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Stress: the silent killer of results

I’ve spent most of my career working with busy urban professionals. Despite superficial differences in demographics, there is a common thread connecting the people I work with: most of them are very stressed out. Sometimes, the inability to properly manage stress is the single biggest factor preventing my clients from achieving their goals at the gym.

Don’t believe me? I understand on a personal level just how devastating excessive stress can be. Recently, my own failure to manage stress created a cascade of negative consequences in my own life.

I started my blog and online training business in 2017 because I loved writing and wanted to share my ideas and experience with a broader audience. In an effort to build my business, I established weekly deadlines for myself. Each week I planned to write a new blog, send two emails to my list, post daily on social media, shoot a new video, and do a Facebook Live. This was in addition to writing programs for all my clients, answering emails, doing administrative work, and training all of my in-person clients. I was cranking out content left and right. If I wasn’t on the floor with a client, I was posted up in a coffee shop writing. I was at the gym 12-14 hours most days, and almost every single second was filled with work.

Over the course of many months, my self-imposed deadlines became more and more suffocating. After a while, I felt completely drained of ideas and creativity. Then, I started dreading my workouts and slacking at the gym. I lost interest in things that used to light me up and experienced near constant anxiety. It was increasingly difficult to sit still, and even harder to relax and unwind. I worried incessantly about nearly everything in my life.

I had taken on too much but refused to admit it. In my head, I had to do all the things if I wanted to be successful. I was running blindfolded toward a cliff ledge, but I still thought I could avoid falling off if I just worked harder. I refused to do anything about my stress levels and was arrogant enough to think I wouldn’t have to face any consequences for the way I was treating myself.

The turning point came when my failure to address my stress and anxiety contributed to the resurfacing of an old eating disorder. I gained weight, felt physically terrible, and stopped being able to show up the way I wanted in my work and my relationships. I could no longer live in denial because stress had clearly affected both my physical and mental health. My body and brain were sending me a strong message that something had to change. Among many other things, I started going to therapy and made drastic changes to the way I worked. Only after addressing my stress problem was I able to fall back in love with the gym and recommit to my health and fitness goals.

working nonstop can create excessive stress, which negatively impacts your life and health

I share this story with you because I want you to see how poorly managed stress can stymie your efforts to look, feel, and perform better. You may think stress is no big deal, but left unchecked it can easily consume your life. If you’re trying to change your body, push performance, or build a healthier lifestyle, it’s absolutely essential to get a handle on your overall stress levels. Failure to do so will continuously sabotage your attempts at change and potentially lead to serious physical and mental health problems.

Below, I describe a few ways stress interferes with your progress in and out of the gym. I also share some of the stress management strategies that have been most helpful for myself and my clients.

How does stress stop me from getting in shape?

The presence of excessive stress hormones can have a direct impact on your physiology. What’s easier to understand, however, are the insidious ways stress affects your overall well being. These things make it hard to lose weight, get stronger, recover from injuries, or build healthier habits.

One of the first side effects of high stress levels is poor sleep. When you’re stressed out, it’s harder to fall asleep and stay asleep. This has negative implications for your entire life because without sleep, your body and brain can’t fully recover from the demands of your workouts, job, and personal life. You’ll feel worn down, beat up, and struggle to keep up with daily activities.

Sleep is especially important for body composition goals like losing fat or building muscle. If a client’s diet and training are on point but they’re struggling to see physical changes, I can often trace it back to a lack of sleep.

It’s tough to stick with a diet or nutrition plan when you’re stressed out. For some people, excessive stress makes it even harder to find the time and energy to plan, shop, and prepare healthy meals. Other people are so stressed they skip breakfast or lunch, only to overeat later in the day.

Sometimes stress itself causes powerful cravings for sweets and other comfort foods. Eating these foods causes a chemical reaction in your brain, releasing “feel good” neurotransmitters and hormones which provide a stress-relieving rush. Unfortunately, this feeling is only temporary and is usually followed by an energy crash and feelings of guilt. Left unchecked, this cycle can eventually spiral into full-blown disordered eating.

In addition to affecting sleep, recovery, and your ability to stick to a diet, excessive stress has a negative impact on your workouts. First, stress reduces your energy levels and performance. You’ll likely move slower, feel sluggish, and have a hard time focusing on technique. Additionally, it’s hard to give your all at the gym (such as attempting new personal records or testing your strength and endurance) when your nervous system is exhausted from a persistent high dose of stress. In fact, too much high intensity training combined with high levels of overall stress from elsewhere in your life is a recipe for disaster (more on this below).

Second, stress can impact your motivation to train. If you have a million things on your plate or feel overwhelmed by life, working out is often the last thing you want to do. Although no one feels motivated all the time, something isn’t right if you find yourself constantly dreading the gym.

Finally, if you’re not careful, unchecked stress can compound and lead to serious physical and mental health problems. These problems require legitimate medical attention and can potentially sideline you from pursuing other goals.

It’s easy to tell yourself this only happens to other people to justify your lack of self-care. However, my story provides a warning that we are all at risk. Because I was in denial and went so long without managing my own stress levels, I’m now knee-deep in the work of recovering from an eating disorder. I know I have to make progress with this before I can recommit to my long term weight loss goals. If I don’t, the problems will only resurface in the future.

If you suspect your stress levels may be negatively impacting your physical and mental health, do yourself a favor and start experimenting with some of the stress management techniques below.

if you're stressed out, it's hard to find motivation to exercise

Ok, so I’m stressed out. What can I do about it?

Just breathe. My favorite in-the-moment stress reduction technique is to focus on slow, deep breathing. Breathe in for a count of five, hold your breath for a count of five, exhale slowly for a count of five, and then hold empty for another count of five before repeating the cycle. Returning to the breath, especially in moments of heightened anxiety and fear, reminds me I’m still alive and everything will be ok. It leaves me feeling calm enough to return to work with a level head. Try it out yourself the next time you find your stress levels building to a crescendo.

Get more sleep. This is one of the easiest things you can do to feel better on a daily basis. Most adults feel best with 7-9 hours of sleep each night. Don’t underestimate the power of short naps to fill in the gaps helps you get through the day if you have trouble getting this much sleep at night.

Read more: Make this one change and everything gets easier

Don’t overdo it at the gym. Your body doesn’t know the difference between work stress, personal stress, and the stress from your workouts. If you’re going through a rough patch, it’s a bad idea to crush yourself with hard workouts every day of the week. This is a guaranteed way to run yourself into the ground, risking burnout and injuries along the way. When in doubt, reduce the intensity and frequency of your training sessions. Skip the high intensity interval training and focus on restorative low intensity cardio like easy walking or cycling. Don’t try to set personal records; you may also consider temporarily removing barbells from your workouts.

Create a daily self-care/stress management practice. We are all extremely busy, but it’s important to make time to do something most days that’s just for you. My practice is simple: I try to meditate for 10-20 minutes and read for at least 10 minutes every day. If I don’t do this, I find myself getting too wrapped up in work or in my own head. Some people like to take a leisurely walk or spend time outside. Others call loved ones to vent or catch up. Some of my friends treat themselves to a face mask or relaxing bath. The key is to pick activities which leave you feeling refreshed and recharged; this shouldn’t feel like a chore. Start small and experiment to see what works best for you.

Manage your time and energy. This is the place where my clients struggle the most with stress management. If you struggle to set boundaries, you will inevitably find yourself pulled in a million directions. Managing your energy levels is crucial because it helps you prevent the accumulation of stress in the first place.

To start this process, get honest about what’s really important to you. Many of us waste tons of time with stressful busywork and tasks which add little value to our work or personal lives. You may benefit from doing an audit of your week to see where you’re really spending your time. Whenever possible, delegate tasks or ask for help from coworkers, friends, and family. Practice saying no to things that don’t serve you or drain your precious mental and emotional energy. If you’re used to constantly capitulating to requests, this can be jarring and scary at first. It’s worth the temporary discomfort, however, if the result is less stress, more time to focus on the things that matter most, and greater respect from the people in your life.

