Hey everyone, it’s Ross here from Live Young Fitness and Nutrition. In this video we’re going to talk about a problem I seem to be discussing a lot and have done in the nine years I’ve been a health and fitness coach. And that is the subject of my weekends are the problems. It’s just amazing how many people I speak to that will just say, “Monday to Friday I’m great,” or even, “Monday to Thursday I’m great and then the weekends it all just kind of goes a bit pear shaped.”

What I’m going to do is offer you some advice on this. There are three steps, three things to think about on how to tackle this problem if it arises. And like I said, it’s a very common one. First thing’s first, this isn’t one of the points by the way, but is to be aware of it. We can’t change anything if we keep lying to ourselves, so be aware of your weekends if you really see them as a problem in terms of we’re mainly talking food and drink here, aren’t we, let’s be fair.

Step 1, to help you get around this is we’re big believers that you should track your calories. Now if you’re already doing this, I’m going to give you a little tip in how to incorporate the weekend. First of all if you’re not tracking your calories, head over to our website, www.liveyoungbootcamp.co.uk/calorie-calculator. Pop your details into the calorie counter, hit the submit button, and it will give you some results. And just have a look at the line that says Calories to Lose Weight, which will help you lose weight at one to two pounds a week, which is a healthy weight target to be losing without being too heavy on ourselves. Write that figure down, and then multiply it by seven. And what you have is an outlook of your week. Multiply it by seven, look at your calories across the week rather than looking at it daily.

What you can then do is start to say to yourself, I don’t know, let’s just say it puts you at 1,500 calories. What’s that? Three, six, nine … that’s what, about 10,500 calories a week roughly? Let’s just say you know already because you’ve got this problem as you call it, you eat more on the weekends. It’s not unusual. It’s a more relaxed time, starting from Friday night we have a few drinks, we possibly have a takeaway. That rolls into Saturday. We’re not at work, we want to kick back. We deserve it, we’ve been working hard all week, we want to have some kind of treats as such. Factor them into your weekly calories.

So, you’re going to have to obviously track a couple of your weekends. Let’s just say rather than fighting it, you just say, “Look, I know across the weekend I’m going to have three or four glasses of wine.” You need to go away and work out the calories in the wine. “I’m going to have a takeaway,” so just do a rough guide, we always say takeaways are between about 900 and 1,000 calories. And you deduct that from your weekly calories. Then you’ve got a choice, you can divide the rest of the calories by seven, so you’ve got an equal amount to use each day. But, to be honest, like we’ve said, most people are better Monday to Thursday or Monday to Friday. So, eat a little bit less Monday to Friday, and then you’ve got more calories to use on the weekend.

Calories matter. Whether you want to track them religiously or not, they matter. You have to be in a calorie deficit to lose weight or at least maintain weight. Rather than being good for five days and then blowing out for two or three days and completely running your work, what this does psychologically is it keeps you on that hamster wheel of, “Oh my god, I can’t lose weight.”

So, factor your calories across the whole week. Take anything off that you want to have in there, and whatever’s left, play around with those figures to stay within a calorie deficit each day. Hopefully that all makes sense.

Step 2, plan your food for the week. Now, the week isn’t Monday to Friday, it’s Monday to Sunday when we look at planning food, so include your weekends in your meal plans, guys. Again, you’re in control of your food, just make sure it goes within your calories. So if you like a different breakfast on the weekend because you’ve got more time, have a different breakfast. Just be responsible with it.

So, use the calorie function, download an App called My Fitness Pal, pop your calories into there that you’ve calculated from our website, and track your calories for the week. And include your weekends. Start your meal plans from the weekend and work backwards rather than the other way, and you’ll start seeing better results. Those two days, Saturday and Sunday, count. They count. Stop ignoring them and stop burying your head in the sand. So, reverse your meal plan, but include it in your meal plan. If you’re not tracking food at the moment, if you’re not planning your food, start it guys. Even if you just do 50 to 60% of a rough meal plan, it will help you keep on track.

