During our last 7 day detox we covered a subject that every client suffers with

Sugar Cravings!

Yep, pretty much every client i have ever trained gets sugar cravings

Mid morning

Mid afternoon

Evening after dinner and before bed (this is the most common)

What i will say though is every client i have ever taken through clean eating has always commented on how these cravings have pretty much disappeared

So, whats the magic formula to reducing or getting rid of sugar cravings?

Its simple, eat less of the sugary foods and replace them with cleaner foods oh and dont forget about bringing structure into your daily meals.

Now i know what your thinking

Yeah yeah Ross, if it was that easy everyone would be doing it

Well, this is where our coaching comes in with clients

However, im going to share with you the easiest way to curve the cravings and finally break that sugar fix

Blood Sugars

Generally, most cravings come from not eating enough.
The majority of people out there dieting are starving themselves and as a result your blood sugars drop.
When our blood sugars drop our bodies crave energy and guess what the quickest energy is that it can convert the quickest?

Yep, you guessed it SUGAR

So, you crave sugar from not eating enough and you feed your body the sugar it wants

You snack on chocolate Bars, Fizzy Drinks, Sweets, Cakes etc and suddenly your body feels satisfied.

Well, for 20 minutes or so before it starts wanting that sugar fix again and the cycle begins again!

Hears what happens

Your blug sugar drops, you feed yourself sugar and your blood sugars spike, they shoot right up past the level point and your body releases all these feel good endorphins.
Your body loves this feeling however you stop eating the sugar and eventually your blood sugar starts to drop and once again it drops below the level point and creates another craving and the cycle begins again!

Pretty crafty this body of our isnt it!

I call it the biscuit theory, once you eat 1 you will generally not be able to put the packet down!

So how do we get round this and stop this from happening?

Protein

Protein is a key ingredient your body needs for repair and once again generally people dont eat enough of it.
Protein is very good at regulating your insulin levels and therefore keeps your blood sugars level.

Lets start with breakfast

Most people choose a sugary cereal for breakfast and start the day in the worst possible way by starting that sugar spike/drop cycle and by mid morning are dipping into the sugary drink or snacks.

Now, replace that sugary breakfast with a protein based breakfast like Eggs and not only will you feel fuller, your blood sugars will remain level and you will get through the day better.

When it comes to a mid morning snack (if you need one) again, protein based instead (cold meats, eggs, protein shake) and you are keeping everything ticking over.

Lunch, mid afternoon, dinner etc, yep, you guessed it, protein based and you finally end the day with reduced sugar cravings.

Easy hey?

This is something we run clients through all the time helping with structuring there food every day so that the protein content is higher and in turn they no longer want that chocolate fix.

Now, the general eat clean diet helps to balance hormones which in turn helps keep everything ticking over.

SO what happens when those hormones are thrown out of sync?

You guessed it

The sugar cravings hit again

The biggest example i can give of this is a womens monthly cycle.

Now that in itself needs very good structure and a lot of willpower!

Do you suffer from sugar cravings on a daily basis?

If you do, try looking at your food choices throughout the day and try adding more protein into your diet.

Examples of proteins

Eggs
Fish
Meats

Dont let the sugar win!

One of the hardest parts of coaching people through a weight loss journey is undoubtedly the weekend.

Its amazing how many people can stick to a nutrition plan or diet Monday-Friday and then BAM the weekend hits and it all goes out of the window.

I use to get frustrated by this as a coach

However, when you actually delve into the exact reasons as to why this happens it becomes easier to coach people through it.

Most people lead very stressful and busy lives with kids, work, cooking, cleaning etc

People generally get more time on weekends as they do not have to work.

You know the scenario, the rushing around all week to get the kids ready for school, then get to work, get home, cook dinner, sort the kids out before finally sitting down for an hour, eating your own meal and then getting into bed before repeating again for 5 days a week.

Suddenly Saturday is here and there is no rush, the kids can chill out a bit and everything is generally a little bit more relaxed.

Now i appreciate that is not the case with everyone.

So what happens in our minds is this

We have a stressful week, we finish work and all we an think of is relaxing and unwinding over the weekend.

Why not hey, we deserve it

Rightly so!

This blog post is certainly not here to tell you, you cant do that.

However, lets look at things from a weight loss point of view

You have had a great week, you have avoided the temptations, you have exercised and are feelin gpretty good with your efforts.

The weekend hits and that unwinding translates into sitting down and having a glass of wine or other alcoholic drink once the kids are in bed, maybe even going out for a meal or even a take away.

Saturday comes and you get the same feeling, after all you have been working so hard all week so once again the wine comes out, you relax with your food again, that leads to some chocolate coming out after dinner whilst watching tv or a film

Sunday comes, more wine and big stinking roast dinner followed by desert.

Before you know it, all your hard work from Monday to Friday seems so long ago and you are now worried that all your hard work has been wasted.

Quite honestly, it probably is

Since Friday and across the weekend you have probably consumed a minimum of an extra 2000 calories in processed food, sweet treats and alcohol.

