 No. This is not click-bait. You don’t have to go from highly processed food to an organic, calorie-controlled, clean-eating guru overnight. It’s okay to transition gradually to healthier versions of foods and drinks. For example, in the image below you’ll see a gradual transition from 2 bottles of coca-cola per day to Diet Coke to soda water and hopefully water as the main fluid source eventually.  I could have used any food example. You’ll see perfect 4-week meal plans and well-meaning nutrition advice from coaches all over the internet. It’s cool but most people just can’t make the transition from an egg McMuffin to poached eggs and spinach overnight. I reckon it’s better to try transforming your choices gradually. Think of it as a Food Continuum. You can experiment with slightly healthier versions of foods as you get fitter and healthier. The idea is to make your choice a little bit better every week or month. Let’s say you have a creamy sugary coffee and raisin toast for breakfast and you want to eat healthier. - The first step could be to have a whole grain bagel instead of the raisin toast and a coffee with one sugar and less cream. - You could then move to black coffee or coffee with no cream and sugar and add some fruit to breakfast. - You could even have an egg with whole-grain toast. Now you are adding protein and good carbs. - You may eventually end up with green tea, Greek yoghurt and fruit, and a slice of toast. It took time but the process was more bearable. You can do this with any meal. Ask yourself, how can I make this meal one step better? The goal of your meal plan is to eventually stop using a meal plan. What meal do you think needs the meal transformation game? Here Are Four Ways I Can Help You Get Fit And Lose Weight And Actually Keep it Off.
1. Here is my youtube channel which has over 100 videos including 55 workouts and other educational videos. 2. I now offer ONLINE 1-1 Personal Coaching. Train with me from anywhere in the world at any time. I now offer fully bespoke 1-1 weight loss coaching via my TRUECOACH online platform. Check it out here 3. Check out my small group coaching sessions (max 4 people) Small Group Coaching. 4. 1-1 Personal Training at my Studio in North Sydney. My top level service. In-depth personalised training programs, nutrition coaching and weekly sessions at my boutique studio in North Sydney. Check out my Personal Training Options here:
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 If things were better with your eating/exercise, what specifically would be different? This is a question that many of you don't ask yourself and this is why you struggle with eating healthier and improving your fitness. Let me explain. Most of you will say - "I want to eat better". "I want to get fitter". Let's take the nutrition example. "I want to eat better". What does that mean?
If you don't know this, you have no idea what to focus on so you suffer from information overload and do nothing. A better approach is to pick one specific area and work on it. Let's say you want to eat better and you decide you want to increase your fruit intake. How much do you want to eat per day? One serving? Two? Pick an option. Plan how to get it into your diet. Run a mini-experiment for 2 weeks and then review. How many days did you hit your two serves? What fruits did you enjoy? If it was too difficult, how could you scale it back? If it was easy, what could you do next? By doing these little mini-experiments you have a clear idea of what to focus on, you won't be confused and you can track progress over the 2 weeks. All data is good data here. No judgement here. It's just a method to learn what works for you. The great thing about this is that it decreases information overload, decision fatigue, and overwhelm. You don't need to overhaul your food overnight. But saying you want to "eat better" means nothing. It is too vague and vague goals lack the clarity you need to create a focused action plan for yourself. I asked this question at the beginning of this post - If things were better with your eating/exercise, what specifically would be different? I'd love to know? Did this help? Here Are Four Ways I Can Help You Get Fit And Lose Weight And Actually Keep it Off. 1. Here is my youtube channel which has over 100 videos including 55 workouts and other educational videos. 2. I now offer ONLINE 1-1 Personal Coaching. Train with me from anywhere in the world at any time. I now offer fully bespoke 1-1 weight loss coaching via my TRUECOACH online platform. Check it out here 3. Check out my small group coaching sessions (max 4 people) Small Group Coaching. 4. 1-1 Personal Training at my Studio in North Sydney. My top level service. In-depth personalised training programs, nutrition coaching and weekly sessions at my boutique studio in North Sydney. Check out my Personal Training Options here:  If you're unfit, out of shape, and looking to lose weight, your focus should not be on exercise. Why? When people have higher BMI's and lower levels of fitness, they will not be able to train at levels that will create a significant calorie deficit to lose weight. You've been sedentary for long periods of time so you don't have the fitness levels to train hard enough to burn significant calories and lose weight. Yet this is what I see busy, tired, stressed-out people do every time they try to lose weight. They think they can add hours of exercise on top of being a parent, business owner, carer, taxi driver, dinner maker, socialiser etc. It just doesn't happen and there's a reason most weight management programs that prescribe physical activity for weight loss have high dropouts. What should I do instead John? If I was tired, working long hours, and unfit, I would focus more on food.
