How to be Successful
Many people set them selves goals which they want to achieve but never do. Their failure can be put down to a number of factors such as, unrealistic goal setting, no action plan in place or loss motivation. How do we get around these problems and make sure we are successful in achieving our fitness goals?
An approach popularised by author and psychologist Richard Wiseman uncovers 5 points which will help you achieve your goals and 5 points to avoid doing. These points are listed below and taken from Wisemans book; 59 Seconds Change Your Life in Under a Minute
1) What you should do
Set your goal and then you must create an action plan on how to achieve it. The plan should be broken down into achievable goals which need to be measurable; time based and is productive in helping you achieve your overall goal.
2) What you should not do
It is good to have a role model but you cannot focus your motivation around that person. This motivation will not be strong enough to help you sustain your fitness; it has to be more then this.
3) What you should do
Always tell your family and friends about your goal and what you are going to do to achieve this. This holds you accountable for doing the hard work. If you tell the people around you what you’re going to do, you’re far more likely stay focused and driven to succeed, not only because of the support you will receive from them but there will be that added pressure to succeed.
4) What you should Not do
Don’t start focusing on the negatives about what you have to do. If you start doing this it will become very hard to sustain.
5) What you should do
Write down and keep a copy of the list which has all the positives on it. Use it to motivate your self and remind your self of the benefits that will come from achieving your goal such as a better lifestyle and better confidence.
6) What you should Not do
A common mistake when it comes to nutrition is trying to ignore the tempting foods like biscuits and block them from your mind. This technique rarely works for people as you will always be around these types of processed foods. The answer is to learn how to deal with them being there.
7) What you Should do
It’s important to reward your self for your success to keep you motivated and encourage further success. These rewards should never conflict with your overall goal so don’t use food to motivate your self.
8) What you should not do
Although you do need it, you cannot rely on your willpower alone to succeed.
9) What you should do
Always keep a detailed journal of your nutrition and workout program. This tracks your progress and highlights anything you may need to change.
10) What you should not do
Start daydreaming, you have to get on with it and work hard.
Common problems that prevent us from reaching our fitness goals
It’s not easy getting lean, becoming fit, building muscle or getting strong, if it was everyone would be exactly that. Achieving your fitness goals and living life the way you want to sounds great. You know you are over weight or maybe your week and you want to do something about it, but you can never seem to make it apart of your life because of the challenges that life gives you. This blog will discuss some solutions you can adopt to over come these obstacles and achieve your fitness goals.
1) Achieving your goals is hard work
Many people will evade hard work when it comes to working out, and instead pleasure them selves with treats. The best way around this scenario is to find something painful about being overweight. Use this emotion as your motivation and drive to successfully sustain a good nutrition plan and a work out program.
Think about all the negatives points of being overweight on your lifestyle, confidence and health and tell your self this pain far out weighs the pain of training hard and eating well.
2) Portion Control
Portion control is something we face everyday. It’s our decision making when it comes to how much food we consume that effects the amount of body fat we carry. Our natural instincts tell us to consume plenty calories and keep eating, the fact is that these days we don’t need that much. Most of us lead fairly sedentary lifestyles so we need to control our portion sizes. Suggestions on how to over come this problem are listed below.
- Eat at a slow pace to allow for digestion
- Drink water with your meal
- Eat a good amount of protein and vegetables to help fill you up
3) When Life gets Busy.
Life often gets very busy with work commitments and social events. The first thing that takes a backwards step is our fitness and nutrition programs, which is unfortunate. We need to realise the importance of staying healthy and getting enough sleep, working out regularly and eating whole foods should come first on your agenda, there is nothing more important than your health. Push your fitness to the top of list, plan things around your workouts and remind your self that exercise and healthy living is a necessity in life, you will feel better for it.
4) You are worth it
It is often a vicious circle of low confidence, comfort eating and lack of exercise that keeps people from achieving their fitness goals. You have to start believing that you are worth it. You can achieve what you want this will give you a chance to get started and break those bad habits.
You deserve a lean healthy body so start believing and starting an exercise plan will be a lot easier.
5) Do not be scared.
