First off – I 100% think there is a place for them and it’s important for me to say; for those using them, those not using them, those curious about using them – I am here to help you all.  There’s no judgement here!  But what I will say is that if you are using them, the need to work with a PT is probably even greater….

Why?

Because GLP-1 injections can reduce appetite and support fat loss, but they cannot imitate exercise or build muscle for you.  There is no jab for that (yet?!).  So please bear in mind that whilst losing fat can be great, losing muscle is absolutely not so we need to do everything we can to preserve and maximise it.

So, I want to help disseminate what I’ve learned recently and also share my views on how I can work with you if you are considering using them, already using them, or considering reducing / stopping your dose…

So…

Part 1 – how do they actually work?

I’ve been doing my research as I’ve wanted to understand this properly…. Here’s a very high level synopsis of what I’ve learned.

• GLP-1 drugs were first used to treat Type 2 Diabetes and the first version was approved in 2007 (originally discovered in the saliva of a monster lizard – WTF?!).
• Most weight loss injections (Wegovy, Mounjaro, Ozempic, etc) work in a very similar way (at a basic level).  They include varying doses of a chemical (hormone) called GLP-1 (Glucagon-like Peptide-1) but they contain slightly different versions and levels of it.

In order to understand how the drugs work, we need to know what happens naturally within the body…

• The body produces the GLP-1 hormone naturally when we eat; its purpose is to stimulate the pancreas to release insulin to help us break down sugars in the food we’ve just consumed.
• A secondary function of GLP-1 is that it tells the brain that we have had enough food.  It’s almost holding up a ‘closed’ sign…  ‘No more food for now please, we are busy processing what you’ve just thrown down your neck!’
• As these sugars get broken down, another chemical signal is released to remove GLP-1 from the body. It’s a quick, efficient, cyclical process, meaning we are often hungry at various times throughout the day when each of these cycles ends.

How do the injections work (simplified version!)?

• The injections contain a modified version of GLP-1, which essentially mimics the same actions as the naturally produced hormone.
• Clever scientists have modified the hormone so it is resistant to being broken down quickly after eating meaning it stays in the body longer.
• The increased availability of GLP-1 tells the brain to trigger the pancreas to release insulin as it thinks it needs to break down sugars from food recently consumed (stabilising blood sugar in the long term)
• The brain is also constantly receiving a ‘digestive system is now closed’ signal, which reduces hunger, removes food noise and suppresses appetite.

In a nutshell, this is how the injections work to aid weight loss.  I have simplified this massively, but I hope it’s helpful!  In Part 2 we will explore how and why it’s so important to eat & train  properly whilst taking these drugs…

The post Part 1 – Weight loss injections. How do they work? appeared first on Kaye Louise Fitness.

Real talk, No BS.  Sustainable fat loss: yes please.

As a PT and online coach, I wanted to share some honest, practical advice about achieving your health goals this year. No gimmicks, no quick fixes, no hacks, no magic supplements… because [spoiler alert] there aren’t any.  It’s consistency with the basics which will get you results.  

Let’s Talk About Real Weight Loss

First things first: sustainable weight loss isn’t about crash diets / juice diets / detox diets or giving up everything you love. Also, those ‘miracle’ solutions promising quick results? They usually lead right back to where you started. Instead, aim for steady progress of 1-2 pounds per week. It’s not exciting, but it works!

The Truth About Calories (Yes, They Matter!)

Here’s the simple truth: weight loss comes down to calories in versus calories out. If you’re not losing weight while “being in a deficit,” you’re probably not actually in a deficit. Start by reducing your daily intake by 200-300 calories. And don’t forget about drinks! While water, zero-calorie drinks, and simple tea/coffee are ideal, if you absolutely need that fancy Starbucks latte, just track it and include it in your daily calories.

