Going from zero to 100 mph in mere seconds can be kinda scary. Enough to make us stay off the road altogether.
The same holds true with the Badass Journey. If you try to go from a junk food-eating avoider of exercise to the Lance Armstrong of clean healthy living, odds are you're setting yourself up for a bad fall.
So why not just get on the road and start off with baby steps? You Badasses have probably gathered by now that I don't advocate excess, and that applies to excess (overzealous) effort early in the Badass Fitness journey. It's better to start slow and steady and build momentum for a strong finish than to sprint out of the gate and lose gas halfway through.
So today, I share some Badass Baby Steps. They're useful to newer Badass recruits and veteran Badasses as well. Just remember: The goal is to get to the goal - not to burn out in the beginning and never get to the goal.
Badass Baby Steps 101:
1. Make gradual replacements
- If you love whole milk, skim milk is going to taste like crap if you switch right from whole. So go from whole to 2 percent, then lowfat, then skim.
- Try turkey bacon or lower-fat regular bacon.
- For omelettes or fritattas, go from 3 whole eggs to 2 whole eggs and an egg white, then to 1 egg and 2 whites, and then all whites or even Egg Beaters.
- Go from regular mayo to light to fat-free, in baby steps.
- If you're a 4-Coke-per-day drinker, start by replacing one of those Cokes with a bottle of water flavored with Crystal light or with light cranberry juice. Over time, keep replacing those Cokes until they become a rare treat.
- Add one piece of fruit or one vegetable to your daily eating regimen, and each week add another until you're getting ample servings. (Bonus: These are nutritionally dense but calorie-light, so you can eat lots more of these than Fritos without damaging your progress!)
2. Give yourself 15 minutes
- So you think you simply cannot handle exercise. Maybe it's been too long, or maybe you've never tried. But remind yourself: You can anything for just 15 minutes. You can do just one set of an exercise.
- Watch what happens after you get through those first 15 minutes on the treadmill (even at a walking pace) or through that first set of bicep curls. See how you feel after a 30-minute walk each night after dinner. It's called confidence. You realize you've done what you thought you could not do.
- And that means you can do it again, and maybe for 20 minutes or for three sets. Remember Badass Bertsch? She started out just like that, and look at her now!
3. Play tricks with the alarm
- There was a time when waking up 'early' for me meant any time before 7:30 a.m. But I gradually forced myself to wake up earlier and earlier, and today I wake up most weekday mornings at 5 to 5:30 a.m. I don't always like it, but several years ago that wakeup call would have been unthinkable to me.
- So start by setting your alarm 5 minutes earlier each morning, or every other morning. By doing this in baby steps, you will reset your body's clock so that you aren't still wide awake at midnight - and you are ready to wake up and get your sweat on at an earlier hour.
- This is a key change, because while some people are and always will be night exercisers, you're more likely to keep to a routine if it's in the early morning before work and schedule snafus get in the way.
- I also set my bedside alarm about 10 minutes earlier than the actual time. This does two things: It allows me to set the alarm at a slightly less 'ungodly hour' (5:15 a.m. just seems more reasonable that 5 or 5:05 a.m., no?) and it also allows me to hit snooze once and still be to the gym on time.
4. Find excuses to move
- Park far away. Walk to your co-worker's desk instead of sending him an instant message. Take the stairs. Walk for charity.
- So much of society's problems with weight gain are the result of not just excessive crappy food - but the fact that we can do all sorts of 'tasks' now without lifting a finger or taking a step.
- That means you have to create opportunities to move.
- So just DO it! Just move, one baby step at a time.
5. Accountability
- Nothing motivates like knowing someone is waiting on you.
- So find a friend or loved one to take those steps with you. If you have a workout partner, you will hold each other to that 6 a.m. weightlifting session.
- Every morning, I see a few sets of men and women who shuffle in at the same early hour to the gym. I'll bet they would sometimes rather be sleeping, but they show up because someone counts on them to show up.
- So get a workout partner, and create two Badasses at once!
Coming tomorrow: Badass Foodie takes on the Green Monster?!!?
