Sometimes these days, it seems like fitness is all about five salads a day and eating/sleeping/breathing at the gym. This misconception can be really overwhelming, and even if you know you want to start, it's difficult to decide where to start. 

Here are a few changes you can make to your everyday habits in order to jumpstart your fitness journey in the right direction:

12 TIPS FOR GETTING FIT

1. FIND AN ACCOUNTABILITY BUDDY.
When you're in it by yourself, it's normal to give yourself a little break from eating clean and working out, but sometimes you give yourself an extra cheat meal, and then an extra cheat day. That day turns into a week, which turns into a month, and soon enough, you've got a huge deficit in progress and motivation.

Having an accountability buddy really helps keep you on track and ensure A) you're eating clean, B) eating often enough, and C) eating proper portions. It also helps to make sure you squeeze in your daily workout. Right now, I have two fitness buddies who I keep in check and who do the same for me. We Snapchat each other daily with video proof of what we eat and when we exercise.

2. TRACK MACROS, NOT CALORIES.
Most people think of counting calories when it comes to losing weight, because it's what's pop culture blasts when someone wants to shed a few. While to some degree, it's true that you'll lose weight because of CICO (calories in, calories out), counting macros is much more beneficial to your body. 

When you control your macros intake (protein, carbs, fat), you're taking control of your body composition. This means that depending on the macros ratio you follow that fits your body and fitness goals best, you'll have better control over how much fat and lean muscle mass your body consists of.

Counting calories might seem great until you realize that yes, that muffin you just ate may have only been 200 calories, but 100 of those calories were fat. Count your macros, and you can get a better idea of what's really in your food.

It might seem tedious, but there are apps that make tracking easy, and online BMR (basal metabolic rate) calculators that help you find the minimum calories you need daily just to breathe. It'll divide those calories into a ratio of macros that fits your goals. Consuming the right amount of energy and right forms of energy at the right times throughout the day will help you make the most out of your workouts and help you get the body that you want.

3. BUY A DIGITAL FOOD SCALE.
Some people are naturally really great at portion control, but even then, it's difficult to measure foods accurately with our eyes. What may look like a 1/2 cup of oats might be the difference between 35 and 55 grams of food. I know, it doesn't seem like much of a difference at all. But add that small difference up over the course of several meals, and you've got yourself some extra macros.

You can buy reasonably priced food scales online or even in stores. I bought mine here. 

4. MEAL PREP.
If you can, prepare as many of your meals as you can ahead of time. Dedicate one day a week to cooking. You can either prepare a week's worth of food all in one go, or go bi-weekly. Cook for three days' worth, wash and prepare extra ingredients, and cook the remaining meals of the week after you run out.

It might seem like a lot of work, but 2 hours of cooking on a Sunday feels worth it when you don't need to do the guessing work of what you should eat for lunch, or how the hell you're going to think of another healthy meal to eat for dinner. The art of meal prep is especially useful for that prime moment of vulnerability when you stretch your hunger to the point of starvation on a busy day. It's moments like these when you're most likely to cave and go for the quick n' easy bag of chips, or whatever else is easily accessible to get rid of that growl in your stomach.

Meal prep doesn't need to be boring or repetitive either. You can find heaps of meal prep recipe ideas online and tailor them to your macros; when you season your food, try using no salt, just spices. Plus, by preparing your meals ahead of time, you can measure and log ALL of your macros. Tracking macros isn't as easy for recipes you haven't made and measured yourself. I also found that I save money through meal prepping. When I use my food scale to measure out the food I'm going to need for the week, it saves me ingredients to use for next week's meals. Without my food scale and meal prep, I end up eating way more than I think I do.

Try reusable meal prep containers to store your food in. I cook everything on Sunday, but to keep everything fresh for longer, I'll leave one or two days' worth in the fridge, freeze the rest, and move another day's worth in the fridge every morning to defrost.

5. TOSS YOUR JUNK FOOD.
If a snack is in the house, I'm gonna find it and I'm gonna eat it. There's no going back. 
It's okay to treat yo' self every now and then, but when you do crave sweets or a bag of chips, buy the smallest portion you can. Don't buy in bulk or enough to last you more than one sitting. This keeps junk food out of sight and out of mind.

If anything, check your grocery store for healthier alternatives, such as high protein Halo Top ice cream. I tried this stuff at LA Fit Expo last year and now it's in stores everywhere. SO GOOD and definitely hits the spot.

6. LIMIT ALCOHOL TO ONCE PER WEEK OR LESS.
If you must drink, stick to hard alcohol. You'll get more out of it and consume less empty calories. Also, try to avoid sugary mixed drinks. Try subbing your mixer with soda water instead in order to cut down on sugar and empty calories. Vodka sodas with a squeeze of lime, or even tequila and soda are easy options. Also, make sure it's soda water and not tonic, which contains a lot more sugar.

