Belly fat, hmph. So stubborn! If you're tired of trying to get rid of it, unsuccessfully, you're in the right place. I'm going to share what you ACTUALLY need to include in your workouts to make your belly look flatter. Plus, I'm very excited to offer you a free full-body-fat-burning-workout session! But first, let's dive into my workout programming secrets...

Switch On Your Inner Corset
Firstly, I teach my clients to engage their deepest core muscles. We do this through core exercises, but they're different from crunches. It takes a little mind-body connection, and when you master this, your abs can start looking great fast, especially as they help improve your overall posture. Standing tall instantly makes you look leaner.

Work Large Muscle Groups
I know you've been told that you can't spot reduce fat, and you probably don't really believe it... well, in addition to switching on your inner corset, here’s why you need to work other parts:
Working out large muscle groups - like your legs with squats or your back with rows - makes you burn loads of calories during a workout. These muscles also need calories to recover, so consumed calories are burned by your muscles instead of being stored as fat. All of my client programs include strength training.

Manage Stress:
Stress increases cortisol, and cortisol causes your body to store fat in your belly. I address this in workouts by including cardio, which is an excellent cortisol burner and a feel-good endorphin releaser, and by finishing each session with a substantial stretching session and restorative yoga.
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Get Started
Now here's the exciting part: if you want to try out this kind of workout with a buddy, for a limited time you can grab a free live workout with me. I will guide you through a full-body fat-burning workout that incorporates all of these elements to help you achieve a flatter belly.
Ready to take the plunge and experience a workout that teaches you to banish that belly fat for good? SIGN UP HERE to secure your spot. Remember to bring a friend and let's get started!

You know what? I secretly look forward to laundry day. It's a non-negotiable-automatic-activity, and I love it because there's no decisions involved; it's just a simple task that happens without fail every Thursday.

I've been pondering how to make exercise feel the same way - like something that is so routine, we don't have to be 'motivated' to do it; it just happens.

To be honest, even though I am a personal trainer,  I'm not the kind of woman who leaps out of bed at dawn all ready for a workout, or one of those fitness enthusiasts who lives and breathes the gym life. So, I HAD to figure out how to make workouts automatic for me too.

This is what I came up with…

Work out at the same times each week

Here’s why:

• Your body starts to associate exercise with a certain time and ramps up to get ready, just like getting hungry at a regular mealtime.
• Just like not having to think about doing laundry, not having to decide when to work out reduces decision fatigue and procrastination. 'I work out on Tuesdays and Saturdays.' Simple.
• You're more likely to actually do the workout because you won't have something else scheduled and other people get used to you being busy at that time.

Those of my clients, who work out with me at the same time each week, have accountability because it’s booked and paid for, but more than that, they have simply repeated the same habit until it’s become automatic.

Those of us who don't have a personal trainer can create our own consistency. A good (habit stacking) strategy is to schedule workouts before or after another commitment, or at an hour that you HAVE to do them because there are no other suitable times.

For example, if you're too tired to walk after work, then you  HAVE to go in the morning. Then you HAVE to be finished in time to leave for work. Or you could walk to your weekly Spanish class so that you are stacking a new habit (walking) to an existing one (Spanish class).

You can make exercise feel automatic by sticking to the same time every week until it simply becomes second nature.

Want to get weekly content like this straight to your inbox? Grab it HERE

Clara xx

We all know that losing weight isn't just about ticking off a checklist of things we "should" do. It's way deeper than that. It's about truly feeling that we deserve to be well and not sabotaging ourselves - so we’re not fighting an uphill battle.

And thank goodness we've got people like Louise Hay to guide us. She was the ultimate self love guru, and her approach was so simple yet so powerful. She was all about self-love, self-acceptance, and building a positive mindset to have as your secret weapon in achieving whatever you want.

Here are some of the concepts Louise Hay taught:

Self-Love and Self-Acceptance

The foundation of Louise’s philosophy is a big dose of self-love and self-acceptance. Once we love ourselves for who we are, we start to want the best for ourselves even while we are changing.


