Healthy Eating Habits

Having a busy schedule can make it challenging to achieve your fitness goals and stay healthy. When we’re busy, what is the first thing to go? Ourselves. We stop taking care of ourselves. We sleep less, we stop exercising, and we lose sight of what we’re eating. That combination over time not only makes you feel kinda blah but it also increases our risk for diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. If we’re busy reaching our career goals, there’s really no time to be dealing with illness. So if you’re busy and have lost your way in terms of health and fitness, an online personal trainer and nutrition coach may be able to help you turn it around.

What is an online personal trainer?

A personal trainer who works with you remotely. So instead of meeting you at the gym 2-3 times a week, they provide you with a custom workout plan that you can take to the gym (or do at home or even at your office). They factor in your goals, your schedule, and equipment you have available to you. Many trainers have a library of instructional videos that they pull from and share with you so you know what you should be doing. And you often have the option to take video and send it to your trainer to get feedback on your form or set up a video call to go over form live together.

What should you look for in an online personal trainer?

Certifications!

I think certifications are huge. There are so many, and they can all vary. But for the most part, they teach a lot of the same basic information. Sadly, the fitness industry doesn’t have a lot of regulation which is scary in my opinion. Anyone can call themselves a personal trainer or nutritionist (depending where you live) without any sort of background. Imagine if anyone could call themselves a nurse, doctor, or lawyer. Kinda scary to think about. There’s a lot that goes into understanding exercise and nutrition that gets overlooked. If you need to modify an exercise or need to avoid working an area that has an injury, a trainer with an exercise background can do that and help you avoid further injury which is the real benefit of working with a knowledgeable trainer. I am a certified exercise physiologist through the American College of Sports Medicine which requires a bachelors degree in exercise science/kinesiology to even sit for the exam.

Bonus: find a trainer with education and background in exercise and behavior change. I’m all for quality, and you deserve the best. Get a highly trained professional. Nutrition is the extra extra bonus because you can’t get those results with a poor diet. Look for someone with an educational background in nutrition and some nutrition certifications. Also know that there are big differences between what a nutritionist or nutrition coach can do vs a registered dietitian.

Personable and understanding.

So depending on your own personality, you’ll want to find a match. I think it’s important to have a trainer that’s personable and understanding. Meaning they won’t get on your ass for a missed workout but will want to understand why you missed your workout. They’ll give you tough love when needed but are mostly there to help you achieve your goals. They should be nice and approachable. You shouldn’t be scared to reach out to your trainer.

Available and responsive.

Your trainer should be there for you. Not 24/7 because we have to have limits too. But they should let you know upfront how frequent contact will be, what kind of contact (email, phone, text, video, social media messaging) and how much time to give them when responding back to you. If you’re trainer never interacts with you or responds back to you, you need to look for another one.

5 Online Personal Trainer Benefits as a Busy Professional

Support and Accountability.

I hear it a lot, why pay for a trainer when there are tons of free plans and information out there. My response is always “how’s that been working for you?” If well, then you probably don’t need a trainer. If not well, it wouldn’t hurt to investigate. The main thing that’s missing with free information is accountability and support. It’s easy to quit doing something when no one’s watching. But a trainer will keep you going by providing support when others in your circle don’t and keep you motivated.

We don’t like to let each other down. Your trainer will check in on you and make sure you’re doing what you said you would. Those extra eyes on you (in a loving way) can really help you reach your goals. And the best part: your trainer won’t judge if you miss workouts. But you have to be honest with yourself and with her. Maybe there’s something in your life that we missed but knowing what’s going on can help us change your plan to fit your life better.

You can do your workouts on your own time.

One of the big advantages to having an online personal trainer is doing workouts on your schedule. You may have weeks where you have to workout in the morning. You’ll have times when you can workout over lunch or in the evening. Unfortunately, your trainer may only be available in the morning. So online training gives you move flexibility to get your workouts in and not use work as an excuse. You’ll also have a plan that you can follow while you’re out of town which will help you keep to your exercise habit.

Workout plans that fit your schedule.

Whether you workout at home, in your office, or at the gym, an online personal trainer can create a plan that works for you and your schedule. Say you only have 30 minutes to dedicate to training at a time, your trainer can give you a 30 minute workout which will save you from having to try and find an hour or leaving a fitness class early. Perhaps you have a week where you need shorter or longer workouts, or your kid is sick, your trainer can accommodate that because they’re focused on your own specific goals, needs and schedule.

Build a healthy exercise habit (and nutrition too if they’re qualified).

You know I love me some habits. Because these are the things that keep fitness and a healthy lifestyle going long term (read: for life). Your trainer can help you create habits, start you off small, and get you to your goals. I’m big on baby steps and getting you from where you are to where you want to be without dedicating your life to it or crashing and burning after week 1 from too intense workouts and too strict of an eating plan. I might be biased in my beliefs (because of my Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification) that habit-based nutrition is tons better than a meal plan that you won’t follow. Let’s create habits that last for life and no more of this quick fix stuff.

Cost effective.

While not free, you can expect to pay less than meeting with an in person trainer. For in person training you can expect to pay $30-100+ per training session. If you meet with a trainer 3 times a week for a month, you’re looking at roughly $360-1200+ a month. And that’s not even including nutrition coaching. With online training you can expect to pay anywhere from $100-300+ per month depending on the trainer and if you have live video sessions. So you could add on some nutrition coaching and not break the bank! Don’t worry though, you’ll still receive high quality training and results. The only difference is we aren’t with you in person.

A note: I personally feel an online trainer works best for those who have had experience exercising. If you’ve never lifted a weight or performed a pushup before, I highly recommend meeting with a trainer in person or attending some fitness classes to get feedback from the instructor on your form. Additionally, those that benefit from an online trainer have a little bit of self-motivation, enjoy working out on their own, travel often, or are looking for a quality plan to follow at home or at the gym. And let’s just talk about how special you feel when someone works with you one on one to achieve your goals. We all love attention.

There are programs and apps out there that trainers use that keep accountability and engagement high, just as if you were meeting with a trainer in person. Your trainer will be able to know if you’re doing your workouts, but it’s still on you to be honest with yourself and your trainer.

Ready to work with a trainer online? You’re in luck! I offer exercise only training and exercise and nutrition coaching packages to get you fit on your busy schedule. Get all the support and accountability you need to succeed.  Schedule a free consultation today to determine if we’d be a fit working together!