designed to take the guesswork – out of your workout so that you can have fun, stay motivated and stick with it.

If you plan to put together your own program, then exercising 2-3 days per week will produce good improvements in health. If your goal is weight loss, then best results will come with 4-5 days per week of physical activity. Start gently and give yourself permission and time to adjust to a regular routine. Remember, progress, not perfection.

NUTRITION

It’s really hard to lose weight solely through exercise alone. In fact, up to 70% of weight loss will come from your nutrition.

Most nutrition programs rely on calorie counting, nutrient tracking, and rigid meal plans. These approaches only work for about 10% of people. That means every 9 out of 10 people on these plans will fail. We take a simple QUALITY then QUANTITY approach and, coach small habit changes to help you dial in your nutrition.

First, we focus on improving food QUALITY. We start with simple changes like drinking more water, eating more fruits and vegetables, adding more whole grains and healthy fats, and reducing sugars/starches. We do not restrict calories or tell you what to eat. We just focus on adding healthier foods to your diet which slowly crowd out the unhealthy stuff. This naturally reduces the how many calories you eat. Your body weight begins to drift down, and your tastes and preferences improve. Soon eating healthier foods becomes your “new normal” as you continue to lose weight and become healthier.

We never start a nutrition plan with feelings deprivation and starvation. Why? Because we are all hard wired to avoid pain. If something is too hard or too painful then you will quit. And that is the problem with so many diets, they’re just too hard or unrealistic so we quit. Instead of making big changes, we start with baby steps and slowly build momentum.

Next, we integrate “HACKS” for snacking, emotional eating/awareness, energy swings, sugar cravings, satiety, alcohol, family support, kitchen set-up, recipes, shopping and meal preparation skills. These new skills begin to replace old habits that often derail progress.

Now many people can stop right here and maintain a natural healthy body weight. However, if you have more weight to lose and are eating healthier foods at least 80% of the time then we move on to food QUANTITY.

We begin with the worlds simplest food measuring system – your hand. Select a piece protein (meat, poultry, fish, etc) about the size of your palm, a serving of fruits or carbohydrates (grains) to fill your cupped hand, a vegetable serving the size of your fist, and fats/oils/dressings about the size of your thumb. Put those servings on your plate and there you have it – a calorie balanced, macro-based meal. You can then adjust those portions in half sizes either up or down based on your satiety, weight loss progress or body type.

Finally, if you plateau or want to lose even more weight then we shift to more advanced techniques like meal prep kits or phone apps to target calories based on your metabolic profile. The key to nutrition is a progressive system based on change psychology (habit change) and a flexible but focused plan to keep you on track.

COACHING & ACCOUNTABILITY

As we discussed above, both movement and nutrition are necessary to lose weight and improve your heath. But what we are really taking about is habit change. Replacing unhealthy habits with new healthier habits. And once you develop a new habit, your brain goes on autopilot and it takes very little effort to follow through.

So how do you change a habit? With coaching and accountability. It is the glue that holds the whole plan together. We use a 3-pronged approach: (1) success-based coaching (2) personalized plan making (3) and accountability check-ins. We then apply the following coaching skills to gently guide you down the path to healthy habit change.

1. Simplest changes first.
2. Baby steps.
3. A plan for that.
4. Co-create the solution.
5. Habit Tracking.
6. Make it easier.
7. Regular check-ins.
8. Progress, not perfection.

The key to habit change is a structured coaching system that provides clear direction but is flexible enough so that you can go at your own pace. Let us know if you’d like some coaching and support to reach your healthy lifestyle goals at South Yuba Club. The Lifestyle Reboot Challenge combines movement, nutrition, and coaching in one simple program. It’s our mission to help you live better.

READY TO REBOOT YOUR LIFESTYLE?