Finally, I encourage you to find ways to do less. It was (and still is) incredibly challenging for me to cut back on my expectations for myself and take on less work. However, I’ve learned that I can’t and don’t need to get everything done. Do the things you have to do and leave the rest. Don’t forget to set aside time for rest, relaxation, connection, and play.

Therapy. There are lots of misconceptions about what therapy is all about; like many people, I used to believe that only people with serious illness or those processing grief or trauma went to therapy. The reality is therapists provide a wide variety of services and support for people in every imaginable life situation. One of the biggest benefits I’ve gotten from going to therapy is learning to better manage stress. I worked with my therapist to take an honest look at how I structured my work day and readjust the expectations I set for myself.

If life feels out of control for any reason, it’s ok to ask for professional help. Having an impartial third party can help you manage your time and energy, improve your communication skills with coworkers and loved ones, and get more in touch with what really matters to you.

going to therapy can help you manage stress

In today’s #hustleandgrind culture, it’s easy to feel like work never ends and there’s no time for rest. But the reality is no one can maintain this nonstop pace indefinitely. Humans are wired to alternate between periods of hard work and focus and periods of down time and relaxation. Pushing through limits for too long can create a host of negative effects in many areas of your life. If you don’t make time to take care of yourself and manage your stress levels, you will have a hard time achieving any health or fitness goal. You owe it to yourself to take an honest look at your stress and figure out a sustainable, healthy path forward.

Regular exercise is an essential part of any self-care practice. If you’re struggling to build a consistent training routine, you should check out my 4C System Course. This free 5-day email course teaches you the tools I use to help my clients become lifelong lovers of exercise.

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To weigh or not to weigh? The many ways to measure fat loss progress

Let’s say you want to lose some weight. You started watching what you eat and hitting the gym on a regular basis. You feel good about the changes you made and decide to buy a scale to monitor your progress. However, after a couple of weeks the number of the scale barely budged. What gives? Are you really not making any progress? Or are you simply looking at the wrong things?

Changing your body is a long process. Often, the mental game trips us up more than anything else. It’s crucial to be patient and kind to yourself while building new habits. If you rely too much on the scale, it’s easy to get frustrated and miss all the other evidence that you’re moving in the right direction.

Below, I discuss several ways to measure changes to your body. If you’re feeling frustrated with your apparent lack of progress, or simply want a more effective and honest way to measure progress, you may benefit from looking beyond just the scale.

All about the scale

Bodyweight is the most obvious metric to track if you want to lose weight. I’m not going to tell you bodyweight doesn’t matter or that you shouldn’t pay attention to it. However, it’s important to understand what your scale is telling you and put this number in a broader context. Bodyweight by itself can be very misleading.

Unfortunately, bodyweight is often the only progress metric people track. Sometimes this causes people to abandon plans that could lead to great results if only they were more patient. Others step on the scale and let whatever number they see dictate their mood – or worse, their sense of self worth – for the rest of the day. This can fuel body image issues, trigger obsessive behavior, and even contribute to disordered eating.

If you have a poor relationship with the scale, I strongly encourage you to throw yours away and measure progress with some of the alternative metrics discussed below. You are worth so much more than the number on the scale!

How to use the scale and keep your sanity

Scale weight fluctuates based on many factors: what and when you last ate, hydration, salt intake, when you last exercised, stress levels, menstrual cycle, etc.

I’ve seen my own weight fluctuate more than five pounds in a day. Does this mean I gained five pounds of body fat? Absolutely not. The changes in weight were due to water and glycogen manipulations. True weight gain and loss happens much more gradually.

For this reason, I never want my clients to weigh themselves just once per week. It’s too difficult to get an accurate of picture of what’s going on. Instead, I recommend weighing yourself 3-7 times per week. It’s best to weigh yourself first thing in the morning just after using the bathroom. Record your weight in a journal or on your phone. At the end of each week, take an average of your daily weights.

Your weekly average is what matters as you monitor your progress. Are your averages trending down? You’re probably losing body fat. Trending up? You’re most likely gaining weight.

I love the Happy Scale app for tracking weight. This app smooths out the daily ups and downs to give you an accurate average weight. It also shows you whether your weigh ins are trending up or down. This takes some of the anxiety out of daily weigh ins because you’ll know you’re heading in the right direction, even if your daily weight fluctuates.

Keep in mind fat loss takes a long time. For most people, losing one pound per week is an excellent rate of progress. You may also drop more weight initially and then experience slower progress, which is totally normal.

using the scale is one way to measure fat loss
The scale does not give you a complete picture of your fat loss progress.

Beyond the scale: other ways to measure progress

One of the easiest ways to tell you’re making progress is to pay attention to how your clothes fit. If you’re trying to lose weight, baggy pants, looser waists, and moving in a notch on your belt are all signs you’re heading in the right direction. Lots of progress here may necessitate a wardrobe update, which can be a fun way to treat yourself and celebrate your success.

If you hear someone talking about how many inches they’ve lost, they’re referring to the total of  body measurements they’re tracking. I often have clients take body measurements as a way to quantify the changes happening to different parts of their bodies. Body measurements should be taken using a cloth measuring tape once or twice per month. Waist measurements (just above the belly button) are particularly valuable to measure fat loss. If the scale isn’t budging but you’ve lost inches around your waist, you’re still making progress. You may also choose to measure your neck, shoulders, chest, bicep, hips, thigh, and calf. Be sure to take the measurements from the same place every time.

Changes in body fat percentage provide another way to measure fat loss. If your primary goal is fat loss, you want to see this number decrease. If the scale stays the same but your body fat percentage goes down, you’re still losing fat and likely building some muscle.

Unfortunately, body fat percentage is difficult to track. Accurate methods like a DEXA scan are costly and usually require you to visit a specialized facility. Tracking with calipers is somewhat accurate, but you’ll need another person (like a trainer) to take these measurements for you. You may still see big discrepancies depending on the person taking the measurements and the calipers used. The easiest methods, handheld body fat scanners or scales that measure body fat, are also the least accurate. If you decide to track your body fat percentage despite these challenges, use the same tracking method every time.

Progress photos are perhaps the best way to measure body change. Many of us chase an “ideal weight,” but what we are truly after is changing the way we look and feel. Sometimes the numbers we want to hit date all the way back to high school and simply aren’t realistic or  appropriate for our adult bodies. It won’t matter if you never hit your goal weight if you love the way your body looks and feels.

I recommend taking progress photos once a month. Wear the same form-fitting clothes or bathing suit each time. Take one photo each of your front, side (profile), and back. Take the photos in the same place with the same lighting if possible. You can take mirror selfies or set your phone to countdown if you’re not comfortable asking someone else to help you.

Comparing these photos side by side over the course of many months can be a very eye-opening and inspiring experience. Often we don’t notice the amazing progress we’ve made because we spend every day living in our bodies.

Progress photos from a diet I did a couple of years ago. Taking photos kept me motivated even when I didn’t necessary see changes in bodyweight.

Beyond your body: even more progress measures

Sometimes it’s helpful to forget about the way your body looks and instead focus on all the amazing things it can do. There are many ways to track this kind of progress in and out of the gym. Here are some of my favorites:

  • Increased energy levels. This was the very first benefit I enjoyed when I started working out. Before I started working out, I needed multiple cups of coffee at lunch just to stay awake during my afternoon classes. After, I had tons of energy throughout the day and was able to focus for extended periods of time. Are you experiencing similar benefits from your workouts? This is an early sign your body is changing and making positive adaptations.
  • Increased performance at the gym. Are you adding weight to your exercises on a consistent basis? Has your endurance improved during your cardio sessions? Are you completing more workouts during the week? These are all indications that you’re getting stronger and fitter. Although exercise is only one piece of the puzzle (especially if your primary goal is fat loss), it can dramatically improve your quality of life.
  • Fewer aches and pains. One of the unfortunate realities of being overweight or out of shape is that you’re at an increased risk of pain in your muscles and joints. Getting active, improving your movement quality, and strengthening your body can all help reduce this discomfort.
  • Getting through the day with greater ease. Are you walking up the stairs without getting winded? Can you sprint to catch a bus or train? Are you able to carry all your grocery bags in one trip? Can you comfortably bend over to tie your shoes? Sometimes progress is most noticeable in the mundane things we do everyday.

