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How to Reach Your Fitness Goals

Get the Body You Desire the Healthy Way

By Noah MooneyPublished 5 years ago 6 min read
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October 2018

I haven't always been in good shape, I used to be really insecure about my body and how I looked. In February 2017, I decided to change that and turn my body into the body that gave me confidence and allows me to enjoy this life to the fullest! When I started my fitness journey, I believed everything I read online and watched on YouTube and tried everything. I would get upset if something didn't work right away or the way I wanted. I am here to tell you guys the things you need to know to kick start your fitness journey and get started in the right direction!

February 2017

There are so many different factors that play a role in changing your body and transforming yourself. These factors cause us stress, anger, happiness, joy, but most importantly, progress and results. It is not an easy road, but the final destination is a beautiful place and worth every day of the journey.

In the end, it all comes down to just a few key things when you are reaching for that goal body. These things include 1. Eating better, 2. Move More, and 3. Keep focus/Patience. Sounds really simple right? Well people seem to struggle the most with these, but I am going to give you some guidelines on how to make them the easiest things for you to start making a daily routine in your lives.

Eating Better:

This is THE most important element of starting your fitness journey. So many people think that as long as they are going to the gym everyday and doing endless amounts of exercise that they can eat whatever they want, which is stalling them big time! You need to be sure that you are eating a healthy balance of protein, fats, and carbohydrates. Here are a few example of each to give you a couple of ideas.

Proteins: Whey protein, eggs & egg whites, chicken breast, turkey breast, ground turkey (99/1 or 93/7), lean ground beef (96/4 or 93/7) fish (cod, tilapia, salmon, etc.), seafood, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, seeds, low-fat milk, etc.

Carbohydrates: Potatoes, sweet potatoes (yams), oatmeal, cream of wheat, cream of rice, white & brown rice, beans, any green leafy vegetable (very low in carbohydrates, but still a wonderful source), whole wheat bread, pasta, etc.

Healthy Fats: Natural peanut butter, whole eggs, salmon, avocados, extra virgin olive oil, nuts (walnut, almonds, cashews, peanuts, etc.) coconut oil, etc.

I recommend downloading an app that will help you track your calories and macros. I absolutely love MyFitnessPal, but there are a lot of other awesome ones out there.

The last thing I want to touch on eating better is that people are brainwashed that they need to eat five to six small meals a day to lose fat and vice versa for muscle building. The only thing that matters when eating is making sure that you daily and weekly macros and calories are within your goal. Whether you only eat once or twice a day, as long as you hit your target calories and macros then everything will be okay.

To help you set up your calorie and macro goals, here is a link to an online TDEE calculator that will help you find your maintenance, fat loss, and muscle building macros and calories... https://healthyeater.com/flexible-dieting-calculator.

Move More:

The next thing that is going to help you reach your fitness goals is just being more active in general. But first I want to get a point across to you guys. Going to the gym and weight lifting is the next best thing you can do for yourself when transforming your body. Having a weight training program or just lifting paired with a well balanced diet is going to get you looking the best you ever have before. But there are still some misconceptions regarding this.

So many people think that cardio is the holy grail to getting shredded and developing abs, and I feel really bad that people actually believe that. However, cardio is a good and useful tool to use for fat loss, but it should not be your main focus. Your main focus should be on lifting heavy weights and tracking your lifts and progressing in those lifts, building more muscle is going allow your body to burn more fat and speed up your metabolism. Look at it this way, the more muscle mass you have on you, the less room your body has for storing fat. So get in that wight room and start lifting some heavy weights!

Besides lifting weights, any movement is better than none! It could be as simple as just going for a 15-20 minute walk in the morning or any time of the day, jogging just for a mile or two, or even just parking farther away than you normally do to get some extra steps in. It doesn't have to be a huge 10 mile run or near death exercise bout, but just making small changes in your every day life will help you so much in the long run and your long term success! Which leads me directly to my next component.

Keep Focus/Patience:

One of the best things that you can do for yourself while starting your fitness journey is focusing on the long term and the future rather than the now and you short term success. I promise, once you shift your mindset to focusing on where you're going to be and look like five years from now instead of 6-12 weeks from now, you will be able to be more consistent and stick with it way more easier. This will only set you up for success!

Remaining patient is also one of the most important things to keep in mind. You have to realize that you are not going to get your dream body in two or three short months, this is going to take lots of time and consistency, but is so worth it. In reality, depending on where you are in your fitness level, it will take more like 8-12 months for you to get to the body that are dying for, and maybe even longer (or shorter).

One thing that I see a lot of people doing, including myself, is comparing themselves to famous Instagram models or fitness models and their levels of health and fitness. But you know what, screw those pictures! A lot of those pictures that they post are edited for them to look their best to advertise their bodies and grab attention. Another thing is that they have way more experience than you and I and have more muscle maturity, most of the fitness icons and models have been in the industry and lifting for at least 5-10 years. So my point is, focus on yourself and focus on your progress and the small achievements that you complete each and every week. The only thing that matters is worrying about yourself and how you can keep progressing and making glorious gains!

Starting your fitness journey can be a scary experience and from personal experience, I can tell you that you will get frustrated at times and down on yourself at times, but you will also be so proud of how far you have come and happy that you decided to make this amazing change in your life. I promise you that if you follow these three components and remain consistent and calm, you will make mind blowing progress and see unbelievable results.

I hope you guys are able to get something out of this and decide to implement some of these strategies into your lives! I want you all to have an amazing day/night and make yourself better every day! Lets all strive for progress over perfection!

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About the Creator

Noah Mooney

I am a Freshman student at Boise State University here in beautiful Boise, Idaho. I am a major in Entrepreneurial Management. I love to workout and help others reach their fitness goals!

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