Tom Phillips Fitness

𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁, 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 ⬇️⬇️⬇️

A quick search on Instagram and you can find 77 million posts tagged 🤯

Whilst returns a rather modest 43.6k

That’s a lot of information to try and sieve through to find what’s actually factual ℹ️

But how the hell are you, the consumer, supposed to know what’s “right” when we can’t even decide between ourselves 😩

Between the influencers pedalling supplements, HIIT workouts and and any fitness product sent their way,

To actual doctors with an agenda and a new book to push (usually something to do with fixing your hormones)

It’s no wonder that you can’t workout if you should be intermittent meat only fasting with HIIT workouts 12 times a week and using detox tea,

Or avoiding anything in a packet, taking 17 tablets a day that are specially formulated for your hormones

whilst doing yoga and drinking organic apple cider vinegar.

What that actual F is 🤯

The fact of the matter is, nearly anything you choose to peruse will work if you do it consistently enough.

But trying to jump from differing advice every other week isn’t going to get you anywhere.

You need to pick what you believe works best for you, and stick with it.

⭕️Changing coach every 2 months won’t help

⭕️Buying a new programme every other week won’t help

⭕️Pissing money away in your fav influencers products… won’t help

Pick a path, I don’t mind what, I’m not here to judge, and implement it consistently for 6 months.

Then you will know if it works, or if it doesn’t.

Sometimes that’s an expensive lesson learned, but a lesson nether the less.

𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩👇

I’m taking on women for 1-2-1 online coaching

If you’d like more info just Dm me “weight loss” now

𝗛𝗲𝘆, 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗲?

Ok so it’s only been 3 weeks since I last posted an actual post,

But in social media terms that’s basically a lifetime.

So I thought I’d just give you an update 🤷‍♂️

The truth is, I’ve not been at my best recently.

Well probably most of this year actually,

And “not at my best” is probably a rather large understatement.

I’d just like to make this abundantly clear right now, this is not a “I’m so authentic” kinda post.

Just an update.

So anyway, to be brutally honest I’ve not had a lot of desire to conjure up new posts on a daily basis,

that largely go unnoticed in an ocean of fitness and health related posts.

But I’ve not disappeared entirely 😁

I’ve been super busy still,

With my online and PT clients, the women’s coaching group,

And doing more and more design work for my fellow coaches.

I’ve launched my first round of custom branded guides,

Which I put off for so long for fear of what the other awesome designers I’m friends with on here might think (stupid huh)

And there’s plenty more on the way soon 😉

Outside of that, who would’ve thought twins and a nearly 4 year old took up much time 🤷‍♂️😏

And because I’m afraid of being judged as a coach and a designer, but not as a parent (I know, stupid again, huh)

Im not afraid to admit that

Oakley is at a very testing age. He pushes boundaries daily, I find it really f**king difficult and sometimes it’s just exhausting 🥱

Then there’s the night shifts with the babies to deal with after all of the hassle of getting Oakley sorted.

So something had to give, for a while.

And in this case for me it was posting daily content on the gram.

Anyway, thanks for listening and I’ll be back posting on the regular very soon☺️

How are you doing right now? Feel free to let me me know⬇️

𝙋𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧, 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙪𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙖 𝙩𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙬𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙖 𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜...

I’d do it without fail.

Put my best silky Nike shorts on, a pair of football socks (I know 🤦‍♂️) a football shirt that was getting a little snug..

And hit the streets every night after work.

And then bam 💥! F**k me the soreness was so bad I felt like I’d done an iron man.

I’d run through it for a few more days,

My knees getting more and more sore,

My back feeling like I’d been beaten with a bat...

Until I sacked it off completely because I was in absolute bits.

So I started walking or cycling instead.

The pain disappeared, the weight came off quicker than the running because I could train consistently

And I could actually walk without looking like John Wayne.

Now I’m not bashing running, for some people it’s great, not just physically but mentally too.

