Personal Training Blog

​Now that we are 3 weeks into the New Year, some of the New Year resolutions may start to fizzle out. Now is the time to double down and stay the course in a consistent fashion.
 
How often are we perfect for a few weeks and then average again or the old habits creep back? For example we smash our training and nutrition goals but then start slipping up.
CONSISTENCY IS KEY!
It is far more important to be consistent with our habits than it is to strive for perfection. Follow the 80/20 rule, this rule can be applied to your training and diet. 80% of the time you give it your all at training and you stay consistent with your nutrition plan. 20% of the time you indulge a little or you have a less intense training day. This allows our body and mind to recover and prevent that regression & burnout.
Focus on staying CONSISTENT, you will find this propels you closer to achieving your goals and embedding them as sustainable habit! Aim to be consistently good rather than perfection all the time.

As we enter a new year, it is good to take stock of where we are, and where we want to be. It doesn’t mean stop doing loads of things. The best thing to do is add a few new manageable sustaining habits to what we are already doing well. Pick a few of the following:

1. Drink more water.
2. Eat more fruit and vegetables.
3. Eat brown/ wholemeal bread and pasta instead of white processed food.
4. Do more strength training. A personal trainer will help you do this right.
5. Walk more, increase your steps.
6. Sleep/ rest more. For a lot of people, an extra half hour sleep/ rest would really help their overall health and recovery.
7. If you drink alcohol, reduce the amount you drink.
8. If you smoke, reduce the amount you smoke.
9. Reduce the stresses in your life. Focus on what you can control, and don’t worry about what is outside your control.
10. Take up a new activity, like cycling or running. Get out and about more.

 
Don’t try and do everything, don’t boil the ocean as it won’t be sustainable. Pick 1-3 things that you think will have the biggest impact for you and do them well, and they will become sustainable habits that will cause continued improvement in your health, wellbeing and happiness. Wishing you a great 2021!

1. Keep Active. Try to keep your exercise/ workout routine as normal as possible for as long as possible. Then for the days you can’t get to the gym or your workout class, or your personal training, go for a long walk, or a jog/ run, or bike ride instead. Better still, do a workout a home!
2. Drink plenty of water. Your body wants to be at 50-60% water. If it’s not, our systems start acting up. You will be out of routine as well as probably consuming alcohol meaning the chances of dehydration are high.
3. Think of your meals over the whole day. Have a good healthy breakfast and a salad for lunch and then you can enjoy your dinner 😊. Or if you want that fry on Stephen’s Day, keep lunch and dinner relatively healthy. For dinner, try to stick to either a starter/main or a main/dessert. And remember your portion sizes for the main dinner! But do help yourself to extra vegetables! And have loads of nice fruit available as a substitute for rich chocolate sweets!
4. Be careful of drinking your calories. Festive coffees and hot chocolates are in every café at the minute. Remember, one hot drink can be the equivalent of a whole meal, so proceed with caution. When it comes to alcohol, think of it as it is, calorific with no nutritional significance and one tends to snack/ eat more when drinking. So drink in moderation.
5. ENJOY CHRISTMAS. It’s a time for family and friends. Happy Holidays!!!!!!!!!!!

 
Remember Christmas is only one day! You won’t ruin all your progress in one day, so enjoy and get back on track ASAP.

​Losing weight doesn’t usually follow a straight linear line or path. There are usually ups and downs on the journey. The graph below are actual results of a client who lost 7.9Kg (17.3lbs, 1.24 stone) in 2 months. The client’s waist was down by 5cm (2 inches) in this time period too!

​

1. Don’t expect weight loss to decrease in a straight linear line
2. Don’t expect it to be big decreases all the time. After 3 weeks the client might have concluded this wasn’t working and stopped. Instead he held the course, doubled down, and continued to get great results.
3. Be patient, it takes time! Slow steady sustainable decreases beats fast unsustainable reductions – remember the story of the hare and the tortoise?!!
4. Focus on what you eat (quality) and how much you eat (quantity). If you want to lose weight you have to be in a calorie (energy) deficit i.e. less calories taken in then you use up.
5. Increase your movement. Increase your steps: walk more, jog or run some, take up cycling.
6. Do strength training. Weight training is critical in order to get stronger and tone up as you lose body fat. A personal trainer will help you do this safely and coach you the right way to do it.
7. Measure the right things, like your weight, % body fat, muscle mass and your waist. 
8. Sleep/ rest more. Like with food, it is both the quantity and quality of sleep that you get that is important. You should be getting 7-9 hours of quality sleep per night.
9. Drink loads of water!
10. Get help and support. Having someone hold you accountable really helps. That can be a family member, a friend, or a personal trainer.