Your New Best Friends: Protein and Fibre

Want to feel satisfied and energized? Pack your meals with protein (aim for 30-40 grams per meal) and fibre-rich foods. Think lean meats, fish, legumes, vegetables, and whole grains. Not only will these keep you feeling full, but they’ll also help balance your hormones naturally. (Pro tip: increase fibre gradually unless you want some unexpected trumpingtons! 😉)

Exercise: Important, But Not The Whole Story

Let’s bust a common myth: you can’t out-exercise a poor diet. That spin class might feel like it burned 500 calories, but the reality is a bit different. Focus on creating your calorie deficit through food choices first. That said, exercise is incredibly important for overall health and fitness. Aim for strength training three times per week and some cardio once or twice weekly. No gym? No problem! There are plenty of excellent home workouts on YouTube.

Practical Tips for Success

1. Eat breakfast within an hour of waking – even if it’s just something small to start
2. Keep triggering snack foods out of the house (or portion them carefully)
3. Aim for 8 hours of sleep (yes, it really matters!)
4. Drink more water throughout the day
5. Increase your daily steps gradually
6. Be realistic with your time – if you spend hours scrolling, you can find 30 minutes for exercise!

The Most Important Part: Being Kind to Yourself

Remember, you’re human! You’ll have days when everything goes off track, and that’s completely normal. Don’t punish yourself with restriction the next day – just get back to your healthy habits. This isn’t a race; it’s about making sustainable changes that last.

You deserve to feel healthy, strong, and confident. Start with one small change, master it, then add another. Before you know it, these healthy habits will just be part of who you are.

A Final Note

As women, we often put everyone else’s needs before our own. But taking care of yourself isn’t selfish – it’s necessary. You deserve to be the healthiest, happiest version of yourself.

Ready to start your journey?  I’m here to help! Please drop me a message with any questions, and let’s support each other in creating lasting, healthy changes…  Remember – I want you to WIN!  

The post How can I lose weight FOR GOOD this year? appeared first on Kaye Louise Fitness.

Sounds simple!  Why don’t we all just massively restrict what we eat for a period of time and lose weight then?!  Because – LIFE! Events happen, special occasions occur, we are short on time, we opt for convenience, temptation is all around us and it’s bloody HARD to be hungry all the time!  

Tracking calories (i.e. logging what you eat in a food diary) is commonplace these days – everyone has heard about it but not everyone does it…  There are apps such as My Fitness Pal (MFP) which you can use to track your calories.  When you join MFP, it will ask how much weight you’d like to lose per week and if you are overweight, the temptation will be to plug in the highest number you can – that’s just human nature – but this will result in the app calculating your target calories to be ridiculously low.  

Technically, there’s nothing wrong with this as the science makes perfect sense.  Keep your calories low and your output moderate and you will start to lose body fat, that is true, but for the vast majority of people (who still want to have a quality of life) it is unsustainable in the long run.  

Keeping calories really low for a period of time results in hunger, low energy, tiredness, low mood and poor cognitive function.  It’s basically no fun for anyone!  And periods of low calorie consumption often lead to high calorie food binges.

Say, for example, you somehow managed to stick to 1200 calories per day all week, Monday – Friday.  By the time Friday night arrives, you are likely to want a break!  You’ve been ‘good’ and you’ve restricted yourself all week, so what’s the harm in a takeaway, or a few drinks, or some of that ‘treat’ (high calorie, high sugar) food over the weekend?  The harm is that too much is often consumed…  A weekend off is around 33% of your whole week – if you have over-restricted during the week, you are likely to over-eat at the weekend and that will essentially put you back at maintenance calories, meaning you are no longer in a weekly calorie deficit, meaning that you don’t lose any weight overtime because you’ve effectively ‘eaten back’ the calories you ‘saved’ during the week.  I wouldn’t recommend this approach to anyone – it creates a poor relationship with food and encourages a binge/restrict cycle, which may not necessarily result in weight gain, but it will affect an individual’s view of how they consume food.  

Instead, I encourage all of my clients to eat within a sensible calorie range ALL OF THE TIME.  I will set calorie targets based on my own calculations and those targets will ensure you are eating within a calorie deficit, but not to the extent that you feel completely restricted with what you can/can’t eat.  No food is off the table (literally).  You can eat whatever you like within that calorie range and you will lose weight over time.  Yes, the rate of weight loss will be slower, but it means clients can still have the flexibility and freedom to live an enjoyable life.  

