Stop trying to lose weight!!!!!!!!!

I am sitting waiting against my better judgement for some scales I have just purchased for my fit campers to be delivered. I feel like Marjorie Dawes!

Why, because I want to try and stop them jumping on the scales everyday (sometimes twice) so my thinking is that by me having the scales I can ration the weigh ins to once a week. But personally having been a slave to them in the past I HATE the things – they are highly addictive!

Here is the thing; you want to be thin right so you want to lose weight right? Wrong, you want to be thin so you need to lose fat – not weight. Yes if you are overweight then weighing less is going to be a side effect of losing fat, but losing weight alone will not give you’re the body shape or faster metabolism you desire.

As this picture shows muscle weighs more than fat, you can see 5lbs of fat takes up more space (volume) than 5lbs of muscle.

Someone weighing 68kgs with a body fat of 21% will look much leaner and be a lot smaller than someone who weighs the same 68kgs but has 32% body fat. So even though they weigh the same their body composition will be totally different. The person with more muscle and less fat will be smaller as muscle is a lot smaller and leaner per lb than fat.

Another thing about our 21% body fat person is their metabolism will be considerably higher than that of our 35% person as muscle is metabolically active, ie, it needs energy, even at rest and therefore burns calories – fat doesn’t! Studies have shown that a for every lb of muscle you gain your body can burn an extra 50 calories a day– that’s 350 a week which over a year could amount to a weight loss of 5lbs – without you lifting a finger.

Standing on the scales and not seeing the results you were hoping for can be gutting, how often have you got up, planned your wardrobe, looked in the mirror felt great, then weighed yourself, been disappointed at the result and felt totally deflated, fat and horrible, despite having liked your reflection 2 minutes previously (maybe you were half a kilo heavier than yesterday??)

Taking measurements or using a pair of jeans or item of clothing that you really want to get into is a much better indicator of how you’re doing than the scales. Watching and feeling your body shrink is a so rewarding and will inspire you to stick to your healthy lifestyle, eating plan and workouts more than ever.

For instructions on how to take measurements check out the video here

So now you know, scales do not give you the full picture, in fact they can be totally misleading. If you are doing the right exercise, resistance training and short intense cardio sessions your body will be changing, even if the scales aren’t.

Liberate yourself, out them away somewhere and get them out weekly if you really must, monthly even, or better still ditch them!

Deminishing Returns???

What were your goals when you first joined the gym or set out on your exercise plan? Have you achieved them? If not it could be because you are one of the many exercisers who are stuck in the rut of doing the same exercise routine over and over again and seeing no results or even worse gaining weight, losing strength and getting injuries.

When you first start exercising you will see results fast. As the body goes from doing nothing to something it is shocked into action and responding to the exercise stimulus as your heart rate rises, the blood flow increases, and you begin to breathe faster increasing your oxygen consumption.

Now the body has to adapt to the new workload, rebuilding and repairing the muscles. This all takes extra energy – hence the initial weight loss you will experience along with the increased energy levels, higher self esteem, greater strength and stamina, along with an endless list of other benefits. In short you will feel fantastic!

But at some point your body will stop adapting to the new work load and it will settle at a point where you will no longer burn the extra calories because as you become more effective at performing the exercises the energy expenditure for each movement is less. Like everything the better you become at doing something the easier it is to do. A fitter person will generally burn less calories performing the same moves as an unfit person.

Now in the same way as your body got used to NOT exercising it will adapt to exercising and try to balance the energy in with the energy out

This is where you will hit your plateau and stop losing weight or gaining strength. Research has proven that it takes about 4 weeks for the body to adapt to a new workout or exercise plan. Simply doing more of the same workouts will not bring back those initial results and could lead to injuries from the repetitive movements and strains on your joints.

Now you need to shock your body! Shaking up your routine will kick start your results again!

So here are some pointers on how to keep your workouts fresh and the results coming!

1. Keep your body on its toes – if the exercise is getting too easy then crank it up to the next level
2. Move your body in different ways, ie, swap squats for lunges, running for rowing, weight machines for dumbbells – keep it guessing
3. Try to renew your workout every few weeks
4. Beware of overtraining as this can also cause your body to conserve extra energy leading to diminishing returns and injury! Take time to allow the body to recover
5. Alter the intensity, frequency and duration of your workouts

NEVER LET IT GET EASY!!!!!!!!!

Check out the Babes on the Run website for more fat loss tips and info

What’s the best plan for fat loss? Week 2

There is a constant debate going on about the best way to lose weight, everyone from doctors, to fitness professionals, to nutritionists to the people on the street have an opinion. Some are more informed or educated than others and some are just con artists. No one seems to have conclusive proof of the true blueprint of optimal health. Low fat, high protein, eat meat, no meat, no carbs, 3 calorie controlled days 1 binge day, eat right for your blood type, the list is endless!

Over years and years of reading and researching nutrition for various clients with health problems ranging from high blood pressure, depression, type 2 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and obesity I have become a complete fan and advocate of the Palaeolithic (caveman) way of eating.

