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Why The Keto Diet Is Not A Good Idea For Beginners Like You
Ahhh,
The Ketogenic Diet. Or should I call it “The latest ball ache of Fat Loss Personal Trainers for the last 4 years diet”
I much prefer my name.
I hope you do too.
So let’s get straight into it.
Table of Contents for “Why The Keto Diet Is Not A Good Idea For Beginners Like You”:
1. What is the Ketogenic Diet?
2. How Does the Ketogenic Diet help with fat loss?
3. What Can You Eat On A Keto Diet?
4. Why The Ketogenic Diet is not a good idea for beginners
5. Conclusion
If you want to watch my YouTube Video on this Article then click below:
Why The Keto Diet Is Not A Good Idea For Beginners Like You
What is the Ketogenic Diet?
The Ketogenic Diet is defined thus:
“The ketogenic diet (or keto diet, for short) is a low-carb, high-fat diet that offers many health benefits.”
And that is misleading for a start.
The Standard Ketogenic Diet dictates you eat 5% Carbohydrates each day, 75% Fat, and 20% Protein each day.
So in truth;
“The ketogenic diet is an ultra-low-carb, extremely high fat diet that might create many health benefits”
It is similar to the Atkins Diet, which became popular in the 90s when people were asked to reduce their Carbohydrate levels very low as well.
In terms of “Health” Benefits:
The studies on this are endless. They really are, and sadly I’m not that clever to know them all.
From what I can see the 20 studies referenced on the Healthline Article, which is the top hit on Google when you search “The Keto Diet” [1] only relate to a “Low-Carb” Diet being compared to a “High-Fat Diet”.
These studies comprehensively come out in favor of a Low Carb Keto-like Diet:
These 20 Studies that are cited for these “Health” Benefits are skewed as the comparison fails to look into the third option of an overall balanced diet.
There is one Study that takes people onto a Mediterranean Diet as a third option and in that study, the Low Carb Group did lose more weight than the Mediterranean Diet, and although the Low Carbohydrate Group did lose more weight, they also regained weight over 2 years more quickly. All three groups stayed under their starting weight. [2]
Only one of these studies ran for longer than 12 months, with the majority of them falling between 12 weeks and 6 months, that particular study by Gulbrand, et al 2012 concluded the following:
“There was no difference in weight loss or common risk factors between groups. There was a significant improvement in glycemic control at 6 months for the low carb group. However, compliance was poor, and the effects diminished at 24 months as people started to consume more carbs.” [3]
It is also the only study out of the 23 where the Low-Fat group lost more weight than the Low Carb Group.
This is not a coincidence. The longer the study…the less magical the Keto Diet would appear to be.
Weight loss is where we see the “Health” Markers improve particularly when it relates to Blood Pressure, Heart Disease, PCOS, and Acne. Combined with how the Diet helps those with Diabetes and Pre Diabetes in terms of improving Insulin Sensitivity. You can achieve weight loss without a Ketogenic Diet.
There is one area of study and health the Ketogenic Diet can be used effectively and I will not argue a point against that, and that is in its use with people who are Epileptic. I would say this, however, if you want to work on Epilepsy with the Ketogenic Diet then speak to your doctor first about this and do not just take my word on the matter. I’m not a physician.
The Ketogenic Diet is, therefore, a very restrictive diet that has a lot of evidence to support its abilities in improving health and weight loss for many individuals.
Over a short space of time.
It works upon the science whereby taking Carbohydrates out of your Diet you “switch” the energy source of the body from burning Carbohydrates and Glycogen which is stored in your Muscles and Liver to burning Fat via something your body now produces called a Ketone.
When your body has no Glycogen left to fuel your body it starts producing Ketones which are then used as energy as your body must run on something.
It's like a Hybrid Car changing from Electric Power, as there is no charge left, to Petrol as you have a tank in reserve.
Do you remember that scene in Men In Black in the tunnel when the car stops being just a car…
This is what people who are “Keto” will tell you its like.
You hit the red button and become a fat-burning machine.
You have probably read this section and thought;
“Adam, you’re meant to be telling me why I shouldn’t do this diet…right now it sounds almost too good to be true”
When things sound too good to be true…guess what…
Why The Keto Diet Is Not A Good Idea For Beginners Like You
How Does The Ketogenic Diet Help With Fat Loss?
In two words: Calorie Deficit.
Now the Keto Bots will be out in their droves telling me it’s so much more than a Calorie Deficit because you are changing the way your body burns energy and you get this, that, and the other.
To be honest…I switch off when I hear Keto Bots bigging up the Diet because it is a Calorie Deficit at work…and if they are willing to deny that then they clearly know nothing about how energy balance works.
It would also be pertinent right now to point out that Carbohydrates store water. For every one gram of Carbohydrate, the body will store 2–3g of water. Therefore it stands to reason that if you reduce your Carbohydrate level you will of course lose scale weight. This is not body fat that you are losing on the scale…it is simply water weight.
It is also a big reason weight loss happens so sharply in the early stages of a Keto Diet. But becomes wholly unsustainable when the scale stops going down and your motivation to keep avoiding the biscuit tin is starting to wain.
Why The Keto Diet Is Not A Good Idea For Beginners Like You
What Can You Eat On A Keto Diet?
Here is a list of foods you cannot eat on a Keto Diet:
Sugary foods: Soda, fruit juice, smoothies, cake, ice cream, candy, etc.
Grains or starches: Wheat-based products, rice, pasta, cereal, etc.
Fruit: All fruit, except small portions of berries like strawberries.
Beans or legumes: Peas, kidney beans, lentils, chickpeas, etc.
Root vegetables and tubers: Potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, etc.
Low-fat or diet products: These are highly processed and often high in carbs.
Some condiments or sauces: These often contain sugar and unhealthy fat.
Unhealthy fats: Limit your intake of processed vegetable oils, mayonnaise, etc.
Alcohol: Due to their carb content, many alcoholic beverages can throw you out of ketosis.
Sugar-free diet foods: These are often high in sugar alcohols, which can affect ketone levels in some cases. These foods also tend to be highly processed. [1]
Before I continue…can I just refer you to this: “Fruit: All fruit, except small portions of berries like strawberries.”
Keto is very often referred to as a “Healthy Diet”. At what point is removing fruit from your diet going to improve your health? Especially when we call into question how you are going to get enough Fibre into your Diet on this plan.
One article upon researching this piece for you said this:
“A poorly planned keto diet is at risk of being deficient in fiber,” says Dana Elia, RDN, an integrative and functional medicine dietitian in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. [7]
I mean, sure you can supplement it in…spending more money on this “healthy” diet. Or you could just pick up an Apple. I’m not here to tell you what to do…I’m just presenting the facts.
Now I hope you are thinking about the following in terms of what is forbidden:
Here's a list of foods you can eat:
Meat: Red meat, steak, ham, sausage, bacon, chicken and turkey.
Fatty fish: Such as salmon, trout, tuna and mackerel.
Eggs: Look for pastured or omega-3 whole eggs.
Butter and cream: Look for grass-fed when possible.
Cheese: Unprocessed cheese (cheddar, goat, cream, blue or mozzarella).
Nuts and seeds: Almonds, walnuts, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, etc.
Healthy oils: Primarily extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil and avocado oil.
Avocados: Whole avocados or freshly made guacamole.
Low-carb veggies: Most green veggies, tomatoes, onions, peppers, etc.
Condiments: You can use salt, pepper, and various healthy herbs and spices. [1]
When you compare the two lists, it should come as no surprise to you that you will be in a Caloric Deficit.
It’s not rocket science. You are being expected to almost cut out one entire food group: Carbohydrates.
By cutting out a Macronutrient you are going to be reducing your overall caloric intake.
You have literally cut the food you can eat down by a third.
We also need to address the Caloric Content of the food you are eating.
For your information:
Protein = 4kcal per gram, Carbohydrate= 4kcal per gram, Fat = 9kcal per gram
So by cutting your Carbohydrate intake so low over the course of your diet you are eliminating 4kcal for every gram of that food you eat.
And because Keto is a “High” Fat Diet you are replacing that with foods that are 9kcal per gram. Except that you aren’t. You will not be able to eat anywhere as much Dietary Fat as you can Carbohydrates in a balanced diet. It's just not possible. Even with a 5kcal advantage.
So how can I sit here and advocate it actually is a Calorie Deficit at work?
Well for starters you have very definite Bright Lines at work here. The Diet dictates that you can’t eat: Sugary Foods, Fruit, Mayonaise, and Alcohol. As an example.
There are really simple, really straightforward rules at play here.
Let’s say in a week you were to eat: 2 Mars Bars (460kcal), 7 Bananas (735kcal), have 4tbsp of Mayonnaise (360kcal) with your dinners, and 3 glasses of 175ml Red Wine (480kcal), 3 bags of crisps (552kcal), 1 can of Coke(138kcal).
I think that’s a very fair assessment of some of your “extras” you have each week.
You are therefore cutting away 2,725kcal each week.
To make that back up in the food that is Keto Friendly you would need to eat:
100g of Cheddar Cheese (402kcal), 2 Chicken Breasts (568kcal), 4 Large Eggs (312kcal), 200g of Turkey Breast (294kcal), 2 Avocados (320kcal), 4 Red Peppers (148kcal), 300g of Salmon (618kcal)
This is 2,662kcal.
That is EXTRA to what you would “normally” eat. This isn't what you would normally eat. This is on top of your Keto Meal Plan you have been given.
So without even trying. From just “cutting” away Carbohydrate from your Diet you are saving 2,725kcal a week.
That is a Caloric Deficit of 389kcal a day.
You will lose weight if you have a deficit of 389kcal a day. Especially as your Water Weight drops off as well.
And because what you can and cannot eat is so strictly defined, then it seems easier to adhere to in the early phases of starting your diet.
Remember those 23 studies? They all proved that this is a Diet you can adhere to for results for up to 3 months very effectively.
But what about the Ketones burning your fat away?
Look, as much as I would adore having a car that had a red button in it that made it fly, the truth is it doesn’t exist outside of Alien Films starring Will Smith.
I am not denying the scientific proof of Ketosis occurring. Clearly it does exist [4]. And I am not denying that when your body uses Ketones for fuel, it doesn’t burn fat from the body.
What I am denying is that the Ketones are the full picture. They are not the holy grail of Fat Loss that Keto Warriors would have you believe because, in order to get to that point, you will be in a Caloric Deficit first.
A Caloric Deficit will and always is the number one place for Fat Loss to happen in the body.
A huge argument in favor of the Keto Diet is that you are eating more satiating food. A diet higher in protein is always going to make you feel fuller for longer…and therefore you are going to be less hungry throughout the day. [5].
Which therefore means you are going to be consuming fewer calories throughout the day.
The Healthline article I have cited [1] previously states this:
“What’s more, the diet is so filling that you can lose weight without counting calories or tracking your food intake” [16]
Then when you click on the [16] you find a study that concludes the following:
“In the short term, high-protein, low-carbohydrate ketogenic diets reduce hunger and lower food intake significantly more than do high-protein, medium-carbohydrate non-ketogenic diets”
In. The. Short. Term. [6].
Like any diet, in the short term, it will lead to weight loss.
For a number of reasons but mainly due to the fact you are excited, fully motivated and you currently have no cravings for the foods you are not allowed to eat.