The difficult part is learning to accurately track what you’re eating and understanding how to stick to calorie deficit effectively, over the longer term.  And it’s this part which I can help with.  There are a number of strategies we can employ to ensure a client’s diet is nutritionally balanced, without feeling restrictive and once this is nailed, it’s easier to stick to, leading to much more successful and sustainable weight loss over time.

The long game wins out here – and it’s much more effective than the binge / restrict cycle so many of us get caught up in.

I offer coaching to clients who struggle implementing this.  Thrive in 5 involves setting targets around calories, but also around movement, nutrition and workouts.  It provides a structure for you to follow and I do this based on your individual circumstances.  It’s a 5 week initial programme where we work on your mindset and make you more aware of your lifestyle choices… I will encourage you to make small, incremental changes which make you feel GREAT and over time, this focus becomes second nature.  

Please feel free to message me about coaching and how I can help you get started on your health and fitness journey.  

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Don’t get me wrong, I believe holidays are a time for relaxation and switching off.  As soon as that plane touches down, I don’t want to be checking emails or doing any work – I want to spend precious time with my family, sit (or lie) down in the sun (hopefully!) and switch off from the real world for a bit – that’s what holidays are about!  

I’ll be honest, after some holidays in the past, I’ve come home feeling a bit gross after too much over indulgence, and afterwards the temptation kicks in to over-restrict in order to re-address the ‘balance’.  But I’ve learnt that there is actually a different way, and I want to share that with you here. 

Remember that being more mindful about your activity and food consumption doesn’t automatically make a holiday less enjoyable – it might actually mean you enjoy it more!  

I had the best time away and I don’t feel like I missed out at all, but I did make some (quite enjoyable and realistic) compromises and sensible choices…  

1. I tried to include protein with each meal.  Why?  Because it keeps you fuller for longer!  For breakfast, I had lots of fruit, protein yoghurt and protein granola.  For lunch, I’d make a chicken or prawn salad or wrap.  For evening meals, I mainly opted for meat / fish and veg (and I did have some pasta and pizza too).  Everything tastes good when you’ve not had to make it yourself! 
2. I opted for potatoes rather than chips where possible.  Many of the restaurants we went to had this available as an option, and the main event is usually the fish / meat, so I do not mind foregoing chips if it means I can still enjoy the meal.  
3. I walked – a lot!  I averaged 15k steps a day and my non-negotiable step count was a minimum of 10k per day.  
4. I still worked out every other day!  To be honest, I’ve done this on holiday for years now, mainly because I love it and I feel so much better if I’ve worked out in the morning..  Working out doesn’t need to be in a gym – it can be anywhere – and bodyweight exercises are still great!
5. I drank ‘zero’ tonic with my gin!  Such an easy ‘swap’! Don’t get me wrong, I still had some wine and a few cocktails, but if I was drinking, it would usually be a gin and slim.
6. I opted out of dessert most nights and only had a couple of ice creams during the holiday.  We aren’t a big dessert-eating family really and I’d always prefer to have more savory than sweet, plus I was always full!  If the kids were getting ice creams and I wanted something, we’d share one, or I’d get a Calippo!

What I’m trying to do here is offer some practical, real life tips to consider when going away – IF YOU WANT TO.  There is no judgment here – you always have a choice when it comes to food and exercise – whether you’re on holiday or not – and if you’ve built up a good routine and rhythm and you want to continue that, then there are ways to do so.  But it must be a conscious decision and you will probably need to make compromises.  We can’t eat and drink everything in sight and expect to maintain our weight – it just doesn’t work like that.

So if you have body composition or fat loss goals, I want to reassure you that holidays are a time for enjoyment, but progress can also be made.  If you want to switch off and eat and drink whatever you like for a week or two, that’s absolutely fine too, but just understand what the consequences of that are likely to be.  You might decide that it’s absolutely worth it for you, in which case, go for it!  If not, perhaps consider some of the tips above.  Most importantly of all, ENJOY YOURSELF!  

