The perfect fat loss diet

Fit as Hel START-UP fitness, nutrition and psycholgy

Summer is getting near
so I've been working on consolidating the most effective possible way for my private clients to lose body fat - without sacrificing on LIFE. That means I had to come up with the best method possible that'll allow for extreme results with flexible eating, never feeling hungry, having more energy and still getting results - guaranteed.

You might know that I absolutely hate what the word 'diet' stands for these days - restriction and suffering to get temporary results. Who on earth would still these days want that?

Since I started PTing I've never taken on clients who wanted to "lose a stone for a holiday starting in four weeks" -- not because it's not possible but because the lack of their long term weight loss goals and dedication. These chicks (it tends to be girls) CAN lose that stone before the holiday with my methods, but I don't want to be associated with tremendous results that are lost by the time they get back to England -- and after their holiday they'll pretty much always end up slightly heavier than they were when they started due to the loss of the very valuable lean mass (=muscle) in the process that keeps the metabolism revving.

So... The first decision you need to make is to change your habits for good. Evaluate carefully and specifically what you want and why you want it.

Did you know that your body weight takes a certain amount of calories to keep it up? Some very heavy people have to consume 4,000 kcal a day just to maintain their weight - and they do it day in, day out. That's A LOT of energy from food and not natural by any means.

If your bodyweight now is 80 kg and you want to be 60 kg, you will ultimately need to eat like someone who weighs 60 kg - that's a fact.

Also, there are no people who have "naturally got a spectacularly fast metabolism" - it's a myth. You might see them eat tons of food at once but that's only a glimpse of the big picture. AND if you try to lose weight with the 'on a diet' mindset (instead of having an overall good diet) but afterwards return to eating like the heavier person you used to be, -you knew it-  you'll always end up being at your starting weight in the long run (or more likely even heavier if you haven't worked on maintaining your naturally miraculous fat torcher - muscle).

So... After years of tons of research and experimentation, I've come up with the perfect recipe for an effective and flexible fat loss plan (see how I refuse to use the word 'diet'). I've picked up all the best pieces of different approaches to make it all as simple as possible. It takes into account things like your age, gender, lean mass (not just weight, making it more accurate), your body type, BMR (basal metabolic rate - the amount of calories your body burns in a day), general activity level and goals.

This way the diet is completely personalised and therefore highly effective.

Before moving on, here's some bad examples on methods used to lose weight:
- low calorie diets
- liquid diets
- diets that are too restricting in general
- specific meal plans (unless prescribed to you personally by a dietician) and timed meals
- too much cardio
- generic low carb plans

It's no wonder people are really struggling with their weight these days because there is too much information (and often misinformation) that just ultimately creates more confusion. "I know what I need to do, I just struggle to do it" is something I hear too often for my liking, and these individuals actually many times just need accountability and clarity - because in fact they don't know what they should be doing - they just think they do.

The perfect method will have a good balanced combination of all macronutrients (protein, carbs and fats) and will teach you a great deal about how to manage your weight for good.

The plan includes clear instructions and is easy to follow - it'll take a few minutes of logging your foods each day but that surely isn't a problem if you're serious about getting results. Besides, people who keep food diaries have been shown in research to achieve better fat loss automatically.

Here's what the perfect fat loss diet entails:

  • Daily calorie range (most important factor)
  • Amount of daily required minimum protein (in grams)
  • Amount of fat required daily
  • Suggested amount of daily carbohydrates (optional)

--  Once you've hit your calories, protein and fats you can feel free to eat whatever you desire within your calories.

Simple, right?

.,It's essential to get enough of protein to support maintenance (or growth) of lean muscle mass.
.,It's essential to get enough of fats to boost your fat loss (yes, you do need fat to lose fat).
.,With regards to carbs, the amount you consume depends on various factors including your preference and how your body reacts to them. There is a recommended amount of carbs on your plan (based on your body type etc.), but there are huge differences in people's bodies carb tolerance. You need to learn to get to know your body and eat accordingly.