Why The Keto Diet Is Not A Good Idea For Beginners Like You
Why The Ketogenic Diet is not a good idea for beginners
By now, I am hoping you have a great idea of what the Keto Diet is.
Diet Culture
A restrictive diet that is sold to you on the premise of not telling you the full truth of how fat loss works.
It's like all diets in that sense. Weight Watchers, Slimming World, Atkins, those MLM Diets.
They keep you at arm's length of the truth, and that is what makes you part with your money. You aren’t clear on the process, and someone comes along with a “magic solution” you will happily pay to find out what that is.
Throughout this article, I have referred to the Short Term effect of the diet, and its evident success in that field.
You need to remember that long term, Fat Loss doesn’t happen quickly.
As my friend Jared Hamilton says:
“Fat Loss is like pregnancy, it takes 9 months for anything incredible to happen and you can’t speed it up”
I’m going to take a punt here and say that you are reading this because you are wanting to figure out how to lose weight, and you have heard the Keto Diet might be a good idea for you.
So you are doing some research.
Now if you have never lost weight before, then please understand this.
Weight Loss takes a long time. Much much longer than you ever thought it did.
Instagram and Personal Trainers don’t tell you this, because it's not a sexy sell. If I told you to lose the 2 stones you so desperately want to lose it is going to take you a year…you are going to very quickly reconsider your financial commitment to that project.
And your belief that you can do it over such a long period of time.
So all the “good news” about Keto and most other diets in truth…although Weight Watchers generally comes out on top more often in these circumstances…is focussed around those magic 12 weeks.
The 12 weeks you could sustain it for.
The 12 weeks you could avoid eating a Mars Bar or drinking an Espresso Martini.
The 12 weeks that you might just about be able to avoid a social situation that is going to compromise your adherence to your diet.
You see,
This is the issue.
Abstinence is a wonderful, truly joyous principle.
But it is an incredibly hard thing to adhere too.
Willpower is finite. And life will throw things at you that challenge you willpower for your Diet, every day.
You will be able to find the energy to not eat bread, for about 3 months.
But you won’t be able to do that for a year….especially if you are just starting out.
In my experience, people who are new to fitness and fat loss often have behaviors that need figuring out first. Before being able to enter into a very restrictive diet, they need to work on their behaviors around food so much more.
In my time spent as a trainer, I have dealt with behaviors that have led to weight gain in clients such as, Binge Eating, refusal to eat vegetables, emotional eating, overcoming PTSD, overcoming stress-induced depressions, anxiety, depression, disordered eating and very low self-esteem.
I perfectly understand that not all people have these behaviors in their lives, but if you have just one of them then moving to a very restrictive diet is not going to help you overcome the root causes of why you have come to fitness and dieting in the first place.
We must always address the root cause.
Not the symptom of the root cause.
Sticking a Keto plaster/band-aid on the wound that is left by disordered eating is only going to heal a small part of the issue.
With so many people who follow a diet, they are a cause and product of eternal failure.
Social Situations
Let's use the Keto Diet as our example here:
Step 1: You get invited out for a meal out with friends on a Friday night.
Step 2: You are now faced with two choices:
a) Cheat on your diet at the restaurant
b) Stick to your diet but not enjoy yourself with your friends as they want a bottle of wine to share
It doesn’t matter what choice you make the result is negative:
a) You have now failed at your diet.
b) You didn’t enjoy yourself with your friends socially.
The options you are left with are aways failure and unhappiness.
You might be able to stomach a social situation like this once, twice, possibly three times in a space of two months. But sooner or later it will catch up with you.
My Experience
In my life, there has been three types of people who peddle the Keto Diet.
Type 1 — The Financially Invested.
Most people who I come across who advocate the Keto Diet have a financially invested reason to do so. They have either built their brand on the Keto theme, are part of a pyramid scheme to sell Ketones, or they have some other thing to gain by selling you a quick solution for weight loss without telling you how Fat Loss truly occurs.
Type 2 — The Quick Fix Client
This is the person who has started the Keto Diet. They are fully sold on what it is and are completely unaware of the issues they are about to walk into. They have usually paid a Type 1 person for the Keto Meal Plan that they are on. They have also had bad previous experiences with dieting, have tried a few diets that didn’t work all for the same reasons that the Keto diet won’t work long term for them. They may be week 2 or 3 in, and it’s all going very well for them.
If you talk to them again in 8–9 weeks, it’s soon become another diet that was too unsustainable for them to follow.
Type 3 — The Anomaly
To every diet, there is someone who it has worked for…the issue is when this person sells it as the ultimate truth that will work for everyone. In my experience, The Anomaly has had previously very good results with very restrictive diets, maybe they have an athletic background or no known behavior issues with food previously.
If you look back on your experience with this diet, the sources that you have used to find this article…do any of them fit those three profiles?
If so…then please…just start with a Calorie Deficit as outlined in this video…and when you know you can do that…you can consider moving into something more extreme like a Keto Diet.
Why The Keto Diet Is Not A Good Idea For Beginners Like You
Conclusion
Aside from telling you to stop eating Fruits, which to me is just crazy talk. How can a diet promote health and tell you to avoid eating “All Fruit except for some berries”?
The biggest reason that I do not think beginners should use a Keto Diet is that you aren’t knowledgeable enough about the topic. You don’t know how hard restriction like this truly is, or how Fat Loss truly works.
All of the studies that advocate a Keto Diet for Fat Loss are all based on very small time frames in terms of lasting, sustainable fat loss.
If you are a beginner in Fitness and Fat Loss it is my duty to give you the best chance of long term success.
I know it might not be what you want to hear, but it is this message that must be shouted the loudest because it is this message that will protect you from the cycle of yo-yo dieting and constant failure around food and your bodyweight.
The Keto Diet locks you into a prison. One that is based on results before sustainability and at some point will compromise whether or not you want to stick to your diet or enjoy yourself.
It is possible to lose weight, stick to a diet, and enjoy yourself.
But in order to do that, you must give yourself more time, and take the pressure off of your shoulders.
Stop thinking 12 weeks.
Start thinking 12 months.
And you will be able to lose weight with a Caloric Deficit, enjoy your favorite foods, and no longer fail at your goals.
And that should be all you want from your diet.
Shouldn’t it?
Did You Find This Useful?
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Here is a selection I think would make great further reading for you:
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References:
Healthline. 2020. The Ketogenic Diet: A Detailed Beginner’s Guide To Keto. [online] Available at: <https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/ketogenic-diet-101> [Accessed 31 August 2020].
New England Journal of Medicine. 2020. Weight Loss With A Low-Carbohydrate, Mediterranean, Or Low-Fat Diet | NEJM. [online] Available at: <https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0708681> [Accessed 31 August 2020].
Guldbrand, H., Dizdar, B., Bunjaku, B. et al. In type 2 diabetes, randomisation to advice to follow a low-carbohydrate diet transiently improves glycaemic control compared with advice to follow a low-fat diet producing a similar weight loss. Diabetologia 55, 2118–2127 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-012-2567-4
En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Ketosis. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketosis#:~:text=Trace%20levels%20of%20ketones%20are,carbohydrates%20to%20metabolizing%20fatty%20acids.> [Accessed 31 August 2020].
Westerterp-Plantenga MS, Nieuwenhuizen A, Tomé D, Soenen S, Westerterp KR. Dietary protein, weight loss, and weight maintenance. Annu Rev Nutr. 2009;29:21–41. doi:10.1146/annurev-nutr-080508–141056
Johnstone AM, Horgan GW, Murison SD, Bremner DM, Lobley GE. Effects of a high-protein ketogenic diet on hunger, appetite, and weight loss in obese men feeding ad libitum. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008;87(1):44–55. doi:10.1093/ajcn/87.1.44
Migala, J. and Kelly Kennedy, R., 2020. The 10 Best Sources Of Fiber On The Keto Diet | Everyday Health. [online] EverydayHealth.com. Available at: <https://www.everydayhealth.com/ketogenic-diet/diet/best-sources-fiber-on-keto-diet/> [Accessed 1 September 2020].
6 Easy Steps To Stay Consistent With Diet and Exercise
The other day on Instagram I was asked this lovely question:
How Do I Maintain Consistency?
This is something I see so many of my clients struggling with time and time again, and as my clients are exactly the same as you, I figured this would be a helpful topic for everyone…not just my social media following.
Which if you do not follow me…then it would be awesome to connect with you - because I like making new friends.
In fact…send me a Friend Request right now. If you do, I must warn you: I will send you things. Things that are funny, things that are educational, things about my life, and probably things that are inappropriate…
But that’s what being friends is right…
To send me a friend request just put in your details below - and I’ll send you some freebies right away…
Thank you.
Now back to the topic:
6 Easy Steps To Stay Consistent With Diet and Exercise
The first quote I think I ever came across when it came to the topic of Consistency was this:
I think I read it in a book by Jamie Alderton…or a Podcast I was listening to once upon a time and it has always lived with me.
In my life, there are three huge achievements that I accredit to consistency and others accredit to luck and fortune.
How I keep my physique
Being in one of the most successful West End plays of all time
The Strong & Confident Program and my Personal Training Business.
What people always seem to miss when it comes to these three topics in my life is my diligent ability to understand what Bruce Lee said.
I have built all of these things with the principle of consistency being more important than intensity:
The fact I have never gone more than a month without a workout in my entire life as a minimum, and I stick to my caloric allowance at least 80% of the time and I hit my 10k steps at least 6 days a week.
No one saw the 3000 rejections it took in my acting career and showing up to the auditions day in and day out to get my dream job. No one saw the toll the rejections had on me and my relationships.
People don’t see the fact I post on Social Media at least 3 times a day and have done for 4 years, or the emails I send at 11pm just to make sure I check in with you, the person reading it, or the 9 hours it takes me to write, edit and upload an article like this. This is on top of all my actual Coaching hours too.
I’m not bragging. Not at all. I love and adore my job and seeing the positive effect it has on my clients is truly amazing.
But this is the difference between Intensity and Consistency.
This is the difference between what I actually do…and what people see me do.
And that is what consistency truly is.
Doing the stuff that no one sees over long periods of time. Doing the stuff that the only person that sees the benefit is you - whether that is from mental health benefits by feeling productive and creative - financial benefits - or health benefits.
Consistency is the single place where your results lie.
Table of Contents for 6 Easy Steps To Stay Consistent With Diet and Exercise:
Step 1: Have no time limit on your goals
Step 2: It’s got to be hella fun
Step 3: Make sure your goal is achievable
Step 4: Create Bright Lines
Step 5: Have Structured Accountability
Step 6: It’s got to be hella fun
Why is Consistency so important?
6 Easy Steps To Stay Consistent With Diet and Exercise
These 6 Steps have no real order…or rather they have no priority. They are all as important as the next and equally as important as the last.
You have to embrace all of them if you truly want to continue on your path for a period of time that will truly change your life.
They will also help you with consistency in weight loss, business, or anything else you are struggling with in terms of being able to do something you need to do to reach your goals on a more regular basis.
6 Easy Steps To Stay Consistent With Diet and Exercise
Step 1: Have No Time Limit On Your Goals
Time Limits suck. They suck so much that they will play havoc with your ability to be consistent.
Nothing in this world comes quickly.
Sorry…nothing that is associated with long term success comes quickly.
