This is a big question and pertinent right now as we hit the festive season.
For many people the thought of the workouts they’ll need to make time for, the food and drink sacrifices they’ll need to make, prevent them even starting.
Maybe an image comes to mind of you drenched in sweat, grimacing in pain in the second hour of your workout session with only some lettuce to look forward to when you finish?
Who wants that? Not me. Not you, and actually that’s not the way to do it.
So sacrifices will you need to make? Well, depends where you’re starting from. If you currently enjoy a cake a day and a bottle of wine, then the changes are going to be big, but the majority of us aren’t starting from that place.
First up let’s stop calling them sacrifices, and call them tweaks. Tweaks that get you a result. That result being that you are healthier, happier, more energised, full of confidence, feeling great when you look in the mirror.
Wouldn’t tweaks be worth making to feel like that?
Firstly let’s look at the exercise part. We don’t want to be training for prolonged periods of time – it’s counter productive. All training will put your body under stress, that needs to be managed so you have progressive results without triggering surges in the stress hormone cortisol.
So, short, intense workouts. Depending on what you want to achieve, two to four 40 minutes or less resistance sessions a week (we want to build muscle to increase our metabolism, improve bone density and maintain our strength as we age – plus it makes you look better!).
To boost our cardiovascular fitness and manage fat levels down, between two and four short (15 – 20 mins max) HIIT sessions a week.
That’s totally do-able for anyone’s schedule and the improvements you’ll get in mood, confidence, energy levels and body shape are immense.
On the food side it’s simply a matter of switching to healthier options, creating a slight daily calorie deficit (if the goal is to lose fat) and going by the 80/20 rule of eating in line with your goals 80% of the time and allowing yourself what you want 20% of the time. Yes, you’ll still get results this way.
It’s definitely not about massive restriction, which only makes you unhappy (the opposite of what we want to achieve), it’s about smarter choices.
A big surprise for clients is how much they can eat once their nutrition is tweaked and supported with workouts.
Personally I’m definitely going to enjoy mince pies, mulled wine and all the other great things that come my way in December, because life’s about balance, which means I also know where to make adjustments in other areas so I don’t put on the pounds.
Life is for living. Educating yourself on living healthy and happy while enjoying life is one of the best things you can do.
So is it time to start thinking about tweaks so you can get more from life?
Drop me a line if you want to know more.