strive For 5' For Fat Loss!

In order to lose body fat, take control of your body shape and get fitter, it’s not just a case of ditching junk food and doing a little more exercise. Yes, implementing both of these strategies will help you make a good start, but in honesty, there are actually 5 elements that need to be addressed if you hope to shed fat fast and keep it off for the long term.
 
These 5 elements are as follows;
 
1. Preparation
2. The Right Mindset
3. Nutrition
4. Exercise
5. Lifestyle
I could bump this number up to 9, but believe me, 5 is enough to be going on with.
 
For my Personal Training clients, I simply add in the other 4, to merge with the current 5.
 
First comes Preparation.
 
Without a plan your fitness program is going nowhere fast. It might go somewhere, but it will be at a desperately disappointing pace. You need a plan – period. Before I even begin to train any of my personal clients, I ensure that they already have several systems in place, to ensure as smooth a ride as possible, as they begin to make changes to their lives and their bodies.
 
First thing you need to do is set yourself 3 goals – things you’d like to achieve during the course of your fitness program. Make sure they contain values, figures or definable measures. Don’t be vague. ‘I want to lose weight’ is vague. ‘I want to lose 12 pounds in 6 weeks’ is far more focused and it has a definable value that you can set as your goal. It’s also realistic – 2 pounds per week, for 6 weeks. Wanting to lose 2 stone in a fortnight is not!
 
It’s in your interest to right down your goals. Share them with family and friends and then display them somewhere they’ll be seen on a daily basis. Read them, memorise them and keep them in the forefront of your mind. Never lose sight of what it is you want.

Next, create a social support group for yourself. By this I mean making friends and family aware of what you’re looking to achieve and getting them on-side, so that they can do everything in their power to help you stay on the right track. Without this support system in place, you are more likely to be tempted to give up, slack off or eat the wrong food and drink without anyone around you being any the wiser. Make yourself accountable to others and suddenly you have to make change.
 
As part of their preparation, I also ask clients to keep a food diary or journal, so that they become accountable for and aware of everything that they eat and drink. This is a vital step in the fat loss process and yet such a simple thing to do. Yes, it involves writing things down on a daily basis, but you wouldn’t believe how often people forget the vital details when you ask them what they’ve eaten as soon as this morning’s breakfast!
 
Keeping a food diary makes the client responsible for their eating and drinking and makes it harder for them to kid themselves that their diet is ‘pretty healthy’. I have seen grown men and women gasp when they see the evidence for themselves on paper, and start to realise that by calling their diet ‘healthy’ they’ve really been kidding themselves!
 
Next up is element number 2 – the right mindset.
 
Again, unless this is addressed from the start, it’s far harder to get someone to stick to a plan and see it through. Most people don’t like hard work. They want things easy and they want them now. Well, I’m sorry to break it to you, but changing your body shape, losing fat and becoming a healthier eater are not things you can alter overnight. These changes need to be done in stages, and they require patience and long term commitment.
 
You have what it takes to succeed. Don’t let your thoughts tell you otherwise! Success will involve stepping out of your comfort zone and making changes to your lifestyle, but the sooner you do, the sooner you’ll realise that anything is possible, with a little hard work and determination.
 
Tell yourself that you WILL achieve your goals and don’t let anyone (including yourself) tell you any different! Think positively and don’t make room for negativity.    
 
Being in shape isn’t just about improving the way your body looks. What’s just as important is how exercise makes you feel, how you begin to move more comfortably, how your breathing becomes less strained and how your mood lifts. Look upon improved body shape as an added bonus.
 
Work with what you have. Physically we’re all different. Learn to feel good about yourself. Start by focusing on a part of your body that you like. See the good in your current body and then focus on improving the parts that you don’t like. With exercise these ‘problem’ areas don’t need to be permanent.
 