And if you set out on a Health and Fitness Journey with a time limit attached to when your goal must be achieved you have fallen foul to two things:
Even your most conservative estimate for what is achievable is still too quick.
Your results will never come quick enough to you.
This isn’t necessarily your fault. The Fitness Industry has sold you “quick results”, “fast progress” and 12 week transformations by the dozen load and it has skewed everyone’s belief in what is actually possible.
As you progress through the weeks on your new fitness program, with the goal of being done in 8-12 weeks, the realization that it's all taking a little bit longer than you had hoped will slowly play on your mind, and then it will only take a week of no movement towards said goals, or a plateau, whether in Fat Loss or trying to get heavier weights on your lifts and bang.
You will miss a Gym session.
You will skip your diet.
You will not be as adherent as you could have been in the first period.
This isn’t because you aren’t good enough, or don’t want it enough - this is just the course of life for most adults. Family, Work and all other kinds of stressors do and will get to you.
And that will mean missed moments - on a very very tight schedule.
And the significance of these missed moments will get larger and larger and larger the more the days tick past…and the more sessions you need to miss.
And then you will begin to realize that your goal is even further away now, but the deadline is the same…and you will grind to a halt.
I bet you are sat there…reading this going….my goodness…GET OUT OF MY BRAIN ADAM!!!!!
Especially if you have ever tried a 12-week Fat Loss Program!
I’m not in your brain. I say this to you because it's one of the most common traps people fall into.
Its because I see this every day - and I am truly blessed that the people I work with on my Strong & Confident Program seem to comprehende this really quickly, and convert themselves to adopting an active lifestyle as opposed to trying to “shred to get wed”.
Therefore by releasing yourself from the time pressure of your goals you will be more focussed on the journey, more focussed on the process and you may even have time to take stock and actually enjoy what you are doing, rather than think its waiting for you like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Whenever I am having this conversation with a client I always remember this quote:
“Becoming is better than being”
You will hear many many many Personal Trainers on the internet refer to “enjoying the process as opposed to focussing on the result”.
That is very very easy to say - and very hard to do.
But this is the first step to learning how to enjoy the process. Forgetting about the result.
When would perform Shakespeare I had to adopt the same process here. You have to learn the words of Hamlet, Othello or my personal favourite character: Benvolio and then when you are on stage you have to just forget that you know the words. When it comes to the performance - you have to just breathe and enjoy the ride. The second you start to think about the words you have to say - you forget them. When you hear actors talking about being in the moment - this is one very crucial aspect of that.
On stage we never think about the performance - the result - we just step on stage and let rip.
Its an incredibly freeing feeling - and you too must do the same with your fitness journey.
I actually have an episode of The Fitness Solution Podcast which is dedicated to this entire principle - with my dear friend Jodie Walker.
6 Easy Steps To Stay Consistent With Diet and Exercise
STEP 2: ITS GOT TO BE HELLA FUN
Adherence: “The attachment or commitment to a person, cause or belief”
Sorry to be “that” guy. You know…
“The Oxford Dictionary defines Adherence as….”
But here we are…anywhooooo….
One of the many reasons I managed to go through 3000 auditions as an actor and get rejected from them, one of the many reasons I have been able to write non stop content for four years on Personal Training, and one of the many reasons I am able to keep my calories in order is because all of those things bring me joy.
Let’s take my acting for example. You may well be thinking to yourself that I’m crazy.
Which is fair.
I am sitting here openly telling you that I enjoyed being rejected 3000 times.
I didn’t.
But I loved my days in London Auditioning. The result was inconsequential to me. Of course, I wanted to get the job. But that didn’t stop me enjoying the day I got going through the experience of trying.
For me, it was a day away from my office job. It was something new to talk about. It was exposing myself to an opportunity of improvement, of challenge, and of new experience.
It was a moment to grow.
It was also a moment to fail.
Not that I wanted to walk into the audtion knowing I would fail - believe me - every job i have ever been up for I have given everything I had for it.
But learning from that failure is a joyful experience. Its a badge of honour. I had the courage to risk failure, i felt that fear, did it anyway and opened myself up to vulnerability and strength.
Plus, who cares that I failed. I lost nothing except maybe a little bit of pride - and the opportunity of what I might gain one day form all of these experiences adding up is something that the micro fiaulures along the way are worth going through.
If you can attach this reframing of “failure” to your fitness journey you will be better off than the far majority of everyone else in the world.
80% of diets fail - this isn’t because diets are broken - its because dieting is really really hard - and one of the hardest aspects of them is being able to see the opportunity in the failures along the way.
I can honestly say that out of my 3000 auditions…I truly cared about getting the job maybe 3 or 4 times, and I know that now because I can remember those auditions:
Notes On A Scandal, Eastenders, BT Commercial, Hollyoaks and Kick-Ass.
That was it. Those Auditions were the ones that hurt when I didn’t get them…because I was extremely attached to the goal behind them. I really wanted that job. I truly believed those were the jobs that would change my life. They were the jobs that would have killed my ability to expose myself to it time and time again.
All the others…I can barely remember. But what I do remember is enjoying the process. Enjoying learning new plays, learning new speeches, and discovering new characters.
I didn’t enjoy it. I bloody loved it.
And if you aren’t having fun…there is no way you will be able to carry on doing it for long enough to get the results you want.
I call this the Adherence Loop:
Fun → Adherence → Consistency/Action → Results → Motivation
Make fun your priority in everything you do.
6 Easy Steps To Stay Consistent With Diet and Exercise
STEP 3: MAKE SURE YOU ARE TRYING TO STICK TO SOMETHING THAT IS TRULY ACHIEVABLE
By now you should be seeing a common theme with consistency: when you don’t see the results you re after that's what stops you from taking action.
And not setting yourself up for failure is critical to that.
As a personal trainer I see people setting the bar too high all the time:
Setting Calories too low.
Trying to exercise 4–5 times a week.
Lifting such heavyweight to the detriment of form.
Trying to do too much cardio ontop of lifting.
Spending too much money on quick fixes and shortcuts that they can’t keep it up.
Jumping constantly onto the “next big thing”
All of these will result in you not being able to remain consistent - and then ultimately giving up.
This is predominantly the fault of the internet and media - where in fitness we learnt that the quicker the fix - the more you will pay for that product.
And then when you don’t see the results - we aren’t accountable to you financially - you already paid - you already agreed to that “element of risk”. The most classic example of this you will see is something like:
“If you do exactly what we say, you will get the results you want or we will refund you”
And the trianer saying that knows exactly that no human ever will do exactly what they say - because no one can hit their calories each day perfectly. No one can track their food perfectly each day. No one can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they did “everything that was asked of them”.
Therefore, no one will ever be able to claim their money back.
The whole premise is a lie to make the trianer look good - and to coax you into the sale - because when you sign up you either believe you will do everything that is asked of you, or you are naieve to what is actually required.
You must make sure that what you are setting out to do is achievable but the problem is…how do you know if it is or isn’t without experiencing failure from time to time?
You might not be able to avoid that. Failure is always part of the process and every path to success is paved with it, my 3000 rejections for example.
One way of insuring yourself against this is to give yourself micro-goals.
So as opposed to wanting to lose 10 stone in 4 months try this:
Do everything you can to lose 1lb in 4 months…and repeat.
As opposed to trying to run a 5km in 20mins
Do everything you can to just complete the distance…and repeat.
“Practice makes progress”
Through the repetition of achieving such small goals over and over you will give yourself a feedback loop of success…and the big picture will take care of itself.
6 Easy Steps To Stay Consistent With Diet and Exercise
STEP 4: CREATE BRIGHT LINES — What is a Bright Line?
A bright-line rule (or bright-line test) is a clearly defined rule or standard, composed of objective factors, which leaves little or no room for varying interpretation. The purpose of a bright-line rule is to produce predictable and consistent results in its application [1]
Jokes aside - how wonderful is it that Britney Spears has managed to get out of the conservatorship.
Back to the topic at hand:
Now is the time for you to get strict. Not restrictive.
A lot of people when they set up a Bright Line in search of consistency they set it up overly restrictively.
A common Bright Line we see in fitness is something like this:
“I’m going to give up Carbs”
It’s a Bright Line: No Carbs for the rest of your life.
But it is also very very restrictive and will, therefore, cause lots of angst and potentially lead to higher intakes of Carbs…you know…“I can’t have it so I want it” syndrome. Whenever you take something completely off the table, you become more obsessed with it.
A better Bright Line in this instance would be:
“I will limit eating Chips to the weekends only”
Let us test it:
It has a clearly defined rule which aligns towards your bigger goal of wanting to lose weight: Limit eating chips.
It’s made up of an objective factor: You can only eat the chips at the weekend.
There is no varying interpretation: You either ate chips during the week or you didn’t.
Will it create a predictable and consistent result? Yes. Because you are eating chips only at the weekends.
A Bright Line doesn’t have to be about restriction though. It could be:
I will eat five different vegetables with every dinner I cook at home.
or
I will go to the Gym at least 2 times every single week
They aren’t pass/fail tests. If you miss a gym session in a week it doesn’t mean you failed completely, it means you just missed out on that one bright line.
This is why it will be wise each week to set three or four bright lines. If you miss one, you can then still find success in the other three, and you know what the priority for the upcoming week is.
I used to think brought lines were strict - but they aren’t - they are there to inspire discipline. I wish I could tell you that you can have total freedom and still achieve your goals - or rather - you don’t need to do any work and still achieve your goals.
But you can’t. There has to be discipline attached to your actions over time.
The key for you to being able to stick to your Bright Lines is making sure they don’t restrict you…but empower you.
One of my favourite phrases when it comes to weight loss is:
“Focus on production, not reduction”
Meaning:
Look at everything you can do to achieve your goal, not what you have to miss out on. Many many many people see weight loss as not having their favourite foods, not being able to enjoy alcohol, and not being social with their friends.
But the truth is, if you focus on production, if you focus on being more active, if you focus on eating as much as you can within your caloric window, if you focus on drinking more water, on going to the gym you live in a world of abundance towards your goals.
And that is more inspiring, than closing things off.
And it allows you to still do the things that might have originally been “off the table”.
6 Easy Steps To Stay Consistent With Diet and Exercise
STEP 5: HAVE STRUCTURED ACCOUNTABILITY
In my near 10 year career in this industry I have always worked online and in person.
Without a doubt - those who are more successful are my online clients - because they have to build their own structured accountability - and this empowers them.
You see - when people see me in person, they think that is being accountable enough. They put the ownness on me to create their result. Whereas online - the ownness is on them - and I find that empowers them to achieve so much more.
Tracking your consistency is one thing that is really going to help you keep consistent.
I know it sounds obvious…but you would be amazed at how many people think they are being consistent with their process…and then actually are not.
I almost promise you…that you are not as consistent as you think you are.
In the same way, you underestimate the number of calories you are truly eating [2] you’re also overestimating how consistent you are being.
And this is where structured accountability comes into the fold.
A huge part of what I provide to my clients is structured accountability. But this is far less effective for my clients than accountability they develop and maintain themselves.
Again - I want you to be empowered.
One of my go-to systems for clients is this:
Get a Big Wall Calendar
Stick it on your wall
Set up three-four Bright Lines you are going to do daily and weekly.
Track your consistency on these Bright Lines every day.