Mindful Eating

Louise believed in tuning into your body’s needs instead of dieting. Like savoring every bite, letting your body tell you when you're full, and truly enjoying your food. Mindful eating can help prevent overeating and promote a healthier relationship with food. She also advocated for consuming natural foods, rather than processed or chemically altered foods.

Letting Go of Negative Emotions

Louise Hay believed in releasing negative emotions, including guilt and shame, which often get tangled up with body image issues. 

Holding on to painful emotions can make us want to eat more to suppress or cope with the pain they cause. On the other hand, letting go of these emotions, makes space for self-acceptance and all the positive change that comes with it.

Positive Affirmations

Louise loved positive affirmations, and honestly, I find them to be like little pep talks that rewire my brain. They can work as gentle nudges to stick to your healthy habits. So, you're not just telling yourself you need to hit the gym; you're telling yourself, "I respect my body by doing workouts I enjoy."

Law of Attraction

This might sound a bit "woo-woo," so it's not for everyone. However, Louise taught that focusing on positive thoughts and emotions attracts positive experiences. For instance, visualizing your body in a state of health and vitality can help it manifest those qualities.

In a Nutshell

Louise Hay's approach is like a wellness cocktail of self-love, affirmations, mindfulness, and embracing the whole you. It's not just about shedding pounds; it's about shedding negativity and setting yourself up for a balanced and fulfilled life.

Want to get weekly content like this straight to your inbox? Grab it HERE 
Clara xx

​Over to you:

What goal would be meaningful to you? How is your goal meaningful to you?
What timeline works for you?
What are you certain you could achieve by this deadline?
Can you picture the exact outcome?
What are the positive outcomes?
How will you measure your progress?

Reframing goals-you-never-reach in this way, removes overwhelm and boosts confidence by giving you a quick win.
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Want to get weekly content like this straight to your inbox? Grab it here: https://bit.ly/FitHeaGorYou

No one wants more belly fat, an uncontrollable appetite and cardiovascular disease!

​High fructose corn syrup makes us gain weight, store belly fat and even lead to a food addiction in some cases!

Too much sugar isn’t great either, but getting off the HFCS roller coaster makes it easier to cut down on the purer forms of sugar.

How HFCS Affects Hunger
HFCS is such an intense form of sweetness that it actually desensitizes our brain and increases appetite. It’s like sugar on steroids. The hunger hormone leptin can no longer tell our body it’s had enough food so we can’t stop eating and gaining weight.

The Negative Health Effects of HFCS
HFCS is converted primarily into fat and triglycerides. People who consume HFCS have 200% higher levels of triglycerides than those who consume glucose and are likely to gain belly fat which puts them at risk of cardiovascular disease - not to mention insulin resistance.

Why HFCS is Addictive?
Our bodies aren’t designed for such intense sweetness so we get a dopamine boost when we consume it. Like all addictive substances (or behaviors) we need more and more, to get the high. Along with caffeine, it’s probably the reason so many people get addicted to soda.

“Just like alcohol, the more HFCS you consume, the more likely you are to develop an addiction—a craving for more food, an inability to stop eating, a preoccupation with the next meal, and withdrawal symptoms when you stop.” By James Greenblatt, MD

So there’s that!
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How to Give up HFCS
Try going without HFCS and see if your mood drops, and if you find yourself turning to something else as a pick-me-up, like caffeine, fast food, or other types of sugar. If you need HFCS to help regulate emotions or energy, you may need to swap over to a more natural form of sugar first, and take it from there.

HFCS is replacing sugar in processed foods, even ones that aren’t traditionally sweet, because it’s cheaper, more concentrated, and works as a preservative. So read your ingredient labels. It is also called maize syrup, glucose syrup, glucose-fructose syrup, tapioca, syrup fruit fructose, crystalline fructose, isoglucose.

The High Fructose Corn Syrup roller coaster of uncontrollable hunger, fat gain and addictive behavior can easily be avoided by not buying food that contains HFCS and even swapping to ‘ordinary’ sugar.

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Clara xx
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Reference

Giving Into Temptation?

It's time to talk about those sneaky short-term pleasures that mess up our weight loss and fitness goals. You know the ones - someone left donuts in the break room, going home to Netflix feels more appealing then hitting the gym or grabbing take out is more tempting than eating what’s in the fridge.

