Keep reading if you want to learn the 1 secret weight loss tip that most personal trainers, boot camps, and programs don’t want you to know about, but first I want to tell you a quick story.
Believe it or not I struggle with my weight a bit, in fact I always have done. I like to have a beer or two at the weekend and go out for meals with Rachel (my other half) but I have a trigger point that makes me realise I need to go back to being healthy. Its usually when my jeans start to feel a bit tight.
So here is a pic of me playing football about 5 years ago, at the time I didn’t realise how much weight I had actually put on. I actually though I was in good shape and I was counting calories but the problem was that the food I was eating wasn’t actually the healthiest.
Carrying a few extra lb’s
Fast forward 5 years later and this is me now, I still play football competitively, and I still struggle a bit with keeping my weight down, but I’m 38 years old this year and probably in better shape than I’ve been since my 20’s.
I do this as much as possible by trying to be healthy and cutting out as much of the junk from my diet as I can, but I still have the occasional beer (or 2 or 3) and I still eat out now and again. In fact here is a recent picture of me enjoying a pint of Guinness at the 6 nations this year (and I had more than 1 that day).
Me at the Rugby enjoying a Guiness
Anyway enough about me, you’re really here to learn secret weight loss tip for keeping in shape, so here it is.
So what is this secret weight loss tip?
Well I’m really sorry to disappoint you but unfortunately there isn’t really one to be honest, there are lots of programs and diets out there promising fast weight loss results and in fact I can easily hep someone drop a dress or a jeans size in 4 weeks. The thing is you have to keep it up so it has to be about lifestyle change. If you go back to your old ways you will put it back on. Even worse if you lose it initially by taking some meal replacement products like Herbalife or Body By Vi (or starving yourself you will end up putting buy xenical no prescription your weight back on with added interest. I would strongly advise you to avoid these if you value your long term health.
My philosophy on weight loss is on getting healthier by eating better and doing more exercise (notice I didn’t say eating less) The majority of people who want to lose weight will get better results by eating better and not eating less. Dieting and severe calorie restriction doesn’t work in the long term unfortunately, but there are still plenty of unscrupulous trainers out there who will recommend a product because there is a great profit margin on it.
Just this morning I had a call from one of these guys who wanted to meet me to talk about this great new weight loss program.
Here is how the conversation panned out.
Sales Guy: “Hi Liam, I have this great new weight loss product that I would like to talk to you about”
Me “What is it”
Sales Guy “Why don’t you let me buy you a coffee and Ill tell you all about it”
Me “Can you just give me a run down on the phone Im very busy”
Sales Guys “ Its called ***** and it’s a meal replacement shake”
Me “erm….Im not really interested but thanks for the call”
Sales Guy “You can make a lot of money from this, our trainers are averaging £1500 a month”
Me “To be honest with you I’m not really interested because it doesn’t fit in with my core values “
Sales Guy “so you don’t want to make an extra £1500 per month”
Me “Well that would be nice but I would rather do it ethically, thanks for your time”
These sales people are doing the rounds with personal trainer and fitness professionals all over the country and unfortunately people are just seeing pound signs. If you are a personal trainer reading this you have a duty both morally and professionally to offer the best advice to your clients.
If you are just someone who wants to lose some weight, then please avoid these products because they are designed with only one thing in mind. To relieve you of as much cash as possible. They have very little nutritional value and will not work in the long term.
My advice, is to eat healthy, get some high intensity exercise in and stop looking for the secret to weight loss because they don’t exist. There are no secrets.
One of the best ways to protect yourself from foods that are potentially bad for you is to learn how to read food labels correctly. Generally, if we ate clean, whole unprocessed and natural foods, we wouldn’t even need to be able to read labels because we would just simply be picking out the fruit and veg at the supermarket or even better from the farmers market, rather than having it disguised in a processed ready meal.
The plain truth is, for many of us we will at least be buying some sort of convenience foods at some point so before you can begin to work out what’s actually in a product, by reading its nutrition label, you need to first understand the basics of your daily requirements and how much you should be eating.
These are the basics of what you need per day:
Calories
A 125lb (9 Stone) woman needs around 2000 calories to maintain her weight and a 160lb (11 stone 6 lbs). male needs around 2,400 calories per day to maintain his weight. A calorie by the way is not just a calorie and different types of calories can have massively different hormonal responses but this is a good place to start if you are a beginner. I don’t generally advocate counting calories if you are eating healthy foods as its not really an issue.
FAT
Fat intake should be kept at or below 30% of total calorie intake, so that’s a maximum of 67g fat per day for an average women and 80g for an average man. Saturated fat intake should be kept as low as possible and should not exceed one-third of the total daily fat intake.Try and eat healy fats where possible such as oily fish and nuts.
CHOLESTEROL
This should be kept to less than 300 milligrams/day. If you have heart disease, limit your daily intake to less than 200 milligrams. Also limit sugars, cereals and white carbs if you have heart disease.
Salt and Sodium
Salt / Sodium intake should be around 1,100-3,300 mg per day, and keep to the lesser amounts if you have high blood pressure.
The Label:
The nutrition label on your food will generally list the amounts of calories, protein, carbohydrate, fat, fibre, cholesterol and sodium per serving and per 100g of food.
