As a personal trainer, I mostly hear the same health and fitness goals. Some people have specific goals in mind like training for a marathon or specific sport etc. Most of the goals fall into the category of weight/inch loss and increased muscle.
Weight loss and loss of inches- prescription is a personal exercise program planned out for that person…with a focus on a healthy nutritionally sound eating plan.
Toning- Again, exercise, and you can’t tone muscles if they are covered in adipose tissue (fat) so the prescription is exercise and a healthy nutritionally sound eating plan.
Muscle Gain- Men especially want to gain muscle, but they don’t normally come to me with pictures of a really muscular guy and a huge beer belly. The physique men have in mind is big muscles, small waist and definition…And again that equation comes back to exercise and a nutritionally sound eating plan.
And that’s why I keep on talking about nutrition. A lot of people exercise. Some exercise really hard and yet they still have a lot of extra girth covering hiding their muscles. And they will continue to have that girth. In fact, the girth will likely increase as they age regardless of how much they exercise. (unless it is 8 hours of continuous exercise a day. That’s a different story.) For the person who wants to lose weight or tone up and exercises for an hour, a day then eats whatever they want? Most of those people will gain weight.
So, we’re back to nutrition again. There are so many ways to lose weight and keep it off. High fibre, low calorie, low processed foods and lots of whole foods, low sugar, etc. etc. The trick is losing weight then keeping it off. A lot of diets are successful, but then fail because as soon as people eat what they have been missing the weight comes right back.
There’s another option. It will be more effective when combined with a high fibre, low fat, whole food diet where half of your diet comes from vegetable sources of course, but for now, try circadian rhythm eating. Studies have shown that if people consume the same foods as they are consuming now, but consume those foods in an 8-12 hour window before 6-7p.m., then don’t eat after 6-7p.m. then fast for a minimum of 12 hours they will lose weight. Apparently we metabolize foods differently later into the evening. Studies have also shown that people who eat at night tend to gravitate toward foods that are higher in fat.
So for those of you who aren’t interested in consuming more high fibre foods, for those who are convinced that they can eat exactly the same way they are eating right now and lose weight? Well, maybe you can? Maybe you can eat the way you are eating now and lose a few pounds if you don’t eat after 7 p.m. then not again until between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. or even noon…For those of you with any current health issues, don’t try this without your doctor’s consent, but who knows? Maybe. Just maybe you can have your cake and eat it too.