It takes time, patience, and perspective to change your body. Looking at more than one measure of progress is a powerful tool to keep you motivated and on track during the journey.

Looking for additional help achieving your fat loss goals?

The only 3 things you need to lose fat

3 mindset shifts that helped me lose 70+ lbs and keep it off

Or apply for my online coaching program here.

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13 Ways to Find More Time for Exercise

If you’re reading this in December when it’s first published, you likely have a million things on your plate. Between work parties, get togethers with friends, family obligations, gift shopping, and year-end reflection, there never seem to be enough hours in the day. Many people find it incredibly tough to maintain their sanity, get enough sleep, and take care of themselves during the holidays.

One of the first things we drop when times get tough is regular exercise. Unfortunately, when we stop moving every day, we usually feel worse. I know when I stop checking the training box I have less energy, struggle to focus, and I often feel overwhelmed with things I would normally be able to handle with ease.

To help you stay consistent with exercise during this stressful time, I’ve compiled my top 13 ways to find time to train even when your schedule is incredibly full and chaotic. Because not every tip here works for every person, focus on the ones that make the most sense for your lifestyle, goals, and priorities.

Read more: Plan Ahead to Eat Right and Exercise Over the Holidays (Or Any Stressful Period)

1. Schedule workouts like meetings.

A great way to make sure you exercise is to schedule your workouts the same way you schedule a meeting or doctor’s appointment. This is especially important if other people have access to your calendar. If you don’t protect your training time, someone else can snatch it up from under your nose.

I rely on this tip year round because managing my calendar is essential to control my time during the week. If I don’t block off my workouts, that time can quickly disappear. Scheduling my workouts reminds me to keep those times free.

Read more: How to Make Time for Exercise

2. Train in the morning before work.

I’m a huge fan of early morning workouts. Exercising first thing helps me start the day physically and mentally refreshed. People who hit the gym in the morning are often the most consistent exercisers because fewer obstacles interfere with their training. If you leave your workout for the end of the day, a million things can pop up and distract you from the gym. If you get training out of the way first thing in the morning however, you can check the box before you head off to tackle the rest of your daily obligations.

Now, if you absolutely hate mornings or have a hard time getting out of bed, this idea probably won’t help you. However, if you’re already an early riser, consider adding a workout to your morning routine.

3. Train during the work day.

If you have lots of obligations before and after work, training during the day may fit best into your schedule, especially if you belong to a gym right by your workplace. My gym, for example, is located in the heart of downtown Chicago and some of our busiest hours of the day are 11am – 2pm. Many people drop in for a quick workout over the lunch hour and then eat their afternoon meal at their desk. You may need to shorten your workouts to make this work (see tip #8 below).

4. Join a more convenient gym.

Sometimes, it’s tough to work out because we have to travel a long way just to get to the gym. Joining a gym closer to work or home can dramatically cut down on your commute, reducing the total amount of time you have to commit to every workout.

The closest gym will not always be the nicest or the cheapest. However, when time is a valuable or limited resource, changing gyms may be worth the upgrade or downgrade. If you’re incredibly busy, every little bit of saved time makes a difference.

5. Train at home.

What if you still have trouble making it to the gym? Working out at home is a great solution for many people. Home workouts can range from simple bodyweight drills and exercises performed sporadically throughout the day to longer, complete workouts. You can perform some of your workouts at home even if you still hit the gym on a regular basis. Training at home is also a great solution for anyone who needs to work out very early or very late and doesn’t have access to a 24 hour gym.

If you want a complete 4 month home training program, check out my Workout From Home Toolkit.

You don’t need any equipment to train at home. However, purchasing a few small pieces of equipment like bands, kettlebells, and powerblocks can greatly expand your repertoire of possible exercises. Those of you who have extra space or train exclusively at home may want to consider investing in a bigger gym setup (with things like a power rack, benches, full sets of weights, and cardio equipment).

Read more: 6 Cheap Things You Need to Build a Great Home Gym

6. Combine exercise with other activities.

If you’re incredibly short on time, you can do double duty with exercise and other tasks. One of the best examples of this is making your daily commute more active. If possible, walk or bike a portion of your trip to work. In Chicago where I live, it’s often faster to bike to work than to drive or wait for the bus.

Another great way to sneak in extra exercise is to move while you’re watching TV. One of my clients made a deal with himself to only watch sports games while walking or running on the treadmill. If sports aren’t your thing, do something similar with your favorite show, movies, or podcasts. If you’re really into the media you’re consuming, your workout seems to fly by.

One additional idea is to make your home time more active. If you work from home or tend to sit on the couch for hours every evening, set an alarm to remind yourself to get up and do something physical every 30 – 60 minutes. Do a set of pushups, squats, or jumping jacks, or walk up and down a few flights of stairs. It may not seem like much, but every little bit of activity adds up when you’re pressed for time.

7. Train fewer times per week.

It’s not always possible to train as many times as you may like during the course of the week. If you are constantly missing workouts, you may want to dial back your commitment.

There is something powerful about setting ourselves up for success. If you plan to train five times per week but only make it to the gym three times, you view that as failure. But if you only plan to train three times, the same number of workouts is a success. We feel better about ourselves when we meet our expectations and we’re more likely to stick with a realistic and attainable plan.

You can get great results training two or three times per week if you are consistent and follow a well-balanced program. Save the high frequency training for a time of year when you don’t have as much on your plate.

Read more: I Only Have Two Days to Train. What Should I Do?

8. Shorten your workouts.

Similarly, if you constantly struggle to make time for exercise, it may be helpful to focus on shorter workouts. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need a full hour of uninterrupted time to have an effective workout. You can get a lot accomplished with short workouts ranging from 15 – 45 minutes.

Sometimes shorter workouts can even lead to better results. When you’re forced to maximize your gym time, you waste less time resting, on your phone, and socializing with your gym buddies. Short workouts force you to come in with a plan, work hard, and then return to your busy life.

9. Utilize circuit training.

If you’re used to long workouts, it’s tough to know what to cut from your routine. The good news is you can cover all your bases with minimal training time using circuit training. I love circuit workouts for people who have 30 minutes or less to train. They are also a great option for people who frequently travel and need some flexibility based on space and availability of equipment.

Here’s how circuit training works:

  • Select a handful of exercises, preferably one from each major movement group (squat, hinge, press, pull, core or loaded carry).
  • Set a timer for however long you have to train and complete as many rounds as possible before the timer goes up.
  • Take as little rest as you can while still using good form and challenging weights.

Read more: Training on the Road

10. Follow a program.

Every day you show up to the gym without a plan, you are wasting precious time. I frequently see gym goers wandering around trying to figure out what to do next. This is not only incredibly inefficient, it keeps you from getting the best possible results.

Following a set training program helps you get the most bang for your buck at the gym. Set clear goals before you start a program. If you want to run faster with less pain, you probably shouldn’t be following a bodybuilding program. If your primary goal is to look and feel better, you likely don’t need to beat up your joints with a punishing crossfit routine.

There are thousands of quality programs available on the internet; doing some research ahead of time will keep you safe and help you make the fastest progress toward your goals.

Looking for a done-for-you workout program? Check out Full45 here.

11. Sign up for an event.

Some people are motivated by external commitments like races or meets. If this sounds like you, sign up for an event to kickstart your training. Once you’ve put money and pride on the line, you may start to take your workouts more seriously.

Be sure you have enough time to adequately prepare for the event you sign up for. If you’ve never run a race before and are struggling to stay consistent, a 5 or 10k is much more realistic than a marathon. If you want to enter a powerlifting meet, pick one at least 12-16 weeks in the future.

12. Recruit a workout buddy.

It’s tough to make changes by yourself. Humans are inherently social animals and we always do better with external support. So when we recruit others to help us in our journey, we are much more likely to see things through.

