Topical, Precise and Sometimes Controversial!!

Food is not “just food.” Food is part of culture. Food is part of family. Food is part of celebrations. Food is part of religion. Food is part of tradition. Food is part of so many aspects of life far outside of simply being “fuel.” The goal isn’t to eliminate your “emotional relationship” with food, the goal is to not allow your emotions to dictate your actions. The goal is to be consciously aware of the decisions you make rather than justifying actions you aren’t proud of because of your emotions. So stop looking for a way to suppress or eliminate your emotions. And, instead, hold yourself to your own highest standard. Quit breaking promises to yourself. Recognize your emotions and, simultaneously, don’t allow your emotions to control you. Easier said than done, I know... So is everything in life. But just because it’s easier said than done doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. Some people struggle with self control. They want to lose fat but have difficulty saying “no.” They mentally justify it in saying they’re “flexible dieting.” But flexible dieting doesn’t mean “eat junk and lose fat.” It means “don’t feel guilty for having a treat - but you still have to be wicked consistent to make significant, lasting changes.” For them, practicing self control and saying “no” more often might help them achieve their goal. Other people struggle with food anxiety. They get anxious at the thought of going out to eat at a restaurant because they don’t want to “ruin their progress.” They feel bad for having a slice of cake at their own birthday party. They know it sounds silly and they often give their friends/family/clients amazing nutrition advice that promotes a more flexible approach... but they struggle with it themselves. For them, saying “yes” more often and having a treat might help them achieve their goals. Progress is not only measured in weight loss or fat loss or measurements or numbers or quantifiable data. Progress is also measured in mental, emotional, and behavioral changes. And, candidly, if you don’t improve your mindset first, any physical changes/improvements are going to be short-lived. Because sustainable results only happen with a sustainable mindset.

It’s wild to me that this is even a thing. Often, people message me asking if it’s “ok” to eat fruit because “it has so much sugar 😱.” I get bombarded with messages from “coaches” and “professionals” telling me I’m basically sentencing people to death by encouraging them to eat fruit. What is going on. It’s fruit... Apples and grapes and bananas and oranges and watermelon and strawberries and raspberries and blackberries and blueberries. We’re talking about fruit, people. You’re worried about the “damage” caused by eating FRUIT!? What is going on? No one ever got fat from eating fruit. No one ever became unhealthy from eating fruit. No one ever looked back on their life in their death bed and said “you know...I really should of had less fruit.” No one ever got massively overweight and said, “man...I really think it was the grapes that did it.” Let’s use some common sense. Fruit. Eat it. It’s good for you.

Building a healthy relationship with food doesn’t require you to count calories. And losing fat doesn’t require you to count calories. But. Regardless of whether or not you count your calories your calories always count. Doesn’t matter if you do keto or paleo or intermittent fasting or weight watchers, your calories always count. Also. Just because I say calories are king for fat loss does NOT imply you should eat like an idiot all day, every day (you shouldn’t). Or that calories are the only thing that matter (they aren’t). Or that fat loss is always more important than health (it isn’t). The reason I talk about calories so much is because when you understand how simple (not easy) this fat loss thing really is...the sooner you’ll start to believe you can actually do it. And the sooner you’ll stop looking for the quick fixes and magical potions. And the sooner you start being more aware of what (and how much) you’re putting into your body. So you can get the results you want...while enjoying your favorite foods...without spending every last penny you earn on useless fat burners. That’s why I talk about calorie so much. Not because you need to count them, But so you can achieve your goals as quickly and sustainably as possible without feeling like a prisoner to the latest diet trend.

