It doesn’t have to be January 1st to improve the quality of your life. Every year, January 1st is the time when the topic of conversation is about a “New Year, New You,” or “Make this the year you reach your goals.”
Unfortunately, this is the time of year where most people actually feel empowered and enthusiastic about making positive changes in their life and go after their fitness goals.
When in reality we all can make a positive change in our lives anytime we want … like right now!
If you want to transform into a “new” version of yourself and reach your fitness goals, by losing 40 … 60 … 100 or more pounds… now is as good of a time as any!
Or maybe you want to pack on 10 to 20 pounds of muscle. Or shoot, maybe you just want to get a little leaner … look a little better (no matter what kind of body transformation you're going for) … or feel better, healthier, and more energized every day… YOU CAN DO IT!
When it comes to transforming your body, you have to commit to the process.
Here at 1st Phorm, we want to enable you with the skills, mindset, and tools you need. With that being said, here are the 8 best habits to learn to transform your body...
How Do You Change Your Habits?
But how do you do it? How do you create change? How do you get to your fitness goals? How do you successfully approach body transformation challenges?
Simply put, you create a change in the way you look and feel by changing your habits.
Ok easy enough … but how do you change your habits?
You change your daily actions. This might require adding in a few new habits, swapping out current habits for more beneficial ones, while continuing on with the good habits listed below that you are already doing!
If you are unsure of what actions you need to take to be successful, don't worry … I've got your back.
After my own personal weight loss transformation journey of losing 50 pounds and now helping thousands of clients … Here are what I have found to be 8 of the best habits you can form and actions you can take EVERY DAY to achieve a major body transformation!
1) Motivate Yourself With the "Why"
Are you wanting to transform your body by primarily losing fat and getting leaner? Maybe you want to add some weight because you have been a hard gainer your entire life. Whatever the reason, make sure that you go a little deeper than that.
For example, when I started on my fitness journey, I wanted to lose weight … My goal was to lose weight … but more importantly, I wanted to actually feel confident like my friends. I wanted to feel comfortable with my shirt off … I wanted to actually like the way my clothes fit … I wanted so much more than just to lose weight. I wanted a full body transformation.
Therefore when things got tough … thinking back to WHY I wanted to transform and lose weight … made it easier to stay on track.
So, first thing to do, figure out the reason WHY you want to transform … and then use that as motivation to get you through the obstacles and challenges you will face along your body transformation journey.
Remember, you’re not alone on your journey either. If you can commit to yourself that you are going to make the change, we are committed to helping you on your path to transforming!
2) Set Realistic Goals and Expectations
Don’t think that 30 days is long enough for you to transform what you have done to your body over the last “x” amount of months … years … or even a decade or two! No matter what the goal, or where you are starting, it will take time to reach your fitness goals.
Frustration and stress come from the divide between expectation and reality … What that means is that if you expect to lose 40 pounds in 30 days … you’ll be frustrated and stressed when that doesn’t happen, because that's not a realistic body transformation to achieve.
So, understand this will take time. Depending on where you are at and where you want to go, you need to be realistic with yourself so that you can stay on track!
Being realistic will allow you to maintain a lifestyle path to get you on track to becoming the newer better version of you!!
3) Drink 100 to 120 oz of Water a Day
Fun fact you might not know … over 60% of your body is water and it functions a lot more efficiently when properly hydrated.
Make sure you are hydrated throughout the day, especially before and during the workout.
We suggest taking a bottle of water into your workout and drinking it as you exercise … if you drink it all, fill it back up.
Being dehydrated can lead to early fatigue while training, more potential for injury, slower recovery, and overall inhibiting results.
Also, keep in mind that if you are exercising twice a day … you will need more water than if you are exercising once a day.
4) Change Part of Your Nutrition Plan … Not the Entire Plan
All too often when someone wants to transform and make a change, they completely change up their diet.
Changing the foods they eat … when they eat them … how they prepare them … and so forth.
I get it though, as I have done the same thing. While the commitment is great out of the gate, most people end up falling off after a week or two … if not a few days.
All that change out of the gate requires adjusting so many habits that it feels awkward in your day to day routine … it can stress you out … it can feel like you HAVE to eat this food and you CAN’T eat what you want … which makes the whole process feel like it’s forced on you.
When this happens, it’s easier to say the heck with it and just go back to what you had been doing.
So instead of trying to overhaul your entire plan and lifestyle, find a few areas you can improve like tracking your food, getting portion sizes right, swapping out a few food choices for better ones, and then make more changes as you progress.
5) Have a Plan for Your Workout
Reaching your fitness goal won’t happen by accident. You need a plan.
