Monday 26 June 2017

Weight Loss, too many options?

Sometimes I forget how huge the weight loss ...

From plans, gyms, group weight loss meet ups to pills and gadgets...

Some are based on science with an actual desire to provide the person buying with some actual value in the form of a result...

The problem becomes if there is so much information, which is the right way?

If you have ever been lost walking in the countryside and you are presented with five different paths, you take one and then quite quickly, when you don't start to feel you haven't got anywhere familiar, you start thinking you should have taken one of the other paths and turn back to repeat the process...

A bit like what happens to a lot of people on their quest to lose and shape up...

There are many genuinely effective plans out there...

Then there are those that to me just scream, "If I can somehow make you believe there really is a not much effort required quick fix, I can separate you from your hard earned money, yet provide you no result whatsoever"...

Or what you actually need to do is actually in the fine print, the gadget is 3% of the result and the rest is following in an included generic exercise programme and nutrition plan anyone could have knocked up...

I randomly happened to be watching The Graham Norton show last Friday night, the actor Mark Wahlberg was promoting his latest film (not sure if it was Daddy's Home 2 or another)...

Some of the other actors there had commented on the fact that as well as there gruelling exercise and nutrition schedule they are put through to get in shape for their role, they use muscle stimulators, like I mentioned the footballer Ronaldo wearing in a designed to rip you off advert, advertised as thats all we need to get in shape...

Mark Wahlberg saw this commercial and if there is a video clip of this at some point I will post it up, his reaction is priceless and he says what I say, but maybe a bit stronger :-)

The key to success though is following the right path, the right system and having the faith to stick to it...

For the system to work it must be mostly nutrition habits based, with some exercise thrown in, focus on getting you to eat natural non processed foods as much as possible, drinking more water, be realistic, for example rather than tell you you can't eat out - provide some actionable tips, it must fit in with your lifestyle so that you can follow and more importantly implement it to get results...

I myself have been working on a 12 week programme, especially for Busy Mums that contains the above (and the developers assure me, its days away)...

Before that have the faith to keep doing the things that you know will work.

You can do this.

Ed (Not saying my DIY is as bad as my cooking, but when my family and I went to the cinema to watch "Daddy's Home" my other half sat very quietly, then there was a scene where the dad and step dad had to do emergency DIY, the step dad had to reluctantly get his tool box and when the dad opened it, it contained a screw driver and a tampon, at this point in the very quiet cinema, my other half erupted into bellowing laughter) Stride.

Monday 19 June 2017

Weight Loss Success, have you got one of these buttons?

Even if we follow a healthy lifestyle as much as the time as we can...

Eating healthy...

Keeping active...

There are some times we let our guard down and our lifestyle changes a bit...

On holiday...

The christmas period...

Birthdays...

Weekends...

If this is occasional and the rest of your lifestyle habits are good, you can usually return back to good shape and health, quite quickly...

However if you have lots of holidays per year or indulge quite heavily each weekend, that is going to make things somewhat harder...

My weekends are a time for me to relax my nutrition habits a little, although with a family holiday coming up I might have to be a bit more careful...

Although motivation wise I will be mostly playing sport with the little ones and getting time to read a few books, rather than strutting around the pool like some demented Peacock...

Indulgences are pretty inevitable, what is important is how quickly after a week end or a holiday, you can press the reset button...

Wether you know the event is coming or wether you have an unplanned indulgence...

In terms of your lifestyle goals, its about what you do next...

Sure, if its unplanned you can feel like you are going backwards, that it seems out of your control...

But its best not to dwell on it, you can't go back and undo things...

But what is in your control is that you certainly can make a concerted effort to reset and get into habits more aligned with getting the results you desire...

So as we head into the weekend if you plan to relax your nutrition some what or you get, what shall we call it - lead astray...

It becomes so important to get back to good habits as soon as you can...

Part of your success is your resilience. 

You can do this.

Ed (Apparently nine out of ten people will be having some kind of food or drink indulgence this week end and the tenth is just hoping no one finds out) Stride.


Monday 12 June 2017

If you exercise, can you eat what you want?

There many of you that find food labels a bit confusing...

And they are...

It's a reason I have simplified food labels and lots of other things in my 12 week programme to make it easier to get results 

And I still get asked, what should I focus on "is it total calories?"...

"Is the total carbohydrate figure important or is it just the of which is sugar part of Carbs?"...

(The answer to the above is that all Carbs are all turned into energy/blood sugar just at different speeds)...

Supermarkets have simplified it with these helpful colour wheels, except these are based on out dated information...

Would it help if on the label it informed you of the amount of walking or jogging needed to burn off certain foods...

For instance a glass of wine (mummy petrol) or a sugary drink or bowl of cereal (the type with a cartoon on the packet) would take 26mins of walking or 13mins of jogging...

Or a medium mocha coffee or a standard chocolate bar would take 45 mins of walking or 25 mins of jogging...

Or a packet of sandwiches or a cinnamon roll or two slices of pizza would take 1hour and 20 mins of walking or 41 minutes of jogging...

Obviously doing this means equaling the consumption with the expenditure which means weight maintenance being the outcome...

And doesn't take into account body composition, metabolism or level of fitness...

But it could work?...

Possibly...

But it does illustrate the point that it's better to adopt a sensible eating plan...

Than to rely solely on exercise to expend calories.

Ed ( To get a head start maybe it would be a good idea to have all meals delivered and eaten whilst on a Treadmill, could be a bit messy though) Stride.

Monday 5 June 2017

It's more than just achieving weight loss...

I remember first helping people two decades ago...

Back then is was designing exercise programmes and a bit of healthy eating advice...

But I remember knowing I had chosen the right career path, when people who had been following my programme for a bit started getting very pleased when they remeasured themselves on the weighing scales...

Knowing that I had helped them achieve this felt good...

But honestly at that time, I had no idea...

At times when was out of shape, especially when I didn't know I had an illness that effects metabolism, I would be exercising and trying to eat healthy and apply all the stuff I had learned, but found being out of shape effects your self esteem and leaves you frustrated and not in control which effects other areas of life...

But, once the illness was managed, things got better, so I didn't endure this for too long...

So I had no idea, what losing and shaping meant to someone who had endured being over weight for a period of time...

I didn't just help them to feel a little excited at seeing their weight drop a little each time...

I would not be exaggerating to say those that got good results, underwent a quality of life upgrade...

I would not say I am the most confident person by any means, but when you are in reasonable shape, its gives you a boost...

But to witness someone's entire demeanour change, to see them more confident and comfortable in their own skin...

To see them empowered, for instance before they would berate themselves for indulging, now they could enjoy it, knowing their metabolism was faster and they just needed to get back to good habits soon as they had done this before...

They were now in control...

They didn't just have more energy, one Mum said before she couldn't even be bothered to get something upstairs, now her whole productivity had increased, she felt inspired to tackle knew things, try new activities...

My wish is that all of you reading my mails will experience similar to the above and maybe even tell me about it and how I maybe helped, this is my mission...

If you just action the stuff from my posts, then great, if you need additional coaching and accountability, then different programmes will available very, very soon...

But thats why I advise not just focusing on being healthier or weight loss, but what other positive knock on effects would it have.

You can do this.

Ed (Slightly less weird and awkward when in shape) Stride.