Are you flexible?

I hope you had a nice weekend! I'm back from a much needed beach vacation and I must admit - I totally underestimated the power of the 'mini-vacay.' As with most people, I have a lot on my plate so I couldn't stay gone for long. Three days was all I needed to reboot my motivation, energy, and spirit. Have you booked your next mini getaway? 

I took 4 days off from the gym as part of my 'mini-vacay' and used that time to review the last few months of my fitness journey. A quote I read a while back popped into my head and I wanted to share it with you!
"Be stubborn about your goals, flexible about your methods."I'm not sure the author but he or she deserves a pat on the back! I could not agree more with that quote! 

Even though I train for a living and spend almost every day studying fitness, I still sometimes stumble in my methods to achieve my fittest, healthiest self. Every so often I have to take a step back, rest for a few days, and determine if what I've been doing in and outside the gym is helping me inch closer to my goals...or pushing me further from them. Am I flexible?

Below are my suggestions on how to be more flexible about achieving your fitness goals.

First, what is your goal? You must be able to answer this question clearly first!

1. Try new moves. I've said it before and I'll say it again - taking the same group fitness classes on the same nights every week and walking the same speed on the treadmill 3x a week and lifting the same amount of weight...you get the point - change up the program. Your workouts should be anything but "routine!"
2. Try new healthy foods. Make a list of 5 healthy foods you have never tried and plan to try all 5 at least once by the end of August. People who eat the same "diet" foods at the same time every day rarely make long-term progress. 
3. Try the same foods in a different way. Have you every mixed your egg whites in your oatmeal with fruit? Did you know quinoa is great at breakfast? Almost every lean protein can be made into a burger patty! Try your favorite dishes cold instead of hot.
4. Stop counting calories and tracking every meal. Seriously, just eat healthy foods frequently each day. After all, nutrients are more important than calories in the big picture.
5. Skip the gym and take your workouts outside. Bodyweight moves are much harder than you think! Yes, you're paying for a gym membership but no, you don't have to go there for every single workout.