Weight loss through exercise and diet (Part 1)

We both know of all the articles a personal trainer can write, this is the one the vast majority are waiting for. Whereas other articles may have the end goal of promoting a supplement or gaining clients I can give you my word what follows is fact. I research and practice all my methods which is why you can be confident that what you’re about to read WILL work. It won’t be fast, but it will last and it will not compromise your health.


  First off it’s important to realise that in the initial stages of a weight loss programme you may not see huge results, at least not on the scales. This is because your body is adapting to the increased level of activity. This results in increased muscle tissue (no you won’t become huge), increased blood volume, increased muscle glycogen, and increased body water. These are all great things! However the likelihood is it will outweigh that which you lose in fat. So do not be disheartened if the scales say your weight is higher or no different when you jump on after a week, it will not last forever and signifies that you are well on your way to success.
 
  So now you’re off! And the first mistake you will make is to target fatty areas. Don’t do this. A study was taken to determine the effectiveness of this. Subjects did 5000 sit ups over the space of 27 days with no significant results by the end of it. Can you imagine all that effort going to waste? This is where you need a well-structured and effective exercise programme. Not these crap DVD ones or generic ones supported by celebrities and random testimonials, make sure you get a personalised one, specific to you and your goals.
  This programme should vary your exercises every 4 weeks so your body does not adapt and should be progressive, meaning you should never have a session you find easy. If you do, make sure to push yourself until you feel the burn.

  The next mistake you’ll likely make is measuring your weight straight after exercise. This will always be disappointing, you will naturally be heavier due to fluid retention, so always measure before exercise. The same applies when measuring your body fat %. If you can help it ignore scales, fat loss is your goal and very few scales can distinguish between muscle and fat weight. A good set of skinfold callipers will measure your suprillica site (an inch above your right hip bone), and be 99% accurate to your total body fat.

  Now here are a few tips which can seriously kick start your progress:

•  Cardiovascular activity should be performed 5 days every week.
•  After 20mins of cardiovascular activity (running cycling swimming etc), your body becomes 50% more effective at oxidising fat (burning it).
•  During circuit training women lose approximately 7 kcals every minute, men lose 10... Sorry ladies.
•  If you’re exercising for longer than 90 minutes be sure to snack, a banana is ideal. This is to ensure you do not use body protein as energy (muscle loss).
•  The estimated energy it costs you to run a mile is your body weight in pounds x 0.73 calories.
•  Replace saturated fats with mono-unsaturated.
•  Increase complex carbohydrates in your diet rather than simple ones which are digested too quickly and stored as fat (sugary foods/drinks). E.g. Chocolate takes 12 minutes to digest.
•  Avoid all and any weight loss supplements, most prevent fat absorption, this includes fats which are essential to your health.
•  Create a calorie deficit (expend more calories than you eat) this can be difficult to get right, consult your trainer or email me if necessary.
•  Do not cut out carbs!
•  Do not take protein supplements unless you are unable to gain sufficient amounts through diet alone.

 I feel like I should tell you early that weight training is very effective. I see a lot of people scared to go into a free weight area, and they shouldn't be, it is no longer a male orientated or body building area, do not be intimidated. Picking up a free weight or doing a bit of resistance training will not make you huge and muscular. It will however do the following:

•  Improve core strength
•  Improve balance
•  Aid muscle tone
•  Aid functional ability
•  Improve joint stability
•  Improved recruitment of muscles
•  Improved kinaesthesia
• … and much more 

  Obviously you don’t want to be using heavy weights. This would promote hypertrophy or muscle growth. You will need a light weight suitable to get at least 12 reps out, 1-3 sets, 2-3 days per week. This is why circuit training is ideal, low weight + high reps = fat loss. It really can be that simple. When circuit training try to minimise rest and target 8-10 large muscle groups. Never train through nausea as being sick will result in a loss of too many calories. And stay hydrated!

DIET:

  Without a doubt the biggest problem you will have is governing your diet. Everybody is in the same boat at one point. There are three main classifications of food. Proteins, Fats, and Carbohydrates. All of these are essential to a healthy diet. Do not follow the trends or use a fad diet, such as Atkins. These diets are not specific to you and so can be very harmful. Diets like these have also been around for well over 100 years and still to this day there is no scientific backing to them working. But, there is plenty to express how harmful they are. Probably the worst are ones which cut out carbs completely; with the idea the body will resort to fat to fuel exercise. Well it might, but it’s just as easily going to use protein, eating away at essential muscle and promoting ketosis. Now because muscle weighs more than fat the scales will show great results, but your body fat may not change, you will only become weaker.
  But that’s boring right? You want me to tell you which foods to eat don’t you. Well there is no magic ingredient or veg, as much as supplements may pretend there is. 10-15% of your diet should be protein, you do not need any more than this. 25-30% should be fat, good fats, such as mono-unsaturated and your omega 3 6 and 9, 60-70% should be carbohydrates, and this is where people mess up.
  There are Low, Medium, and High GI foods. Basically these determine how quickly something is digested. You want Low and Medium, always avoid High unless diabetic and in trouble. Wholemeal and brown starchy products, such as brown bread and rice, are low. Sweet potato is also low (and delicious). White rice is edging medium, but white bread is full of sugar and is high. So are all sweets and sugary drinks. The things which taste good, and often the things you crave due to sugars addictive properties are High GI, nine times out of ten.
 
  Now that all gets a little complex but you’ve read through, which means you’re genuinely interested. I like that. So let’s go deeper.

  You all know the ‘eat well plate’ right? Abide by it, you genuinely can’t go wrong. But you must find out what your kilo calorie requirement is. This is your Basal Metabolic Rate x Your Physical Activity Factor. This will give you a fairly clear cut view of how many calories you need to eat to maintain weight. Now create a calorie deficit. This is a process which deducts calories off you kilo calorie requirement giving you a new requirement. You will need to do this. The chart below will show you what’s possible:

Daily calorie deficit                         Days to lose 5 pounds

100                                                             175
200                                                             87
300                                                             58
400                                                             44
500                                                             35
600                                                             29
700                                                             25
800                                                             22
900                                                             19
1000                                                           17


 
  You’re probably thinking they are really slow results. Don’t worry, they are based on diet alone. With exercise added you can lose 2lbs of fat every week easily, but you should only go as high as cutting 1000kcals, any higher will result in more than 2 pounds of weight loss per week, often in muscle. If you do choose this route, maybe because you’re at high risk of heart disease and clinically obese, you will need an exercise referral specialist such as myself to medically supervise you.


  If you are unsure about a product and how good it is for you, here are a few tips to help:

•  The more ingredients on the label the more you should avoid it.
•  The less packaging the more likely it is to be fresh and healthy.
•  Calorie information is often specific to 100g of the product on the back. Check the weight of your product
•  The ingredients on the back are listed in order of quantity, if sodium, sugar, salt, or seasoning are in the first 3 (assuming there are more than 3 ingredients) avoid it.
•  Food that goes off quickly is better for you, if bacteria want it you should too.
•  There are no laws in place to state a supplement has to declare all ingredients (some have been known to use cocaine).

  So there are some basic rules and facts which I guarantee are more than enough to get you to your goal and keep you there. If you want me to go more in depth I will write a Part 2 soon depending on how many of you view this. This will go in to hormones, vitamins, certain foods, and metabolism. In the meantime take note of what you have read and you will go far.
If you would like me to elaborate more on anything or you have a specific question, like always, just email it to me: healthyhedley@gmail.com