Lose Weight & Keep it Off in the New Year

On the lead up to the Christmas Season lets face it, there is a high chance you will gain a few extra pounds. It is known that in the UK the average person consumes a whopping 6-7000 calories just on Christmas Day! Wowsers! But you and I know that extra calories are not only consumed on Christmas day.. and its any wonder the season of goodwill is equally the season of bulging waistbands.

Being a Personal Trainer I should tell you to eat more greens and don’t eat chocolates, steer clear of any alcohol and only drink soda water and lime .. but I am not. Instead, I am going to accept that really you are going to do what the hell you want, and to be honest have a great time and really enjoy yourself with your family and loved ones, you have my blessings.

I know that when the New Year is upon us you will all have a surge of motivation to kick yourself into gear and really get rid of those extra pounds.. and this is where I share my great pearls of wisdom.

New Year..New You

In the New Year without a doubt you will be inundated with the ‘ commit to get fit’ ..’ new year new you’ … every quick fix or magical formula from therapists who have the answers to your problems. The gym membership flyers will be coming through the door and all the newest and latest celeb fitness DVDs will hit the shop shelves. However, don’t get sucked into all the January dieting mayhem!

Why?.. Because there is no magical potion nor nutritional programming or celebrity diet plan that is the nutritional Dalai Lama that can truly help you. The fact is, only you hold the key revelation and solution to your goals and solving what it is that’s stopping you from reaching them. It is only you who can decide to change and finally admit to what it is that needs to change. How long have you been telling yourself ‘I need to make a change and start looking after myself’? You really are the only one who knows what, why and when you eat what you do.

The mid-afternoon tea and biscuits in the office, the chocolates you eat in the car on the way home so no one sees, the secret picking at the kids treats and then the grazing on ingredients whilst you stand preparing your evening meal.

You also start to believe the weight gain is due to you being lazy, I can assure you it’s not because you are bone idol so stop beating yourself up, blaming the fact that you are big boned and have an extremely slow metabolism is also not the cause of the unwanted extra pounds.

Let’s Face Some Facts

Let us face some true facts and really start to admit the real causes here. You are more than likely overweight because you are consuming too many calories.. So now we have got that out in the open we can draw a line through it, get over it, and start really doing something about it!

The reason why you have gained weight and are eating too much will be because of one or two of the following:

1. You don’t consciously eat, but will snack/graze on food most of the day
2. You struggle to resist certain foods
3. Your portion sizes are too big
4. You don’t move enough

You never eat proper meals but will snack and graze on pretty much anything all day and think you don’t really eat much. This way of eating may have kept you trim before when you where grazing on cucumber and carrot sticks but you have now replaced them with foods that are higher in calories and equate to far more than the calories you would obtain from 3 proper meals.

For example, you can’t’ seem to go without chocolate, cookies or pastries? You are not the only one, and there certainly isn’t any shame in that, but … you have to master the ability to reduce the quantity and how frequently you are having them or avoid them completely.

It may be that you go without food for long periods and only have one huge meal at the end of the day, and because of this you think you should be losing weight as you only eat once a day.

These are some of the very common examples I come across in consultations with new clients. There are many people who struggle and have problems with food, it is very common, and all weight problems do not appear overnight, they’re a gradual result of bad habits that have been cultivated for some time. These habits result in the consumption of too many calories, far more than what can be utilized in daily movement and activity.

Let that sink in, as once you accept the reason(s) only then can you begin to put things right.

 How to Lose Weight in 2018!

Do you want to really lose weight and shed body fat in 2018? AND keep it off? Here is what you must do to start:

Keep a food diary, you must write down both the food and beverages you have consumed each day for a week, make sure you record everything and are honest. You will then begin to see the common culprits, and these will be what you will prioritise to change.

If when you look back at your recordings you realise that:

1. You never eat breakfast but have a latte and pain au chocolat mid-morning
2. You have a bowl of soup for lunch that always leaves you still hungry
3. You stop at the petrol station on the way home and buy and consume crisps/chocolates because you are famished
4. You have a glass of wine and nibble on food all the way through preparing your evening meal.

Okay okay, I’ll stop! Are we beginning to see the patterns? When you look at it like this it is very plain and simple to see what needs to be done to resolve this.

1. Never Skip Breakfast
2. Then you can Skip the mid-morning pastry
3. Prepare and have meals that are more satisfying
4. Prepare a healthy mid-afternoon snack to keep you going
5. Cut down on the wine and limit yourself to 1 glass with your evening meal

Set Yourself a Plan of Action & Get Organised

To get the above in place you must be organised and have a plan.

1. Begin by planning what you will have for breakfast, do your food shop and either prepare it the night before or get up 15-20 minutes earlier so you have time to make it and eat it. This should stop you from wanting to also have that mid-morning pastry, if not you will need to think of a new plan, as to avoid going in the same vicinity as the bakery/coffee shop- well at least until these new habits have been instilled.
2. Prepare extra healthy meals/snacks to have mid-morning or mid-afternoon and along with your lunch take them to work with you in case you feel peckish.
3. Make sure all your snacks/meals are protein-based- this will help to fill you up for longer, it could be a few pieces of leftover chicken breast with some veggies and houmous/cottage cheese and/or a handful of almonds.
4. When you return home after work grab a large glass of water instead of a large glass of wine whilst preparing dinner!
5. Keep the portion size of meals small to medium, the size of your two hands cupped together is a good guide.

Get Moving!

On top of all this try to increase energy output and burn calories try to get moving more, increase your daily footstep count- you can do this by parking your car a little further away from work or getting off the bus a few stops before- this will purposely force you to have to walk the rest of the way. Nip out at lunchtimes and go for a stroll for 20-30 mins- a great way to get a change of scenery and refresh but also get some calories burnt.

I can guarantee this simple common sense plan will help you to lose weight and more importantly maintain it. For this to work you must follow the initial process, pinpoint your habits then put together your own individual plan. Once you have your plan you just have to stick to it, be consistent with these actions and you will see the changes.

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Merry Christmas Everyone x