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weight loss Archives - Crawley Fitness

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.

The Simple Secret to Weight Loss Success

By | Personal Training Crawley | No Comments

One of our great clients has lost several stone — I’ll keep the exact number a secret for her own privacy and because we’re not quite halfway there yet — and is constantly pestered and asked…

“What are you doing to lose the weight?!”

She tells them and they just don’t believe her.

They don’t believe it’s as simple as she tells them.

They think it’s some voodoo, that’s she’s taking some magic pills and there’s something else going on she won’t tell them.

So she tells them again.

And they don’t believe her.

Here’s what she’s doing, this is the simple secret to her weight loss success (remember we’re talking losing several stone, not just a few pounds)!

She’s eating right and she’s training right.

Everyday (with a little discretion at the weekend) she follows a meal plan we give her.  It tells here how many meals to eat and what to eat at each meal.

It’s quite a bit of food and we want to increase it increase the number of calories she’s eating per day (more on that in a minute).

And she’s training.  She’s burning calories at our gym three times a week working one-on-one with our personal trainers.

And boy does she work hard.  Consistently (that’s a big part of the equation) three  times per week while walking fast on her days off.  That all adds up to a lot of calories.

But the exercise wouldn’t work (and here weight loss wouldn’t have been so impressive) if it wasn’t for her discipline and ability to stick to her diet.

She eats the right amount of carbohydrates (they’re not all bad you know).

She eats the right amount of protein.

And she eats the right amount (and right mix) of fats.

There you have it.

That’s what she tells them folk who ask her, her secret.  She eats and she trains.

She does it CONSISTENTLY and gets consistent weight loss.

Hard work.  Discipline and determination.

With a little support and encouragement from us (and the chance to laugh at us too).

The right food.  The right exercise.  And the right mindset (she wants it, bad).

If you need help with your training.  If you need help with your eating.

Then get in touch to find out more about our personal training for weight loss.

You can contact us by filling  in the contact form on this page (it’s in the sidebar) and we’ll give you a call back to discuss your goals and find out if our training is right for you.

The Rules of Dieting

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The Rules of DietingLet’s forget dieting for a moment and (instead) just call it eating.

We don’t diet and exercise here – we eat and we train.

Eating is what we do and it’s something we’re working to improve – literally – one bite at a time.

Below are five rules for eating better and creating a NEW improved and permanent diet that lasts (of course if you need help our team of personal trainers are on hand to offer training and nutrition help).

Rule #1 If it doesn’t go bad, don’t eat it!

What I’m taking about is the fact that real food go bad.  Fruit and vegetables start to decompose and go off.  Microwaveable meals on the other had – don’t.

Food that goes bad is what our grandparents just called food.  Nowadays it’s something we have to go out of our way to buy and eat.  We have too many alternatives, too many preserved, processed and ready made foods to eat.

Don’t buy processed and prepared meals (this includes many breakfast cereals) eat good old fashioned food from raw ingredients.  Porridge (for example) is just oats.  It’s not a concoction of ingredients and additives that have been created in a factory and boxed for us to eat.

That’s the most important rule out of the way!

Rule #2 – Eat until you’re 80% full

For the majority of us the problem (or the reason we’re overweight) is because we eat the wrong kind of food – go back and read rule #1 again – and second, we eat too much.

What’s the right size portion?

Well that’s different for everyone but one thing we can all do is STOP eating when we’re 80% full!

Unfortunately we’ve all been educated by our parents to clean our plates and eat everything.

Eating real food actually makes us feel fuller that eating the equivalent amount of processed food.  It’s called satiety and processed foods don’t tell us we’re full in the same way.

Rule #3 Eat lean protein at every meal

Our body is constantly turning over protein.  What does that mean?

It’s constantly breaking down and building back the tissue (including muscle in our body) so it’s important we supplement the process by adding sufficient protein into our diets.

In addition to supplying these all important building blocks (some of which can only be got from food) by consuming protein at every meal can help improve your metabolism, reduce your cardiovascular risk, improve your weight loss profile AND lead to a higher metabolic rate (more info).