For an average female that’s a days worth of calories.

So you start again Monday and the cycle goes round again and again and again.

So, why does this happen and what can you do about it?

Now i want to start by saying that you need to be aware that this is happening, the more you hide the fact that is actually happening the more you will get frustrated with your weight loss results and how you feel.

This is not about a night out with friends, its about regularly going off plan over weekends.

Once you have accepted it is happening you need to come up with a plan of action.

The biggest reason this happens is the change of routine people have.

We answered it above

Weekends are more relaxed and therefore our routine’s are more relaxed, we dont plan for the weekends and we leave everything to chance.

99% of people will choose the drink and takeaways, trust me!

Now, if you are on a weight loss journey because you genuinely want to lose the weight, you feel crap about yourself and really want to end this cycle, here is what you need to do.

You need to come up with a Monday-Friday routine that works for you in regards to food and then a Saturday and Sunday routine that works for you and keeps your weight loss goal in mind.

Now, most people reading this will say

OMG How boring i am never going to be able to drink again, i enjoy a drink on the weekend and it relaxes me.

Well shock horror, i like a drink on the weekend but it needs to be managed.

This mindset to me is the number 1 problem people have

No one is telling you you will never drink again, that’s the way you perceive the information

I have stages we work on with clients

Weight loss stage

This is the stage where the biggest changes happen and the routine needs to work consistently, not 5 days a week, 7 days a week. It takes your lifestyle into account and your goals.
The odd night out during this stage is fine and is discussed.

The aim of the weight loss stage is to get you to maintenance stage.

Maintenance Stage

A stage where you have changed your habits for the better and are leading a healthy lifestyle.
More treats and a slightly more relaxed approach can come in and we work on making you happy overall.

The problem is, most people dont ever hit Maintenance Stage because the are not consistent enough with the weight loss stage.

The other thing to take into account, is most people’s diets are far too restrictive in what they eat and therefore they end up binging.

Lets take an average shake and bar diet that keeps you around 1000 calories a day, you constantly fight hunger every day of the week because you are not eating enough.
There is only so much of that your body and mind will take before you crack, have a blow out and end up eating and drinking the whole world in one weekend.

A weight loss plan should always contain foods you enjoy within reason and yes, the odd drop of alcohol if thats how you want to live.
Most of the time its just a case of talking it through with your coach.

Im a big believer that this is why most of the regular diets out there that you can sign upto fail, because they are too restrictive and also because people dont actually have someone they can talk to about there individual situation.

So, be aware of your weekends and ask yourself if they are hampering your weight loss and if so Why?

If you genuinely dont like the way you feel and are not happy with your weight at some point in your life you need to make that weight loss goal a priority.

What separates the people getting results from the people not getting results?

Consistency!

If you need any help or would like a chat about this please feel free to get in touch.

This week has been a fantastic week for me as a Coach.

We have a lot of people enquiring about Bootcamp and our online nutrition coaching.

These enquiries are coming from seeing results from my clients and also reading the blog posts i have been putting out.

Facebook have dramatically changed the way our business pages show information now, only 2% of the people that like the page will actually see the results.

This is why i have been stepping up my emails to my list and also these blog posts.

Today i want to share 2 posts that have been posted on my facebook business page (https://www.facebook.com/LiveYoungBootcamp) this week.

The first is a picture of my client Erline who has been with us 6 months.
Erline trains with us in Wimborne at our 7pm sessions, 3 times a week and is a pleasure to train.
Erline’s consistency across her sessions each week is fantastic and her passion for implementing the nutritional changes has been exemplary.

The biggest part of Erline’s journey that is not mentioned on the picture below is how only 6 months ago she stepped through our doors a little nervous joining a beginners bootcamp that we trialled.
After completing that Erline decided to kick on and join our main group.

Look what that decision has done for her!

I am determined to start showing people the health benefits of Bootcamp away from the obvious weight and inch loss that comes with a healthier lifestyle.

Here are some screen shots taken from our Private Client Support Group when i asked the simple question

What benefits to your health, nutrition, day to day lives have you noticed since you started Bootcamp?

Im looking forward to sharing more results with you all next week

Have a great weekend everyone

Ross

This is a very important subject and something i see happening amongst everyone i coach on weight loss.

Monitoring the changes your body makes when weight loss is the aim.

How do you currently monitor changes when on a diet? following a healthy lifestyle? Exercising?

A guarantee 99 out of 100 answers will be

WEIGHING SCALES

Now, what i am about to tell you has come from experience in losing weight myself and also helping clients lose weight across the last 5 years.

First of all, i get it. I understand why you get on the scales and i understand how frustrating it can be when that number has not changed or in fact has gone up even though you have had the most amazing week of eating clean!

Well folks, welcome to the Human Body!

The dieting world we have lived in the past 30 years has brain washed us into thinking that this figure ont he scales is the most important part of our lives.

Just read that back for a second and ask yourself why it has so much power?

I will tell you why, because we all remember a figure on that scales when we remember we were happy.