Failure is something everyone fears and most people often stay clear of things they may fall short of because of this fear of failure. Change can also worry people as they don’t like to be out side of their comfort zone but you have to stay on top of both these things and make the change for the better. Changes will have to happen to make you successful such as your nutrition plan, workout program, buying new clothes that fit and lifestyle changes like becoming more active. Always remind yourself that by achieving your goal and loosing body fat your life will change for the better.
The behaviour that shapes your lifestyle
Our behaviour is what shapes our personality and our lifestyle. How do you behave? What are your habits?
It’s important to understand that if we make good habits in our life, our lifestyle and health will follow.
If we make a habit of getting 8 hours of sleep a night we will have higher levels of testosterone. As a consequence you will be leaner, have less stress and better brain function. If we make a habit of pre packing lunch and healthy snacks to take to work, you will increase performance at work and avoid the mid afternoon crash due to unstable blood sugar levels.
It’s easy to make bad habits such as eating sugar rich puddings every night after dinner, or not getting enough sleep. John Dryden famously said, “We first make our habits, and then our habits make us.” It is the small things we do or don’t do that mould your physique and personality. In terms of health and fitness, it’s your approach to exercise and nutrition that determines whether you’re lean and strong, or over weight and weak. So adjust these two habits to make sure they are healthy habits and work for you.
This is how to do it:
Make a Habit out of it
Follow my suggestions below to change your behaviour, adjust your habits and meet your fitness goals.
1) The first thing you need is to come to a decision on what habit would you like to develop. By targeting one specific habit to develop at a time you are more likely to achieve it. Below are some great habits that will help you reach your goals:
- Eat a good source of protein for breakfast and avoid processed food such as cereal.
- Take a packed lunch to work
- Exercise 3-4 times a week including weight training and interval training
- Find a personal trainer and accelerate your goals
2) Record your one habit and write it down. Think about what is motivating you to make these adjustments, what problems you may face and how you’re going to over come these obstacles and achieve. Below is an example of what you would write down so you can remind yourself why and how you’re going to achieve your goals.
- I am going to eat a good source of protein for breakfast and cut out cereals
- My motivation is to 1) loose 10kg for my summer holiday. 2) increase my core strength to eliminate my back pain 3) Increase my energy levels
- Problems I may face are 1) not having enough time in the morning to get breakfast. 2) Not performing the most effective exercises to strengthen my core muscles and performing them incorrectly. 3) Not having enough energy to workout after I finish work.
- Solutions on how to over come the obstacles 1) Make breakfast the night before and leave in the fridge to speed things up in the morning. 2) Find a good personal trainer to help educate and coach me on technique. 3) Workout before going to work.
3) Let your friends and family know about your new habit, this will hold you more accountable for changing your habits.
4) Make sure you keep a detail journal of your workouts in terms of reps, sets, load and rest periods etc.
5) If you do not complete your habit make sure you figure out the reason for failing so you can avoid it in future.
6) Make sure you reward yourself when you do succeed.
After a while your new habit will become second nature you start doing it without thinking about it. Once this happens, think of another habit you want to develop and start the process again.
Fitness in 2013
Although I am a firm believer in that there is no time like the present to start exercising and eating well, January offers a clean slate for everyone to asses how they feel and consider what they need to do to achieve there fitness goals.
It’s due to this reason that the health and fitness industry becomes very busy with new clients, all wanting to shed body fat, build lean muscle and feel more energetic and alert. You may want to achieve your goals in the New Year and build a more confident, stronger, fitter, leaner version of your self.
Below are 5 points that I think will happen over the next year for many people.
1) 2013 will be the year that many people will reach there fitness goals.
Obesity and type 2 diabetes are increasing along with cardiovascular disease, and the general public are starting realise the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle. There is much more awareness of good nutrition and why processed foods are so damaging to you. People are also becoming aware of what exercise can do for you and the quality of life.
2013 will be the year that many people will live a healthier lifestyle. Due to the awareness and information available there is no excuse to start improving the quality and longevity of life.
2) 90% of people’s new years resolutions will fail.
This prediction may seem slightly discouraging to some people however, there are several reasons why this usually is the case, and I have some easy suggestions on how to avoid failure and achieve your New Years resolution.
People often set unrealistic goals that they are unlikely to achieve, there for end up giving up. The key to achieving your New Years fitness goals is to set your self smart attainable goals. Set out a plan so you know how you are going to achieve your target. For example:
- Instead of simply stating your going to loose 15kg in 6 months, make a commitment to training 3-4 times a week.
