Author: Lisa Hawkins

A get asked a lot about how many meals a day are needed to lose weight. My reply is simple, as long as your following a calorie restricted diet; whether you eat 3 meals or 6 you will still lose weight. This allows my clients to be free to choose how they eat during the day as long as they stick to the calories i have prescribed for them.
Stick to the basics, do them well and you can’t go wrong

HOW TO STOP SABOTAGING YOUR DIET – PART 2

 

In part 2 I have added a few more ways in which you sabotage your diet without realising it and what you can do about it –

 

You don’t keep track of your food portions – I don’t expect clients to stress over weighing everything but your portion size can play a big role in long term fat loss. It’s easy to over eat even if its healthy.

To combat this you should weigh or portion your meals, use a bowl instead of a plate, use cup measurements to portion rice and veg, use the palm size of your hand to measure protein etc.

When I was trying to lose fat I switched to a bowl for my main meals as it stopped me over eating. I found this very useful and successful in sticking to my calorie goal and use it to this day

 

Not reading the label – We are so often tricked into believing something is healthy for us because it is what the front label says. It could be labeled as low fat, low sugar, low carbs etc and we immediately think its ok but you have to look a little deeper.

Most things low sugar may contain artificial sweeteners, low fat generally has higher sugar etc. Be careful and read the ingredients, if things contain more than 5 ingredients and I can’t pronounce the names I don’t touch it. Look at the serving size then times it by how big your portion will be – after this I usually realise it’s not worth it. Food companies want you to buy their product so make it look as healthy as possible.

If your still not sure – stick to real food, make it yourself and don’t trust what companies say

 

Trying to do too much at once – When starting out on your fat loss journey so many people try to do everything at once – food prep, training, lifestyle changes etc. Unless you are one of the few who can make a lot of changes without much of a challenge – you will soon become overwhelmed and feel like you are failing and not good enough.

What I do with clients is set weekly goals; we sit down and chat about where they are at in their journey, work out how stressed they are, how much time they have for training and food prep etc. Then I work out what 1-2 big changes they need to make first before overloading them with a long list. You need to prioritise what you need to do first to get you started on your journey, then as you build better habits you can make more changes.

If you currently feel overwhelmed – sit down and work out what big changes need to happen first. If getting to the gym is to hard and you are not exercising – aim for 10000 steps a day. If you are bored of the gym – go find a personal trainer or local bootcamp. If you cant get your eating right – cut out sugar and lower your white starches down and eat more vegetable. Make 1-2 changes that make the biggest difference in helping you reach your goals.

 

Letting the scales be your guide – to be honest I don’t really weigh myself, as it always leads to misery. Constantly jumping on the scales every day can turn your fat loss goal into an emotional rollercoaster. You might feel great until you jump on the scales and your disappointed, which in turn ruins your day, it effects your food choices and you don’t even feel like training anymore.

Don’t weigh yourself too often – once a week maximum. I use girth measurements with clients over weight, and even then its not always accurate. Forget the scales, stick to eating plan, train your butt off, stay positive, be consistent and you will drop fat – trust me

 

Your too hard on yourself – No one is perfect and there is no perfect diet, perfect training program, or perfect plan for fat loss. Your journey is just that….it’s a journey, it will be filled with highs and lows, good choices and bad choices, great training sessions and poor training sessions, good days and bad days.

Don’t be so hard on yourself when you mess up…….IT HAPPENS. You just have to learn from it and move on. Don’t worry about being perfect; but instead focus on doing your best each day, be consistent and enjoy the journey.

Stress less and enjoy life, stay positive

HOW TO STOP SABOTAGING YOUR DIET – PART 1

 

So often I see clients who struggle with their nutrition, and are constantly sabotaging their fat loss efforts without realizing it. Below I have listed a few things to help you take control and stop getting in your own way in your journey to losing fat long term

 

Over eating on weekends – So often clients are eating well through the week but completely come undone at weekends. They go way off track and wonder why they aren’t getting anywhere. I am not saying you cant’ indulge a little but too often will slow down results.

For me I try to eat near perfect Monday to Friday so that I can plan out a few things I like on the weekends.

Always be mindful of your weekend eating and plan out your social activities so they don’t derail you.

 

Skipping meals – So often we think that by skipping a few meals we will eat less calories which will lead to greater fat loss. However skipping too many meals can lead to a drop in blood sugar levels which in turn makes you crave more sugar and carbs, and if you haven’t planned out your meals it will leave you reaching for whatever cakes are floating around the office at work.

You don’t have to starve yourself to lose weight. Plan out your meals ahead of time, don’t skip meals and don’t be scared of eating 3-5 times a day if you are following your eating plan properly.

We often think we need to suffer to lose weight, be it in training or by following a ridiculous diet that restricts everything. YOU DON”T fat loss should be about health and nutrients and making sure you are getting enough of what you need to function better, have more energy, sleep better, train better and think better

 

Reward yourself with food after exercising – This is a big one and I see it so often. You cannot out train a bad diet!!!! Just because you train doesn’t mean you can eat what you want. We somehow think we are exempt and this can be a big reason why you aren’t getting the results you want. Like always stick to the eating plan your coach has provided you with, try to get out of this way of thinking so you can finally move forward

 

You don’t give your eating plan enough time to work – So often a client starts a new eating plan and only sticks to it for 1-2 weeks before declaring it doesn’t work and start making their own changes based on what they think. I have learnt that you need to be patient and really commit to the plan to test how effective it is for you. As a coach if my client follows the plan they always see results, and I can make changes as and when they are needed as I know they have the foundations spot on. Be patient and trust that your coach knows what they are doing (providing they are following evidence based nutritional guidelines).

 

One slip and the whole day is ruined – In terms of self sabotage this is a big one. You eat some cake mid morning and immediately declare that you ruined the day so proceed in eating whatever you want and declare to start again tomorrow.

If you eat the cake, it’s done, you can’t take it back, but you can control the rest of the day and stay on track. We need to rid ourselves of the guilt associated with eating something not in the plan and look at the bigger picture. One piece of cake in a week will not ruin your fat loss results, but constantly losing a day because of one slip will definitely have an impact on your goals. Try to keep things in perspective, you are only human, you just have to pick yourself up and keep going