Dieting Know How

There is a lot of information out there about diets and dieting. Working out which one for you, is a minefield. Not only are there lots of facts and fiction out on the internet, but there are also a lot of old wives tales, Chinese whispers, 'my friend did this and it worked'!!


In my opinion, there is not a one sized, fits all diet (I also believe that in clothing as well!).


Diet A will not be good and work for all people.


Our bodies are complex machines, which work really well, when given the right food & water, plus exercised regularly. But our bodies are so clever, that whatever we throw at them, they will try their best to adapt and carry on. Without us realising that this impacts how we feel, as quite often it is gradually done over time.


Meal Frequency


Here are some common miss-conceptions around meal frequency when on a diet or when trying to eat healthily and lose weight:


- Skipping Breakfast will help you lost weight!
- Skipping Breakfast will make you fat!
- Eating frequently can boost your metabolism!
- Fasting puts the body in starvation mode!
- Eating carbs after 6pm will make you fat!


Here's the truth: Your body doesn't say how many meals a day you should have and when you should have them. Your body works on an amount of calories a day, for your entire day of activities (work, gym, watching telly, sleeping, etc). This amount of calories will keep you at your current weight (maintenance calories). If you increase or decrease your daily activity then your weight will change.


If your body is maintained on 2,000 calories a day, you need to consume this to stay at your current weight. But your body doesn't work better, if you split that 2,000 equally throughout the day, six times for example: eating 333 calories six times a day. Diets that tell you as such, are not very flexible and very hard to fit into your life, who can say yep I'll can eat every 3 hours and consume only 333 calories...!


When looking at changing the way you eat (healthy), look at your lifestyle first, what can you do and what can't you do. We are all different, some of us are morning people, some of us are afternoon people and some are evening people - in some way connected to healthy eating, but more to prove we are all different on this blog.


When looking at your lifestyle, think about an average day, we all have to eat, so at the moment when do you eat? Why do you eat at that time specifically? Is it because the kids have gone to school and you have two minutes before heading to work and is the first time you can eat that day? When you have done this, look at what you eat at those times.


Plan it out on a page: Activities throughout the day, with times, when you eat and what you eat at those times:


8.30 - walk kids to school
9.15 - eat 2 breakfast biscuits with coffee
9.30 - drive to work
etc
etc


This will give you an average look at your day, but focus in on (highlight even) the eating sections. A pattern or structure will emerge, so that you can then alter or change the food you are eating, to fit a new healthy eating plan. Or make sure that you plan your meals, especially when you know you don't have much time, prepare your food ahead of time. It can feel like a hassle at times, but is totally worth it in the long run. Fail to Prepare, Prepare to Fail.


DIETING SHOULD FIT IN WITH YOUR LIFE, OTHERWISE IT WILL NOT LAST & YOU WILL NOT LOSE WEIGHT & KEEP IT OFF.


For more help and advice on nutrition, get in touch: merseaislandpersonaltraining@gmail.com


Thanks for reading :)
Holly

Learning Continues Every Day

It's corney I know, the expression, you learn something new every day. But for me at the moment, it is the case. 

I attended a course to up skill myself in, up to date first aid in an emergency, everything was pretty standard, building on common sense. Two things from the day stuck out for me; 

1. There are 75,000 suspected heart attacks in the UK every year!

2. I had no idea how hard it was to preform CPR

I was somehow shocked by the number of heart attacks, but really should I be shocked...? As a country our obesity levels are getting higher and higher, putting more and more strain on our hearts. I'm hearing about people doing more and more drastic things ego their bodies or in terms of dieting. Extreme/fad diets are exactly what they say on the tin, they see short term measures and actually do more harm than good. Resulting in similar pressures on your heart and body.

I can only take my personal experiences of extreme/fad diets into account here. I don't want to offend anyone on these diets, but just to be clear I'm not going to lie and I have tried them all (pretty much). They are short term! Lasting weight loss takes more.

Anyway, going back to the subject in hand. 

Heart attacks; there are some that will think that they go hand in hand, with the rise in obesity levels. Now I don't know the facts and figures, or research that has been done on this, so this is my personal opinion. The differences in our diets from many years ago, when heart attacks levels were lower, seems like one hell of a big coincidence to me, and I do think they are linked.

It's scary, heart attacks are serious, you've got to hope that there is someone trained and confident around you when one happens, to look after you and get you to hospital before your heart stops. Performing CPR is hard, it looks easy and rewarding in the movies, but it is really hard. Granted I only practiced on a dummy, but I did it for over 2 mins and thought to myself 'wow sometimes you'd have to perform this for so much longer, until the ambulance arrived'. You would be extremely lucky to have 2 first aiders around to help you.

I hope that I never have to preform CPR on anyone, however I'm glad I do know and have that knowledge if it came to it.

Life seems so fragile to me, I've not taken care of my body/mind before and it nearly broke me. I didn't listen to myself, who knows how long I could have carried on like that. My number could have been up a long time ago. I'm just glad I saw my way out, my way to happiness and confidence and if I can help others do the same, I would be honoured.  You only live once, why not try and see the best you and live your life?

I can't wait to take on clients and start helping them to see results. If only you could measure confidence levels - mmmm I might look into that!

Thanks for reading