The secret to a successful diet? Treat your body like a child...

People often discuss their diets with me and I continue to tell them

"When it comes to diet and the gym, you need two things: Consistency and persistency!"

When discussing diets specifically I realised that the secret to a successful diet it to "Treat your body like a child..."

1 - Remember you're much smarter than a child...
It may take a while for your body to catch up with your mind. Don't be down-heartened when the results of your diet aren't instant. It's a lifestyle choice, stick at it!

2 - You know what's best for your child...
Most people, in some form of another, know what food is considered "good" or "bad". When it comes to writing food diaries etc people know when they've eaten poorly. If you know the answers, be the responsible adult and do something about it.

3 - A child can have treats, but only on occasion...
Your body needs treats and if you're working hard, it deserves them. Not at regular intervals but, on rare occasions. Provided it doesn't become the norm, then treats are not banned.

4 - Children respect rules and regulations...
Try to let your body have an easy life. Eat at regular intervals and try to eat at the same time most days. Let the body and metabolism know that it's free to burn as much of the calories as it needs, there's more food on the way.

5 - If a child acts inappropriately, you must intervene...
If your body isn't playing ball and you feel you're not losing the weight you deserve from all of your hard work and strict diet then it needs a good ticking off. Do something different with your workouts, try a new regime, class, intensity. Make your body understand you won't settle for second best!
Remember...
When it comes to your diet, you have to be the responsible adult and take responsibility for your action. Be honest with yourself and aware of what you're consuming. Set yourself rules, stick to them and treat your body like a child. After all, no one wants a fat kid!!!

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Set yourself realistic goals...

As a personal trainer I often have to spend time with clients setting tangible goals in order to make sure that we're working together, moving in the same direction and making progress towards where they want to be and not just training for the sake of training. I often find that some of this time is spent reigning in their unrealistic expectations.

Don't get me wrong, it's not just those that are new to the gym who may suffer from this; there are many people that should take a moment to think about their goals and whether or not they match up realistically to their exercise regime.

Here's a few examples...

"I want it yesterday"
In the past year, I've had plenty of people ask for help with things such as a "bikini body" a few weeks before their holiday or significant weight loss just weeks before their wedding. While it's possible to alter the body in just a few weeks, always ask yourself "How long has it taken to get out of shape?" The answer, most likely, if a number of years. Truthfully, it'll probably take you at least this time to get back into shape unless your diet an training both take a dramatic u-turn! Remember, health and fitness is a lifestyle, not a short-term effort.

"I want to look like him/her"
"Him" or "her" is usually a celebrity or a cover model. In which case, getting into shape like that has been their full-time focus in most instances. They've probably applied a lot of time, effort and money into looking this way. Taking advantage of things such as daily personal training sessions, dietitians, personal chefs, multiple training sessions each day day and professional medical and recovery assistance (physiotherapy, massage etc) takes both time and money and probably isn't arranged around a 9-5 job, unlike your gym sessions. Many celebrities have made extreme changes to their body through diet and exercise; but, it's hard to imagine the effort, time and dedication taken to do this. If it's not your full-time job it's probably best (in most cases) to aim your sites at something a little more attainable.

"I need to lose half of me"
I've had some outrageous requests from larger women looking to lose around 50% of their overall body weight, to already toned women suggesting "another stone (14lbs) would do". Either way, it's important to look at your current body make-up, from overall body weight, muscle mass and boy fat percentage before setting yourself any weight loss targets. I wouldn't advise setting the same targets as a friend unless you both have a very similar structure.

"A friend of mine did..."
Men and women alike can be very envious of their friends. Often seeing a friend get "in shape" and receive the accolades of friends and work colleagues is enough to spur other to improve themselves. This is great, but don't use your friends successes as a yard-stick for your own accomplishments for two main reasons. Firstly, your friend might be completely different to you in terms of their original body structure, metabolic rate, muscle mass etc. Therefore, the two of you are likely to react differently to the same exercise regime. The second reason being, some people can be very modest or understated about their successes in weight loss; often attributing it to reasons such as "I joined a gym" or "I started going running". The likelihood is, if they've had a significant change in a very short time they've done a great deal more than this, including a strict focus on their diet.

"I want to lift 'X'..." (following on from the above)
Wait a second. Just make sure that your strength goals are in line with your capabilities. Sure you may like to focus on one area, but don't expect huge strength gains week-on-week. It's a long old process this getting stronger thing. Also, make sure that you're not competing with people of a completely different body weight, the heavier of you should be lifting heavier weights in ratio to your weight difference. I.e: If you're 75kg and your training partner is 105kg and you're both using the same weights, your buddy needs to up their game!

