NEW YEAR, NEW YOU In 5 Simple Steps

So, the New Year is upon us and you’ve decided that this is the year that you're really going to get fit and lose the weight.

So how are you going to go about doing it?

There are numerous ways, many of which have proved very successful with lots of my clients, but on balance, the following method has proved to be the most fruitful and therefore the reason I want to share it with you.

1.  Set yourself a target.

Just as a game of archery without a target proves futile, for many people (not all) so does trying to lose weight without having a calorie target.

So how do you set yourself a target? Some experts recommend you base it on your current weight, others recommend you base it on your target weight, that is the weight you’d like to be in future.
Either way there are numerous apps out there that will do the maths for you! But if you do fancy yourself as a bit of a Carol Vorderman (minus the Botox) a relatively quick and easy ESTIMATE as recommended by leading nutrition expert Lyle McDonald is 10-12 calories, per 1lb of body weight per day. Note that I highlighted the word estimate because it is just that, and will likely have to be adjusted.

As with all methods of calorie estimation be they done using an app or the method used above or something similar, they will probably have to be adjusted based on how you respond to the diet. For example, if you are extremely active you may have to increase the total, if you are really inactive or drastically overweight you’ll probably have to reduce the total. But at the very least it’s a starting point from which you can work from.

At this point, I would also recommend setting a macronutrient target, that is working out what percentage of the total daily calories should come from fats, proteins and carbohydrates, but I realise this may be a little to detailed so please do not hesitate to get in touch with me if you’d like some help with this. But at the very least, try to get plenty of your calories from protein (the reasons for which I've written about HERE previously). 

2. Act like your nosy, curtain twitching neighbour and track everything.

Now that you’ve got a calorie target, spend the next few weeks tracking what you eat. Inspect food labels, weigh your food, work out portion sizes, in fact do whatever you can to make sure you become more aware of how many calories you are consuming and exactly where those calories are coming from.

Now I know this may seem about as much fun as a night out with Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg (don’t know who this fella is? Google him, he makes Michael Owen look like Keith Richards) but you won’t have to do it for long, just for a few weeks. From then on you can begin to guestimate things based on your new-found knowledge rather than measuring all the time.    

3. Train like an Olympian (well kind of).

In an ideal world, you’d have the physical capacity, as well as the time to begin training like an Olympian, that is, be able to do plenty of weight training and plenty of cardio without any repercussions to your health. But we don’t live in an ideal world (if we did, I’d be Brad Pitt rather than just an exceptionally good lookalike) and many of us simply can’t train at the same level of intensity as an Olympian (as I've written about HERE previously). So at the very least try to find some form physical or sporting activity which you enjoy doing and aim to do it roughly 2-3 times per week and if you could throw in some form of weight training too that would be a real bonus!

4. Be like Madonna and holiday (not fall over at the Brit Awards, or wear a cone-shaped bra).

As Madonna famously sung ‘If we took a holiday…it would be so nice’ and as we all know, a holiday is nice. But don’t worry I’m not suggesting that you book 2 weeks in Barbados but I do recommend that 6 – 8 weeks into your diet you should book yourself a 1 week break away from it.

And in that diet break don’t treat it as an ‘all-inclusive’ where you shovel food and drink down your old Gregory Peck (neck) with reckless abandon, but approach it as time where you can relax a little and treat yourself to, well a few extra treats here and there! Now I know this may seem counterintuitive to some, but taking a diet break allows you to relax and ready yourself psychologically for the further dieting that is to come. 

5. Go back to the start and repeat the process.

After your diet break, revaluate your calorie target and get straight back on with your diet and training. After all, by virtue of the fact that you have been on a diet for at least the previous month and a half, there should be less of you i.e. you should have lost weight and now be smaller in size than you were at the start of the diet, meaning you now require less calories each day.

Once you’ve set yourself a new calorie target revaluate your exercise too. Could you increase this a little? And of course, don’t forget to plan yourself another diet break somewhere in the forthcoming weeks.

Thanks for reading.

If you’re interested in finding out more about other methods of weight loss which have worked well with my clients please get in touch.

TO BOOK YOUR FREE HEALTH AND FITNESS ASSESSMENT, OR YOUR FREE PERSONAL TRAINING SESSION, OR TO BOOK A PLACE AT MY BOOT CAMP CLASS, PLEASE DON’T HESITATE TO GET IN TOUCH.

Matt

     matt@mlrpt.co.uk                 www.mlrpt.co.uk                          07939316401 www.twitter.com/mlrpt      www.facebook.com/mlrpt        www.twitter.com/mlrpt

IF, it’ll leave your stomach emptier than Katie Hopkins’ heart, but does it work?

Before I talk about if it works or not, first I must explain what IF actually is.

IF is short for Intermittent Fasting, which in simple terms is the act of eating nothing at all, or very little for varying degrees of time and then eating normally for the remainder of time. Probably the most popular form of this is the 5:2 diet, where by you eat normally for 5 days per week and for the other 2 days you drastically reduce your calorie intake in the hope of losing weight.

The 5:2 diet was popularized by celebrity doctor, Dr Michael Mosely in his BBC infomercial, sorry I mean documentary (I’m sure it was purely coincidence that Dr Mosley released his number one selling book ‘The Fast Diet’ just after the documentary aired). 

But there are many other forms of IF too. Such as alternate day fasting, where by you eat normally for one day then restrict your calorie intake the next and then repeat this throughout the week. And yet another form is daily fasting whereby you are allowed to eat for certain periods throughout the day and then fast for the remainder of the 24 hours.

As you’ve probably already realised, the term intermittent fasting is a deliberately convoluted one with many different protocols to choose from, but essentially they are all just variations of a theme.

