Should You Start With Fitness or Nutrition?

So you’ve decided to take charge and change your life.  

You know the foundation of a quality life rests on health and wellness (you know that right?)

You also know that while it’s tempting to go all in tomorrow and start working out twice a day and only eating things you harvest yourself, that you should probably start smaller and build. 

So which do you focus on, your fitness or your nutrition?

Honestly, while both are incredibly important, it really comes down to you.

I’ve got 3 points you should consider (the last one will give you a straight answer):

  1. What is the most important part of this new life of yours?  Is it performance, appearance or general wellness?  Odds are it’s a combination of all of the above, but you need to determine a result that will resonate the most with you (ideally in the short term).  Is that a performance based achievement (something you can do better)?  Is that an appearance based achievement (something you want to look better for)?  Or is it a wellness based achievement (something that will help you live longer and feel better)?
  • Short answer here: If it’s performance based, fitness is your answer.  If it’s appearance based, nutrition is your answer.  If it’s health and wellness, I’m going to give a slight edge to nutrition.  
  • Shorter answer:  To move better, start moving.  To lose weight and/or live longer, eat better.  
  1. In your opinion, which one is worse for you?  If you eat terribly, but you can run around the block pretty well, and you don’t have any major hindrances to your favorite active-ities (Netflix doesn’t count), then you should dial in your nutrition.  On the other hand, if you feel like you eat pretty well, but you groan every time you get off the couch, get your fitness in order first.  
  1. What do you have the most control over?  If you live with a family of people who eat like crap, you’re going to have a hard road unless you can get them all to change (changing multiple lives is much harder than just your own).  In that case, choose fitness.  Carve out some time and get moving.  If, on the other hand, you wake up at 6am and absolutely have obligations until 7pm, with no real windows to workout, then choose nutrition.  
  1. Which do you have more interest in or comfort with?  Do you love to cook (but maybe your biggest influence is Paula Deen)?  Stick with focusing on your nutrition but find a more healthy, paleo type influence.  Or, do you love playing sports, but it’s just been a while?  If that’s the case, find an activity that will get you moving consistently and you will find enjoyable.  

All in all, you really can’t go wrong with either.  For a long, healthy, active life doing the things you love, you should pursue both at some point.  

But the reality is that you need to get one set of habits dialed before you embark on another.  Focus on one of the above.  When it’s “normal” (after at least 90 days), start to work on the other.  

Fight the temptation to do it all.  After all, with this set of decisions, you’re going to have a much, much longer life in which you can implement more and more over the years, so embrace the journey!

Ready to get started on either? Book your No Sweat Intro Here