Pretty much everyone on the programme is in some way or another looking to lose a bit of body fat, tone up and improve their relationship with food. And no wonder, it’s a big one for us all to conquer!

In order to lose body fat and tone you need to:
1) Exercise
2) Eat less food than you expend
3) Be consistent with both
4) Give it time.

There are a ton of approaches and people out there that make it seem really complicated but it all comes down to our calories IN (food) needing to be less than our calories OUT (daily activity). It’s pretty boring and definitely no fancy trick but also very simple.

So why is it so damn hard to achieve?

The simple daily tasks like exercising, preparing and tracking your food are easy but there are 3 big reasons why we can’t seem to crack it:

1) While they are easy to do, they’re also easy not to do. We can very easily be led astray by being lazy or influenced by others.
2) We are super impatient and want everything yesterday so if we don’t see results quick enough, we give up.
3) They seem so easy and insignificant that we think it doesn’t matter if we miss some sessions and have a few extra snacks.

This is why it is essential that when we calculate your calories we ensure you have a balance between what is needed to help you lose body fat but also what is needed to ensure you adhere to the plan. You might lose weight a lot quicker if I took off an additional 500 calories but, what’s the point if you can’t stick to it and you’re feeling rubbish all the time. That balancing act is really important as it will determine your success or failure.

You need to be CONSISTENT.

To work out calories you can use many online calculators such as IIFYM.com or Fitnessfrog.com.

Yet whilst these are good for working out your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE), which is basically how much food your body needs daily to sustain your current condition, it normally comes out with a lot more calories than you need if you’re wanting to be leaner/more defined.

Instead, this is generally the approach we take to get a good starting point:

• I will multiply your bodyweight in Pounds by 10 – 12 (10 is the lowest I would go for calories unless you are happy, consistent and comfortable to go lower). So if your bodyweight were 176 pounds then your calories would be around 1800 daily to lose fat.

• Then I think about how we all tend to act at the weekend and how it can be our biggest down fall. Since we are all busy Sunday-Friday it makes sense that we have less food then and more on a Saturday, allowing us to have some fun and not feel anti-social or guilty.

• I would then average out calories to 1600 per day and gave you 400-500 calories extra for one day. This should help you adhere and be consistent with the plan.

• I purposefully ensure there are no restrictions on food as it’s all about calories and we have enough food at the weekend to have some fun. Hopefully the best of both worlds! Losing body fat, toning up and still being semi-sociable rather than the all or nothing approach of living in the gym and only eating enough for 5 year old.

What’s important here is that everyone is different and some of you might be really hungry on the calories we’ve given you orrr you feel it’s too much food.

So it really is trial and error until we find a comfortable middle ground were we can keep you in a calorie deficit either by giving you more food but increasing how much you exercise or giving you less food and more activity if you can manage it without losing consistency and adherence. (This is the stage we are all currently at)

This is something we look at when we have the check-ins and make changes if needed.

We can’t make changes every week because another important element is TIME.

Consistently repeated daily actions + TIME = Unconquerable results

We need to give your body time to adjust and make changes you want.

You will also need to have TRUST in myself. If you are exercising a minimum of 3 times a week and hitting your calories, your body will be changing but it’s just maybe not showing as quick as you’d like. If this is the case then jointly we can look at what else we can do or change – don’t give up or feel disheartened.

Hope this has made sense!

P.s You’ll notice how I write lose body fat throughout this post and not body weight. Body weight is actually really insignificant – how we look and feel is way more important than the number on the scales!