So, does IF work for weight loss?

The simple answer is yes, but only if you manage not to overeat during the periods when you are not fasting and by and large the research shows that most people are able to do this.

It is also pretty good at maintaining muscle mass too!

A major concern of mine when clients lose weight is that they don’t lose loads of muscle in the process. Luckily the research shows that IF is pretty good at not allowing this to happen too drastically (unlike many of the fad diets out there) which is great because muscle mass if the key to long term fat loss.

Great sign me up, when can I start IF?

Whoa there, hold your horses, just because the science has demonstrated that IF can help you lose weight it doesn’t necessarily mean that is the best option for you. It’ll probably work for you if you hate counting calories or if you prefer eating larger meals (rather than the smaller portion sizes seen with traditional diets). However, for some people especially sports people with performance goals, should remember that IF may interfere with their training and levels of performance.

In summary…

IF represents a good way of losing weight for those who it suits, however it has no superior metabolic advantage over more traditional diets. If you don't think the IF approach is for you, why not try this more detailed approach to weight loss.

Thanks for reading.

Matt

TO BOOK YOUR FREE PERSONAL TRAINING SESSION, OR TO BOOK A PLACE AT MY BOOT CAMP CLASS, PLEASE DON’T HESITATE TO GET IN TOUCH.

    matt@mlrpt.co.uk                 www.mlrpt.co.uk                          07939316401 www.twitter.com/mlrpt      www.facebook.com/mlrpt        www.twitter.com/mlrpt

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3 WAYS TO DEAL WITH WEIGHT GAIN DURING THE DECEMBER BENDER!

As we navigate our way through the month-long drinking and party odyssey known as the Christmas period AKA the December Bender there are a number things that we must accept will happen:

1. We will all have at least one friend with the same level of sincerity as Boris Johnson, inform us that ‘I’m not sending cards this year as I’m going to donate the money to charity instead’ when you know full well they aren’t. They simply can’t be bothered to send you a card and they use the charity bit as a way of softening the blow.

2. Facebook friends will continue to post soppy pictures of their Christmas trees as if they’re the first, last and only person to have ever thought of wrapping some lights around a flippin’ tree. (Only joking Facebook friends, I love your trees really).

3. After attending numerous parties, festivals and functions, some happily and some with the enthusiasm of a World War II conscript, one thing is for sure, many of us will gain some weight.

And here are my top 3 tips on how to deal with this weight gain...

1. Train like your half deaf Gran trying to watch telly and increase the volume!

With all the festivities, undoubtedly extra calories will be consumed and you’ve got to find somewhere to put them if you don’t want to pile on the pounds. And what better excuse is there to get away from watching another crappy rerun of a Christmas special first shown in circa 1970 than getting out and doing a bit of training?

If you’re used to running for 5 miles consider going for 6 or even 7, if you’re used to lifting weights for 3 sets of 10 try to do 4 or even 5 sets. Basically, treat your training like your half deaf Gran trying to watch the TV and increase the volume of it, after all these excess calories need somewhere to go and they may as well fuel your training rather than you’re spare tyre!

Think of it as a win-win, not only do you get out of the house over the Christmas period (which can seem like a boring eternity for many) but you also get to spend some time away from your visiting uncle knob-head, whom you only see once a year…for a reason…as my mum would say ‘You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family’.

2. Act like a girl desperate to fit into a particularly tight dress and DON’T eat.

Before I got into personal training I was blissfully unaware of the lengths women would go to, to ensure they fitted into their favourite tight dress. Having heard countless testimonies from clients the most common and preferred method appears to be starving oneself throughout the entire day thus ensuring they are able fit into the dress come the evening. Now I am not condoning this practice as it is often supported by ridiculous amounts of cigarettes and other unhealthy lifestyle choices all in the name of fitting into a dress.

However, if you are planning on highly calorific feast in the evening, the premise of reducing your calorie intake in the daytime in readiness for the impending excess calorie consumption is not necessarily a bad idea. Think of it as saving your calories till later in the day, which can simply be done by skipping breakfast or lunch or even both. In essence it is a form intermittent fasting which is gaining traction amongst the scientific literature as an effective method of weight loss and I've written about it previously HERE.    

3. Behave like a newbie at an alcoholics anonymous meeting and accept it.

As regular readers’ will know, often my advice runs counter to some of the advice you see spouted about by other fitness ‘experts’ and once again I am not going to disappoint with my final tip.

The third and most important tip is to accept that weight gain is probably going to happen.

At any time of year let alone Christmas, there is nothing worse than when you’re out out, as a certain cockney comedian would put it, than having some fun-sponge friend sitting next to you saying ‘oh I can’t eat that, it’ll make me fat’. So rather than boring your friends with the macronutrient content of your desired meal, sod it and opt for whatever you like and accept that yes, it may not help with your weight loss, but it does dam taste good and it is Christmas after all!

Of course, don’t approach every meal over the festive period with this mindset or you’ll end up piling on the pounds quicker than Donald Trump collects wedding rings but a little excess here and there certainly won’t be the end of the world! After all you’ve got January and beyond to burn it off!   

Thanks for reading.

TO BOOK YOUR FREE HEALTH AND FITNESS ASSESSMENT, OR YOUR FREE PERSONAL TRAINING SESSION, OR TO BOOK A PLACE AT MY BOOT CAMP CLASS PLEASE DON’T HESITATE TO GET IN TOUCH.

Matt

     matt@mlrpt.co.uk                    www.mlrpt.co.uk                          07939316401 www.twitter.com/mlrpt        www.facebook.com/mlrpt       www.twitter.com/mlrpt