 
There are always ups and downs, but with the right approach, right attitude and right support structure you will make progress.

I love the iceberg analogy about how much we eat. Most people think they eat a lot less than they actually eat! There is what we see (or what we want to see) – what’s above the surface, versus what we actually do eat (which is below the surface in the iceberg).
This really comes to light when a client says they want to lose weight. When you ask them to describe a typical day or week, they often say they are eating a lot of the right things, and give the impression they are eating the right amount of the right things. But then you work with them for a few weeks and their weight isn’t coming down. You then ask them to do a food diary (this can be very easy and basic, like a paper log of what you eat, or you can use an App like “MyFitnessPal”). Next time you met them, 9 out of 10 times there will be comments like:
“I didn’t realise I eat so much”
“I forgot to tell you about …….. (usually snacks, or crisps)”
“My portion size was bigger than I expected”
“I didn’t know there were so many calories in …….. (usually beer or snacks)”
“I never thought I ate so much ….. (often processed food)”
“I eat great Monday to Friday, it’s the weekends that get me”
“That was really fascinating”
 
If you are on a weight loss journey, the first step is being honest with yourself. Then you can take the right steps to improve the situation.

​I have a client that was originally disappointed that there was no real change in her weight despite all her work focussed on what she was eating, and strength training at least three times per week.
 
How often has this occurred? Why might this be the case?
 
There are usually 2 main reasons for this occurring:

1. You are eating more calories than you thought
2. You are losing fat, but you are gaining muscle mass

 
In order to determine what is actually happening it is best to track the calories on a daily basis, and to measure weight and have a breakdown of body fat and muscle mass (this doesn’t have to be done on a daily basis).
 
The client tracked her calories for a period of time. That showed that in general she was eating the right amount of calories for weight loss.
We measured her weight, body fat and muscle mass over 8 weeks - see graph below for actual results. That confirmed that her weight didn’t change, but her body fat % went steadily down from 36.1%  to 32.5%, whereas her muscle mass went up from 43.9Kg to 46.4Kg.
This proved that indeed she was losing body fat, while getting stronger. The best thing was that she felt much better, and people complimented her appearance!

​Key takeaways:

• If you want to lose weight you need to be in a calorie deficit
• Strength training helps you lose weight and to tone
• Monitor the right things
• Trust the process
• It takes time!
• You will feel much better!!

1. Mindset:
The first step is to be open to change, that you recognise and want to make an improvement. You should have an honest assessment of the current situation and acknowledge to yourself where you are at and where you would like to be.
Key points here are:
·  Positive mindset is critical.
·  Growth mindset. Be open to learning and not having a closed mind.
·  Compare yourself to nobody but yourself. Always remember:
“Fitness is not about being better than someone else….It’s about being better than you used to be”​

​2. Nutrition:
 
When starting out, getting weight loss results will be determined by the habits you build with food.
·  Calories are king. It’s a relatively simple equation: calories in (energy in) versus calories out (energy out). If you take in more calories than you use up, you will put on weight, if you use up more calories (energy) than you take in, you will lose weight.
·  Eat loads of vegetable and fruit.
·  Keep protein high, this is essential for any physique related goal. In general at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight
·  Watch your portion size. You maybe eating the right foods, but if you are eating too much, you will be taking in too many calories and you will put on weight.
·  Eat wholemeal products rather than white processed food.
·  Drink loads of water.
·  Get used to doing it 7 days a week, not Monday to Friday. You could do great during the weekdays, but blow it all on the weekend.
·  Ideally track your calories. Find a method that works for you: meal plan, “My Fitness Pal, food diary etc

​3. Strength Training/Activity:
 
·  Learn how to lift weights properly. Get proper coaching. If you do it incorrectly at the start, you are making things more difficult for yourself and bad habits will stick with you. Weight training is a skill that needs to be taught. A personal trainer can really help you do it safely and do it right.
·  Move. Walk at least 8,000 steps a day. This is not exercise or training, this should be mandatory for a healthy person and should be the bare minimum every day.
·  Aim to do strength training for at least 45mins 3x times per week.