I would also like to highly emphasise the importance of creating a habit of consuming nutritious whole foods at least 80% of the time -- that way you'll never be hungry and won't suffer from spikes in your insulin levels, optimising your feel-good factor every day. This is not optional if you want a healthy body (and regular bowel movements).

More important tips for successful fat loss:
- Keep yourself hydrated by drinking at least 2 litres of water daily (or more if you exercise)
- Have breakfast every day (this'll, amongst other benefits, prevent cravings later on in the day)
- Eat plenty of salads and vegetables (you can easily 'hide' these in foods too)
- Focus on getting plenty of fibre in your diet
- Eat oily fish twice a week (salmon/mackerel)
- Prepare meals in advance
- Plan your meals and/or create a sustainable main meal routine

I wrote up a simple A4 with all you need for this plan to work from meal suggestions to best protein/fat/carbohydrate sources so you can't fail - let me know if you want it.

Feel free to get in touch if you've got any questions or if you want me to calculate your numbers for you. There's no such thing as "it's so hard to lose weight" - don't let excuses get in the way anymore.

 

To your health and success,

/Erika Helsinki
erika@fitashel.com

 

 

Rant: STAY AWAY FROM DIET PLANS

Fuming, angry, just so upset this morning.

A childhood friend told me this morning she'd bought a diet plan online from a TV PT.

This made me so sad and I just wanted to swear and be all open about why that was such a stupid idea. Need to hold it back sometimes to protect others' feelings.... I mean she'd just wasted £50 on a generic diet plan.

I've got this plan on my PC too (my naughty aunt had also bought it before [grrrrrr] and forwarded it to me for professional purposes) and it's SHIT.

The big problem is that only dieticians are qualified to prescribe precise diet plans, and this is always done on an individual basis.

Here's the rough outline of the crap plan:
1,800 kcal per day for everyone, no exceptions. MUST attend gym 4-6 times a week AND do other physical exercise outside of gym several days a week. Diet is very strict with a 'cheat day' once every 12 weeks or something - EVERY morning starts with porridge and basically you eat the SAME SHIT EVERY DAY.

And in the 'rules and guidelines' the plan tells you that you have FAILED if you get sidetracked at all.

Can you see the BIIIIIIG problem?

This is a DIET. Someone else's life (eating like this is like having an eating disorder). It doesn't encourage you to change your habits, and makes you see 'healthy eating' as strenuous and boring. So... you might lose weight while you're following the plan (d'uh, who wouldn't with that amount of calories + exercise??) BUT

AND THERE'S A BIG BUT

You'll put the weight back on as soon as you "have failed" and return to eating normally. And the lesson of the plan was?? To make losing weight a f***ing chore and to make you feel guilty if you don't follow it.

But that's not YOUR LIFE, is it?? Would you really give up all your social time to go to the gym/jogs and to prepare meals? I think (and hope) not.

I certainly wouldn't. That's pretty close to my idea of a horrible nightmare. The kind of life I wouldn't enjoy living.

The dieting mindset is 95% of the time (at least) going to results in failure.

-----

Today I've enrolled myself on a course to study weight loss via NLP (neuro linguistic programming) and hypnosis
so that I can even better help my clients lose all the weight they want

the way through which they can keep it off for good
by changing the mindset.

There's only so many private PT clients I can have onboard, so I'm determined to spend my time wisely to be able to help more people outside of the 'inner circle'. The fat loss challenges I've ran in the past have been massively successful, so I'm going to invest in coaching more people online in the future - and focus on optimised fat loss through good nutrition and the change of mindset.

Once you learn the proper way of managing your nutrition (to HAVE a good diet overall, not to "be on" a diet, EVER), you'll never need to worry about your weight again.

