Where are you going?

Do you feel overwhelmed by information on what to eat and how to exercise to lose weight and get the body you have always wished for?
Well, you’re not alone!

The media throws out information and, more frequently, misinformation on a regular basis – as it is what sells papers, magazines and diet books! You need to be a little more discerning to be able to filter the bad advice from the good, and that is where I am here to help!

Biggest Fat Loss Mistakes: Number 1 – Believing Everything YouRead!

Rather than worry about dieting, you should go on a media diet instead! That will stop the incessant noise that is telling you to ‘eat this’ and ‘do that’ which really means ‘buy these useless products’!

Although in reality, that is easier said than done, as the misinformation is shouting at you from supposedly healthy food packaging (a contradiction in terms!) and from supermarkets insisting that you must buy more of their healthy products to lose weight (another contradiction in terms – since when did eating more of anything encourage weight loss?!)

When it comes to articles in the press, don’t forget, that the journo is simply a journo – they are not an expert! Even if they are referencing some out of context study, any link to ‘science’ is usually distant and used to give their statements more credibiliity. Their agenda – to write something exciting enough to be read but mainstream enough to be accepted.

So, become the cynic. Ask what is in it for the person giving you the information. Of course, I want people to attend my bootcamps, but the advice I give my clients is only to get results – I have no other agenda, no ‘product’ other than results. The same cannot be said for food products and diet books – they just want to be bought, and controversy or something ‘flashy’ is what sells more products. The truth is not so sellable as everyone is after the ‘miracle cure’.

Biggest Fat Loss Mistakes: Number 2 – Searching for a Miracle Cure or Magic Pill!

The internet has a lot to answer for here – as it is all to easy to start googling ‘fat loss’ and ending up in that crazy, mesmirised state of ‘browsing’ where you end up believing claims that some incredible Amazonian berry is the previously unknown answer to all you needs.

Of course, in the cold light of day we must know this is simply never going to end in that miracle result, but somehow, it’s just so, well, compelling….

No matter what you take away from this article, please take away the simple fact that in fat loss, as in life, you get back what you put in.

You put the effort in with sound and regular training (quality is important here – more on that later) and also put in the work with cleaning up your diet, and results will ‘miraculously’ appear!

You take the easy route and don’t put in the work required, and suddenly it all seems so very hard.

You take responsibility and consistent action and things fall into place – you can get incredible results, speedier and more exciting that I expect you believe right now, but the ‘Miracle Cure’ you are searching for is all within you. You are the key, you have to do what needs to be done, and keep doing it!

Biggest Fat Loss Mistakes: Number 3 – You Think Aerobics is for Fat Loss

This is a common misconception, and links back to number 1. The media are obsessed with spouting the same, tired and out-dated concepts, leaving you to

suffer the consequences of not getting the results you deserve!

Take advice, instead, from people who get results day after day with clients – and whose livelihoods depend on it.

Full body exercises allow your body to move all of its 600 muscles in a workout. You can generate resistance through your own bodyweight or by adding dumbbells or kettlebells to the mix.

Performing these kinds of exercises in a superset or circuit format, with minimal rest, can get your heart rate up as much, if not more, than plodding away on the cross trainer for another soul destroying hour.

But there is more to it than that.

Full body movements are the movements we use in real, day to day life. And also in sports and other activities we may engage in from time to time. If you give your body the opportunity to perform these movements regularly, you will be fit enough for anything that comes your way! You also address and rebalance any imbalances and protect yourself from injury.

Steady, long duration cardio is repetitive and can cause imbalances as well as make any underlying imbalance or injury worse.

Also, if you perform full body resistance style workouts, you become stronger and leaner, and also keep your body guessing.

Steady state cardio or aerobics is very easy to adapt to, so yes, you get fitter to start with, but then your body gets used to what you are doing. This is the reason most people start on a programme then stop getting results and start going backwards and finally give up altogether.

This goes for many popular gym classes – they simply do not have the ability to progress you as you get fitter. You just need to wait outside a studio in your local gym on a regular basis to see that despite almost religious attendance, very few people actually get results.

Biggest Fat Loss Mistakes: Number 4 – You Think You Can Out-train a Bad Diet

This is the biggest myth out there!

As a personal trainer, I get clients coming to me all the time who think they are just coming to me for some exercise – ‘my diet’s fine, I just need some exercise and the weight will just drop off’ is a typical comment.

But, without looking at the nutrition side of things, you will not get results, or you will get slow and uninspiring progress at best! Some people even go backwards, as they subconsciously think they need more calories to make up for all their hard work in the gym! Or they increase the frequency of ‘treats’ as their regular training habit makes them feel so virtuous. Make sure you are making changes to your nutrition and build up over time if a big overhaul seems to much to take on. Why waste all your effort training hard only to put the wrong fuel in the tank?!

People comment to me all the time ‘I bet you can eat what you like, doing all that exercise’. Well, er, no. Us trainers have to be super careful – being busy and active all day and needing to be on form and energetic all day long means it can be even harder to get the calorie balance right. But we also know that we need to eat great quality foods, to keep us feeling and performing on top form. As much as we are human and certain things tempt us as much as they tempt you, we know how bad the wrong choices make us feel, so choose better choices more often because we want to!
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It is about QUALITY and QUANTITY. Simply reducing calories and paying no attention to where they are coming from wreaks havioc with your blood sugar, creates cravings and increases the likelihood of binges, and messes up the vital hormones that regulate fat burning and fat storage, as well as energy and mood.

But you can also eat too much of the right stuff – so you do need to get the balance right. If you are gorging on nuts, drowning salads in olive oil or whatever, you may feel great, get fitter and look better, but the fat won’t be burned unless you need to burn it for fuel!

Work on the quality first, and remember that veggies are the cornerstone. If I was only allowed 3 words of advice on nutrition, it would be ‘eat more veg’! Well, maybe, ‘quit processed food’. Hmmmm…. 3 words just isn’t quite enough.

Anyway, make sure you take nutrition into account alongside your training – they are partners that will, when combined, skyrocket your results. Any programme that promises results without taking both elements into account will not get the best results possible, but even more importantly, will not get results that you can maintain for life.

And surely that is what you want, right?

Biggest Fat Loss Mistakes: Number 5 – You Forget that the End Goal is Maintenance

When we set goals we focus on achieving a number on a scale (usually arbitrary and meaningless) or achieving a certain size (a better goal!) and think that when we get there, we can finally stop our quest and relax, satisfied with a job well done.

Unfortunately, the way we maintain the results is by continuing to practice the new habits and behaviours that we learned along the way! Which is why overly restrictive or unrealistic temporary methods will never work for the end result – maintaining what you have achieved.

When you reach your goal, you no longer need to be in a calorie deficit, but it is so easy to slip into the old bad habits – and it is these habits that led to the weight gain in the first place.

Training, good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle is what gives you the results – you are a product of your habits. So make sure that when you are embarking on your fat loss and health journey you are thinking about how these new habits will fit into your life – for good!

There may be some measures that are temporary, for when you are looking for speedy results (ditching the alcohol completely, sticking to healthy desserts for a while) and when you get to your goal you can ease off a bit and indulge a little more often, but the general, day to day habits really need to stay the same.

Act ‘as if’ you are at your goal from the start – imagine a role model who has the body that you aspire to and imagine what they have to do to stay in shape. From the start, these are the habits you want to adopt, and you want to make them part of your life.

If you take all these factors into account, your success in your fat loss journey is guaranteed!