Over time our bodies are constantly changing. College is one of those times where the body has to get use to a new way of living. College is a period of fast food, drinking, no sleep and a ton of stress for many people. In return our bodies will often respond by storing more fat. Hence the “freshman 15” we all fear.
After college, Katie Dunlop found herself overweight and unhappy with her body health. She wasn’t happy with how bad she felt physically and emotionally. She knew it had to change!
Katie went on to find her path to fitness. Yet she did not make it off on her journey alone. She began an online community to share her experience with. It is called LSF or Love Sweat Fitness. “The LSF community is all about balance! I talk about a “Green Juice Now, Champagne Later” mindset. Nothing in the community is about restricting yourself. It’s about creating a new lifestyle that allows you to actually enjoy working out and eating well. All my workouts are no equipment required and can be done anywhere. I feel like that eliminates so many challenges right off the bat.”
Mindset
Keeping the right mindset is important to obtaining optimal fitness. “You have to want to make changes for the right reasons. Don’t do it for someone else. Don’t do it to be “skinny” or what you think society says you should look like. Make healthy choices because YOU will feel better and love yourself as a result. When you get into that mindset, it becomes so much easier to reach your goals,” Katie says. Having that mindset makes it easier to stay motivated.
It’s motivation that drives you to stay on track and have success with your lifestyle change. Yet sometimes people struggle to stay motivated. “Motivation is without a doubt the most common challenge for so many people. Many wonder how to stay on track and keep making the best choices. That is a huge reason I created Love Sweat Fitness, to give people a plan that they can follow and enjoy doing it! For me it’s about making health and fitness fun and approachable for anyone. Sharing workouts, meal plans and motivation through my social media is what delivers the biggest impact for so many women,” Katie explains.
Exercises
Katie creates workout routines and shares them with the world through her Youtube videos. These workouts don’t need equipment and are easy to do in any setting. The videos are typically about five minutes and shows a variety of exercises. You can incorporate the videos your own routines. You could also choose different videos to put together a routine. The videos are fun and high energy. She definitely motivates you to want to get fit.
What three pieces of fitness equipment should everyone have?
You really don’t need any! Just do my YouTube workouts and you are good to go!
In your opinion, what are the most overrated and underrated exercises?
Overrated would definitely be standard crunches. They just don’t give you enough bang for your buck. Underrated would be deadlifts, they are an amazing exercise to work multiple key areas in one!
Which exercise do you most commonly see people performing improperly?
Push ups! Most people do not position their hands correctly. Keep them a little wider than shoulder width. Slightly rotate your thumbs in and spread your fingers wide. Don’t be afraid to do them on your knees to build strength.
Dieting
Katie also offers dieting lifestyle change tips to her followers. Achieving health is much more than just exercising. You have to work to change your whole lifestyle. Katie offers tips to support just that.
What are your go-to snacks when you’re on the run?
Almonds, apple + nut butter and protein smoothies.
Do you have any tips for helping people to get started with eating smart and clean?
Start small! Make little healthy swaps that work for you, build them into a new healthy eating routine. Don’t try to change everything at once, most people can’t handle that big of a change.
Do you prescribe to a particular philosophy on diet?
Everyone has individual needs for their body, so I don’t believe in a one size fits all. I personally eat on a non-processed food, high protein, whole foods nutrition plan. Sticking to one of those philosophies is way too limiting!
Katie Dunlop
SnapChat: lovesweatandfit