- Instead of saying I am going to cut out carbohydrates from my diet, commit to eating a healthy breakfast everyday and become organised with taking nutritious food to work to avoid eating out at lunch times.
- Rather then saying your cutting all refined sugars out of your diet, set a realistic goal of eating well through out the week and having one cheat meal a week.
- Set your self smaller but achievable goals. Instead of setting a target of dropping 4 dress sizes in as many months, commit to losing a 2kg every week until you reach the size you want.
New Year resolutions have to be attainable. You need a plan to achieve and sustain them. Setting smaller achievable goals is the best way to do it.
3) We will fast track clients to achieving there fitness goals in 2013.
Our passion is helping clients change there life and achieve there goals. January is always an exciting time as we get to work with new clients and help them accomplish great things. Through hard work and dedication we love to accelerate every client’s achievements.
4) Our system gets results for clients in 2013 fast!
Our programming and expertise accelerates client’s achievements. If a client uses our programming and nutrition strategies over the next year they will achieve there goals in 2013. Our programs are a built around tried and tested strategies, combined with cutting edge science and nutrition all personalised to the individual.
5) Train with us in 2013 and your success if guaranteed.
By committing to us you will be among the 10% that will achieve their fitness goals in 2013. We are about getting results for our clients, we will help you strip body fat, build lean muscle tissue and make you feel great. If you train with us, 2013 will be a great year for you.
personal trainer Regents Park
Exercises can be classified as either compound or isolation exercises. Compound exercises are multi movement exercises where several big muscle groups are working together to produce force, while isolation exercises are exercises that target one muscle group at a time. Compound exercises enable you to get more “bang for your buck” helping you achieve better body composition readings increased strength and power in a shorter period of time.
I often get asked what is the best exercise for fat loss. Of course the answer isn’t that simple. The important thing to consider is the type of movement involved and the correct programming of several different exercises put together.
What makes an exercise a good one?
Compound exercises such as squats, dead lifts, presses and rows should form the cornerstone of your programming, It’s a combination of these exercises which enables people to really hit their fitness goals.
There are many different variations of these main lifts but it is essential that they are included in your workouts. These multi movement exercises recruit the most muscle fibers and enable the lifter to lift considerably more weight than in isolation exercises which increases the intensity of the lift.
Through lifting heavy weights you will accelerate the process of fat loss as it produces higher levels of testosterone to be realised which is a muscle building hormone. They will burn more far more calories than isolation exercises because of the higher intensity produced. They focus on the larger muscle groups such as the gluteus and shoulders giving you the potential to add for more lean muscle which increases metabolism then working the biceps in an isolation exercise.
If we compare a lower body multi joint exercise such as the front squat with a lower body isolation exercise such as lying down leg curl, its evident that the multi joint exercise is far superior. The front squat is performed with barbell loaded on your front. This automatically activates your core muscles. It also targets the gluteus, quadriceps and hamstrings. When performing the lying down leg curl, for a start you are lying down and this takes your core muscles out of the equation. Then it just isolates the hamstrings neglecting any other muscle group.
How else to increase the Intensity of your training?
Compound exercises can be performed as a superset. This is a great way to increase intensity and safe time. Antagonistic supersets are where you perform two exercises in concession with opposing movements.
For example one of my favourite antagonistic supersets is an over head military shoulder press and a pull up. The shoulder press is a pressing movement targeting the deltoids, triceps and core muscles while the pull up is a pulling movement targeting the lats, rhomboids, biceps and core.
The key is here you are able to increase the intensity by working opposing muscle groups.
Conclusion
There is no one great exercise for fat loss. Its about getting several different aspects right consistently.
You have to adjust the rep range and load of the exercises, keep adjusting the programming of your training so the body cannot adapt and combine it with good nutrition and high intensity cardio such as sprints.
These methods will help you reach your goals, by adding lean muscle tissue, increasing your metabolism and burning fat.
personal trainer Camden
So the New Year’s coming up, and you’re trying to reinvent yourself.
You might be thinking about New Year’s Resolutions to better yourself, or just going along with what comes to you. But either way you might be considering to become healthier, fitter and happier than you are currently.