The post How to enjoy your holiday without ruining your weight loss progress… appeared first on Kaye Louise Fitness.

And what we eat has the biggest impact on our body composition.

If you’re over weight, it’s usually as a result of a small over consumption of calories over a long period of time. If you consume excess calories, your body stores that energy as fat, and we get bigger as a result…

You do not have to over eat by a lot for the impact to compound over time. The general rule of thumb is that 3500 calories = 1lb of fat. So by that maths you’d only need to over eat by 500 calories every day to put on a pound of fat a week!

Likewise, you don’t need to eat a lot under your caloric requirement to lose body fat over time either. That will also compound too, meaning the larger the deficit, the quicker the fat reduction, but the deficit needs to be consistent. That’s it. Continued calorie deficit = fat loss. The bigger the deficit, the quicker the weight loss. Simple?! Yes. Easy?! Well no! It’s not! Not in the world we live in! It’s why we need to find the balance between enough of a deficit to lose fat, but also not being over restrictive at the same time. Because let’s face it, life is for bloody living.

And that’s where I come in.  There are many ways and principles I work through with my clients in order to make a sustained calorie deficit easier.  The science is still the science – that doesn’t change – but it doesn’t necessarily mean that changing our diet and eating healthier is an ‘easy’ thing to do – at least not at first!

In summary, let’s not be scared of the word ‘diet’ – it’s just what we eat!  And if you need any help understanding what kind of calorie deficit and diet will work for you, please don’t hesitate to contact me, I’d love to help.

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I know that many of you have tried the carb cutting, calorie slashing, juicing, detoxing, veg souping, [insert other diet types here!], other restrictive diets and it’s time to change that once and for all. I firmly believe that you can live a heathy, balanced life through making some simple tweaks and changes – and doing so consistently.

But first of all, I think a great starting point is understanding why none of those diets have worked (in the long term) in the past.

Many of the principles I coach centre around the reasons why diets haven’t worked in the past.  We need to understand and unpack these to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself….

Following the Thrive in 5 ethos, I’ve broken it down to 5 main reasons diets haven’t worked (or only worked temporarily) in the past…

• Unrealistic expectations – we don’t give it long enough! 

When we start something new and we change our behaviours and start to work hard towards something, we want to see the rewards from our labour – and quite rightly too!  Sometimes we’ve done all the right things, but we just get impatient!!  And when we don’t see results or changes, we just give up. We think: ‘why bother if it’s not working, I’ll just try something different’.  But that is a challenge we aim to overcome – setting the right expectations from the start and understanding that change takes time can really help shift this mindset.

Coaching principles to overcome this – PATIENCE AND CONSISTENCY.

• All or nothing mentality – we expect perfection

This is a biggie.  I fell into the trap many times too and the issue here is thinking your actions have to be totally perfect in order to get results.  It means we think we can’t start a new ‘diet’ if we have commitments, we think ‘Oh I’ll just wait until after X event to start’ – which is bonkers really because life will ALWAYS happen.

Once you do actually start to make positive changes, a second implication of this all or nothing mindset is the temptation to give in if you CAN’T be perfect.  Again – it’s life getting in the way!  But it always will, so we need to be able to cope with that while still working towards our goals.

Life will never be ‘perfect’ – in any respect – so let’s not expect it to be!  Let’s learn how to happily and healthily live our lives while maintaining some balance and  control.

Coaching principle to overcome this – SOMETHING IS ALWYS BETTER THAN NOTHING.

• We try and change too much at once.

This can be overwhelming and even though you might need to make a number changes to achieve your goals, changing everything at once is likely to result in burn out.

Coaching principle to overcome this – SMALL CHANGES OVER TIME. 

• We attach too much importance to scale weight.

When we try hard to lose weight we want to see it reflected on the scales, but weight fluctuates for so many different reasons and it is not a direct measure of fat loss.

If you are doing the right thing and losing fat, it can take a while for this to be reflected on the scales….  The key is to keep going and focus on other things instead of weight alone.