This is one of the main reasons the 1st Phorm App has been so successful. It gives you a proven game plan right at your fingertips. It’s not the HOLY GRAIL of workouts, but it is a blueprint for you to follow.
If you have a plan for every workout, you know exactly what to do and your only task is to execute.
No need to come up with exercises to hit all body parts, figure out rep schemes, or wonder about the correct number of weight plates to put on the bar.
If you just simply follow the workout plan laid out for you, you will do great! Plus you will save a lot of time!
Essentially taking the uncertainty and guesswork of deciding what you should be doing … leaving you with just one mission, to work hard and kill it during your workout. PERIOD.
Oh, and working out will make you uncomfortable … that’s good.
When you think of quitting, remember why you started - Your body transformation is possible!
6) Don’t Skip the Weights!
A lot of people go wrong here by skipping out on weight training/resistance training. Whether you're training at a gym, at home, or in a fitness studio ... resistance training will have huge positive benefits for your health and your results.
Resistance training can be done with weights, bands, kettlebells, bodyweight, TRX, etc.
If you have a question about how to do an exercise or use a machine you can always ask for help! Better yet, most of the movements in the 1st Phorm App have a demo video on how to perform the lift or movement. This includes the at-home workout, gym workouts, etc.
Remember, all of us were new to working out at one point, and we all have to learn the proper movements and how to work out … so don’t be embarrassed or allow that to keep you from weight training!
Resistance training can be very beneficial to help improve fat loss, as well as keeping fat off in the future.
In addition, weight training can help you lower blood pressure, boost cardiovascular function, improve insulin sensitivity, and give your body the shape and tone you want!
Simply put, if you want a real body transformation … and become an overall more healthy person, don’t skip out on resistance training!
7) Increase Your Daily Activity and Make Fitness a Lifestyle
We live in a time where, on average, our daily movement and activity are at an all-time low.
Meaning, everything is about convenience and has an option for delivery, curbside pickup, and even straight to your front door.
This leaves us with a big opportunity that can make an immediate impact on your progress … increase your daily movement!
How do you do this? Well it starts with something as simple as adding in some extra steps. If you can add in any additional walking, you can make a difference in your fitness results.
Walking an extra 30-45 minutes per day is a great place to start. Whether it is all at once, or split up into 5, 10, or 15-minute increments, that can get you started in the right direction.
Not only can you burn a couple hundred calories while walking, but the primary fuel source during these walks will be fat. Plus, it can increase calorie burn without affecting hunger for most people, because the intensity is low.
And it is a great alternative for an afternoon pick-me-up instead of a caffeinated beverage or unnecessary food!
From there, when you have more time, you can add in hikes, low intensity bike rides, or any activity that’ll get you moving AND be fun!
The big thing is to move on a daily basis and incorporate it as a lifestyle that is sustainable!
8) Consistency is KING … or Queen!
Last but not least … strive to be consistent as opposed to being perfect.
No one will be perfect all the time. Being consistent is what leads to great results over the duration of the diet, but also as part of an overall lifestyle change.
If you fall off your plan … miss the gym completely … go over on your macros … just forget about it and get right back on the plan.
Don’t keep that feeling of failure with you, understand it for what it is, learn from it, and get right back on your plan.
So … What now?
Now it is time to go out and TAKE ACTION. It’s time to reach your fitness goals!
Knowing what to do is great … but means nothing if you do not actually use that knowledge and go take action.
One thing to keep in mind is that while all 8 Habits will help you earn a successful body transformation … you do not have to do all eight right now. The best results will come from consistency.
Therefore, even if you start with two or three of these habits and truly build them into your routine, that will help you start earning the results you want.
The more habits you build into your routine though, the better the results will be.
1st Phorm App Transformation Challenges
If you’re looking to kickstart your fitness journey, committing yourself to a transformation challenge can be an awesome way to build habits to last a lifetime. The 1st Phorm App features regular, 8-week transformation challenges where you can engage in healthy competition with a community to hold yourself accountable.
Through the challenge, thousands of real people have earned real and long-term results. Heck, you can even win cash prizes and recognition for your transformation. Here are some of our Transformation Challenge winners and their incredible stories...
Need More Help?
If you need help or want help with how to implement these into YOUR specific day, or need any help with your plan to transform … Give us a call at 1-800-409-9732 and talk with one of our NASM Certified Personal Trainers for free!
We won’t charge you a dime to help you transform, and you don’t even have to use our products. Our mission is to help as many people, get real and long-term results as possible.
So if you have questions, we have answers. You can also always email us at CustomerService@1stPhorm.com as well!
Now … let’s go take action and put these habits to use!