7. SAVE CHEAT MEALS FOR GOING OUT WITH FRIENDS.
Also, limit going out to eat with friends to once or twice per week. This will also help you to save money; less opportunities to go out means less spending, especially when you have your made-with-love meal prep conveniently waiting for you. This really saves me from cheat meals when I'm tempted to give into a craving but I know that I still have plans to go out later in the week. 

8. EAT, EAT, EAT! FOOD IS YOUR FRIEND.
Don't starve yourself. It's easy and tempting to just cut your calories, but doing so is both unhealthy and ineffective. It's okay to slightly reduce your caloric intake if you're trying to lose weight, but when you skip meals or eat portions that are too small, your body goes into survival mode. It doesn't know the next time you're going to eat or how much you're going to eat, so it grasps everything it can to fuel itself. Withholding calories deprives your body of the nutrients it needs to not only function regularly on its own, but also to recover from the stress you put on it during your workouts.

Space out your meals throughout the day so that you eat smaller portions more often, and make sure that when you do eat, you're fueling your body with healthy foods. Eating properly this way keeps your metabolism up continually on clean energy so you aren't starving yourself and gives your body the nutrients it needs to function properly. Especially if you're trying to build muscle, you need that extra fuel for energy during and after your workouts to help with muscle growth, recovery and maintenance.

9. HYDRATE.
Find a reusable water bottle you like, holds a lot of water, and is easy to drink out of/refill. The easier it is for you to access your water, the more willing and likely you'll be to drink it.

Over 50 percent of your body consists of water, so the more you replenish that, the better your body will function. The more you hydrate yourself, the better your body will be able to flush out all of the stuff you've been working so hard to burn off while eating clean and working out. 

Drinking enough water will also help you stave off cravings whenever you start dreaming and drooling over that video of In-N-Out your friend just posted on their Snapchat story. Most of the time when we feel hungry, we're actually just dehydrated, so drink up! I aim for around a gallon a day.

10. DON'T BE AFRAID OF LIFTING WEIGHTS.
It's a common misconception for women that lifting weights will make you bulky. Forget alladat.

Weight training is incredibly useful for your body throughout your fitness journey. When I was 18 years old and what I thought was fit, I was crash dieting and playing on the treadmill for 2+ hours daily with a few HIIT workouts a week. This lost me the weight I wanted as quickly as I wanted, but I was still what you would call 'skinny fat.' Now, I enjoy a lot more food, lift heavy and do minimal cardio. I still have a long journey ahead of me, but I'm stronger, and my body is more firm, toned and on its way to where I want it to be.

Weight training ensures that your fitness efforts will be noticeable and worth it, and will help you become more toned and shapely in all the right places.

11. TAKE PROGRESS PICTURES WEEKLY.
Set a specific day of the week to take photos and document your progress. Sometimes it feels like we're working so hard, exercising our asses off and eating clean around the clock, yet we still see little to no difference in our bodies. I've definitely been there before. It can be discouraging to feel this way, but your body is actually changing every single day! You won't notice right away, but after some time passes and you've been consistent, you'll definitely see progress when you compare photos from 5 weeks ago.

My fitness goal isn't to simply lose weight and shave numbers off the scale. Instead, I'm aiming to lose body fat and increase lean muscle mass. With that said, I've been avoiding the scale and using a mirror and photos as progress reference. I take progress pics of myself every Wednesday, and it's very rewarding to be able to see my hard work come into play. 

12. FIND FITNESS ROLE MODELS ON SOCIAL MEDIA.
Start jumping around your Explore page on Instagram and find people with healthy bodies and mindsets you can look up to for motivation. There are heaps of great personal trainers on IG who not only post different workout routines daily, but also interact directly with their followers and keep you inspired to either get going or keep going.

If you find someone you like, you can even purchase their fitness programs and personalized meal plans if they offer them. Also, many fitness figures are SUPER down to earth and really care about their followers and clients. If you need tips on a certain exercise, or have any questions at all, they're more than willing to DM you back and keep in touch with your progress. Every single one of these people has been where you are now and might already be where you want to be, so having them around can serve as a reminder of why you started, how far you've come, and why you should keep going.

And these are all my tips! I'm by no means a fitness expert; these are all just minor changes that I found worked for me and helped to make a big difference in my overall physical and mental health. I know it seems like a lot of the list had to do with food, but 70% of getting fit and staying fit happens in the kitchen, the other 30% happens in the gym. Definitely make sure to do your research, and try out different things to see what works best for you. Good luck!

xx,