I have seen fantastic results from a change in diet, a change that eliminates wheat and diary products and increases consumption of fruit and vegetables, and not just the 5 a day the government talks about – at least 10 a day is what we should be aiming for. It seems clear to me that this is the only way to eat, as our ancestors did. We were made to eat this way!

We are not meant to be over weight. We are all different and your natural weight is as individual as the colour of your eyes, or your height. But if you eat to be healthy aiming to nourish your body with the nutrient dense foods nature provides your body will follow your lead and you’ll find your set weight point.

When it comes to nutrition for weight loss my OPINION is this, if you eliminate any type of synthetic man made foods, (and in this I would include diary as so many of us are lactose intolerant – cows milk is meant to nurture 42 stone cows NOT humans) in time your body will fall back into sync with itself and as the blood sugar stabilizes and your metabolism settles on an even keel your body fat will drop and you will feel more in control of your body and its cravings – Don’t get me wrong a bowl of chocolate ice cream will still look good but the feeling of HAVING to succumb will not be a strong as your body will not be craving sugar – just your mind!

When the body is free of the toxins caused by artificial processed foods it can work properly concentrating on the digestion of food rather than having to process alien toxins through the gut, this causes the body to retain extra water in order to dilute these toxins, storing them in the fat cells away from the vital organs (ie on our tums, bums and bingo wings)

My clients and fit campers follow a nutrition plan that eliminates certain food groups from their diet for two weeks, these are Sugar, Diary, Wheat, Caffeine, Alcohol and anything processed – what’s left you ask?

Fresh fruits, vegetables, pulses, legumes, meats, fish, nuts, seeds, water & teas. Yes I know it sounds tough, and for those first few days it is, but when after the first week they feel energised and lighter – and when they step on the scales or do their measurements boom! The results are fantastic. By week two they are at least few pounds lighter (10 is the record) and full of energy.

Then the choice is theirs, do they want to go back to eating the convenience foods that have robbed them of their vitality, energy and slimness or do they continue down the path that leads to a healthy body at its natural weight, and a lifestyle that allows a little of what you fancy now and then without jeopardising your health or weight. For most the answer is simple – choose health! That chocolate biscuit just isn’t worth it.

No one said it was easy but in time it does become less challenging and the more you do it the easier it gets! You just have to get into the habit!

So some of my top tips would be

Eliminate refined carbohydrates (sugars) from your diet – bread, pasta, and wheat based products – even the “healthy” stuff and especially the white stuff - and the cakes, sweets and biscuits obviously!

Eliminate or at least limit dairy if you must eat diary choose the lower fat options, cottage and feta cheese – instead of full fat hard cheese – try non diary milk alternatives

Don’t eat anything if there are 3 or more ingredients and any with ingredients you don’t recognise or can’t pronounce

Eat mostly vegetables – organic wherever possible

Cook food from scratch and throw your microwave out (it nukes all the goodness in your food)

Eat smaller amounts of good quality, lean and wherever possible organic meats and fish

Eat fat to lose fat adding olive oil, coconut oil, oily fish, nuts and avocados along with other HEALTHY saturated fats to your diet will help your body repair itself and burn fat

Eat some form of good lean protein with each meal, animal or vegetable mix it up

Have Cheat meals the more of these you have the smaller your results will be, if you are aiming for weight loss keep it to two or three a week

For more info and details go to http://www.personaltrainerleatherhead.com

Yummy Mummy FC Oct 2010

How great are you ?

You are an amazing, unique individual who can achieve ANYTHING!
Watch, share and live this !!!



Love Kim x

What’s the best plan for fat loss?

"Dieting - the practice of ingesting food in a regulated fashion to achieve or maintain a controlled weight”

Wow what a question that is! And here’s the thing, now that I’ve got you here, I don’t know the answer.

So that’s it sorry I haven’t a clue………………. ok so maybe I do have inkling. The thing is and the reason that I say I don’t know is that I don’t know you; I haven’t the foggiest idea why you’re overweight, and the answer will be different for each individual, what works for you may not work for me, you may have allergies or intolerances that cause other symptoms to flare up, you may have a thyroid problem that I don’t, or you have very high cortisol levels that will cause you to gain weight if you go for a long run, while I can run and it will fall off due to my high metabolism (which incidentally I don’t have – I am not one of the chosen few who have the gift!)

Over the past few years diets have had a bad press, and with good reason, the main one being that a diet tends to be something you “go on” and therefore something you will come off, and that’s when most people relax.

Having lost the weight they wanted or some of it they return to their normal eating habits only to find themselves back to square one a few weeks or months down the line, so they go on another diet, and so the cycle continues. But this time it is a little harder to lose those few pounds because during this cycle – known as yo yo dieting the body’s metabolism has slowed down in response to the lack of calories and therefore energy coming into the body.

So each time the process is repeated it becomes a little harder to achieve the weight loss desired. The harder it gets the quicker you give up meaning most people end up heavier than they started in the first place – not good!

What makes it harder is that everyday in a thousand different ways we are bombarded with messages from the multi billion pound food & diet industry who tell us that weight loss their way is easy and that they have the secret answer, by following them you to can have the body of your dreams.

