10 Simple Steps To Weight Loss Success…
Many people that come to Potential PT are pretty desperate to finally wave goodbye to stubborn fat. They have battled with their weight (sometimes for years), attempting slimming clubs, gyms, fitness apps, crash diets and crazy wonder pills.
Some get results, maybe lose a few pounds but nothing seems to ‘stick’. It’s demoralising to fail and often leaves you further away from the body you long to achieve. But for all of your efforts, no matter what you seem to try you just can’t seem to find a programme that works for you and shift those stubborn pounds!
In this article I am going to help you understand how to eliminate that stubborn and unwanted body fat situated around problem areas like the tummy, bottom, thighs and arms. These can often be the hardest and most frustrating areas of our bodies to shred fat and can have a huge effect on our self-confidence.
“Why Can’t I lose Weight?”
How old are you? Sorry, I know that’s a rude question but seriously, age really does have an effect on our metabolism, which can therefore make it much easier to gain weight. As we get older our lean muscle mass can go down by as much as 8% per year if you are not following some kind of active lifestyle. This reduction in muscle (that requires energy) lowers our metabolism and the rate that your body will burn fat.
Are you emotionally lead with your food choices? I was brought up in an ‘eat on any occasion’ kinda family. When you’re happy you eat, when you’re sad you eat, when you celebrate you eat, if you go out at the weekend you eat!
Food is as addictive as a drug and we often slip into habits based on how we feel mentally. Many people justify having a glass of wine or packet of sweets by the fact that they have had a hard day, or a good day, or it’s Dave in Accounts’ birthday… The fact is there will always be an excuse because you will always find one to justify your actions.
Many people have at least a basic knowledge of what food is good for them and what is not. You know KFC is bad and you know that steamed veg are good. But that doesn’t seem to have an effect on our decision making when we are faced with a challenging time. We tend to eat with our emotions.
Do you crave something sweet? An overwhelming craving for chocolate or the need for something sweet to eat after a savoury meal are both signs that you are caught in the ‘sugar trap’! But do not worry; I can get you out 😉
Ever noticed if you start the day with a bad decision it can have an affect on your food cravings for the rest of the day? That biscuit at 10am made your blood sugar levels spike up and then crash, causing cravings for sweet food and the cycle repeats. When your blood sugar is balanced you are at an optimum fat burning zone and your hunger will be kept at bay.
How much do you sleep? Yes I know that you are ‘fine’ on five hours’ sleep and I understand that we are all busy and have a lot to get done. Studies have shown that on days where participants were tired they consumed an average of 2,500 calories, obviously to try and get their energy up. The efficiency of your body is far greater when you have rested well; you will perform far better in everything that you do even day-to-day, resulting in a higher energy expenditure (calorie burn).
Do you deprive yourself? I want you to close your eyes and imagine your favourite food, the more calorific the better. Now I want you to ask yourself “Am I able or willing to give that up for the rest of my life?”
If the answer is “Yes”, fantastic! I envy you, because I am not that person.
I have never hidden the fact that I love a glass of wine, plus being a trained chef I love to cook, and having a 7-year-old boy I also occasionally partake in particularly terrible fast food restaurants.
The difference is balance and honesty with yourself. If you have worked hard all week then there is no reason why you can’t have some indulgence on your treat day….but you have to earn it!!
Don’t go in all guns blazing declaring that you have given up carbs/sugar/alcohol/takeaways/{INSERT HERE} for the rest of your life, because is that realistically going to happen? Maybe 2-3 weeks max and then what happens? You slip back to your old ways or you fall horrifically off the wagon with a MEGA binge that leaves you feeling crap about yourself.
Coffee, Diet Coke, Tea, Wine, Juice….. where’s the H2O? It is VERY rare that a new client comes to us with their hydration levels within the recommended healthy range. So here is a little head start for you…. drink more water now!!
We are made us of around 50% water, it is literally everywhere, and the entire functionality of our body is dependant on our hydration levels. As little as 2% dehydration can prohibit fat burn and guess what the symptom of this stage is? Thirst!
How many times throughout the day do you feel thirsty? If you do, it is very likely that your body is not doing what you want it to.
Or I could put it in another way… drink more water, or give up chocolate? Which one takes more willpower and which would you prefer to do?
Do You Skip Meals? Skipping breakfast in the morning because you don’t have the time, too busy feeding the kids to have lunch, worried eating after 6pm will make you gain weight…sound familiar?
One thing we can promise you is that skipping meals WILL NOT help you lose weight! Deprivation on the body is one of the worst things you can do to aid weight loss. Your body is a very clever machine but it doesn’t think in the same way you may imagine it does. If you imagine that you were stranded in the desert with no food, your body would start to reserve everything it can and to put it very simply: fat is unused energy, muscle requires energy. Which one would you lose first? Exactly. You would hold on to the fat as a resource because you don’t know when your next meal is coming. Very clever body. BUT when you skip meals it will respond in exactly the same way; it thinks it’s helping you!
Are you stressed out? Most of us are pretty stressed to be fair. It’s the pace of life nowadays but I am sitting here in my profession witnessing the direct results of long-term stress on the body and it isn’t great.
The difference is those who actively participate in activities that help them chill out have a way of managing their stress levels.
Do you ever have time to yourself to just chill or do something that makes you happy?
It’s easy to lose the balance but with stress being one of the leading causes of all kinds of serious health conditions in the UK it’s not simply a matter of accepting that this is the way life has to be. It doesn’t. There is always time that can be found because at the end of the day there are a lot of things in life to be grateful for, so you don’t want to miss them.
Is your shopping trolley full of diet products? Extra extra light cheese, Diet Coke, Muller Light yoghurts, sweeteners, breakfast bars, branded ready meals, skimmed milk…recognise any of these?
