New years weight loss tips

1.      Make a food diary

How do you expect to lose weight when you don’t even know what you’re eating? There are plenty of free programs on the internet which will analyse everything you eat and show you how many calories you are consuming with the makeup of these calories. This will allow you to adjust your diet to make it healthier, getting the right balance between calories consumed, and calories burned. I can recommend www.foodfocus.co.uk.

2.      Set Realistic and Achievable goals

A common mistake people make is to set themselves unrealistic goals and give themselves not long enough to achieve them in the first place. Try to think about things long term as well. Sustainable weight loss does not occur in two weeks. What I mean by this is there are many diets which will promise massive weight loss by reducing your calorific intake to 500 calories per day. Whilst this may work short term, what do you think is going to happen when realise you feel exhausted because you have no energy, and you go back to a normal diet.......that’s right it’ll all go straight back on.

Try to think about where you want to be this time next year. Think about what may disrupt your progress i.e. special occasions and allow for these, then look at it as a lifestyle change, not a quick fix.

As a general rule -2lb per week is a sustainable weight loss.

3.      Increase your Activities for daily living

Drive to work, get the lift, get the tube, sit at your desk all day. These are all examples of activities that will have a negative effect on weight loss and can so easily be changed to have a positive effect on the body. You need to get moving! For example, if you walked for 20 minutes where you would normally catch the tube or bus, you could burn an extra 200 calories per day. With that added to your new, healthier diet you would be well on your way to achieving those results.

4.      Start an exercise program

Some people really over complicate weight loss but it is fairly simple. If you eat rubbish food  and more calories than you burn off, you can 100% guaranteed you will succeed only in gaining weight. However, If you eat healthily, exercise regularly and burn off more calories than you consume, you will lose weight. It really can be that simple.

It is important to be doing the right sort of exercise and at the right intensity to get the best out of your hard work. If you join ActivZone then I would recommend speaking to an instructor about having a program written. If you really want to guarantee results then I would highly recommend personal training.

I would also recommend finding exercise you enjoy doing. If you hate going to the gym, that’s fine, let’s find a substitute. Exercise classes can be good fun because of the social environment and providing you do one which works at a high intensity e.g. spinning, circuit training, body pump etc, then you can still achieve your weight loss targets.

5.      Separate eating from your other emotions

A lot of people have associated eating with their emotions. It is very common for people to eat because they are feeling stress, anxiety, depression, anger etc. This is a bad and very unhealthy habit. Usually the food you eat when in this state is unhealthy and full of fats and calories. You need to realize that food is not the medicine for your emotions. Food is a pleasure and a way to provide your body with the energy it needs to function properly. If you want to lose weight then you should seriously consider this situation and disassociate food with emotions

For more information on getting the best results, contact ActivZone Gym via phone 01483 448666 or www.activzone.co.uk, and to discuss personal training or a nutrition plan please contact me, either by phone 07825416074 or via my website www.alexbonept.co.uk