Step 3, is coming back to this we all like to be a little bit naughty, we like to have this naughty side in us. And dieting culture over the years has created this restrictive Monday to Thursday and then binge Friday, Saturday, Sunday. And we just need to be aware that we’re doing it. If your diet is that restrictive during the week that you have to go all out for three days and eat the world, then you need to change those four days. Guess how you do that? The advice we’ve given you in step one and step two. Stop looking at food as good and bad, include it in your calories, start tracking it, start being aware of it, start getting on top of it. Include your weekends in that value, include some foods in there that you like, include some alcohol in there I you want to. And start enjoying the journey. Stop being restrictive with your food if that’s the scenario you’re getting.

Any questions obviously reach out. Hopefully these three tips will give you some help and see you for where you’re at with your weight loss journey if you’re on one.

If you feel you need some help with your Health and Fitness and are unsure where to start or what to do, please feel free to book a FREE 15 minute clarity call via our contact form below

We caught up with our Female Group Training Client Claire who has now been a LYFN member for 2 years.

In this video Claire will tell you the reason she reached out for help 2 years ago and her journey so far.

Do you feel you currently need help with your Health and Fitness?

If you would like a FREE 15 minute clarity call, please enter your details into our contact form below

Hey, everyone. It’s Ross here from Live Young Fitness and Nutrition. So in this blog post (Video Version above), I want to cover a subject that I’ve been speaking to a lot of people about recently, and probably just to clear a few things up. At the point of writing this, we’re currently in the third lockdown in England. So it’s quite a key one at the moment. But generally, hopefully, this information can help you if you find yourself in this situation.

And really, the subject is meeting yourself where you are at. Now, obviously, at Live Young Fitness and Nutrition, we help people with their health and fitness, and in turn that helps them with their lifestyle. And into little bit a kind of life coaching along the way, because once confidence starts to increase, people will improve their lives, as such.

So what do we mean by meeting yourself where you’re at? The biggest problem we see when we speak to clients is that they get really, really hard on themselves, trying to chase a perfect situation. And that situation is generally in that person’s head. So generally, just chatting this through with somebody like ourselves, just helps give a little bit of clarity.

So I’m just going to run through some areas. So let’s talk about exercise first. So generally, what we will get is enquiries saying, “What’s the perfect exercise routine for a flat stomach? What’s the perfect exercise routine for me to lose some weight from my bottom? What’s the perfect exercise routine for…” whatever you want to insert there as the result. There’s no such thing as perfect. What works for one person may not work for the other. What you can do though, is rather than strive for perfection, is ask yourself what you are able to do and what you’re able to do consistently.

So if you’re someone who’s got a lot of time on their hands and needs some professional help with that, then apply for some professional help. They can run you through the services. And again, that service should be helping you keep consistent with your exercise. So for us, we group train and personal train, and we also do a little bit of behavioural coaching online for clients that can’t physically train with us. And again, we will be nice and honest with people to say, “Consistently, you need to be training. Whatever you’re going to do, you need to be training two, maybe three times a week to hit that.” So stop looking for that perfect workout and start asking yourself, “What can I do consistently?”

So if you’re on the other end of the scale and you are hectic, something like a walk consistently across the week can be enough to see results. So just stop being too hard on yourself and your situation will change by the week. At lockdown at the moment, there’s a lot of stress, a lot of people homeschooling, spending more time at home and can only get out locally. So schedule that walk in. But meet yourself where you’re at with exercise. What we tend to do is we think what we’re doing today is what we’re going to be doing for the rest of our lives. Just think about now, okay. Don’t think too far ahead of yourselves.

When it comes to food, people out there, you follow hundreds and hundreds of people, people like the Body Coach or Instagram, people like us that have our own situations. And maybe we put up all these colourful looking meals that you go, “Oh my God, that looks amazing.” And people are searching for this perfect, healthy diet. And again, guys, the big C word is what you’re looking for here. Consistency. We’re big believers in tracking calories because it gives people enough flexibility to not be too perfect. Life isn’t perfect, like we said.