Stop. Seriously. Stop trying to lose a quick 10lbs three days before a happy occasion which you want to look good for. Stop creating and forcing yourself into arbitrary deadlines by which you convince yourself you “need” to lose x amount of weight. Stop putting so much pressure on yourself to lose an obscene amount of weight as quickly as possible. Stop perpetuating this false idea that makes it seem like you need to lose it now or never. It’s not “now or never.” It’s not a “one and done” process. It takes time. A lot of time. This is a “forever” kind of thing. And the more you try to speed things up or lose weight faster or take magical fat burning pills or invest in stuff like Fit Tea... the further you drive yourself away from reaching your goal. Listen. It’s not sexy or marketable or fun or easy... but it’s the truth. This game is forever, It never ends. You will get better at it. It will get easier. You will get to a point where you don’t have to consciously think about it all the time. But, when it’s all said and done, this game never ends. So enjoy it. Invest in the process. Give yourself the best opportunity to succeed. And remember...if you aren’t having fun, what’s the point?

First...way too many people do things that are drastic and/or completely unsustainable (think juice cleanses, detox’s, keto, etc). The reason they do them is because they want to lose as much weight as humanly possible in the least amount of time. Which always sounds great but inevitably leads to rapid weight regain (usually more than they lost in the first place). Second...people expect the scale to go down every day. Even when they logically know it won’t go down every day (or even every week), they let their emotions get the best of them and convince themselves things aren’t working when the scale doesn’t keep dropping. Even worse when the scale randomly spikes up. And, again, even though they know the scale will spike up for any number of reasons far beyond fat gain, they still freak out and use that as a justification to quit. Third...as soon as they have one “bad” meal or a “treat” or dessert or, God forbid, take a vacation and enjoy themselves for a week, they think they messed everything up. They think they ruined all of their progress and use that as a justification to binge and quit and throw in the towel. These are just 3 of many many many many reasons why people fail. But suffice to say, the answer to remedy these issues are very simple. 1) Don’t do something drastic or completely unsustainable. If the methods are unsustainable, your results will be unsustainable. Do something you enjoy and can sustain long-term. 2) Quit living and dying by the scale. It’s just data. 3) You can’t mess this up unless you quit altogether. So get back on track.

Changing old habits and implementing exercise and a more balanced diet into your routine may not be as difficult as it sounds. Here, I’ve put together 5 tips to incorporate new healthier habits into your daily life – and make them last. Have you ever started living a healthier life, doing regular exercise and having a more balanced diet only to find yourself falling back into old habits after a few days or weeks? If so, you are not alone. Turning a new healthy lifestyle into a habit doesn’t happen overnight, but the good news is that getting there may be easier than what you think. Here are 5 simple tips that you can implement into your life to get yourself started in training and stay motivated: 1. Take baby steps Set short-term goals that are achievable, specific, attainable, time-bound and measurable. Building better habits takes time and dedication, but when you set specific goals to work towards and can measure your progress, you help yourself stay on the right track during the process. Overambitious objectives that will take long time to accomplish could make you give up on the way. On the other hand, celebrating small victories will help you stay motivated. Eventually, the small steps will add up and lead you to achieve bigger and more ambitious goals. Be gentle with yourself and bear in mind that it’s OK to miss one of the small steps from time to time, just don’t use it as an excuse to also skip the next one. 2. Don’t compare yourself to others If you compare yourself to others that might be stronger or in better shape than you, you can easily begin to feel inadequate and lose motivation. But remember that they were also beginners once and have probably had to work hard to get where they are. On top of that, people are built differently from nature. Some people simply get fit more easily than others. But even if you’re not that lucky, you can still improve and get in better shape. Therefore, compare yourself to only yourself and enjoy every bit of progress you make, no matter how big or small. They are all steps on the way towards your goals. 3. Schedule your workouts and stick to them Allocating specific times in your week for your workouts can be really useful. Put your workout slots in your weekly calendar and treat them as if they were meetings or appointments that you cannot miss. This will avoid you ending up not finding the right time for your training sessions. To make it even easier for you to stick to your workout routine, you can also prepare for your training sessions beforehand. For instance, having your bag packed and ready the night before, or putting your gym clothes and trainers in your bag and taking it with you to work if your workout takes place right after your work schedule. In case unexpected commitments prevent you from training within your allocated time, there’s no need to get frustrated – just find another time slot in the week to compensate. 4. Make it social If having an appointment with yourself isn’t enough of a motivation for you, maybe having an appointment with another person would make it much harder to cancel your workouts. Join a club or find a friend or a family member who wants to train with you on a regular basis, or employ a Personal Trainer to give you the motivation to succeed. 5. Make it fun Forcing yourself to do something that feels like an obligation will make you lose motivation soon. If you make sure your workout routine is playful and fun, it will be much easier for you to get it done. It doesn’t matter what kind of exercise you do, the key is that you do something that is good for your mind, for your body and for your mood. And for this, you need to enjoy doing it. Additional tip: Get the right fuel for your body What you eat and drink is the fuel that keeps your engine running. The right nutrition will support your body and provide you with important nutrients and energy to keep you active and motivated. Therefore, you need to eat healthily every day. Want some help with any of the above?, drop me a message. 