"I'm going to come every day"
Even less realistic (which I've heard is) "Can I come twice in a day?" Yeah go for it... just not yet. If you've had a significant time away from the gym get back in to it a little slower than this. Your body will need longer to repair and if you're going to get anything from your initial gym visits, a lack of rest will negate all of your hard work. You'll be in so much discomfort while lacking results for all f your hard work and inevitably just become disgruntled with exercise and pack it in again. New Year's Resolution syndrome! Start with 2 visits per week initially and soon increase to 3, and then 4. Rome wasn't built in a day and nor will your perfect body be.

"Will protein shakes help?.."
To some degree "yes". But they are a supplement and should be used as just that. A way of supplementing an area of your diet which lacks (in this case, protein). They are NOT a solution nor a replacement for hard work and a good diet. Don't buy a tub of Whey protein and wonder why you don't look like the guy or girl on the front once it's finished. There are a LOT of brands available and many designed for different reasons; if you're unsure seek some professional help before purchasing.

"I used to..."
That's the only part of your sentence that's important. You "USED TO"... but you stopped or something stopped you, so we're starting again. Whenever I hear this, I tell people "I used to be able to put both of my feet in my mouth, but things change!"

Just because you've done it before, doesn't mean you can do it again. Sorry that sounds negative but your 6-pack as a 16 yer old might not get back to how it was now you're 46. Don't get disheartened by it, just move the goal posts a little and set yourself a more realistic goal.


DON'T GET ME WRONG...
We should all still train with purpose and set ourselves targets. Just perhaps, it's time to move the goal posts a little. If you're a 45 year old guy chasing your 6-pack from your teenage years, maybe just concentrate on cutting some body fat and building other areasof your upper body to compensate your new found body fat. If you're from an athletic background, don't aim to beat personal bests set years ago. Instead look to increase your current standard by a few percentage at a time.

I'm not saying that you should sell yourself short in terms of your exercise aspirations. In fact, almost the opposite. If you commit fully to it and give it your all, the human body is capable of almost ANYTHING!Go for it - reach for the stars! Just don't be surprised if you try your hardest and still fall at the clouds. Be proud of what you HAVE achieved!

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Top Tips to avoid cravings

When it comes to food, we ALL have a weakness - mine's sweets stuff; chewy sweets to cakes, I LOVE it!!!

Whether or not we give in to these cravings is often what separates the "in shape" from the "not in shape" people. Sure, willpower plays a big roll in making the right decisions, but often it's a mind control issue.

Here are a few tips to help avoid cravings and control the naughty bit in your mind which has you reaching for the biscuit tin.

Eat...
When you go too long between meals the body becomes "over-hungry" and will inevitably lead to you making rushed and unhealthy food choices. Keep your body fed and satisfied and watch how your food choices become a lot healthier

Drink...
Your mind will often confuse being thirsty and being hungry. Avoid this mix up and stay hydrated all day; not JUST during exercise. When it comes to water, if you have it, you'll drink it. Keep a bottle with you all day EVERY day!

Sleep...
I can't emphasise the importance of sleep enough! A lack of sleep will generally lead to a needy feeling for comfort food and cravings for the bad stuff that you love. Sleep is when we rest and muscles repair, low levels of minerals and hormones are replenished and we improve our alertness for every day life and exercise. A lack of sleep can also lead to increased levels of cortisol (a stress hormone) which is linked to increased storage of body fat around the abdomen area - now who wants that!?...

Eat a protein based breakfast...
Breakfast sets you up for the day. Not only does it replenish lost nutrients from your recent starvation period (sleep) and spark up your metabolism, but it also sets your mind on track for the day. Start with a sugary cereal or similar and watch your food choices for the day deteriorate. Begin your day with a protein based breakfast such as eggs and your body will crave protein all day

Remove temptation...
Go shopping just after eating and you'll be surprised how few of the naughty treats that you fancy. Make a conscientious effort to not pick up any treats. If a packet of cookies mistakenly found its way into your basket, destroy it. It's the only way! If it's there it'll get eaten at some point. If it's ruined and thrown away you'll soon get over it

Don't eat with emotion...
Most people will relate some form of food to emotions. Just think, when you're sad what do you fancy eating? There's probably something that springs to mind. Next time you have an issue make a big effort to not eat snack and stick to your usual daily food intake. If you can kill this habit, emotional eating will soon be a thing of the past. it should be pretty hard anyway now that you don't have treats in the house! Better still, when you're sad or angry go to the gym. Not only will the endorphins make you feel a load better, but you'll be building a new, more healthy emotional habit

Stay busy...
Most people are guilty of boredom eating. Avoid being bored and avoid boredom eating - simple! Try to not be left for long periods of time on your own with food in the house and little to do. If you're working on something you dislike then set yourself small targets and rewards for hitting them such as more sleep, TV time, exercise time, anything but food based treats!