So what can you consistently follow with your food, with your nutrition? Maybe that’s Slimming World, maybe that’s Weight Watchers where you’re at, at the moment. Maybe it’s clean eating. Maybe it’s tracking your calories, like we will ask you to. Maybe it’s buying in things like ready meals to control your calories. It doesn’t have to be perfect, guys. Ultimately, you need to be in a calorie deficit if you are looking to lose weight. Meet yourself where you’re at, at the moment. There’s no point, if you are a busy, stressed out person, telling yourself you’re going to cook three to four meals a day when you simply don’t have the time to do it. So go and meet yourself where you’re at. What are your options around that? Again, you can seek professional advice if you need it, if you generally are a bit lost.

So basically, guys, the message from this is, like I said, meet yourself where you’re at, is what can you at this stage and for the next few days stay consistent with, because consistency brings results. Results breed confidence. Confidence breeds longevity. Once your confidence starts to increase and you start seeing results, you can then start tweaking things, improving them, or seeking help to just go on to that next step, guys. So I hope this has helped. I’ll speak to you soon. Thank you.

If you would like to reach out for a chat about your current situation and grab a quick 5-10 minute call free of charge, please feel free to fill in the contact form below.

Remember, every change starts with a conversation

How amazing are these pictures!?

13lbs and 12 Inches lost overall from our fantastic client Ellie.

Ellie’s Journey

Before Ellie came to us after xmas she felt very tired, bloated and sluggish and wanted a huge kickstart to the new year.

This is a very common feeling amongst all of the ladies we coach on a daily basis.

Now of course, Ellie had to make the decision to change how she felt and invested in our help to get her the goal that she so badly wanted.

Ellie results have all come from working with us online

We set Ellie some simple and effective nutrition guidelines to follow.

The nutrition guidelines helped her with structure and portion sizes and we also gave Ellie a list of the most powerful clean (non processed) foods that she should be choosing from.

We also provided a wonderful 90 page cookbook for Ellie to choose some fantastic recipe’s to help her on her journey. Recipes such as Coconut Chicken, Chicken Pizza, Moroccan Meatballs, Almond Pancakes, Clean Chocolate, Beef Stir Fry and some hints and tips along the way.

The biggest help Ellie found on our program was the online support group of other ladies all chasing the same goal – to be healthier

Ellie did not have to starve herself or take any miracle pills or potions, just honest clean food she could buy in any supermarket of her choice, some structure and support and a weekly online check-in to record some measurements and feedback.

In fact, Ellie will certainly tell you that she couldn’t believe the amount of food she ate!

 

Im sure you will join me in congratulating her on her amazing results

Below is a copy of the lovely review Ellie left us on our facebook page

Coach Ross
www.lyfn.co.uk
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/LiveYoungBootcamp/

Good morning,

I want to start by asking you a question.

How often do you get away from the hustle and bustle of life?

I don’t just mean not going to work and having a day off, i mean truly get away from the everyday stresses of life

Work
Your phone
TV
Social Media
The Housework
Surfing the Internet

Seriously think about this and let me know your answer.

Me?

Rarely do i get away from all of the above

However, the weekend just gone i managed it and i cannot tell you how refreshed and revitalised i feel!

I struggle with the balance of life, i honestly do and i don’t think there is any harm in admitting that.

Im self employed as a PT. I have 1-2-1 clients, online clients and also group training clients on top of looking after my 2 girls on Thursdays and Fridays when my wife works, the stresses of owning a home and also our pet cat (he is like a teenager!).

Its tiring and i know you can relate to this

I sometimes wonder if it would be possible to just re-wind the clock and be young and free again with the only worry of what time we would be playing football tomorrow or when mum was going to serve dinner!

Anyway, back to the weekend just gone.

I attended The Big Wild Sleepout at Arne Nature Reserve with my 6 year old daughter Caitlin.

It was amazing!

We arrived on site at 5pm Friday evening and had to erect our tents. At this point i did what i had done preciously on my only other camping trip.

I THREW A STROP WHEN I COULDN’T WORK OUT HOW TO PUT THE TENT UP!

My daughter thought this was hilarious and continued doing cart wheels on the grass!

After an hour we were good to go.

We spent the rest of the evening around a camp fire where the guides cooked a fantastic meal, we made clay animals and hunted for sticks to eventually toast marshmallows on the open fire.

