So, I wrote a book! It is called Finding Your Fit. Needless to say, I am pretty excited! The book hits stores October 1st, 2016. I feel like a kid getting ready for Christmas; I am counting down the days until I can walk into Indigo and say “Where would I find Kathleen Trotter’s new book?” I am assuming the answer will be “In the health and wellness section,” but maybe I will get lucky and it will be on one of the “staff recommendation” tables. Fingers crossed!

My next few blogs will outline a few of the main take-aways from my book. (How cool is it that I can say “my book”?) The first review is out. You can read it here (hyperlink https://www.flamanfitness.com/blog/how-to-get-off-the-sofa-and-out-the-front-door).

The official media blurb is that Finding Your Fit is “A Compassionate Trainer’s Guide to Making Fitness a Lifelong Habit: it provides readers with practical tools that will allow them to connect the dots between wanting to make a health and fitness change and actually making it. Finding Your Fit is the “anti–Biggest Loser” handbook for realistic, lifelong health: a motivational handbook with realistic strategies and practical information to help readers initiate and then follow through and adopt a long-term healthy lifestyle.”

My unofficial blurb is this: “If I have learned one thing from my 15 years in the health field it is that there is no one-size-fits-all health plan; everybody is different. Everyone requires a tailored recipe for success.

We all have to stop trying to follow someone else’s version of a “perfect” program. For long-term success, put together a unique and realistic plan tailored to fit your individual lifestyle realities.

The plan should take into account your goals, your health history, your lifestyle, your finances, your genetics, and your unique relationship with food. You can stress eat or binge eat out of loneliness on any diet — lots of people overeat gluten-free cake and Paleo treats. If you don’t become aware of your eating patterns, your personal food habits will simply follow you from nutrition program to nutrition program.”

In the first 10 chapters of Finding Your Fit I outline various tools, motivation tricks, and philosophies that readers can use to put together their “unique recipe.” In the final chapter I help readers apply all the information outlined in the book so that they finish with a tailored and effective exercise program.

Here are a few of the main take-aways.

1.Own your health choices; take the time to actively “set yourself up for health success” — the key words being own and actively.

You are an adult; take responsibility for your health choices. Adopting a healthier lifestyle isn’t a passive process. If you don’t take the time to set yourself up for success, you might as well be setting yourself up for failure.

2. Always have a plan…and then a back-up plan.

For example, don’t decide you are “destined” to be inactive when you have a busier-than-normal week. Instead, use my “piggyback” strategy. Pinpoint daily, non-negotiable habits that you already do, then turn them into a workout: turn your daily dog walk into a jog or interval workout or have meetings with your colleagues while walking.

As for nutrition, decide in advance how you will handle every event. When going to a restaurant, read the menu online and decide in advance what you will order. Going to someone’s house? Offer to bring a healthy option. When in doubt, opt for a lean protein and lots of vegetables, never eat while standing, use a smaller plate when possible, and be mindful of your portions.

3. When you fall off your health horse, don’t allow that not-so-great choice to spiral into multiple unhealthy choices.

Instead, learn from your unhealthy decisions so you get back on a more informed rider. Did you let yourself get too hungry? Were you emotionally eating? Did you not take the time to set yourself up for success? Make a mental note of what went wrong, then proactively avoid those situations in the future.

4. Some movement is always better than no movement.

Every bit of motion adds up, and every situation can be reframed as an opportunity for movement. Can’t do a full workout? No problem, do 10 minutes. When it comes to exercise, getting started is usually the hardest part. So use my 10-minute rule. Tell yourself you have to do something for at least 10 minutes. Anyone can do anything for 10 minutes. If after 10 minutes you want to stop, fine. At least you will have done something. Once you start you will usually end up doing a full workout.

5. Stop waiting for the “perfect” day to start moving. Get up and go for a walk!

Originally publsihed at FLAMANFITNESS