OyChicago blog

Insanity, P90X, Biggest Loser, Crossfit… the trends in fitness today are scary. You listen to experts talking about lifting fast heavy weights, and it just irks me. Everyone is different, and there’s no one routine, or diet that will get you fit. Especially as we age, some exercises are just not good for us.

You do not have to exercise like a high school wrestler and snack on baby food to get healthy. You need a plan, and I’m going to help you create one. This is not an ad for a Fit With Krit product, it’s simple steps to live a healthy life.

Steps to a healthier YOU:

1) Buy more vegetables and fruit

I don’t care if they are fresh or frozen—just buy them. These are part of your new snack routine. You will cut them up and bring them with you wherever you go. I like to cut carrots, celery, cucumber, grapes, and apples (if you poor some lemon juice on them they don’t turn brown so fast).

2) Buy protein

Nothing fancy here—lean meats, fish, nuts, almonds, seeds, beans, greek yogurt, cheese… When you eat your vegetables, mix in a protein. If you are traveling, I recommend making your own trail mix. *You have to be careful—a lot of the prepared packages have a ton of salt. I like to mix a lightly salted almond mix with raw peanuts, almonds, cashews and some chocolate (yes, I eat and love chocolate). I’ve recently been into almond butter, placing it on everything.

3) COOK

Recipes are everywhere. There are TV shows, cook books, and this thing called the internet that make cooking very simple. If you want some tips and tricks, shoot me a note.

Stock your house with some of the staples:
- Low sodium chicken broth
- Low sodium soy sauce
- Spices (I’ll devote another column to this)
- Minced garlic (makes it easier)
- Onion, carrots, celery (a lot of recipes start with these ingredients)
- Canola oil and olive oil
- Black beans
- Quinoa
- Mustard & ketchup
- Eggs (I like cage free)
- Lean meats: chicken, beef, fish, turkey, buffalo
- Oatmeal and oats
- Tortillas (wheat, corn, flour)
- Salsa

4) Gym Bag

I use a backpack and always have it ready to go. If you work out at home, put clothes out the night before, if you go to the gym at lunch or after work, have the essentials with you. Even if I have lunch plans, I bring clothes, just in case.

Pack: 
- Clothes (I like shorts with underwear in them, one less item to bring) 
- Water bottle 
- Gym shoes 
- Flip flops 
- Deodorant 
- Lock

I’m not telling you, stop buying exercise DVDs with pretty people on the cover. Some videos are great and you can always skip exercises that hurt your body. The key to long term success: make healthy changes that are sustainable.