Habit #1: Ditch the scale

We’ve all heard that muscle weighs more than fat, right? But when we work out in order to lose weight and instead see the number on the scale rise, we quickly get frustrated. Don’t let the scale wreck your motivation to get fitter and healthier. It’s possible to become leaner and slimmer without the number on the scale changing, which means the scale isn’t the best representation of your progress.

Kyle Jason Lane, a Burn Boot Camp Elizabeth, NC trainer, says, “Get fitter and healthier by measuring your progress with pictures instead of the number on the scale.” Get into the habit of taking progress pictures one or two times a month, always wearing the same clothes. You’ll be much more motivated to push hard and eat healthier when you are able to compare your progress photos each month and see the actual changes in your body composition.

Habit #2: Keep your goals visible at all times

“A habit I always tell my clients to start doing to help them get fit and healthy is to write down their goals somewhere they will see them every day. Whether it’s on a mirror, a sticky note in your car, a whiteboard in your room, your refrigerator door or the wallpaper of your phone, making them visible helps you keep your eye on the prize!” suggests Burn Boot Camp Verona, WI trainer Cody Burns.

When you have a craving or want to skip a workout, your goals often slip your mind. Keeping your goals visible at all times will remind you of what you are working toward even in your weakest moments.

Habit #3: Schedule your workouts

Fit and healthy people don’t skip their workouts! If you struggle to make your workouts a priority in your life, Burn Boot Camp Columbus, OH trainer Becky Carnes Huff says, “Get into the habit of putting your workouts on your calendar. Once you have it scheduled, treat it the same way you would treat a doctor’s appointment or a work meeting.”

Would you skip a doctor’s appointment just because you didn’t feel like going? You probably wouldn’t. Before the week starts, make it a habit to sit down with your calendar and schedule your workouts for the entire week to help you become fit and healthy.

Habit #4: Close the kitchen

Fit and healthy people are not in the habit of eating around the clock. If you want to become fit and healthy too, you have to establish a designated time to close the kitchen. Creating these boundaries not only stops you from mindlessly snacking while watching TV. Waiting 12 hours between meals also has been shown to boost fat burning, increase digestion and promote a healthy gut.

Habit #5: Track your food before you eat

“Use the MyFitnessPal app, or any other food tracking app, to track your entire day’s worth of food the night before,” says Burn Boot Camp South Park, NC trainer Krysta Huber. While tracking your food is a great habit to get into when trying to get fit and healthy, tracking your intake after you eat may not be as helpful.

If you track your food later, you may realize after the fact that the food you consumed wasn’t as healthy as you anticipated or that you consumed a larger portion size than you should have. When you track your food beforehand, you are able to make adjustments to ingredients and portion sizes. “Tracking your food the night before also helps you commit to eating healthier because you have a plan to stick to for the entire day,” adds Krysta.

Habit #6: Surround yourself with tools that will help you get fit and healthy

“If you want to get fit and healthy, then surround yourself with things that will make you fit and healthy. For example, subscribe to a bunch of different health podcasts and play one every time you get into your car. You can also place fitness magazines in the bathroom, keep healthy cookbooks visible in your kitchen and follow nutritionists and personal trainers on social media.

Bombard yourself with a healthy environment,” suggests Burn Boot Camp Hainesport, NJ trainer Sandy Sweeney. When you start acting like you are fit and healthy by creating a healthy environment, you will become fit and healthy!

Habit #7: Get an accountability partner

It’s easy to set goals, but it is hard to hold yourself accountable to do what it takes to actually reach them. “A great habit to get into when trying to get fit and healthy is to always share your goals verbally,” says Burn Boot Camp Northville, MI trainer Tricia Wanish.

Find a family member or friend who can become your accountability partner. Share not only your goals, but also exactly what you plan to do each day to ensure you reach them. Meet them for a workout or coffee regularly to keep them updated on your execution of your plan as well as your progress. When you let it be known to others that you are working toward a fit and healthy lifestyle, you will be much more motivated to actually do it!

Habit #8: Eat greens at each meal

The key to getting fit and healthy isn’t working out more; it’s eating more healthy foods. The best way to ensure you are eating nutritious meals is by eating greens at each meal. Greens should take up half your plate, while protein and carbohydrates each take up ¼ of your plate.