Use the per serving calculations to see how much of the product you are going to eat and use the per 100g to compare different products in terms of the percentages buy xenical roche online from each nutrient within it.
Another useful way of doing this is:
1 serving of carbohydrate = 15g carbohydrate = 68 calories (food roughly equal to 1 slice bread or 1 medium sized apple)
1 serving protein = 7g protein = 31 calories (food equivalent = 30g of meat)
Reading The Ingredients List
A nutrition label on any item of food in your supermarket will always list ingredients in the order in which they appear.
For example if sugar is in the first 3 ingredients in a long list, the product is pretty high in sugar, but if it appears as one of the last ingredients, then the food is lower in sugar.
Our advice is to look for products that contain the most natural ingredients.
Also, if a product contains organic ingredients, it was most likely list them as such. For example, organic tomatoes.
Dodgy ingredients to look out for and avoid as much as possible include monosodium glutamate (E621) butylated hydroxy anisol, potassium nitrate (in most processed meats), sodium nitrate (again found in processed meats), sodium benzoate (usually found in many soft drinks as well as margarine) and sulphur dioxide (generally found in dried fruit and some fruit juices).
Hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fat means that there are trans fatty acids in the product and thes should be avoided at all costs as they are one of the main causes of heart disease.
Processed and artificial sugars like sugar, fructose, high fructose corn syrup (HFCC) and mato-dextrin as well as artificial sweeteners like sucralose, saccharin acefulsame k and aspartame should also be avoided where possible becasue they can be damaging to the nervous system as well as raise insulin levels and promote fat storange. Artificial sweetners may be disguised by using brand names such as Splenda and Nutrasweet, so watch out for those as well
Other additives to stay clear of include yellow colorings- E102 (tartrazine), E104, 107, E110, red colorings- E120, 122, 123, 124, 127, 128, 129, 180, blue coloring- E131, 132, 133, Green coloring- E142, black coloring- E151, 153, Brown coloring- E154, 155, natural orange coloring- E161.
Basically what you need to do if you want to stay as healthy as possible is to buy foods that are natral as possible. Its much easier that way and you wont need to worry too much about labels and calories.
Gluten is a sticky protein found mainly in wheat and other grains. Gluten is also what makes dough sticky and elastic. Gluten is present in foods made from wheat such as bread and pasta however t can also be found in smaller quantities in grains like barley, rye and even in oats due to cross contamination.
Gluten free diets seem to be a bit of a fad at the minute with many diet gurus and weight loss books jumping on the bandwagon, however is there any substance in going gluten free. I think there is.
Here are my Top 7 reasons why you should think about removing gluten foods from your diet.
The glutamate content in gluten has been shown in many studies to damage brain cells. Basically glutamate is what is known as an excitotoxin. In short this means that it overexcites brain cells (very much in the same way as MSG). Basically this means that it makes your brain cells so excited that they don’t switch off and eventually die. Gluten has also been link is linked to many psychiatric illnesses due to these factors.
Gluten is associated to osteo-arthritis. If you suffer from osteo arthritis, taking gluten out of your diet will relive pain almost immediately.
Gluten has been linked to autism in children. Removing gluten from an autisticchild’s det has been show to to the most important factor factor to healing their child. The same studies can also how reintroducing by accident i to the child’s diet, such as birthday cake at a friends xenical canada no prescription house immediately flares up all behavioral changes associated with autism.
Gluten can cause depression. The inflammatory responses that happen in your brain when you eat gluten containing foods can cause symptoms that are not unlike depression. No amount of antidepressants or counselling sessions will cure this if you are sensitive to gluten. Removing the gluten from your diet can alleviate the symptoms of gluten cause depressions
Gluten can make you older quicker The inflammation associated with wheat leads to more wrinkles and avoidance of wheat leads to quicker regenerating of the skin cells.
Gluten can damage the enamel on your teeth and lead to fillings. Consumption of gluten has been linked to faster tooth decay and loss of tooth enamel in several studies.
Gluten can make you fat. When we ask our clients to remove gluten and wheat products from their diet we see drops in body-fat levels almost immediately. The reason for this is because gluten raises insulin dramatically (in some cases faster than actual sugar) and because it is also a strong allergen it raises cortisol which is the stress hormone The combination of rises in both of these hormoes leads inmany cases to increase in body fat especially around your belly.
If you would like to learn more about his I would recommend that you check out the this excellent book Wheat belly By William Davis which will really open up your eyes as to how much this protein is actually harming our health and helping to make us all fatter.
“Eat more fat, are you crazy?” is probably what you are saying. After all doctors, dietitians and nutrition experts have been telling us for years to go on low fat diets and eat less fat. Well I have a bit of news for you. It doesn’t work. In fact you need to eat more Fat, but you cant just eat any old fat, it has to be the right kind of fat
What If I told you that eating more ‘FAT’ WILL actually make you healthier actually help you lose weight.
Yes really Eating more fat will help you burn more fat as well.
As a matter of fact if you come and work with me as a 1-1 personal training client or come to our boot camp we ask you to up your fat intake 15 grams per day and I recommend a fish oil supplement to help speed up the fat loss process.
Thing that many people get a bit scared when it comes to fat though is that there are different types of fat and although some are good, there are also bad fats that should be avoided at all costs.
