1) Become more active

Modern lifestyle is almost ENTIRELY reliant on motor transport to get you everywhere these days…even down to the shops, around the corner to your friends house or taking the kids to school 400m down the road.

Good old fashioned manpower, in the form of walking or cycling is viewed as a “hardship” of the past, when people were “poorer”….Or had “harder lives”…

What a load of tosh!

The population 70 years ago were hard as nails, tough, strong, determined, disciplined, gruelling, made of iron…and guess what?…

They were fit and in good shape! (SHOCK)

SOOO… we commute less on two legs,

AND.. the majority of us work sat behind a desk for 40 hours per week…

AND, what do we do once we get back home?? ….

We SIT…SIT watching our beloved entertainment box (TV), playing video games, surfing the net, watching porn etc.

LET’S be HONEST with YOURSELF…How many hours do you spend every day outside of work SITTING?……THINK about it, genuinely, I bet you it’s at least another 6+ hours per day.

DON’T FORGET to include commuting to work! Oh and what position are we in when we sleep?

It seems we have lost sense of the BASICS yet again….

All the conflicting rubbish relentlessly churned out across the media is yet again causing us to lose sight of the absolute simple, basics …..

Hmmm, if I’m more active, surely, I will burn more calories…YES FOOL, obviously!

Stop watching t.v, playing video games or scrolling social media for 6+ hours every day!

GET off the sofa/out of bed and out of the house and DO something active.

Right Now!

2) Eliminate sugar, refined grains and junk food from your diet

Sugar, that beautiful refined little granule that gives us so much delight from consuming it. We just can’t get enough.

Sugar intake has skyrocketed across the western population over the last 100 years, it seems to be added to literally everything we eat or purchase which is pre prepared.

No wonder its responsible for over 180,000 deaths per year and a diabetes epidemic!

It’s not only contained in the most obvious foods either….just about any condiment or sauce will contain added sugar, reduced fat items (particularly yogurt), pasta/curry sauces, pre prepared meals, cereals, fruit juice….The list is endless!!

Why?….because it tastes good, and manufacturers want you to consume more of their products. It’s also incredibly addictive!…..

Sugar when consumed, releases endorphins in the brain related to reward and pleasure just like hard drugs do.

Sugar is more addictive than cocaine and other drugs!, we crave it so much that people can’t seem to control themselves without it.

Why else do you think you can’t stop throwing chocolate down your neck until the whole bar is gone?

Why else do you “need to get your sugar fix”?..….

Why do you struggle to function without it? …

Because it behaves just like a drug.

That’s right….Sugar is basically a drug.

Ever tried a zero carb diet?

You will experience the most intense withdrawals you could ever imagine.

(Surprising why manufacturers add the sugar isn’t it? Hmm….)

Further, sugar plays havoc with your energy levels, on consumption you get an almost immediate spike in energy which is shortly followed by a large drop in your energy levels only 1-2 hours later…..

This makes us irritable, “up and down”, and makes us crave more foods high in sugar throughout the rest of the day.

Sugar is the body’s preferred source of energy (or rather, it has to burn it off before fat)..…If we consume sugary foods regularly throughout the day, your body WILL NOT metabolise fats as energy, meaning you will not burn body fat (lose weight).

Junk foods, defined as foods high in unhealthy fats and/or sugars providing little nutritional value should be drastically reduced if not eliminated from your diet, only allowing yourself a treat every now and again…

Government guidelines recommend restricting yourself to 200kcals per day worth of these foods.

Personally, I disagree with this, I would recommend having them on an occasion only (2-3x per week)!…Why?….If you buy these foods and have them in the house you will eat them!!

You Know you will………

Junk foods include; ice cream, sweets, crisps, pastries, confectionary, fizzy pop, chocolate bars etc

3) Cut down on alcohol

Alcohol, like sugar, is what we in the industry call “dead calories”…

Meaning they provide little to no nutritional value in the form of either healthy fats, protein, fibre or vitamins & trace minerals. It simply provides the body with calories only.

Gram for gram, alcohol has almost double the calories compared to sugar (carbohydrates) at 7kcals per gram compared to 4kcals per gram.

Further, most alcoholic drinks will contain sugar in addition to the kcals from alcohol.

Interestingly, the main problem with alcohol is that the body treats it as a toxin, which means that it metabolises the alcohol before any other sources of energy you consume.

Soo… for example..

If you have a lasagne with half a bottle of red wine, the body will burn the alcohol (~350kcals in half a bottle, taking around 4 hours to burn off) off before it will burn any fats or carbohydrates from the meal.

Resulting in the fats from the lasagne being stored as body fat.

The other problem with alcohol is its tendency to fuel us into making poor choices and decisions….

Particularly when it comes to food!! I think we can all agree that you’re more likely to eat crap when we’ve had a few drinks! I GUARANTEE!

Your impaired thinking processes will affect you the following day too (or even two days), notably, in the presence of a hangover!

Will you be motivated to hit the gym or go to that exercise class when you’re nursing a hangover…Hell NO!

It also reduces your quality of sleep! Less sleep= Less motivation to be active & less productive!

KEEP IN MIND….Only 2-3 drinks the night before has the potential to impact your state the following day…You don’t need to have a heavy drinking session for alcohol to affect you the next day!

One drink is enough to reduce your quality of sleep!

There’s a day of activity lost….And a day of eating junk food!

Great for your weight loss!

4) Drink more water

Thirst and hunger share similar signalling pathways to the brain.

So…Sometimes when you think you’re hungry, it’s actually thirst driving this craving.

By ensuring you drink a steady supply of water all throughout the day you’re not only keeping yourself hydrated (and aiding healthy digestion)…which is essential for exercising at an effective intensity…but, you’re also reducing the possibility of consuming unnecessary additional calories….

WIN WIN!

Ideally, you should generally aim to drink around 2-2.5Litres of fluids every day.

This can be from any different sources..e.g. foods, water, coffee, tea, fruit juice, milk etc.

Just BE WARY with caffeinated beverages and alcohol as these both act as diuretics…meaning they speed up the removal of fluids from the body.

I’d recommend taking a bottle of water to work, sipping it throughout the day.

If you find water too boring try spicing it up with some sliced lemon, lime or cucumber to give it a tastier twist!

5) Practice Cooking using whole foods

Cooking and preparing meals using whole foods as appose to pre prepared foods/meals allows YOU to be in control of what goes into your meals! It’s an essential skill to know how to prepare healthy dishes, if you’re looking to lose weight or manage your weight effectively!

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY…Enjoy what you eat!

Do you know what goes into a chicken nugget, a banger or a micro meal? Well.. You don’t want to know!

A lot of cheese toppings on pizza’s can’t even be categorised/named legally as cheese…..So what the hell is it?? Manufactured crap, that’s what it is!

Pre prepared foods & meals contain poor quality ingredients (to keep costs down), more unhealthy fats or sugars (to improve taste) and contain high amounts or preservatives (to increase shelf life) e.g. salt, syrup, trans fatty acids etc

Cooking using whole foods doesn’t have to be time consuming or expensive either…You can use frozen produce, fresh, tinned etc. The quicker you start learning the better you’ll begin to manage shifting those extra pounds!

You’re more likely to eat more nutritious foods too and make better choices when eating out or in a rush!

For more information, feel free to drop me a message !

Remember people… Health = Wealth

Stay well,

TheLakesCoach