If you stuck to the Bright Lines put a big Red Circle on your day:
6. If you don’t stick to the Bright Lines put a Double Exclamation Mark on the day (different colour would be preferable)
Then over the months, you want to be hitting the 80/20 rule. Because remember consistency is more important than intensity and consistency doesn’t mean perfection either.
So for a month, you should have 25 Red Circles — meaning you are consistent - and will be hurtling towards your goals far quicker than if you took one of those “quick fixes”
Ironic isn’t it?
6 Easy Steps To Stay Consistent With Diet and Exercise
STEP 6: ITS GOT TO BE HELLA FUN
Yes. I know this was Step 2 as well.
But it's important. REALLY IMPORTANT.
What you do must be enjoyable. If you don’t enjoy it you will never stick to it.
And I’m not sure that point can’t be said enough.
6 Easy Steps To Stay Consistent With Diet and Exercise
Why is Consistency important?
Consistency is so important as it is your guiding light when it comes to balance. It is your buffer against you failing. If you can be consistent in the ways I have laid out in my 6 Steps then when a slip up occurs you will have so much other information that makes you feel proud of yourself.
Consistency reduces the significance of missed moments - and enhances your sense of overall achievement.
The other joyous thing about consistency is that it grows with you. The more consistent you are, the better it feels, and it just keeps going round and round and round. Then what took effort, soon becomes habit and that allows you to try and be consistent on something that is a level up to what you were dong before.
Understanding that you need to be consistent also allows you to understand that you must have flexibility and balance.
Consistency does not mean you need to be perfect.
Perfection is the enemy of consistency. It is the opposite.
I have many people tell me what their fitness wishes are, and very very often people will say to me:
“To be consistent with diet and exercise”
At which point I ask them: “What numbers are you attaching to that? How often do you need to do it in order to be consistent?”
“Every day” they respond with.
“Thats perfection” I remind them.
And you can see the weight from their shoulders lift immediately. Suddenly what seemed overwhelming is now achievable.
That is a big deal.
My friend on Instagram was talking about how she had an upcoming family holiday and wanted to pack all her stuff to go to the gym whilst she was on holiday. She was very worried about the voice in her head, her voice that was saying
“You are failing if you miss your sessions”
I explain to her that she has control over her thoughts and that she needs to start treating her “thoughts as things”. The only reason a thought becomes important is the weight we give it and whether or not we choose to focus on it.
So we had this chat:
If you take one thing away from this article please let it be this.
Perfection is not necessary and the quest for perfection will eventually lead to you giving up on yourself because it isn’t possible.
Consistency and Balance are possible, and that's what you must always strive for.
So if you are worried about whether or not you are not “being good enough” or whether a day off will wreck your progress ask yourself the same two questions I sent on Instagram:
Is this thought worth thinking?
Does this thought fit into my narrative of consistency over perfection?
And if the answer is no to both, then forget about it and move on with your day.
Consistency will be the ultimate answer for your quest for success in any field.
Business, Relationships, Fitness, Fat Loss.
It doesn’t matter what you want to succeed at you must be consistent and consistency isn’t sexy.
It creates regularity and helps form habits day in and day out. It is the foundation of habit formation. It takes conscious effort to being with, and then develops into something that is more automated.
You brush your teeth every day not because you know that by doing it one day you will stop your teeth from falling out, but because doing it every day will stop your teeth from falling out.
You save your money not because you know £50 one week will help you in the future, but doing that every week for 10 years will pay for your child's university fees.
Your child will never see the £50 a week. They will only know that you are paying for their tuition. There is nothing glamourous about £50 a week, but over a decade £26,000 is a lot of money to anyone.
I’m sure you have seen this in the past:
But its always worth reminding yourself of what success truly looks like.
There is also something wonderful about being consistent each and every day, and that is the concept of compound interest.
Once you begin to be consistent, once you turn those consistent behaviours into habits, and once they become just what you do…then the more room and space you will have to keep learning and trying to incorporate new things.
And that constant picking up of new ideas, habits and behaviours is what will change your life.
If you refuse to allow consistency to rule the roost in your journey you will always be stuck at phase one of your goals, and you can only focus on that for a certain amount of time until you get bored, frustrated and then eventually give up altogether.
What’s Next?
I really hope you found this article useful, and you feel a lot more comfortable about how to keep more consistent with your diet and exercise.
I also have some other articles you might find useful to help you navigate your Fitness Journey:
Added to all of that, if you would like a Free Calorie and Macro Calculator then just put your email in here:
Thank you so much for reading my article.
Speak Soon
Coach Adam
Is Emotional Eating Your Biggest Problem For Fat Loss?
I normally start an Article like this with a funny meme.
You know, a picture of Joey from Friends eating Pizza with a humorous caption to the effect of: “It's not my fault I can’t lose weight…it's my emotions”
But actually I was quite surprised by what I saw when I typed into Google:
“Emotional Eating Memes” because what actually showed up was “Stress Eating Memes”
And I think that is really what is going on with a lot of Emotional Eating.
In this article we will discuss the following:
Is emotional eating something that affects only me?
What is emotional eating and why does it occur?
How do you begin to change your behaviour with emotional eating?
Can I lose weight whilst working on my emotional eating?
Conclusion
Before we go any further I need to run a few disclaimers. I’m a very experienced Personal Trainer in the field of Female Fat Loss.
I am not a Psychotherapist, Eating Disorder Clinician or Doctor of any kind. If you are currently suffering from an Eating Disorder or feel like you might have an Eating Disorder akin to anything like Bullemia, Purging, Anorexia Nervosa or any other kind of Disordered Eating then please contact your GP immediately, or contact the fantastic Charity BEAT: https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/
Is Emotional Eating something that affects only me?
Many of my clients think that their emotional eating is significant to them, that they are the only person who turns to a Glass of Wine or a Bar of Chocolate to help them feel better about themselves.
And I’m sure you think that about yourself too.
But here's a thought…what if it is more normal than you originally thought? What if more women than you knew were actually emotional eaters…it's comforting right? That you're not alone. That you're not broken. That it's not something that is only wrong with you.
People find a lot more comfort in the knowledge that there is a sense of “normality in numbers”. When a client first comes to my Gym and starts working with me, they are normally nervous as hell…until I tell them that actually everyone is nervous. Everyone in this building is nervous, which is why they are here in the first place. All my clients are scared their first time, but they got through it…and you will too. They then relax, they calm down. It's now not “just them”. They are now not singled out in their minds. Social Psychologist Robert Cialdini in his book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion says the following:
“Whether the question is what to do with an empty popcorn box in a movie theater, how fast to drive on a certain stretch of highway, or how to eat the chicken at a dinner party, the actions of those around us will be important in defining the answer.”
We find great comfort in following the crowd. But we must always know that the crowd exists first. When you type “Emotional Eating” into Google you get About 397,000,000 results (0.44 seconds).
It's a popular topic. You aren’t alone and it's certainly not the case that you are broken.
In short, …it is a normal behaviour pattern [1].
What is emotional eating and why does it occur?
I couldn’t write a whole article without a meme now, could I?
Emotional Eating is closely related to Binge Eating, however, Binge Eating is classed as an Eating Disorder, and Emotional Eating is not classed as an Eating Disorder due to the fact that as discussed above, we all do it.
I’ve eaten chocolate to feel better, I’ve got horribly drunk after I split up with an Ex and I have also eaten Pizza until my heart is content because something wasn’t feeling right inside of me.
You are jumping straight to the “Eating”And not looking at the “Emotional” with enough scrutiny.
The Pizza didn’t help. Nor did the Alcohol. Nor did the Chocolate.
The reason? The eating wasn’t the reason I needed comfort. The emotion was.
You will go through an emotional moment and then move towards an item of highly palatable, calorific food or drink. We all do it.
How Do You Define Binge Eating? <<< Read my article on how to understand if you are Binge Eating…
What we don’t all do however is look at the reason why we went to the food. You jump straight to the food being the problem because it doesn't align with the physical goals you have set for ourself.
You are jumping straight to the “Eating”, and not looking at the “Emotional” with enough scrutiny.
As a Coach I’m guilty of this as well. In the past, I have only focussed on the “Eating”. Clients tell me that they want to lose weight, and I will jump straight to the calories, without thinking about their Emotional state soon enough, or putting in enough measures to help them make sure that they are working on their emotional environment and behaviour as much as their physical one.
According to HelpGuide.org [2], these are the triggers that cause Emotional Eating:
Stress
Stuffing emotions
Boredom or feelings of emptiness
Childhood habits
Social influences
Then these triggers work themselves into the following cycle:
Its a continuum. It's a cycle that you cannot work yourself away from because you keep returning to the places that the triggers exist, and then you reach out for the food that comforts you.
Emotional Eating also presents very differently physiologically. You get hungry far quicker than normal, it is associated with specific cravings, you then eat quite mindlessly (watching television or a film, flicking through Social Media etc), you are never satisfied once the moment is over, and you experience feelings of guilt, shame and powerlessness when you experience it.
These are all very different to the feeling of physical hunger, which you can be satiated from, it is controlled by hormones (Grehlin and Leptin), it can be held off, you will eat a wider variety of food and you don’t experience such intense or any self-loathing after a meal that is regulated and makes sense to you in the traditional sense.
Its not all negative either. We can also eat emotionally to reward ourselves. Ever gone out for a Cocktail because you got a promotion at work? Or landed a bonus and celebrated with a bottle of bubbly?
These are behaviours that also constitute Emotional Eating.
How do you begin to change your behaviour with emotional eating?
With emotional eating, you must start focussing more on the “Emotional”. You need to develop your ability and practice your ability to manage your Emotional Wellbeing and state.
The reason you Emotionally Eat is not because of your genetics, your physiology or the fact there is something wrong or unfixable about you.
Its because you are stressed and fearful of what is happening to you.
“Neither a man nor a crowd nor a nation can be trusted to act humanely or to think sanely under the influence of a great fear.” — Bertrand Russell
Now there are times that Emotional Eating is totally understandable and you should treat yourself with empathy when it happens. Those moments will be subjective to you.
But you must also develop two other things to get a handle on it.
Emotional Resilience and better coping strategies for when you are stressed.
We can do this by [3]:
Selecting self-efficacy: take ownership of the problem that is causing disbalance in your life, don’t run from it, as you are likely to run towards a less favoured behaviour.
2. Emphasise Empathy: allow yourself to understand what is happening to you and treat yourself with compassion
3. Practising Patience: you can teach yourself to be mindful in difficult situations, and chose to move away from the stressful moment. Give yourself time and space to comprehend what you are going through.
4. Create Capacity: we can choose these moments to work upon our discipline and desired behaviours rather than turn to the destructive behaviour you are trying to move away from
5. Perceiving Possibilities: from all moments of stress and emotional upheaval, there is always an outcome that can be positive. It might be hard to find, but if you can visualise it, and think upon the positive then you will see the light at the end of the tunnel.
How Do You Deal with Stress?
There are many positive behaviours you can implement to help you cope with stress in a much more positive way…rather than returning to what you want to conquer.
There are many different types of stress, and each one and each person will need a different response to the stress they are feeling.
But we know the following will help you immensely:
Eat in a more nutritious manner
I’m not saying “eat better” or “eat good foods” or “avoid good foods”. I am saying eat nutritiously. Sometimes that will mean eat a Cookie, a Donut or have an Espresso Martini. But it also means building your plates with protein and vegetables, drinking 3 litres of water a day, make positive choices that align with your goals both physically, emotionally and mentally.