These, in the moment, urges are like shiny objects leading us away from our long term goals. They make us feel good right now at the expense of reaching our long term goals. We know this, so why do we keep falling into this trap?

In short, it's pesky negative thoughts and feelings that make us vulnerable to falling off track. Simple feelings like stress, boredom, or feeling down can trap us into doing things we know we shouldn't.

But we do have the power to take control of these cravings. We can turn around negative thoughts like we do inside the Fit & Fabulous Weight Loss Bundle and we can choose to explore different practical solutions to in-the-moment-urges which I'll talk about here. 

Trust me, it's not easy but it's worth it. Have a healthy snack on hand to help you resist the donuts in the break room. Book a class or 1:1 session at the gym so you HAVE to go after work instead of straight home to Netflix. Or pre-prepare food you enjoy so you have something TASTY to look forward to when you get home. And do these things consistently.

Once you’re willing, really willing, to acknowledge, what you're doing, you can more clearly associate daily actions with negative outcomes. And this can be a great motivator (if a little depressing)! How many cookies are you eating? How much of your diet is sugar or refined carbs? How will you feel in 10 years if you keep this up?

With some serious commitment and self-love, you can kick those short-term pleasures to the curb and stride confidently towards your fitness and health goals!!!

You got this!

Make a plan to master cravings inside the Fit & Fabulous Weight Loss Bundle

​If you're not currently exercising, it can feel intimidating to take the first step, especially if you’re being told repeatedly that you HAVE to join a gym to get fit.
Luckily you can get started in a simple, non intimidating way (without the gym).

First 7 Days
During week one, there's no need to change anything. You can simply observe where you're at so you can set a good goal at the end of the week. Count steps if you have a tracker or just make a note of movement and active hobbies like gardening, cleaning or taking the grandkids to the park.

After 7 Days
After 7 days it’s time to set a small goal. Choose an activity that would be REALLY easy to stick to for the next 30 days, whether it’s something you do daily or 3 times a week. The aim here is to create a small project you can FINISH so you can build up a habit and your confidence. Avoid going from zero to a hundred in the first week and getting burnt out or injured.
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Some people do really well with starting a daily habit like committing to 5 minutes of Pilates each day or a brisk 10-minute walk around your block every morning. Others prefer to commit to something like a weekly exercise class or classes.

The Next 30 days
Now that you are moving more, consume more protein so that your muscles can 'reform' after a workout to begin creating a gorgeous toned body!

An ideal protein intake is 0.68 times your body weight in pounds. For example, if you weigh 180 lbs, aim for around 122 grams of protein per day. 
Moving more plus a higher protein intake, makes your body need more water. Water aids protein digestion, helps post-exercise soreness, and makes exercise easier by lubricating joints and regulating temperature and energy levels. Aim to drink at least half a gallon (64 fl oz) of water per day.

After 30 days
After the initial 30 days you’ll have transformed into someone who exercises! GO YOU! Now it’s time to keep up the momentum by choosing your next goal that excites you and takes into account how this month went.

Summary of Steps

1. Spend 7 days observing how much you move (without changing anything).
2. Set a 30 day goal
3. Complete your goal over 30 days while increasing protein & water
4. Set a new exciting goal

These steps aren't about making drastic changes or instantly transforming your whole body. They're designed to help you form a solid foundation of small wins to build confidence. 
If you want to get started by working out with me, check out 3 personal training sessions.

Want Motivations to Exercise?
Sometimes, finding motivation is as simple as asking yourself a few basic questions and choosing to act.
Here are some of the main inside my free Get Motivated to Move workbook:

#1: Why do you want to exercise?
What is important to you in life, and how does exercise help you achieve your goals in these areas?

#2: What's stopping you?
What are your reasons for not working out, and what fears are holding you back?

#3: What will you do about these obstacles?
Are there ways to overcome your reasons and fears? What steps are you willing to take to finally get moving?
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Want to go deeper with these questions?
Download the short workbook ​HERE

You've got this!
If you want some support download the Weight Loss Mindset Reset  or join me for the Fit & Fabulous Weight Loss Bundle.
Clara xx

Now, here's the step that involves work – EXERCISE. This is the ultimate way to keep your blood sugar levels in check and help your body use sugar instead of storing it as belly fat, etc.