Different Types Of Fats
So as I have just mentioned there are different sources of GOOD BAD fats and what is really important is that we can learn tell the difference between the two..
BAD fats are generally found in foods like pastry, biscuits, doughnuts, cakes, fried foods, pizza, processed meats and junk foods like crisps and chocolate. These are very often called to as ‘trans-fats’ or sometimes ‘hydrogenated fat’.
These are BAD fats and should be avoided where possible as the body cannot metabolise them. This is the stuff that gets stuck to your artery walls and can cause heart disease.
Next time you go and buy a tub of margarine check out the ingredients. Most are made from olive oil or sunflower oil which are healtyish fats in their own right, however they are chemically altered by passing hydrogen through them in order to make them solid at room temperature rather than a liquid which is their natural state. This in turn makes them onto trans or hydrogenated fat. After this process they have to be bleached and then yellow colouring is added to make them look more like butter. Not good at all.
Always, always choose butter where possible
GOOD fats come from foods like avocado, coconut, nuts (not packaged peanuts), seeds, olives, extra virgin flaxseed oil, whole eggs and oily fish (from Salmon, mackeral, sardines etc)
Quick note on eggs, lots of people ask me about eggs white and if it’s better to just have egg white omelettes. I would always say no because you get all the nutrition, vitamins and fat in the yolk so have your eggs as a whole. They come as a natural package so no need to split them up.
Bad Fats
Bad fats are one of the reasons why you get blocks in your arteries. (inflammation caused by sugar and insulin is the other cause but that’s to detailed for today’s article)
Due to years years of over consumption they cause little deposits in your artery walls which restrict the blood flow which relates to many common heart problems. Not only that, they also cause you to put on weight fast as the body has no real use for these fats. They are waste, So either go out as waste, clog the arteries or get stored as body fat.
Good Fats
GOOD fats on the other hand are VERY different and have a whole host of GREAT benefits!
GOOD fats are NATURALLY OCCOURING fats (IE NOT processed) and they are a GREAT source of energy! Your body NEEDS fat to BURN fat!
When i refer to GOOD fats I’m generally talking about Omega 3 and Omega 6. There are 3 kinds of fat containing these:
But you don’t really need to understand all the above, what’s important is you understand your body needs a good balance of all 3 different types of fats.
Benefits of Healthy Fats
Great Energy Source
Fats are needed to regulate your blood pressure
Fats insulate your nerves, think of them like the rubber around an electric wire
Many are naturally protect against inflammations
They provide insulation (which includes keeping your internal body temperature warm)
Healthy Fats help can help to improve skin, hair and nails. Fats in our skin can make us appear more radiant
Fats protect our internal organs
(in the ladies) They help keep reproductive organs healthy
(in the guys) They improve testosterone production which means more muscle and increase in sex drive.
Fats also taste great and satisfies our tastes buds and hubger, and the benefits above are not the only ones
Basically you should be eating MORE fat in your diet each and every day. Lifestyles that are low in fat have many problems, your hair and skin tone will eventually deteriorate, you’re likely to get hormone imbalances, increased weight gain, possible bad moods and a ton of other unpleasant things
How Much Fat Should I Be Eating?
Good question! As ‘guidelines’ go, they say your total calorie intake for (good) FAT should be 30-35%. So you could start by adding a few handfuls of nuts and seeds to your meal times each day, and fry in coconut oil rather than the oil your using. Try eating half an avocado with breakfast 🙂
Personally, I think that it depends on the individual in terms of how much ‘FAT’ they can tolerate. My fat intake may seem a lot to most people but I play a lot of sport so am pretty active. But NEVER skip on adding FAT to your diet, you’ll be surprised at the results.
If you are trying to lose weight one of the foods you need to be careful around is fruit and especially due to the high levels of fructose. Fructose is the sugar that is found in fruit and if you are trying to lose weight then this could be bad news for you.
Basically sugar is sugar and if you eat too much of any kind of sugar including in fruit then the chances are that this is going to make you store more fat especially around your belly.
The other thing is that fruit is not as nutritious as we would be led to believe. Of the 13 vitamins, only fruits that contain fat can even start to provide fat soluble vitamins, therefore only olives and avocado can help with vitamins A, D, E
and K.
There are far better ways to get the fat soluble vitamins in our diet by eating more meat, fish, eggs and poultry.
Fruit is also not a great source of the eight B vitamins although it is a good source of vitamin C but you can get as much vitamin C from vegetables if not more especially green leafy ones.
So basically if we take into account that fruits are indeed not that nutritious, then we have to look at how they affect our waistlines and make us put on bodyfat.
Fructose, which you may know as fruit sugar,is quite uniquely metabolised by your liver, so it doesn’t get the chance to be burned up as fuel in the blood. In this case it goes straight to the liver buy xenical online cheap where it is processed to be turned into fat. You might want to bear this in mind the next time you drink a large glass of “healthy fruit juice” with your breakfast.
Table sugar or processed white cane sugar that we put in our coffee or sweet foods is made up of a single molecule of glucose and a single molecule of fructose. The key change in our diet especially in the western world during the period in which obesity levels have risen pretty dramatically is not just down to the increases in our consumption of sugar but quite specifically down to the combination of fructose and glucose. Add these two sugars together and the potency of fructose and glucose is as follows – as the fructose part of the table sugar gets sent to the liver pretty much straight away for it to be metabolised it has little or no impact on blood glucose levels.
