Tuesday Tip: Beat the Autumn Blues 🍂

So Autumn is certainly in the air; cooler, darker evenings and mornings. For me, and many of my clients and class members this is a tough transition. It’s hard to find motivation to continue regular exercise, and we crave warming, comfort foods. I’ve posted this before but it’s always a useful reminder at this time of year.

Low energy, low mood and low motivation makes us want to hibernate rather than work out. So how can you keep that summer mojo going? Focus on shorter workouts if you’re struggling to find motivation for long sessions. In an ideal world you’d aim for 30-45 mins of high intensity exercise 3 x week: a class, a home hiit workout, or a cycle or run. But anything is better than nothing so if you can only do 10-15 mins then that’s fine! Don’t forget all the other ways you can exercise too like gardening, walking, swimming etc

Find a gym buddy; it’s harder to skip that workout when you’re doing it with someone else. Join a colleague for a lunchtime run, or meet up with a friend at the gym or at a class. The social side of fitness plays a massive role in keeping you on track.

Try to sneak exercise in whenever you can: park further away, take the stairs, walk over to speak to colleagues in the office rather than phoning or try a walking meeting with colleagues. If you’re watching the kids play sport then walk the sideline instead of standing still.

Exercise isn’t about losing weight, it’s great for stress relief and at this time of year when things can be a bit manic it’s a great release. The endorphins will lift your mood and help energise you. Make the most of those bright autumnal days and go for a walk outside.

Focus on warming, filling foods like soups and casseroles. I also like to stew up a load of fruit (apples, pears, plums, berries – whatever!) and use it as a snack or pud. Warm it up, sprinkle some oats or a little cereal on it and a dollop of Greek yoghurt – a great comforting dish!

Oh and just because it’s not hot you still need to be drinking plenty of water. It’s even more important to ensure you’re properly hydrated at this time of year as it’s when most of us forget – so get sipping while you workout!

Don’t let the changing seasons get you down – embrace it – enjoy it and have some fun this Autumn 🍁

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx

Tuesday Tip: Key weight loss tips 📝

If you’re trying to lose weight here are a few prices of key information which should help.

# ANY diet that causes you to lose weight over an extended time frame does so by decreasing calorie intake. Whether it does it under the guise of some other mechanism or not it all ultimately comes down to a calorie deficit. Keto, intermittent fasting, weight loss clubs, etc – they all only work if they result in a calorie deficit.

# Despite what you see online calories in vs calories out is not a myth. It has the largest influence over what we weigh and our bodyfat. Thousands of studies support this.

# While calories matter, food quality still matters. Eating fewer calories will undoubtedly cause you to lose weight but if you also want to feel good and be healthy then it’s worth ensuring you’re still including nutrient dense foods too.

# 1kg of body fat is made up of approx 7,700kcal. Of your weight changes quickly within a day or so then it’s simply not possible that it’s all body fat.

Large changes in weight in short time frames (whether up or down) are mostly due to changes in weight from water, glycogen and food rather than actual body fat.

# Eating more protein doesn’t directly help weight loss. However it does increase feelings of fullness and satiety, can help ensure muscle mass is preserved when you do lose weight (assuming you’re also working out too) and does very marginally increase calorie burn.

# Consistency is key. Trying to eat

“perfectly” 100% of the time is unlikely to work. Having some degree of flexibility can help improve consistency over the longer term.

# You need to find what works for YOU.

Energy balance applies for everybody – it’s always about a calorie deficit. But how you achieve that calorie deficit and what works best for you and feels good long term varies from person to person.

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx

Tuesday Tip: Volume Eating 😋

One of the key tips I give my clients revolves around volume eating. If you’re trying to lose weight then volume eating can be really beneficial. Volume eating is all about consuming larger quantities of low-calorie, high-volume foods such as vegetables, fruits and whole grains. It allows you to eat more food and feel fuller while maintaining a lower calorie intake.

Foods like fruit (berries, grapes, pineapples etc), salad (tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, lettuce, mushrooms etc), and vegetables (pumpkin, leafy greens, broccoli etc) have high water and fibre content. It adds volume to our meals without adding many calories. Another advantage of volume eating is it can often increase the micronutrient content of the diet. Usually (but not always) these high volume foods are nutrient-dense, meaning they are rich in vitamins and minerals which is beneficial for overall health.

Volume eating can potentially help in developing sustainable eating habits too. Restrictive diets can lead to feelings of deprivation, but volume eating encourages incorporating varied food sources and decent portion sizes, so can reduce some of this restriction

Ways to do this include making sure that for your main meals 50% of the plate is made up with these high volume foods. Ensure you’re also having whole grain , unrefined carbs too as they aid in satiety, muscle recovery and training performance /energy levels (and they’re tasty!).

For snacks consider adding fruit or salad to your snacks. So rather than just having 2 biscuits, have 2 biscuits and a large portion of berries, or instead of having a packet of crisps have a lower calorie crisp option and have some cucumber and carrot sticks with it etc. Zero calorie drinks also help to add volume – especially to snacks.

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx