With cold weather upon us, the warm drinks are calling! In a sea of pumpkin spice and salted caramel, it is hard to avoid the high fat and sugar content of our favorite warm beverages.  Here are the Milestone Personal Trainers' tips for making healthy choices at your local coffee shop!

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Hey, it's Brittney.  I'm a Personal Trainer and Fitness Coach at Milestone.  Let's take a moment to talk about the unique benefits of two of the most popular forms of exercise: Weightlifting and Cardio.  What's the difference?  Which one should you do?  Will weightlifting make you BULKY???  If you've ever wondered these things, keep reading.

In mid-April, Ellen Oberhausen joined Milestone as a full time member. After her previous club closed and at the urging of a friend, she took the leap and began her own fitness journey. Upon joining, Ellen developed a regular exercise routine, consisting of some cardio and weight training.

“You can't beat the person who never gives up.”

I (Misty) have been a trainer for over 13 years and not too long after I joined the Milestone team, Kenny was hired as a personal trainer. It wasn't long after Kenny was hired that we began working out together and playing cards in the break room. We both loved fitness, being with our families, Kentucky basketball, and soon, each other. We started dating a month ater we met, and a year later, we were engaged. After a short engagement, we were married on April 8, 2006 by a fellow trainer, Mike Graham. He was instrumental in encouraging and developing our realtionship with each other and love for God.

In my experience as a trainer I have seen many people with goals of weight loss. Of these people there are many who do not reach their goals because of one or two things in their lifestyle that hold them back. I have developed 5 things that I have seen work and were sustainable for weight loss.

1.Make a Plan and Commit to it

When you first decide you are ready to make changes to your life you should write down a plan for this change to occur. I really mean write it down! Writing down a plan of action and keeping it somewhere you can see helps you hold yourself accountable. When you are making your plan make sure that it is something that is achievable. For example, if you work three twelve hour shifts a week do not make a plan to workout seven days a week, that is just not something that is realistic.

2.Have a community to keep you accountable

Having a community means having a trainer, friends, or family to make sure you are sticking to your plan. In my experience it is best to have someone at the gym that is holding you accountable. So having a workout buddy or a trainer is the best way to keep to your plan. If you are working with a friend, make sure that friend is on your same fitness level so that one person is not trailing behind the other.

3. Nutrition, Hydration, and Sleep

I will be posting more on this in later posts but these three components are probably one of the most important things when it comes to weight loss. As far as nutrition goes it is very important to make sure you are getting all of the nutrients you need and avoiding unhealthy foods. For hydration, 64 ounces of water is the minimum that we should be drinking. For sleep, a person needs to be getting at least 6-8 hours a night. Overall on these topics there is a lot of information on the internet and many of them are not reputable. So when you are looking for nutrition advice it is best to consult a dietitian or at least make sure your sources are reputable.

4. Have an Effective Workout

An effective workout is different for every person. As a personal trainer my job is to make effective workouts for all types of people. Working with a personal trainer gives you an individualized workout that identifies your personal strengths and weaknesses. I think the second best thing you can do is to join a fitness class that you enjoy. Although these classes are not always individualized, they typically give modifications for all levels so that most people can participate. Another great thing is to find an at home program that works for you.

5. Do NOT Give Up!

This is one of the hardest things to do. Weight loss is difficult, takes time, and requires sacrifice. My biggest tip for you is to not get discouraged. Weight loss will happen even if sometimes we aren’t perfect with our plan. Be patient and work hard.

 

Something in our brain responds when we look at a painting.