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You’ll know it’s time to switch up your fitness routine when you seem stuck on the same weight, no matter how dedicated you are to your workout and healthy eating program. Doing the same workout continuously allows the body to become more efficient. While efficiency is great at work or when you’re doing a project at home, it doesn’t work that way when you’re working out in the gym. It means your body requires fewer calories to do the same exercises than it did initially. It’s called plateauing and one way to avoid it is to vary your workout.

Injuries can occur from chronic repetitions.

Everyone has probably heard of carpel tunnel, an injury to the hand and arm from doing the same repetitive motion. That can happen on any part of the body. It’s repetitive strain. Runners, tennis players and martial arts participants that perform frequent kicking motions often suffer from it. When you change up your routine, you’ll be using different joints, ligaments and muscles or moving those muscles in a different way. If there’s a minor injury to a muscle, changing your routine prevents further damage.

Changing your routine keeps you more focused with less boredom.

If you’ve ever mindlessly gone through a routine, you know that is a sign you’re not into it and maybe even bored. You might even change the type of workout you’re doing. Instead of a tough workout at gym, consider using one of the exercise days for a different activity like yoga or kickboxing. Just changing to a new routine can also bring more enjoyment to your workout.

You’ll make sure all your muscles get a workout when you change your routine.

While you’re focusing on your larger muscles, maybe not all the smaller ones are getting the maximum benefit from your workout. You might need to exercise all your muscles on different planes to improve your overall fitness. Switching routines can help ensure that all muscles get a good workout on all planes.

• Sometimes it’s nice to make a change and join a group class. It can bring a more social attitude to your workout and even help you find some workout buddies that make exercise more fun.
• Changing workouts gives your brain more exercise, too. Learning new skills and movements helps boost the building of new neural pathways.
• Trying new things, new ways of exercising and new routines can boost your enthusiasm. If you go outside your comfort zone and try a totally new activity, you may even find an outlet you’ll love for years to come.
• Think F.I.T.T. That’s an acronym for frequency, intensity, type, and time. You need to change at least two of those every six weeks to keep your workout fresh and watch the pounds drop.

It’s time to start fresh and get a healthier lifestyle. It can start with doing spring cleaning in your cupboards. Not only do you probably have some expired food, if you’re like me, but you also have food that doesn’t fit with your new lifestyle. When I say cupboard, I mean refrigerator and freezer, too. Getting rid of unhealthy food gives you room to store healthier options that fit with a new lifestyle. If you’re grappling with the cost of the food you’ll be pitching, just remember the savings in medical bills.

Start with the most obvious.

Junk food like candy, cookies, chips, soda and sugar-added fruit juice. When you do, make a list of healthy snacks and everything you’ll need to make them. It may not require extra work, like nuts and fresh fruit, or minimal preparation, such as fresh veggies and a healthy dip. You’ll be ready for those down times when you want something to tide you over and won’t be tempted to snack on junk.

Read the labels on the food you have left.

You’ll be surprised at how much added sugar there is in most foods and some of the hard to pronounce preservatives added. The ingredients are listed by volume, so those ingredients at the top are more plentiful in the food. Manufacturers are wise to consumers reading labels, so often they give sugar several names or use various types of sugar and list those individually. If dextrose is number three on the ingredients, sucrose number four and high fructose corn syrup number five, you can bet that sugar is the top ingredient. See what the serving size is and how many servings are in each container and whether it’s an unrealistically small amount. Check nutrients, carbs, protein and fat in the food.

Making those tough calls can be a struggle.

Some of the food you may have in your cupboard aren’t exactly bad for you, but they aren’t good for you either. It’s a tough call and if you keep them, can prevent you from purchasing those with far more nutrition. If you have a few microwave meals, burritos or not healthy-yet not horrible food, it’s a tough call. You can throw them out or plan to use them spaced out over a period of time and use them to complement healthier dishes.