Unfortunately, most of you get it backward. You think exercise is the thing you need for weight loss but it's food. Stop spending hours in the gym when you're already tired and stressed. You might disagree but I see this every week and after 20 years of coaching people, I can say without a doubt that the ones who succeed are the ones who build up their intensity over time but focus on the food first. Just a thought for you today Here Are Four Ways I Can Help You Get Fit And Lose Weight And Actually Keep it Off.
1. Here is my youtube channel which has over 100 videos including 55 workouts and other educational videos. 2. I now offer ONLINE 1-1 Personal Coaching. Train with me from anywhere in the world at any time. I now offer fully bespoke 1-1 weight loss coaching via my TRUECOACH online platform. Check it out here 3. Check out my small group coaching sessions (max 4 people) Small Group Coaching. 4. 1-1 Personal Training at my Studio in North Sydney. My top level service. In-depth personalised training programs, nutrition coaching and weekly sessions at my boutique studio in North Sydney. Check out my Personal Training Options here:  Instead of trying to lose as much weight as possible in eight weeks, here's a new challenge for you. Spend the first four weeks losing a few kgs and then spend the next 4 weeks maintaining that weight. I see before and after pictures of 8-week transformations every day but most people gain the weight back because they can't maintain what they were doing in the context of their busy lives. How about setting a goal of maintaining the weight? Here's how it could work. - Weeks 1-4, lose 2-4kgs. - Weeks 5-8, maintain that weight loss and take a quick break from the diet mentality. - Weeks 9-12, lose another few kgs if that's your goal. - Weeks 13-16, maintain that further weight loss. This process is called Interval Weight loss and it has been championed by experts such as Obesity Researcher Dr. Nick Fuller at the University of Sydney. You get a break from the dieting mentality by backing off and maintaining the weight. This has major benefits physiologically and psychologically. Remember, adherence is the number one factor for success with fitness and weight loss. Have you heard of Interval Weight Loss? Is this something you could try? Here Are Four Ways I Can Help You Get Fit And Lose Weight And Actually Keep it Off.
1. Here is my youtube channel which has over 100 videos including 55 workouts and other educational videos. 2. I now offer ONLINE 1-1 Personal Coaching. Train with me from anywhere in the world at any time. I now offer fully bespoke 1-1 weight loss coaching via my TRUECOACH online platform. Check it out here 3. Check out my small group coaching sessions (max 4 people) Small Group Coaching. 4. 1-1 Personal Training at my Studio in North Sydney. My top level service. In-depth personalised training programs, nutrition coaching and weekly sessions at my boutique studio in North Sydney. Check out my Personal Training Options here:  This is why you are failing at fitness. 1. You are expecting to look like this person in the photo. This is the standard set by social media (I could have used a picture of a ripped woman and this is not wrong if you want to look that way but this is not necessary to succeed). 2. You think you need to train hard 5-6 times per week for at least 60 minutes at a time. This is rigid-based thinking. 3. You think you need to do fasted cardio and eat meals out of Tupperware 5 times per day. 4. You put the training before your life and believe there will be no obstacles to get in your way. 5. You think fitness has to be the most important thing in your life because of what Johnny Biceps says on social media. This is fine if you are younger, have no kids, and don't have many of life's stressors yet. But when you're working long hours, you're hitting middle age and above or you have 1-3 kids, life is a lot different. Here's a better approach. 1. Train 2-3 good quality sessions per week and only do more if you have the time and energy. 2. Be more flexible with your training sessions. Everything counts. If you can only do 10 minutes, do 10 minutes. 3. Use lifestyle-friendly food. There's no need to be eating chicken and broccolli every day. 4. Realise that self-care is important but your fitness should not come before the person. You have a life outside of fitness. 5. Realise that the gym is not the only training solution. As Professor James Stubbs states - "We live in a world where we have a cornucopia of choices". Use walking, yoga, boxing, climbing, cycling or whatever it is you enjoy. You do not have to throw the kitchen sink at your fitness to get results. You are trying to achieve results using methods that don't fit your current lifestyle. This kills motivation quickly. Look at your life and figure out how to incorporate fitness and nutrition into that. Be more flexible, less rigid, or as my old mate Bruce Lee said - "Be like water my friend". Here Are Four Ways I Can Help You Get Fit And Lose Weight And Actually Keep it Off.
