Pumps Fitness: Beginner’s Guide to Fitness

Pumps-Fitness-Beginners-Guide-to-FitnessYou look in the mirror and wonder to yourself: How did I let myself go this far?

Whether you are brand new to fitness, or you’ve simply fallen out of shape recently, here is the quick beginner’s guide to get you back on track quickly. Change your in-front-of-the-mirror thought bubble to: Wow, I’m looking amazing! by reading on and taking the action steps below.

Start with Motivation
Why do you want to get fit again? There must be a reason that you desire to change your body at this time in your life. Think about it until you have a very clear, very specific reason.

There is no wrong answer here. We all have our own personal motivators for wanting to achieve our best selves. What’s ultimately important is that your reason is specific and powerful to you.

Once you’ve determined what your motivation is, write it down where you can see it every day. Think about it. Focus on it. Don’t ever let go of it.

Work on Education
You need to eat right and workout smart in order to quickly achieve your goal body. Do you know how to do this? Are you sure?

While there is more information on fitness available to us today than ever before, all of the information noise often gets in the way more than it helps. Don’t expect to know exactly how to get into shape by yourself.

A successful body transformation plan should be made by a fitness professional, like myself. I’ll take your personal information into account and will answer any and all questions to ensure your success.

Seek out Support
It’s time to have an honest and vulnerable conversation with the people in your life who matter the most. Let them know how far you’ve let yourself go. Let them know what your goal is. Let them know why this matters so much to you.

Your success rate depends heavily on the support system that you build around yourself as you begin to implement healthy lifestyle changes.

It’s very possible that you’ll find one or more people in your life who are threatened by your desire to improve your body. While this can be upsetting, try to approach it with understanding. The best scenario would be them joining you.

Please feel free to call or email me to get started on your body transformation. Let me be your support system!

Testimonial
"... one day a friend suggested I try Pilates and that was it! For the first time in my adult life I felt relief. I felt strong again. I finally had an outlet that I could push myself in a safe way. I feel very blessed to have found my Pumps family. It's not just my trainer who is full of knowledge which she shares every session, or our fearless leaders Ian and Michelle who make sure our gym is clean, cool and a positive environment, but it's the people that surround me while training that share their stories, lives and laughs." -Stephanie

Future You
Have you ever stopped to consider what your life would be like today if one year ago you had become one of my clients and had started your body transformation journey? Wouldn’t it be great if you could snap your fingers make that a reality? While you can’t turn back the hands of time, you CAN begin TODAY, and in 12 months the future you will thank you for it.

Italian Meatball Soup>
Most Italian Meatball Soup recipes contain crusty bread and orzo pasta in addition to the meatballs and veggies, so in order to ensure your best fitness results we’ve left those high-calorie, high-carb ingredients out of this delicious recipe. Instead we’ve filled this comforting soup with wholesome ingredients like sweet potato, chickpeas, kale, tomatoes and onion. Serve hot and enjoy!

Servings: 10

Courtesy of RealHealthyRecipes.com

Here’s what you need...

  • 1 lb loose Italian sausage
  • 1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
  • 2 Tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 2 yellow onions, diced
  • 1 Tablespoon garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • ½ cup dry white wine
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes in juice
  • 1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 1 (5 oz) package baby kale

Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. Form the sausage into 40 small meatballs using about a teaspoon of sausage per meatball. Place the meatballs on one of the prepared baking sheets and bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.
  3. In a medium bowl toss the diced sweet potato with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Spread the sweet potato over the remaining baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, until tender.
  4. Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium-low heat. Add the onions, garlic, Italian seasoning, sea salt and red pepper flakes. Partially cover and cook for 10 minutes, until the onions are soft. Increase the heat to high.
  5. Deglaze the pot with the wine and cook until evaporated. Stir in the broth, tomatoes and sweet potato and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, 8-12 minutes.
  6. Stir in the meatballs, chickpeas and the kale until wilted. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Enjoy!

Nutritional Analysis:
One serving equals: 397 calories, 19g fat, 26g carbohydrate, 705mg sodium, 7g sugar, 9g fiber, and 20g protein.

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