Tag: healthy foods

Tuesday Tip: Not quitting is success! 🙌🏼

I’ve noticed recently that many of my clients are beating themselves up about lack of progress or not being able to stick to their workouts or calories over the summer holidays: the overriding theme is that they feel like they’ve failed, that they’re not getting anywhere and that the only solution is to quit.

I think it’s worth reminding everyone that not quitting is in itself progress and success! Even if everything is proving difficult, if life is busy, if you’ve had too many social events to stay on track, etc that just doing anything, not matter how small, and not quitting is better than nothing! Give yourself a break. If you’re tired, lacking motivation, low in energy, fed up of feeling like you’re not getting anywhere – instead of giving up and quitting learn to rest.

Progress in anything in life is rarely linear. If you give up every time you don’t see what you view as progress then you’ll always be starting over again and again. Time will pass anyway and you’ll see even less progress. Recognise that resistance to quitting is progress in itself! Don’t give up! Just rest, regroup and keep going!

Happy Tuesday!🤗

xx

Tuesday Tip: Do I have to ditch carbs? 🥖

Possibly the most pervasive myth in fitness and nutrition if that if you want to lose weight you need to cut out carbs. Even people who, in one breath tell me they know it’s all about creating a calorie deficit, will in the next breath tell me they’re going to cut carbs. So first off, yes if you suddenly cut carbs (which people usually take to mean bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, cakes, biscuits etc) you may lose weight ‘fast’ initially. This is because you’re losing glycogen and water. If your diet is high in those carbs then depending on what you replace them with it may also result in a calorie deficit. But after the initial few weeks it’s only a calorie deficit that will keep you losing weight – whether you include carbs in that or not is irrelevant.

You can definitely lose weight and eat carbs, there is nothing inherently fattening in carbs. In fact carbs are actually really important, especially if you’re active, as they boost performance and fuel your workouts. Your body stores carbs as glycogen in the liver and muscles which is a vital fuel source. If you cut carbs you’ll find your ability to exercise effectively drops and your energy levels decrease. Various carb sources are rich in micronutrients (vitamins & minerals) which are essential for optimal health, energy metabolism and performance. By removing carbs from your

diet, your micronutrient intake might not be sufficient. Importantly many carbs are pleasure foods – foods you enjoy and that make you happy. By cutting them out you’re reducing your own enjoyment when you really don’t need to.

Fat loss ultimately comes down to energy balance. If you’re in a calorie deficit you will burn fat. Many studies support this and show what when calories are controlled how you obtain these calories (be it from carbs or not) has no impact on fat loss. You can lose fat with either a low-carb or high-carb diet.

So carbs aren’t bad, they have loads of benefits. However, if you prefer a low-carb diet, go for it. If your main goal is fat loss, though remember it’s the overall calories that count and if you’re looking to optimize your performance or build muscle, carbs

will definitely help.

Happy Tuesday!🤗

xx

Tuesday Tip: Too much aerobic fitness? 🏃🏼‍♀️

There’s been a lot of discussion in recent years about whether or not too much aerobic fitness and training may actually be bad for you. There’s been a shift away from cardio to a focus on resistance/weight training only. There are claims that high levels of aerobic training (cardio) can damage the heart and reduce longevity.

But is that really the case and if so should be be concerned about doing large amounts of cardio/aerobic fitness training?

A recent study, the largest of its kind, with over 120,000 participants seems to suggest that actually the reverse is true. It tracked people over many years and found that aerobic fitness was indeed, as many hoped, related to disease prevention and overall longevity.

Most importantly, they did not find an upper limit where more aerobic fitness was actually worse for longevity or detrimental to health. This shows that while there are certainly examples of endurance athletes doing extreme things to push their

body that may be unhealthy and cause damage, these are the outliers. It should always be remembered that what people do at the extreme end of sports is almost always done for maximum performance, not health. For the majority of people more aerobic training isn’t harmful.

The study also showed that all levels of aerobic fitness above the lowest levels saw a longevity benefit. You don’t have to get to the highest levels to still add years and health benefits. So if you enjoy it then do it! If you don’t do any then try to add some in. If you are pushing yourself to do more and more at the expense of your enjoyment and it’s leaving you exhausted, and excessively hungry then obviously pull back a bit.

If your primary goal is to use fitness as a tool to live a longer, healthier life, including aerobic training as part of it is absolutely essential. And in this case, more actually is always better.

Happy Tuesday!🤗

xx