1. Here is my youtube channel which has over 100 videos including 55 workouts and other educational videos. 2. I now offer ONLINE 1-1 Personal Coaching. Train with me from anywhere in the world at any time. I now offer fully bespoke 1-1 weight loss coaching via my TRUECOACH online platform. Check it out here 3. Check out my small group coaching sessions (max 4 people) Small Group Coaching. 4. 1-1 Personal Training at my Studio in North Sydney. My top level service. In-depth personalised training programs, nutrition coaching and weekly sessions at my boutique studio in North Sydney. Check out my Personal Training Options here:  Scroll any fitness feed on social and they’ll tell you that in order to lose fat you have to: - Track calories or macros - Strength train 2-4 times per week - sleep 7-9 hours per night - Do cardio 1-2 times per week - Walk 10,000 steps per day - Eat protein with every meal. - Eat slowly - Drink 8 glasses of water per day - Take 12 cold showers before 5:00 am 😜 All this advice is great but it will take years for many of you to get here. It’s too overwhelming. You’ll feel like doing maths homework and who likes that? You’ll give up because it’s too much load on top of your normal busy day. The key is to take ONE THING from this list or find the ONE THING that’s preventing you from losing that first kg and master that. Practise that. Get good at it or reduce it if it’s a bad habit. Then when it becomes consistent and a normal part of your day - add the next thing. Any of my clients who’ve lost more than 10kgs and kept it off have hardly had to track anything or follow complicated plans. Quite often we’ve just changed 1-2 things and that has catapulted their results. That one thing is different for each person but I can promise you this, it makes weight loss simpler, easier, and much more sustainable. THE ONE THING ONLY approach is something I’ve been refining over the years with my coaching. If you’re keen to lose that next kg, message me “kg” or comment below and I’ll be in touch to have a chat. Here Are Four Ways I Can Help You Get Fit And Lose Weight And Actually Keep it Off.
1. Here is my youtube channel which has over 100 videos including 55 workouts and other educational videos. 2. I now offer ONLINE 1-1 Personal Coaching. Train with me from anywhere in the world at any time. I now offer fully bespoke 1-1 personal training via my TRUECOACH online platform. Check it out here 3. Check out my small group coaching sessions (max 4 people) Small Group Coaching. 4. 1-1 Personal Training at my Studio in North Sydney. My top level service. In-depth personalised training programs, nutrition coaching and weekly sessions at my boutique studio in North Sydney. Check out my Personal Training Options here:  A lot of you will use an "exercise-only approach" for fat loss. I believe this is a losing strategy. Here's why. It's really hard to burn a lot of calories with exercise and do it consistently. Most people eat the calories back either consciously or unconsciously. It's far easier to cut a few hundred calories by making smaller, sustainable dietary changes than it is to burn the same amount of calories with exercise. By all means, keep exercising, but do it for improved health, performance, and the many other benefits it provides, not as a punishment to burn off the extra food you ate. Exercising only for fat loss can become demotivating quickly. You'll lose the love of the exercise itself because it's all about the calories burned. Train for fitness and performance, eat for fat loss. Here Are Four Ways I Can Help You Get Fit And Lose Weight And Actually Keep it Off.
