- 22nd May 2017
- By Matthew Fever
So, you need to lose some weight and it’s just not happening? Then this post is for you.
Let me begin by saying that there is nothing ground breaking about the advice in this post – I will simply be suggesting that you watch what you eat and exercise more often.
It doesn’t involve 30 days on the latest fad diet nor does it include an all out, max effort, high intensity workout to be performed each day. There are hundreds of articles like that, all over the internet and from my experience it just doesn’t suit most people living a real life.
The constant stream of information available in this area has led to much confusion and many misconceptions, however, the main problem that I see lies within the planning and the application of healthy eating and training.
I challenge you to try one or more of the following five challenges and do them consistently for one month to see if you can make a difference. The good news is, each challenge is simple, but it does require consistency. Many overcomplicate this process. First, begin with the basics. I have little doubt that for most people, taking care of the following will make a huge difference. It’s probably all the stuff you’ve seen and read before but that you’re just not doing!
I read somewhere that it takes 30 days to establish a new habit, so here is the 30 day challenge.
Challenge 1: Keep a food diary for 30 days
This is so simple you will probably over look it!
A food diary is often the starting point when I meet with people for the first time. It’s a valuable exercise that nobody ever really does. You see there’s what you think you eat and what you actually eat! You need to know where you are starting. Record everything you eat and drink for 30 days in as much detail as possible. During this period you will highlight eating patterns and identify certain behaviours with food. Some you may not even know you had. Over the years, I have encouraged many clients to try this and the results are often mixed. Most don’t even bother because they can “tell me what they eat”, others scribble a few things down on a scrap piece of paper often recalled from a few days ago – this simply doesn’t work. Keep a notebook or use your phone and record it all down. If after a month you can’t see where the problem is, at least you have something to take to your doctor, dietician, or personal trainer and you can discuss things from a better starting point. You have to be honest with this exercise. You only cheat yourself if its not accurate.
For some this is all you will need to begin losing weight. Making a conscious effort to write it all down will make you think about what you are eating and will fix a few things. It keeps your eye on the ball. To use an example I gave this exercise to a client just last week – she followed it to the letter and dropped 3lbs in her first week after making some key changes in her diet.
Challenge 2: Find 2 more hours
I believe challenge 2 is possibly the hardest!
If you’re overweight somewhere along the line things got out of balance.
I see many people trying to lose weight based on a very balanced schedule of 2 x 1 hourly visits to the gym each week whilst trying to also balance a family, work and a social life. This usually doesn’t work. It’s a great start but unfortunately not enough. Before I go on I must add that as a father of two and running my own business, I understand the difficulty in trying to fit in training – it’s hard, really hard, but if you’re serious about losing weight you will have to unbalance things for a while. As I said above, this is the hardest challenge. It requires working less, spending less time at home, giving up time with the family and perhaps prioritising yourself over others for a short time (maybe 30 days). From my experience this is perhaps the number one reason why people don’t achieve their weight loss goals. They always put everyone and everything else first.
I work on a principle that if something is important, truly important to you, than you should do it everyday. That’s how people achieve exceptional things – they work on it every single day. The standard 2 hours a week at the gym out of a possible 168 will only get you so far and if you’re reading this probably not far enough. That doesn’t mean that if two hours is all you can realistically commit to you should stop, just re-evaluate what you are expecting to achieve from it. I understand that working out every day for most people just isn’t realistic without a drastic change in circumstances. The challenge, remember, is to find an additional 2 hours across the whole week. This doesn’t necessarily need to be 2 x 60 mins sessions a week, it could work out to around 17 minutes per day. Begin looking at how you spend your time and what adds real value to your life. Statistics vary but it seems the average person spends over an hour a day on social media…
We all have weeks where things are crazy and you don’t have a moment to yourself, however, if you find this is happening week in and week out maybe take a look at things.
Challenge 3: Meal plan for the week
This is key in my house. If we don’t plan our meals we tend to eat larger quantities, eat less healthy food and spend more money through being less organised. It also costs us more time with repeated visits to the supermarket.
Choose a day of the week (ours is Sunday) and plan what you will need for the week. It all begins at the supermarket. You can’t eat what you don’t buy so begin thinking about what you will need and get prepared. The saying goes ‘If you fail to plan, then you are planning to fail’ – this is definitely true when it comes to weight management and healthy eating. Convenience food is just too readily available.
Personally, meal times are important in our house. It’s a chance to spend time together as a family, catch up on the day and talk things through. As this is such an important time, I always try to give it the attention it deserves by planning something nice for us to eat each night of the week.
Think about each meal and all the snacks you will need throughout the day. That way you can leave the house in the morning with everything you need for the day and avoid unneccesary trips to find something to eat. It really is cheaper and will save you time too!
Challenge 3 then is a meal plan at the start of each week. Remember, do it for just one month.
Challenge 4: Try one new recipe each week
Weight loss is often associated with restriction and deprivation. So much time is spent focusing on all of the things that you are giving up or cutting down on and this can leave you in a difficult place mentally with motivation at its lowest.
If you find you rush to the supermarket and throw the same foods in the trolley, eating the same foods over and over, then you may be bored with your diet and that’s part of the problem. Choose one new recipe each week and give it a try. Aim to get excited about food again and focus on all of the new foods you are going to try rather than the ones you are giving up.
I have spent years working with people in the gym and I have had the opportunity to witness all manner of exercise and eating behaviours, my conclusion is – fit people cook! They take the time each week to prioritise things so that they can feed themselves in the right way.
Try a new recipe and if you find something good, please send it my way!
Challenge 5: Schedule your workouts like any other appointment
Each week take a look at your schedule and work out when you will fit in your training sessions. This is another one that is so simple it often gets ignored but it is a must if you want to see some success on the scales.
Most of us are too busy to really have time to get to the gym. The window of opportunity is so small and it doesn’t take much to miss it (plus you can get so much done when you don’t go)…I know. This is why scheduling an appointment works so well. It can work even better if you enlist the support of a family member, a friend or a trainer to work out with because you will be less likely to cancel.
Start each week by scheduling your sessions and record how many you attend.
So, as you can see the challenges are simple. Notice I used the word ‘simple’ and not ‘easy’. I’m amazed at how many people will try the most complex and exhausting training programmes or outrageous diets before getting these things in order. I am certain that if you actually do the above good things will happen.
- Record what you eat
- Increase activity by just two hours a week
- Complete a meal planner and stick to it
- Try one new recipe a week and sample new foods
- Schedule your training sessions
If you feel you could use some support or need any additional advice, please do not hesitate to get in touch. I will be more than happy to answer any questions that you may have.