If you struggle to get enough greens into your diet, add cooked kale or spinach into each meal. When cooked, the “green” taste is greatly reduced and the leaves take on the flavor of the rest of your dish. You can also try blending this delicious chocolate-flavored green powder into a protein smoothie each morning for an amazing extra boost of greens.

Habit #9: Start meditating

Fit and healthy people concentrate on their physical health as well as their mental health. Developing the habit of meditating each morning, even for just five minutes, will help you reduce stress, increase focus and productivity and create a more positive mindset.

A great meditation practice to start with is focusing on your breath. On each inhale, feel yourself breathe in new, positive energy and allow it to fill your entire body. On each exhale, feel yourself breathe out old, negative energy—all thoughts and feelings that are creating stress, anxiety, doubt or lack of confidence. Repeating this each morning for five to ten minutes will create a healthier mindset, which will give you more energy and motivation to get fit and healthy.

I lost weight.

I think. I’m not actually sure, because I haven’t gotten the scale out!

Too much of my time, energy and emotions were being calculated by her 1-inch-by-1-inch screen, and it just had to end! But I’ll admit, I didn’t come to this decision on my own.

I had been in a long season of getting too lax in my food choices, ushered in by my birthday, extended by back-to-back vacations, garnished with the honeymoon phase of starting my first new relationship after my husband’s death (enter pizza and ice cream several times a week!) and topped off by the ending of said new relationship (order up on the pizza and ice cream!). So, to say I needed a mental and physical reset was the understatement of the year.

I had been considering trying Whole30 for months. Over a year, actually, and I had been asked again by a group of my fitness friends to do it together. Because ice cream is my boo, I didn’t really want to commit, but I had the sense to realize I was not going to break out of this junk-food rut without some serious boundaries—and Whole30 definitely offered them. Plus, if I’ve learned anything from Burn, it’s that community coupled with accountability totally equals results. My trainers always recommend macro-balanced meals, and I was pretty sure Whole30 encouraged that as well.

I decided I had to do it.

Then I read the guidelines, and they said you couldn’t weigh yourself for a FULL 30 DAYS. What?! I weighed myself EVERY day. How could I survive? I guess the same way I would survive 30 days without pizza or ice cream. Or coffee creamer. Or donuts.

I would commit to fueling my body with whole foods, and I would let that be my fitspiration. Not the output on the scale.

I’d put my confidence in doing the work, not tracking the results in digits.

I’d trust the process, not pressure myself with numbers.

After just a week, I could see results. I couldn’t quantify them, but all the same, I knew they were there. And I swelled with pride. I was proud of myself for committing to a program and following it not because I could prove it was working (by the figure displayed on a piece of plastic) but instead because I could feel it working.

I was proud of myself for choosing increased nourishment over decreased digits, knowing that how I feel and fuel is way more important than how much I weigh.

I’m almost done with my Whole30 and I’ve been thinking about how I will feel when I am “allowed” to step on the scale again.

Yes, I want to see what the program has done for me physically, but I know what it has done for me mentally and I don’t want to waste it. I want to remember that the scale doesn’t define me, and that will remain true if I put boundaries on the way I use it going forward.

I totally want a new BF, but I’m pretty sure I can stay broken up with that bathroom bestie because she was pretty fickle anyway…and now that I know I can survive without her weighing in on my value, I would be foolish to give her that power again.

So, if you’re ready to take the risk and break up with your scale, let me leave you with these three thoughts:

1. Your weight isn’t what people love about you. In fact, they couldn’t guess it if they tried. And news flash: No one is trying to guess your weight but YOU!

2. If you’re a slave to the scale, you’re ignoring all of the other great things you’ve got going for you in your health and fitness journey. Those non-scale victories are huge for mental breakthroughs, confidence boosts and non-weight-related goal crushing. When you obsess over your weight, you forget to celebrate these über-important milestones.

3. I know you know this one, but it bears repeating: Muscle weighs more than fat! This means that the number on the scale doesn’t determine your level of fitness. Your body should change, and your weight might or might not—so make the choice to focus on strength, stamina and sensible food choices more than the scale!

You’ve totally got this, just tap into your grit and grace and #beboldandjustbeyou!

You can hear more from Julie in her conversation with Morgan Kline on Coffee & Kettlebells Episode 16: How to Overcome Grief, Comparison and Life’s Obstacles with Grit & Grace.

You might also like this related article from The Grit and Grace Project: Forget About the Scale and Be Happy!

You can see more from Julie on Facebook, Instagram and her podcast!