Commit to making healthy choices for 300 days out of the next year

In the last column we covered the first two parts of my SECS acronym - Sleep & Hydration, and Exercise.

Today we are talking about Calories & Nutrition, Steps, and Calories & Nutrition.

This is by far the most important part of losing weight and feeling better!

Our food is our fuel and no matter how hard you train or try, you will never outrun a bad diet.

To lose weight you must be consuming fewer calories than what your body burns on a daily basis. if you do this over a consistent period of time fat loss will be a walk in the park.

Now, normally I am one for telling you all to track your calories, weigh your food and be honest with yourself. But for many, this seems too extreme, very technical and people feel defeated before they even start.

If you are starting out your journey the easiest thing to do without tracking/weighing food is to start with your food choices, and I have created a simple list of things for you to follow that can have a positive effect on your eating habits and waistline.

Don’t eat breakfast unless you are actually hungry- this is a waste of calories and an easy rule of dieting is ‘that if you aren’t hungry... don’t eat’.

Don’t worry about misguided information that your metabolism won’t start unless you eat breakfast, that’s a load of rubbish.

Ditch takeaways and other convenient high-calorie foods.

I am the last person on the planet to demonise foods and I fully believe that everything can be enjoyed in moderation while maintaining a great physique, but if you are starting your own weight loss journey the best thing you can do is remove the convenience food and to try and cook as much of your own fresh food as possible.

Ditching the processed treats and salty takeaways and replacing them with well balanced home-cooked meals, rich in fruit and veg will help you feel incredible and nourished.

Eat more protein- people struggle with hunger when they are trying to lose weight (mainly because they are slowly starving their body) that’s why you should take advantage of the wonders of protein.

By protein, I don’t mean 500 calorie milkshakes, I mean lean meats, fish, eggs, greek yoghurt and poultry.

If you were to have a 25g-75g serving of protein with every meal you will feel much more satisfied after eating and will keep hunger at bay for hours.

Plan ahead - get a diary or make a note in your phone and write down exactly what you are going to eat for the next few days.

Once that’s done you can then make sure you get to the shop and stock up on everything you need.

We tend to react horribly when we are hungry.

If the cupboards are bare and your tummy is empty it is always a recipe for disaster.

Planning your meals will make sure you are never caught short and always have something in the fridge ready to go for when you need it most.

Forgive yourself when you make a mistake.

No one expects you to be perfect, you will occasionally want a biscuit and end up eating 10.

You will have weekends where you will have double the alcohol you promised yourself and smash a pizza after it for good measures.

Life is for living, mistakes happen, the worst thing you can do is throw the towel in and think all results are lost.

Creating a healthier version of yourself is going to take patience and time, but if you were to make healthier, better choices for 300 days out of the next year, I guarantee you will be in a better place, even with 65 days of making memories and mistakes.

By making better nutritional choices and creating better habits you will be in a much better position for losing weight than your former self.

Even if you aren’t losing weight at this point you will feel much better and all you will have to do is focus more on portion control and the results will come.

Steps

Ever remember the advert ‘Go walking, it’s what to do’? I still remember that jingle even after all these years.

I always disputed the impact walking can have on fat loss, until I got into personal training.

It doesn’t make you sweat, it’s not particularly challenging (for those lucky enough to be able to walk pain-free or at all). It certainly wasn’t something that I would have classified as ‘exercise’

How wrong was I!

Lack of movement is breaking backs and adding fat quicker than any takeaway you could ever eat.

People always associate getting older and adding a few extra pounds to your metabolism slowing down due to age. (Feel free to keep telling yourself that)

The reality is that with age comes eight hours a day of sitting down to work followed by four hours a day sitting watching Netflix.

No longer do you walk to school, walk to different classrooms, play sport and run around outside until the sun goes down.

Your metabolism isn’t slowing down, it’s just YOU... you are slowing down and moving less.

We burn calories through movement, we don’t have to run, jog or even go to the gym to burn calories. All we have to do is move more.

If you want to feel better, burn more calories and give yourself a chance to lose some weight I can’t stress enough the benefit of even just a 30 minute walk per day.

You don’t need to stress about hitting 10k steps per day, just start off by committing to 30 minutes a day and watch as your fitness and mood improves.

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