Everything was rounded off with a night walk to see and hear some wildlife like Owls, Nightjars and Bats before hitting our sleeping bags for the night.

I woke up feeling like a new person (although with a slight neck ache from the air bed!)

I had gone a whole evening with no TV, No phone (except for photos) and more importantly no Laptop or social media!

This is a big thing for me, I NEVER SWITCH OFF!

We had breakfast, packed up the tent (my daughter was still doing cartwheels!) and then headed back home.

We had a lazy day Saturday but then headed to Chapman’s Pool yesterday for a Purbeck Walk which turned into a small workout as my 3 year old decided she would not walk after about 10 minutes. Those purbeck hills are tough carrying a child!

Oh, and we got lost which led to the usual stress and argument over who’s fault it was!

We finished the day with Dinner next to Wareham River listening to an open mic night at the pub opposite.

I got home and reflected on an amazing weekend and the need to get away from things more.

Most people watch TV, Check Social Media, surf the internet, text, whats app work! etc etc in their spare time and never truly relax.

We truly believe that as long as we are not working we are de-stressing and relaxing when in reality we are not.

So, let me ask you that question again

HOW OFTEN DO YOU TRULY RELAX?

Me, im now planning at least 1 hour a day where my phone goes off and i have quality time with my children and making sure we as a family enjoy some time away from the hustle and bustle of life at least once every weekend.

Have a great week.

 

Ross

PS – Here are some pics from my weekend

I am delighted to be showing you 2 of my clients progress photos.

My clients came to me after a being let down by another PT some time ago and losing complete confidence in training.

They are a couple and wanted to train in the comfort of their own home and train together at the same time.

The had got to the point where they realised they needed to change and needed help and up popped my bootcamp advert on facebook one day.

After a great conversation over the phone i agreed to meet them to discuss PT as my bootcamp is female only.

I visited their home and we had an amazing chat and got on very well and we agreed they needed to not only train but they needed to commit to a brand new lifestyle of healthy eating.

They needed to prioritise their health goals.

Well 8 months on, a combined 4 stone 3lbs and 38.5 Inches later! We have the results below

Im sure you will agree these are life changing results!

It just shows what can be achieved when you make a commitment to improving your health……

They commit to 2 PT Sessions a week in their home

I turn up at the time arranged, bring the kit, supply the coaching and the accountability each week and they enjoy the results they have achieved through their consistency and hard work.

Over the 8 months they have enjoyed the festive period, weekends away, 2 holidays several trips to the pub and will continue to do so

What could you achieve?

I am delighted to be sharing our clients 4 week transformation results with you.

A total of 22.5 Inches lost across the 4 weeks.

Our client did this all by following nutrition guidelines online (we did not train this client in terms of exercise)

An amazing achievement all achieved through consistency across the 4 weeks.

Im sure you will agree the pictures below are simply amazing!

A huge well done to our client

 

Ross
www.lyfn.co.uk
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/LiveYoungBootcamp/

Hey, i hope you are well?

 

I want to ask you a question.

How much time do you spend each day/week on your own happiness?

What i mean is

In life, do you put yourself first, second, last?

Something i noticed during the first 2-3 months of this year was how little i was doing for myself.

I have 2 gorgeous children, a wife, a cat, a house with a mortgage, 2 cars and a very busy business

Now this is not a brag, it is a truthful look at my life from the outside.

My children will always come first, that’s why we had them at the end of the day and i do so much to support them and give them everything they need.

The mortgage has to be paid or we would be homeless (or in debt at least)

The cars need to be maintained for my job and school runs etc

The cat, well, he is looked after very well

My wife, well, i think she feels like me as we dedicate so much time to our kids which can be tough and leaves you shattered!

My business, once again, i look after clients on a day to day basis in terms of planning sessions, writing nutrition plans, writing content and everything else that goes along with being self employed

However something happened to me in February this year that made me step back and look at how much i was actually doing for myself

I had become very unhappy inside, i was fighting a battle everyday just to keep my head above water.

