8 Mental Strategies To Get Fit

8 Mental Strategies To Get Fit
by Chris Freytag


Hopefully you have some extra time in the summer to relax a little bit and recharge mentally from the frenetic pace of life. As you continually try and take steps to live a healthier life, you are probably accustomed to trying new recipes, varying up your exercise and making small improvements to your health, like getting more sleep. Yet there’s a critical aspect to your health and fitness that people sometimes overlook and it’s to work on your mental fitness. Try these tips to make sure you stay mentally fit and your body will follow.

1.Make an irritation list. Sometimes tiny little things are getting under our skin and they can take our mood down a notch. Get those things out of your head on to paper so you can tackle a few each week. Reduce the things that irritate you and you will feel mentally lighter.

2.Stop and assess how you are doing. Usually when we don’t think about what we are eating or how much we are exercising (or not exercising) is when we get ourselves into trouble. Stay plugged into how you are doing by slowing down enough to watch your life like a movie. Are you on the right track? Do you need to make some changes? Take an assessment and make changes that can put you on a healthier path.

3.Pay attention to what you are thinking. If you have a stream of negative thoughts and criticisms in your head, your mood will follow. You can’t be your healthiest self if you aren’t even on your own side. If you are accustomed to thinking negatively, try stopping those thoughts in their tracks and replacing with a positive, uplifting thought instead. Practice daily and repeat.

4.Genuinely compliment other people. Sometimes you receive what you give. When you authentically compliment other people, it makes you feel good too. Try it and watch the positive energy flow back to you, too.

5.Take time for you. It’s great if you are mother, sister, or friend of the year, but if you always put yourself last, you can’t be the best person you can be. It isn’t selfish to carve out time for just you. Make sure you have at least an hour a day that’s totally devoted to what you want to do.

6.Write. You don’t have to be a literary scholar to reap the benefits of writing. Writing has a way of releasing what’s bothering you, reducing stress, and connecting to how you really feel so you can achieve mental clarity. Write like no one will ever read what you say and you will give yourself healthy mental space.

7.List what you are grateful for in your life each day. Gratitude is tied closely to happiness. Make a list of what you are grateful for—in your head or on paper—and watch a smile appear on your face.

8.Be your own coach. If you had a coach in your corner, what would that person say to encourage you? Be that person for yourself and you will be amazed by what you can accomplish.

Make sure your head is in the health and fitness game and your body will thank you.

Breakfast Shakes: Drink Yourself Skinny

By Lisa Lynn

Meal-replacement shakes are an effective, easy way to drop pounds. They teach you how to eat less and lose weight quickly and permanently – and the right shake can boost your metabolism by 25%. Who doesn’t need that?

The fact is, when you’re trying to lose body fat, you can’t skip breakfast – but you may be too busy to think about calories and to make healthy choices. That’s why drinking a protein shake first thing in the morning is a simple, foolproof weight-loss method. When you drink the right protein shake, you give your body the nutrients it needs and you can also:

• Boost your metabolic rate by 25%.
• Save calories by avoiding fatty foods (if you drink a shake for breakfast, you can save an average of 400 calories per day).
• Keep your blood sugar levels balanced, allowing your body to burn stored fat as fuel.
• Increase your energy levels, which enables you to increase your activity and automatically burn more calories.

Why do meal replacements or protein shakes for breakfast work? Simply put, weight loss occurs when your metabolism gets moving and you put out more calories than you take in. If you were to replace your 750-calorie bagel and orange juice meal with a 155-calorie protein shake, you’d save 595 calories per day. And you’d see the results on your bathroom scale in no time.

We can’t be perfect all the time, so we need calorie safe havens that keep us anchored while we learn how to eat correctly. Protein shakes that contain nutrients offer those safe havens. Most people love them because they don’t have to think about food, plan meals or buy expensive products. You can even make them yourself. To start, try one of my favorite recipes: a mocha madness shake that tastes amazing.

Fat-Burning Mocha Madness

• In a blender, mix ½ cup of cold water (you can add more or less water depending on the consistency you prefer).
• Add 2 scoops of nutrient-rich chocolate-flavored protein powder.
• Add 1 tsp of granulated instant coffee.
• Gradually add 5 ice cubes to thicken.
• Blend on high for one minute (in a pinch, this shake can also be made by simply mixing ingredients together in a glass with a spoon).
• Drink yourself skinny!