Looking for motivation to get in shape for the Army Combat Fitness Test? I’ve got you covered! Swing into the New Year by building better habits with this free ACFT training guide and tips to creating a healthier, happier life.
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Creating a healthier, happier you is not as simple as subbing a burger for a large salad. In fact, depriving yourself of those indulgences can often lead to a never-ending vicious cycle of deprivation and binging.
This article is going to be short, sweet, and straight to the point on low hanging fruit to adding nutritious elements to your overall life this New Year.
Don’t be fooled, this is not a New Year’s resolution type post; because these tips and tricks can be implemented any time of the year. And if you don’t stick to them every waking moment, then it’s really no sweat.
This is a marathon, not a race!
More Veggies and Fruits, please!
Sometimes I find it hard to add more fruits and veggies, especially when I get in a junk food rut. Y’all know what I’m talking about, especially during the holiday season and monthly visits from Aunt Flo!
An easy way to incorporate these nutritious foods into your daily diet are fruit and veggie trays. Having pre-sliced fruit and veggies in the fridge just makes it more attainable to hit the golden fiber intake.
I recently started doing this, because I found that the convenience of having these foods already ready-to-nibble on throughout the day made it more likely that I would eat it. It sounds ridiculous, but it works! I’ve found myself snacking more on broccoli and carrots since adding this to my fridge.
Plus you can even bring one to work and add it to the breakroom fridge there. Starting a healthier snacking trend.
Even just a few extra pieces of fruit and veggies is better than none at all, which is the whole premise of this article…baby steps, my friends.
Get Up and Move!
This one is a no brainer and it has been said before, but move that body and move it often! Modern technological advances and just the way the world works now has resulted in more sedentary lives of human beings.
Take a break during the work day and go for a quick 5 minute walk! Don’t have the space for a walk or the weather is legit hazardous outside? No problem! Do some squats, push-ups, tricep dips on your chair, whatever it takes to get your blood pumping for a little bit.
I’m not asking you to build up a sweat, but like I said: some movement is better than none at all.
Build a short walk into your daily routine and make it a family affair. My kids love post dinner walks and its a great way to bond with your family.
Reduce Screen Time
Have you enabled that screen time monitoring feature on your phone? I have…and it’s insane just how much time I spend in front of my phone -_- I have a personal goal to reduce my screen time because I LOVE seeing the weekly 
report showing that I have reduced my screen time since last week’s report.
I’ll admit that I’m not perfect and it doesn’t always go down, but this feature gives me more motivation to be present in real life.
Plus, more screen time usually equates to social media usage. Social media usage has more likelihood of resulting in depression, anxiety, and/or other mood disorders. So ditch Facebook or Instagram for more productive hobbies.
Or designate certain time periods that you can be on your phone and try your best to stick to it.
If you build a habit out of staying off your phone during a specific timeframe, it’s less like deprivation and more like creating a schedule.
Get Some Sleep
Another no brainer coming at ya! Although this can be harder to attain than any of the other items listed above.
It’s either a busy schedule, anxious thoughts, or just the inability to achieve restorative sleep no matter how long we snooze.
To help get yourself in bed at a decent time, create a wind down routine. Something that you will actually look forward to doing at the end of the night to wrap things up for your day.
By incorporating this into your schedule, you’re more likely to stick to it.
Your wind down routine could look something like this:
- Restricting screen time an hour before bed time.
- A hot shower to relax your body before you snuggle under the sheets.
- Brewing some hot chamomile tea (or peppermint to help digestion) and sipping that an hour before bed.
- Writing a list of your to-dos for the next day (this usually helps calm an anxious mind)
- Writing in a bullet journal just before bed.
- Taking magnesium glycinate an hour before bed (this usually helps with anxiety)
Whatever you decide to do before bedtime, try to keep self care in mind. It should be something you enjoy and find relaxing without disturbing your circadian rhythm.
Stick to a strength training program
If you’re in the Army, then you already know there is a new fitness test that is about to become for record in the upcoming months.
While I have other workout guides that I’ve released, the one I’m about to share with you is the one I’ve created for myself using the tools and guidance from paid programs that I’ve completed in the past and resources on how to train for this test around the web.
The equipment you’ll need for this training plan is: dumbbells or kettlebells, barbell and/or hex bar, pull-up bar and resistance bands. Most of the exercises you can substitute dumbbells for the weight you lift.
As we all know with this test, you have to work with what you got.
I’ve also included some free pages out of my own handcrafted Fitness Planner. You can get the full version of my fitness planner on Amazon or purchase the digital download version from Etsy right here.
With these pages, you’ll get a weekly fitness and nutrition tracker along with a fitness progress page to see how your goals are coming along.
If you love these particular free resources, follow me and tag me on Instagram @memoirsofanarmymama.
Please be aware there is a little bit of a lag from the time you confirm your subscription and the delivery email with the plans. When testing it out, it took me a few minutes for it to arrive in my inbox. I’m not sure why this happens, but I promise the email will make it through!
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