To keep yourself on the right track for New Year’s, try following these 27 Fitness and Fat Loss Tips:
- Every day, imagine yourself in that perfect body that you want and keep your goals in your mind. Believe that you are on your way to achieving these goals and that you’ve almost made it.
- Don’t waste any time. Work out at higher intensities and burn as much calories as you can. Push yourself beyond your limit.
- Eat less! How easy would it be to not gain calories, if you don’t consume them? You would effortlessly lose weight and calories if you use smaller plates.
- Make sure you don’t be tempted to take days off, of your workouts by relying on them. You would be more motivated to go, and keep going if you work out with someone of a personal trainer.
- Keep yourself hydrated! With WATER! It’s strange how many people are unknowingly dehydrated. Instead of quenching your thirst with beverages that are filled with sugars and calories, drink some water which won’t do you any harm.
- Stick to a well balanced nutritious meal plan. Keep your metabolism burning by eating plenty of dark green vegetables such as spinach, asparagus and broccoli to get vitamins and minerals and lean protein sources such as chicken, eggs and fish.
Healthy fats should also form a big part of your diet which helps to regulate your metabolism and burn body fat, make sure you consume healthy fats through almonds, avocados and oily fish. Avoid processed foods by eating smaller nutritious meals 3 times a day and consume two snacks to avoid hunger and binging.
- If you need support with staying on track as for help. If you feel supported while trying to reach your goals you are far more likely to be successful.
- There are many recent studies all showing that high intensity training is a far more effective method for achieving a better body composition then slow paced traditional cardio sessions like jogging.
Short sharp bursts of exercise such as hill sprints creates EPOC (Excess post exercise oxygen consumption), this is what makes interval training efficient for fat loss. Due to the intensity of the exercise your body has to work hard to cope meaning calorie expenditure dramatically increases helping you burn more fat after the session due to the elevated metabolism.
- It’s down to you! How badly do you want to achieve your goals, you should remember this when your exercising hard. Make sure you know it will be worth it.
- Do not consume processed foods. They will lack essential nutrients and fill you up with calories your body can’t use properly as fuel and will more likely be stored as fat.
- Get started right now. There is no time like the present to start training and eating well, it’s far too easy to put it off until tomorrow or the week after but life will keep getting in the way. Start now!
- Fill your diets with lean protein, vegetables, complex carbohydrates and healthy fats.
- Start reading the nutrition labels on food.
- Find a personal trainer to accelerate your fat loss goals
- Get to know the different food groups and understand the basic nutritional values of different foods and what they are needed for.
- Surround yourself with positive like minded people
- Do not consume calories through drinking. Only drink water and green teas
- Consistency is essential to achieving your goals. Train hard and regularly 3 to 4 times a week.
- Set your targets high expect allot from yourself.
- Limit fruit intake to 1 to 2 pieces a day to avoid natural sugars. Stick to blueberries, blackberries and raspberries.
- Don’t let your muscles adapt to your workouts. Keep challenging your body by adjusting the rep range you use, time under tension and exercise order.
- Consume plenty of whole foods to get fibre and antioxidants.
- Cardiovascular work should be performed in an interval style for fat loss. Its most effective when performed after your weight training to maximise fat burning capabilities
- Smart goal setting is important to give you sense of direction and drive. Make them specific and measurable.
- Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It’s a chance to kick start metabolism and help brain function. Consume protein rich food first thing such as eggs or mackerel.
- Push yourself and achieve your goals
Use these tips to your advantage. Keep them somewhere you can see them allot to remind and motivate yourself. If in the New Year you want to strip body fat and become leaner and more energetic then find yourself a personal trainer to educate you, accelerate your fat loss and help you hit your target.
personal trainer Highgate
It is that time of year where you have numerous parties to go to, endless amounts of food and drink to consume. Usually any progress you have made in the gym would take a few backward steps during the party season. So how can you stay lean and keep the festive fat off your body? During this blog we will take a look at tips on how to stay lean and cheat your way through parties or even better, help to improve your body composition ready for the New Year.
1) Think Nutrition before Parties
Many people make the mistake of not eating much before they go to a party where there will be lots of food.
Instead make sure you eat well throughout the day consuming all the nutrients from different food groups you need, making sure you feel full when you go to the party will deter you from consuming so much food when you are there.
