This week has been a pretty fun week for me. I tweaked my schedule and subsequent activities a bit to more so fit my personality, and so far it’s been working out great.

To be honest, I’d been experiencing a bit of burn out on, well, everything in the beginning of November. Typically, to bring myself out of funks, I a) take a break, and b) change things up. The weekend that Heidi and Amber came to visit me gave me a good hard break from responsibility, and now i’m changing things up – with my schedule and my mindset. It’s when we start to take everything too seriously or are too hard on ourselves (the latter of which I’m an expert) we tend to run ourselves into the ground.

Anyway, over the weekend, we had some friends over for games and drinks, and we got to chatting about making habits to eat well and exercise. One of friends turned to me and asked, “but really, what do you struggle with, Paige??” I jokingly replied, “I have no weaknesses!” but the truth is, that sticking to my nutrition and fitness goals is somewhat easy for me – now. It wasn’t always that way. Over the multitude of years, I’ve learned how to make my nutrition and exercise goals and routine fit ME – not the other way around.

One stigma I get is that it’s easy for me to workout and eat right because I’m a personal trainer. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Sure, I personally assume it part of my job to be strong and in shape. But after training three or four clients in a row, sometimes I’d rather go grab a latte than workout. But if that ever happens more than a week in a row, I know I need to change something. I’m not looking forward to my workout because it’s not fitting me.

Nutritionally speaking, I make sure to eat vegetables at every meal, eat in the range of calories that maintains my weight (every now and then I track for this sole purpose, so I know 2,700 cals/day is maintenance for me,) I eat protein at every meal, drink in moderation, and eat my starchiest meal after my workout – about 80-85% of the time.

Along the same token, I’ve settled into a way of eating that’s both satisfies my nutrition and taste. Does your nutrition and exercise plan fit you?

How to Find a Nutrition and Exercise Plan that Fits You

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Now, I’m a firm believer that one should exercise and move in a way that’s pleasing to you. If you dread your workouts, you won’t be working out for very long.

The same goes for the way you eat. If you eat food that you hate, just because they’re nutrient-dense, you won’t be eating them for long.

PREREQUISITE: Decide you are ready. Commit. Don’t waste your time, energy, money, or anyone elses’ time and energy jumping into a program when you’re only half in. Move forward with the complete, full intention of completing the program and giving it your all, mmk?

1. The first step in doing this is figuring out your why.

This goes back to your goal-setting workshop Your “why” really needs to excite you. My “why” is because my workouts make me a) strong and capable, b) better at my sports of choice like volleyball and skiing, and c) also help me to have the body composition that’s good for me. I also have some why-nots: I won’t let me body composition get too low – if my cycle isn’t every 28 days, I know something is off. I also won’t sacrifice pride (being able to squat a certain amount, do a certain trick) over form or reason. My “why” for nutrition is simple: I want to eat in a way that provides the macronutrients, micronutrients, and antioxidants to fight disease and infection, support my training goals, keep me injury-free, and keep my hormones and metabolism working in tip top shape.

2. Once you find your why, it’s time to come up with your plan. 

If you have no idea where to start here, I’d highly suggest working with a coach. I’d be happy to help give you some pointers if you’d like to email me. However, it’s important to find a good balance of creating a nutrition and exercise plan that both fits your goals, your why, and your preference. Now, this might take some time. I suggest giving a plan at least 3-4 weeks before deciding to change it. Especially if you’re new to an exercise or nutrition plan, you could meet some resistance right off the bat. In those first 2-3 weeks, you need to pull up your big girl pants and move forward. For example: when someone says the blanket statement, “I don’t like vegetables,” my initial response is: you are not a toddler 😉 However, if you absolutely HATE the taste of broccoli, there are other vegetables you can have instead, and there’s no inherent reason you’d need to choke down broccoli.

If, after 2-3 weeks you’re either not seeing progress (for one reason or another,) or you’re not able to stick with your plan consistently at all (probably why the progress isn’t coming.)

3. Change your plan as your life season changes. 

This happens quite often: life will take a sudden right turn, and instead of adjusting your training and nutrition to turn along with it, we try to force ourselves to continue with what was working. The truth is, life happens, and just because you might be in a busy, chaotic, down, or otherwise season, doesn’t necessarily mean you need to drop your fitness and nutrition habits. This could be as serious as a family member’s health or as nonchalant as an actual season change (for example, once snow is on the ground, I’m likely shifting to a ‘lift heavy and stop running so much’ season. And if there’s a crisis with my health or the health of someone I’m close to, my workouts get shorter, and my meals more convenient. Just as when I’m entering a super busy season with work, I change my workouts and nutrition accordingly.

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Does your nutrition and exercise plan fit you right now?

What do you do to adjust your plan when life takes a turn?