Dealing with Fitness Overwhelm…

Fitness overwhelm and how to deal with it.

Dealing with fitness overwhelm comes down to applying the Pareto principle (the 80/20 rule). I’ll show you what I mean….

The list of what we are supposed to do to be healthy is as long as your arm. Seriously, all of the following are tips you could apply to your life…

1. Exercise often
2. Eat meat and fish
3. Eat fruit and vegetables
4. Keep fat and carbs in control
5. Drink plenty of water
6. Sleep enough
7. Manage stress
8. Take supplements
9. Keep a handle on alcohol intake
10. Stretch
11. Meditate
12. Set goals
13. Use chemical free cosmetics
14. Stand more, sit less
15. Walk often
16. Keep a good work/life balance
17. Floss
18. Breathe properly
19. Be grateful
20. Eat organic food
21. Limit caffeine
22. Avoid salt
23. Juice
24. Drink herbal tea
25. Do yoga
26. Deep breathe
27. Keep perfect posture
28. See friends often
29. Laugh
30. Get some fresh air

And so on.

Are they all useful? Yes.

So what’s the point?

My point is, it’s overwhelming. Really, really overwhelming. Unless you dedicate your life to your health and fitness, you aren’t going to do all of those things. It’s just not realistic. You’ll suffer from fitness overwhelm.

BUT, there’s a solution.

Go back to the list and re-read the top 5.

Do those.

You’ll be healthier than 99% of the population, I guarantee it.

Here’s how you use the pareto principle to deal with fitness overwhelm…

Exercise

Base your training regime around strength training. Aim for 3-5 sessions per week and work hard but with good technique. If you aren’t sure about technique or programming, hire a personal trainer. Using a personal trainer will help keep you accountable too.

If you are interested in training but don’t know where to start, I have dozens of free workouts here.

Train hard, train often and keep it varied and enjoyable. Being fit has millions of additional benefits in all kinds of areas of your life.

Eat Meat and Fish

All of the food groups are important, but the one constant that most dietary approaches agree on is hitting your protein requirements. If you can, eat good quality meat, fish or eggs daily. You’re looking for 2-3 hand-size portions of protein per day.

If you are vegetarian, look at mixing your eggs, beans, pulses and cheese to help hit your protein requirements.

If you can, try to eat lean meat from high welfare. With fish, go for oily and line-caught. This is an additional extra though, don’t freak out if it’s beyond your budget.

Need a few recipes? Look here.

Eat Fruit and Vegetables

This one goes without saying. We all know we need to eat fruit and vegetables, but try to go seasonally – in the winter eat potatoes, carrots, squashes, broccoli, parsnips, cabbage, onions etc. In the summer, switch these for lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, peppers, radish, cucumbers etc.

If you can, try to eat raw vegetables often. Think this sounds weird? Ever heard of a salad? Yup, that’s raw veg. Enjoy them more.

With fruit, think thin-skinned and dark. Apples, berries, currants, pears, citrus fruits. If you’re training hard, add mangoes, bananas, pineapple, peaches, nectarines etc.

Those recipes again.

Keep Carbs and Fat Under Control

When protein is taken care of, you have to watch your carbs and fat intake. If you are training hard and frequently, you can get away with more carbohydrate. Aim for rice, potatoes, squashes, fruit and vegetables.

If you are training hard and often, aim for 2-3 palm-sized portions per day. If you aren’t training hard or often, reduce your carbs to 1 palm-sized portion per day.

When it comes to fat, aim for a thumb-sized portion with a meal. Personally, I don’t cook with oil (other than coconut). I cook with dripping saved from joints of meat. If I do use olive oil, it’s as part of a dressing. I don’t cook with olive oil as research suggests its chemical composition changes for the worse under heat.

Other fat sources include cheese, butter, ghee and various oils. I try to keep this to a couple of thumb-sized portions throughout the day. If I’m not training, I tend to aim for 1 thumb-sized portion over the day.

Drink Plenty of Water

Another obvious one. How much water you need to drink depends on factors such as your size, are you sweating? Have you eaten salty food? Have you drunk alcohol? If yes, drink more.

I aim for 3 litres per day. If I’ve been exercising and sweating, or if I’ve been in a sauna, I’ll up it. I drink it out of this.

There’s a simple test to use to see if your hydrated well enough – check your urine. If it’s clear, you’re good. If it’s closer to yellow, drink more. If it’s brown, see a vet.

Fitness overwhelm, dealt with.

These are what I call your ‘big rocks’. These are the main pillars that make up a healthy lifestyle and by doing these you’ll be pretty damn healthy – more so than most people.

When you have these important elements in your life on a regular basis, THEN you can start to look at other things such as sleeping more, stretching well and getting your supplementation right. It’s easy to be freaked out when you see health advice and tips everywhere, but don’t be worried.

P.S. I’m giving away a FREE eBook ‘101 Health and Fitness Tips’ to everyone who subscribes to my VIP email list. By joining the list you’ll have access to exclusive content, discounts, offers and products from both me and selected partners. Click here to download!