2. Exercise
Exercise is one very important aspect of dealing with stress. Whether that is hit the gym and follow a good Resistance Programme (Grab a Free Month of Workouts right here: Free Month of the Be Confident, Be Strong Programme) or go for a Swim, Jog, Yoga or even just a 10 minute walk. Exercise reduces levels of the body’s stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol. It also stimulates the production of endorphins, chemicals in the brain that are the body’s natural painkillers and mood elevators. [4]
Find out why Resistance Training is great for Fat Loss right here: What is the most important thing for Fat Loss…Resistance Training or a Calorie Deficit?
3. Sleep
Sleep is the most powerful tool in your ability to control stress. You need to be getting 7–8 hours a night. When we sleep we allow our brain to process the day you have just experienced and it will give you much better willpower for the day ahead. Think of sleep not just as a restful time to recover from the day, but time to prepare yourself for the day ahead — like warming up before you exercise. Also, make sure you are creating a good sleep environment for yourself. For example, you should limit caffeine at least 8 hours before you sleep, you should reduce screen time as much as possible, and if you have to be on your phone then use your Night Shift Filter to limit your Blue Light exposure (I have mine on all day every day — and its great!)
If you need help sleeping try listening to one of my Sleep Stories:
4. Meditation
Meditation and deep breathing is also an extremely powerful way to manage your stress. A lot of people give up on Meditation as they believe that they should magically be able to quieten their mind naturally. But it takes practice and is something just like fitness that needs to be worked upon. Also by engaging in Deep Breathing you connect with your Parasympathetic Nervous system which produces a relaxing effect [5]. You can also Meditate anywhere in the world, at any time in your life. it doesn’t have to be at Sunrise on a Beach or listening to Birdsong. Although being in Nature is one of the most relaxing things as humans we can do. You can do it on the Tube, or as you are walking. Try some of my 10-minute walking meditations and see how you get on:
5. Connect with others
By connecting with others and talking things through with your friends will help you solve problems and find the answers you need to figure out what is stressing you out. Plus its comforting to talk to those you are close to. Don’t text them. Speak to them or see them in person. Texting is not an appropriate human connection to help with your stress levels.
6. Give to Charity
There are few things higher up that we can do to improve our sense of self-worth than give to charity. When you help someone else, it makes you feel good, really good, and it helps put your problems into perspective a little more.
Can I Lose Weight Whilst Working on my Emotional Eating?
Let me be clear from the off; anyone can lose weight — all you need is Calorie Deficit:
However, if you are aware that you struggle immensely with Emotional Eating, then a calorie deficit will be an extremely hard thing for you to stick to, as you will constantly be stressing yourself out.
Lets run this through an example:
You have started a new diet and exercise programme and are feeling good for the first few days. You have a little bit of a busy day at work, and feel a bit let down by your colleagues. They haven’t done anything wrong per se, but they just didn’t feel supported. Your boss has hit you with a deadline, and although achievable…in truth its the last thing you want to do right now.
You get home and try to talk to your husband or boyfriend about it. He's only half interested, can’t wrap his head around your point of view and just says something like:
“Well just work hard and you will get it all done. Don’t worry about it”
(Men? Am I rite?)
It brings back all the feelings from your day, from your Boss and your colleagues and you then think about dinner. Feeling a bit low, you notice the Pizza in the freezer rather than the Meal Prep you made.
Pizza it is. You indulge in it. You begin to realise what you did and how that behaviour doesn’t match your new “healthy” regime. However, its ok because you know you are allowed flexibility in what you eat — no ones should be that strict on their diet.
However, you still seem hungry after the pizza. It's not quite done its job. You're not satisfied because you need emotional satisfaction, not physical satisfaction.
There’s Ben and Jerry’s in the fridge…
You get to bed. Sleep not as well as you would like, due to the stress from work, and as you wake in the morning you realise the calories you ate last night exceeded your deficit for the whole week. You now start to feel down on yourself again, and despite knowing all you have to do is follow the Four Step F*** It Philosophy as detailed thus:
STEP 1: Acknowledge you went off plan and why.
STEP 2: Say F*** It.
STEP 3: Draw a line under it.
STEP 4: Move on.
You can’t shake the feeling that you have now let yourself down. You feel your stress levels rising again. Work is just as stressful as before and it's now Karens Birthday. There's Krispy Kremes in the office. One or two won’t hurt, and you need it. You’re feeling low again.
And then the stress increases again because you aren’t matching your Diet to your desired behaviours.
And it goes on and on and on. Until you eventually give up on your diet, give up on your exercise and your goals seem further away than ever.
My point here is that you can’t build a house on a foundation of sand and with three walls. A Calorie Deficit is really simple. But it doesn’t mean it is easy, and to attempt to achieve one in order to lose weight and get a bit “healthier” is going to be extremely hard if you aren’t willing to work first on improving your relationship with food.
You can’t build a house on a foundation of sand and with three walls. Your relationship with food must be postivie before attmepting a Calorie Deficit.
You need to first learn to be able to draw a line right under it and truly move on. When you can achieve that as a habit, without guilt attachment and without you feeling like you are a failure, then you will find being in a Calorie Deficit so much easier.
In the midst of all of this to you will have to learn how to balance your hormones to your expectations. I find that my clients eat a little more during certain times of their cycle and that they need more flexibility in those moments. This is another part of your diet you will need to fully comprehend and understand to help you manage your stress a lot better, and therefore your relationship with food.
How Does Your Menstrual Cycle Effect Fitness and Fat Loss? <<< Read my article on this topic right here
Conclusion
Emotional Eating is a normal, human thing to do. We all Eat Emotionally and this can be both in negative moments of our life and positive moments of our life. Understanding this is crucial because it shows that your behaviour of emotional eating is standard practice and that you aren’t “broken” or “need fixing”
A lot of negative Emotional Eating comes from being in as Stressed state. When the hormone Cortisol and Adrenaline are running rampant in your body, you are much more likely to indulge in foods that do not match the behaviours you want to have in order to reach your goals.
If Emotional Eating is a particularly prevalent behaviour in your relationship with food you need to focus your efforts in the Emotional part of the equation. Not the Eating part of the equation.
Look at the things in your life that are causing you high stress and learn better ways to manage that. Through better nutrition, Exercise, Meditation, Connection with others, giving to Charity and getting out into nature.
It is possible to lose weight whilst being an emotional eater. But it is making your journey a hell of a lot harder. Try and work on your relationship with food before you engage with a Calorie Deficit as fixing your relationship with food will make the weight loss journey more successful and more sustainable.
Above all remember the following: You are not alone, and although this all seems quite daunting, you can totally do it. I know you can. And I believe in you more than you probably believe in yourself. If you got this far through the article, this is clearly something you want to understand more and work upon…and you are already ahead of 90% of the people who have read this.
Stop worrying about the food. Start fixing your stress levels and you’ll do just fine.
Did you find this useful?
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And above all remember this…for as long as you are trying your best no one can ask for more from you.
Coach Adam
References:
Medainc.org. 2020. [online] Available at: <https://www.medainc.org/binge-eating-vs-emotional-eating-whats-the-difference/> [Accessed 4 May 2020].
HelpGuide.org. 2020. Emotional Eating And How To Stop It. [online] Available at: <https://www.helpguide.org/articles/diets/emotional-eating.htm> [Accessed 4 May 2020].
Bogdanos, M., 2020. 5 Steps To Help Build Emotional Resilience. [online] World of Psychology. Available at: <https://psychcentral.com/blog/5-steps-to-help-build-emotional-resilience/> [Accessed 4 May 2020].
Publishing, H., 2020. Exercising To Relax — Harvard Health. [online] Harvard Health. Available at: <https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/exercising-to-relax> [Accessed 4 May 2020].
André, C., 2020. Proper Breathing Brings Better Health. [online] Scientific American. Available at: <https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/proper-breathing-brings-better-health/> [Accessed 4 May 2020].
The most Important thing for Fat Loss? A Calorie Deficit or Resitance Training?
The most important thing for Fat Loss? A Calorie Deficit or Resistance Training?
This is a question I have battled with my whole career. As a Personal Trainer, I take money off of people to help them “achieve their goals”. To get them to “where they want to be” or whatever other “….” cliche we want to put in there.
And my conflict often comes from knowing that “Calories are King” when it comes to losing weight…so why do all Personal Trainers insist on lifting weights and exercising as much as they do?
“Eat less…move more”
Personally I detest the above quote…because it oversimplifies something that is just not that easy to figure out. It's a crass phrase that shames those who are struggling with their weight and doesn’t take into account the most important thing about them…their humanity. But this article will change that quote into:
“Eat less...vs…Move More”
and all that goes into that. It started with my client this morning, and we got into this discussion, which inspired me to sit down and write this for you.
So let's break it down, in this article, we will look at:
Why are calories so important for Fat Loss?
Why do we lift weights for Fat Loss?
What role does cardio play? And quick-fix low-calorie diets?
Conclusion
Why Are Calories so important for Fat Loss?
It doesn’t matter what way you spin it. It doesn’t matter how you look at it, and it doesn’t matter how many times your scream the word “Insulin” the facts are the facts. Are the facts.
The only way to lose weight is a Calorie Deficit [1, 2]. I know it's not what you want to hear. But if all things in your life stayed equal then nothing will change. If we then change one factor, that being the number of calories you eat, then you will start to see a difference on the scale. How big a difference will depend on the amount of a calorie deficit you implement.
Sounds a little too good to be true. Just eat less…right? (eye roll)
To understand this a little better, and the importance of a Calorie Deficit you need to first understand what a Calorie is:
Calorie /ˈkaləri/noun
1. The energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water through 1 °C (now usually defined as 4.1868 joules).
2. The energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water through 1 °C, equal to one thousand small calories and often used to measure the energy value of foods.
So Calories relate to how hot they make water? Which is a very confusing way of looking at the definition. The part of the definition you need to focus on…in terms of your fat loss…is “the energy needed”.
A calorie, all a calorie is, is a unit of measurement, and it measures energy. The same way a mile measures distance, or a litre measure volume, a calorie measures energy.
Our bodies are like engines, and these engines use calories for fuel. If you overfilled your fuel tank at the Car Garage, it would spill over. If you overfill your body with calories…you gain bodyweight.
Therefore the opposite would be true if we reduced our calories. If you didn’t overfill the car at the garage, you would have less fuel in your car…and, therefore, wouldn’t gain as much body fat.
You would also be able to travel less far…which brings up a great point regarding how being in a calorie deficit can affect your ability to keep your NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) up as your body will not want you to reduce your calories because our bodies always like the state they are in, as they feel safe in that place…whether or not it might cause health issues later down the line. This is also where the “starvation mode” myth comes into the argument, and yes, it is a myth. But these are all arguments for another day. What we can draw from this paragraph is that it all comes down to balance, and balance is the most important word in the English and Fitness vernacular.
How you balance your calories (fuel) is to reduce to a point, so you can still reach your destination, but don’t reduce so much you have to fill your tank up again.
Now we have a grasp on what a Calorie is, I hope you can see how important it is for your Fat Loss, and why it is the governing rule for Fat Loss.
Why do we lift weights for Fat Loss?
My client this morning that inspired this Article sums this point up so well, I wish I could get him to repeat the conversation we had.