I became very shouty with my kids and was telling my wife all the time that i didn’t have time to do anything and i had also ignored my own diet and exercise

I had put on weight (being an overweight PT brings so much pressure) and had avoided social occasions on more than one occasion as i couldn’t face the comments.

I had to change!

What had become evident was how little i was actually doing for myself and the worst bit of all was realising that i was in control of these decisions.

I had forgotten about me.

I actually went to my GP and had a very tough chat about not feeling myself, feeling a bit down, unhappy and not knowing what to do

I was put in touch with a councillor who helped me step back over a 10 week period and see exactly what was going on.

BAM, THERE IT WAS BEFORE MY EYES

I was putting everything in my life first and myself last

Now, it can be deemed quite selfish to put yourself before everything else in your life and seeing things in this way led me to putting myself last

However, its not about dumping everything and just focussing on yourself

ITS ABOUT GETTING SOME BALANCE

Work to live, don’t live to work

The reality of my life was

Only 2 weeks holiday in the last 4 years
Floating in and out of the gym
Weight fluctuating
No me time doing anything i actually enjoyed
Making sure my clients were happy at all costs
Making sure my wife and children had everything they needed

One big question my counselor asked was

“What does Ross like doing, what makes Ross smile”

My Answer?

I don’t know!

How sad is that and its something that really got me down.

Fast forward 12 weeks and i’m a changed man

Is everything fixed, Hell no!

But im working on it

I find being self employed hard

My work hours are generally everyone else’s social hours due to my job
I have time during the day that i end up wasting as most people are working
Social media has drained a lot of my life away without me realising
I have found myself comparing my life to others highlight reels on facebook

Asking for help is the best thing i ever did

So how have things changed?

I now plan my weeks out in a diary. Day by day my time is allocated between work and time off.

I have strict working hours and strict social hours

I book clients sessions in and i also book time to myself in

I now read more and relax more and don’t feel guilty taking time off

I am training 3-4 times a week in the gym and have invested in a PT and a nutrition coach to help keep myself accountable to being in shape (something that had slipped this year)

I stop and think more rather than just floating through the week

Im appreciative of the amount of time i have to do things each day/week

I continue to work more on myself as well as my clients

I am getting out more with the family and enjoying quality time with them

I am on social media a lot less and rarely check my newsfeed to see the fake lives that people are posting about.

Because of the above i compare my life less to others and concentrate on the things i enjoy and my family enjoy.

I am more in touch with myself and my happiness and now believe that quality time is worth way more than any amount of money.

I am helping my clients more and my business is growing naturally due to me being happier

I am enjoying life again

Im grateful for what i have, there is someone out there that would love to have what i have

SO HOW MUCH DO YOU DO FOR YOURSELF?

We specialise in transformation programs that help you focus on yourself, your eating habits, your exercise and your all round confidence.

Can you resonate with this blog?
Are you unhappy deep down inside with regards to your health and fitness?

Do you accept you need to change or are you going to keep floating through life unhappy?

YOU AND YOU ONLY ARE IN CONTROL OF YOUR HAPPINESS, MAKE THE CHANGES YOU NEED TO MAKE TODAY AND BE THANKFUL FOR IT FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.

 

Here is a physical picture of my changes over the last 8 weeks. Whilst these show a difference in body composition it does not show the positive change in my mindset and that’s the most important change i have made.

 

Following an illness and several operations I was feeling very unfit and larger than I had ever been.   I was struggling to fit in my clothes, became tired and out of breath just walking up a few flights of stairs and feeling like I didn’t know how to make myself feel better. In the past I had tried several other diets and been a member of most the local gyms at some point over the last few years! But I would never attend them for long.

My friend suggested we try a ‘bootcamp transformation’ programme and we found Live Young Fitness and Nutrition 4 week transformation programme via Facebook. We were contacted quickly by Ross who was very informative and helpful as he chatted through the details prior to signing up. There was no pressure to sign up but I felt motivated just from our chat and I wanted to feel healthier and better in myself.