1. Here is my youtube channel which has over 100 videos including 55 workouts and other educational videos. 2. I now offer ONLINE 1-1 Personal Coaching. Train with me from anywhere in the world at any time. I now offer fully bespoke 1-1 personal training via my TRUECOACH online platform. Check it out here 3. Check out my small group coaching sessions (max 4 people) Small Group Coaching. 4. 1-1 Personal Training at my Studio in North Sydney. My top level service. In-depth personalised training programs, nutrition coaching and weekly sessions at my boutique studio in North Sydney. Check out my Personal Training Options here:  My top 10 rules for health and fitness. 1. Plan your day ahead. 2. Try to exercise daily in a way that you enjoy. 3. Lift weights progressively each week. 4. Never underestimate the power of a good sleep routine. 5. Drink non-caloric drinks. 6. Eat food - not too much - mostly plants (Michael Pollan). 7. Embrace simplicity - complexity kills. 8. Avoid detoxes, fads, aggressive quick fixes. They're mostly nonsense. 9. Stay flexible and mobile as you age (something I need to work more on). 10. Be patient. Results always come. Stay the course. Think of your future self. What would you add? Here Are Four Ways I Can Help You Get Fit And Lose Weight And Actually Keep it Off.
1. Here is my youtube channel which has over 100 videos including 55 workouts and other educational videos. 2. I now offer ONLINE 1-1 Personal Coaching. Train with me from anywhere in the world at any time. I now offer fully bespoke 1-1 personal training via my TRUECOACH online platform. Check it out here 3. Check out my small group coaching sessions (max 4 people) Small Group Coaching. 4. 1-1 Personal Training at my Studio in North Sydney. My top level service. In-depth personalised training programs, nutrition coaching and weekly sessions at my boutique studio in North Sydney. Check out my Personal Training Options here:  How do I know how much weight to lift at the gym?
Choosing the right weight to use during your weights session can be tricky, especially with new programs or if you're new to training. A good basic rule of thumb is to pick a weight that allows you to perform the desired number of repetitions within the Repetition range you've been prescribed. For example: A. Bench press x 6-8 reps: 4 Sets. You would pick a weight that allows you to perform 6, 7, or 8 repetitions. If you only get 5 reps, it's too heavy, if you get 9, it's too light for that particular exercise. A good way to determine your starting weight is to begin with a light weight and gradually increase it until you feel the right level of challenge. Most importantly - write down the weight you lifted and how many repetitions you did. You now have a benchmark from which to work. This motivates you for the next workout as you can do more reps with the same weight or move up a weight and try the same reps. Both of these approaches result in increased strength and fitness so don't stress over which one is perfect. You don't want to be spinning your wheels by lifting the same weights every week. Weight training is a mixture of art and science. As you get more experienced you'll get better at picking the weights to achieve your goal. Any questions? What lessons can doom scrolling and binge watching teach you about fitness and weight loss?1/28/2024  What do binge-watching TV, doom-scrolling social media, and overeating have in common?
They're all easy to do often, without much thought and they provide immediate rewards to our brains. What do new fitness and eating plans have in common with most busy people? They're all complicated, hard to follow, require a lot of thought and planning, and don't provide immediate rewards to our brains. Habits are behaviours that are done often and become automatic. If we make nutrition and exercise complicated, we won't do them often and they won't become habits in our lives. Take the lessons from social media doom-scrolling, binge-watching, and overeating and apply them to your exercise and food if you want to make healthy changes. Here are some tips. 1. Keep exercise simple, short, and easy to do when you first start. Most people train too hard when they start and either get injured or so stiff that cannot move for 3 days after training. That's not ideal for making a regular habit. 2. Change one food habit at a time. Master it and then stack another habit on top. I've had clients lose up to 12kgs with just one food habit alone. 3. Plan your nutrition with foods you enjoy. This will help with FOMO, restriction, and boring diets. 4. Go for frequency over intensity with exercise. Intensity is great and we must challenge ourselves but our main aim with exercise is to be able to accumulate workout after workout after workout over long periods. 5. Try not to miss two workouts in a row or have two bad meals in a row. This has been popularised by James Clear in the book 'Atomic Habits'. It's okay to miss a workout or do an alternative workout to the one planned. The best thing to do when missing a session is to not miss the next session. It's okay to have a biscuit at 10:00 am without ruining your entire day of nutrition. By following these tips you'll end up with all your results in the long run. Make exercise and food feel good. Keep it simple |
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