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fat loss Archives - Crawley Fitness

Four Steps to Permanent, Sustainable Fat Loss

By | Exercise and Fitness, Weight Loss | No Comments

Most people approach Fat Loss wrong.

In fact they do it backwards.

Then wonder why things aren’t changing.

You see most people think it’s all about exercise.  They think getting down the gym three or four times per week will cut it.  And while it will help — it’s the thin end of the wedge.  Getting to the gym isn’t where the magic happens and it isn’t the reason weight just “falls off”.

Let me give you an example:

You train three times per week and you burn 400 calories per session (… forget all those claims about burning over 1,000 calories per hour because it’s usually non-sense).  Well that’s a grand total of 1200 calories expended per week.

Break that down and 1,200 calories per week is 171 calories per day in the red.

Here’s the best bit…

That’s roughly two and half digestive biscuits.

So if you have a sweet tooth and like a little treat with your lunch or a dessert in the evening you could smash that 171 calories just by tidying up what you eat.

Take the sugar out of your tea, get rid of processed foods and sauces.

It’s not rocket science (… although if you need a gentle nudge in the right direction we can help)

It’s a lot easier and lot a cheaper to just tidy up your diet than it is to haul your butt down the gym and push yourself once you get there.

And that’s what I mean when I say most people approach weight lose backwards.

They think about the exercise first and foremost… treating it like it’s some kind of magic cure or worse still they actually go and look for a magic cure (… cue slimming tablets and shakes).  Which is the single worst thing you can do if permanent change is what you’re after.

Our approach here is different.

Sure we believe in diet and we believe in exercise but we prefer to say eating and training.

Because you’re going to continue to eat (… and not diet) for the rest of your life.

And exercise is random.  Training has a purpose.  There is an end goal and milestones you can celebrate along the way.

Our personal trainers have  a four step approach to fat loss:

  1. Eat right
  2. Train right
  3. Social support
  4. Accountability

Hopefully you understand 1 and 2 a little better now.

It’s about eating and training.  We can help you with that.

Social support, well that’s the reason weight watchers and slimming world are so popular.  It’s a group of people who get together and support each other.  Then weigh in weekly (… before binging and hiding the evidence) for the pat on the back.

And accountability.

Well that’s about having to look someone in the eye and tell them you’ve hand a sneaky chocolate bar (… or been really good and getting  a pat on the back).

Accountability is where you have someone who’s going to be waiting for you in the gym at  a specific time on a specific day where you’re going to make sure your food has been in check for the week (… we recommend all our clients use a food diary) before working through your training programme (… the programme that makes you look and feel great, not just ‘skinny’).

There you have it.

Fat loss in four easy steps — with a little bit of an ‘a-ha’ moment — on why you can’t out train a bad diet.

If you’d like to have a chat to one of our trainers to find out how you can kick start your new lifestyle click here to find out more.

The Simple Science of Fat Loss

By | Exercise and Fitness, Gym Crawley, Personal Training Crawley | No Comments

Fat loss (better than weight loss) is super simple.

You can boil it down to the basics:

  1. Better nutrition
  2. Smarter training
  3. Social support

And that’s it.  That’s enough to get most people 80 – 90% there and achieving their goals.

But simple doesn’t always mean easy.

You have to be ready to change and you have to want to change.

Now you don’t have to confine yourself to the world or broccoli, chicken and tupperware pots to achieve those goals.

But the better you can be, the quicker you’ll see results.

We can help guide you with better nutrition and meal plans.

We can train you to make sure you’re burning extra calories and preserving your muscle mass (this is what toning is all about).

And we can offer you the moral support — or more bluntly a kick up the backside and accountability — but it’s up to you to take the first step towards changing your healthy, how you look and how you feel.

If you’d like to have an informal chat about our personal training and your weight loss goals you can call us on 01293 552 511 or better still (we’re spend a lot of time training people) enter you name and email address in the enquiry box on this page.

The first step is the hardest and it gets easier (and better) from there!

See you in the gym!

 

SMART Goals, Weight Loss and the Missing Ingredient…

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We know that if you’re investing your time, money and energy into personal training then you want a return on that investment.

And it’s in our interest to see you achieve your goals, realize that investment and feel good again.

But — there is a but — we can only do it if you can set SMART goals and one very special ingredient.