Initially I found attending the classes quite daunting, but there is a nice relaxed atmosphere and I soon settled into the routine. The sessions are very varied and well thought out and some how the time always seem to fly by! Changing my eating habits was a challenge but I found I was enjoying the foods I was eating and started feeling better within the first week, which motivated me to keep going. I now feel I can make better, more informed choices when I am going out for dinner – and Ross is always on hand, as well as the Facebook support group, if you have any queries.

I have just finished my 4 week programme and have lost 13 inches in total. I feel so much better in myself and I feel a difference in my skin and hair too.

LYFN has helped me make the big changes I needed to and wasn’t able to manage to do on my own. I have enjoyed it so much I have signed up for another 6 months which, surprisingly for me, I am really looking forward to! Thank you to Ross for helping me to believe I could do this and all the advice, instruction and encouragement along the way. If you want to feel better about yourself and become healthier I would definitely recommend LYNF.

 

Negativity towards a healthier lifestyle

So, as i was sat there updating my business page on facebook this morning a notification popped up. The notification was from a friends post i had commented on yesterday and he was asking questions to do with losing weight and was using some recipes from my cookbook.

The notification this morning was from a  facebook friend of his basically ignoring all the other posts and giving some really unhelpful advice.

The facebook post has prompted me to write this post about support and how it is key to everything you choose to do.

Every PT Client i have ever trained has eventually come up against the same problem. The problem? A friend or family member that does not agree with Their goal and starts to get negative comments.
Did you notice above that i put Their in bold and itallics? The reason, its their goal, no one else’s.

When my clients receive their before and after photo’s or measurements its natural for them to want to talk about them and get praise from people that matter to them, friends and family. In fact, i would go as far as saying its actually what means the most to them.

So, you have lost 2 stone, are the slimmest, fittest and healthiest you have been in years, you have worked your ass off to achieve your results and have enjoyed your journey. You go out to a friends birthday party in your new outfit to show off the new you. You walk into the room and people start telling you how amazing you look, you update your facebook with a picture of the new you and 90% of the people give you praise and lovely comments and then BAM, mr or mrs negative starts posting or drops a comment into a conversation.

You see, the thing is, why would a close friend want to be negative about you and your results? Why wouldnt they want to be happy for you? Why wouldnt they want to support you with the hard work you have been putting in?

The reason………….JEALOUSY

Its a part of life that still to this day amazes me. People are simply jealous that you are getting attention and they are not, its as simple as that.

Here are some examples;

You spend your time working hard in the gym and care about being healthy so you plan your meals and cook them ready for work. You store them in tupperware pots and get them out at your desk to eat your lunch. BAM, Over comes mr or mrs negative, OMG, How can you eat that Sh*t. Euurrrggghhhh, that looks awful, OMG Just go to KFC for god sake…..and so on

You go out on a night out right in the middle of a training schedule that you have put a lot of time and effort into but you dont want to miss the night out so you decide to drive and drink water. You arrive and stand there happy with your water and BAM, Over comes mr or mrs negative, OMG you need to get a life, you need to loosen up and have some fun, I cant believe your not drinking, the gym has taken over your life…..and so on

Let me ask you something, if your reading this and your somebody that makes these comments, WHY? What exactly are you hoping to achieve from it. I mean, if someone has decided they want to do something, something positive in there life, why would you want to be the one person that makes them feel stupid or question what they are doing?

If your somebody that receives these comments, a simple approach can be taken.

Ask yourself, did you ask your friend or family members permission to start your journey?
Does your friend or family members know what you have been going through and know how much you want to change something?
Have you ever questioned something your friend is doing or have you always supported them?
Why do you think they are reacting this way to your good news?

The biggest problem with negativity is the person that is making the comment does not know that other persons history. The negative comments can be very harmful to the individual.

My advice is to ignore it. Its becoming harder especially with social media sites like facebook as people are given a chance to voice an opinion (behind a screen i might add). Rise above it, enjoy your journey, enjoy your results and most of all enjoy your life, at the end of the day, you are the one that has to live it. If you cant ignore it, confront the person face to face to ask why they are like it and maybe question if they really are a true friend or not.

Surround yourself with positive people, people that make you happy, make you laugh and most of all share the same values as you.

Enjoy your life, you only get one and do not let negative people ruin it.