4. Accountability
What gets measured, gets managed.
·  Track your bodyweight. Ideally have breakdown of % Body fat and muscle mass, as your weight may not be decreasing as much as you expect due to you putting on muscle if you are weight training on a a consistent basis.
·  Measure chest, waist and hips. Take body pictures so that you can see your progress
·  Get a Personal Training coach. Accountability is everything. If you are only answering to yourself, you will eventually start making excuses and justifications when things get hard and you start easing off or get lazy.

​By focussing on positive mindset, watching what and how much you eat, and doing strength training you will get great results.

Juniper Jade runs Laughter Yoga. She has a new series of classes starting in Maynooth at Ace Fit Club in November.
 
Here’s some background about it:
 
“What are the benefits of laughter yoga: Laughter is the best medicine and here's why
1. Lowers blood pressure. ...
2. It is a great aerobic exercise. ...
3. It increases the oxygen intake. ...
4. It improves your concentration. ...
5. It improves your immune system. ...
6. It makes you happy. ...
7. Improves your respiratory system. ...
8. Improve the health of your heart.
9. Lose weight without even realizing you are exercising
10. Release trauma through connecting with your inner child
 
What happens in JuniperJade’s Laughter Yoga Class?
Firstly I guarantee laughter and fun. I’ve been teaching Laughter Yoga for over 4 years and it always makes me and those who try it feel more relaxed. ALWAYS. Even if you don’t feel like laughing just being around people who are giggling is going to fire up your happy hormones and your subconscious. Laughter is contagious so you don’t even need to laugh for it to work. Sometimes you just feel happier after an hour of structured, tailored exercises that invite loving smiles and gentle fake laughter into the body using all major muscle groups. You will burn up to 500 calories and we fake it til we make it. I’m a Masters qualified Dance Movement Psychotherapist, Laughter Yoga Facilitator, H Dip Advanced Dance, Level 4 Angelic Energy Practitioner and Psychic. I predict you will also make friends in this class xx
Everyone is welcome. Keep an open mind and no expectations. Ha ha moments lead to “Ah-ha” moments.

What type of calorie person are you?
1.  Steady: “Like eating the same number of calories each day”
2.  YoYo: “Calories change everyday”
3.  Weekender: “Eat less calories on the weekday, more calories on the weekend”
4.  Don’t know: “What’s my calories? I don’t know how much calories I eat!”
 
In order to lose weight you need to be in a calorie deficit i.e. take in less calories than you use up. You don’t need to be in a calorie deficit every single individual day, you are better to focus on the total weekly calories. Once the total weekly averages out to a daily calorie deficit, then you can still lose weight. That way you can have a little more on some days, provided your calories are little less some other day(s), and the overall weekly average is in line with your calorie goal.
 
It can be very difficult and challenging to be in a calorie deficit every single day. Especially if there are special occasions (like Birthdays) or other people are having special treats (like donuts!). Don’t get frustrated with this.

• You can eat the same amount every day
• You can eat a bit more some days, and eat bit less other days
• You can eat less during the week and eat more on weekends.

The best thing to do is find what works best for you.
 
Out of the four types of people in the diagram above, one person (“Don’t know”) is flying blind. They won’t know how they are doing and will usually be surprised they are not losing weight even though they may think they have reduced the amount of food they consume.
 
The key thing to lose weight is to have a calorie deficit. Monitoring your calories helps you know if you are on track. Looking at your daily average calories over the space of a week is better than focusing just on a day. Find what works best for you and be consistent.
 
NOTE: In the example above I used 1500 cals as a daily average target but obviously you will need to determine your daily average target goal based on your size, how often you workout, and what weight you want to achieve. If you need help to achieve your fitness and weight goal, a personal trainer will help you accomplish them.

The most common goals I hear are:
“I want to lose weight”
“I want to tone up”
“I want to get stronger”
“I want to lose x lbs”
“I want to get in shape”
“I want to fit into my clothes better”
“I want to reduce dress size/ waist size”
“I want to be fitter”
“I want to have more energy to be able to play with my kids”
“I want to feel better”
 
Some people have more than one goal, it maybe a combination of the above.
Whatever your fitness goal(s), a personal trainer can help you achieve it faster, help you be consistent, and help you maintain it, while all the time doing it in a safe and supportive manner, and with a bit of fun along the way.