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Depending on where you are at on your journey to better health and Fitness, there may be very simple steps you can take to improve. For instance, if you’ve been pretty sedentary, getting off the couch more and watching less tv could have an immediate impact on your health. Other folks may have struggled with losing weight for a long time and may need more guided coaching from a professional trainer. For those people, it’s important to get expert advice from a coach that has been personal training for a long time and with a proven record for helping people reach their fitness goals. Transforming Strength is a great example of a personal training service that can help you with proven fitness and nutrition strategies.

In this article, let’s look at 5 tips to help you take control of your health and fitness that are as suitable for beginners as they are for those who have struggled for a while.

1. Exercise daily to start feeling better physically and emotionally.

Let’s lead into this fitness tip by emphasizing that when it comes to training, one is greater than zero and doing something is better than doing nothing. It’s incredibly important to avoid getting overwhelmed by thinking you always have to do a long exhausting workout to gain the benefits of exercise. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Even squeezing in 10 minutes of brisk walking or sitting down and standing back up will help you start somewhere and feel like you did something to improve your health. This is so important for the mental side of fitness as well. Exercise that is as simple as 15 minutes of brisk walking also burns around 100 calories, so the potential benefits for someone wanting to lose weight are tremendous even if it doesn’t start as a bunch. Building one day at a time and celebrating small wins is a proven strategy for improving your health and fitness.

2. Start cutting out processed calories to lose weight and feel more energized.

With the convenience of so many highly processed boxed and bagged items at the store and fast “food” readily available, this tip can be utilized by the majority of people to immediately lose some body fat and cut bad weight that is making them feel sluggish, moody, and stressed. Replacing these “food-like” substances and quick fixes with whole food options will help you fuel your body so it can function optimally to help you gain more energy, balanced hormones, and better sleep. Ultimately, you could exercise all the time, but without adjusting your nutrition, you’ll end up spinning your wheels. Take steps to cut out the processed food in your life and you will have gained a great deal of control over your health.

3. Track your workouts, meals, and water intake to eliminate the guesswork from your health and fitness transformation.

Keeping an exercise and food journal is tremendously beneficial to everyone serious about improving their health and fitness. Without logging your exercise and nutrition it is nearly impossible to know what is working or the areas that may be holding you back. It doesn’t have to be a complicated journal either. For exercise, it can be very rewarding to look at the progress you’ve been making or the times you could step up your effort or duration. When it comes to your nutrition, the most important elements to make note of are the times you eat, what the food was, and the quantity. The importance of getting and staying hydrated can’t be overstated and keeping track of the amount you drink each day can help guide you to building this crucial habit of getting enough.

4. Sleep your way to better health.

Numerous studies have shown the vital importance of sleep for the best functioning bodies and minds. The most recent research strongly suggests 7 hours to be the minimum target of sleep per night to promote balanced hormones, recovery, and energy. When specifically trying to improve your health and fitness, having all of these elements working in your favor by being well-rested can only help the process.

5. Stay positive by focusing on racking up small health and fitness wins.

Achieving well-rounded health doesn’t happen overnight. Oftentimes, the process can seem long and frustrating with lots of ups and downs and adjustments needed. Focusing on all the small wins you have control over is crucial for keeping stress to a minimum and the momentum of change in your favor. This may mean tracking all the times you nailed a perfect, clean, eating on-purpose meal or the times when you didn’t give in to the unhealthy or highly processed choice. String these wins together and you will enjoy a path of continued progress.

Start implementing one or all of these health and fitness tips today to start moving closer to a life of vitality and energy. It’s never too late to start and we all start somewhere.