150 minutes a week (2.5 hours) is a good place to start. That' not 150 minutes of workout time. This is simply the minimum amount an active person might MOVE every week.

We need to be active every day. Walking counts, cardio counts, and activities like weeding or simply walking around a museum or supermarket also count, as long as we are generally on our feet.

For a body with a good defense against diabetes, it needs good muscle mass, which unfortunately starts to deteriorate quickly as we age. That's why we have to do resistance training. Only two workouts a week is needed to maintain muscle.

Outside of our workouts, my clients run, walk the dog and do yoga, and some are just super active, walking up and down the steps in the New York subway. Either way, they are active every day in addition to workouts. The 2 hours of workouts they do with me a week covers resistance training, core and mobility training plus cardio to a lesser or greater extent depending what they are working on. 

So, there you have it. There is work involved, but this SIMPLE habit could be started this week if you want to prioritize it

Try:

• Make sure you are doing two resistance workouts a week and being active every day.

​Remember, this habit will not only help you prevent and manage diabetes but also keep you looking and feeling great!
Clara x

​Remember, this habit will not only help you manage diabetes but also keep you looking and feeling great!
Find part 3 here next Friday.

Want to get this blog in a weekly email? Sign up HERE
Clara xx

To get straight to the point - diabetes sucks, and it's something we should all keep in mind because it's not just a blood sugar thing– it's a precursor to a whole bunch of other major diseases and problems. I have 3 simple steps for you.

As you know, diabetes makes us unable to use sugar as energy correctly. It also does WEIRD things like make us store fat in dangerous places like the belly and inside our muscles!

The good news is that because it's a precursor to so many other things, if we can avoid diabetes, we're really setting ourselves up to avoid other really shitty things like heart disease, Alzheimer's, and even cancer.

There are three steps we can take that make a major difference, and two of them don't really require any work!They help us to NOT crave sugar so much so we're not constantly in a battle of wills with desert. We'll look at step 1 here and steps 2 and 3 in subsequent emails. 

STEP 1
The first step is to get enough sleep because lack of good quality sleep messes with our hormones and insulin sensitivity.

It's always on the ‘list of ways to stay healthy,’ but so few people prioritize it. When you think about it, a body deprived of sleep doesn't function optimally, right? If you're rundown from a lack of sleep, your digestion isn't as good, and your immune system is weakened and so forth for every system in the body. Month after month, year after year, it's going to take a toll.

It's easy to research what could be affecting your sleep and to prioritize making changes for the next 30 days to create a habit. 

Remember, this habit will not only help you prevent and manage diabetes but also keep you looking and feeling great!
Find Step 2 here next Friday.
Clara x

​Want to get this blog in a weekly email? Sign up HERE
Clara xx

The more we criticize ourselves, the harder it becomes to make positive changes because it reinforces negative thoughts and ruins our self-esteem! 

Then we're left feeling too beaten down to do anything different.

Louise Hay hit the nail on the head when she taught us to approve of ourselves:

"Criticism locks us into the very pattern we are trying to change. Understanding and being gentle with ourselves helps us move out of it. Remember, you have been criticizing yourself for years, and it hasn't worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens." (You Can Heal Your Life)

Approving of ourselves means we have an inner cheerleader to get us through challenges. We become more resilient and can stay positive even when we are - heaven forbid - not perfect.

So, how do you do this self-approval thing? You could try one of these steps:

1. Notice what triggers self-criticism. Is it when you make a mistake at work or forget to do something?
2. Catch your inner critic in action. Through mindfulness meditation or journaling, observe and note the thoughts that arise when you feel bad about yourself. Challenge these negative thoughts - Is 'I can't get anything right' really true?  Can you find evidence of the opposite?
3. Focus on your strengths to solve problems. Here’s an affirmation, of sorts, I teach to help move clients into action: “I am [my positive qualities] and can easily figure out why I [unwanted behavior] and what to do about it. I can try [actions that make it easier to do/stop doing next time].” For example: “I am resourceful and dedicated and can easily figure out why I keep going to the break room for donuts and what to do about it. I can try taking in my own snack so I am not hungry and taking a walk with a colleague instead of going to the break room.” *Don’t forget to celebrate wins, however small. *More templates are inside the The Fit & Fabulous Weight Loss Bundle
4. List 3 things you are grateful for every day and let one of those things be a personal quality you embody. Google the term - list of personal qualities to get ideas. 
5. Seek people with a positive outlook: Surround yourself with people who uplift you and remind you of your worth. Seek out supportive communities or consider talking to a therapist or counselor.