So many (if not all) of my clients have experienced this and it can be really disheartening, but we have strategies to deal with it.  It’s hard to change perspective around this – I struggle with it too sometimes, but this is where coaching comes into its own….  Having someone to reassure you is key.  Having someone there to assess whether you are doing the right things is important too…. If you’re doing this by yourself, it’s very easy to convince yourself that whatever you’re doing isn’t working, when that’s probably not the case.  You just aren’t seeing it on the scales YET.

There are so many other benefits associated with healthier habits and they do get overlooked.  Focus on how you feel and make lifestyle changes because it’s an act of self care and respect, not because it’s some sort of weight loss drive.

Coaching principle to overcome this – FOCUS ON THE NON-SCALE VICTORIES.

• Lack of flexibility and support when things don’t go to plan

Despite best intentions, it’s highly unlikely you will be able to stick to a healthy eating plan 100% of the time.  Period. With or without a coach!  Occasions and events happen; celebrations, illnesses, injury, holidays, family emergencies, children, etc…. It’s about fully appreciating this and ensuring you do SOMETHING rather than NOTHING in these circumstances and that you aim for adherence to your plan for 85%+ of the time.  Consistency always wins!

If something happens which means you can’t hit your protein target, if you go out with friends for a reunion and drink too much and end up with a horrible hangover, if your child is ill so you can’t go to the supermarket, if you break your ankle so you can’t walk – there is always a way to edge closer to your goals.  And I am here to help support and guide you with that.

Coaching principle to overcome this – WORK TOGETHER AND OFFER SUPPORT AND ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS.

If any of this resonates with you and you’d like to ditch the diet culture for good, please feel free to contact me to find out more.  I’d love to help and support you.

The post 5 reasons why you find it hard to stick to a diet appeared first on Kaye Louise Fitness.

I have personally employed some of these strategies to help me control my snacking and like anything, the more you do it, the easier it becomes…. I promise!  (And – spoiler alert – YOU CAN STILL HAVE SNACKS!!)

1. Drink water – staying hydrated is important to help you feel fuller for longer, so you are less likely to experience cravings.  It’s also really bloody good for you, so try and drink lots of water every single day, regardless of your snacking habits!  
2. Introduce a NEW RULE!  One snack per day. Limit it. Set yourself a rule. If you are serious about achieving your goals, you’ll understand why this is important!  If you are tempted by a snack after you’ve already had your daily allowance, save it for the next day.   You’ll probably enjoy it even MORE if you wait!  Delayed gratification!  
3. Only have it if you REALLY want it. Make it a ‘HELL YES!’ snack!  If there are biscuits in the office which you think are ok, but aren’t your favourite, just say NO!  Practice it!  Remind yourself that saying yes to the biscuits is like saying no achieving your goals.  Or flip it – saying NO to the crappy office biscuits is like saying YES to your goals!!  Get serious about it – nothing changes if nothing changes.  
4. Enjoy your snack as you eat it, take the time to savour every bite. This is important, let yourself enjoy it, guilt free, especially if you’ve factored it into your calorie intake (which I encourage you to do!)
5. Create a barrier or remove the stuff likely to tempt you. Don’t buy it, or if you do have it in the house, or move it somewhere else to interrupt the automatic habit of opening the snack cupboard (or your equivalent!).  Create a barrier, or do something which makes you pause before taking action.  

Hope this is helpful and you’re able to take some pointers away to help you take control.  Snacking isn’t ‘bad’, but having some strategies to implement will definitely help you achieve your weight loss goals!  Please let me know how you get on!

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It’s so true – having a good, positive morning routine can be a powerful tool you can use to your advantage…  It’s why I love morning workouts so much!  

Even if you’re not a morning workout type of person, getting up a little earlier than usual to plan your day can be quite calming and will really help with general organisation, attitude and how you show up for the rest of the day.  

Most of us get up and attack the day from the get-go, however I’m challenging you think a little differently here.  Get up 15 mins earlier if you can, have a routine you do which gets you prepared for the day and allows you to be in control.

