28/09/2023
A Gentle Reminder: Scales Don't Tell the Whole Story of Fat Loss! 🚫⚖️📈
👉 The scale can be a tricky friend. It doesn't tell you about the muscle you've gained, the inches you've lost, or how much healthier and energetic you feel. 🏋️♀️💪
Whilst they are great for showing us the general trend over the weeks It's important to understand that the fluctuations from day day are totally normal. Stick to your plan, be patient and don't let the scales put you off.
15/04/2016
A great article I read today. Really puts things into perspective
The Tail End - Wait But Why
No matter what your age, you may, without realizing it, be enjoying the very last chapter of the relationships that matter most to you. Make it count.
26/02/2016
Sleep still seems to be hugely under rated. We live in a culture where we value working more and sleeping less but at what cost is this to our health. It plays a key role in our health, performance and even weight loss so try prioritise it and make sure you're leaving enough time for a good sleep!
Lack of sleep 'switches off' genes
One week of bad sleep can "switch off" hundreds of genes and raise the risk of a host of illnesses including obesity and heart disease, scientists claim.
09/10/2015
Looking to increase your health span? The years of your life you live healthily and functionally. Here's the top 5 biomarkers for health and longevity you can control to slow the ageing process and increase your health span! I can't make you forever young, but you can dramatically slow down the ageing process by focussing your training and nutrition to promote these 5 biomarkers.
1. Muscle mass
2. Strength
3. Basal metabolic rate
4. Your body fat percentage
5. Aerobic Capacity
Muscle mass - As we age we begin to lose muscle. This can start as early as late twenties but dramatically speeds up after 45. This is usually masked by increased body fat. Muscle is the most biologically active tissue in the body, meaning it burns the most calories, even while you rest. Muscle loss = slower metabolism. Meaning just losing weight shouldn't be the main focus, improving your ratio of muscle to fat is more important. Focussing your training and nutrition on maintaining muscle mass/ improving it can slow this process no matter what age.
Strength - As we age we begin to lose motor units- muscles and nerves that work together to make your body move. Alongside this we begin to see a reduction in fast twitch fibers. Together this reduces our ability to lift heavy objects or do high intensity movements like sprints. However it has been shown that no matter what age or shape you are in now you can improve your strength through the proper training! You're never to old to begin.
BMR- This is basically the minimum amount of energy your body expends. As above, this begins to slow down as we age. Meaning we need to eat less to maintain our weight. This is mostly because of the loss of muscle mass and strength! If our bmr slows down as we age and we continue to eat the same as when we were younger, inevitably its only a matter of time until you begin to put weight and fat on. This is why it's crucial to focus your training and nutrition on improving the first two biomarkers.
Body Fat percentage - As we age we may not notice our increase in body fat as much. A loss of muscle alongside an increase in fat may not alter the scales much as muscle weighs more than fat. This is why scales can be deceiving. Stop focussing on losing weight and look to build muscle and shred fat. An increase in body fat especially above the waist, for example your classic "pot belly" increases your chance of chronic diseases.
Aerobic Capacity - This is another area that begins to decrease as we age. The amount of oxygen your body can process in a given time. While this can be improved by having healthy lungs, a strong heart and effective vascular system, the biggest change in older adults comes with the ability to utilise oxygen. When you build muscle, you build more muscle cells to consume oxygen which in turn results in your body utilising more oxygen.
Finally----
If you are starting a plan to get healthier and lose weight, make sure it is taking into account the key biomarkers. It is very easy to actually damage your health and speed up the ageing process while you try to lose weight. Excessive cardio and drastic calorie reduction results in damaging the first 4 key bio markers in turn actually speeding up the ageing process.
Make sure you are not sacrificing your health in the pursuit of short term weight loss! Focus on building muscle and burning fat.
