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Winners Strength and Wellbeing Studios

Now this is a funny one for me to write, but I bet you any money out of all my blogs this is the most opened one- why? Because for some reason most women want to lose weight, and for some reason most put on weight on holiday…… so what is the secret??

Firstly, anyone that knows me or my values knows that I HATE the word “lose weight” and I never tell anyone to lose weight, society has conditioned us to think it’s what we want, but actually it’s something totally different. Your weight refers to your muscles, bone density. Water and fat and when we “lose weight” (unless we strength train) we will lose quite a proportion of muscles, along with fat and water…… (we should never aim for muscle loss- we naturally lose 10%muscle mass every decade so why lose more).

What we actually all should be aiming for is to gain weight in muscle mass to make us strong and defined and lose fat. The ONLY way to build optimum muscle mass is to strength train and the ONLY way to lose fat is to burn more calories than we eat (calories in V calories out is factually the only way to lose fat, so on a side note if your reading this and saying to yourself that you can’t “lose weight” then get up and walk around whilst reading this as you are still clearly eating more than you are burning)

Now, I’ve just spent two weeks in Thailand and I can tell you now that I have come home losing weight – how do I know? Because I haven’t done a single bit of exercise.

I took my resistance bands with the intent to workout daily and I didn’t even unzip the pocket they were in. My job is to workout and guide others to work out so I decided (for the first time ever) that I was going to give my body the full rest it needed……..and I wasn’t even guilty. I came to realise that resting is just as important as working out.(blog about that coming soon)

Change your eating habits if your exercise routine changes

Because I knew I wasn’t going to be working out, I simply made better choices with my food and drink everyday. It’s not rocket science – it simply is just about making better decisions. Just because the sun is out and your in a different country doesn’t mean you can stuff your face 24/7…….well to some it does – but don’t complain when you get home. It’s called being accountable for your actions.

In a way I am very lucky as my favourite foods are seafood and salad – and WOW Thailand really does the best seafood salads! ……. So much so it’s made me realise how bad our British diets are – we load everything with mayonnaise, ketchup, sauces etc – I’m having a cupboard cleanse when I get home and filling it with spices and chilled and fresh ingredients.

Anyway – back to making better choices on holiday. When it came to breakfast the options were unlimited with the typical British offerings of fried bacon, eggs, sausage, toast, cereals. The American waffles, pancakes etc and the Thai food, rices, noodles and fresh fruit.

I never understand why on holiday people seem to think they can eat what they want because they are away. I get that people want to enjoy food – but enjoying food doesn’t mean chowing down on unhealthy food all day does it? Maybe it does – and I just think differently.
Anyway – my breakfast choice was always three eggs and fresh fruit! Starting the day with protein and healthy goodness. Loading up on carbs first thing in the morning and then slumping on a sun lounger all day isn’t my idea of fun.
My attitude towards food and drink on holiday is always different because I know my exercise routine has gone.

I opted for fresh seafood salads most meals, and when it came to drinks I stayed clear of wine and beer (OK – I had three glasses of wine and 5 beers all holiday) but don’t be fooled – most of us have a drink every night on holiday – I just made sure mine was mainly vodka, soda with fresh lime, again the lowest calorie option

I can guarantee now that my calories in each day on holiday were much less than what I would eat at home – and I enjoyed every single meal!

I never understand why us Brit’s go abroad and order, pizzas, burger and chips – is it ignorance? Is it fear of trying new things?

We were In Thailand where the freshest seafood and fruits were available, and the most amazing Thai curries were cooked from scratch. Granted I never actually had a curry – my hubby had a curry at pretty much every meal (either a red Thai, green Thai or yellow Thai curry) and I opted for some sort of seafood salad all the time. The food was incredible!
I always ate local – isn’t that part of experiencing different cultures, trying their signature food…… OK so although I tried the local food, Scorpions on a stick was a little too out there for me – that one I did leave to the locals!
I think for most of us – when we go on holiday it’s the drinking everyday that puts the weight on, but again – make choices that are lower in calories and not going to make you feel sluggish and crap.

There is a HUGE misconception that exercise makes you lose weight – it really doesn’t. People overestimate the amount of calories lost during exercise – it’s actually very minimal to the amount of calories you burn just going about your everyday life. It’s the food and drink that make you lose weight. So when you come back from holiday saying you put on weight because you didn’t exercise – actually your wrong – you put on weight because you chose to eat and drink all the wrong foods. Step away from The wine, stop shoving unnecessary fatty foods down your throat and get your mits off all the deserts…….. There are usually soooo many delicious options – just continue to make better choices.

So back to how I know I lost weight? (and this really isn’t a good thing to want to do)

1- I made good food choices everyday – eating amazingly tasty food which left me feeling satisfied, not sluggish.
2 – Sweating in the sun resulting in more water reduction
3 – Walking round site seeing in the heat
4 – Not exercising, meaning that after two weeks I feel more squishy round the edges – it’s amazing how quickly your body can change when you go from one extreme to the other – I can certainly feel that my body composition has changed slightly. My weight loss is definitely more muscle than fat due to lack of exercise – something no woman should aim for.

There is a HUGE difference between weight loss and fat loss. As mentioned weight loss is muscle, fat, water. You shouldn’t want to aim for water or muscle loss – every woman should aim for muscle growth and a calorie deficit to lose fat.

Iv’e lost weight, but definitely come back flabbier round the tummy – That is all down to exercise.

So next time you go away, just remember it isn’t the lack of exercise that makes you put on weight – it’s your daily bad food and drink choices. Don’t make yourself feel worse through ignorant choices. Keep on track and make choices that will nourish your body, keep your protein levels up and make you feel satisfied…… and remember ‘weight loss’ when your not exercising is a combination of muscle, fat and water. We should all be aiming for muscle gain.

On another side note – I also think all these long flights and travel days have given me “lazy arse syndrome” – it’s a real thing, it’s where you sit down too much that your glutes forget how to switch on and work. Now I can’t wait to get my squishy lazy arse back in the studio to build these relaxed muscles back up again.

So if your on holiday reading this or going on holiday, make good choices in the sunshine and don’t stress about coming back squishier – a few strength training classes will get your muscles into tip top condition again!

Until next time,

Clo

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