My point is, if you can’t run through injury, or you just fu***ng hate it like I do..

You’d be better off walking daily if weight loss is your goal.

Even if just health is your goal. Health and fitness are very different.

But if you adhere to the notion that starting running = weight loss , without any other dietary intervention in place

Then you’ll likely find yourself quitting before you really go started.

“𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙄’𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙣, 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙄 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙬𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩!?”

Be honest with me... how many times I’ve you said this to yourself 😉

As humans we tend to directly correlate calories (total) with how often we put food in our mouths (volume)

As such when we embark our latest quest to lose weight,

The first thing we do is start eating meals that resemble a child’s dinner.

You’ll tolerate this for a while,

But before too long you’ll become so hungry that 1 Turkey dinosaur and 3 spoons of beans just won’t curb that hunger.

But there’s a better way... ⬇️

𝗙𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲

Prioritising protein as a must, it helps you keep feeling full as well as offering other benefits such as muscle growth.

Then we get smart, we eat a ton of food but for hardly any Calories.

Increasing the amount we physically eat, but for less calories than normal.

𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙨⬇️⬇️⬇️

Mushrooms 🍄
Lettuce 🥬
Onions 🧅
Tomatoes 🍅
Cucumber 🥒
Blueberries 🫐
Strawberries 🍓
Grapes 🍇
Watermelon 🍉

Tbh pretty much any fruit, especially berries are going to be a great fit.

More often than not I’ll have clients eating more food than than before they started losing weight

You’ve just got to be smart 🤓

𝗢𝗸 𝘄𝗲’𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 🤦‍♂️😂

Here are some diet fibs that we’ve all been told at some point in time⬇️

🥜 Peanut butter is a a good source of fat. It is NOT a good source of protein. Whilst it does contain it, the calorie to protein ratio is terrible. It tastes good though 😋

Not that expensive kind either.. the cheap stuff is where it’s at.

🍞- carbs do spike insulin, but so does protein, and just as high as carbs at that. Insulin isn’t bad, in fact it’s required. It’s only an issue if it’s constantly elevated, like seen in diabetics.

👎- celery does not use more calories to burn that it contains. It just doesn’t have many calories. Unless you cover it in peanut butter..

🌽 - organic doesn’t mean it’s “healthier” it contains the same nutrients it’s just treated with less pesticides etc.

Frozen is arguably fresher than fresh food as its flash frozen on the spot.

🥦 vs 🥩 - this is vegan wizardry to trick us.

106 calories of beef = 11g protein vs 124g broccoli = 10.4g protein

But 106 calories of beef is only a 1.5 oz serving whereas you’d need to eat 4 cups of broccoli to get 10.4 g

So..... there you go.

𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚖𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚋𝚞𝚗𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚖𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚜 🦄

𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱.

I really enjoyed this little story.

I came across it whilst looking for some inspiration for today’s post and thought it carried an important message.

It resonates with me a lot as I often suffer with bouts of low self belief and imposter syndrome

As do a lot of you all as well, I’d imagine.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little tale,

If it resonated with you too,

give it a like, save, and share it with someone who needs to hear it ☺️ @ United Kingdom

𝗡𝗼𝗻 𝗻𝗲𝗴𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗼𝗱

All if things on here only take a small part of my day

And they either help me develop physically or mentally.

Remember these are mine,

What are yours? ⬇️

𝗦𝗼𝗺𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗜 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 😬😂

I qualified as a PT way back in 2004.

There was no MyFitnessPal

No coaching apps or software,

programmes were written on card and kept in pigeon holes where clients could pick them up when they came to the gym.

Fitness wasn’t how it is now that’s for sure (no Instagram either, we had MySpace back then)

Anyway, being young and naive I gave out what I now know to be terrible advice!