These products are full of artificial preservatives and words I can’t even pronounce. Many low fat products actually contain MORE sugar than the ‘full fat’ version and have had most of the ‘good’ fats stripped out of them making them pretty much nutritionally redundant.
Don’t be fooled by buzzwords like ‘light’, ‘diet’, ‘multi-seed’ or my favourite ‘lite’…RIDICULOUS.
Even the cheap diet drinks and shakes are packed full of sugar and more long words, holding very little nutritional value and – in my opinion – taste.
If any of these are you then please do not feel like you have failed. With so much information flying around out there it’s hard to know what is right and wrong these days.
So now I am going to provide you with the ultimate guide to shifting stubborn fat and sticking to a programme for the long haul!
I am not making any revolutionary claims here, this is basic healthy living and balance and will help you to finally enjoy food and get the results you want!
Ultimate Fat Melting Tips
- DRINK WATER: Aim for 2.5-3 litres every day. Yes, I know that seems impossible but it really isn’t and you will get used to it. Just schedule extra time for loo breaks in the first few weeks! Keep a 500ml bottle at your desk and fill it five times throughout the day.
- SLEEP: Aim to get between 7-8 hours on a regular basis. Try to be in bed before 11pm and reduce your caffeine intake in the evenings for a better quality night’s sleep.
- REDUCE YOUR CARBS: Consuming too much will provide your body with energy in excessive amounts and if not used (if you are not burning off what you are putting in) it will be converted to glycogen and stored as fat. Fibre helps you to feel fuller for longer and include bran cereals, porridge oats and different types of beans. Increase your protein intake with, meat, fish, cheese, tofu, beans, lentils, yogurt, nuts, and seeds. REMEMBER: EAT BY THE RULE OF FIST, FIST, THUMB! (1 fist of Carbohydrates, 1 fist of Protein and 1 thumb of fat)
- DON’T BE SCARED OF FAT: Healthy fats, unsaturated fats, are often underutilised when trying to shed body fat. Fats take longer to break down in your stomach and also assist your body in controlling blood-sugar levels. This helps to leave you satisfied. A small amount of fat is required for essential processes by our bodies. Foods rich in healthy fats include avocados, fish oils, nuts and seeds, coconut oil, and meat – quality and source dependant.
- EAT SNACKS: I want you to keep your blood sugar balanced all day long; if you feel hungry then your blood sugars will have dropped. So it’s easy, eat smaller meals and regular healthy snacks to keep hunger at bay. I recommend that. If this is not sustainable for you then I would recommend that you use a natural supplement such as Purition to replace 1-2 (never more) of your meals or snacks throughout the day. I have personally used this product and so have many of my clients and the weight loss results I have experienced have been incredible.
- GIVE IT SOME MUSCLE: Ladies especially, do not be scared of building lean muscle! You will not get ‘bulky’ and do not even offend a body builder by saying you could end up looking like Arnie accidently. Lifting weights and building strength and muscles mass will help you tone up those wobbly areas, reduce risk of future injury, slow down or stop muscle loss and turn you into a fat burning machine! Your muscles require energy (calories) to function daily so you will need to eat more as you lose weight and gain lean muscle.
- HAVE SOME BLOODY FUN! If you get some form of exercise every day, you are laughing. Not all exercise has to be gruelling and painful. The more active you are in your social life reduces the hours you need to spend ‘exercising’ the fat away. Get on your bike, hire a kayak, go rock climbing, swim in the sea or even do something you used to love as a kid. I don’t care what it is – just get off your backside and go do something!
- STICK WITH IT: For a minimum of 12 weeks to see noticeable changes in the way you look and feel, there is no quick fix I’m afraid. If there were we wouldn’t have this growing problem. It takes a significant amount of time to create bad habits and bad health, so you must allow some time to restore it and install lifetime habits that will lead you to the body and health you have always dreamed of having. In the grand scheme of things it’s three months of your life, that’s it.
- CHILL THE HELL OUT: This section also ties in with point #7 ‘HAVE SOME BLOODY FUN’. Everyone is different and has a different way of finding relaxation. Personally I love being by water and find it very calming, when I do make the time I curse myself for not making the time to do it enough! We offer Meditation and Yoga at Potential PT which really help some of our clients put the time aside to take a breath, whereas others like to attend a boxing session to clear their mind!
- GET OUT OF THE DIET MINDSET: If you choose to take my advice then you will need to repeat after me:
“I {INSERT YOUR NAME}, PROMISE TO REMOVE THE WORD DIET FROM MY VOCABULARY (ALONG WITH LITE).
I AM NOT ON A DIET AND NOR WILL I DEPRIVE MYSELF OF ANYTHING.
I UNDERSTAND THAT BY INTRODUCING SMALL LIFESTYLE CHANGES I CAN ACHIEVE THE BODY AND HEALTH THAT WILL MAKE ME FEEL HAPPY AND CONFIDENT ABOUT MYSELF FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.
THIS IS NOT A DIET.
THIS IS A BALANCED AND HEALTHY WAY OF LIFE THAT ALLOWS ME TO ENJOY THE THINGS I LOVE IN LIFE”
So to clarify, my aim is to help you abolish unwanted fat, and build a lean and toned figure that you can maintain for the rest of your life – and still have a life!
If you have any questions or want advice about anything in this article please don’t hesitate to contact me. The sooner you pinpoint your problem areas the sooner you can start to find sneaky ninja ways to get around them.
If you are a local resident I would love to invite you down to my private training studio for a free health & fitness consultation and goal setting review.
We can sit down, talk about your current situation and where you see yourself in 12 weeks’ time. I can advise you of the best ways to achieve this, show you around the studio and tell you a little more about what our tailored programmes include.
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