Look at the bigger picture. Know where to find positive, instead of always looking for negative. See where you want to be - in better health and full of energy - as positives. Don’t perceive them to be distant goals that will take forever to attain - negatives. Seeing the route to a healthier you as a long journey will only jeopardise your progress.
 
The third element that needs to be addressed is your eating – Nutrition.
 
If you want to lose fat FAST you’ve got to get tough with your eating. Adopting a ‘softly softly’ approach doesn’t work. As the saying goes; ‘give someone an inch and they’ll take a mile’.
 
If you’re serious about changing the shape of your body and getting results from your fitness program, then you have to make some big decisions about your daily diet.
 
Nutrition is only as complicated as you make it. Stick to real foods 90% of the time and you’ll see great fat loss results that last. Start adding in too many fake foods - processed foods, caffeine, alcohol and cheap carbohydrates loaded with sugar and fat and you have a problem. Keep things simple and your body will change shape. THAT is a guarantee!
 
Your body may be a genetic feat of engineering but it has simple tastes when it comes to food. You’re designed to live off the land, much like your caveman ancestors. To maintain optimal health, you need adequate amounts of protein, carbohydrates and fat in your daily diet.
 
Protein should come primarily from animals – including meat, fish and eggs, and in more recent times, a small amount of quality cheese and dairy. Protein can also be gained from nuts and seeds. Protein is needed for your body’s growth and maintaining lean muscle.  
Most of your carbohydrates should come from plants, in the form of vegetables and a far smaller amount from fruit and grains. If you have excess fat to lose, grains such as bread, rice, pasta and crackers should be kept to a minimum. Carbohydrates are needed for energy.
 
Finally, you need fat in your diets for hormonal balance and healthy cells, but only from good sources. Your body cannot produce the essential fatty acids that you need, so this must come from foods such as avocado, quality oils, nuts, seeds and fish.
 
Though you may not realise it, most of you actually require a greater amount of protein, more vegetables (along with a small amount of fruit), less grains, and more good quality fats, to maintain good health.
 
In a nutshell – anything that didn’t originate from the soil or a living animal is not ideal for consumption, whether your goal is fat loss or improved health. Every time you pick up a ready meal, a packet soup, a naked product or a pack of biscuits, you plan to eat something the body was not designed to digest. Add a whole range of chemicals, additives and E numbers to these ‘foreign’ products (designed to add flavour and lengthen shelf life), and you have a toxic mixture that is slowly spreading disease and malnutrition to every living cell in your body.
 
Artificial sugar, man-made fats, colourings, stabilisers, preservatives… all of these elements and more are added to many of the ‘foods’ that we consume these days. Many of us are unwittingly pushing ourselves into bad health, convinced that if supermarkets sell these man-made potions then they can’t be that bad for us. Think again.
 
‘Live a little!’ you might think. Fair enough. The odd ‘fake’ food here and there won’t kill you, but in this day and age of long working hours, tight deadlines, stress and exhaustion, you need to rely more than ever on good nutrition to maintain your health and keep bodyfat levels down!
 
Many of you feel you don’t have the time to eat fresh produce, cook quality foods or food shop regularly. You search out quick food fixes, requiring little preparation and instant satisfaction, at the expense of your health and waistline. Many of you look towards food for comfort rather than health. It’s time to stop this habit and get back to healthy eating!
 
Number 4 in the list of 5 fat loss elements is the sweating part – exercise.
 
Now, if I’m honest, 90% of the exercising population don’t know what to do to get optimal results. They think they need to do lots of cardio, spend hours in the gym and for those more enthusiastic people among you, train like a bodybuilder to get into shape. No, no and no. In as little as 40-45 minutes, 3 times a week, you can achieve great physical results, without needing to live like a nun.
 
You simply need to know how to train effectively. Going into the ins and outs of effective training is way beyond the confines of this article, but to get a better idea of what I would recommend, I suggest visiting my website. The address can be found at the bottom of this article. Here you can download my FREE fat loss guide that will give you the information you need to exercise effectively and quickly.