👆 These kinds of actions can lift us out of discouragement and boost positive feelings.
POSITIVE FEELINGS = ENERGY
Energy that we can use to make the changes we want.

Here's an awesome tip from the book 'Personality Isn't Permanent' by Benjamin P. Hardy, which I might have misremembered. Here's my version:

1. Choose one unhealthy habit you REALLY wish you could stop doing. It could be not getting enough sleep or eating too much sugar - you know, the usual suspects, the ‘shoulds’.
2. Now, imagine yourself looking 10-20 years into the future. Visualize two versions of yourself: one where you successfully stopped doing the habit, and another where you didn't. How did your decision impact your life? Are there any regrets? What are you able or not able to do? What would each version say to you now? Hopefully one will say something like, 'Thank you, I have more energy than my younger friends, I can move well, and I look great!'

The example given in the book is of a very overweight man who identifies eating refined sugar as the habit he wants to give up.
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He sees two distinct directions his life could go in: one where his life resembles that of his overweight parents, who suffer from numerous health problems and live a very limited life physically, and the other is a life of being able to hike and travel freely and live life to the full.

He fully commits and decides that from now on, he is a person who never eats refined sugar. An all-or-nothing approach evidently eliminates the decision fatigue that can sabotage our efforts to change. He takes it a step further and integrates this decision into his identity, delving into the side effects of sugar and exploring other ways to become a healthy person.

You don’t have to take it to that extreme but it's food for thought. Which future self do you want? The one you will have if you keep doing x or the one you will have if you stop?

Before you go, I just wanted to let you know I'm opening up some spaces for one-on-one weight loss coaching. You can try it out with 7 days of coaching and accountability dedicated to helping you START taking concrete steps towards losing 10-15 pounds. Let me know if you’re interested or have any questions.

Want to workout with me? I'm offering Buddy Training  (1:2) and  1:1 Personal Training .

Clara x ​

Trying to out-exercise food, no es bueno.

Neither is OVERDOING anything - like running too much, and then trying to counteract it with a few stretches that can't possibly prevent overuse injuries, or wondering what 5-minute posture exercises you can do to cancel out sitting in an awful position for 12 hours a day. See how it looks when I put it like that?

Ultimately, that's barking up the wrong tree.

None of us have time for ALL THE THINGS we would have to do every day to manage the symptoms we're causing - we'd have to stretch, we'd have to roll - we'd have to walk 10,000 steps before midnight and so on.

So, is there something in your life you just have to learn to do less?

That's today's question for you.

FYI, a box of 12 glazed donuts is 2640 calories. That's 87k steps!

Want to workout with me?  Right now I'm offering Buddy Training  (1:2) and 1:1 Personal Training.

I don't know about you, but I'm a bit scared about what will happen to my body as I get older. I've read all about the importance of bone density and muscle mass, as well as how challenging it can be to lose weight after menopause. In case you're a bit nervous too, I'm sharing what kind of workout programs I do, as a personal trainer, to give me peace of mind that I'm covering all the bases as I age.
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I've dealt with aches and pains from a young age due to a little hyper-mobility, so I've been thinking about these things for a long time.

Here's what my WELL RESEARCHED weekly routine looks like this month:
- I do two pretty intense full-body workouts that include resistance training, core exercises, and a bit of cardio.
- I average 7000 steps a day.

AND THAT'S ALL.

Last month, my weekly routine looked like this:
- 1 run
- 1 core workout
- 1 upper body workout
- 1 yard work session
- An average of 7500 steps a day
(I can create a program for you inside 1:1  Personal Training or Buddy Personal Training).

