Well after my last post, you should not be reading any further until you have followed through on your action plan. If you missed the last post, just check it out here before you continue any further.
The goal of the last post was the start you in the best possible position, that will lead to the best chance for your to hit your goals. We have determined your starting point and motivation behind why you are taking action. We also now understand, very clearly, where you would like to be. We even started to discuss the path with manipulating your environment to make your start as easy as possible.
Now it is time to really dive into your path you will take. But again, we must start with the foundations. It is easy to get caught up in the hype of the newest exercise craze or the next celebrity diet that everyone is following.
This time is going to be different. You are going to be precise with every decision you make now. You will look at your long term plan and see if this new thing will fit in with what you are working towards. It is so easy to contract shiny object syndrome and bounce from one thing to the next. I’m not saying you can never try anything new, but really decide is this something that will take you a step closer to your desired results.
You probably know that an exercise plan is going to be an important part of this journey. And you bet, I am pretty biased on this topic which is why I opened a training studio in the first place. There is just no replacement for exercise. You must be doing this.
But we are not read to talk about that yet. Instead, I want to treat this as a hierarchy of importance. Really each piece is critical and you need to incorporate everything, but if you are only ready for one thing at a time, then I am going to present it in the order of importance. So if you can take on more things at once, then go for it, but be careful not to bit off more than you can chew.
In this article we are going to start with the habits you should address first that do not involve exercise or moving. I know what you are thinking. “I don’t have time for this. I need to start burning calories now and get this weight off.” Don’t worry, we will get there. But if you really want to maximize your bodies ability to burn calories you have to take care of a few things first.
Sleep
Each habit that we are going to work on will build off the previous . In fact, when you maximiz
e each foundational habit, your next habit will become more and more effective. So this is why we are going to start with sleep.
The number of diseases and health issues that arise from sleep deprivation is incredible. Obesity, diabetes, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and much more. There is no escaping the fact that if you are not getting enough sleep every night, you are setting yourself up for problems down the road.
There are a number of reasons why sleep is so important. To start, this is where your body recover and restores from the day. If you are missing sleep, you will constantly be trying to catch up the next day. In fact, you can actually accumulate sleep dept. The more debt you have the more issues you are going to see.
If you are dragging right from the start, your workouts are going to suffer. Really, your whole day is going to suffer. You will subconsciously try and conserve energy and your body will slow down meaning you will burn less calories.
Another thing I wanted to bring up. Do you suffer from craving carbohydrates throughout the day? Stupid question I’m sure. But when you are sleep deprived, your brain is looking for energy and glucose (sugar) is a great place. So your brain will signal for you to eat more. Hormones, like grehlin, increase making it harder for you to say no to those sugary treats. And when you do consume sugar, your body does not metabolize them as well, meaning you really doing use all that sugar you just ate. Some will be used and some will be converted to fat. But your body very got its complete sugar fix, so that sugar craving will come right back.
Hopefully, you can see why I am putting sleep as number one. So now some habits we can do to improve it.
Give yourself the opportunity to sleep enough.
It is simple to say to get enough sleep, but tricky to put into practice. If nothing else you are going to establish the habit of getting to bed on time. You know what time you have to wake up, so make sure you are in bed at least 8 hours before you have to wake up. Even if you don’t fall asleep right away, you have the chance to get enough sleep. The goal is to establish the habit and work at it. You will see an improvement. Keep to the same schedule everyday to create consistency.
No lighted screens 1 hour before bed.
The LED screen in our devices like phones, tablets, and tv’s can wreak havoc on the body. The blue light from the screen has been shown to decrease melatonin levels. This will make it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep. There is even some studies that show when your eyes are closed LED light can effect sleep. So keep devices to a minimum in the evening. You can try things like f.lux or the night shift function on your phone to eliminate some of this.
Keep the room cooler.
As our body prepares fo
r sleep there will be a reduction in core temperature. This is a natural occurrence. When the outside temperature increases it makes it more challenging to decrease your internal temperature making it harder to fall and stay asleep. This can be tricky, but if you can cool the room down it can really be helpful for better quality sleep.
Track it.
I wish I can tell you everything you need to know for a better night sleep. You will have to try different things out. Food your eat, when you exercise, the type of pillow,…there are many things that can influence your sleep. You won’t know until you try different things and see what works and what doesn’t.
Something as simple as a journal will work. Just pay attention to different things and how it improves or decreases your sleep. Just focus on one things at a time. If you try a supplement, like ZMA, magnesium, or melatonin, just change the one thing. See if that improves things or not. If not try something else.
You can even use sleep apps to track your sleep. The fitbit can do this. This way you know when sleep quality is improving or not. I use an app called sleep cycle. It tracks a lot of information that can help improve your sleep.
Water
I don’t think much explanation is needed here. Life is not possible without water. Even though you may survive on small amounts of water, your body will not function properly. This is an essential for optimal help and body compensation. Your goal is not just to drink water, but to drink enough water every day.
Ever person has different requirements for water so it is hard to say exactly how much you need. A general rule is to drink ½ your weight in ounces of water. So if you weigh 180lbs you will aim for 90 ounces of water per day.
If this is a big jump for your, then start slow and add small amounts each day. Make sure to spread this throughout the day. Consuming too much late in the day will disrupt sleep and we know how critical a good nights sleep is.
Try to start your day with a tall glass of water. You can even add pink Himalayan sea salt and lemon for added benefits and taste.
Food Log
Yes I understand, keep a food log is work. It’s tedious. It’s something else to add to your list. But the fact is, when people keep a food log they eat better.
It should not be your goal to journal everything you eat for the rest of your life. But consistently track for a few weeks, even a few months will go along way.
Before we even talk about what foods to eat, you need to be aware of the foods you eat. This is what food logs are great at. They will make you more aware of what your diet typically consists of. Do you have any idea how many calories you eat?, what your macronutrient breakdown is?, or what your portions typically are?
Before we talk about what they should be, let’s just see what your default is. You probably eat regularly. Whether it is good or bad you tend to eat similar foods and in similar amounts. Once you learn what your patterns are, you can start making the appropriate adjustments.
I could tell you to eat more protein, but how can I recommend that when I don’t know what you are currently doing. So to start you are going to just track. Don’ t worry too much on the quality of the food. We will get to that point. Right now we are going to help you become aware of what foods you typically eat, any areas you might be missing, and the quantity of the food you eat.
You can get started with an app like My Fitness Pal. Create an account and just start logging. You will be surprised on what you learn just be tracking and not even making any major changes. Just be honest and report everything as accurately as you can. You can even add me as a friend so I can see what types of foods you eat. My username is SDPT.
As we end this long post (thanks for continuing to read), let’s sum up with your action steps you can take right now.
- Start tracking your sleep and seeing what ways you can improve your sleep quality every night.
- Drink more water. Start the day with a big glass of water and continue to drink at regular intervals all day. This would be a good think to track.
- Create an account on My Fitness Pal and start tracking your food.
I know these might sound too simple to work, but remember, we are perfecting the fundamentals first. If you aren’t currently doing these things and you are stalled in your progress, then you have your answer.
Nail things down. We will get more and more advanced as we go, but skipping these things because they seem too basic is just a huge mistake.
Continue to develop these better habit so you don’t have to think about it anymore. These basic things should be a given ever day. If not, then you know exactly what you need to work on.
Sincerely,
Mike Deibler MS, CSCS, SGX
San Diego Premier Training