It is time for you to get obsessed with your health and fitness.
If you follow me or any one else involved in Beachbody recently you have probably heard about the 80 Day Obsession and maybe even have been caught up in the curiosity and excitement of the program. My husband and I were fortunate enough to be included in the corporate test group and it was an amazing experience. This is definitely fitness and nutrition taken to the next level. I am not going to lie, the program is tough and it is a COMMITMENT. It is 80 Days, there are workouts 6 days a week, the meal plan is built on timed nutrition so you will know what to eat and when and you will have to eat every 2-3 hours. We traveled our asses off and dealt with almost everything that people can deal with in life when we were doing the program and we made it work and let me tell you, we felt accomplished when we completed the program. I want to use my experience in the test group and with the meal plan to share with you 5 tips on how YOU can complete the 80 Day Obsession and show yourself you can do anything you put your mind to.
1. Have Compassion for yourself.
Things are going to happen. You will eat the wrong meal at the wrong time, you will make your Shakeology only to leave it on the counter when you leave. You will pack your food for the day and run out of the house and leave it in the fridge. You may get caught up on a call and not eat on time or eat the same meal twice instead of what you were supposed to eat. It happens. Do not freak out, do not get stressed, just take it as what it is: a hiccup. You have 80 days of this program to get dialed in and this is about living a healthy and fit life and changing your relationship to food over the course of a few months so in the grand scheme of things one meal is not a big deal. Show yourself some compassion, give yourself a high-five for the amazing things you are doing for your body and your life and keep on grooving down the road. Let’s be real too. You are still eating good, clean, wholesome food that will fuel your body! That’s still really good.
2. Plan plan plan plan.
This program is an in-depth adventure into what you can accomplish when you are DIALED IN. If you are on the go, have a full-time job, travel a lot, have kids, or even just run errands outside the house regularly you will need to plan out your food in advance. This means knowing what you are eating and when you are eating it. If you leave the house you need to have a meal with you in case you get stuck in traffic or at a meeting for longer than expected. This may sounds like a lot of work but in reality it’s just setting yourself up for success and less stress in advance. It is also really liberating not having to think about what you are eating and when you have to eat it. This also saves so much money in the long run as well. Pack you food in a cooler or 6 pack bag and set your alarms on your phone. As they say: Decide. Commit. Succeed.
PRO TIP: take a picture of your meal plan on your phone or a screenshot and just look at it to see what you need to eat and when while you are on the go. You can also save the pdf to your iBooks from BOD. This alleviates stress and having to worry about internet or cell connectivity when you are out, when in doubt consult your phone. Also pre-download all the workouts to your BOD APP so you can have them no matter what as well as have the spreadsheets available in case you’re in a bind and have to use a hotel gym.
3. Embrace the challenge and the work. Don’t cheat yourself.
This program is a lot of work and it is a commitment. When we signed up for the test group and saw what was actually expected of us we did have an OH SHIT moment where we looked at our travel schedule and plans and second guessed whether we could do it. When we got real with ourselves though, the real questions was did we really WANT to do it. Then we put our minds in check because this was an amazing opportunity to change our lives and challenge ourselves so we committed and that was it. We had our moments where it was hard but we were 100% committed so we made it work. We hit multiple states and cities packed with amazing food we were looking forward to eating and we stuck tour meal plan and our workouts. We endured two hurricanes, evacuating and moving from an island back to the states, lots of driving and flying and we never wavered from our workouts or meal plan. We embraced the grind and kept focused on our goals. We celebrated our victories and pushed each other to keep going and stay on track. We made it fun and a priority above all else. Embrace the challenge and the work ethic it takes because it is showing you that you are capable of doing anything you put your mind to. This is character building and supposed to push you out of your comfort zone.
4. SELF CARE! This is a big one.
These workouts are challenging so it is important to throw in some extra stretching, some foam rolling, some yin yoga, and get some rest. Go get a massage, some cryo therapy, sit in a sauna, and soak in an epsom salt bath. Getting healthy is about taking care of ourselves and making sure we are balancing out the stress we are putting on our bodies from our workouts with some self care. Try your best to get AT LEAST 8 hours of sleep. Sleep is VITAL for the recovery process. On days you don’t have to be up early, let your body sleep as long as it wants. This is the thing that most people neglect because we often view it as just extra time we have to spend on something that isn’t a necessity but IT IS. It is just as important as your meal plan, so start to make choices based off your performance as an athlete and invest in your body. Also, mellow out, keep your stress low. Do not get stressed about the scale, work, your nutrition, or anything else. All of the stress is tough on your body and believe it or not, it will impeded your results. Learn how to manage stress because it will reflect on your body.
5. Lean on your fitness community.
There are very few challenging things that we can do in life all by our-self. We need community and we need support. As I have mentioned this is a tough program and the nutrition plan is detailed. You will need support and you will have questions. This is not a program that is meant to be done alone. We have a whole crew doing it with us because it is more fun and positive energy is infectious. It is tough to give up when you are part of a group that is all working towards completing the program. Many of us will give up on ourselves before we give up on someone else so embrace it and make sure to lean on your community. When we were in the test group we used our community to ask questions, get meal planning ideas, pick us up when we began doubting ourselves or the process, and to just connect over this shared challenge. Don’t be a lone wolf, be part of the pack. Accountability is something you have to build for yourself! Go public with your goals, create an Instagram account to share them and share your progress as you make your way through the program with your peers.
Let’s Do this!
I hope that these tips will help you through your own journey with the 80 Day Obsession. It is tough but most things that are worth it in life are. Commit to yourself and to making this year of your life different from all of the others. This is the year that you embrace challenge and you take your health and fitness to the next level. If you do not have support on your journey or are interested in taking it up a notch this year do not wait, message me. We have another 80 Day Obsession Group starting soon. This is for you if you are interested in building a better booty, some abs, and showing yourself that you can do what you set your mind to. Message me through this blog or at amysilvermanfitness@gmail.com ~ looking forward to getting STRONG and LEAN with you.