Sit down. Read this whole caption and let’s have a quick chat. 1 & 2) You Ate a Fistful of Carbs And/or Salty Foods. In which case your body is put under a dark spell cast by an evil witch or wizard. Then your body soaks up excess water and holds onto it so when you step on the scale you weigh more than usual. It’s not fat. Just excess water. Once the spell is gone your weight will drop back to normal. 3) You Ate Later Than Usual. This isn’t magic of any sort. This is literally just you eating later at night so when you weigh-in you have more food in your stomach so you weigh more than usual. Again, it's not fat - just stomach content. 4) You Weighed Yourself Earlier Than Usual. Which also means you had less time to digest the food you ate the night before so, again, you weigh more simply because of more food in your stomach. This isn’t magic either. Just muggle logic. 5) You Need to Drop a Dookie. Which is more common than most muggles think. Sometimes you're all backed up and you really just need to crank one out. It might seem like dark magic at play but not pooping will affect your weight. Also, apples are “nature’s broom,” as Mad Eye Moody once told me. 6) You're Stressed. And when you're stressed your body holds onto water weight which can make you bloated and heavier. This is one reason why women often gain weight (not fat) on their period - they get bloated which affects the scale. Keeping in mind...this is NOT fat. Just water weight. 7) You Lifted Heavy Yesterday. And when your muscles are repairing they "soak up" water and glycogen and horcruxes to recover so they basically act like a sponge. And, as you know, a soaked sponge weighs much more than a dry sponge. So, again, weight...not fat. Your takeaway? Weight doesn’t equate to fat. The scale will spike up for any number of reasons far outside of simply fat gain. So relax. Stop freaking out. Keep going. #salt #sodium #waterweight #bloat #bloated #bloatedbelly #period #periodproblems #weightgain #weight #gaineweight #fatloss #fatlossdiet #diet #dieting #fitness #fitspo #weightloss #fatloss #weightwatchers

Consistently good is infinitely better than inconsistently perfect. Not my way of encouraging you to half ass it, by the way. My way of... 1) Getting you to stop beating yourself up over some pizza or a fat slice of chocolate cake or jug full of fizzy drinks or a mountain of pasties. Ideally, you wouldn’t have the whole lot in one go. But even if you did...it’s not going to make or break your progress, because, remember, you’re never more than one bite away from being right back on track. And just like no one ever got ripped from one workout or skinny from one salad...no one got fat from one “bad” meal. So relax. Stop beating yourself up for having a treat. Enjoy it. Then get back on plan. 2) Encouraging you to stop wasting your time waiting for the “perfect” opportunity. Because it’s never going to come... Ever. You will always be busy. You will always have other things to take care of. You will rarely (if ever) think you’re 100% ready to dive in head first. There will never be a perfect time. You will never be perfectly ready. And the longer you wait for the opportunity to be “perfect,” the longer you delay your chance to make your own magic. So: I'd rather you hit your nutrition 80% than 100%. Because at 80% you can enjoy yourself without obsessing over every damn calorie. Yes, your progress will be slower, but it will be more sustainable and enjoyable. Being 100% on point with your nutrition isn't perfect - it's prison!!