Time to Plan Your Fitness

I've decided to make June my "Fitness Awareness Month" to get myself psyched for the upcoming Turbofire ® Explosion!!! So I am going to dedicate the next series of blog posts to helping others prepare for their fitness journey and getting the body they have always wanted. I'm excited about my life and love where my fitness and nutrition are taking me.

So now it is time to pay it forward.

Some of you are just now taking the first steps towards a healthier lifestyle. You've decided no more fat clothes, fat jokes or just plain old fat anything. You are done with the excuses and now you have your mind right. This time you are going to succeed. So how do you get started?

First, you will need to decide on an exercise program that will best fit your fitness goals. Do you want to lose weight, tone up, add muscle or maybe a little of all three? Are you looking for a program that is disciplined or do you like one that just gets you moving? Picking a fitness program needs to be unique to your fitness goals as well as something you are going to enjoy. So where the P90X ® might be the popular choice, it isn't necessarily the one size fits all program. Not saying that it won't be an option in the future as your fitness goals change - just saying it is nice to know that Team Beachbody works hard to incorporate a variety of programs to meet the needs of the various levels of fitness. Still not sure just what program might be best suited for you? Then check out the comparison chart to get a few ideas. Of course, if you still have questions or would like more information on a certain program, you can always contact me at equildottsin@beachbodycoach.com. I will be more than happy to work with you in finding a program that will get you started in the right direction.

After you have decided on your program, the next thing I would recommend is building a good support system. Letting others know your course of action and asking for their support can sometimes be difficult. All to often friends or family members, though not intentional, can actually sabotage the greatest of efforts. If you have never been overweight, it is hard to understand the emotional side of the weight loss journey. It is not as if there were a magical switch you could just turn on and off when you wanted to lose a few pounds. If that were the case, there would be no obesity. That is one of the reasons I started the Cinderella Pact. I wanted a place where people could come for real support and motivation. A place where we could share our successes and get support through the challenges. The girls on the Cinderella Pact thread on the P90X ® Programs Message boards are working hard to make their journey a successful one. They are a great inspiration and a wonderful resource to finding ways around the stumbling blocks that come up. We are a team and we definitely understand what you may be going through. Feel free to pop over to our thread and check out the community we have built, not to mention picking up some great nutritional recipes, too. It doesn't matter what fitness program you choose, we have a variety of different programs going on in there and many veterans to other programs there as well. I am certain someone can get you going in the right direction. If you have questions, we definitely will find the answers.

If you are not a member of Team Beachbody, definitely come in and take us for a test drive. You can always start as a FREE member where you will have access to the Team Beachbody Message boards, the WOWY SuperGym, your own Personal Coach, the public chatrooms, helpful fitness tools and workout buddies to keep you motivated - just to name a few features. Then later if you decide to become a paid Club Member, for as little as $2.99 a week you will have access to such great features as the VIP celebrity trainers, the VIP chatroom, your own fitness blog, nutritional recipes and even personalized meal plans! It really is a great place to come and track your progress and share with other people that are making fitness their lifelong plan. I've met many great inspirational friends and definitely know this is the best place to keep me on track and up to date with the best information and programs available to help me continue my success.

Now once you have all this in place, it's time to focus on the nutrition. Yes, learning to eat properly is going to be key to your success. Sure finding the right exercise program will get you results, but if you really want those results to SHINE, you have to have the proper nutrition. Team Beachbody has the tools to get you started. They even give you Michi's Ladder where you can view what foods you need to incorporate in your daily nutrition to get on track and stay on track. Most programs will come with nutrition guides that will get you started in the right direction making healthier choices right from the beginning. There is also a wealth of information available on the Team Beachbody message boards if you have unique or special needs with your diet. The Cinderella Pact has been working towards a Vegan/Vegetarian diet plan and having GREAT results while eating GREAT foods. Just because it's healthy, doesn't mean it can't taste delicious. We are even finding ways to recreate our family's favorite comfort foods and making healthier versions. Can we say, "YUMMY?" You won't find any cardboard box dinners in here. Oh no, it is real food for real people. This is a lifestyle - not a quickfix yo-yo plan. What you learn here will keep you moving forward towards reaching your success goals. Many of our members even go onto become coaches, like me! It is all about paying it forward.

There you have it - three surefire ways to get started on the right foot to reaching the ultimate goal of becoming the New Healthier YOU!!! The RIGHT Exercise Program - a GREAT Support System - and Proper Nutriton! It doesn't get any better than that! Good luck on your journey and remember, "It's not a race - It's a lifestyle change!" See you on the fit-side!