Maybe you are super into fitness and have sworn off these bad-for-you-foods and hadits, but it can still be frustrating when you’re trying to lose body-fat and the numbers on the scale aren’t shifting. Here are 7 of my tried and tested tips to help you along your fat-loss journey!
- Watch your Portions
The first step in losing weight is to create a calorie deficit – eating less calories than your body requires. There are a number of ways you can do this. The most time consuming but also most effective is to weigh your food and calculate your macro-nutrients. Alternatively, you can listen to your body, simply eat until you are satisfied and try to avoid that full or stuffed feeling.
- Eat Nutritionally Dense/Low Calorie Foods
Leafy green vegetables such as spinach, kale, asparagus are a great source of nutrients for your body. However, they have one additional and great advantage – they are very low in calories, thereby allowing you to fill up on these without the fear of drastically increasing your daily calorie intake.
- Choose Workouts with the Greatest Bang for their Buck
You don’t need to spend hours in the gym in order to lose weight or to see the benefits. This is where you can be really smart. Certain types of exercise like Strength Training and High Intensity Interval Training provide maximal results if performed correctly. 20-45 minutes of heavy Strength Training or HIIT will provide you with much greater results than spending 2 hours on a treadmill at a steady state. I am all for maximizing my time and I don’t like spending hours in the gym any more than you do, so use your time effectively and smartly.
- Drink more Water
Not only does water keep you feeling satiated for longer, it also is vital for numerous functions in our bodies. A well-functioning body has a much greater chance of losing excess body fat than one which is starved of essential minerals and nutrients.
- Get some Inspiration
We all go through phases of laziness and lack of motivation from time to time. We are only human after all. But one thing to keep in mind here is we are not on our own. Numerous people have successfully walked this path before us. So why not put the headphones in and listen to a motivational speech as you’re doing your workout, or more importantly, when you are feeling a lack of inspiration. If I get the opportunity, I will always put something inspiring on when I work out or when I am driving. I am not a huge social media person by any means, as I am not a fan of the culture it is creating. However, I do still find myself checking my Facebook and other social feeds from time to time. One thing I have purposefully done is followed a lot of my mentors pages such as additcted2success, Tim Ferris, Dwayne Johnson etc…The by-product of this is that my feed is now filled with inspiration, motivation and ideas, rather than the usual mundane superficial posts that we are all used to.
- Plan & Prep
As the saying goes – ‘Fail to prepare, prepare to fail’. The majority of us have extremely busy and demanding lives and our time is torn between work, family and social activities. This busy schedule can lead to a lot of us being in a completely reactive state. One of the keys to success with health & fitness is to know your weekly schedule and prep and plan your healthy meals accordingly around this.
- Get Good Quality Sleep
Studies show that poor sleep is one of the strongest risk factors for extreme weight gain, linked to a 55 percent increased risk of obesity in adults. A lot of people do not place much emphasis on sleep and its importance. Why? In my opinion it is because the benefits are not directly seen straight away. It’s the same as smoking in a way. Usually the side effects take years to come to the forefront, if at all. Do you think anyone would smoke, if, after 1 cigarette you were guaranteed to get lung cancer?? Probably not, if you are of sound mind and body.
I am not really a member of the 8 hours sleep/night club. Instead I prefer to focus on getting really good quality sleep. Some nights this might only be 4 hours sleep and two 20 minute power naps during the day. A few things have definitely helped me with this
- Journaling before bed which helps me clear my mind.
- Meditation mixed with Wim Hof breathing techniques helps me calm and relax.
If you feel you are FINALLY ready to make the right changes in your health and fitness, please get in touch to book your free consultation.
To your health and fitness,
Ciarán