Because you feel fuller with good nutritious sources of food you will be in a better position to pick out healthy food choices at the party escaping the urge to eat sugary foods or high salt options.
2) Bring a Healthy Dish to Share
Sometimes preparing your own dish to take to a party is a great idea. This means you will defiantly have an option of something tasty and healthy to eat at the party.
3) Do not drink calories
Drinking plenty of water is the foundation of good nutrition so the only fluids you should be drinking is water with the exception of green tea.
Many people don’t realize the amount of empty calories which are within soft drinks usually containing high levels of sugar, too much for your body to use as energy consequently storing it as fat.
Alcoholic drinks should be avoided as much as possible.
When you consume alcohol you will spike your blood sugar levels meaning your setting yourself up for a crash. Your body has to work very hard to break alcohol down meaning anything you have eaten or drunk will not be digested and your body will not be unable to use the calories so it will get stored as excess fat.
So when you are at a party just drink water instead and avoid consuming empty calories.
4) No second portions
Because you have already eaten well before the party and consumed all the good food sources your body needs. This should be made easier than if you starved yourself before hand, so pick out sensible food options and fill your plate and don’t go back for seconds. If you pick foods high in protein and some foods high in fibre you will feel fuller quicker.
5) Taste the pudding don’t eat it
There will be many tempting treats and puddings over the Christmas period.
The best way around this is to just taste it, don’t actually eat it. By tasting it you will learn satisfy your sweet tooth while not consuming a normal portion.
If you can learn how to do this you will certainly be feeling leaner and healthier through Out the Christmas period.
How to get fit and stay fit
Achieving a good level of fitness for many people essentially boils down to making a life style change. Becoming stronger, leaner, faster and fitter is achieved through hard work and dedication, it should be seen as a journey where you constantly strive to improve and challenge yourself.
This blog will take a look at life style changes you may need to make so you can achieve your fitness goals.
1) Do not consume Process foods
Eating processed foods such as cereals, cookies and crisps have to be avoided. You need to make a life style change by not buying this type of food. If you don’t have it in your house your less likely to eat it. Your shopping list should only include whole foods such as fresh vegetables and fruit, nuts and lean cuts of organic meats and fish. So make this lifestyle change and clean up your diet.
2) Make Exercise your priority
Leading an active lifestyle is essential to getting fit. We all have busy lives but we should push exercise to the front of our schedules. By making exercise a priority you will ensure that you get it done. Your social life should fit around your workouts.
3) Control your portion size
Your portion size should be controlled. Many people over eat you need to learn to know when to stop. Make changes to the way you consume your food and avoid eating even when you feel full.
4) Challenge your self
You have to make a commitment to yourself and the goals you have made. Simply working out isn’t enough. You need to learn to push yourself during your workouts. Intensity is key to achieving your fitness goals and pushing the boundaries of what your body can do. As you train more you need to adapt your workouts to become more challenging to keep improving. Keep a journal of your workouts so you can measure if you are becoming stronger and faster.
5) Make it enjoyable
Become passionate about health and fitness and surround yourself with like minded people. The more positive you can be the better. Your workouts need to be intense but enjoyable; by setting smaller more achievable goals will help motivate you further when you achieve them. Find activities or sports that you enjoy such as swimming, gymnastics or team games like rugby to compete in alongside workouts in the gym.
6) Fix your drinking habits
Make changes to what you drink. Water should be the only thing you drink with exception of green tea, you don’t need anything else. By making this change you will avoid drinking sugary calorific drinks that your body will not process consequently the calories consumed will be stored as fat.
7) Look for extra support
Look for extra support to help you stay motivated. By finding a personal trainer you will find it harder to skip sessions. The extra support will keep you focused and driven giving you consistency with your training and nutrition.
The will to make a Change
The will to make a change in our lives and achieve our fitness goals starts with you.
The only time to make a change and turn things around is right now. There is no time like the present to start training hard and sticking to your nutritional plan, life will always present plenty of excuses to put your training on the back burner so just work around them and start achieving the results you need.
There are many people who want to strip body fat and who are constantly struggling with their weight essentially because they find it hard to put their goals into action. They may have underlying health problems such as high blood pressure or diabetes which they need to address but certain things prevent them from getting the ball rolling.
