6 Tips to Help Spring Clean Your Health

Well, it's official: spring has sprung! Personally, I find this to be the perfect time of year to do a little health and wellness audit and spruce up your nutrition and exercise routine.

With that in mind, I've compiled 6 of my top tips to help you feel your best as we head into this new season.

1.           Add something new to your exercise routine. Add a new piece of equipment to your home gym. Incorporate resistance bands, dumbbells, or TRX into your living room workout. Take your bodyweight exercises outside. Signing up for a free trial at a local boxing gym or fitness class is also a great way to connect and make your workouts more enjoyable.
   
   
2.           Level up your self-care. It’s quite common for our needs to end up at the bottom of the list. The reality is, if you’re not at your best, nothing you put your energy into will be at its best. Spring is a great time to pick up some new workout clothes, spend some time walking in nature, finally read that book that you got for Christmas, or check out a meditation app. I always aim to take at least 30 minutes for myself each day – and without the phone in hand.
   
   
3.           Clean out your pantry and fridge. Time to clean up “the scene of the crime” so to speak and turn your kitchen into a place of healing and nourishment. Ditch any processed foods, foods containing refined sugar, hydrogenated oils, artificial sweeteners, and chemicals. Replace them with single-ingredient items like nuts, seeds, and vegetables, and stick to food items sweetened with natural sweeteners like stevia or monk fruit.
   
   
4.           Conduct a screen time audit. I can’t tell you much it pleases me when I hear someone say that they “just don’t have any time to exercise or meal prep”. I simply ask them to open their phone's settings and view their screen time. They usually become utterly shocked and embarrassed when it reads an average of 5-7 hours a day. We all have time, just give it a try!

5.           Build a nutrition plan and stick to it. There are many different nutritional protocols out there and many that are extremely effective. The problem that many people run into is sticking to a plan. This is generally due to a lack of preparation, planning, and accountability. Also, not seeing immediate results can be highly demotivating. The key is to have realistic expectations and to use what I call “micro goals” each day to stay on track (ex/ eat breakfast within 1 hour of waking up. Eat at least 4oz of protein with each main meal).
   
   
6.           Implement a weekly “earned meal”. I don’t believe in “cheat meals”, I believe in EARNED meals, and this is a huge part of my 21-Day Transformation program. Each week my clients and I take a 3-hour window to eat and drink whatever we want. This allows me to have a pizza while watching the UFC, go out to sushi with some friends, or just munch on some chips. Once we get it out of our systems we go right back to eating to achieve our goals. Food is a lot of things; culture, celebration, and comfort, but food primarily should be perceived as our fuel source to live long, happy, and healthy lives. It’s fun, try it for yourself!  

Happy spring everyone :-)