How much fuel does your journey require?

I may have written about it before?🙂
How much energy we consume and how much we expend is important to health and weight loss...

So our energy consumption should be relative to expenditure, as in how physically active we are...

The old advice of most of what you consume can be carbohydrates (our bodies primary fuel source) didn't work as nowadays most of us don't have the requirements for so much energy...

A bit like a car, if we are not constantly going on long drives we don't need the fuel...

In a car, unused fuel sits in the tank ready to be used...

In the body, it has a couple of initial places (muscle and liver) and then over flow storage (accumulative body fat)...

That's why the advice has changed and moderating foods that contain simple to use energy is the key...

There some times the body needs fuel, after reasonably challenging exercise for example, the energy/ blood sugar level will be low and the body will need a bit of refuelling and regeneration...

But if your day involves busy but sedentary activity that's why it's important to moderate energy foods for health and to look and feel how you want to.

Any questions? Let me know in the comments section...

Thanks,

Ed.

How to have a little guilt free indulgence this Christmas!

One thing that bothers me is when I'm forced to get into the Christmas spirit too early...

If they start playing Christmas songs on the radio at the end of November on the radio, I turn it off...

But when it's time I embrace it and my nutrition plan resembles that of a starved teenager rather than a disciplined Personal Trainer...

The rest of the year (unless I'm near a  buffet on holiday) I'm pretty good, so I feel I'm allowed a little blow out at Xmas...

How could you have a guilt free Xmas  blow out? 

If you are not being healthy start now, you only have 10 weeks!

10 weeks to fit in to the party attire, until all the social festivities start...

Wouldn't it be good if a relative or friend you hadn't seen for a while said "wow, you've lost weight!"...

But where to start?

Any of these will yield some results;

All that stuff you really know you shouldn't be having most days, try and have only at the weekends in modest amounts...

Try and reserve alcohol and lady petrol (wine) for the weekend...

In fact cutting down on alcohol will make a difference on its own...

Have breakfast; in a survey of people who have lost weight, more than 80% had breakfast, missing meals regularly slows metabolism...

Reduce your intake of high energy foods like bread, pasta, rice, potato, cereal, juice and the like and have more protein rich foods and low energy vegetables...

Spread your food intake across the day, the body can only use some of the energy in a big meal, even a healthy one.

Do any of these consistently and you would have earned a little Xmas blow out.

Are your "highs and lows " stalling your weight loss progress?

That is various types of foods you are consuming that lead to blood sugar spikes...

If our goal is health and weight loss related, constant blood sugar spikes are something we want to avoid...

A blood sugar spike is caused when a high energy food is eaten and then this quickly enters the blood stream...

Insulin is the hormone the body releases to 'unlock' the energy and send it to the muscles and liver...

If there is a surplus, this gets converted to body fat...

Most of the population consume food that is predominantly high energy...

It has changed recently but typically 70% of people's daily food intake is Carbohydrate...

Most people's days don't require much need for energy...

That means blood sugar going up and down all day...

In fact if you want to spot this, it's usually apparent in a persons's personality, highs and lows...

How do we stabilise blood sugar?...

By moderating high energy carbohydrates and slightly increasing foods containing healthy protein and healthy fat...

When blood sugar is stabilised and we have some fuel in our system, to get more the body uses body fat for fuel which leads to fat loss...

Everyone knows someone in their social circle who has personality highs and lows cause by fluctuating blood sugar and if you are struggling to think who it is, then maybe it's you!

Until next week,

Ed.

How many times a week should I exercise for weight loss?

When enough people ask me the same question, I always think I should send the answer to all of you as well, as maybe you have the same question?...

It's an exercise question; "How many times should I exercise each week"

In general try and be as active as your lifestyle allows, but for structured exercise sessions...

It's pretty much the same answer; as many as your lifestyle will allow...

In my 12 week programmes (website being constructed as we speak) the number I state is 2-5 times per week.

These include both strength training ( body weight exercises for example) as well as aerobic/cardio...

Less than 2 a week and by the time the body undergoes the slight benefits, it will all start to tail off by the time the next one comes around...

But if its an incredibly busy week, one is better than zero...

More than 5 can be counter productive and who has the time, energy and will to do more than 5!

Seriously unless you are training for a competition or for increased performance 2-5 is enough.

Only got time for 2?...

Then make them count doesn't need to be too intensive, just enough that the metabolism is elevated, I'm sure you still want enough energy left to get through the rest of the day...

Weight Loss is harder as we age, but you can still get results!

Being an over 40 something my self, I tend to have a little sympathy when someone says; "I find losing weight so much harder now I'm older"...

Or even the defeatist "I will try but it won't work at my age"...

So the science is as we age our metabolism does slow down and we do tend to gain weight (fat)...

The reason being is that as we age the body becomes not as good at holding on to muscle, the very thing that needs a lot of calories...

So our metabolic rate slows down...

Now, be honest with this answer, have your eating habits changed much over time, especially quantity wise?

See this is a problem, whilst before we had more muscle, we had a greater need for calories, so if you have put on weight as you have got older, muscle has decreased over time, meaning you don't burn as many calories as before, but it's likely if the calories consumed haven't changed you are at a point where you are consuming more calories than you need...

I seem to know a lot of people who could pretty much eat what they want when they were younger, but recently they have noticed weight gain and it's very hard to start having to watch what you eat if you never had to before!

"Surely there is a way to reverse it?" I hear you ask...

Well, of course...

If muscle naturally decreases over time, we know we can slow this process or even change it by doing strength training exercises, even if you have no equipment and are so busy you can only do short sessions it's still effective... 

That will increase metabolism...

In relation to consuming too many calories, just make some tweaks, nothing drastic...

How often do you enjoy calorie laden food? What about stuff that is not obvious like fruit juice and fruit smoothies and other high sugar foods? Or liquid calories?

Or big portions?...

So yes, there is some truth in the fact it indeed gets a little harder as we get older...

But I have seen great results in anyone I have helped that made the necessary changes and made it a lifestyle, regardless of age.

Ed.