Reward yourself...
The LAST step, if you do all of this, is to give in to temptation (on a planned occasion) and eat what you enjoy eating. This isn't an instant reward and should be scheduled ahead of time so that you have something to aim for should you eat properly all week, like "fat Friday". Eat the food you like but don't go over the top. Try to control portion size and where possible, still opt for the healthier option, i.e: grilled chicken or turkey from the Chinese takeaway rather than battered pork balls

I hope some of these tips can be of use and help stifle those horrible, naughty, mischievous little cravings and make the right choice!!

Make the right choices!! Good Luck!!!

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"How do I lose weight from..." The myth of "spot dieting"

Often members, particularly women, will talk to me about weight loss and their gym regime is having on weight their weight. Without doubt, THE most common question anyone asks me is,

"How do I lose weight from my... (insert word from below)"

- legs
- stomach
- hips
- arms
- anything really!

Problem! Unfortunately you can't REALLY "spot diet" for specific trouble areas of the body. You can improve pretty much every area of your body, but your DNA will account for where you store body fat, and where larger areas of body fat will subside rather than your choices of exercise.

The only other determining factor on body fat storage and body make-up is hormone levels; your hormone levels can have huge effects on areas in which your store body fat. From insulin to cortisol, they all play an important role in monitoring your body's storage and digestion of fats. However, for the purpose of this blog, I'm discussing the impact of specific exercises on body fat reduction/spot dieting.

You can improve, "tone up" and strengthen certain areas of your body through exercise. Likewise, you can look to avoid intensive training on areas which are susceptible to quick growth; but... doing a lot of abdominal work won't help strip down your stomach fat!

If you have areas of the body you want to reduce the body fat on, you will need to reduce your overall body fat and as a result, your "problem area(s)" should improve. It may take longer than other areas, or change may appear minimal as the rest of your body changes alongside it, but it's the only way.

I hear a lot of examples such as "I only want to lose weight from my arms, but I don't want to lose it anywhere else."

Sorry, same answer! It will simply be a case of reducing your overall body fat.

Don't view "fat" as a shameful word. Everyone has fat on their body! From single figure body fat readings to excessive levels of body fat, it's everywhere. So while you might not be viewed as "fat" in general, your body fat WILL need to decrease if you wish to lose fat from your troublesome areas.

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The human body can do wonderful things (my most positive blog yet!)

So, when people say things like...


"I'm big boned" ........... "it's not in my genetics" .......... "I could never do that" or even simply.......... "I could never look that way!"


I think "rubbish!" Sure, we all have our DNA which will ultimately shape our bodies and impact things such as metabolism, body fat storage and bone structure. But, in terms of your overall image, these can all be "over-ridden" if you like, by exercise.


Check out these pictures below for inspiration. What do you notice?...

These two...

Or what about these guys?...

And these?...

Or finally this pair...

That's right - they're the same people on each pair of pictures. Sure, they're celebrities and as such have endless professional help in regards to training, diet and lifestyle management but it goes to show that pretty much anything is possible.

So, while you may not be looking for such drastic transformations, nor have the time and finances to back such efforts, never say "I could never do that!" The human body, in many ways is amazing!

You can achieve anything, it's just a case of how much you want to apply yourself!

Two last comments:

"If you always do the average, you'll always get the average!"

and

"The only thing that stands between a person and what they want in life is the will to try it and the faith to believe it is possible!"

If you want further proof of what the body can do, check out these images... PLEASE be careful if you even try any of these:

extreme contortionist photos.

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"I'm not getting any results?..."

Here's one I hear a lot:

"I go to the gym 'X' times a week, and I'm not getting any results!! How come?.."

Rather than a blog, you could write a book on reasons why you might be lacking significant results, but here are some of the most common reasons why people don't get the results they feel they deserve:

"Variety is the spice of life..."
Have you been going to the gym and doing pretty much the same thing each week or worse still, each session? There you have a problem. No matter how much you sweat at the time, or even how difficult the weights still are you need a change. Change can come in the format of a new gym programme, a new style of training, pushing yourself further in classes, adding resistance in suitable classes (spin and body pump etc), new classes all together or even just a few small tweaks to your current gym programme. For further reading see a previous blog post: "Do it the same but different".

"Lift now, talk later..."
Do you go the the gym with a friend or a group of friends? Or with the purpose of socialising while you're at the gym and then leave and happily boast "I've been at the gym for an hour and a half today!" As you tuck into a treat for all of your hard work? Imagine you have a stopwatch and you only turn it on when you're ACTUALLY exercising. Now be honest, how much of your time at the gym is spent exercising? If it's hugely outweighed by activities other than exercise then this is a problem. Stick in your headphones, buzz around the gym, keep talk to a brief "hello... I best get on" scenario and watch the benefits follow.

