Alright ladies so here it is!

99.99999% of you just want to “lose weight” – Unfortunately throughout life we have been conditioned to ‘lose weight’ and tone up (a term that actually means build muscle, but when we say build muscle many freak and have the idea of body builders *sigh*) – so I want to stop you right there! It ain’t about losing weight anymore – What you should start to realise is that it is about body re-composition – by this I mean altering your physique by burning fat and gaining muscle at the same time.

To really achieve your goals you have to change your ‘weight loss’ mindset, any specialist or billy bobbins ‘diet’ that uses the terminology ‘lose weight’ needs to get up-to-date with the times and stop feeding these negative words into your brains! ‘losing weight’ means losing water, muscle and fat.

Also, don’t get me started on the fad ‘diets’. Go low carb, do the Atkins, Do Keto – erm – how’s about no! Our bodies actually need ALL food sources to be able to function properly. ‘I cut out carbs and lost a load of weight really quickly’ – fabulous dear – you actually just reduced your water intake and probs lost a load of muscle in the process too, oh and you were on Keto? – Good luck unclogging your arteries, getting your cholesterol down and having a panic attack when you realise its not sustainable so you freak out and having to make your own food choices.

So what do I mean about body re-composition?

The goal of body re-composition is to lose fat (not weight) and gain muscle simultaneously.

But this can be confusing because did you know that to reduce your body fat you need to eat fewer calories than you burn, but to build muscle you need to eat more calories than you burn……#SAYWHAT!! You need to eat less and eat more??? #confused.com hey!

So let me explain to help you lovely lot.

By keeping a close eye on your food (specifically when you eat what) and your training, you can absolutely lose fat and gain muscle at the same time.

On a body recomposition plan, you might maintain your current weight or even gain weight — remember hearing “muscle weighs more than fat”? Need I say more……..just because the number on the scale goes up doesn’t mean that you are going in the wrong direction. Ditch the scales (you can read my blog on that) and stop stressing about numbers that really don’t mean anything.

Body recomposition is a long game, so suck it up ladies!

Because you’re trying to do two things at once – lose fat and gain muscle, you can’t treat a body recomposition plan like a fad diet. Healthy fat loss and healthy muscle gain both take a long time on their own: Put them together and you’re in it for the long haul.

To successfully change your body composition, you need to be doing the following:

Cardiovascular exercise for fat loss*

Resistance training to build muscle* (at least three times a week)

Decrease calorie consumption to lose fat

Increased protein intake to promote muscle formation

(*FYI my LIFT, BURN OR GAIN classes hit both the cardio and resistance training qualities – hence them being so effective #justsayin #massiveplug #tailoredtowomen)

So How do you lose fat???
To lose fat, you must eat fewer calories than you burn, it really Is that simple.

Combine cardio and resistance exercise, alongside a calorie deficit still stands as the best techniques for fat loss — there’s just no way around the science.

To build muscle you MUST focus on two main factors: weight training and protein consumption. Strength training is ESSENTIAL to changing your body composition – your muscles won’t grow if you don’t challenge them.

Weirdly you can’t build muscle without being in a calorie surplus, so you must eat more calories than you burn to promote muscle growth and protein should be your ultimate food source for building muscle. Without enough protein, your body will struggle to repair the muscle tissues that get broken down during weight training.

Studies show that a high-protein diet can help with losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time. My advice is to eat protein with every meal and snack on protein!

Still confused that you have to eat fewer calories than you burn to lose fat, but you have to eat more calories than you burn to build muscle???

I was totally confused until I understood it! It’s actually pretty simple and a process called calorie cycling.

The first thing you need to do is work out how many calories your body needs without exercise. (your maintenance calories, also called your BMR, Basel metabolic Rate) Use this link to check it out. You will notice that the calories you consume daily are affected by your exercise level so no two days will be the same.

On days that you do exercise, you should consume enough calories to meet your BMR. Consuming maintenance calories on an exercise day ensures that you’re in a slight deficit to promote fat loss, but not in a deficit so large that your body starts using muscle tissue as fuel. We want the muscle!

On days that you do a strength training workout for 30 minutes or more, eat more calories than your maintenance number with a focus on protein. (about 5% more)

On days that you don’t work out at all, eat slightly less than your maintenance calories. (5 % less)

You see what you have probably never done is realise that your food intake and type of food should be based around the activity you do each day. Don’t get stuck in a rut with saying ‘I eat the same thing day in, day out and I am just not changing’ – that is because you have never had the correct advice…EVER!!!!! What you should be doing is waking up everyday and saying – right what is my activity level going to be – then deciding on your food choices.

This is THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE I CAN GIVE!!

Every day, you consume new calories and your body must decide what to do with those calories. Your body essentially has three basic choices: immediately burn the calories for fuel, use them to repair and build muscle tissue or store them as fat.

See carbohydrates as your fuel source – eat these when you need energy (45% of your daily intake)

See protein as your muscle building source – eat these to help you build muscle and bone density (35% of your daily intake)

See fats as a source to help protect your organs, help digest vitamins and help control our immune system. Fats also provide energy. Try to opt for healthy fats (20%)

If you’re looking for a body transformation, you definitely don’t want to store calories as fat but you do want your body to use new calories to repair the muscles you broke down during weightlifting workouts.

So, you’ll eat more calories (and protein) on weight-training days so your body uses those calories and nutrients to fuel muscle repair, and growth. And you’ll eat fewer calories on days that you don’t work or just do cardio because you want your body to use the fat it already has as fuel — not to use new calories as fuel.

By combining these two tactics, you can successfully achieve body re-composition.

Remember achieving your goals is all about knowledge, learning and putting it into practice. Please stop going on fad diets that don’t teach you anything, stop weighing yourself daily or weekly but start to understand that the food we eat and reaching your goals is all about dedication, commitment and learning to eat right around your activity level.

AND REMEMBER:

NO FOOD IS BAD FOR YOU! There are food of more nutritional value, and food of less nutritional value. (the minute you say good and bad, mentally you feel sh*te if you have eaten something ‘bad so cut that language out right now)

NO FOOD IS A “SINN” or should I say ‘SYN’ – Again why would a big money grabbing corporation categorise food in this way – do they not understand the psychology of women?? – we are bloody mental half the time, without having the added pressure of eating something that makes us feel we have SINNED! (makes me MAD!!!!)

AND YOU SHOULD NOT “TREAT” YOURSELF TO FOOD – We are not dogs ladies, we treat dogs with food – we should enjoy all food in moderation. We should “treat” ourselves to exercise as that is what makes us strong and feel fabulous!

Until next time,

Clo x