Quite often in my career, I have had clients stay with me for a number of years, despite the fact they aren’t really losing weight. They love the feeling exercise gives them, they love the experience, despite not having the results.
Now three things play into this I believe…
Exercising regularly helps them try and stay in balance when they aren’t taking their food intake seriously enough to get the results they decide. As the saying goes…“You can’t out-train a bad diet”;
They realise that weight training is an investment for their future self;
I’m just tons of fun and they love being around me.
Of these three things, only one of them do we really need to explain. And that's number three.
I mean look at me — fun or what?
Ok.
Fine.
Its two. Number two is what you need to focus on.
Let’s go back to my client this morning. He stated “I am now 16 stone and its not where I want to be” he has trained with me for nearly a year and although he had success in the past…it has wained of late and he realised this. What I found most interesting about the conversation was his next statement: “I’ve weighed this before…but this time I am wearing it better”
And my brain screamed Ah-Ha!
Despite knowing all the theory, knowing all the information that other fitness professionals say and do, and how they all recommend weight training for Fat Loss…I think as professionals we never truly understand it until you see a client go through it.
Like always when a client is in a situation like this, I immediately help them see their successes, and this client has many successes:
Can Bench Press 45kg for 3 sets
No longer has big bouts of back pain
Can do 3 sets of 12 Push Ups with ease
Gets out of breath a lot less
Can run a mile in 9:27
Looks stronger
Has bigger biceps
Prefers his physique
And the last three points are the key here. The last three comments are what justify his comment “wearing it better”.
Some of his weight probably is muscle gain, but if he hadn’t spent a year with me lifting heavy weights week in and week out, working on the areas of his body he felt self-conscious about and doing the work each and every week then he wouldn’t feel as motivated as he is right now to get back ontop of his Fat Loss goals.
The sheer fact he has worked hard and managed to get his body into a place where he is happier with the way he looks, despite gaining a little extra weight recently is truly wonderful, and a testament to his work ethic in the gym. I look at weight training in the Fat Loss field of fitness as the following:
Lifting weights is an investment into your future self to protect yourself from body fat increases. It is not a short term fix to the problem.
Sure. Lifting Weights does burn calories and lots of them. Far more than cardiovascular training because it improves your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)and your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) (how many calories you burn via organ function and respiration) and that is exactly what has happened to my client. He has gained weight a lot slower than he would have, had he not spent the last year working hard in the Gym.
Muscle uses a lot more calories to maintain than body fat. This is why someone who is very athletic can eat the same as someone who is overweight, and they still both lose body fat. The muscle is like a high-performance car that needs just as much fuel as an efficient vehicle with flat tyres. The energy is being utilised far better and for a better outcome.
Therefore if you want solid, future proof Fat Loss then you have to get in the Gym and lift weights…as well as be in a Calorie Deficit. Because of how difficult a Calorie Deficit can be to maintain over a sustained period of time, there will be moments where you slip into higher-calorie refeeds [3] and momentum calories [4], you need to build yourself an insurance policy — and lifting weights is that insurance policy.
Your BMR and RMR is the biggest piece of your Metabolism at 70%. Therefore increasing it will take time because a lot of it is out of our control — namely your Organ size and your height. The portion of our RMR that is under our control is our Muscle Mass and Body Fat Mass— and therefore we are looking for small increments in this field.
As we build a muscle we basically put more Fat Burning Factories known as Mitchondira into our body. Mitochondria are little cells that are known as the batteries of your muscles…and the space we have for them (the bigger the muscle) the more of them we develop. As always…let's refer to an Instagram Post:
Taken from @thegymstarter on Instagram
So think of your Weight Training and Resistance Training as your Pension Fund. Put away 6.25% of your wages every month for your pension when you reach 65 years old you will have a pretty good pot of money.
NB: I’m not a financial advisor so that percentage could be way off
Exercise does burn calories mind you, and a good solid hour in the Gym lifting near maximal lifts and working hard on compound movements will maybe burn 220kcal approx. if you weigh 154lbs and are male [5].
Building on your Metabolism is a great way of insuring your body's ability to not gain fat in the future. But for the present, although you should get started straight away on lifting weights because the benefits are astoundingly worthwhile like:
Improved Joint Health
Improved Mental Health
Improved Social Health
Improved Confidence
Improved Physique (despite not losing weight necessarily)
It will not in and of itself help you lose bodyweight unless you use it as a tool to get into a Calorie Deficit. Each Gym session just helps you get into a Calorie Deficit for that day by about 200 calories…but the yield of that over time, and the way you change your body's composition will and can last you a lifetime…as long as you keep at it.
What role does cardio play? And quick-fix low-calorie diets?
Ahhh Cardio. My dear friend.
And quick fix low-calorie deficits my immortal MLM enemy.
Now knowing all that you know about Calories and Resistance Training, I am sure you are on board, except for one nagging question.
“How come Sally from over the road who runs a 5km every day is losing weight?”
And that is a great question, to which you know the answer: Sally is in a Calorie Deficit.
“So lets go running then?”
Not so fast. Literally. In terms of time spent exercising for calories burnt, yes Cardio, for the beginner is a great option as you do burn more calories by running for an hour rather than lifting weights. But it poses a few problems.
Your body adapts to exercise and the stress you put it under quite quickly. Therefore in order to keep up the level of exercise intensity, you will either have to go faster or for longer on your run. Whereas in the gym you can just add reps and plates…not miles and minutes. And if you are reading this…I’m sure having to add time to your already busy schedule isn’t going to be easy.
Added to that…you are doing very little to protect yourself from your future self. We all know an injured runner who gained weight after they could no longer keep it up..and that's because although the running was great for their Cardiovascular health they didn’t add enough muscle to their body to keep their body an efficient calorie-burning machine.
All the runner is doing is losing weight. Not adding muscle to their bodies, and therefore opening themselves up to injury, and hitting an unbreakable plateau.
Now don’t get me wrong…I LOVE CARDIO. I have run marathons, my best 5km is ~21mins and I am long-legged and cover the ground quickly (it would be even quicker if my ears didn’t flap in the wind so much) and you should totally add Cardio into your Fat Loss Exercise Regime. That doesn’t mean run 5kms if you don’t want to. A brisk walk each day is going to help you get into a Calorie Deficit via NEAT, and its going to help you keep your joints and your heart healthy. It should be part of what you do. But not the entirety of what you do.
And quick fix low-calorie diets?
If it's all about a Calorie Deficit...then it stands to reason you should just drink water and maybe the odd protein shake and reap the rewards. That is one way of getting into a Calorie Deficit yes. But again, it is fraught with issues.
This study from 2012 which looked into “Very low-calorie diets (VLCD) and sustained weight loss” reviewed all of the literature relating to VLCD, and stated the following:
Therefore, the pessimistic 1958 view of Stunkard and McLaren‐Hume ((1)), that most patients will not lose weight, is no longer true. However, their statement that most patients regain their lost weight is still true. Although there are difficulties in comparing studies because of large variations in the design and control of study variables, the overall picture is still very negative [6].
A VLCD will work. In the short term. Most patients will regain their weight. Yes, there will be few, very few that manage to overhaul their lives enough to make a VLCD stick forever…but I highly doubt you are in that category. Just think of the stressors you are under right now, family, work, loved ones etc…
Can you change enough of them…to make sure that this diet is sustainable enough? I highly doubt it, and nor should you have to.
To Conclude…
The answer is, and always will be a Calorie Deficit is most important for you to lose weight.
Exercising not only helps you lose weight in the present moment, although it might not be as much as you first thought, it can also help you maintain your weight loss over much much longer period of time and protect you when your Calorie Deficit does, and believe me it will, go arry.
Exercise also helps you keep an improved physique if you do gain weight again, and it allows you to feel a bit happier about yourself at the higher weight you have become.
And by doing so… you will never have to consider a VLCD, that won’t work anyway, ever again.
Please remember….it takes time. I have spoken quite casually about time in this article, but you need to think in terms of 12–18 months. Not 6–8 weeks.
And thats it. A Calorie Deficit is still the King of Fat Loss, by me, Adam Berry
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Coach Adam
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References:
2020. [online] Available at: <https://www.nature.com/articles/ncpendmet05https://www.nature.com/articles/ncpendmet055454> [Accessed 17 April 2020].
Publishing, H., 2020. Heart Beat: A Weight Loss. [online] Harvard Health. Available at: <https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/Heart-Beat-A-weight-loss-secret-Calories-matter> [Accessed 17 April 2020].
Syatt Fitness. 2020. Creating An Effective Fat Loss Program. [online] Available at: <https://www.syattfitness.com/fat-loss/back-to-the-basics-creating-an-effective-fat-loss-program/> [Accessed 17 April 2020].
Syatt, J., 2018. Fat Loss To Maintenance (How To Transfer). [podcast] The Jordan Syatt Mini Podcast. Available at: <https://anchor.fm/jordan-syatt/episodes/Fat-Loss-to-Maintenance-How-to-Transfer-e1httu> [Accessed 17 April 2020].
Choosemyplate.gov. 2020. How Many Calories Does Physical Activity Use (Burn)? | Choosemyplate. [online] Available at: <https://www.choosemyplate.gov/resources/physical-activity-calories-burn> [Accessed 17 April 2020].
Wiley Online Library. 2012. Very‐Low‐Calorie Diets And Sustained Weight Loss. [online] Available at: <https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1038/oby.2001.134> [Accessed 17 April 2020].
What is Binge Eating Disorder?
What is Binge Eating Disorder?
Last night I had a wonderful chat with a client about Binge Eating.
And it got me thinking about how do we define what a Binge truly is?
Part of me wants to say that “Binge-Eating” is one of those terms we throw around these days as its becoming a little more of the zeitgeist.
And don’t get me wrong awareness of this is very very important and I would never undermine anyone bringing awareness to it, for others and themselves.
But how do we define it?
Standard rules say this: “The consumption of large quantities of food in a short period of time, typically as part of an eating disorder”
Which doesn’t really help us.
“Large Quantities of food”
Is this any food? Can you binge on Broccoli? Is large quantities relating to the calorie content only, or the grams of food you have eaten?
“Short Period of Time”
What is a short period of time? 1 hour? 1 Evening? One journey? One Month?
and then the part of it “typically being part of an eating disorder” doesn’t help either. As it opens up the fact if you don’t have an eating disorder you are too a Binge Eater.
Well, that’s no help…so what do you do now?
I try to avoid my clients from using the term “binge” due to it allowing them to sink into a world of negative self-talk.
Which is to be avoided at all times.
I would always prefer a client to refer to their food more objectively than subjectively. Calories are calories are calories.
Therefore in terms of a binge…maybe we could define it as eating 70% of their daily calories in a short period of time
Therefore if someone is eating 2000 calories a day.
In a matter of hours or an evening they will have needed to consume 70% of that.
1400 calories.
But this comes with problems in that 1400 calories is the same as just:
Two McDonalds Iced Vanilla Frappe
Two McDonalds Double Quarter Pounders with Cheese
A Big Mac Meal with a Hot Apple Pie
Now if you ate any of that at lunch time….I don’t think you would sit there and class what you just had as a Binge.
It seems almost too reasonable.
Which brings me to my next point.
Is it defined by emotion?
Ah-ha.
Does Binge Eating come down to whether or not you feel guilty about what you just ate?
And if it does….then we can’t define it in any way shape or form because we are all so bloody different in the way we feel about these things.