There are many ways you can enlist the help of an accountability buddy. For example:

  • Work out with a friend or coworker.
  • Check in with another gym regular, even if you don’t actually work out together.
  • Take a group exercise class.
  • Join a running, cycling, or swimming group.
  • Join a Facebook group for people with similar goals and interests.
  • Join a group coaching program.

Read more: The Power of Accountability and Community

13. Hire a trainer.

One of the best things I ever did for my own training was to invest in a coach. Before I started working with my trainer Bryan, I would make all kinds of excuses later in the week for why I didn’t need to work out. Bryan called me on my BS and instructed me to complete five strength training workouts every week. I quickly stopped making excuses and found time to complete those extra workouts. While not everyone needs to train five times per week to see results, the extra accountability and expectation provided by a coach can be a game changer for consistency.

Most commercial gyms have trainers on staff. Often, you can get a complimentary session with a trainer before making a commitment to  ensure the trainer and you are a good fit. If you don’t have access to an in-person trainer or frequently train at home or on the road, online training is a great alternative. You can learn more about my online training program here.

Want to learn more? I created my 4C System for those who want to improve their exercise consistency. If you’ve struggled to stay consistent with exercise, sign up for this totally free 5 day email course using the box below.

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How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Grocery Shopping

I didn’t learn to cook until I moved into my first apartment the summer after my freshman year of college. I was incredibly excited to enjoy my newfound independence, which included preparing my own meals. I could no longer rely on my mom or the Northwestern dining hall for food. Around the same time, I decided I wanted to dramatically change my eating habits to lose weight and improve my health. With these two goals in mind, I headed to Jewel for my first solo grocery store trip.

I had been to grocery stores plenty of times before. However, I never had to buy all my own food and so I had no idea what I needed to feed myself for an entire week. During my first time at the store, I spent over an hour wandering around trying to figure out what to buy. I spent way too much money and bought tons of food I didn’t need. I also forgot some essential items and ended up having to return to the store later in the week to fill in the gaps. The whole process was overwhelming, frustrating, and totally inefficient.

Over time, I managed to develop a grocery store routine that was both efficient and enjoyable. Now I actually look forward to going to grocery store. My weekly trips take around 30-45 minutes depending on when I go. I usually spend between $40-60 to feed myself for the entire week and I rarely throw away rotten or unused food. So how did I make the switch from slow, frustrated shopper to grocery store pro? Keep reading to learn the tips, tricks, and strategies that made the biggest difference for me.

Grocery shopping: Much less scary than nuclear war

Have a plan.

If you’re new to grocery shopping, it’s essential to have a plan of attack. Showing up without a shopping list leaves you vulnerable to impulse purchases and almost guarantees you will forget crucial items. You’ll likely waste tons of time making decisions at the store which could have been made more efficiently in the comfort of your kitchen.

Start by making a list of all the ingredients you need for the week. If you’re a novice cook, it’s helpful to do some meal planning ahead of time. Write down exact quantities of fresh produce and meat you need to avoid food waste. If you’re trying out a new recipe, be sure to list the ingredients you don’t have on hand.

As you become more experienced in the kitchen and at the grocery store, you don’t necessarily need to make a detailed list every time you go the store. Instead, you can establish a plan like my current strategy:

  • Each week, I buy more or less the same quantity of fresh fruits and veggies. Since I use meal templates for breakfast and lunch, I know I’ll be able to eat a certain number of each item during the week no matter what. The exact fruits and veggies I buy depend on the season and what’s on sale. For example, although I always buy at least 10 fruits to have with two meals per day, I may buy apples in the fall and berries in the summer. I know I’ll eat about three bell peppers each week, but I buy different colors week to week depending on what’s cheapest.
  • I’ll try to buy proteins that are on sale. Because I rotate between 5-10 different dinner meal templates, I decide what to cook during the week based on what I buy.
  • Before I go to the store each week, I do a quick survey of my fridge and pantry. Do I need to replace any cans I used last week? Am I running low on staples like rice, olive oil, spices, or hot sauce? I’ll jot down the items which need to be replaced so I won’t forget them at the store.

Read More: Master Meal Prep

Strategy inside the store

Once you’ve created your list (or plan), it’s time to go the store. Two important tricks can help you buy only what you need and avoid overwhelm:

First, don’t go to the grocery store on an empty stomach. This is especially important if you’re prone to buying junk food. Instead,  schedule your shopping tips right after a meal. If you haven’t eaten in a while, grab a small snack to take the edge off your hunger before you head to the store.

Second, stick to the perimeter of the store. Almost all of the healthy foods, including fresh fruits and veggies, meat and fish, eggs, and dairy products, are located around the outside edges of the store. When you do venture into the aisles, make sure it’s only for items on your list or to replace pantry staples. Avoid any aisles that house problem foods for you, such as the chip and candy aisles.

grocery store healthy eating

Develop a routine.

In addition to planning what to buy at the store, it’s helpful to plan when you’ll do your shopping. It’s easier to build new habits when you keep as many variables the same as possible. We are much more likely to make changes when they fit within the context of our existing routines. 

If you’re struggling to go to the grocery store on a regular basis, try setting aside a designated day and time for shopping. Weekends work best for most people, but pick whatever time makes the most sense with your schedule. There are definitely advantages to going to the store at off hours: it will be less crowded and you may find extra discounts on meat and produce.

You may also experience more success if you make several smaller trips per week. This can help reduce food waste, especially if you’re only shopping for one or two people. I typically do one big grocery store run on Sundays and one smaller run Friday night to fill in any gaps for the weekend. Experiment to find what works best for you, then stick with it for several weeks to build the habit.

If your biggest concern is time, pick the grocery store most convenient to where you live or work. If you have more time but want to save money or find the best quality food, do some research and try out different stores in your area. You can read more about how switching grocery stores helped me save thousands of dollars on food every year at this link.

Know when to outsource.

Even if you utilize all of the above tips and tricks, you may still dislike grocery shopping or find it simply doesn’t fit in your busy schedule. There’s nothing wrong with hiring a meal or grocery delivery service as opposed to going to the store yourself. Outsourcing your shopping is a great option if you value your time more than your money.

For a small extra fee, you can hire a company like Peapod or Instacart to delivery your weekly grocery haul directly to your house. If you want to do even less work, a meal delivery service (like Sun Basket, Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, or Green Chef) will send you recipes and the exact quantities of ingredients you need for your meals. Meal delivery services range from sending raw ingredients you assemble and cook, to sending you fully cooked meals you can just pop in the microwave.

Ask your friends which services they’ve tried and shop around for different options online. If you’re unsure whether a service is a good option for you, start with just a few meals per week. Plenty of my friends and clients outsource some of their weekly meals and do a small grocery store trip for everything else.

meal delivery service
You can get a big box of fresh food delivered directly to your door.

Putting it all together

Learning to cook for myself was one of the best things I ever did for my overall health and wellbeing. But in order to prepare healthy meals at home, I had to go to the grocery store. Once I learned how to reduce waste, spend less money, and get in and out of the store in less time, grocery shopping became a much more enjoyable experience. You can experience a similar change if you follow the steps outlined above.

If you want more help figuring out how to put together easy home cooked meals, you should grab your free copy of Eleven Easy Meal Templates. I put together this PDF guide to share my go-to meals and demonstrate just how easy it can be to prepare healthy and delicious meals even with minimal cooking experience. Sign up using the box below.

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You Should Care About Getting Strong

I’m on a mission to help everyone I work with get strong.

Getting strong is not the first goal most people mention when they come to see me. Lots of people want to lose weight and get lean. Others want to increase energy, return to training after rehabbing an injury, get through the day with less pain, or simply develop a consistent exercise routine.

Although I always prioritize the individual client’s goal, the vast majority of their plans are centered around building strength. Over the years, I’ve seen that getting strong helps people achieve just about any health and fitness goal.

If you’re weak, it’s tough to handle the intensity or volume of workouts necessary to noticeably change your body. Getting stronger helps you increase your energy levels because you won’t get so exhausted performing daily tasks. Strong bodies recover faster from injuries and are less likely to experience pain in the future. And getting stronger helps with consistency because it’s fun and empowering to see all of the amazing things your body can do when you start regularly lifting heavy stuff.

