Everyone’s New Year's Resolution – Losing the Fats

As we embrace the festive season, you would’ve noticed that there are two types of people at the Christmas dinner table.

First, the ones who throw caution to the wind and submit themselves to their love of perfectly stuffed turkey. Second, those who eye the desserts with killer gazes of glee before doubling their sides of salad to compensate for all the log cakes they’ve been having. As the night rolls to a slow close and we stumble into our cabs home, we start to feel the strain in our belts from a month of indulging in our favourite treats.

After all let’s face it, it might be 12 Days of Christmas but we’ve all caved in to our first candy cane the moment the calendar hits December and radio stations started busting out our guilty pleasure Christmas tunes. So truthfully, it’s a month of Christmas.

Fast-forward to New Year’s and you soon find yourself in the exact spot you did last year, signed up with a snazzy gym membership but hardly shedding the pounds. Surely, you didn’t eat that much for Christmas, but why won’t these stubborn fats go away?

Here at Ultimate Performance there are two major key pointers that I always teach my clients, clearing up misconceptions that sometimes skew our perception of how fitness (and fat loss) works!

Diet vs. Exercise

There’s a very common saying that abs are made in the kitchen. And that’s almost entirely true. As strong as your abdominals may be, as long as layers of fat cover your tummy, your dream rows of six-pack abs are never going to pop.

The same applies to every fat-loss programme. Even if you’re running marathons every day, chances are, it won’t be as effective as if you watch your diet.

And I’m not talking about being very stringent on your meals. It’s just a fact that it is easier to cut down a few hundred calories every day by balancing your diet as opposed to trying to exercise for hours every single day to make it up the difference.

Instead, an educated training program designed by a professional alongside strategic omissions in your diet can have a profound effect. This could start by putting down that extra cup of hot chocolate after supper or that cream cheese bagel you like to pick up on the way to work and progress into counting calories and macronutrients (protein, fat and carbohydrates) in time.

This controlled drop in your calorie intake, coupled with weekly workout routines, will surely see you through to your fitness goals.

Consistency in Our Efforts

This is the one rule I always impart to clients, because consistency is key. Chances are, you’ve heard me mention this before (just as I did in my previous blog post), because it truly is the only way you’ll see results.

Balancing your diet will augment change by complimenting your workout, but if you only put in the effort for a week or two, you aren’t going to see any results.

Just like with your balanced diet, plan a workout regime that’s realistic and catered to your needs. If you work long odd hours, you don’t need to be in the gym every day, however, finding fixed times in your schedules - whether this be first thing in the morning or your weekends, can be the difference to success. If you haven’t been exercising for a long time, going hard right at the start is going to hit you like a truck, and soon enough, you’ll find that you don’t have the mental and physical strength to continue.

One way to stay motivated over long periods of time is to come up with a form of accountability. Take note of your progress, and celebrate the little successes in your own way. This doesn’t mean you get to pig out whenever you see the slightest bit of change, but acknowledge your achievements starting from the smallest and watch your fitness grow.

So, as we embrace 2017, my advice is to take the time to decide what you really want. Whether it’s to tone up for that summer vacation, lose some major weight or to simply achieve a new fitness goal, the key is to plan a manageable workout schedule coupled with a balance diet, and you’re going to do just fine.

Everything will progress smoothly in due time, so trust in the balance and the effort. After all, it’s your resolution for the New Year, not the new month!