SMART goals are:

  1. Specific
  2. Measurable
  3. Achievable
  4. Realistic
  5. Have a TIME frame

And the missing ingredient?

Your goal has a meaning and significance in your life.

Back to SMART.

A specific goal isn’t “I want to lose weight” it is “I want to lose 3 stone”

There is a specific number attached, it’ s not just a random statement about losing weight.

A measurable goal — that’s obvious — you measure your weight but if you’re super serious about measuring and monitoring your weight loss efforts you should really think about getting that tape measure out and writing down the inches around your waist, your upper arms, your thighs, calves, chest, hips and neck.

Plus — this is a biggie — determine your body composition.  How much of you is fat?  And how much of you is lean mass (not fat).  These two measurements (and not just weight) are more important than most people realize because sometimes your weight won’t change even though your body is.  An increase in muscle and decrease in body fat won’t show on a weighing scale but you will see it when you look in the mirror, try on your skinny jeans or measure your body.

Your goals must be achievable.  There’s no point in trying to lose two stone in a month.  You likely won’t achieve it and more than likely feel crap for failing.

But  a meager two pounds per week is a stone in 7 weeks.  That is realistic or if you’re serious, then maybe a 12 pounds in 4 weeks — but two stone — unlikely.

Which brings me onto realistic.  You must pick a realistic weight loss target per week and as part of your bigger goal.  If not you run the risk of failing, feeling crap and giving up.

Not because you failed but because you set an unachievable and unrealistic goal.

And last there has to be a time frame in place.

Without a time frame a goal takes as long as it takes.  If you give yourself an hour to workout, it will take an hour.  Give yourself two and it will take two.  The same is true with weight loss.

You can give yourself 8 weeks to lose a stone and do it in eight weeks.  Or you can forget a time frame, procrastinate, put it  off, drag it out and then give up.  A time frame (and deadline) that’s realistic is super important.

Last … the MISSING INGREDIENT …

And the missing ingredient, your goal needs to have purpose and real meaning to your life.

I learned a long-time ago there are two reasons people do (and want) anything.  There’s the reason they tell you, and there’s the reason they don’t tell you.  That’s the reason they keep secret and to themselves.

People tell you they want to look good, feel good and be healthy.

But there’s a secret behind that and a real reason.

It might be to look better naked for their partner, to attract a partner or it might be because your family have a history of heart disease, diabetes and you don’t want to be the next victim.

We all have two reasons for doing anything — the reason we tell people and the real reason we keep to ourselves.

This is the MISSING INGREDIENT — it’s remembering and keeping your real reason and motivation for losing weight, getting in shape, putting on muscle or whatever your goal might be.

Keep the real reason at the front of your mind and remind yourself of it every time you start to stray from the course, when you think about missing a training session or eating a not-so-tasty take away meal that does you no good.

If you’d like to find out more about losing weight, getting in shape and — as importantly — getting a helping hand to support you every step of the way why not get in touch and find out more about our group training classes and personal training?

With a team of full-time trainers (male and female) we’re here to help train, advise and support you on your fitness, fat loss and training journey.

Enter your name and telephone number on the enquiry form on this page (or visit our personal training page) for more information.

 

 

The Difference Between Weight Loss and Fat Loss

By | Weight Loss | No Comments

We’re all completely and utterly obsessed with weight loss.

But what we really need to focus on is Fat Loss.

Or more precisely, a change in our (or your) body composition.

So what does that mean?

It’s easiest explained with an example…

You have a 100kg lady, that’s 220lbs or 15 stone 7 pounds in English speak.

If this lady is 50% body fat then she is 50 percent fat and 50 percent lean mass (that’s muscle, blood, bone, connective tissue and so forth — anything that’s not fat).

If she loses weight then she could lose both lean mass and body fat.

Or she could maintain her lean mass and just lose body fat and look amazing.

With both methods her final weight could be the exact same.

The difference is she could lose weight and still be 50% body fat (a skinny fat person) or she could lose body fat, maintain her lean mass and end up a fitter, stronger, healthier and better looking a whole lot better.

The end result from a numbers perspective (what she sees when she steps on the weighing) are the same BUT the difference will be staggering.

And the key isn’t diet and exercise.

It’s eating and training.

Instead of dieting, learn to eat good, whole, healthy and natural foods.

Instead of randomly exercising start to train with a goal and with a purpose.