Maybe it’s time to throw a party. Make it a junk food clean out party. You can serve both healthy dishes and the unhealthy food you want to pitch. It’s easier to throw away left over junk than the actual junk food sometimes.

Most food banks no longer accept junk food, like candy and chips. Before you take the food you’re pitching, call ahead to find out what they accept.

Create a plan of action. You can start by planning weekly meals and making a grocery list. Do all your food prep on the weekend, making extra of each. Stock your freezer with these extras and before long, you’ll have enough to take a week away from cooking.

Don’t just look at food, look at what you drink, too. Soft drinks are huge offenders that can affect your overall health.

Giving your body a rest and cleaning it out isn’t a bad idea. In fact, some people feel it’s time for a detox when they have low energy levels. I tell clients in Chino Hills, CA that I have no problem with a detox, as long as it’s not radical or involves harsh chemicals. Those types of fads can cause harm. What I feel is best are some natural techniques that can be anything from clean eating to strict healthy eating. I personally have some favorite detox techniques that I find give an energy boost and make you feel great.

An intermittent fast is a detox that’s proven to be healthy.

An intermittent fast is a short fast. It doesn’t last days, it lasts hours. It means eating all your meals within eight hours and fasting for sixteen. When I have clients that use an intermittent fast, some actually fast and combine it with a juice diet for a few days to hasten the cleanse. Flushing your system frequently with warm water speeds the cleansing process. Studies show that fasting may help improve your longevity and keep you younger looking longer.

Go with smoothies and cut out all processed foods, especially dairy and grains.

You might think that’s just too easy to be a detox, but think about it. No toast, no cheese, just fresh fruits and vegetables—they can be cooked by you—meat or a protein source and water, coffee or tea. Some people who eat meat insist on wild fish or grass-fed beef, since there are more health benefits. Cutting out dairy and grains can help you discover if you’re gluten or dairy intolerant. Dairy tends to be mucous forming, so if you consistently wake up with a cough, it may help.

A purge shouldn’t be part of your detox plan.

Seriously, I have a personal problem with people who take substances that cause diarrhea and are harsh on your colon. Laxative teas, pills and colon cleanses aren’t necessary or healthy. Eating plenty of fiber provides “scrubbing bubbles” for you colon that are actually healthy for you. Switch to a green or vegetarian diet for a few weeks as your detox and slowly add back mean.

• Detox from sugar, milk, grain and meat. Cut out everything that contains sugar, including high glycemic index fruits and vegetables. Go a few days on vegetables and fruit only with water your drink of choice.
• If you’re purging your body of toxic chemicals in the food, don’t forget to check your shampoo and hygiene products. Your body absorbs toxins through the skin, too.
• Don’t forget to exercise while you’re detoxing. Exercise helps you sweat out toxins and cleanses your system through sweat. Drink plenty of water, too. Exercise will help you feel better.
• Make sure you get adequate sleep, particularly if you’re fasting. If you’re just adjusting your diet, make sure it contains plenty of fiber to help move the toxins through your colon and out of your system.

If you’ve considered a low carb diet, I’ll tell you what I tell my clients in Chino Hills. There are some valid reasons for using this type of diet for weight loss, but if you use one of the stricter types of the diet, such as the keto diet, it’s not changing your lifestyle. Keto diets are super restrictive and extremely low in carbs. It cuts out many grain products and all but eliminates potatoes. Eating in restaurants becomes almost impossible. So just like other fad diets, I prefer to healthy eating, which can also be lower carb.

Low carbohydrate diets don’t mean no carbs.

There are healthy complex carbs you need to be at your best. These are vegetables and fruit and even some grain products. Learning to eat healthier, while cutting out junk food, sugary food and processed food is good, whether you adjust the intake of carbs, protein and fat or not. In a healthy low carb diet, the average percentage of calories from carbohydrates is about 40 percent, compared to approximately 50 percent in the average American diet. Protein is increased dramatically to approximately 15 percent in the average American diet to approximately 30 percent. The amount of fat diminishes from 35 percent down to 30 percent and changes to a healthier version of fat.

