tip – The 10 Minute Body

A simple secret tip for boosting fat loss

Fat loss is all about energy balance.

Carbs are certainly not bad for you, but eating carbohydrates in excess can be bad for weight maintenance.

In order to reduce the calories you get from bread buns/baquettes etc. just carve out the fluffy bread on the inside. This is a simple way to reduce the 'empty calories' by up to 90%! It also allows more room for the healthy stuff, sch as salads and fresh meat, in your sandwiches.

Also, don't be scared to ask for the bread to be carved out in sandwich shops like Subway. You might have to repeat your request to most 'sandwich artists' but they'll happily do it!

Feel good,
Erikaxx

DRAMATIC weight loss in 1 week!!!

erika

My new PT client Mel just lost 4 lb in her first week with me. That's a dramatic result. But now we've got work to do - and that's to focus on MAINTENANCE. There's no point in losing that much weight in a short space of time if we can't keep it off (I'm sure though, in her case, we can. You'd know why if you met her [I'm talking motivation and determination]).

THE PROBLEM: Although that's a great and motivating start for her, nowhere near all of that lost weight is fat. The majority of the weight loss will have been loss of fluids - and that's not REAL weight loss because it comes back on very easily. Some of the weight lost will most likely have come off her precious muscle tissue as well - and we certainly don't want that because muscle turns your body into a fat burning machine.

You see results like this all the time in weight loss clubs. In fact, this type of rapid weight loss gets rewarded -- and in my opinion that's WRONG. This way most people will initially be happy with the weight they've lost - and then struggle to keep it off. I'd say probably 95% people I've met who've been in these weight loss clubs have put the weight back on after they've stopped going to the weekly meetings. Sad, isn't it.

So... As harsh as it is, I told Mel "That's great, but bot ideal". We have to keep it real. The aim is not to lose so much weight each week, and it certainly doesn't mean failure if one week she'd "only" lost 100g (or even put on a bit of weight!). Fat loss is not linear - weight will fluctuate, and that's perfectly fine. And that is because we're only concerned with LONG TERM WEIGHT LOSS, i.e. FAT LOSS.

I posted this on Twitter last week:

"Do yourself a favour and never ever even consider going on a shake diet. They're so bad for you and they MAKE YOU FAT. Fact."

Bear that in mind and you will already be closer to achieving all of your fat loss goals.

Stay tuned - Mel's before/afters to follow!! (You can subscribe to updates easily on the side -->)

REMINDER: Healthy weight loss rate is around 0,5kg per week, or 1kg per week for those who are overweight.

There is no fast way to permanent weight loss. As hard as it is, take it easy.

TAKE IT EASY.

Love,

Erika

Gym goer: Make this important decision

erika

I was training at the gym last night. When I train on my own I get 'in the zone' and block out the world by listening to high energy music. I avoid eye contact and fully focus on the workout - usually lasting just 15-20 minutes.

It's now January. The gym is suddenly full of people with great weight loss and fitness goals. I have nothing but huge appreciation and respect particularly for the highly overweight people who have decided to do something about getting towards a healthier weight by improving their fitness. It is sometimes hard to be in an environment where it's very easy to feel self-conscious.

There are, however, two problems here.

1) I was distracted numerous times last night by seeing people do exercises with VERY poor form. This makes me sad as it can result in serious problems -- e.g. imbalances, injuries, back pain and problems with your joints. The adverse effects can be long term and you really don't want to go there.

2) Just being at the gym doesn't mean you're getting a good workout. So many people waste tremendous amounts of time hopping from one cardio machine to another, when they could get far better results 10 times faster (long term cardio actually encourages your body to store fat around your middle section).

If I'm not occupied I'll always do my best to interfere - correct people's technique and give them tips for better (more effective) workouts. You may understand though that it's not always easy - you can't just go to someone and say "you don't seem to have a clue about what you're doing and your form is shit."

Do yourself a favour and hire a reputable personal trainer who can teach you to work out safely and effectively (and help you with better lifestyle + nutrition). It’s an investment in yourself – your health is invaluable and you might as well get results while you’re at the gym. Nothing tastes as good as feeling fit feels. Clients actually often SAVE more money in the supermarket after hiring a PT than what it costs to hire one – a win-win situation!

Well done to those who’ve made the decision to get fitter this year – stick with it! This is also easier with a PT who’s keeping you accountable :-).

Questions? Ask.

Take care of yourselves.

/Erika xx

“There’s no point”

erika

I hear this too often and it breaks my heart.

"There's no point in not eating that dessert, I'm overweight anyway... It won't make any difference."

"I can't be bothered with a gym membership because I couldn't go more than once a week anyway."

......and so forth. Depressing.

The truth is, it's the little things that matter the most. If you eat one single biscuit a day, that's easily 18,250 extra kilocalories a year!!

Read that again - 18,250 kcal per year!!!!

Just ditching that tiny habit could result in you losing a considerable amount of weight!

I've also had plenty of clients who "only" do one personal training session a week and no other exercise whatsoever... And guess what? They ALL lose a noticeable amount of body fat! One of my clients recently lost 6 kg of pure fat (imagine that huge chunk of fat on table in front of you) in just 6 weeks - that's HUGE!!

No more saying "it doesn't matter". It does.

A task for you:
Make a little positive change in your life today. Decide on what it is and write it down. Because otherwise in a week's/month's/year's/decade's time you'll wish you'd started today.

ACT. Now. It's your time to succeed.

Unhealthy food: Are you addicted?

erika

Your body becomes easily addicted to unhealthy foods. Many processed foods act like heroin in your system - without realising you're grabbing onto unhealthy foods because your body craves them. It's time to put an end to this. Depending on what your eating habits have been like so far, it might take up to a couple of weeks for your body to get detoxified and stop craving those foods that add inches to your waistline.

The cleaner your food, the better you'll feel.

Check those food labels and aim to recognise at least 90% of the ingredients listed!