Anthony Robbins a professional speaker and author it’s the getting ready to change that takes time. In the end there’s a single instant when the change occurs. Robbins goes on to outline three specific beliefs that you must have in order to instantly create a lasting change.
1) Things have to change
Do you have health issues that affect your everyday life or do you just want to strip some body fat or gain some lean muscle? The key is to get focused, realize what you have to do to achieve your goals and do it. Persuade yourself that today is the day it starts.
2) You must be Accountable
Make yourself accountable for achieving what you need to do. The change and motivation has to come from your personal trainers. They can certainly add extra motivation and drive but the core of the hard work has to come from you.
3) You can make the change
Mental resilience and the will to achieve will get you far in life and health and fitness. Keep your focus by reminding yourself of your goals and how badly you want it. If you are able to do this you will be successful in making a change.
Making lasting changes to your life takes more then will power, to turn things around and keep it that way involves pushing yourself out of your comfort zone.
If you become complacent you will slip back into old habits. It’s important to retrain how your brain processes things. You have to learn to associate healthy living with pleasure and a sedentary lifestyle with pain and unhappiness.
Through training hard regularly and eating well you will start to see results. You should then associate these positive results with training, realize the correlation between leading a healthy life style and happiness.
Take the change you need to make into your own hands today.
Keep it simple
What you eat is the main reason you are not happy with your weight, which isn’t entirely your fault.
Every day you are attacked with false food marketing, have you ever stopped to realise?
You can find advertisements everywhere from T.V. commercials, websites, magazine pages and billboards, each of them showing off their cheap, tasty and convenient ways to treat your hunger
This puts itself into all but one complicated question, “What’s for dinner?”
There are so many options and such a large menu that it distorts your idea of a proper meal, and sooner or later you find yourself falling into those drive-troughs, restaurants and take-out lines.
When, in actuality, healthy eating is really simple.
First you need to destroy that storm of food marketing around you from your mind. Remember that adverts just want your money; they don’t take into consideration if the product is affecting your weight. In their eyes, that’s your job.
I think it is fair to say that foods you see marketed and advertised you should avoid. When was the last time you saw an advert for some steamed broccoli, grilled white fish and a side of brown rice?
Healthy eating – What does it truly look like?
Fresh vegetables, a modest serving of whole grains and lean protein are what a healthy meal should consist of.
It is just as important to make sure that a healthy meal does NOT contain:
- Fatty and fried foods
- Refined sugar / corn syrup
- foods with chemical additives that is processed
- Full fat dairy food
The Importance of a good Breakfast for fat loss
When you are trying to strip fat, get stronger and fitter, breakfast should be made a priority.
If you eat the correct foods at breakfast you will have improved brain function, increased metabolism and you will feel fuller for longer while balancing out your blood sugar levels.
There have been many studies indicating that consuming protein rich food first thing in the morning helps to burn more calories throughout the day. Try these suggestions below.
1) Whole grain toast, 2 egg whites and whole egg (scrambled, boiled or in an omelet with tomatoes and spinach.
2) Tinned mackerel or sardines, whole grain toast, avocado and tomatoes.
3) Greek yoghurt with blueberries and a protein shake.
Get your Lunch Sorted for better fat loss results
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle and eating well throughout the day takes planning and organisation.
Avoid not knowing what you’re eating for lunch by getting organised and pre plan your lunches in order to make sure they are packed full of all the nutrients you need. Below are some suggestions for you to pack and take with you to work etc.
1) Grilled Chicken breast, Curly Kale, diced tomatoes and avocado
2) Sweet potato, tinned tuna, low fat cottage cheese and spinach
3) Diced beef mixed vegetables in stir fry with brown rice
Control your consumption at dinner time for fat loss
By eating well throughout the day you avoid feeling tired and lethargic. Many people consume too many calories at dinner time because they are tired and hungry after work.
Beat this pit fall by eating well throughout the day to sustain energy levels and keep blood sugar levels constant. Follow these meal suggestions.
1) Grilled fish, spinach, mushrooms, quinoa
2) Chicken and whole meal rice
Powered by WishList Member - Membership Software
YES! Contact me today to schedule a FREE no obligation consultation and trial workout.