The glucose part of the table sugar performs this role and stimulates the pancreas to increase the output of insulin which is a storage hormone. The result of this is that we have triglycerides being formed, thanks to the actions of the fructose, and they are able to be stored, thanks to the glucose causing insulin to be released.
Food companies might like to tell you that all sugars are created equal but, when it comes to fat storage, the glucose fructose combinations are frightenly fattening especiall High Fructose Corn Syrup which is present in sweet drinks such as fizzy cola’s
Welcome to 2013, if you are anything like me then you will have maybe eaten too much or drank a little more than you should have done over the Christmas period. Personally I did and I didn’t even get a chance to get to the gym especially with travelling back to Ireland and then back over to England to stay with the in-laws after Christmas and then there was the new years celebrations and not to mention the Christmas parties before that.buy genuine xenical online weight in january” src=”http://www.northwestpt.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/weight-loss-jeans.jpg” width=”480″ height=”320″ />
SO here we are into January already and looking to get back in shape. My jeans always get a bit tighter in January and this month I have set myself a target of losing 16lbs by the end of the month.
Why do I want to do that?
Well to be honest 200lbs is my ideal weight and where I feel the healthiest, I’ve let things go for the last 6 weeks so its time to get back into it by taking responsibility form my own health. Plus I’m getting married this year and I want to be in pretty good shape for that 🙂
How am I going to do this?
Exercise
Well I already have my workouts planned for the entire month and have made a commitment of getting to the gym at least 3 times a week before the end of January.
For some workouts and exercises we do you can check out our Youtube Channel
Nutrition
In addition to this I will be changing my diet pretty significantly. Weeks of chocolate , alcohol and turkey dinners have taken their toll on my waistline. So for the next 30 days I will be cutting the following foods from my diet
Wheat (crucial if you want to lose weight and prevent diabetes)
Alcohol (This will be hard for me as I have a wedding, 40th Birthday and a house warming party in january)
Sugar
Sweeteners (just as bad as sugar, maybe even worse)
Dairy (except for natural yoghurt)
Process foods
Tap Water (to be replaced by bottled water)
This is pretty much what I get my clients and fit campers to do (although I also give them recipes and meal planners). Here is a link to my 30 day fat loss recipe book
In addition to this I will be skipping breakfast every day and only having two meals per day spaced around 6 or 7 hours apart. Now I know you probably think that that is crazy and this will make you fat but believe it or not breakfast eating actually makes you eat more calories later in the day. Check out the study below for more info on this if you are interested in the science
I will try and get to bed at 10:30 every night and get 8 hours sleep, this will help keep my cortisol (stress hormone) levels lower and help me burn more bod fat as a result.
SO there you have it, if you follow the plan above you should easily be able to drop a size over the next month and get back into your jeans.
Our Next Fit Camp Starts on 7thth January 2013 www.nortwestfitcamp.co.uk
I currently have space for 2 personal training clients for anyone who is interested in 1-1 personal training at our private studio in Manchester CityCentre
It was one of my clients birthday’s last week and she invited me and my lovely fiance Rachel out to dinner at Chili Banana in Wilmslow, which is a great Thai Restaurant. As with these sort of events there are always new people to meet and introduce yourself to and the question that you always get asked when someone meets you for the 1st time. “So what do you do then”
Now as most of my clients know I don’t like using the term personal trainer because I don’t see myself as a trainer. I like to say I’m a health and fitness coach but before I had a chance to answer my client introduced me as her personal trainer. Now when this happens I tend to get asked questions about what I do and what is the best exercise for this and what is the best way to get fit, build muscle and so on.
But by far and away the most common question is:
“What is the best way to lose weight?”
This usually takes a variety of answers but I’ve been doing a bit of reading this week and wanted to address it in this weeks blog post. If you wanted one sure fire way to lose weight (body fat) quickly and effectively without exercising or going on a diet, I would say that it is to eliminate wheat from your diet.
Did you know that the wheat that we currently eat in our breads, breakfast cereals, pastas and soups (yes even in soups) has been genetically modified and as a result what we think we are eating is not the same as what we are actually eating. And to top that off it is also very addictive and generally makes you crave more and more of it.
Traditional wheat has been replaced with a stunted, bulging, highly productive dwarf variety and this has been achieved by moving around a few genes, and the scientists of the day assumed there would be no harmful side effects in humans. This reality is that the genetic changes in the wheat triggered a shift in the range of proteins (especially gluten) our wheat contains, with so far unknown effects on health. Also, wheat contains gluten (80% of the total protein content in wheat) which can cause a whole pile of nasty diseases, even in those of you who don’t have symptoms of gluten buy xenical generic intolerance.
Then there also is the little matter of the glycemic index (GI) Did you know that two slices of “healthy” whole wheat bread can raise blood sugar higher and faster than two tablespoons of sugar. The glycemic index (GI) of a slice of wholegrain brown bread is 59 which is pretty much the same as table sugar in any case and your body cant tell the difference between wheat and sugar.
This is true of anything with wheat in it, not just bread. Basically the wheat that we are told is “heart healthy” turns out to be heavily implicated in causing problems like obesity, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and even diabetes.
