SET THE TABLE OR HIRE A TRAINER?

THESE PAST FEW WEEKS IT HAS BECOME ABUNDANTLY CLEAR THAT THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE LOOKING TO LOSE WEIGHT ARE NOT ACTUALLY LOOKING IN THE DIRECTION THAT WILL HELP THEM GET AND KEEP THE RESULTS THEY ARE LOOKING FOR. TO SUCCESSFULLY LOSE WEIGHT, IMPROVE OVERALL HEALTH AND WELLNESS AND KEEP THOSE RESULTS FOR LIFE, YOU NEEDN'T GO ANY FARTHER THAN YOUR KITCHEN. OUR WEIGHT AND MUCH OF OUR INTERNAL HEALTH IS MADE IN THE KITCHEN, NOT IN THE GYM. TO THE TUNE OF BETWEEN 70 -80%.

Now before we dive a little deeper here, let me just preface this by saying in no way am I ever telling anyone to not exercise. Quite the opposite in fact. We all need to get up and move our bodies daily to keep muscles strong, joints flexible, bones dense, heart and lungs healthy, relieve stress, eliminate toxins and increase energy. And this goes for anyone at any age. But to get the results you want and need when it comes to weight loss, hiring a trainer and relying on how many calories you can burn off in a workout, only serves you as long as you can continue to do the workout.

You've all heard, or maybe have even been one, of those people who've said, “When I played (enter your sport of choice here) I could eat anything I wanted and never gain an ounce.” Right? They trained or worked out or were just so active all the time that they were able to burn off the extra calories they were taking in. The problem with this is that at some point we stop being that elite athlete, or life situations change and we don't have the time to dedicate to those activities the way we used to and then the number on the scale starts to creep up.

As with everything, you get out of something what you put into it, and our bodies are a prime example. Just like your car, what you put in the tank and how much, when you change fluids and how regularly maintenance is done, all determine how well and how long that vehicle will last. Our body is our one-and-only vehicle that drives us through life and the same principles apply. Food is our foundation and we are what we eat. Even more accurate, we are what our bodies can metabolize. If we are consistently making poor food choices, skipping meals or overeating, exercise may work for you at that moment in time, but in the long term, no workout can out work a bad diet. Period.

There are, of course exceptions to every rule and again, I'm sure we all know someone who, regardless of their age, what they eat, how much they exercise or not, just doesn't seem to gain weight. That would be a person with an ectomorph body type. We all fall into one of three categories, ectomorph – someone who has difficulty putting on weight; endomorph – someone who gains weight easily and finds it more of a challenge to lose weight; and mesomorph – somewhere in the middle of each of the others where they can gain or lose about the same. Most of us envied that skinny girl in high school who ate a chocolate bar everyday, or the 40 year old guy now who enjoys pizza and beer without the gut that goes with it. These “skinny fat” people often have a very high percentage of body fat which puts them at risk for a variety of lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, heart attack, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc.

The best way to lose the weight, turn on metabolism and burn fat is to eat PFC (protein, fat, carb) balanced meals, every three to four hours throughout the day. Combine that with about three litres of water per day to flush out the fat and toxins, hydrate your cells and energize your brain and you will not only lose that extra weight, you will also be increasing your overall health and supporting healthy brain function. Once you have the food all lined up and fuelling your body regularly, adding the exercise will not only give you all the benefits mentioned above, it will allow you to improve your fitness lever and refine your results. Weight loss is determined in the kitchen and your fitness is made in the gym.