Here’s some of it ⬇️

🍩 Don’t eat low fat foods because they just replace it with sugar and that’s worse than fat - utter nonsense lol

🧘‍♀️You MUST stretch before, and after, workouts or you’ll get injured - you don’t, and stretching has little impact

🥖 Just cut out carbs to lose weight. With the right context this is true, but I didn’t know that. I’d just learned about insulin, and become a low carb zealot

Carbs are good - but for some low carb works

🏃‍♂️ HIIT training burns more fat - it doesn’t. It’s just a higher intensity condensed version of any other Cardio. It also comes with higher fatigue which can hinder recovery.

There’s many more, and thankfully I’ve now learnt a lot more since then.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗶𝘁𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻? Let me know in the comments ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️

**𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙜𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 11𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙣 45 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙩𝙚𝙨

Ok so let’s face it, we’ve all been there.

You’re in full Netflix binge mode, probably on your 5th “are you still watching”

And the munchies strike ☠️

You don’t really know what you want, and you don’t really care either..

Before know it eaten half a block of cheese, a mouthful of whatever that was in a Tupperware pot

And you’re trying to decide how morally wrong it is to eat your kids chocolate 🍫

Yep it’s wrong, but we’ve all done it. Right?

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 ⬇️

⚖️ If you track calories, save some for after dinner and have a planned snack that fits your calories.

FYI a galaxy ripple is 187 kcals. You’re welcome.

📦 The snack box

Have a snack box filled with your favourite treats that all fit your calories or won’t break the calorie bank.

Having a choice of something there already will reduce the chance of mindlessly eating random foods

🥷 Out if site out of mind

If you go looking for food, keep the good stuff out of eye sight.

Chocolate, crisps, biscuits. Whatever it is put it inside something, up high and at the back.

Make it hard to get to.

⏱ Creat a “If and Then”

IF you start to get strong cravings

THEN I’m going to go for a 10 minute walk

Replace the craving with a healthy behaviour.

I hope these help next time you’re reaching for the cupboards😁

𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁

𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 🏋️‍♂️

We all know exercise is good for the body, mind and soul

But certain types offer different benefits to others

As with everything, balance is the goal.

But for this instance, here are some benefits to resistance training (lifting weights)

“𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙢 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙖𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙚”

Anne Wilson Schaef an American psychologist said that. She’s a smart one.

This is something that I encounter with clients all too often, especially when it comes to dieting.

When you really stop to think about it, you probably don’t even hold others to the same expectations that you hold yourself too.

How many times have you found your perfectionism causing you stress and anxiety..

I know I have on so many occasions (took me a while to do this post for starters)

Perfectionism causes a lot of issues:

🚫 It causes procrastination often leaving tasks incomplete

🚫 It saps your self confidence because of constantly letting yourself down

🚫 It can steal your passion for things

🚫 It prevents your ability to grow and develop as a person

I think we’re all a guilty of it at times, it’s something I struggle with myself terrible,

Abs it’s not always a bad thing having high standards for yourself

But it becomes damaging when you can’t accept anything else other than perfection

Here’s some tips I’ve found useful to help ⬇️

✅ Learn ti set realistic goals

If you constantly set goals that are out of your reach and unrealistic that just end up with you feeling like a failure

You need to set smaller goals, setting yourself up for wins then progress to the next level.

✅ Recognise and acknowledge perfectionism

Does fear of failure terrify you and fill you with anxiety?

Mistakes are unacceptable to you

You re so the same tasks, never happy with the result

✅ Striving for excellence over perfection

Perfection comes from a feeling of inadequacy

And you feel that by completing tasks to such a standard will fulfil you

They won’t.

Striving for excellence comes from a feeling of content. Proud of where you are but not satisfied yet.

✅ Learning to accept criticism.

Try to see criticism as objective.

Not as a personal attack on you from an individual.

Put yourself in the their shoes and see their perspective, would you agree with them?

Whatever you do, be more compassionate with yourself.

Failing is perfect if life ☺️