If your goal is fat loss, you could try fitting in a 5-10 min routine you do each day which gets your day started the right way…  10 x squats, 10 x lunges, and a quick stretch routine, followed by a coffee (or tea) and 5 mins of planning the day can help you feel less rushed and more in control.  It can also be beneficial to practice some mindfulness techniques and reflection – think about what worked well yesterday, what didn’t work so well, what do you want to achieve today, etc…  It’s important to feel less like you’re being ‘done to’ and more like you’re in control.  Have some ownership of what you want the day to look like rather than just winging it and hoping for the best.  Plan it out!  

If you’re a busy Mum like me, just taking that small window of opportunity in the morning can really help.  I hate rushing around like a lunatic (although even with the best of intentions I end up doing that a lot anyway!) but when I take a little time in the morning to exercise or write a to-do list, I’m so much more productive and focused for the rest of the day.  When you are calmer and clearer in your mind, you can remove the noise and focus on what you need to do – it means you’re much more likely to do it too!  Win win!  

Starting the day positively means you’re already in the right frame of mind to make positive decisions and act in line with your goals for the rest of the day – it’s a bit like exercise and food; they go hand in hand.  When you exercise, you want to eat better and fuel yourself the right way and when you eat well, you have more energy to exercise and a greater desire to look after yourself.  If you start your day with the right intentions, you are more likely to follow through with decisions and actions which are in line with your goals.  Ultimately, you will make it easier for yourself to make better decisions.  

Give it a try and if you want help to establish what a good routine might look like for you then please get in touch.  

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That’s not to say you should or shouldn’t track your weight – that’s personal.  Many people do track their weight, so I just want you to be aware of the pitfalls of doing so. 

Short-term weight variation can be frustrating, but understanding the reasons behind it can help put the ups and downs into perspective…  Here are a few:

Water Retention

One of the biggest factors affecting daily weight is your body’s water content. Things like your hormone cycles, sodium intake, carb intake, medications, exercise, and heat exposure can all impact hydration and water retained in your muscles and tissues. This easily explains a 1-3 pound fluctuation daily.

Digestive System Contents

At any given time, you can be carrying 5 or more pounds of food waste and undigested food contents in your digestive tract. Based on your diet, bowel habits, and hydration status, this amount changes, affecting your weight. Eating high fiber foods or becoming constipated also expands digestive contents.

Carb Stores

Carbohydrates require water to be stored in the body. When carb intake goes up, so does stored glycogen in the muscles and liver. All this additional water bound to glycogen can equal a 2+ pound increase on the scale overnight after a big carbohydrate-heavy meal.

Sodium Intake

Consuming foods high in salt causes the body to retain more water to help maintain fluid balance. This translates to extra water weight driving your scale upwards. Weight from high sodium intake can result in a jump of 2-3 pounds.

Inflammation

Factors like illness, lack of sleep, delayed onset muscle soreness, and food sensitivities can all cause systemic inflammation. Swelling from inflammation brings extra retained fluid. Your weight may spike during periods of higher inflammation.

Hormone Changes

Hormone cycles like menstruation can alter fluid retention and cause temporary weight gains of 2-4 pounds due to water being held in tissue. Changes in levels of hormones like cortisol also impact water balance.

If you are going to weigh yourself, make sure you do it regularly and be aware of the trends, rather than fixating on the actual numbers.  

How do I weigh myself?

The best time to weigh yourself is first thing in the morning, after you’ve been to the bathroom but before you’ve had anything to drink.  Weigh yourself with nothing on, everytime, and track it somewhere, like an app.  Overtime, you will start to identify trends and it’s these longer term shifts and patterns which demonstrate fat loss.  

In summary, normal hormonal fluctuations, differences in bowel contents, carb intake, sodium consumption, activity levels, and hydration status all contribute to normal weight variances of 1-5 pounds daily. Don’t obsess over the small ups and downs. Watch long-term weight trends instead.

If you’re looking for help with weight loss or tracking in general, please reach out – I’m here to help you.

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