Guest Post from "Life As I See It" {Fitness, Health & Happiness}

Before I introduce Jill, you can also see my guest post over on Jill's Blog HERE

 Hi everyone! I'm Jill from Life As I See It [FItness, Health and Happiness].  I am by no means a professional athlete, but I am a wife and busy mom of 2 that works full time and lives a wonderful crazy busy life. What I am is a woman who has done the research, made a commitment to health and fitness and is the most fit and healthiest I have ever been.

I love all aspects of health and fitness with a particular passion for clean eating, running and strength training. I get a lot of emails with questions about running, nutrition and fitness in general and with those questions in mind, I'd like to share tips that have worked for me. Tips that are based on a lot of reading, trial and error, effort, determination and success. It is my hope that after you have read this you will be motivated to use the information either as a starting point or to incorporate into your existing health and fitness routine.

Essentially, my progress and success is the result of 3 things: nutrition, moving and motivation.

Get Moving
*Find physical activities that you love enough that, if you could, you would do everyday. For me it's running and P90X

*Make moving a priority. Put it on your calendar and make the time. I write a weekly workout schedule that makes running and workouts as much a part of my daily routine as showering and brushing my teeth.
*Consistency. Stick with it and you will see progress and results.
*Set attainable long and short term goals.
*Enjoy a variety of activities.
*Be flexible with your workout plan
*Keep a workout journal. The proof of your progress is in the numbers. Read Six Great Reasons to Keep a Workout Log

*Make sure to schedule a rest day.

Nutrition
*If I were going to give you only one tip it would be this, plan a weekly menu (see downloads below) and grocery shopping list and stick to them. Check out Top 5 Benefits of Menu Planning

*I highly recommend clean eating. I have been clean eating for about 3 months and the difference in the way I feel and my energy level has been amazing.

I'm currently hosting the 31-Day Clean Eating Challenge || Summer 2011 It's not too late to join!
*Plan realistic menus. 4-5 meals with a night or 2 of leftovers and, what we call, On Your Own Night works wonderfully for the whole family.
*This may seem kind of silly but it works. When faced with craving something that isn't so healthy I ask myself, "is it calorie worthy?" and the answer is usually no and I tell myself "the satisfaction of eating that pales compared to how being healthy feels."
*Watch calories and eat enough to sustain your activity level.

Motivation/Inspiration
*Find sources of motivation and inspiration and use them often.
*Pinterest is a great way to organize and easily access endless sources of health and fitness inspiration. Not familiar with Pinterest? Oh, you have to check it out Pinterest  It's so cool! You can see (and follow) my health and fitness board here Health and Fitness.
*Magazines  are a great source of information and inspiration.

*Find friends or a club with common interests and goals.
*Quotes, words that motivate and inspire. Like this one by Lou Holtz, "Ability is what you are capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it " and this one by Robert Gault, "How often in life we complete a task that was beyond the capability of the person we were when we started it."
*This is one you're probably going to say, "Really?" Nike ad campaigns. Love them!

 Like this one

 and this one.
 
I watch videos like these and I immediately want to run or workout.

*One of the greatest sources of inspiration and motivation to make the effort and commit to health and fitness is my kids. I teach by example and what they see me doing today will teach them for a lifetime.
*And lastly it would be impossible to write this without mentioning my husband, Chad. Without his unwavering encouragement and support I would never be able to do what I do and make the progress that I've made.

So that is it. I'm sure there is more and I could easily go on and on. It is my hope that you find these tips helpful in making changes and living a healthy lifestyle.

For menu planning and to thank you for visiting my guest blogging I'm including downloadable menu templates to get you started
Nutrition Plan Template
Nutrition Plan Sample
Nutrition Plan Basic
Stop by and say hi at Life As I See It [Fitness, Health and Happiness]. You can find me on Facebook at Life As I See It [Fitness, Health and Happiness] Facebook Page

Was this helpful? Do I have you asking yourself "Am I motivated to make some changes?",  "Do I have a favorite quote that inspires me?", "What are my goals?". Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

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Wow Jill, you are amazing! That was a lot of awesome tips, information & inspiration! I'm loving it! Please feel free to leave Jill some nice comments here and give her some love on her blog as well :) You can check out my guest post today on her blog, I hope you'll check it out and leave me some comments too :) Now get out there and get fit, healthy & happy! :)