Tools To Keep You Moving Towards Your Fitness Goals

It’s been a whirlwind couple of years and I’ve been in super good, average,and not so good shape; I’m an expert in losing, and gaining weight it seems! In 2017 I won a weight loss contest, ran a half marathon, got married and was super happy with my wedding look and I felt great, but old habits slipped back over the next year. I got busy and exercise went on the back burner again, I’d go for after-work wine instead of after work workouts, and much of the weight returned. Fitness is evasive at times, but I’m determined to get, and stay there once again and I’m working hard on it right now as I turn fifty this year.

They say you can change a habit in 28 days, but I beg to differ as I’m constantly struggling to maintain new habits, even if I’ve been practising them for months. I don’t have the solution, but a couple things are helping me lately, as I’m back working out almost daily and the scales are once again, tipping in my favour.

Find Your Tribe

None of my close friends work out much, and the few that do don’t have schedules that match mine, so I had to find my own workout buddies who make fitness a priority. I’ve found them at Cadence, a spin class on 6th Avenue at South Granville, where the classes are tough, and the smiles very frequent. The instructors here are constantly checking in on you, in and after class, and the your classmates are very supportive. I try to sit behind those who inspire me and I’ve gotten to the stage where I can take the 60 minute classes, not just the 45 minute classes, and I go every second day. It’s important to love where you work out, or you just won’t go.

Stay Accountable With Technology

I have a scale that I measure myself on every week and it’s by RolliBot. RolliBot is a home automation expert and they recently unveiled a Rollifit line of digital smart scales, and I love mine!The F8, the model I have,  is Bluetooth ready and uses a free companion app to track eight different body metrics and also works with my other apps like Fitbit and Google Fit.  The app allows me to set goals, track and measure weight, BMI, BMR, body fat percentage, water percentage, muscle mass, bone mass and visceral fat, making the scale a true body composition analyzer, all from the comfort of my own home and for only about $50. You can visit Rollibot.com to learn more. By tracking myself weekly, I’m forced to face my behaviours that have contributed to good, or not so good, weeks and adjust accordingly.

Track Your Workouts, Sleep and Heart Rate

I use a Fitbit Ionic to track my steps, resting heart rate and heart rate when I exercise to make sure I exert, but don’t overexert myself, get enough sleep and stick to my exercise regime. I use it on my runs and it syncs with Strava, another cool APP that tracks your workouts, and Fitbit also has its own handy app to. I love tech toys!

Set Goals

I have a goal of running a 5 km in 30 minutes before I turn 50 in October and I’m damn close! I also wanted to fit back into my wedding dress before Diner En Blanc, which turns out is earlier in August than I thought, so that may be a little out of reach at this point, and may have to wait until Diner 2020, but I’m not giving up! It’s important to review, and adjust your goals every month.

Walk When You Can

I don’t have a car, so I either Car2Go, take transit, or walk. The more times you choose to walk, the better, so put aside extra time to get to your venue by foot. You can always change shoes when you get there.

Be Kind to Yourself and Be Honest

Don’t even try to be perfect every day! When I am too strict with myself and I slip, I slip hard, but if I allow myself treats here and there, and don’t hate myself for little indulgences, I do far better. If keto works for you, great, but I would feel massively deprived and be a total bitch on it, and it’s not the kind of diet you can do part time, instead I find limiting carbs and fat, upping protein and focusing on eating more good things works far better for me. I allow myself chocolate or a cookie here and there, and perhaps a meal that’s a little carby once in a while and it doesn’t knock me off my game. Also, I do know that personally I need to take booze off the table when I’m trying to lose weight as it works against me, the extra calories and decreased motivation that comes with it, just don’t work.