A particular pet hate are the companies who provide energy dense bars and shakes to replace meals leaving you too exhausted to exercise and giving you the metabolism of a snail – having lost a lot of weight and feeling great in your new (untoned) body you return to eating food and expect your sluggish metabolism to cope, it doesn’t – I have never meet anyone who has kept their weight off with this type of diet – its insane!

But here is what I do know that successful diets and exercise plans work for the following reasons,

1. they involve a reduction in un nutritious empty calories
2. they are nutritionally dense
3. they use resistance training
4. and effective cardio

Nature has provided for us every nutrient we need to survive in good health. It has convenience foods of its own in the form of fruit and nuts, it provides its own metabolism boosting broccoli, grapefruit, green teas and the weight loss elixir – water! The foods it offers are low calorie and full of nutrients that nourish every cell in the body.

Nature doesn’t process foods, such as grains, stripping them of vital nutrients, it doesn’t add salt to meat and fish so it stores for longer in a tin on the shelf or add 10 teaspoons of sugar (the amount found in a standard can of cola) to water to make it taste better.

It doesn’t use trans fats or additives to prolong its shelf life, or numbers to give foods nicer colourings, or pesticides so fruit looks prettier – I could go on but you get the picture.

We have toyed so much with the foods we eat we no long have a concept of what real.
In my next blog I will tell you my view of the world’s best diet, the nutrition my yummy mummy fit campers, 1 to 1 PT and online clients follow, the same plan that has helped clients to lose 7lbs and 5 ½ inches in their first WEEK, the results they get are amazing – but if you can’t wait for the next blog and want to get a heads up just look around at the foods nature provides!

For more info check out our website at http://www.personaltrainerleatherhead.com/

Are you making any of these common exercise mistakes?

Good clean nutrition is the number 1 key to weight loss and a healthy lifestyle but if you want to see maximum results then you should be exercising at least three times a week and moving at every opportunity. Below I have written about some common mistakes that could hinder your success.

Are you making any of these mistakes?

Doing the same workout for too long

If you want to keep losing weight or getting stronger it is vital that you keep changing your workout routine. 3 sets of 16 reps with 5 kg weights may be ok to when you start out but if you want to see results you need to keep the body guessing and push yourself a little bit harder each time you workout.

Using girlie weights

Woking out with weights that are too light is just a waste of time, once you are confident that you know the move are have good technique then go for the heavy stuff, seriously don’t be afraid of using the big weights, choose something you can do 8-12 reps with. You will be surprise at how heavy you can do.

Working in your fat burning zone

Forget the little charts on the cardio machines in the gym, the belief that working in your fat burning zone which is typically 60-70% of your maximum heart rate will get you burning more fat is wrong. It is true that when working in this zone a higher percentage of the calories burnt come from fat, but in fact you will burn a lot less calories in this zone, making the overall percentage smaller.

The table below is based on 30 mins activity

Activity	Cals Burnt	% of Fat Burnt	Cals used from fat
Rest	100	60%	60
60-70% MHR	300	50%	150
75-85% MHR	450	40%	180

Therefore the harder you work the cals you burn the more results you will see.

Skipping the warm up

No matter how short on time you are preparing the body for exercise is vital. Warming up improves your performance and decreases your chance of injury. Spending 5-10 minutes gently mobilizing the joints and increasing the heart rate will enable you to go for longer and be stronger.

Not stretching

There is currently great debate in the sports and fitness world about the effectiveness of stretching and when to do it, some say not before exercise, others say not immediately after exercise, but no one is saying don’t do it at all. When we exercise we are contracting the muscles causing them to tighten and shorten which if left can then cause postural imbalances in the body as the muscles pull the skeleton out of place.

Stretching allows the muscles to return to their natural length and the joints to be put through its full range of motion, keeping the cartilage nourished and healthy.

You may feel fine now but from the age of about 25 our flexibility begins to decline ( along with everything else!) performing regular stretches will help you keep the flexibility you already have. Stretch at the end of your workout when the body is warm and hold each stretch for 30 seconds.

Over fueling after your workouts

There is no doubt that a good workout will leave your glycogen stores low and in need of a refuel, however, for the majority of us a small snack is enough to keep us going. Energy bars and high calorie sports drinks could end up leaving you consuming more calories that you have burnt off in the workout. A banana, fruit with a few nuts or lean protien snack is an ideal after workout energy booster and will be plenty to keep you going until your next meal, which should be soon after.

Have a plan make sure you have a clear idea of what your plan for each workout is and what your end goal is. Going into the gym, to a fitcamp or for a run with no end goal in mind means you could find yourself wasting time and letting yourself off the hook when the going gets tough.

No pain no gain is not how you should be working out, if you are feeling pain other than DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) then something is wrong. When working out your should feel a tension or "burn" in the target muscle area but the joints should not hurt. Again get a pro to check out your technique, or use a mirror.

If you want something to get you started send me an email at www.personaltrainerleatherhead.com telling me a bit about yourself and I will send you a free gym workout.