If you want to create a DIY exercise program that supports aging, here are the most important elements to include:
- Resistance training (along with increased protein intake) to build muscle mass
- 'Core proper' training* See below. 
- Daily activity, such as steps, yard work, or light aerobic exercises
- Management of posture, misalignment, and aches and pains. By including mobility drills, stretches, and self-myofascial release (I usually incorporate these into my warm-ups and cool-downs).

I understand this may seem like a lot. Do you have any questions? Feel free to send me a message. It's always helpful to know what you would like to hear more about in these emails.

So...

I love resistance training because it helps me feel toned and maintain muscle mass, which is essential for keeping my body looking young!

What I mean by resistance training, is adding resistance using dumbbells, resistance bands, or utilizing body-weight exercises like squats or planks.

I value muscles because they will protect me against becoming frail, and they help me burn fat 24 hours a day! They have all these other awesome benefits too, not least of which is feeling strong and confident. I don’t lift heavy and am not trying to look buff. I just do what I need to do to stay healthy.

As for core workouts, the fun thing about doing the right ab exercises is that they switch on the muscles that hold everything in and make my belly look flatter. It's like having a hidden corset!

* I focus on "core proper" workouts, as I like to call them because they involve abdominal muscles, glutes, lower back, hips, and even the inner thighs. The main reason I prioritize core workouts is for stability, so I don’t get as many backaches and can avoid other potential injuries that could make it difficult to exercise.
Oh and active glutes mean no flat butt!

And yes, I can create a program for you. I'm currently offering Buddy Training which is you and a friend plus me or one-on-one Personal Training.

If you have any questions about working with me send a message or book a call. 
Clara x

Want to take control of your weight loss journey and happiness by unlocking the power of a positive mindset? I've got 7 tips to make it easier to get the body you deserve. 

Are you tired of dieting on and off - and the voice inside your head that criticizes you everytime you fall off plan? By employing these 7 mindset hacks, you can get back on track and start ENJOYING the process of developing a healthier, more sustainable weight loss journey. ​

Here's to feeling great about weight loss and accomplishing your goals!
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Successful weight loss starts with a clear vision of what you want to achieve. Take some time to reflect on: who  you want to be, what you want to do, and what you want to have as a result of your weight loss journey.

Take a moment to envision yourself as the best version of yourself - slim, confident, and healthy. How will your quality of life improve? What new experiences will you be able to enjoy? By keeping these aspirations at the forefront of your mind, you can stay motivated and focused on your weight loss journey.
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Having a non-weight loss-related goal to look forward to can provide you with energy and motivation for your weight loss journey. It's important to have something else to keep your spirits up on days when the scale doesn't show the progress you were hoping for. 

My free workbook walks you through the steps to create an exciting and engaging goal.
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We love to overeat. 
We celebrate overeating!.. Thanksgiving meal, birthday cake, a reward for a shitty day...
whatever the reason: we look forward to overeating. 
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​It’s hard to stop (over) eating when you’re bored right? AND we know if you’re trying to lose weight, doing this too often has got to go!

However, missing out on food can make you feel deprived! Having something else to focus on can stop you feeling like crap as a result! Basically, you need some excitement in life that doesn't involve food!

The first step is creating what I like to call the big EXCITING goal. Something so cool it stops food from being the center of attention!

This goal is just for you. Something that really excites you - something you’ve always wanted to do - something that makes your heart race in anticipation. A DOABLE DREAM.  It's the first step to creating a life where you don't need to eat out of boredom. ​

To lose weight once and for all, in a sustainable way, we just need to eat a little less than we burn. 

Easier said than done.

If we feel deprived by eating less we'll only balance it out later by overeating! Especially if we're too restrictive.

Our stubborn inner child wants what we want when we want it. Fair enough, but with food we've got to step in to steer her away with something more enticing - like your big exciting goal!

As well as having exciting things to look forward to, I also recommend taking food out of the equation when you have something else to keep you occupied. 

Friends for example! You can meet friends for a walk or a movie instead of going out for food or drink. 

The same goes for vacations. Having new things to see and do means you can skip overeating. If you choose.

​Life is too short for food to be the main event, especially if you have weight loss goals. Creating a big exciting goal is just one step but it’s a great place to start.

© 2022 Clara Depont. All Rights Reserved..

