Good morning all
Well Christmas is as far away as ever now
All back to work, back to reality, and back into our routines
I absolutely love January in the gym, the atmosphere is electric
Everyone is totally motivated, determined and excited to smash their goals
Unfortunately I see this year after year, and only 20% of these people will still be this enthusiastic after 15th January (proven statistics)
The problem is, people take things to the extreme
They crash diet, after a poor few weeks of eating over the holidays
They throw themselves into exercise, which is usually unrealistic, and something they cannot sustain
They put themselves under a huge amount of pressure, to get huge results in a short space of time
Which again are unrealistic.
Instead of taking baby steps, making small changes to their lifestyle, manageable changes that they can continue with long term
Exercising smartly, eating healthy 80% of the time, and still allowing yourself some of the things you love (not depriving yourself)
And managing stress, all combined will give long lasting fitness, fat loss, health and happiness both of the mind and body
the dreaded ‘diet’ is hugely popular this time of year
And simply because people are desperate and still have the eat less exercise more mindset
Research has improved ten fold over the past 20 years and this has been proven to be more harmful than beneficial in the long term
Weight Loss V’s Fat Loss
Weight loss and fat loss are very different.
Weight loss is based on calories, whereas there is a lot more to fat loss.
Weight loss is simply eat less calories and exercise more for the figure on the scales to come down.
In contrast, not exercising and eating lots of calories will surely make your weight on the scales go up.
All of this is very true.
However to maintain a good, healthy physique and to prevent yo yo dieting forever, then your body actually needs enough good foods to support it in everyday activities as well as the added exercise you may put it through.
Therefore, the number on the scales is unimportant and you should be focusing on losing fat from your body to have maximum health.
A 130lb lady who exercises and eats healthy will look lean and small, whereas a 130lb lady who just diets constantly starving herself with no exercise will look bigger as she will have less lean muscle and more body fat.
Obviously diets work and reducing your calories will eventually enable you to lose weight.
However if not done properly then this weight will be mainly water and muscle loss, not fat. It is very important to maintain muscle mass as the more muscle you have on your body, the more efficient your metabolism works so the more calories you will burn.
Every time you diet by reducing calorie intake, then your body goes into starvation mode slowing down your metabolism and forcing your body to store fat as energy.
Dieting and starving your body in order to lose weight is not sustainable, thus the reason people tend to yo yo diet forever.
Permanent fat loss requires a complete lifestyle change. It is important to overhaul your whole life from stress, sleep, food, exercise, hormones and lots more.
‘Quick fix’ diets will give you instant amazing results, but leave you hungry with low energy and craving which will lead to binging on salty, sweet, sugary and fatty foods.
Most diets work in the short term as they are a big change to your current eating patterns.
The real challenge is making sure the weight stays off long term for a healthy, lean, fit body.
If this is what you’re looking for, then it’s fat loss that you should aim to achieve.
The problem with diets is when you stop them, either due to boredom, failing willpower or even after reaching your target.
The majority of dieters weight will go back on very quickly and a lot of the time even more.
Eating for fat loss is based on eating more of the right foods more frequently such as lean protein, vegetables and low sugar fruits.
Be aware of ‘diet’ products which are usually very misleading too.
When something is low in calories then there is a good chance that other ingredients are used to create a nice taste and these ingredients are usually in the form of sugar.
Long hours of aerobic exercise, again has the same effect as dieting.
You will lose weight on the scales but a lot of muscle too and as I explained earlier for a lean fat free body, muscle is very important. Years of research has now proven that short exercise sessions incorporating weight lifting is the best for fat loss.
So do some more investigating and find a nutrition plan and workout that works for YOU as an individual
Start as you mean to go on, doing it right from the start, and preventing a continual rebound of weight gain every few months
Once you have mastered it, then you will be right for life, only having to tweak things slightly, when you have a holiday or big event coming up
Instead of having to crash diet, make yourself miserable and obviously cause more metabolic damage long term
For my full help and support in your fitness and fat loss journey check out my Shapes Change Programme HERE
Learn to read your body and figure out what works for YOU
Never get bored of eating healthy again, with my yummy healthy recipe book, which has lots of tips and advice too
Keep fit, happy and healthy. Invest in yourself, remember health is wealth
Emma xx