The key to real success is consistency Whether you are exercising, weight lifting or just eating, it is important to remember that maintaining a regular routine is the way to achieve your dream shape -- and keep it regular eating and exercise should become part of your routine and it will help develop tremendous habits in your life. It is the ordinary things consistently done that produce extraordinary results. Change takes time! You can eat and exercise perfectly today and tomorrow but when you step on the scales, you will not have lost 25lbs. It needs consistency.
It's just like applying for a mortgage -- your bank wants to know if you have been saving consistently before they will give you a loan. In the same way, your body needs to know it will get fed regularly before it decides to give up fat.
Disciplined Fat is a stored source of energy. Your body will hold on to it for as long as it can and use muscle as energy if it does not know when its next deposit is coming. You need to be disciplined with your eating patterns and very consistent with your training.
When you are not feeling 110pc, or you are recovering from an illness or bereavement you should modify your training sessions.
You can achieve this by reducing the volume of training -- for instance, adjusting the number of sets to one or two and reducing the repetitions to six or eight of the weight training exercises you are doing. You maintain a heavy weight on the bar, but take a longer rest between exercises.
Weight training is anabolic and so it helps rebuild the body. Cardio during this time period would create more stress and lead to catabolism where the body breaks down muscle, similar to the way it does with long-distance runners. Fat loss or weight loss does not happen in a linear fashion.
Adapt You do not lose 1-1.5lbs a week consistently. One week you may lose 3lbs and then, the following week, your body may stall and take time to adapt and you lose nothing. But you have still averaged 1.5lbs of fat loss over two weeks. As you get stronger, the muscles that stabilize the hip, shoulder and knee joints must get stronger to bear the heavier weights you can now lift.
There is a saying that you cannot fire a cannon from a canoe, so work on strengthening the muscles that stabilize the joint in the shoulders so that you can improve your pressing and pulling strength.
To continually drop body fat, you need to keep adapting your nutrition and training program to continue your progress. If you want to change your body shape, you need to eat for the body you want and not for the body you have.
One gram of carbohydrates and one gram of weight of protein are equal to four calories each and one gram of fat is equal to nine calories.
This is not to say that fat is the enemy. Nor is it saying that it is all about calories, as 100 calories of ice cream will have a different effect on your hormonal system than 100 calories of broccoli.
It is important to know the ratios of your food intake between the three to make informed decisions about how changes can be implemented.
The only difference between ordinary and extraordinary results is having the desire to give that little bit extra.
Here are some general tips for when eating out:• Have water with lemon or lime. This helps alkalize the blood. The more alkaline you are, the less cortisol you make
• There is usually steak, chicken or other meats on the menu. Where the problem arises is the preparation and additives that the restaurant has put in the meal. Ask the waiter to put all sauces on the side, as they are often sources of hidden baddies.
• Order a salad with your meat. Ask for balsamic vinegar and/or oil. Restaurants often add sugar to Caesar salad and other dressings for taste. The balsamic vinegar will actually lower the glycemic Index by up to 20pc. Ask for your salad to come with the main meal. If it does come early put it aside and eat it after your meat. That will ensure optimal digestion, as meat requires an acidic medium.
• When you order, ask for vegetables and make sure they are steamed or raw. Stay away from starches like rice and potatoes.
• Make sure to tell your waiter that you will not be having dessert; they won't ask you at the end of the meal. You will be less tempted when others order their sugar-laden sweets.