Exercise gives you a break from stressful thoughts by taking your mind off your issues and releasing tension to create a calmer mind. Repetitive movements can even be meditative and a good stretch sequence after your workout works wonders for body and mind.
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Exercise Improves sleep. Stress puts you on red alert, which understandably doesn’t bode well for quality sleep. When you work out regularly you dissipate some of this stress and can fall asleep and stay asleep easier. Sleep is really important for weight loss too and it’s one of my 7 steps to permanent weight loss

Exercise boosts your self-esteem. Stress saps your confidence by, in short,  increasing nervousness. Some of this ‘nervous energy’ can be released during workouts to calm you down. In addition, simply showing up for yourself and seeing progress spills over to other areas of life and helps you navigate stressful situations easier.
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Reduces Overeating. ​

Want to lose weight once and for all? These 7 simple habits will help curb your appetite and optimize your body for fat loss. Lets' dive straight in.

# 1 Fuel up on protein
Muscle burns 3 times as many calories as fat. Therefore, the more muscle you have, the more calories, and thus fat, your body burns throughout the day. 
The amino acids in protein help you build and maintain this muscle. After strength training, muscle fiber breaks down and is restored with the help of amino acids. As an added bonus, protein also helps you recover quicker from workouts and feel less sore!

Eating protein speeds up your metabolism because it uses up calories to digest and metabolize. This keeps your digestive system busy and thus reduces your appetite too. 

The western diet has us filling up on carbs, leaving little room for protein so it tends to take a conscious effort to make high protein choices especially if you have a vegetarian diet. Plant based sources of protein tend to have a lot less protein pound for pound than meat and dairy sources. You can get some ideas for high protein foods here

# 2 Eat Fiber

Eating plenty of fiber helps you maintain a calorie deficit  by keeping you feeling full. 

Insoluble fiber helps stave off hunger pangs and soluble (viscous) fiber dissolves and reduces your body’s ability to absorb fat among other awesome things! 

Fiber is associated with keeping us regular, which is a sad reflection of how bad our western diets are! But fiber provides a whole host of wonderful benefits such as detoxing you naturally and maintaining strong bones . Check out some more here 

Find a balance of both soluble and insoluble that works for you and aim to build up to a total of 25g overall. 

# 3 Drink Water

Drinking enough water, like eating fiber & protein, can help you lose weight automatically

Water reduces your appetite because dehydration can be confused with hunger, and water also helps you feel full with zero calories. Drinking it before meals, for example, reduces your appetite for food. In addition, being fully hydrated means you feel less stressed and can make better food decisions.  

Water helps you build calorie burning muscle faster during exercise by improving electrical triggers for muscle contraction. It also helps your workouts overall by allowing sweat to keep you cool and lubricating joints

Drinking cold water even boosts your metabolism while your body burns calories to warm it up!

# 4 Do compound strength exercises

The more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism and the more calories you burn throughout the day. This doesn’t mean bulking up, it just means getting more toned through strength training.

Compound strength exercises optimize your body for fat loss by building more muscle overall and burning more calories during the workout itself by engaging more than one muscle. Some examples of compound exercises are squats, deadlifts and push ups. Get some personal training sessions to learn how.

# 5 Prioritize sleep

​A good night’s sleep sets you up for successful weight loss by helping you make better food choices and leaving you with more energy to be active. 

When you get enough sleep, the hormones ghrelin & leptin let you know when you’re hungry and full so it’s easier to say no to high calorie foods. If you’ve had a really bad night’s sleep and you feel hungry all day, that is why.. 

With more energy you’ll move more throughout the day and ace those scheduled workouts (and recover from them quicker). Also, your mood is less likely to drop so you’re less likely to reach for that high calorie mood pick me up.

# 6 Journal
You can get really clear on your personal challenges when it comes to reaching your target weight.

Journaling keeps your weight loss goal at front of mind by helping you stay focused on why you want to lose weight. It’s a safe place to cheer yourself on and reflect on how much you're eating and why and on what else could bring you joy and comfort instead of food. It’s also a place to process difficult emotions so you don’t eat to block them out.

# 7 Move throughout the day

Staying active throughout the day burns more calories than your workouts because it’s the lion’s share of your day. 

