In today’s society many of us want to lose weight. When I say weight I mean fat! As fat loss and weight loss sometimes may not correlate. I could lose about 2lb of weight in a couple of days just by reducing carbs in my diet (My body composition may not even change). Anyways, back onto the title. Is weight loss easy? The scientific answer is yes. Scientifically weight (fat) loss is very, very simple. It’s primary school maths, It’s calories in – calories out. If you consume less energy than you expend then fat will be used as an energy source and therefore you will reduce the size of your “fat” cells. If you do this over a period of time then you will continue to lose fat. Remember all calories count (even the ones in alcohol unfortunately!).

If it’s this easy why aren’t we all running around looking like elite athletes. Psychologically being in a calorie deficit is hard, especially if you want a social life. When ever we are out we are surrounded by pastries, burgers, fast food, alcohol etc. These are all things that we enjoy and will start to crave (especially around Christmas). Below I have complied a few things we can do to combat this:

Know how many calories you consume a day
A lot of people have no clue how many calories they consume a day. With technology this has become easier than ever. A great app to use is “My Fitness Pal”. With this you can see how many calories you are consuming a day just by scanning or typing in your food. It also tells you what nutrients you are consuming and if you are deficient in any. Remember this is an app and may not be 100% accurate with its calculations as it doesn’t know your individual needs, but it’s a great place to start.

Exercise on the days you know you have social occasions
This is something I come across all the time. Most people socialise, drink and eat rubbish on the weekend. However they do not exercise on these days. The whole idea is to be in a calorie deficit. GET UP AND DO SOME EXERCISE! Don’t let that 1 day let you down, you will be right back where you started on Monday. Hit the gym hard on the days that you will consume a little more calories than usual. This will help massively as it may even balance out so that you consume the same amount of calories out expend on that day.

Eat before you go out
If you eat before you socialise you are less likely to give in to them cravings. The amount of times I have gone to the cinemas on an empty stomach and seen all the chocolate and just said “one bag won’t hurt”. Added to that bag of chocolate was nachos and a large coke. There I will have consumed between 1/2 – 3/4 of my daily calorie allowance. If you eat before you go out you are less likely to give into these cravings.

Choose healthier places to socialise
I understand this always can’t be the case. The amount of people that I see arranging nights at pizza & burger places when they are trying to lose weight baffles me. There are loads of restaurants that serve healthy dishes. The majority of them will serve either chicken, steak, veg etc. Pick healthier options when socialising.

Toughen Up!
You know this is what you have to do so let’s not hear the excuses. My favourite one is “I don’t have time”. As if it’s a lot quicker to eat a bag of crisps than to eat an apple (or any other type of fruit). It’s hard I know, but let’s just get it done you will feel better for it, I promise. If time is an issue then prepare your food for days in advance. Also don’t listen to your work mates/friends/family that are very negative when you are trying to lose weight. Most of the time they are like this because they aren’t happy with themselves. They don’t mean to be negative, however it maybe a subconscious reaction. Dig deep down and don’t eat rubbish.

A very common sight in the gym (especially with women) are people spending hours and hours of cardio a week trying to lose weight. This is fantastic and will help your overall health when you compare it to the opposite, watching endless netflix whilst eating a share size chocolate bar every night (been guilty of this a few times myself).

Will hours and hours of cardio prevent you from losing fat, the simple answer is no. HOWEVER just think will endless hours on the treadmill/bike and the 1000’s of burpees get you the body that you want? As well as this, are all the hours of cardio a week sustainable? With some people the answer is yes, if you enjoy putting your body through high amounts of pain everyday. Even with this, you will most likely end up burning yourself out at some point. This will lead you to feel tired and lack motivation to exercise. Most of us will become bored and unmotivated before we even get to this point. Cardio is good at putting our body in a calorie deficit. If your body is in a calorie deficit you will lose fat, but think about how you will look if you keep performing cardio on a regular basis. Elite Long distance runners have very low body fat, their body is designed to run long distances and are fantastic at doing so. Is your aim of coming to the gym to have a body like an elite long distance runner. If this is your aim then cardio is fantastic, however if you want the “toned” look then cardio everyday is unlikely to give you this.

So what can we do?

Change your training regularly
Don’t stick to the same routine all the time. Add some extra exercises in every 4-6 weeks to keep it fresh. Performing the same routine in the gym every time you go is likely to get boring. E.g. If you usually do 20 mins on the treadmill, try some HIIT (high intensity interval training) instead. Just type in HIIT workout in on youtube.com and there will be 100’s of workouts to choose from. Also if you usually do basic sets on your strength exercises, try some circuits, perform 3-4 different exercises without a rest.

Lift some weights
I am not saying you should start lifting heavy weights 5x per week. However adding a few strength exercises to your routine will have a number of benefits to your body. It will improve muscle size, reduce body fat, increase your metabolism, low impact on your joints (compared to running and jumping) and many more….  (Women you WILL NOT become “bulky”, you are very unlikely to have enough testosterone in your system)

Get a training partner
Training with another person will push you out of your comfort zone. If you are training with somebody else you are more likely to do the exercises that you aren’t confident with, also they are also likely to introduce you to new exercises. Once you have become confident with these exercises you can add them more frequently into your training routine and you are less likely to become bored. They will also give you that extra push to exercise on the days you don’t quite feel up to it.

Don’t stop cardio
Cardio is an important factor in order to live a healthy lifestyle. The point I am trying to make is that performing cardio all the time might not be the best way to achieve your goals. Still keep it in your workout routine, it is very important. Also cardio doesn’t have to be boring. I play 6 a side football twice a week. I can assure you that I am working twice as hard playing football than I ever would on the treadmill at the gym. So cardio can come through a hobby such as badminton, netball, football, running, swimming or anything that you can feel increasing your heart rate and your breathing rate. The main thing is to keep it enjoyable!

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