But were we happy? Really, can you honestly tell me you remember that exact figure on the scales that made you happy?

Generally people remember a number on the scales that was some time ago, 1 year, 2 years, 5 years or even before they had their 3 children, before they grew up and had responsibilities like a mortgage, a full time job and day to day stress in life.

One of the biggest challenges i have as a coach is to get into people’s heads and understand exactly what is going on.

You can have the best week in the world, be feeling amazing, full of energy, getting comments from friends and family about how well you look, feeling the difference in your work clothes but wait, you have not got on the scales to check how much you have lost so you get up early the next day jump on the scales and BAM

1 pound off or even nothing!

How can this be when you are feeling fantastic and getting all of these comments!?

You get up the next day, its showing you are a pound heavier! OMG what is going on, my diet is not working, you get home that night, you grab a bottle of wine and a huge slab of chocolate, what’s the point if its not working!

You wake up feeling awful, you have undone all of your hard work and all because of that 1 number on the scales.

Now whats happening?

What’s happening is we have been brainwashed into thinking this figure on the scale sis the most important part of our journey.

Ask yourself this

If that number on the scales can be so destructive, why do we bother stepping on them?

This is where i want people to change their way of thinking

And no, it wont come easy.

Your scale weight can fluctuate between 3-5lbs in one whole week! Yep, you heard me right, it can fluctuate between 1-2lbs a day!

You need to know that before you step on them.

So what causes the scale weight to fluctuate so much?

Water Retention – especially around monthly cycles in women
Stress Levels
Muscle Mass
Dehydration
Glycogen levels – will cover this in a separate post

All of these things play a part and its truly hard to determine which one when you step on that scale at the end of the week.

If you are stepping on the scales more than 2-3 times a week you will start to see the effect this one number has on your life.
For most that step on everyday, they will notice the fluctuation and it will mainly have a negative effect on the mind and you will question what you are doing and in almost most circumstances go off the rails or evenquit what you are doing.

So why do we let this one thing trouble us so much.

I think its because we have been measuring in this way for so long.

Let me ask you this question

Would it matter to you if you never knew how much you weighed for the rest of your life?

Lets just expand on that question.

If you monitored changes in a different way

How clothes feel / dress sizes
How healthy your skin, hair and nails feel
How your energy levels are
How your confidence level is
How your digestion is
How relaxed you are
How focussed you are

How much of an effect do you think this would have on your life?

So what do we do?

Well we teach our Bootcamp and online clients to take weekly measurements as well as weight.

Once a week simply measure

Chest- Men around the nipple, ladies under the bust
Hips- The top of your hips
Waist- Around your belly button
Upper leg- At its widest point
Arms- From the middle of the bicep

Also take the following photo’s

• One facing the camera
• One facing away from the camera
• One side on to the camera

Now, my suggestion would be not to take a weight measurement but if you have to, take it at 3 points across the week and take the average measurement as a guide to what is happening across the week.

Taking all of these stats week by week allows you to build a picture of what’s happening and will allow you to speak to somebody to adjust things as you go.

All diets needs tweaks and you need to bear this in mind.

What has worked day 1 may not work day 31 and its all about noting the stats down and making adjustments where necessary.

You deserve not to beat yourself up about your weight, you deserve to be happy.
The scales will never make you happy!

Stop looking at the scales for the answer and start looking at you as a whole.

As i say to clients, its a tick box exercise when it comes to health

Long term changes have a far better effect than any number on the scales will!

If you have scales in your house and you cant stop yourself getting on them then force yourself.
Simply give your scales to someone to look after, get your partner to hide them or better still, take them out into the back garden and smash them to pieces 🙂

Body Fat

Your main aim when it comes to loosing weight should be reducing body fat.
This is something the figure on your scales will not help you with.

Im sure you have heard the term

Muscle weighs more than Fat

Well that’s great if you are training to build muscle.

Increasing your muscle mass through resistance training will make you slightly heavier day to day and in return will mean you are burning more calories each day simply walking around.

This is why resistance work beats cardio for fat burn.

Now, how many of you actually monitor your body fat %

Probably not that many.

The lower your body fat % the harder it will be to drop that figure on the scales, the higher, the more scale weight that will generally come off.

Body Fat % will also put you into a category.

Now i hate categories because it generally stresses people out and people hate being labelled however body fat % has to be categorised in terms of your health

Underweight
Normal
Overweight
Obese

The higher your body fat % the greater the risk of many diseases like

Type 2 Diabetes
High Blood Pressure
Stroke
Heart Disease
Certain Cancers

So without trying to scare you, wouldnt it be better to know the percentage of body fat you have compared to just a number on the scales?

The picture is much bigger than just a figure on weighing scales.

I regularly have clients that dont drop any scale weight but lose inches, we have a few that don’t drop either we have some clients that lose a lot of each.

What needs to be brought into this equation is you as an individual. Your history of dieting, your genetics, your family history and your current lifestyle will all play a part in your health.

Start focussing on your health and not a number.