As a personal trainer I hear lots of statements like this – “I have a party this weekend and NEED to fit into my black dress” or “I have a vacation in three weeks and NEED to be down 20lbs.” Hate to break it to you but it’s not that simple. Sure I could tell you to stop eating all carbohydrates, exercise like the energizer bunny and cut calories down to nearly nothing. Would you loose weight? Sure. Would you maintain what you had lost? NO! There is only one secret I know to loosing fat and it is – CLEAN EATING.
There will be fads that come across the fitness forefront like Visalus, Isagenix, the cabbage soup diet, and many other “quick fixes”. You will hear testimonials of people loosing weight in a flash. These people took the easy way out. Loosing weight is hard and I guarantee it will be an uphill climb. ANYONE can loose weight when they are consuming 500 calories of shakes or soups a day but it is merely a band-aid. They will not be able to do this forever. Clean eating is a lifestyle change.
How do I know? I know because I have been there. When I was in high school I went through a stage in my life where I was obsessed with becoming a certain weight. I counted calories allowing myself 300-400 a day and then did cardio where I would burn off double the calories I ate. Yes, I had an eating disorder and in my opinion that is what these fad diets are setting you up for.
After I reached my “goal weight” it was nearly impossible to maintain. So I began to cut my calories even more. My disorder became worse and I went through a period of bulimia. Eventually it became apparent to close friends and family that I was getting to thin. I was unhealthy, unhappy and absolutely exhausted all the time.
I can remember the day my mother introduced the new concept of clean eating to me. I still remember being baffled at having to eat more to lose more; as I had trained myself to do the opposite.
One of the main points was to eat protein and carbohydrates every 2-3 hours to keep your metabolism revved and not count all calories as equal. It wasn’t about counting calories but about the nutrition value in food and instead counting fats, proteins and carbohydrates rather than overall calories. Clean eating taught me how to be healthy.
As I began to lift weights and eat clean the number on the scale went up but my body completely transformed. I had curves, muscle tone and best of all was no longer “skinny fat” - I was healthy.
I know what it is like to lose weight. I have had to loose 20+ pounds both times I competed in order to be ready. I don’t slash down calories but I consume more greens, less carbohydrates and more protein depending on what stage of the process I am at. I give myself 15-20 weeks to do this and never expect myself to loose more than 2lbs per week.
Right now I am eating around 1200 calories a day and still loosing!! It is the type of foods you eat not the amount calories you consume. I don’t even count calories anymore I only count carbohydrates, proteins and fats. You would be surprised to see the amount of food on my meal plan.
I hear- “I have to eat more so I can loose more?” nearly every time I introduce this concept to a client and it still makes me smile
Check out “The Eat Clean Diet” By Tosca Reno.
I am a Holistic Lifestyle coach and do online meal plans if you need education and help. Teaching this concept is my favourite part of my job as it completely changed my body, mind and life. Let if change yours too.
Your Friend in Food and Fitness,
Sarah Rennick
bodyrevival@hotmail.ca
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