You don’t need to put multiple plates on the bar – or even lift bars at all – to experience these benefits. Strength is relative to each person. What’s heavy for my clients in their mid twenties looks very different than what’s heavy for my clients in their sixties. But no matter your age or how long you’ve been working out, everyone can get stronger in their own way.

If you’re not convinced that getting strong matters for you, please read on.

Getting stronger improves every other physical quality.

Are you interested becoming more powerful to help you dominate your rec sports or golf game? Getting stronger helps with this.

Are you a runner or triathlete trying to shave minutes off your best race time? Building physical strength is one of the best ways to do it.

Many new clients want to increase their flexibility. In many cases I find they actually lack strength and neuromuscular control, not range of motion. Once I get them on a well-rounded strength training program, their flexibility almost always increases without any extra stretching or foam rolling.

Talk to any great strength and conditioning coach for young athletes and they’ll tell you they prioritize building strength over just about anything else. This is because getting stronger elevates all other physical qualities including speed, agility, conditioning, power, and mobility and flexibility.

Trying to improve any of these skills with a weak client or athlete is a recipe for lackluster results or potential injury. Strength is the base upon which everything else is built.

strong runner race weight lifting
Getting stronger has helped my marathon runners set big PRs.

Getting stronger can help you feel better and reduce the risk of future pain and injuries.

These days, it’s rare to meet a new client who doesn’t suffer from some kind of joint or muscle pain. Knee pain, shoulder pain, and low back pain are the most common, but I’ve seen just about every imaginable combination of pain and injuries in the hundreds of clients I’ve worked with over the years.

If a client is dealing with persistent or intense pain, I always refer them out to a physical therapist or physician. But many people just need to improve their movement quality, add in more regular exercise, and build some strength.

I can’t tell you how many clients have dramatically decreased their pain levels just by consistently following a safe, smart, strength-focused training program. The quality of life increase you could experience if you start lifting weights cannot be overstated. You’re also much less likely to injure yourself in the future when you learn how to control your body and counteract hours of sitting or repetitive movements.

Getting stronger makes daily life much easier.

A couple years after I started lifting, I began to notice some surprising changes. I was able to move with ease, control, and confidence no matter what I was doing. As someone who used to always feel slow, clumsy, and weak, this was a huge change in the way I carried myself and showed up in the world. This transformation happened because I was getting stronger and building a new and powerful connection with my body.

I notice my quads and glutes engaging as I bike or climb stairs. I feel my arms, back, and core muscles turn on when I’m carrying grocery bags in from the car. I know which muscles to fire when I’m attempting to safely pick up a heavy box from the floor. After years of strength training and building these mind-muscle connections, I now feel strong doing just about everything. I use the movements I practice in the gym to aid the movements I do in my daily life.

There are so many daily tasks that get easier when you’re strong. Here are just a few common examples:

  • Lifting a heavy suitcase into an overhead bin on a plane.
  • Carrying all your groceries in one trip. Bonus points if you have to walk up multiple flights of stairs like I do.
  • Carrying kids or pets. They can both be quite heavy!
  • Moving heavy boxes or furniture
  • Climbing flights of stairs
strong strength muscle women lifting training
Being strong feels awesome.

What to do next

You can’t know all of the positive benefits getting strong will have on your life until you try. Here are a few resources I’ve put together to help you get started on your strength training quest:

I’m New to the Weight Room. Where Should I Start?

Just Getting Back in the Gym? Start Here.

Design a More Efficient Workout

5 Ways to Lift More Weight

Strength Training for Special Populations:

Why Musicians Need Strength Training

What Runners Must Know About Strength Training


Squats and deadlifts are two of the best exercises for building strength. If you want to get better at these great lifts, you need to download your free copy of my ebook Squat and Deadlift school.

I share my favorite form tips, troubleshoot common problems, and provide progressions to help you work toward (or supplement) barbell training.

I’m confident both novice and experienced lifters can use the book and accompanying videos to take their training to the next level.

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Why Musicians Need Strength Training

Before I began working in fitness, I had a past life as a classical musician. I spent over a decade  practicing, rehearsing and immersing myself in the world of orchestral brass playing.

Physical activity was an essential part of studio life in Michael Mulcahy’s trombone studio at Northwestern’s Bienen School of Music. Professor Mulcahy, an avid swimmer, would have everyone in studio class explain what exercise we planned to do each week. During my four years at Northwestern, at least five people in our studio (including myself) lost a substantial amount of weight and got in great shape. My classmates used to joke that we were on a mission to become the fittest trombone studio in the country.

strong musician trombone strength training
Me and some of my NU classmates

Professor Mulcahy’s emphasis on physical fitness was a crucial part of his successful studio. But I want to take his message a step further and explain why musicians not only need exercise in general, they need strength training in particular.

What do I know about this subject? I noticed substantial improvements in my own playing when I lost weight and started lifting weights on a regular basis. I’ve also worked directly with many musicians. My very first training job was working with more than 20 of my Bienen School of Music classmates during my final year at Northwestern. I’ve also trained a number of musicians in person and online since I became a full-time trainer.

Isn’t Strength Training Bad for Musicians?

When I was immersed in the music world, I would sometimes hear that strength training was “bad” for musicians. I was skeptical of these notions back then and now, after working for almost 5 years in the fitness industry, I can explain why they are inaccurate. Here are a few myths and then the facts:

Strength training will diminish the fine motor control I need to play my instrument.

The image of the clumsy, bulky meathead is persistent in popular culture. In my experience, strength training often has the opposite effect. If you spend several months following a smart, structured, and safe training program, your body awareness will increase dramatically. You will have greater mastery over your nervous system and more control over the way you move. This will enhance, not take away from, your technical skills.

Strength training will make me big and bulky, which will negatively affect my performance.

Getting big or adding muscle doesn’t happen by accident. It requires many months (and years) of consistent hard work coupled with plenty of extra calories. Following a simple strength training program centered around basic compound movements will not add substantial size to your body if you aren’t eating enough calories to build lots of muscle.

An ideal training program is designed to improve your overall movement quality. This means including mobility work, choosing appropriate exercises for your body and your goals, and using loading schemes and modalities which feel good. If you do these things consistently, you will feel and move better, not worse.

Cardio is good enough.

Research shows that all people can from benefit from some kind of regular strength training routine. Lifting weights provides benefits you simply can’t get from other forms of exercise, including increased bone density, development of different energy systems, and increased physical strength. You may think you don’t need these things, but they go a long way toward making your everyday life – and your playing – more comfortable and less exhausting. Getting stronger makes everything else easier and this also applies to playing your instrument (as I will discuss more below).

overweight musician trombone strength training
Before I started lifting weights, I had much more difficulty moving and playing my instrument for long periods of time.

Benefits of Strength Training for Musicians

Now that I’ve cleared up these common misconceptions and explained some of the positives of strength training for musicians, let’s take a look at some additional benefits.

Improved Posture

Posture is at the core of good technique for all musicians. If you can’t maintain good posture, your playing suffers. This is true for both wind instrumentalists, who depend on easy breathing, as well as string players and percussionists, whose performance is more physical.

Poor posture doesn’t just keep you from sounding your best, it can lead to nagging aches and pains. Before I lost weight, I used to experience excruciating lower back pain after sitting in long rehearsals. When I started getting stronger, my back pain all but disappeared. This was a huge game changer for me and made long rehearsals and performances much more enjoyable.

What musician wouldn’t want to comfortably play for longer periods of time? With a smart strength training regimen, you can build the physical foundation for more solid posture and see significant benefits in your own playing.

To improve your posture, include plenty of anti-movement core exercises in your workouts. You should also spend time specifically building a strong back. Pay particular attention to your upper back using exercises like face pulls.

Counteract Repetitive Motions

Repetitive movements are required to play most instruments. If you don’t do anything to counteract these movements on a regular basis, you can end up with a nasty case of tendonitis or other overuse issues.

