5 Best Fitness Investments and 4 Ways You Can Save: Episode 31

Do you ever wonder what the best fitness investments are ? Which ones are worth it and which you can save on? One of our Flipping 50 community members did and this episode addresses where to spend and where you can save on a variety of your health and fitness needs. 

Today’s question comes from Linda.

Her question is, “where do I spend the big money for health and fitness? What’s the most important not to compromise on and what is it less important?”

She wants the highest quality supplements but can’t afford her entire wish list of items.

Linda also asked about energy. She’s finding it hard to get up regardless of how well she slept, or how she exercised. Since she moved to a higher altitude this has become a real problem.

I’m going to answer both of Linda’s questions:

1.) What are the best fitness investments on a budget, for supplements, food prep, and home workouts?

2.) What are some potential causes of her fatigue (and how does that relate to Linda’s best investments since fixing that is a priority)

 

Let’s start with fixing fatigue…

If you drag yourself out of bed, go to bed earlier. Sleep need is greater at higher altitudes, so if you’re not waking up naturally that’s a sign your body is craving more sleep.

Are you getting all the micronutrients you need?  B vitamins, vitamin D, and Zinc to name a few are important if you’re experiencing fatigue. Start with this list and see if you’re covering all of your bases. You want to avoid deficiencies in these areas. If you’re not sure, you might consider micronutrient testing to find out.

Other things to consider:

  • Hydration
  • Vitamin D
  • Need for carbohydrate may be slightly increased at higher altitudes and higher altitudes can suppress the appetite, so you can be operating on less than you need. If you’ve not adjusted any nutrition since moving, first look at hydration, and get a high quality multivitamin.
  • Iron storage can be decreased in athletes who begin training at higher altitude. Check your iron levels. Ask for them specifically. You can order labs yourself (I do periodically to know I’m on track).

Find small ways you can tweak your cooking and meals that can increase energy through hormone balance. There are some delicious recipes inside my friend Magdalena’s newest book. They’re both beautiful and delicious.

Best Fitness Investments: The Inside Job

It’s not uncommon to see younger women seek exercise without paying attention to the importance of nutrition, rest, and overall health. Thankfully we get older and wiser! You have to have the best energy in the tank to start with in order for exercise to do what you want it to do. This has always been an integrated game. That’s amplified in midlife and beyond. If you’re in it for the long game, it starts inside.

My top recommendations:

A high quality protein supplement is a part of success for 99% of the women I work with, but it must be free of toxins and sugars and protein sources that could interfere with you goals. Avoid soy, casein, eggs, and test dairy before you use whey to see how you do. If you do include whey, have it pre or post exercise but use other options at other times of day. Read more about protein options I offer that are clean and free of those hidden ingredients that sabotage you. What may feel like a savings, might end up being “cheap” and cost you results and energy. Is it time to upgrade what you put in your body?

High quality multivitamin– An intelligent multivitamin is taken in more than one setting a day for improved absorption and based on the most common deficiencies today. I prefer a delayed release multi taken morning and night.

Buy high quality omega 3 with D–It should be third party tested, and not rancid (you can test with a pin prick – do it outdoors).

Buy high quality oils that aren’t rancid (many are). My favorite avocado oil comes from Ava Jane’s Kitchen.  Many of the olive oils available on the shelves are not the quality we think and since they’re not the ideal at high temps anyway, avocado oil is a staple in my kitchen.

Big FLIP: Invest in the things you do every day.

The things we do all the time matter most. From the vitamins you take, to the water you drink and bathe in, to the oil you use to cook and use in dressings, these daily things matter to your health and therefore your energy. Ironically, we often splurge instead on vacations, or activities we do on vacations. We have it backward!

Daily best fitness investments include: protein, multivitamin, additional supplements like omega 3 with D, magnesium* and cooking oils. One more thing you do daily and for almost a third of your life is sleep. If you don’t love going to bed, sleep well, or wake refreshed, spending money on quality of sleep is worth a  a big investment. It could change your days.

(Magnesium was not mentioned above, but it’s a common micronutrient deficiency and it is. key for the Flipping 50 program participants. When used appropriately it can increase sleep and decrease constipation, so you want to move your body more!)

best fitness investmentsSmall Best Fitness Investments: Big Returns

Build a gym at home on a budget

  • Dumbbells: Any weights will do: get a set of light, moderate, and heavy weights that result in fatigue at 20+ reps, 15 reps, and 10 or fewer reps.
  • Exercise ball: just about any ball will do – 65 cm or 55cm if you’re under 5 ft. 2 in.
  • Bands or Tubing: If you’re using bands (for Knee-Friendly lower body exercises), get good ones. I link to those on my resource page.
  • Mat: Any mat will do but there is a difference. A Manduka mat is the Rolls Royce of mats. If you’re using it for standing yoga and kneeling regularly, invest.

One of the biggest aha moments comes when you look around and realize you’ve got a closet of DVD’s, access to thousands of random YouTube videos, piles of Shape Magazines and you’re not in great shape.

It’s not the tools: it’s what you do with them.

The Best Fitness Investments: What Matters Most

Invest in learning what your body needs now,  your exercise needs, and instruction that’s targeted at where you are right now. That investment includes your time, energy, and assessing your hormone status (easily assessed from a signs and symptoms by a Flipping 50 specialist), and your physical goals and status. One of the best fitness investments you’ll make is in programming that treats you as unique.

3 coaching options to get you started:

  1. 5 Day Flip – 5 short videos 5 days in a row for a simple week’s worth of energy boosting exercising. Let me prove it to you, you do have time. It takes so little to feel so good.
  2. Knee-Friendly 5 Day Flip  – if your joints need a little TLC, this is it. No squats, lunges, or high impact exercise, but the exercise still has high impact on your results! Smart, safe, sane exercise.
  3. The Rolls Royce of support is private coaching. You. Me. Your hormone-balancing exercise, exercise nutrition, lifestyle, custom made for you, on your time, addressing all the details of your schedule and overcoming obstacles instead of putting a band-aid on them. Contact Debra directly to apply. Limited availability.

psst. coming soon for subscribers … virtual Flipping 50 retreat.

best fitness investmentsThe Key Flip of the Day:

Investing in yourself and your health will save you time, energy, and money in the long run!

 

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