January is a busy time for many:
- New Years Resolutions
- Brand New Start
- Burn Off the Holiday Excess
As a busy professional – you probably have a little more on your plate than most:
- Looking at targets for the year ahead
- Plenty of the usual meetings
- Tax DEADLINE of January 31st!
How DO you cope with all this going on…..and still try to look and feel great?
Here are my Top 10 Tips so you look and feel great this January.
1. What’s the goal? Name it.
Pick up an A4 sheet of paper……..write down the goal, and write the bare bones of a plan. You will look at this every night and morning to ensure you stay on track. The rest of the plan is laid out bullet points 2 through 10……
2. Food.
You probably know what to do. You’ve read about all the ‘sciencey’ plans……Low carb, low fat, or more extreme like soup diets and liquid shakes.
Ditch them all.
The 2 biggest culprits are sugar……and sugar!
So simple to attack? Ditch the sugar!
No chocolate for January. No fizzy drinks or fruit juices. No sugar in tea and coffee. It sounds harsh but ditch this and you can enjoy your food a lot more without thinking “Is this apple a good or bad choice?”
In reality…….fruit is going to have some sugar – along with a ton of nutrients and your body will thank you in the long run.
However…….!
3. If you KNOW that certain foods make you feel bloated…eliminate them too!
Usual suspects are (after sugar) Wheat, Gluten and Dairy.
So pack a tupperware box with massive handfuls of salad plus some quality protein like chicken, leftover turkey(!), beef, ham or fish like salmon tuna mackeral prawns etc.
4. Get your sleep!
You thought you’d hear about exercise first right?
Well, You as a busy professional have a lot going on inside that overworked brain of yours.
You need your sleep more than you think.
Making sure you get 8-9 hours quality sleep will ensure YOU:
- Keep hunger levels at bay and not crave junk food (appetite hormones will be normal)
- Are less stressed and don’t have too much cortisol (stress hormone) that has been correlated with excess belly fat
- Are thinking strategically how to make your business work better for you
5. Get organised.
If you aren’t already using a planner – be it paper or on your phone or PDA……you NEED TO SCHEDULE EVERYTHING.
6.Following on from that last …
Exercise …….First off – make time for it. The best program done twice a month is worse than a half-decent program done 90% of the time.
Look ahead at the month and see what works best.
Is it 6.15am? If so, you might like the Early Morning Classes on at Your Next Level Fitness
Do evenings work better?
Or is it a mix that works best for you?
Either way – look ahead and schedule it.
Training more often is better than infrequently
Those 2 hours of either pumping light weights endlessly or doing a 10-15k on the treadmill are long gone.
Aim for 3-5 times a week…..with a total of around 4-5 hours. So that’s:
- 3 x 1 hour
- 4 x 45mins
- 5 x 30-35mins
I personally like the 4 x 45 minutes, but whichever suits your schedule is best.
7. Make sure you LIFT with the BIG exercises
Lifting weights is one of the best things you can do for your metabolism. Trying to Master these Exercises will have you seeing results in no time
- Squats
- Lunges
- Deadlifts
- Press ups
- Chin ups
- Overhead pressing
- Single Arm rows
……and will save you time compared to that boring hamster wheel.
8. Change up your cardio
If you want to change your body – you are going to have to change your programming…..so do something different!
If you have been running 10k’s…….try some faster-paced interval training.
If all you have been doing is intervals – try some steady-state longer cardio.
If you are bored of all the rowing, treadmills and cross trainers………………Look at some Bootcamps like Your Next Level Fitness that use things such as Heavy Carrying and prowler pushing:
9. Outsource what makes you stressed!
I outsource my finance work to 360 Accountants because it gives me more time to do what I do best – Help my clients with their strategies to look and feel better.
If you find yourself thinking:
“What food should I eat – or what should I not eat?”
“what exercises should I do?”
Then you might like to outsource your training and eating habits to Your Next Level Fitness.
10. Enjoy the process. Make it fun. Challenge your friend to join you in this plan.
You don’t even have to be a similar fitness level.
You help them turn up.
They help you show up.
That is one of the reasons behind the group training success of Your Next Level Clients.
I hope you found this helpful! If you need help outsourcing your training and eating habits…..then contact John Cammish at john@yournextlevelfitness.co.uk
If you need help outsourcing your financial headaches – then contact Andy Steele –> http://www.360accountants.co.uk/contact/