Here are a few tips to help you stay strong and balanced:

  • Always perform a dynamic warmup before exercising. If you feel particularly tight and stiff when you wake up, perform some of these drills before your morning practice session or rehearsal.
  • Focus on compound movements that use lots of muscles and joints (squat, hip hinge, push, pull, loaded carry). You may want to avoid isolation exercises that only focus on one joint, especially in the upper body (curls, tricep exercises, shoulder raises, etc.).
  • Musicians may want to prioritize core training and back training. These two areas have the biggest payoff to help you feel and play your best.
  • If you have shoulder issues, be cautious about overdoing pressing exercises. Ask yourself whether or not you need to do overhead pressing movements. If you’re going to bench press, learn to pack your shoulders. On all other pressing movements, practice reaching and don’t allow yourself to shrug.
  • Skip any exercise that hurts. Do not train through pain.
  • Use a full range of motion whenever possible. If you’re struggling to own a particular range of motion, add in some CARs in between sets of strength exercises. Check out this great article from my friend Tommy to learn more about CARs.

Increased Focus, More Energy, Better Sleep

During my freshman year of college, before I started exercising on a regular basis, I had a serious energy management problem. I got plenty of sleep each night but I still felt exhausted during the day. I used to drink three cups of coffee in the dining hall at lunch just so I could stay awake during my afternoon seminar. I also frequently found myself dozing off during long rehearsals. As you might imagine, this was problematic to my musical development.

The first thing I noticed when I added regular exercise into my routine was a dramatic increase in my energy levels. I no longer needed my lunchtime coffee just to stay awake during the afternoon. I fell asleep easier and woke up feeling refreshed. All of this led to much more focused practice sessions throughout the day.

Regular cardio and strength training sessions will help you sleep better and have more energy and focus during the day. These benefits alone can make a dramatic positive impact on your playing.

Mental Parallels to Music

One of the more subtle benefits to strength training is the helpful analogue it provides to your musical journey. Just like improving your playing, getting stronger is a long game. To keep seeing improvements you have to be consistent, focused, patient, and curious about the way your body works. There are endless parallels between refining your physical skills in the weight room and refining your musical skills in the practice room.

It’s healthy to have hobbies outside of music, and it’s an added bonus when those hobbies help you grow as a performer. I found strength training to be a fun and fulfilling release. I loved pushing myself out of my comfort zone and seeing my physical and mental growth in the weight room. I loved then taking these wins with me to become a stronger, more relaxed, and more confident musician.

What to Do Next

I hope I’ve convinced you to give strength training a shot. Here are a few additional resources to help you get started:

Design a More Efficient Workout

I’m New to the Weight Room. Where Should I Start?

Just Getting Back in the Gym? Start Here.

If you want more specific guidance, please fill out an application for my online training program. Together, we will work to create a fitness program tailored to your individual experience, goals, and resources. I’ve worked with dozens of musicians and have a proven track record of helping performers of all kinds feel better so they can perform better.

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Why Motivation Doesn’t Work (and What to Do Instead)

What is motivation exactly?

At some point, we’ve all been fired up to work out:

  • Perhaps you watched an inspiring video and you’re excited to hit the gym.
  • If you just signed up for a race or purchased a new training program, you may feel eager to start your new workouts.
  • Maybe you’re one of the millions of people who, upon reflecting about the last year, feel a strong push to make changes on January 2.
  • Motivation can also come from a negative experience, like not being able to button your favorite pair of jeans.

Many of us prefer to be in the right mood before we work out. If we “don’t feel like it,” we may not go to the gym today. Sometimes, when we don’t want to work out but know we should, we search for a bit of inspiration. If we can just find the right video, story, or transformation photo, then we will find the energy to drag our butts to the gym.

The problem with relying on motivation is that motivation is fleeting. It’s a feeling, and feelings come and go. Allowing our actions to be dictated by our feelings gets us into all kinds of trouble because we can’t truly control our feelings, only our responses to those feelings.

We need some way to ensure action even when we are dealing with a negative emotion or lack a positive one.

If you constantly seek motivation, the things that once inspired you will eventually lose their effectiveness. Those videos of impressive physical feats, tear-jerker personal posts, or jaw-dropping before and after photos? Eh, not doing it for you anymore. Now you have to keep chasing some new and novel source of motivation. Eventually you become numb to all of this stuff and still don’t feel like going to the gym.

Motivation feels good in the moment, but it can be counterproductive to long term success. We start to crave this good feeling and associate it with working out. On days we don’t feel motivated, inspired, or energized, it is  even harder to drag ourselves to the gym.

motivation doesn't work exercise momentum
You shouldn’t always expect to feel like this.

The solution? Use momentum

Think back to your high school physics class when you learned about inertia. Inertia is a property of matter that states that a body in motion tends to stay in motion, while a body at rest tends to stay at rest. This has many implications beyond its literal scientific application.

Getting started is always the hardest part of making a change. Once you’ve gotten the ball rolling, you’ll have a much easier time sticking with your new routine.

We are all creatures of habit, and habit can work for or against us. The choice is up to you. Make a realistic plan and don’t allow yourself to give up as you wade through the challenging first steps. Put your gym time on your calendar as an important meeting that cannot be skipped. After a couple weeks of practicing and keeping your commitments, your new habits and routines will start to become more automatic.

Momentum helps keep us going so we don’t skip the gym just because we aren’t feeling it. We may not feel inspired to work out, but we go anyway because we’ve been doing so well and don’t want to stop. This is the power of building momentum – the positive effects of your own actions take the place of fickle and fleeting feelings of motivation.

Our core identities start to change as we build momentum. When we consistently keep our commitments, we begin to look at ourselves in a different light. Instead of being a person who always skips the gym, we gradually become a person who never misses a workout. You can accelerate this process by deciding to live as if you’re already the person you want to become. Ask yourself, “what would a fit person do in this situation?” “If I never struggled to stick to an exercise routine, what decisions would I make today?” Then act accordingly.

Read More: How Taking Action Changed My Life (And How You Can Do the Same)

What to do when motivation doesn’t strike

Here’s my quick and easy advice for what to do when you don’t feel motivated to go the gym: do it anyway.

Each time you show up you build positive momentum, making it less and less likely you’ll skip workouts in the future. The majority of your workouts will feel pretty mediocre, and that’s perfectly ok. Just show up and do the best you can.

There are, of course, legitimate reasons to skip a workout. If you’re sick, it’s in everyone’s best interest for you to stay home. Emergencies, last-minute meetings, and unavoidable changes of plans happen. However, when you find yourself about to skip the gym, honestly consider whether you have a real reason not to train or if you’re just feeling uninspired. Consistency trumps everything else in the long run. It may seem harmless to skip a workout when you’re feeling lazy, but over time skipping chips away at your results.

If you find you are consistently unmotivated, you may need to reassess your training. Many people feel pressured to chase goals which don’t resonate with them or align with their values. Sit down and think about what is truly important to you. If your current workouts aren’t getting you where you want to go, it may be time to change course. Make sure your workout program is realistic and appropriate for your schedule and your fitness level.

If you’re still struggling to stick to a training routine, find some extra accountability. It’s much harder to bail on the gym when a trainer or workout buddy is there waiting for you.

Lastly, make sure you’re spending plenty of time doing things you like. Training should ultimately be fun and enjoyable on some level. If you don’t enjoy your workouts, you won’t stick with them for long.

If you want more tools, tips, and strategies to help you dominate your health and fitness goals, sign up for my email list here. I’ll send you my 4C System, a free 5-day email course teaching you to become a more consistent exerciser (without overly relying on motivation). 

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Plan Ahead to Exercise and Eat Right Over the Holidays (Or Any Stressful Period)

The last few months of the year are anything but relaxing for many people. Despite the bombardment of seasonal advertisements promising joy, togetherness, and peace, this is the time of year when many of us feel the most unhappy, overwhelmed, and stressed.

As the days get shorter and the temperatures drop, many people start to feel down in the dumps. Motivation to exercise and eat healthy wanes accordingly.

Additionally, holiday events and family time can create tons of extra stress. Even if you adore the holidays, you may still worry about purchasing gifts for your list, managing seasonal obligations, and making healthier choices amidst a never ending supply of drinks, sweets, and fried foods.