"Food glorious food..."
Too many people see a gym membership and attending a class as a green light to eat like food it's going out of fashion. If you wear a heart rate monitor at any point you'll know exactly how hard it is to burn calories and how much effort it takes to create a calorie deficit. The gym is a great way to lose weight, gain muscle and improve your body in the way you want to. But it needs to be complimented by your diet; for both aesthetic reasons (weight loss or gain) and for "fuelling" purposes. If someone gave you a Ferrari and you filled it with Diesel petrol, it would still probably run for a little but not at it's full potential. Your body is just the same.

"I want to lose weight, not lift weights..."
Everyone, repeat EVERYONE should use some form of resistance machines or free weights in their programme. For women who fear the bulky repercussions, fear not, your probably couldn't get "big" if you tried. No matter your goals, lean muscle growth will help you. It's also a great way to improve your every day life offering joint stability, improved posture (if performed correctly), improved metabolism, protection of organs and assisting in every day activities which may require a little strength.

"I just don't see it"
What if you ARE achieving results? How do you know?.. One problem when gauging success is that you see YOU everyday, so will often struggle to see these gradual improvements. Try keeping a weekly picture diary, same place, same time of day, same lighting; and compare images of yourself week on week or month on month. Or, try taking measurements and re-measuring each month. A centimetre here and there may be hard to spot but you can't argue with a tape measure! Last point, don't live and die by the scales. Your body goes through many stages while exercising and your total body weight is not always the most accurate guideline for success. Keep an eye on your weight but don't panic if it's not constantly moving in the direction you want it to.

"One for the top and 4 for anywhere else..."
Is your training specific to your goals? Where did you get your ideas, training structure and choice of exercises from? Do you even have a plan when you enter the gym? If you go to the gym and "just do a bit of everything" or "Jump on whatever machine isn't being used"; or, if you picked up your ideas from watching people or use a programme one of your friends has, then it's unlikely you're going to get the results that you want. Training is a science and if you try to wing it, it probably won't work. Seek advice from a trainer perhaps, have a taster with them or even a few sessions where you can tweak your own sessions and learn more for the future.

"Ah, push it, p-p-push it real good..."
Could you have done one more repetition? Then why didn't you? Sure, when lifting weights, safety can be an issue during the final repetitions (especially for those who train alone). However, time and time again i see people cutting themselves short because they didn't quite fancy pushing themselves. It's essential to make the most of your exercise time. While it's never advisable to constantly train to the point of failure or until you throw up; have you ever made yourself sick through exercise? No? then you probably have a little more to give. You need to change your frame of mind and, as I tell my clients "Your body and muscles will decide when you've had enough - not your head!"

"I'm going to have a rest day..."
Now I love sleep as much as the next sloth and the importance of rest should never be underestimated, especially among regular exercisers. However, there are a lot of people who could perhaps be described as "overly tuned" and will avoid the gym if they have any kind of mild muscle soreness, cold, aches and pains. Basically, if they're not 100% they will "have a rest day." You're body is much stronger than you give it credit for and if you decide to avoid the gym every time you're not quite right or stiff from a previous session, then it's unlikely that you'll progress past a certain point. Don't be afraid to "over train", it's a status that is over used in conversation and very difficult to actually reach. "Over training" once in a while can shock your body and boost your results. Try it this week - I DARE you to over train!

"I'll do anything.. but not that!.."
I once told a client "Your problem is that you want a flat stomach, but you don't WANT to do the work required to get it. Until you WANT to work, you won't get whatever else you want."

The problem is that we live in an instant society where generally, if you have a problem and you have some money you can fix it NOW! The body, in this respect is still very traditional and if you want something impressive, the way to get it is hard work and persistence. If you have a target or an image that you want, you must do EVERYTHING you can to achieve it. Giving it a bit of a go and not being completely honest with yourself in terms of diet and exercise will only do so much. You must be willing to try new things and give your body 100% of your effort. Did you need ALL of your last meal? Did you work as hard as you possibly could have last time you went to the gym? Think about it...

"All the athletes drinks them..."
A final short one, please, please, please don't drink endless sugary sports drinks "like the athletes do" and wonder why you're not losing weight! These drinks are meant for recovery purposes and should not be relied upon for "energy" nor consumed on a regular basis. Don't think of them as "sports drinks", think of them more as a liquid meal.

To summarise...
There are multiple reasons why you might not be making the progress you feel you deserve. The last point is "honesty", if you can honestly, HONESTLY say that none of the above point apply to you in some shape or form and you STILL aren't making any steps int he right direction I'd be very surprised. Be more conscious of your behaviour and remember that your progress isn't just impacted in your gym hour, but is also heavily effected by your every day way of life.

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