Sure, in the past I have eaten lots of food….probably beyond 70% of my daily calorie intake.
But I personally have never felt guilty about it.
I’ve never felt the need to purge it from my body in the form of exercise or excessive dieting.
Or worse: facing down the toilet.
I have only once ever felt like this, and that was after trying a cigarette for the first time when I was about 17. (sorry mum!)
It was menthol, and it was wonderful
I had two drags.
But the next day I woke up and knew I had to get rid of the craving that was building up inside me. So I went running and got rid of that craving.
Now, this was easy for me to do…because I don’t NEED cigarettes to live. In fact quite the opposite.
But with food, as it is our source of survival, I would not suggest purging the food from your body in any way shape or form because you are feeling guilty about what you did.
I think its best you just step away from what you have experienced.
Draw a line under it.
Get to bed
Say Fuck IT
And reset again tomorrow.
Again….
A lot easier said than done.
Conclusion….?
I have no idea. I’m, really not overly sure what constitutes a binge.
I think it must come down to “a feeling you have about yourself when you consume something to excess that you feel like you probably shouldn’t have in a shorter period of time than you feel is adequate”
But I really don’t know.
Maybe defining it isn’t something we need to worry about…
As a coach, I just need to listen to you when you say you did, respect your opinion of yourself and try to help you move away from those feelings about yourself, and help you reflect on why it occurred, and how we can manage it for next time.
Which is basically my philosophy to life.
Draw A Line Under It
Say Fuck It
Get to Bed
Start again tomorrow.
What are your thoughts? I would love to hear from you.
I'm Scared Of Going To The Gym For The First Time...
Are you a beginner that is scared of going to the gym?
Then you are now in the right place.
Hi, I’m Adam Berry known as The Gym Starter, and I want to help address these issues for you. I want to outline strategies and actionable plans you can put in place to actually get yourself to put that first foot in the door because once you are there…hopefully over time the benefits you will gain from being in that place will become so addictive you will wonder why you ever worried about the experience in the first place.
THE GYM…That place, over there. You know of it…you are aware of the benefits of it, and really and truly you know that you should go there. But that doesn’t help you get over the anxiety, worry, and fear about what the experience will be like when you actually arrive.
The judgment. The looks. Not wanting to hurt yourself. Are all totally understandable and reasonable concerns for you to have when it comes to going to the gym. But this article is here to help you to stop being scared of the fortress of grunting men.
Firstly, I want to say it is totally normal to be scared of going to the gym.
There are lots of terms that relate to this topic:
Gym Anxiety
Fear of the Gym
Phobia of Working Out
Embarrassed to go to the Gym
Scared of exercise
Scared of the gym
If you relate to any of these feelings then this article is perfect for you.
Before we get into it, here is a little story about myself.
This was me in 2009. A very skinny, very wild-eyed early 20-something.
Fresh out of Drama School and just trying to live the actor’s life. Personally, I really hate this photo of myself. That T-Shirt I am wearing is a size S from Topman. I am 6ft 4. Every time I wore it I had to keep pulling it down or wear my jeans like Simon Cowell.
I had a wardrobe of t-shirts like this, all because I needed them to fit tight, to try and make me look a little bit more muscly.
I wasn’t exactly a Gym goer. I used to try. Then I would fail miserably. Simply because I was so much smaller, and lifting weights that were so light compared to everyone else in the Gym…I really didn’t feel comfortable.
And now I’m a Personal Trainer. And within that space, I have been petrified of the gym.
One very memorable example was for about 6 months of my career I had no idea how to get a client to lift a barbell. I was personally too scared to get a client to use a Barbell.
Every single one of my friends who have worked with me has been very scared of being in the Gym. They work with me because:
“You’re the guy that won’t judge me”
Now you know some more about me, I would love it if we became friends. As part of our friendship, I’ll email you things. Sometimes they will be educational, sometimes they will be inappropriate, and sometimes I might just want to know how you are; either way…it will be pretty awesome.
So just fill in the form below and send me a friend request…
Oh, and I will also send you some free fitness goodies to help start our new friendship off on the best foot possible.
Now we are friends… Let’s continue the article…
In fact, take my friend Natalie who worked with me one on one, and is now a part of my Online Coaching Program. To say I am proud of her is an understatement. Natalie has Cerebal Palsy which affects her lower limbs. As you can imagine she has been worried about how she would be able to interact with a Gym environment herself, let alone what others might think of her.
But since she started working with me, she is in the gym three times a week and has had the most incredible transformation, not only in her physical body but her mental strength and inner confidence have jumped leaps and bounds.
Every single day, Natalie makes me prouder and prouder and it is my honour to be able to call such a great friend.
Or there is my other friend Nicola.
Nicola was shaking when she first stepped foot in the Gym with me. Shaking to the bone. I couldn’t get her to focus on anything…and we had such a great time! She was shaking through fear, but neither of us could stop laughing and enjoying ourselves.
Nicola no longer works with me, but she is an incredible friend still. We worked together for 18 months and to be able to take her from how petrified she was initially to where she finished up was amazing.
I think we have time for my favourite story about Nicola. She was doing Step-Ups onto a medium-sized height stool and I can’t remember exactly what happened. She was probably chatting away to me, or she just forgot to get enough of her foot on the stool, and she fell off it.
Bang.
Just hit the floor. It surprised us both. She looked at me in shock.
And I love it when my friends fall over in the gym. Not because I am a sadist but because of the opportunity if gives me to teach my friends about the word FEAR.
All fear is, is the following:
“False Expectation Appearing Real”
Now, of course, Nicola had a fear of falling over, as we all do. But the second she hit the floor, I checked she was ok and then asked her the following question.
“Look at what has happened. Look around and tell me what you see….?”
Her reply was:
“Nothing. I see nothing. I just see everyone else working out and carrying on”
“Exactly” I smiled.
“One of your biggest fears about the gym has just happened…and that fear was a false expectation which you thought would become real. But it didn’t. The difference between the story in your head, and the way the world actually works is very different”
But see for yourself how scared of the Gym Nicola was. Watch her video here:
I have only been dealing with people who are scared to go to the gym my entire adult life. First, it was me, then it was a fair majority of my friends who I have worked with over the years.
The only reason I have been able to be The Gym Starter is that I understood their troubles. I went through it too and I knew how I could help them overcome their anxiety and fear as well.
So whether or not you are too scared to go to the gym because:
It will be your first time
You are scared of being judged
You think you are too fat and don’t belong
You have a fear of working out
Then you have found the right person, and the right article to inspire you to get up and head to the Gym.
Because deep down, we all belong there.
TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR “I'm Scared Of Going To The Gym For The First Time...”
WATCH THE YOUTUBE VIDEO FOR THIS ARTICLE RIGHT HERE:
Before we get started, I just want to make it clear that I am not here writing about how to get over social anxiety, the anxiety of places filled with people or any other condition that really and truly seeing a therapist would be the best course of action. My advice is literally about getting the foot in the door of the gym and is here to help alleviate some worries you may have about the process of being in, going to and experiencing a gym.
In truth, we are all beginners
I remember quite succinctly a time when I was being paid by clients to put together workouts for them, and I was scared of using a barbell.
For two reasons this occurred:
I was worried I wouldn’t be able to lift the weight I needed for a client and therefore I would get found out as a fraud in my field and a new career.
I had no idea how, why, or what they were used for. I knew how to do a Bench Press…but I didn’t really know the art behind it and how to utilize it for prime movement.
Why am I telling you this? Well…for point number one basically one of your best weapons in the gym would be to realize we pretty much all make it up. We all explore. Whenever a new friend joins my Online Coaching Program and there is a moment where they need feedback on how to do an exercise. It will take them ages to post the video. They can send it to me via email, but I would prefer it goes into our Members Only Facebook Group because that way everyone can learn from it.
It takes them ages. I will always get a DM saying that they were just too scared to post it because in their mind two things are happening.
Firstly, they think: “Oh my God! I’m doing it wrong!”.
Secondly, they think that everyone in the Group will laugh at what they are doing.
What they forget is that everyone in the group has been a beginner. They aren’t sitting there judging every single video of everyone else, and everyone else isn’t sitting there judging their videos.
Everyone is just pleased to see someone else is making progress.
And this isn’t because its on the internet. This happens in Gyms as well. I have spent many many many many hours in the Gym and not once have I seen someone else judge somebody in a very negative way based on what they are doing in the Gym.
The gym is the epitome of:
Back to: “Oh my God! I’m doing it wrong!”
You aren’t. You can’t. There is one thing that the gym is there for…and that is the exploration of your body. It’s not there for right or wrong… it’s simply there for exploration.
The very first thing I tell my clients is this:
“There is no right or wrong just exploration”
And I cannot emphasize that point enough.
Of course, there is optimal form, and sub-optimal form, but you will move towards optimal form as you learn about yourself, as you watch others, and as you feel your body move in this prescribed setting.
And point number two is a little reminder of imposter syndrome. Whenever anyone (and I mean anyone) tries something new, they feel fraudulent. They feel like they have no idea what they are doing and will totally get found out very soon.
Well just remember, there I was taking money off of clients and at times I had to make it up as I went along. A gym is a place of perpetual development, education and understanding. If you take that attitude into your new regime, then you will undoubtedly not worry about what is “right” or “wrong”. What will happen is that you will embrace the process and the exploration of what you are trying to achieve.
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Your Fear of Injury
I’m not going to lie. Yes of course there is a risk of physical injury when you explore something physical. But what I would say to you is this.
The percentage rates of someone injuring themselves in the gym are far less than taking up a new sport like Running, Football, or even non-contact sports like Netball. I have been on many football pitches in the UK as a Semi-Professional Referee and the Injury rate was far higher than anything I have seen or experienced in the gym.
Find out the stats about injuries in the Gym by reading my article right here:
I also remember one client of mine had to take a few weeks out for a sprained ankle when she returned to playing Netball…as opposed to anything we did on the Gym Floor. There are many benefits to playing a social sport, and I would wholly encourage that in anyone, but if you want to explore those sports then please remember a gym is a place that protects you from Injury.
Not puts you at risk of it.
My Mum is a prime example of this. She is 62 years young as I write this and about 3 years ago she was diagnosed with osteoporosis (a condition that is a degenerative skeletal disease that can only be managed, not cured), simply put her joints and bones were aching and rattling.
Her wrists were particularly bad. She used to comment often on her aches and pains, and how this diagnosis was a hindrance to her life….and it got to a point where I had to tell her that strength training was the best foot forward against this diagnosis.
I recorded a very simple yet effective Kettlebell Workout for her to perform at home, to begin with, and within weeks she reported back to me a feeling of strength and far fewer aches. I now see her in the gym once a week, put her through her paces, and I’ve never heard her mutter the word osteoporosis.
Now the Gym hasn’t cured her, but it has created bone density and helped manage her condition within her.
On top of that, she now does my 15 Minute Home Workout Routine for the Over 60s at least three times a week, and I can’t remember the last time she mentioned her condition.
Worrying About Judgement From Others
The Big Muscly Men
This is probably the single biggest hindrance to people from feeling comfortable in the Gym. The big muscles and flexing biceps of the men who have been lifting since they first Arnie in 1979. And they are loud. Really loud. And intimidating. And they just generally scare the proverbial out of you every time you consider going near a dumbbell in that part of the gym.