Regular exercise and healthy eating are often the first things to go when you’re stressed and short on time. The good news is, since you’re already aware of this risk, you can take steps ahead of time to make your life easier as you move into the fourth quarter.

Here are three steps I recommend you take now, before things get crazy:

  • Adjust priorities. For most people, the last quarter is a bad time to chase a fat loss goal. You will drive yourself crazy trying to avoid every tasty treat that crosses your path between October and December. Rather than setting yourself up to fail with too much restriction, change course and try to maintain your physique or use extra holiday calories to build strength or muscle.

Read more: Seasons of Lifting

  • Ask, “What does success look like for me?” We all have different struggles. For me, success during the holidays means avoiding binging. For you, it may mean staying consistent with your exercise regimen, even when you’re traveling. Yet another person’s vision of holiday success includes keeping their drinking under control. Determine what is most important to you so you can prioritize the behaviors and strategies that get you where you want to go.
  • Manage your minimums. I learned this phrase from Precision Nutrition and I think it’s especially relevant in this context. What are the bare essentials you must do to keep yourself on track? Once you’ve figured these out, direct most of your effort into knocking them out consistently. Everything else you do is just an added bonus.

Below, I share specific strategies for managing training and healthy eating during the fourth quarter (or any other period when you’re under a lot of stress). Just remember to focus on the things that matter most to you. You don’t need to do everything I’m suggesting here to stay on track this holiday season.

stressed out holidays
Don’t let this be you come October, November, and December!

How to exercise over the holidays

Do less, but do it consistently.

I’ve written about this over and over and over, but it bears repeating here: you do not need to spend hours and hours each week exercising. This is especially true if you’re just trying to maintain your current level of fitness during a period of stress. You’ll see better results by being consistent through the end of the year than you will by occasionally following the “perfect” workout plan and giving up by December.

You also don’t need a full hour for a great workout. If you only have 30, 20 or even 15 minutes to exercise, you can still do something worthwhile. When you release yourself from the need to train for long periods of time, you may actually find more time during the week for exercise.

Plan ahead.

Sit down with your calendar for the remainder of the year and determine how many workouts you can realistically commit to every single week. For most of you this will be just two or three workouts.

You should also consider the length of time that works best with your schedule. For example, if you have to train over your lunch break but can’t be away for more than an hour, you’ll do better with 20-30 minute workouts than 45 minute workouts.

Whenever possible, schedule your workouts into your calendar the same way you do with any other obligation. This helps protect your time and demonstrates to yourself you’re committed to training.

Read more: 13 ways to find more time for exercise

Get creative when you’re away from the gym.

Many people struggle to come up with workout ideas and inspiration when they’re away from their regular gyms. I wrote an entire article about training on the road. Check it out for lots of ideas about modifying your workouts when you’re traveling this holiday season.

How to eat healthy over the holidays

Plan ahead.

When you’re overwhelmed and stressed out, the last thing you want to do is spend precious time cooking food every single day. If you’re not already batch-cooking some of your weekly meals, now is a good time to start. Here are two approaches you can use:

  1. Set aside a few hours on the weekend to prepare as many full meals as possible.
  2. Prepare some items to use in multiple dishes. Make a batch of shredded chicken in the slow cooker, roast a pan of veggies, hard boil a dozen eggs, prepare a bunch of quinoa in the instant pot, etc. You could also chop up raw veggies to throw into soups, eggs, salads, and stir frys throughout the week.

Read more: How I learned to cook (and you can too)

Use a delivery service.

Not everyone has the time or desire to grocery shop or cook all of their meals. If this sounds like you and you have the means to hire a delivery service, you’ll save a ton of time and hassle. You can find services that send you raw ingredients, fully cooked meals, and everything in between. Do some research to decide which option makes the most sense for you.

healthy eating thanksgiving holidays christmas

Make healthier choices when eating out.

It’s unrealistic to expect to eat only healthy home-cooked meals this time of year. If you’re eating out at a restaurant, attending an event, or simply navigating the buffet at family Thanksgiving, try following these tips:

  1. Prioritize protein and veggies and be sure to eat some with every meal.
  2. Take just one plate of food, and try to use smaller dishes when possible.
  3. Eat slowly and stop when you’re 80% full (not stuffed).
  4. If you’re going to eat junkier foods (sweets, fried foods, etc.), make sure it’s something you really enjoy. Don’t eat the store-bought cookies just because they’re there.

Read more: How to eat healthy when you’re eating out

Be mindful of alcohol.

It’s common to reach for a drink when you’re feeling stressed. However, some people lean more heavily on alcohol during the holidays than the rest of the year. Alcohol flows freely at holiday parties and family gatherings, and it’s tough to say no.

If you know you have a tendency to drink more than you’d like, try following one of these strategies:

  1. Decide ahead of time how many drinks you’re going to have and stop once you hit this number. Recruit an accountability buddy at the same event to help keep you honest.
  2. Drink a virgin drink (like soda water with lemon or coke zero) to make it seem as if you’re drinking. Some of my clients feel peer pressure to drink at work gatherings, and this strategy makes it easier to fit in with the crowd.
  3. If you’re drinking as a response to stress, try to find alternative releases. Go for a walk, take some deep breaths, converse with a friend or loved one, read a book, exercise, meditate, take a bath, journal…the list goes on and on. Experiment to find what works for you.

Read more: 3 Strategies to Successfully Navigate Holiday Eating

With everything else, do your best.

You can’t do everything all at once. When dealing with lots of stress, your exercise and eating routines can easily fall by the wayside. It’s important to focus on the most important things and forget about anything not essential to your success.

Adjust your priorities and figure out what success looks like for you. Determine the one or two things which will make the biggest difference. Nail these as consistently as you can and do what you can to manage stress in the rest of your life, then try to relax and enjoy the season. If you prepare ahead of time, it’s much easier to thrive through a stressful period.

If you’re worried about staying in shape through the end of the year, I’ve got your back. Fill out an application for my online training program and we’ll work together to create a plan to keep you on track without losing your mind.

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Do Less to Do More

As someone who’s made a living helping people, I’ve spent a lot of time pondering why some people are able to change and others are not. My most successful clients have a few things in common:

  • They take ownership of their situation and truly believe in their ability to change it.
  • They work hard and are consistent with their training and healthy eating.
  •  They all make small changes and transform themselves gradually.

I haven’t had a single client who attempted to make multiple major changes at once and was successful long term. Yet much of the general public still assumes this is the best and only way to lose weight, build muscle, get stronger, and improve their health.

If I’ve learned anything about the psychology of change during my five years in the fitness industry, it’s that slow and steady really does win the race. Doing less initially can actually help you do much more overall.

Why We Aren’t Good at Dramatic Changes

Many of us think we can successfully quit something cold turkey or overhaul our entire lifestyle in a matter of weeks. Unfortunately, we are almost always setting ourselves up for failure with this approach.

We can only manage a finite amount of stress at any given time. Stress comes from many different sources including your job, relationships, travel, physical activity, and health issues. Unless your work and personal lives are totally chill (and whose are), you only have a limited amount of brain power left to devote to making lifestyle changes. If you overload yourself with difficult changes, it’s only a matter of time before you burn out and quit. All of the willpower in the world will not help you if you take on more than you can handle.

I’ve also found that every restrictive diet or grueling exercise plan is accompanied by an equal reaction in the opposite direction. A couple years ago, I went on a fairly strict diet for three months. I wanted to see fast, dramatic results, and I got them. However, after I decided to relax a bit, I went through several months of near-uncontrollable binge eating. I couldn’t sustain my strict eating plan and demanding training regimen when the rest of my life became busier, and I rebounded from months of restriction and built-up stress with months of overindulgence. I ended up gaining much of my lost weight back, which was a frustrating and embarrassing experience.

One Thing at a Time

There’s a better way to move forward and improve your life, no matter what goals you’re chasing. Instead of trying to do everything all at once, focus on making just one small change at a time.

If you have a list of many changes you want to make, start by picking the one you know you can manage right now. The best changes require you to take action in some small way every single day.