Yet if you go to your doctor they will tell you if you want to lose weight to eat more wholegrain foods, and try and lower your cholesterol which is just adding to the problem.
The belief that cholesterol causes obesity, heart disease, and cancer has long been dis-proven and we now know know that wheat is far more culpable in all of the above conditions.
If you have breakfast cereal for breakfast, sandwich for lunch and then pasta for your dinner than you are pretty much eating wheat with every meal, which will be playing havoc with your blood sugar levels, your metabolisms and your body fat.
Then there are all the examples of foods that contain hidden wheat, like soups that have thickeners, breadcrumbs on fried food, biscuits and many savoury snacks.
Now I’m not wanting to go into conspiracy theories but, why is it that grains and cereals are being recommended by the government agencies that are responsible for our health and nutrition. To work out why you need to understand the following:
If we no longer used wheat as our main food choice, then there would be a global worldwide food shortage and he price of food would sky-rocket, especially meat, dairy and fruit and veg. This would have a massive affect on the economy not to mention the companies that make billions of pounds a year from wheat containing products.
Basically to reiterate the point, if you want to lose weight and get healthier you need to look at removing wheat (and gluten) from your diet.
Food for thought.
Liam
If you want to learn a bit more about this I would highly recommend that you check out the excellent book Wheat Bellyby William Davis
How I Dropped 3 Dress Sizes Lost, Shed 2 Stone and Got My Confidence Back
Carmel is one of our group personal training clients here in Manchester and has lost and amazing 2 stone and 3 dress sizes in about 5 month above is a short interview with Carmel where she explains how working with us has changed her life and how she thought at the time she would not be able to get to where she is now and how she even went as far as trying hypnosis for weight loss.
Carmels Story
Earlier this year I was looking for some guinea pigs to trial out my new Weight Loss System and I was approached by Carmel who wanted to try it out.
Carmel (37) had been a yo-yo dieter for 15 years had previously joined Weight Watchers in Manchester, Rosemary Connolly and Slimming World in Manchester.
She had also joined the gym countless number of times and gone to fitness classes, bought DVDs and even a wi-fit but had never seen a significant fitness or shape improvement. She had even tried hypnosis and thought about having weight loss surgery. Her initial goal was to lose 4 stone to lose and she was eager to make changes in her appearance, weight and lifestyle because she could see how this was affecting her older family members.
Below is Carmel’s story about the 1st 4 weeks of working with us in her own words describing her fears and challenges as she undertook my new healthy eating and fitness program over 4 weeks. Could she succeed and finally get her body back?
21st May 2012
First Fit Camp Session Completed
Yesterday was my first fit camp with Liam and the rest of the group. I was very nervous about going as I am really self conscious about the way I look and feel at the moment. I was not feeling confident and hated the reflection that was looking back at me whilst attempting to complete the different exercises but that is why I am here to make a change.
I have to be honest I found it hard but just that first session has motivated me even more to get this weight off and get fit. I’m glad that it challenged me. It was a great comfort that there were others there for the first time too. It felt good to be doing something positive and boy do I know it today, particularly in my arms and legs. I’m looking forward to getting to grips with all the tools and information that is available to me and finding out more about the nutritional side of the program.
23rd May 2012
I Can’t Put It Down
So I printed the plan yesterday and Liam’s right you will read it and read it again and for me keep on going. I think I must have picked it up loads today after reading it in it’s entirety last night. This tells me I am excited by the change, having done a number of different diets and plans in the past and getting complacent with them, it feels good to be doing something new and different. I’ve got my goals set and I’ve started my food diary. Supplements next.
I can’t believe that I am going cold turkey with no caffeine but I’ve done it. It feels strange as coffee has been my main drink during the day since having my son and he’s nearly 2½!.
Yesterday I couldn’t believe that anyone could drink 3 litres of water but I’m on two so far.
Off to fitcamp tonight, blog you later
Wednesday 23rd May 2012
Training was hard today but I felt good afterwards. Committing to this programme with Liam has made me realise that I have time (for me) so no excuses anymore. I’ve not been feeling hungry which has cut out the temptation to snack, which is a big change and even when I have needed something between meals I have discovered a liking for carrots and hummus, who knew! For me this is about inches lost and dropping a dress size, so Ive measured myself and I’m looking forward to seeing the results.
Thursday 24th May 2012
There wasn’t many there tonight but it was good as we got to do the technical side of the exercises, still hard work though but at least I can be more confident that I am doing them correctly so as to get the most benefit. I come out of these sessions looking like I’ve sat out in the sun for too long, pink is not the word!
I do feel better when I get home afterwards. Before I would have left work, gone straight home, had some tea, snacked while making tea, tidied up and gone to bed.
Already I’m doing more in the evening and feel better for it, sleeping better too. On the nutritional side I thought I would miss cereal, dairy and the pasta and bread but I haven’t so far.
I’m struggling with the coffee but have come through the worst of it. Since having my little boy, coffees have been getting me through the day.
Friday 25th May 2012
I had a day off today and it’s the first opportunity that I have had had to go shopping. I took the nutrition plan with me and got most of the things I needed. Had a vegetable stir-fry for tea and really enjoyed it, was very surprised. It’s a dish I’ve not eaten in a long time. My mother-in-law is over with us for a couple of days so there have been a few take away meals but not for me. I’ve been able to substitute them for tasty meals that I’ve planned in advance. They’ve been helping me out by eating them before I get home so as it’s not been in my face.
