Ask anyone for fat loss or weight loss advice and you’re sure to get a number of different suggestions. Some might give you GOOP and others may give you advice
GOOP – The good opinion of other people
Advice – Someone that has been there, done it and has actual hands on experience
Take advice and don’t swim in GOOP
Over the years I have worked with a lot of real people and trained with some of the best coaches from around the world. I have been in the industry for over 15 years and have trained everyone from athletes to actors, celebrities to CEO’s, mountain climbers to mums and just about everyone between.
I tell you this not to impress you but rather to impress upon you that there are certain commonalities between those taking advice and getting great results and those swimming in GOOP
Today I am going to share with you the DEFINITELY TAKE ADVICE and the DON’T BOTHER GOOP
Before I get into this post I do want to state that everyone is different and what works for one may not work for another. Use this as a map to guide you in the right direction
Here is what I have found as DEFINITELY TAKE ADVICE
1 – Have a GOAL
I cannot stress enough the importance of having a clear and concise goal with a deadline. Without a goal how do you know what you’re trying to achieve.
2 – Drink half your body weight in ounces of water a day
For optimal fat loss you need hormone balance and cellular function. Proper cellular function requires hydration. Dehydration affects your muscle ability to contract, your ability to think clearly and your immune system.
3 – Minimise your intake of starchy carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are sugar and if you keep topping yourself up with sugar then you will never burn fat. Your body will choose to burn sugar before it burns fat. By minimising your intake of starchy carbohydrates your body will have no choice other than tapping into its fat stores. Staying under the 100 gram mark seems to be great for fat loss and under 50 grams if you want rapid fat loss.
4 – Eat lots of Vegetables
Veggies are full of fiber, so they keep you fuller for longer and they are also rich in vitamins and minerals. Any deficiency has the ability to slow or even grind fat loss to a halt.
5 – Eat enough Protein
Protein is your building blocks for muscle and repair. Lean muscle is very metabolically expensive meaning that it costs your body lots of calories to have it.
6 – Good Fats with each meal
Fat is a macronutrient that provides energy for your body. Fat also helps move vitamins A, D, E, and K through your bloodstream and absorb them into your body. The cholesterol in fat is the precursor to Pregnenolone your body’s master hormone. Pregnenolone feeds into a hormone known as DHEA and then into your sex hormones, Testosterone and Estrogen. Without adequate amounts of Testosterone and some Estrogen it is incredibly difficult to make lean muscle tissue. As mentioned before more lean muscle means faster metabolism and less fat.
7 – Metabolic Resistance Training
Resistance training can be done using barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, sandbags or even just your bodyweight. Essentially anything that provides some form of resistance. Metabolic resistance training is a form of resistance training that utilises functional movements using big bang for your buck exercises paired in a way that not only works your muscles but also pushes your heart and lunges to give you a cardiovascular type effect too. The magic to Metabolic Resistance Training is that it creates a huge afterburn effect by raising your metabolism on a semi-permanent basis.
8 – Sleep
Sleep is your hormonal reset button. A study at the University of Chicago’s General Clinical Resources Centre showed that dieters who got eight and a half hours sleep nightly lost 56% more body fat than compared to those eating the exact same 1,450 calories per day diet who only got five hours thirty minutes sleep a night. When you don’t get enough hours of sleep your leptin, a hormone that is responsible for making you feel full depletes and ghrelin a hormone that is responsible for your hunger levels increases. Lack of sleep leads to the feeling of both greater hunger and never feeling full, a real bad combination for those trying to lose weight.
9 – Manage your Stress
Cortisol is your stress hormone, elevated cortisol is catabolic for your body leading to muscle breakdown and increase capacity to store fat (Your cortisol receptors are around your belly, so if you have higher levels of belly fat this can often be attributed to stress). On top of all this, it’s your adrenal glands that make cortisol and when you are in a chronic state of stress the adrenal glands can only do so much before they start to fatigue. Once adrenal fatigue kicks in, it’s a pretty slippery slope downhill
10 – Post workout Fuel
Once you have finished an intense training session your body needs recovery and there is no better way to recover than getting some high quality protein in to you. This should be within 15-60 minutes of your workout.
Side Note – No coffee post workout. It will make you more catabolic!
11 – Have a tracking system
By tracking your workouts and your nutrition you will clearly see if you are moving forward towards your goals or moving away. Track the weights you lift, the reps, sets, rest time and the food you eat. The easiest way to do this is with a food diary. Also before and after photos can be very motivating
12 – Review you Time
Do an honest review of how much time you’re wasting each day that could go towards your fat loss efforts. How much time are you spending on facebook, reading blogs, watching TV and texting friends? Then ask yourself the question – Could this time be used for a short workout or maybe some meal prep.
THE DON’T BOTHER GOOP
1 – Endless crunches or sit ups
If you want a flat stomach then crunches and sit ups just don’t cut it. It was recently published in a leading fitness magazine that it would take 22000 sit ups to burn 1 pound of fat. (That’s alot of sit ups, for not even half a KG of fat).
If you want a flat stomach then fix your nutrition. In the gym use big exercises that target many muscles thus boosting your metabolism and creating a greater energy expenditure
2 – Jogging
Unless you love jogging then I really wouldn’t bother with it. Initially when you start jogging you can lose some weight but the problem is you become efficient. Now as good as that sounds efficiency is the enemy of fat loss. Think about it this way, when you first run 5k you might burn 500 calories but the more you do it, the more efficient you become and the less energy is required to run the 5k (you get fitter, it gets easier). After a few weeks of running 5k you will only burn 200 calories.
So in order to keep burning the 500 calories you need to keep going further and further which is pretty tough in our ‘’ I just don’t have enough time’’ society that we live in. Also jogging is highly oxidative to one’s body. Yes it will make you older before your time
3 – Power Plates (Vibrational Trainers)
Vibrational Trainers work by causing tiny muscle contractions and as a result all you are going to get is tiny progress. You would be far better to turn the heating off in winter and shiver at home, thus saving money on your power bill 🙂
4 – Zumba classes
(for those of you that love Zumba, feel free to send me your hate mail)
Honestly I don’t really have anything against Zumba. If you like to dance and shake you booty then I actually think Zumba would be beneficial for you. Rule 1 of fitness is do something. Rule 2 is do something you enjoy.
The problem with Zumba is the same problem with jogging. You become efficient and you adapt to what you’re doing. You are never really challenging your anaerobic system and its challenging your anaerobic system that will serve you considerably better when it comes to fat loss.
5 – Restrictive calorie diets
In the short term you may lose some weight but your body will soon go into starvation mode, down regulate your metabolism and conserve fat. This will leave you fat and hungry.
Statistically 96% of calorie restrictive diets fail within the first year.
So there you have it, the GOOP and the advice. Results Fitness Camp Hawkes Bay will be running a seven week challenge incorporating this good advice. Spaces are limited so book your spot today.
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