It’s win-win-win when it comes to adding lean protein at every meal.

Rule #3 Eat fruit and vegetables at every meal

And yep, that includes breakfast!

Now the UK government have been great in funding the Change4Life scheme that promoted having your five a day  but it’s better still to start seeing them push one step further and talk about seven.

Sound a lot?

Maybe it does but first remember that fruit and vegetables are typically higher in nutrients and lower in calories.  And while fruit does contain a lot of sugar (so you should focus more on increasing your veg intake) the benefits of all the cancer fighting, free-radical destroying properties of fruit and veg make it well worth while.

Plus you can eat a lot of veg to bulk your meals, fill you up and withing worrying about the extra calories that extra spud would have added.

More cancer fighting fruit and veg please (ideally 2 at every meal)!

Rule #3 Add in healthy fats

It’s sad that we associate being fat, sub-cutaneous fat (the stuff under you skin) and visceral fat (the stuff around your organs) with fat from food.

Fat isn’t bad for us (in the same way as carbohydrate and protein isn’t bad) it’s just another key ingredient for a healthy diet.

If you needed any proof of this then how about the trillions of cells in our body that are all made up with a cell membrane of fatty acids?  And how about the fact that our hormones rely on fat?

What you need is to understand and identify what healthy fats are AND to balance your consumption of monounsaturated, polyunsaturates and saturates (all while avoiding transaturated fat).

The problem is we eat too much of one kind of fat (saturated fat) and if you don’t believe me then see what the NHS have to say here.

What you need is a healthy balance of the right fat types for optimum nutrition.

Rule #5 Earn your carbs

Our Western diet is too carb heavy and (when I think of my mother) I remember having lasagne with potatoes – a heavy carb dish with a side-serving of carbs.

Too many.

We need carbs, they are fuel and without them your body will often turn to protein and start breaking down your muscle tissue in order to fuel itself.

What we all need to do is eating less carbs and at the right time.

The right time depends from person to person (some of us tolerate carbohydrates better than others) but as a general rule it’s good to earn them and eat them on the days we’re working out.

The best time of all is right after a workout, when the cells in your body are primed and ready.

Eating the right amount of carbohydrates at the right time is something we discuss with all our clients during our personal training sessions.

It’s one piece of the puzzle.

Helping people change their eating habits, one habit at a time so that instead of short term gains and faddy eating we help people create long term, sustainable eating habits that help them lose weight and stay healthy.

If you’d like to find out about our personal training, exercise classes or nutrition help them either either your name and telephone number in the enquiry box on this page or call us on 01293 552 511.

 

 

About Our Personal Training

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

We come from a unique background and know that our personal training here in Crawley is one of the best ways to get cardiovascular fit and build a strong, lean body.

Our training is a great way to burn a lot of calories (and if you’re serious about losing weight and burning fat) creating a negative energy balance should be your main goal.  Simply put – you consume less calories than you burn and we can help you burn a lot of calories.

During our 1-2-1 training sessions our personal trainers will help you get warmed-up, put you through some mobility work to prepare your body.

Then the fun begins!

Since our background are the fighting arts (think Boxing and Muay Thai – similar to kickboxing) we use a variety of intense drills and pad work to get your heart rate up.

You’ll work through several rounds on the pads with your trainer – learning new techniques and combinations – before moving onto an exercise session where you’ll focus on building your strength, burn even more calories and get you in fighting shape without having to fight!

Our personal training sessions take place 7 days a week and our team of trainers are flexible with times and sessions at our gym in Manor Royal, Crawley.

While you can pay as you go and book single sessions – the magic happens when you commit to a block or 10 sessions because it ensures you train consistently and regularly.

And that really is the key.  Training consistently and regularly.

Plus our trainers will encourage and motivate you.  And are always on hand to offer advice on extra training you can do on your days off (remember weight loss is about creating a negative energy balance) and essential nutritional tips that make the difference.

To find out more about our personal training or (better still) to get started fill in the contact form on the side of this page.  You can call us on 01293 552 511 but we may be teaching (we’d rather be in the gym than manning the phones) so just leave a message and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

See you in the gym!