Bless, there’s going to be more temptations, I need to make the right choices so that I get results.
Saturday 26th May
Today was a day of shopping, but I planned ahead and had left over stir fry from last night. It was good. I was really proud of myself as it set me up for the afternoon before heading off to Manchester.
I took my bottle of water and some fruit for a snack to keep me going and even though Starbucks had an offer on frappuccino’s and my friend had one I stuck with the water.
Some more friends joined us in the evening and they ordered Indian take-away but I was prepared and as it arrived and they were unpacking I has made myself a lovely chicken and tomato dish with some herbs, onion and peppers and got tucked into that instead.
One friend said that I should be making the effort and have a drink as we don’t get together often. I said that I wanted this to work and carried on sipping my water.
I hope I’ve done enough.
Sunday 27th May 2012
You could have put money on me having bacon butties today but another newbie for me
I tried turkey rashers instead with some tomatoes and enjoyed it, bit of black pepper… perfect.
I went out to meet the family this afternoon. I took my trusted bottle of water, now carry one with me at all times. If I start thinking about food, which used to be often, I have a sip of water instead which is helping. We had a meal whilst out and there wasn’t much option on the menu so I asked them to cook me a chicken breast and had some boiled rice and salad rather than hoping for the best and going for something off the menu.
I am discovering that I can make the right choices, and I hope to get better at it. Its taken something like this for me to make a start and stop making excuses. This is the biggest challenge for me and the inner me has been battling but the one thing remains, I want results.
Carmel’s Weight Loss Journey with Northwest Fit Camp – Week 2
Into the second week now, feeling cautious, have I done enough, is it going to work for me?
I’ve had them all going through my mind today. I had a quick chat with my boss today and he was really interested in the plan and training and wants me to keep him informed.
It’s good to have the positive support and encouragement from outside my support network. I don’t want to fail so the more people that know the better. It’s the opposite of not telling people that you are taking driving test just in case you fail.
I couldn’t get in some clothes yesterday when getting ready to meet my family and I felt really down and self conscious. Normally I would have headed straight for the goody cupboard but thankfully I’ve not been anywhere near it. The mind-set piece in the welcome plan has helped and I’m glad I did my goal setting.
Training was outside tonight, let me just say I cannot remember the last time that I ran, if you could call it that. The physical side of things has really been a shock to the system but I keep recovering and hopefully improving every day.
29th May 2012
Boy am I feeling the training from last night particularly after long periods of sitting down which is inevitable in my job, its really sedentary. I’m finding that I’m not thinking about food anywhere near as much.
When I used to do Weight Watchers I was always looking at my points seeing if I could eat this or that and still craved loads of things that I should have dropped out of my eating plan in order to lose weight. I must admit it did feel like food was becoming an obsession, almost an addiction with the cravings. I’m sad to admit it but there were times, that I would eat in secret because I was ashamed and felt that people would judge me.
The plan for me is helping to control and change my eating habits.
Hardest Training Session Ever
OMG we did the Terminator workout today for the first time, how hard? First set I noticed a difference and although it was tough I felt cheap xenical australia there was an improvement from last week, if only minor. Thought too soon, the second set was hard. I have to say though, I was aching when I went in but I wasn’t when I came out. I do find that I am struggling with my legs. Since having my son and carrying all this excess weight around I have had weak knees but this will improve I am sure as the weight comes off and my strength increases.
I weighed myself after training and it’s 2lb lost and I’ve lost 1.5?.
31st May 2012
I re-read the nutrition plan page by page today. It’s constantly in my bag with me. I struggled with training tonight but I think that’s because of the hard sessions on Monday and Wednesday. I’ve bought myself some new trainers which are much better than the two that I had thank goodness. Got them in case I have to do any-more running.
This week has been strange for me, my moods and emotions have been all over the place.
I have asked myself if it’s normal for people to feel this way, vulnerable even.
1st June
Phew it’s normal … I’m told that I should be experiencing quite a change as my body starts to get healthier and I leave behind old habits. It’s also because my hormones are regulating as well which is a good thing. I had a 1-1 coaching and goal setting session with Liam today which really helped both mentally and on the nutritional side. We’ve agreed for me to decrease the fruit and go for more vegetables. I’m also going to replace the white rice with brown and only after training. I’m also going to try alternatives for breakfast.
I’ve recognised that I need to go deeper with my goal setting, its not easy for me to talk about me or even focus on me, its been easier for me to ignore. Glad I had the 1-1 session before going into the bank holiday weekend for sure.
2nd June 2012
I Can’t believe it, I ate egg today for the first time since I was a young child. The thought of it was difficult to get past and I had plenty of onions and peppers with it. I didn’t manage to eat it all but I tried it. I had to share this as it’s a huge thing for me.
Carmel’s Weight Loss Journey with Northwest Fit Camp – Week 3
4th June 2012
We had a family day out in Blackpool today. I got myself organised and packed my lunch to take with me. Feta salad and carrots with hummus and of course my bottle of water. Had a great day and didn’t feel too bad tucking into my lunch instead of fish and chips or burger which would have been the usual choice. See on other diets, I would have taken the day off and made up for it the rest of the week but this doesn’t work like that. Any deviation could be the difference between a failure and a result. I want to make the right choices and feel good that I have.