This is a reality that we all face. I promise. But this is your best weapon against said men, so listen up…
“No one in the gym is judging you more than you are judging yourself.”
If someone looks like they have enough muscles to lift a small building, and they grunt and groan as they do that…they have no idea you even exist.
Firstly…lifting weights like that takes an extreme amount of effort and self-focus, and it shows that this person is extremely disciplined in their training. They aren’t going to be distracted by you walking up to a weight and trying to figure out what to do with it.
Moreover, the Gym is a place that teaches humility. When you pick up a very very heavy weight and fail to lift it, it reminds you very sharply of your humanity, and therefore the people who grunt the loudest, probably smile the most and are just hoping that you enjoy yourself in the gym more than anything else.
Yes. There are some idiots about the place and that can’t be avoided as much in the gym as it can at work. But I promise you, no one in that building; over there is judging you more than you are judging yourself. Remember that.
The Active Wear Gang
And the skinny women strutting around in their Gym Shark sports bras and high-waisted leggings…well as I am not one of them I can’t really comment on what they are thinking. But what I would suggest is this; you don’t know their story as much as they don’t know yours.
If you think that wannabe Instagram Model has everything in her life sorted because of how she looks then it’s surprising how quickly you have become one of your own biggest issues: someone who is judging others.
You more than likely have more in common with that person than you ever thought possible.
Often when I catch myself looking at someone in the gym, its never thought about what that person is doing, the way they look, or who they think they are…often it is about whether that has had a nice day…or whether we may become friends, or how I wish I could smile in the way that they do.
It has zero to do with their appearance or what they are doing.
Walking a day in someone else’s shoes is very tiring, and recently I have had lots of judgement levelled at me on Instagram. It’s not very nice to receive of course.
Just remember this: if you don’t want to be judged, then don’t judge others.
And the more out of practice you get with judging others, the less judged you will feel.
Being Afraid To Go To The Gym Because You Are Fat
It breaks my heart that I have to write this section. But upon researching this article there was a search term that showed up:
The Gym can be an “uncomfortable” environment if you don’t make it work for you. For example, I am 6ft 4in tall, and that means that an awful lot of the machines that are in the gym are too small for me. I feel squished and very uncomfortable when I am using them.
So I simply do not use them. I use free weights instead.
There is no rule that states “you must use machines”. In the same way there is no rule that states you must use equipment that makes you physically uncomfortable when you are in the gym.
I get it. The seats on these machines can be small, even I find them uncomfortable sometimes so I can empathise.
That is the smaller side of this.
The other part of this, is how you feel just being in the Gym.
I have had a number of people who have worked with me and they simply couldn’t look at themselves in the mirror when working out. They hated what they saw so much that whenever there was an exercise that might mean they were in front of a mirror I had to stand between them and it just to make sure that they felt comfortable enough.
One friend that I worked with for over 2 years, we did every single workout in a part of the Gym where there were no mirrors.
This meant that in an environment where she should feel comfortable and be able to work on her confidence, she could. It worked really well, she had fun, and above all…she found a level of comfort in the Gym.
Which is all anyone wants.
There can be a lot of mirrors in the Gym, and it can feel like you are constantly on show to yourself.
But there is no rule that says you must workout in front of a mirror.
If you want, grab some weights and train where there is no mirror. Train where you feel comfortable, train in a place that makes you happy.
At the end of the day, the Gym is an open space for everyone to explore movement in the way in which they chose too.
If being too fat for the Gym is a huge driving force behind your anxiety about going, then please remember that just being there, just being able to put your foot through the door is the biggest win there is. - and that should be celebrated as much as possible.
As King Lear said:
“Nothing can come of nothing. If you invest in nothing you get nothing in return”
And showing up, and being there is getting the party started. You can hold your head full of pride a
Anything on top of that just makes the party raise the roof even more!
Just showing up is the battle you need to conquer.
If that means turning up and doing 2 minutes. Turning up is the most important aspect of what you achieved.
Turning up is always the most important aspect of what you will achieve.
That is the majority of the work.
If you can do that, great things will happen for you.
If the Gym just isn’t something you can face right now, then you can just work out at home.
The issue many people find here is being able to create the right energy for working out in their home space.
So here is my best trick for that:
Step 1: Lay out everything you need to workout
Step 2: Put some workout music on
Step 3: Leave the house and go for a 2-3miute walk
Step 4: Come back with the complete intention of only working out
Basically all you need to do is replicate the Gym environment as best you can, then you will be far more likely to actually workout.
As for what workouts to do at Home head here.
What To Do When You Actually Get To The Gym
What to do is the most important and underutilised aspect of training.
Chances are if you have just signed up for a new gym, you will be entitled to an Induction at the gym. This is a moment for the gym to tick off some insurance necessity, and to try and confuse and scare you into either: never using the gym again (they make a lot of money off people never showing up) or to make you buy a block of PT sessions.
I would encourage you to do the induction, so you can get your bearings, and just find out a little about the Gym Floor, but make it very clear from the offset that you have a plan and that you want to follow that, to begin with. My reasons for this are the following:
The plans that you will get at an induction are very often pre-written, pre-judged and take into account none of your preferences; the main one being enjoyment.
If you get a stick-on plan from a human that you have only met because they are taking your money and whom you have no rapport then you aren’t going to get a plan that you enjoy.
And the most important thing about your time spent in the gym is enjoyment.
“Enjoyment leads to adherence, adherence leads to action, action leads to results, results lead to motivation”
So take the “Free” Induction. Discover how uninterested the PT is, and he is just hoping you will sign up for his free session before paying £900 for a block of ten sessions.
Use this induction to be able to tick off a number of things you don’t enjoy. Through that process of elimination, you can start to discover what you really enjoy out of the gym. Once you start discovering what you enjoy and what you don’t you will go more often and that will lead to the results you want.
The actual what of your time in the gym will be best-spent weight training. But only if you enjoy it. If you enjoy Cardio…do that…just understand it will breed less efficient results as you will adapt quickly to it, and then the mode of exercise will need to be made longer. With resistance training, you just slap a new plate on the bar and away you go.
You need a plan of action. A programme. One that will test you.
The Gym is as much a numbers game as it is an emotional one. And you need to learn to fall in love you with your numbers. There are thousands of workout apps out there.
There are thousands of Personal Trainers who will accept you into their Tribe and give you plans galore to follow. Just pick one route, of resistance training, give it your all for a good four to six months and enjoy the benefits that being patient and consistent bring.
You can, of course, get a number of things from me:
But I’m not here to sell to you. I’m here to help you.
Let’s Conclude
The sheer fact you are reading this and want to get into the gym is the biggest win you can have. The rest is easy once you have decided upon that. But here it is in a summary:
Everyone makes it up as they go along through exploration…not some secret knowledge that you will not be able to ever learn
Everyone feels like a fraud from time to time. Exposure to the stimulus helps us overcome that through experience
No one in the gym is judging you more than you are judging yourself. The amount of focus you put upon yourself in the gym environment is exactly what everyone else is doing. You are not that important to these people. Phew!
Your “What To Do In The Gym” is more important than your “Why am I in the Gym” and it’s important you go to the gym doing stuff you enjoy. Enjoyment will lead to sustainability. Sustainability leads to results.
Get a training plan. Stick with it for at least four to six months and understand we are learning, adapting, and still discovering what we enjoy about the work we are doing. It takes time. Give yourself that freedom, rather than the pressure of a short term goal and a quick fix hope.
I really really hope this article has helped you and alleviated some of the pressure you were feeling from your anxiety about going to the Gym.
Did you find this useful?
I have plenty more articles about the Gym and how to overcome your struggles in there:
Here is a selection I think would make great further reading for you:
Added to that it would be AMAZING if you joined my free Facebook Group.
It is called Straightforward Fat Loss.
I do one Live Training a week in there based on topics which are designed to make your Fat Loss Journey as straightforward as possible.
It would be so wonderful to see you in there…to jpin just click on the button below and you will by transported at the speed of light to a grateful and welcoming bunch of people who really do just want to help everyone as much as they can.
Or you can send me that friend request we spoke about earlier…
I hope you found this article useful and that my tips help you want to go to the gym to get stronger and more confident.
I cannot wait to see you again soon…
Coach Adam
The Story Inside Your Head...
I don't do much bro science bruv
Coz..well just look at me.
If you are unsure about what Bro Science is...its stuff like this:
"The best activities for your health are pumping and humping"
"Ask not what your country can do for you...ask does your country even lift?"
"If the door says push...pull it. Its not a direction its a challenge"
"Flexibility...you mean the ability to flex"
"In between sets....its not a rest for me...its a rest for the weights"
"I don't have weekdays on my calender...only strong days"
Broscience is basically men being men about stuff. Like stupidly egotistically men about stuff.
Like so egotistical...its amazing they are able to walk through doors.
I don't do much bro science bruv
Coz..well just look at me.
If you are unsure about what Bro Science is...its stuff like this:
"The best activities for your health are pumping and humping"
"Ask not what your country can do for you...ask does your country even lift?"
"If the door says push...pull it. Its not a direction its a challenge"
"Flexibility...you mean the ability to flex"
"In between sets....its not a rest for me...its a rest for the weights"
"I don't have weekdays on my calender...only strong days"
Broscience is basically men being men about stuff. Like stupidly egotistically men about stuff.
Like so egotistical...its amazing they are able to walk through doors.
And as one of my friends said to me the other day...
"Adam...you aren't a mans man"
To which I replied:
"Oh no you didn't"....And wiggled off....
So last night I was working with my client Nicola (the one that is now famous due to her #buildyoursassy! video)
And we saw a guy in the Gym being BRO.
Said BRO was trying to lift a 30kg Dumbbell as he did a One Arm Dumbbell Row.
To say his form was off...is an understatement.
Even Nicola...who god bless her is lovely...but does not know lots about lifting was wincing at the sight of this BRO's spine twisting as he shoulder shrugged a dumbbell in the row position.
Am I ratting this dude out? Of course not.
I actually went up to him and said...in my most mans man voice
"eh hem...BRO....drop the ego...lose 10kgs and lift properly - your spine is taking a hammering"
I feel like I spoke on his level.
BRO laughed at me...as if I didn't really know what I was talking about...and finished his set off...
Then walked up to the Dumbbell Rack...and picked up a 25kg and a 22.5kg.
He then put the 25kg down...and carried on lifting with the 22.5kg.
I was very proud.
So lets look at the mindset of BRO.
1. He thinks that the number on the Dumbbell is where others are going to judge him from
2. He doesn't care about the complexities of actual lifting...he is focussed on the result
3. What he thinks matters really doesn't...and what does matter he thinks does not.
Poor Bro.
Firstly...we all get things wrong in the gym <<<< there is nothing wrong with that.
But my point is this:
The story of what you tell yourself is always 1000 times worse than the truth of experiencing it.
Especially if you are the kind of person who struggles with self-esteem.
My mother always taught me a lovely lesson when I was a child.
When I believed I was ill...or really REALLY didn't want to go to school...because of:
Bullies
Headaches
Stomach Aches
Elbow Aches
Aches I don't even know what they are called...but the existed I promise
She would always tell me...
"It will be fine once you are there" and dammit....it always was.
What you think about yourself is nearly always the worse version of the story.
The best way to counter this is to expose yourself to that fear time and time again until you realise that it is not as bad as you thought.