And here’s the thing, women who exercise for 60 minutes a day keep weight off long term. They did some big research on this. 60 minutes a day can be a workout,  5 minutes of exercise here and there OR a walk, gardening, playing with the grandkids or getting up from your desk every hour. 

The ‘150 mins of activity a week’ guidance from the FDA is not weight loss or weight maintenance advice: “while clearly sufficient based on data from many studies to lower the risk of developing chronic diseases, is insufficient for weight-gain prevention, without restricting caloric intake.” link

If you’re moving, you're not sedentary - your heart rate’s a little bit higher. You’re probably not going to be eating out of boredom or because your mood is low. You’re probably doing something that is engaging you or at least keeping you busy. 

Are you struggling to fit workouts into your life? Do you need structure and accountability to workout consistently? Do you want expert guidance on the right exercises and stretches for you as an individual?​
Check out 12 weeks to fit & Fabulous my online live 1:1 personal training for women or start now with the 3 session kick start package.

Are you wondering if you should add workouts to your busy schedule or to just skip dessert?  
 
Well... here’s the scoop on the unsung benefit of exercise for weight loss
​

Exercise, especially resistance training, makes your body want healthier foods. It makes dietary changes more tolerable and sets you up for significant weight loss that can be maintained over time. 

In addition, when your muscles have been worked, consumed calories go towards helping them recover instead of being stored as fat.
 
The idea is to focus on exercise first and ultimately it will be easier to make better food choices. It's not that you can eat crap and exercise it off. Sorry about that… 
 
BUT
 
Your body will develop more gorgeous toned muscles and lose fat. So there’s that!
​

Cue my husband “Are you a personal trainer writing an article to put people off exercise?” 
 
Nah. But let’s consider this-

“You can easily eat hundreds of calories in minutes, but depending on the activity, it can take hours or more to burn these calories". Noom

Or more specifically - “A single slice of pizza, for example, could undo the benefit of an hour's workout. So could a cafe mocha or an ice cream cone.” Vox

Do you feel justified in the extra calories? I don’t know about you but if I don’t make a conscious effort to think about whether I NEED the calories there’s no stopping me!​​​
​

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" Mary Oliver
 
I’m guessing, like me, you don't want to backtrack when you've worked hard on something. Maintaining weight loss is easier than losing it so let’s get there and stay there. 
 
Showing up for yourself daily by working out keeps weight loss front of mind for long term success regardless of whether that’s walking or hard workouts.

“Ninety percent of people who lose significant weight and keep it off exercise at least one hour a day, on average.” David Prologo 

General activities like walking, gardening and being active count too towards that hour.
 
​As an awesome bonus, you may have the positive influence of other people at the gym or your trainer which, if you’re exercising daily may influence your food choices. Win win.

Feeling too low to workout?

Exercise helps with low mood and depression… BUT... it can feel like the hardest thing in the world to get started when you're down. 
It’s a vicious cycle. You don’t feel like moving because you feel low. Your hormones get messed up because you're not moving and that makes you feel even less like doing anything!
So what to do? 
When you're feeling low you can pick a tiny habit that you are 100% sure you can complete daily. Pick something so small that you can muster up the energy to do it no matter how you're feeling. For example - it could be a 5 min stretch routine and/or walk around the block.
What you feel you can stick to will be very unique to you. Choose what works for you.
To sum up. Your mission - should you choose to accept it - is -

1. Pick a habit you know 100% you will be able to do for the next 7 days NO MATTER how you're feeling
2. Write it down somewhere you can see it or in an app
3. Do it and tick it off each day
4. ​When you're done, pick a new habit or extend the current one

​This helps three fold -

• You'll get a dopamine hit once you've ticked off the task, however small.
  
• Your body will be happy it moved! - bodies are supposed to be in motion a whole lot and will feel all wrong if it's not
  
• You'll help regulate your blood sugar so you won't get so many food related low moods

Of course, the more you exercise the more pronounced these outcomes are but... if you jump in the deep end with crazy intense workouts that leave you feeling like crap and unable to do anything the next day,  your depression will kick your butt!

I promise if you start with something doable, you can build on it and start to have regular exercise as one of your happy mood buoyancy aids!