Last week, I attended The REPS Ireland Convention (Register of Exercise Professionals) as a panellist discussing weight management and nutrition. It’s always great when the leaders of the industry come together to discuss topics and give their views on best approach from their wealth of experience. The consensus still seems to be how fooled people can be about nutrition and training and what you really need to do to be in great shape. With that in mind, for the next two weeks I’m going to be discussing reasons why you are not losing fat.
There is one truth to be told about losing weight: stop believing every infomercial you see on television. The lack of clarity and truth about what you need to do to shift fat seems to get lost in a crazy world of advertising – taking this product will literally melt fat off; do these light weights, they will make you lean and skinny; don’t lift heavy weights and you will get lean; or do this programme every day standing on your head and the body fat will simply fall off you. No, no, no.
Remember one thing – if it was that easy, everybody would be in great shape. Your challenge lies not just in training but in the kitchen and how controlled you can really be about what foods you consume and how much of them you consume. Results shine through with a good balance of diet and exercise.
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You are not eating a small meal/snack every 3-4 hours.
You are opting for foods that taste nice to your over-processed palette. Decide what you want: do you want the nice, fatty and/or sugary foods or the nice body?
You are not hydrating your body enough – try drinking a glass of water every hour.
You are consuming your calories in drinks. Don’t drink your calories: fizzy drinks, alcohol, sugary juices will all make it easier to overdo your calories allowance.
You forget what you have eaten. Keep a food diary and know exactly what you eat. You may be surprised just how much you are having.
You do not know your correct portion size. Learn you portion sizes for protein, fats and carbs and try to have a mixture of all three with each meal.
On weekends you binge on bad and processed foods and don’t eat healthy foods as regularly as during the week.
You can’t stick to a diet because you don’t have a treat meal once a week. Cheat meals once a week for three hours are vital to you being able to stick to your clean-eating routine for six days. Trust me, you will feel better for having it and won’t feel like you are missing out.
You don’t exercise every day. Start exercising with walking 30 minutes a day minimum.
Crossover lunge
Great for hitting side of glute and outer quad sweep.
1. Stand upright holding dumbbells with your arms by your sides.
2. Step back and across behind your other leg, lowering your body down and leaning your torso slightly forward.
Push down on your front foot to return to the start position.
Mountain climbs
1. Support your body on your toes and hands with your arms straight.
2. Bring one knee in toward your chest, keeping the rest of your body in the push-up position. Straighten this leg and repeat on the other side. Keep your back flat and your hips in line with your shoulders throughout. Tip: if you are advanced try the mountain climb movement with hands placed on a Swiss ball to work the core even harder.
Drag curls
Tip: Why do them? Although the range of movement may be slightly shorter than the usual bicep curl, it isolates the bicep more by taking the deltoid out thus making a better isolation exercise for the bicep.
1. Stand holding a barbell with a palms-up grip and your hands shoulder-width apart, the bar resting across the tops of your thighs.
2. Pull your elbows back and contract your biceps to “drag” the bar up your torso toward your shoulders. Then slowly lower the bar back to the start position the same way you brought it up.