I did a lot of walking, carrying either my son or bags so was really tired when I got home. Today though I had a pink face because of the sun and not the work out. Damn that sea breeze!
5th June
I’m feeling apprehensive about going back to training tomorrow, having had a long weekend. Not on the food side, but on the physical demands actually in the session.
It’s great to hear that the others are getting some great results and I can’t wait to get on the scales myself and get the measuring tape out. I’ll do it when I get back from training tomorrow so as to do it at the same time as last week.
I’d say keep your fingers crossed for me but its not about luck, what you put in you get out! So I have no worries, I still can’t help it though.
6th June
End Of Week 2
I can’t believe that because of the bank holiday its nearly been a week since I last went to training. Terminator workout again tonight, thank goodness that ones done and dusted. I wonder what we will be doing tomorrow. Still I’m getting the reward for the effort.
I measured myself tonight and its another inch lost and a total of 2.5 inches in two weeks. To top that off its 6lbs lost since I weighed myself last Wednesday evening and a total of 8lbs in two weeks. Chuffed. It paid off planning ahead and being prepared to avoid the temptation.
Feel a lot better emotionally was on a bit of a roller coaster towards the end of last week.
The 1-1 session coaching session with Liam really helped. I think I’ve been hiding behind excuses for so long now it’s been a lot harder mentally than I anticipated.
Take care all, Carmel
7th June 2012
The workout was very hard tonight. I found it harder than the terminator workout and that’s not me saying that Wednesday was easy! Im feeling good at the moment, can’t believe how much water I am now used to drinking. It’s like my new best friend, a bottle of water comes everywhere with me (well almost), there are some exceptions!
Carmel’s Weight Loss Journey with Northwest Fit Camp – Week 4 and Results
11th June 2012
I can’t believe that the four weeks have gone so quickly and that this is the last week. Not sure why but this weekend I have had so many cravings, with all number of temptations running through my mind . I have abstained completely but its been a mental battle. I’ve had everything but what my mind was telling me I wanted! Water, nuts, green tea and a little fruit. Still no alcohol or coffee.
I can tell more in my clothes this week. I put a blouse (or do we call them shirts now, sound like my mum!) on this morning and I’m not popping out of the buttons so I must be getting close to a 14 on top. 16 bottoms can’t be far behind from an 18.
Fit Camp tonight will blog you tomorrow about that one.
Laters, Carmel
13th June 2012
I know I’m on Week 4 of the programme but its the time of week where I get on the scales and get the tape measure out to see what the results are so far and I am pleased to say (drum roll please)… its another 3lbs lost and a total of 11lbs altogether. I’ve lost 2½ inches from my waist, and unbelievably 5 inches from my hips. I didn’t have time to measure anywhere else but will do that later tonight.
Training was hard on Monday, it was warm in the room and the rooms was the smaller one so it was cosy! My hands did start to slip on the floor for some of the exercises and I struggled with the 50 secondss on and 10 seconds rest but then it is week 4 of the programme so I understand we can’t stay at the same level it needs to be challenging.
Worried about the terminator tonight, last time I bruised my tail-bone with all the sleeping crabs and I’m still a bit tender.
Laters, Carmel
18th June 2012
Nearly Ready To Reveal Results
Okay so last week was the final week of the four week block but Weds will be the big reveal with final weight and inches lost and after pictures to Liam for the 28 day plan which I’ve been following along with the three nights a week fit camp. To say I am excited is an understatement I can’t wait to get the final results and then work on from there. It’s really been life changing and I am soooooo loving the comments that are coming in after just four weeks. I feel great, (apart from during training that’s still hard), people are noticing the changes (except the husband! what’s that about) and I can feel it too. I put on a pair of trousers this morning and have had to tighten the belt so that they stay on. It’s fab, chuffty badge for Carmel please
I have had a few mental battles this week and over thew eekend. I think its because I am nearing the end of 28 days, I’ve had to keep reminding myself not to let little bad habits slip in to keep the momentum going and get the results I want. I’ve tried to stay a way from the treats because with other plans that was always the downfall, “oh I’ll just have this it won’t hurt” and then the cravings start and its a vicious circle for me. Disciplined that’s a good word.
Off to training tonight, will blog tomorrow to let you know how I get on, can’t believe how quick the time has gone.
21st June 2012
Final Results and Reveal
Well the final results are in 12lbs lost in total and that equates to a full dress size and I’m really starting to notice a difference. It can only get better from here. I have Liam’s new cook book which has some great menus with plenty of variety and choice and I’ve signed up for another 4 week block of training. I walked into my usual shop for lunch and even one of the ladies in there stopped me to ask if I’d lost weight and what I’d been doing.
About 12 months ago, me and her had had a conversation because I was trying Weight Watchers and getting nowhere so she was intrigued as to what had changed.
I’m so thankful that I have had the opportunity of attending fit camp because honestly, beforehand I really was at a loss as to what I could do and what would work. I’d been to the doctor, tried hypnosis and felt like the options were running out. I really do invigorated and enthusiastic.
