T W Fitness

So today I competed in my first Brazilian jiu jitsu competition at the Nottingham open. Took silver, which I’m super happy about. Had a great day and it was good to see everyone else at who took part. Thank you to .91 for the coaching and helping me prep 💪

It's been a while since I last posted

^^I've been really busy with my 21 days kick start to fitness programmes

and training my current PT and bootcamp clients

So...

With the announcement this week

It looks like gyms and outdoor groups can start again soon

but it's still quite a few weeks away

which is why I am doing ANOTHER FREE 21 day kick start to fitness programme in March

^^FREE if you've not taken part before

and it might (possibly) be my last one depending on the lockdown

if you're interested in joining?

to start getting fitter

then go here to sign up:

21 day kickstart

Don’t try and change everything at once

Despite what I posted the other day- everyone’s fitness goals are different. It doesn’t have to be about being toned

Or losing lbs

It could just be about being better/ doing better than the day before or the week before…

If you don’t exercise usually, starting something for 10 minutes a day or even 3 times a week is a START and it’s a goal.

There is no final arena in fitness, it’s about living a healthier happier life.

Doing something you can do for the rest of your life.

Don’t just let the goal be hitting a weight on the scale or getting ‘toned’ because when you do hit that goal you want to be able to continue.

It’s about doing something you’ll enjoy.

So, that means finding the right type of exercise for you; running, resistance training, dancing, martial arts, bootcamps/group exercise…etc.

Even starting something you’ve never tried before, just to see if it’s something you can do

How to tone up

A very searched term and something I hear a lot of from people.

Anyone in the fitness industry tends to ‘cringe’ at the word, that’s only because toning up isn’t really a thing…

Unfortunately, that doesn’t matter. Getting that line down the tummy (or abs) defined arms and legs is very sought after and so lots of exercise and classes usually comes to people’s mind.

BUT

It only happens by having muscle and a lower body fat level.
The idea of being toned gives us the wrong impression. I get it.

People ‘think’ that toning happens doing exercise (any exercise) and then your body/ skin magically tightens and ‘tones’

^^It doesn’t happen that way.

See, you could exercise ALL YOU WANTED but if you have too much body fat covering your muscle you will never look toned….

So how do you do it?

Well:

If you have too much body fat, then you need to be in a CALORIE DEFICIT (that means eating slightly less calories then you are
burning so you lose lbs)

Lift weights/ resistance exercises (bands, kettlebells etc.)

Recently, one of my 1 to 1 clients was struggling with snacking and because of it her progress had hit a plateau.

We had a look at what was happening and turned out that in the evening she found it hard not to grab snacks from the kitchen. Ever had that problem?

I have, watching films or binging on tv programmes does it to me, I can’t help but want something sweet (chocolate for me).

^^This kind of lead to a that bad habit which I swiftly needed to nip in the bud and so did my client

So here were a few things we looked at doing:

1. Don’t binge on the tv programmes and films

We’ve just started using a bread mix

And made our own bread

‘BREAD!?

Isn’t that really bad for you and will make you fat?

I can hear it all now

Bread gets a very bad rap these days…in fact it has done for a long time now.

>>Probably thanks to misinformation and the media making it look like some sort of devil food

What does realistic progress look like?

It’s been a long week, your first week, you step on the scales and you’ve lost 4lbs

It’s worked!

The next week comes a long, you step on the scales and the weight is the same

Or

It’s moved only ½ lb or even a 1lb this time…

You’re annoyed and try even harder the next week

The next time the scales don’t seemed to have moved much at all...

You ask yourself:

“Why can I lose 4lbs again this week!?”

Everything goes to pot and you fall off the wagon. Until you feel motivated to try again.

In reality though? the first week will tend be your biggest loss because of water

After that, you should expect to lose around a 1lb a week (depending on where your starting point is)

Real progress when trying to lose lbs happens over time

It’s not LINEAR either, you'll go up and down and there are other factors involved (whether you exercise, drink lots of water, salt content etc.) and weighing yourself once a week doesn’t always show the whole picture.

It takes time to lose fat just as it takes time to gain it. (No one gains weight from a day of overeating or eating some ‘junk food’)

One week or a few weeks progress and expecting to be where you want isn’t realistic

Small changes over time in the right direction show that what you are doing is working.

It’s like expecting to take 3 steps and have walked a mile

Or

walking up the steps in this picture, it takes quite a few of them, you can’t just take one and expect to be at the top…

No, it’s probably not what you wanted to hear.

BUT

Take each day as it comes, focus on hitting the small goal of eating slightly less than you’re burning and as time goes by, you’ll get results, that’s all that really matters.

So today we are making some homemade bbq chicken

Works out to be 190 calories

And I’m having it with: roast potatoes...

Roasties are a favourite of mine. I weigh out about
280 grams and use about 20ml of olive oil

Slightly boil, so they are fluffy and then cook for 40 minutes

^^goes perfect with vegetables

585/600 calories in total for my evening meal.

This all keeps my dieting easier to follow because I can enjoy it.

What are you having today?

“Everything goes well until the weekend…”

This is something I often hear

And I completely get it.

I love indulging on the weekend but I also manage to control it…to a certain point

The weekend tends to be the kryptonite of every ‘dieter’ and the excuse that comes up to give reason to not getting anywhere.

See, what happens is we keep our food intake low or what It should be to get results throughout the week and then completely ruin it all on Saturday and Sunday.

It’s not from eating ‘bad foods’ though. It comes from your weekly average intake of calories being more than what you’ve burned throughout the week.

So, it’s a bit of an obstacle when it comes to losing lbs, getting in shape and toning up.

How do you manage it then?

***By knowing what it is you’re going to be eating on the weekend ***

No, you don’t need a crystal ball and no you don’t need to plan every last detail BUT if you know you like to have alcohol or a ‘junk meal’

This is Claire

We met a few years ago. At that time Claire described herself as a mum who was struggling with motivation and falling off the ‘diet wagon’ on weekends’

You may have seen her before on my page or my website.
Claire started working with me a few years ago and transformed herself.

When we first sat down and she took part of one of my first group personal training programmes she described the way she was with her eating as ‘ not paying attention to what she ate or drank’. She has the idea of losing weight before toning up first too, which put her off certain things such as resistance training.

Over time she changed all that. She even had grown so much that she went it on her own. One of my goals is to help my clients so they lead a healthier life and end up moving forwards.

Then the lockdown hit. Which has hit ALL OF US. Especially Claire and after quite a few bumps she has gotten back on it.

She has recently taken part in my 21 day kickstart to fitness (which is in it’s first week still) and already has started to build her habits back up again. Gaining back her motivation and what helped her in the first place.

She said: ‘I’m finding it really good and a far more realistic and gentler way to get back into it all. The wins are great!...’

Great job Claire!

We include other ways to help getting into fitness, whether that’s back into it or even starting it. From having ‘wins’ and changing your mindset as well as focusing on things you can do for fun during this lockdown.

There are a bunch others on the 21 days kickstart to fitness too. It’s been a great start and shows that sometime a bit of accountability and motivation can help you get your goals.