There’s a lot more room for versatility in a healthy low carb diet.

Just like healthy eating, it helps build lifestyle changes you can maintain. You need carbohydrates for energy, especially if you’re trying to build muscle tissue. Healthy fat helps burn body fat and aids in recovery after a workout. Protein is the building block for muscles, too. Eating a healthier balance of these foods can provide a life where weight loss isn’t a problem. There is evidence that a lower carbohydrate diet forces your body to get energy from body fat. That’s a boost to weight loss.

There are health benefits to a diet lower in carbohydrates.

Paleo diets and keto diets all but eliminate grains. That’s not true of milder forms of low carb diets. No matter what type you choose, they offer many of the same health benefits. It helps to balance your cholesterol by reducing the LDL—the bad cholesterol— and increasing the HDL—the good cholesterol. You’ll stabilize your blood sugar levels, which helps prevent insulin resistance and fat storage.

• Choose the best types of carbs, proteins and fats for your health. Grass fed and free-range organic animal products, healthy fat from avocados and whole eggs, plus healthy carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables provide a healthier, well balanced diet.
• If you eat too few calories from carbs, it can cause headaches, weakness, muscle cramping, constipation or diarrhea, skin rash and even bad breath. Sustainable moderation is always the key.
• The difference between healthy complex carbs and carbs to avoid, simple carbohydrates, is that complex carbs don’t cause spikes in your blood sugar, since they take longer to digest.
• You can start a lower carbohydrate diet without all the fuss. Begin by cutting out sugar and processed products, slowly eliminating other unhealthy foods or higher carb foods as you go.

There might be reasons you can’t make it to the Chino Hills, CA gym to exercise. Car problems, tight schedule and sick child are a few. Unless you’re sick, there’s no reason you can’t exercise at home. Even if you aren’t part of our gym community, you still can get a good workout. There’s no need for fancy equipment. You don’t need any.

Start with body weight workouts.

Body weight exercises require no equipment. If you have a personal trainer, he or she will help you with a workout you can do at home for those emergency days when you can’t make it into the gym. Circuit training or HIIT workouts are excellent ways to add more benefit to the workout. Use squats, lunges, planks and push-ups, for starters if you don’t have help. There’s a wide variety of each type from which to choose.

If equipment adds to your workout, it doesn’t have to cost a fortune or take a lot of space.

I have clients that like the idea of using exercise equipment or they’re used to the workouts that use equipment. If storage is limited, inexpensive strength building equipment like resistance bands can be stored in a drawer. A kettlebell is another easy to store item to build core strength and muscle. You do need space to move freely without hitting anything with it, however. A pull up bar is another easy store inexpensive item. If money is tight, make your own equipment. Plastic milk jugs and detergent bottles can be filled with sand, water or small stones and used for weights. Adjust the amount you put in to adjust the weight.

Sometimes, even working out at home is impossible.

For those busy days, when you leave at the crack of dawn and get home long after the sun sets, working out almost is impossible. That’s when you have to get creative. If you’re at the office, try simple chair exercises like a chair push up. Grab the edge of the chair and push yourself up off the seat keeping your legs either straight out or knees bent at a 90 degree angle. Take a five to ten minutes several times throughout the day to run up and down the stairs or run in place. If you have your own office or a cubicle, do a few jumping jacks to keep your body moving.

• Try alternative workouts and get more work done in the process. Put elbow grease into household jobs, like washing windows or rearranging furniture. Move fast to get an endurance workout.
• Add fun activities as part of your workout. Ride a bike or enjoy dancing the pounds away in the living room. It’s all about getting fitter and healthier so you can enjoy life more. Why not enjoy getting there, too?
• If you do workout at home, make it an appointment. If you wait for the right time, it simply won’t happen. You need to make it a priority.
• No matter where you workout, consistency is the key to success. You can’t workout once and see results. It takes weeks of regular exercise to do that.