Most of us have friend who is pretty lean and in good shape, but have you ever wondered what they do to stay that way, especially if it all seems effortless to them. What do they do that is different to the rest of us. Here is a list of our 7 habits of highly lean people as inspired by the late Stephen Covey’s best selling book “7 habits of highly effective people”.
There are of course more than 7 but if you get these ones right you will be well on your way to a firmer,leaner and healthier body.
The 7 Habits
Lean people eat protein and vegetables with every meal: Protein is the foundation for a strong healthy body. Protein keeps us from feeling hungry via hormonal signaling, keeps blood sugar stable, negates the stress hormone cortisol and keeps the immune system in super shape. In addition to supplying you with tons and tons of phytonutrients that keep your skin, hair and nails healthy, getting more vegetables in your diet add vital fibre and water to your body Out top tip is to find vegetables that you like and enjoy and have more of them.
They drink water as their main beverage, and thy also drink at least 2 litres a day (every day): Did you know that hydration actually makes you hold on to extra water under your skin, making you look puffy and bloated. It can also make you fatigued and trigger cravings as well as headaches. Ask someone with pretty, tight skin how much water they drink every day. you will be surprised.
They implement sustainable, long term and appropriate exercise: Countless hours on the treadmill are lets face it, not sustainable long term. Short, intense workouts using weights, body weight, sprints and plyometrics, balanced by some cardio once or twice a week, are far more sustainable, easier on your joints and more sustainable in the long term..
They go to bed at a reasonable time every night: Sleep is one of the most overlooked areas when it comes to fat loss. Have you ever heard the expression “sleep is prime fat-burning time?” Sleep acts as a big reset button for your hormones, stress and your motivation. TRy to get to bed at 10:30 every night for maximum results.
They don’t depend on willpower: People who stay in shape, all year round, have abandoned the “all or nothing” mentality that we see a lot of at our fit camps. This is because healthy people have experienced it for themselves and they know that it just does not work. Willpower will always tack a back seat to physiology. Lean and healthy people have developed what we call skill power, they use these tools to create a satisfying, sustainable way of eating for long term results.
They are super resilient: People who are in great shape are just as human as the rest of us. If they eat a bar of chocolate or have a few more drinks on a night out than they should have or have some donuts, they don’t just abandon what they are doing and go on a big binge for a few days. They simply eat their next normal meal. If they get injured and can’t exercise, they keep their nutrition tight. Around the holidays, they choose protein and veggies and are strategic about sweets. They use these mistakes as lessons, and not as an excuse to give up their goals. If you fall of the wagon, get back on and keep going towards your destination.
They act and think like they are lean and healthy: Think about what a person who is in pretty good shape does. What do they think about? What do they order when they eat out or go to a fast food restaurant What do they chose when they stop at a motorway service station? How do they exercise? This is exactly what lean and fit and healthy people do and is one of the main reasons why they are lean, fit and health. If you want to be lean, in shape and healthy, you have to do what a lean person does to become lean.
Here at Northwest Fit Camp and Northwest Personal Training we are big believers that success leave clues, watch what other fit and healthy people eat and do and try and emulate that as much as you can.
If you need help with you weight or health and fitness please don not hesitate to contact us to see how we can help you.
Did you know that it can very often be more difficult for pear shaped females to lose weight from their lower bodies than apple shapes? But doesn’t all have to be bad news though because with the right diet and exercise, you can do it and get the results you want. You just need to look at J-Lo as a shining example of this.
The main focus here is to not just to think about losing size in you lower part of you body but to also increase your muscle mass and tone the upper body. This will help you to become more balanced and everything will be in proportion.
As always when it comes to weight loss you need to follow a healthy eating plan by eating clean nutritious foods and exercising in the correct way. You can easily lose weight all over your body including the difficult to shift lower half if you are pear shaped. This means avoiding processed foods, sugary foods and alcohol. Try where possible to eat lean protein with every meal and include a ton of veg with every meal as well.
Keep a food diary, it is amazing how much we actually eat during the day that we don’t notice or realise. Keeping a food diary will make you more accountable for what you eat and help you to stick to the plan when the going gets tough (and it will at times)
In order to lose weight from the pear shaped body it is going to take a bit of hard work. Weight loss is generally easy if you know what to do but it will be hard work at times.
What Exercise To Do
You need to do metabolic resistance exercise at least 3 times a week for 30-45 minutes in order to get results. High intensity interval training can be added to the program as well for even better results. This is what we do with our clients and it gets great weight loss results.
Pear shaped women often spend all their time working on the lower half of their body to cut down that problem area but don’t be fooled into this. It is important to work on your upper body in order to balance out your shape and makes sure your posture is correct and to avoid injuries such as lower back or shoulder pain.
Also don’t forget to do upper back and core exercises. These are just as important and focusing on these areas as well will increase your lean muscle mass and give you that tomes look that you want.
Lunges and squats are great exercises for working on your bum, hips and legs.
Last but not least, always take the time to love what nature gave you, as a pear shape, no doubt you are beautiful, you will always have those womanly curves but with a little bit of effort you CAN have the body you want.
Contact us today if you would like help with losing weight either through personal training, group training or online in the comfort of your own home.
The nutrition label on your food will generally list the amounts of calories, protein, carbohydrate, fat, fibre, cholesterol and sodium per serving and per 100g of food.
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