If you need help with your diet, just let me know and I'll do what I can to help. The methods I use work 100% of the time, you just need to realise that you have to take responsibility, learn some shit and put it into effect.... WHILST being able to eat the foods you love.

Peace out & lots of love,
Erika

 

P.S. The friend said she already thinks the plan isn't going to work. Hungry straight after the first meal... *sigh* expected.

Erika Helsinki
Health & Fitness Lifestyle Coach

erika@fitashel.com
0789 719 7818

[[this is an email I sent today to people on my email list -- subscribe here]]

Faye’s emotional story: More calories = incredible fat loss boost

Progress so far on Faye's emotional journey:

Day 1: Body fat 32.5%, daily calories below 1,000.

Day 39: Body fat 28.7%, daily calories above 1,500.

 

Faye's metabolism was completely messed up when we started PT just over a month ago. She'd been consuming under 1,000 kcal per day for absolutely years, which is very unhealthy and makes the body store as much fat as it possibly can (because it thinks it's in danger of starvation).

I knew we had a big task ahead of us to completely change the way Faye eats and thinks about food - the biggest challenge for her being an emotional one, because she truly thought that anything she eats will 'make her fat'.

It's not uncommon in the world these days to have twisted views on food and alongside a twisted body image.

Faye is now on her strong road to recovery (i.e. a healthy attitude towards food). So far she's only a month into her journey, she's eating nearly double the amount of calories from what she used to, and she's lost 1,2 kg during her first month despite the increase in her calorie intake. These results are astonishing, and I've told her from the beginning that first we'll need focus on fixing her metabolism up and only after we've managed that we should start worrying about fat loss. Getting on the scales in general is forbidden.

I wasn't expecting such dramatic results - but it just goes to show that sometimes you have to eat more to lose weight. We've gradually increased her calorie intake which has at times brought her to tears ("I feel like I have to force the food down when I'm not hungry").

Faye's diet now consists of healthy real foods such as lean proteins (e.g. chicken, turkey), good fats (e.g. half an avocado a day) and different sources of fibrous carbohydrates (great for energy, e.g. wholewheat pasta). Now it's time to start looking at having treats as part of her new healthier lifestyle, which I'm sure will be another emotional struggle (how could it possibly be good for you to have things you truly enjoy every now and again and not feel guilty about it?). I've told her to stop wasting hours at the gym, and instead focus on quick, effective resistance based workouts. During our PT sessions we lift weights. Because only that will result in a beautiful, shapely body and help burn fat while she's not training.

Faye's feeling very shy about her body image still, so I'll not publish any pictures of her just yet as she doesn't feel comfortable with the idea.

If you (or any of your close ones) suffer from lack of energy, being obsessed about your body image, not knowing what to do at the gym to make workouts effective or worst of all, are used to constant dieting without lasting results, maybe it's time to do something about it.... Once and for all.

I'm over the moon for Faye for taking a positive step in her life and being on her road to recovery, a fit body and mind. Girl, you rock xxx

 

/Erika Helsinki

 

Juicing diets will make you lose… your hair!

Fit as Hel would like to raise awareness of the dangers of the very popular juicing diets. This post series will make you think twice before starting a juicing fast - and will also make you to avoid them for good!

Juicing diets claim to be healthy, because you include more fruit and veg in your diet and thus you increase your vitamin intake as well.

This is a big fat lie.

Consuming nothing else but fruit and veg juices will cause over-consumption of certain vitamins and completely missing out others, such vitamin D, which is important for healthy skin, nails and hair.

Faded and broken hair.

But this is not the end:

If you do not get the nutrition your body needs, it will stop processes which are not essential for life, like hair production!

Could this get any worse?

Yes.

This will not happen straight away. It will take you weeks, maybe months to notice it.

You will not even think about blaming your juice diet, because you will have long forgotten about it.

Love your hair - give it the vitamins it needs from natural resources, such as: fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, sardines), egg yolks, liver etc. and most importantly: sunshine!