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.  

The post Calorie counting for weight loss; an approach which actually works appeared first on Kaye Louise Fitness.

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.  

The post Morning Routine appeared first on Kaye Louise Fitness.