You’re also better off picking pro-habits instead of anti-habits, at least at first. This means instead of saying “I won’t eat sweets after dinner,” say “I’ll eat a piece of fruit after dinner to quell my sweet tooth.” Pro-habits are more empowering than anti-habits because they give you practical tools to make better decisions.

Before you decide on a change, ask yourself how confident you are you can make this change on a scale of 1-10 (1 = no way I can do this, 10 = I can do this in my sleep). If your answer is 7 or lower, consider breaking the change down into smaller, more manageable pieces. Pick something you can actually do and don’t stretch beyond your current capabilities.

I recommend focusing on just one habit for two weeks. For fourteen days in a row, devote all your focus and energy to making this one change. Only consider adding a new habit after the two weeks are up. If after two weeks you’re still struggling with the initial habit, you have two options: keep working at it until you can nail the habit at least five days per week, or scale back the habit to something you can manage. When done correctly, over the course of many months you will successfully make multiple positive changes to your lifestyle.

1% Better

In the beginning, it may seem like making one small change at a time does very little to get you where you want to go. And it’s true that you probably won’t see tremendous progress over the course of two to four weeks. You may not even see a dramatic transformation after three months. Over the long term, however, you are much more likely to see lasting and profound changes.

If you focus on getting just 1% better every day, by the end of the year you will be 365% ahead of where you’re at right now. Think of how much better your life could be if you followed this approach consistently and trusted the process Instead of riding the neverending roller coaster of crash dieting and re-gaining weight, you’d make changes that stick. Rather than dragging yourself kicking and screaming into a new restrictive routine, you’d find ways to gradually make positive changes work with your existing lifestyle and values.  

Racking up small wins is a powerful motivator for continued progress. Nailing your one habit day after day builds confidence in your ability to change. Trying to change everything about your life all at once has the opposite effect; when you inevitably get overwhelmed and have to stop your mad dash for results, you feel discouraged and start to mistakenly believe nothing you do will ever work. In reality, you need to do less in order to do more. Making fewer changes at once ultimately lets you experience more success.

If you want additional help tackling your goals, sign up for my email list using the box below. When you sign up I’ll send you my 4C System, a free 5-day email course teaching you to become a more consistent exerciser. I also send out regular tools, tips, articles, and recipes to my email list that I don’t share anywhere else.

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My Thoughts on Keto and Intermittent Fasting

During my early health-conscious years, I tried many different diets. Keto, intermittent fasting, carb backloading, paleo… you name it, chances are good I spent at least a little while trying to follow it. Although I lost weight on some of these diets, I also experienced dramatic and disruptive swings. I believe my problems with binge eating were exacerbated by following overly restrictive diets I could not maintain long-term. After one particularly rigorous diet, I also experienced adverse health effects that took me several months to truly recover from.

Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of questions about two popular diets, keto and intermittent fasting. With so many flashy messages and big promises, it’s easy to believe following one of these diets is the answer to your problems. But as with most things in health and fitness, the reality is a bit more complicated.

This week, I provide a brief overview of the keto diet and intermittent fasting. I explain how they work, why some people love them, and why they may not be a great fit for most people. Keep reading and keep an open mind below.

Keto

Although the idea of ketosis has been around for a long time, it has only recently gained popularity as a mainstream diet option. The keto diet goes a step further than other low carb diets such as the Atkins Diet or Paleo. The premise of this diet is that when we consume very low levels of carbohydrates, our body eventually runs of out of stored glucose (which our brains and bodies need for energy). It then converts stored body fat or dietary fat into glucose using a process called ketosis. According to proponents of the diet, once you enter ketosis you will burn stored body fat at a more rapid rate than before.

In order to get into ketosis, carbs need to be dramatically restricted for an extended period of time. This means removing foods like rice, oats, potatoes, and fruit and limiting vegetable consumption to small amounts of green, fibrous veggies. Protein consumption must also be reduced, because consuming too much protein can take you out of ketosis. The vast majority of your calories come from fat, which if done correctly, becomes the body’s primary source of fuel.

Some people do well on ketosis. These tend to be people who naturally feel best eating a higher fat, lower carb diet. These people report feeling more energized and focused when they’re in ketosis. They may also experience fewer cravings and more regulated hunger throughout the day. If you feel and perform your best with more carbs, however, you will likely feel like garbage following the keto diet.

Although keto is sometimes billed in the mainstream fitness media as a miracle cure, it has several notable downsides. It’s much trickier to get into ketosis and stay there than you may think; I’d be willing to bet many people who think they are following the keto diet are not truly in ketosis and are simply following a low carb diet. A single meal with too many carbs or too much protein can throw you out of ketosis. For example, I recently saw one of my Facebook friends sharing a photo of their “keto” meal which included a big fatty steak, broccoli, and a glass of wine. Between the protein in the steak and the carbs in the wine, this person was almost certainly not going to be in ketosis after their meal.

Not keto

Additionally, keto is extremely difficult and impractical to maintain long-term. It’s tough to eat out at restaurants or attend social functions when you’re following such a restrictive plan. This is true even if you do feel good and see results following the diet. After a while, many people also find eating such a high quantity of fat becomes extremely unappetizing. So although keto may be working for you now, I definitely encourage you to find an exit strategy to transition back to a more realistic eating plan once you reach your goal.

Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting (IF) is less of a diet than a meal timing strategy. For most of the day (including when you’re asleep), you fast and don’t consume any food or caloric beverages. The rest of the day, typically 8-10 hours, is designated as your feeding window. You consume however many meals and snacks you need for the day only during this window.

IF is a great option for people who naturally feel less hungry when they wake up. Instead of forcing themselves to eat breakfast when they aren’t hungry, these people can push back their first meal of the day to lunch time. As with keto, many people report feeling increased focus and mental clarity during their fasts.

However, IF is not a good option for everyone. If you have a history of disordered eating habits, IF can exacerbate your problems. For example, if you struggle with binge eating like I did, you may find yourself repeatedly eating way more food than you need during your eating window. Even if you have a good relationship with food, you may struggle doing IF if you have low energy without frequent meals earlier in the day. Additionally, men will typically have an easier time with IF than women due to hormonal differences.

One myth I hear all the time is if you fast most of the day, you can eat whatever you want and still lose weight. While this may be true for that rare person who is naturally able to regulate their portions, it is certainly not true for most people. I know from personal experience how easy it is to consume an entire day’s worth of calories at a single cheat meal when I’m hungry. Fasting doesn’t remove the need to monitor calories if your goal is to lose weight.

No Magic Pill

If you’ve followed my work for a while, you know I don’t believe in shortcuts. Attempting to circumvent the necessary time and hard work required to reach a worthwhile goal will only backfire and ultimately make it more challenging for you to get where you want to go.

Latching on to a fad diet because you think it will make it easier to get in shape is no different. Losing weight requires you to maintain a caloric deficit for an extended period of time. The keto diet works for people because they dramatically reduce the number of foods they can eat, which slashes calories. IF works for some people because they simply aren’t able to consume as many calories during their shortened feeding window.

Both diets can also fail to work if you still eat too many calories. Fat contains more than twice the calories per gram than carbs or protein, making it very easy to overeat. If you follow IF thinking it’s a way for you to eat whatever you want, you are sorely mistaken. It’s all too easy to blow your daily deficit by eating excessively large portions or tons of calorically dense junk food.

Ultimately, long-term success requires you to find an eating strategy that works well with your lifestyle. Your schedule, food preferences, and numerous other factors will all play a role. If you want to try a popular diet, go ahead! Understand that your success ultimately boils down to restricting calories in a sustainable, healthy way long enough to see results. This means navigating social situations, vacations, unexpected obligations, and stressful times at work. I believe seeking a middle ground will help you handle these situations with more grace and flexibility than a rigid, restrictive diet.

If you want more information like this, sign up for my email list here. I send out tools, tips, and strategies to help busy professionals eat healthy, get strong, and feel great despite busy lives. When you sign up, I’ll send you my 4C System, a free five-day email course teaching you to become a more consistent exerciser.