Are You Over-complicating Your Fitness Plan?

If your fitness plan isn’t working, you think I’m doing it all wrong. We want results baby (and we want them now)! Most of us turn to ultra-complicated, flip our lifestyles upside down cleanses and shred plans to get it done. But what if complicated is not the answer? What if you are over-complicating your fitness plan?

It’s easy to understand why most of us believe that the more complicated the program, the more disruptive the diet, the better it will work and the faster we will get results. Life-changing results must take life-changing work…right? Yes…and no. Keep reading to discover if you are over-complicating your fitness plan and if you are, what to do about it.

People fail to get results every day. *bummer*

One of the most common reasons we fail to get results is because we over-complicate things.

We forget that while yes, life-changing results take life-changing work…both the work and the results (the ones that last), take time. You don’t have to over-complicate your fitness plan to get great results.

In fact, most of the time simple is better. And while complicated programs work for some people, the most important question you need to ask is: can I stick with it?

The Basic Principles of Weight Loss

When it comes to weight loss, or any other fitness goal for that matter, it all boils down to a few basic principles:

How You Move

Losing weight takes work. Building muscle takes work. Running faster takes work! But it’s not complicated.

Your first step is simple: define your goal. Once you know what you want from your workouts, find a program that is specifically designed to get you those goals.

Next, follow the plan. Sounds simple but it’s exactly here that over-complicating your fitness plan rears it’s disappointing head. If you can’t consistently get to the gym for your workouts, or fit in your runs, or understand the exercises, it’s time to simplify.

Start with a schedule you can commit to. If that means 2 days a week, fine! A good coach should be able to design you a program that covers the basics in that amount of time.

Finally, don’t forget about all of the other hours of the day. Even if you make it to the gym for an hour long workout 6 days a week, that’s 6 hours out of a 168 hour week! What you do while not in the gym counts as much, if not more, than what you do in the gym.

Move more. Park further away. Get up from your desk every hour to move and stretch. These strategies are simple but effective…that’s the point!

What You Eat

It doesn’t matter how hard you work at the gym, if you fill your tank with crap you aren’t going to get a high-quality performance.

Set a solid foundation on which you can continuously build. Instead of choosing a complicated diet like Keto, or Whole 30, or Intermittent Fasting, keep it super simple.

Eat more fruits and vegetables.

Eat real foods, as close to their natural state as possible.

Limit processed foods and ingredients.

Stop eating before you are overly stuffed.

If you want a more robust breakdown to get started on simplifying your nutrition journey, start here:

How You Recover

Again, keep it simple.

Shoot for 8-9 hours of sleep per night. If you have a hard time falling asleep at night, start a sleep ritual. Incorporate a nightly routine that helps set your brain and your body up to go to sleep. For example:

• shut down electronics (including your phone) after dinner to avoid distraction and blue light
• drink chamomile tea
• take a bath
• read a book or work on a low-key project

Making these types of rituals a habit actually teaches your brain to get ready to sleep when you do them.

*p.s. if you are one of those babes who thinks she runs just fine off of a few hours of sleep each night, listen to this podcast and think again!

To take recovery further, don’t ever forget to cool down and stretch after a workout! I know it’s not the most glamorous part, but it’s super important for recovery. My go tos: cool down walk, foam rolling and a short-sequence yoga flow.

The Final Factor: Consistency

The ultimate factor in your whole plan: consistency.

The reason simple works is because we can do simple…forever.

Choose skills and daily actions that are simple enough to slide into your lifestyle without being so disruptive…and you’ll be more likely to stick with them.

I’d rather you add one vegetable to lunch and one vegetable to dinner forever than do a juice cleanse for 7 days. I’d rather you hit the gym 2 times a week for 30 minutes at a time than sign up for a 3 month plan, get hurt, and give up on yourself and the gym for the next few years.

Figure out what you CAN do with confidence! Do that, often.