It’s getting hotter, clothes are getting smaller and the fear that someone may see your actual body now overwhelms you. Most people in the fitness industry or gym rats relish this time of year because of all their hard work, discipline, and denying junk food has finally paid off. They can wear the skimpiest of clothes and look amazing, You, however, are still enduring the loose T-shirts, large hats, khaki shorts and maxi dresses.
So why can’t you have that body? Simple really, most people just don’t have the motivation, discipline or consistency to have put the work in for the year leading up to summer. That doesn’t mean you can’t look better in the next coming months, so here are my top tips that may help you drop a few pounds before you step on the beach at your all inclusive hotel, where you will, in one fell swoop, put it all back on!
Move. Move like you’ve never moved before. That means get off your arse, Stop procrastinating, just do it. Go walk, run, join a gym, take a class. Whatever it takes to get you moving again. Most people are in bad shape because they just don’t move enough anymore. Weight training is great for fat loss and muscle gain. Get to the gym and hit 3-5 weight sessions a week and combine that with walking or cycling to work. Instead of sitting down to watch corrie of an evening get outside and go do some sprints in your local park or garden. If basic fat loss is the goal, lots of exercise will burn fat. Tri-athletes, marathon runners, gym rats/bunnies are not fat.Eat better. Stop eating crap and missing meals. Eat 4-6 times per day. No weighing food, no points systems no crash diets, just eat whole foods. Which means good lean cuts of meat, good green veg, some unprocessed carbs and quality fats. Don’t kid yourself eat properly.Drop the booze. You cannot and will not lose weight effectively if you still insist on drinking alcohol. It doesn’t work, end of.Refined sugars, low fat alternatives and most packaged foods are the devil. If your food doesn’t look like it did when it was grown, then don’t eat it.Drink water. Not teas and coffees, they stave appetite. Not soft drinks (even low calorie or diet), they make you crave sugar and definitely not alcohol! I know I already said that, I just wanted to re-iterate the point. Plenty of water flushes out excess water and salt. Although it’s not fat loss per se it can give the effect of losing size.Limit salt (sodium) intake. This links in to the point above. You could have a Chinese take out and because of all the salt and MSG you could gain 2-3 lbs in water weight. However, if you adhere to point 2, your salt intake will be naturally lower unless you season everything too much.
I know none of this is particularly cutting edge and I’m sure anyone reading this is thinking ‘I knew that..’, but you’d be surprised by the amount of people that don’t know it and certainly don’t do it. You would be astonished by the results you could achieve by actually doing all of these things daily. The real take home message is not about quick fixes, crash diets or secret training methods, it’s about consistency and discipline. The people who have good looking bodies do say no to ‘treat foods’ most of the time, they do limit alcohol, they eat well constantly, they workout regularly and they don’t blame others, jobs or circumstance for their failings.
So challenge yourself, do everything I have mentioned above and see what you can achieve. This is not a diet, this is learning to look after your body and is a lifestyle choice. These correct choices will lead you to a better body, a happier lifestyle and will rub off onto your children and the people around you.
If in your quest to find somewhere to train I own a great little gym in Chertsey at only £30 per month with no contract tie in and a handful of great personal trainers.
Keep on liftin’
Ali ‘Fat Al’ Stewart
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