The Top 4 Times People Go Off-Plan with Their Nutrition

As much as people can try to follow a healthy diet plan, there are some times where they can go off-course. As a personal trainer in South East London, I have found that there are 4 times my clients are most likely to slip.

In these situations, I offer some key techniques to help my clients stay on track with their nutrition.

When Friends Are Around

If you have friends around, you want to offer snacks and nibbles for them to enjoy. However, if they aren’t also following a nutrition plan, it can be difficult to offer snacks of carrot sticks! As a personal trainer in South London, I offer some trays of nuts to friends, as well as maybe some lentil chips and a healthy hummus dip. I can then stick to my healthy eating plan while they get to enjoy some tasty snacks.

When Alcohol is Involved

I simply recommend that if a client is following a healthy diet plan, that they limit their alcohol intake. The unhealthy eating only seems to come into play after a heavy night of drinking. As a personal trainer in Canary Wharf, I recommend that not only should they stick to just a few alcoholic beverages on a night out, but to have a good meal beforehand, in order to keep cravings at bay.

When Tired

When we are tired, our hormones are imbalanced and this causes us to crave sugary junk foods. I simply insist that all my clients ensure that they get a good night’s sleep. A poor sleep regime will throw your eating plan off course and affect your ability to exercise.

When Staying Up Late at Night

When staying up late at night, we can often get the urge for a “midnight snack”. As a personal trainer in Canary Wharf, I recommend that clients do not eat after 8pm. If you think you feel hungry, get up, have a walk around the house and drink a glass of water. When you sit back down, the notion will have passed! The truth is, often you’re not actually hungry late at night, just bored. Watch out and be prepared for this 4 situations and you'll find it much easier to stick to your healthy eating plan.

A Great Weight Loss Breakfast: Essential Components

Losing weight can be an amazing thing and in some cases can save (or prolong) your life. But let’s make one thing perfectly clear: this is not an “ends justify the means” situation.

Do not skip breakfast

You should not be starving yourself or attempting to survive on an all-lettuce diet. So don’t skip breakfast – just choose a healthy and nutritional option that will keep you in great health while helping you lose weight.

Here are some tips for a good breakfast to help you lose weight, based on my many years of working as a personal trainer in South London:

1. Contains protein

Regular intake of protein is crucial and has a huge influence over the success of your goal to lose weight. Protein increases hormones which burn fat and also slows the speed at which sugar enters your blood stream. It's very filling and will leave you full and satisfied until you next meal.

Make sure to include a source of protein in your breakfast. Eggs, fish (mackerel on toast is my breakfast of choice at the moment) and low-fat yoghurt are good sources of protein in a traditional breakfast. If you're adventurous then leave tradition behind, get your day started properly with chicken or any other great source of protein.

2. Include fruit and vegetables

Fruits, and especially vegetables, are your friends. Low in calories and full of vitamins, minerals and essential dietary fibres, you should get as much fruit and veg as you can. This is the place to splurge yourself! One my Crystal Palace personal trainers is a devotee of berries – and indeed this small fruit is not only delicious but also packed with antioxidants and dietary fibres, aiding in digestion and overall health.

3. Don't overdo calories

Enough calories are important, but excess calories are the leading cause of weight gain. Try to cut down on calorie dense foods such as carbohydrates and full-fat dairy – one or two slices of toast are more than enough, and if you’re covering it in a thick layer of butter – one is probably too much…

4. Drink water

Drink water rather than sweetened beverages. Even fruit juice, which is often regarded as a healthy drink, contains a lot more sugar than you need and drinking too much contributes to weight gain. So have a glass of water – it’s good for you. Years of working as a personal trainer in South London have taught me that consuming sweetened beverages is one of the most common obstacles to weight loss. Start your day on a healthy note with a vegetable omelette, or at the suggestion of my berry-loving personal trainer from Crystal Palace, go with some berries (obviously) and low fat yogurt. There are plenty of other options out there – just make sure you follow these 4 guidelines.

Weight Loss: Useful and Inexpensive Home Exercise Equipment

When a client comes to me for personal training in London Bridge, I also recommend that they do some exercise outside of our training sessions. Now, many think at first that means that they have to sign up to a gym. However, as I always tell them, you can do a great training session in the comfort of your own home with some useful, inexpensive home exercise equipment.

1.Exercise Mat

These inexpensive piece of equipment has many uses and can easily be stored away in your home. You can use an exercise mat to do yoga or pilates, great workouts for toning the body. You can also use an exercise mat for doing core exercises such as planking and sit-ups. Clients who come to me for personal training in London Bridge find that the exercise mat helps them to create a workout atmosphere, as we use them in our sessions for various exercises.

2.Kettlebells

As a personal trainer in SE16, I am a big fan of kettlebells. They are an inexpensive yet versatile piece of home exercise equipment. You can use them as dumbbells, to work specific muscles or for kettlebell exercises, which offer total body strength training. They are great for helping to improve posture too. They are easily stored – mine often doubles up as a door stop! I recommend an 8kg weight kettlebell for women and a 16kg for men, just to start out with.

3.Skipping Rope

Skip in your garden, your bedroom or your kitchen. Wherever or whenever you skip, you are conducting a great cardio workout. Skipping can burn anything from 110 to 200 calories every ten minutes and so can be a great exercise for those who are trying to lose weight. If you find yourself getting bored after a few minutes, try to do some tricks. This will certainly make the exercise a little more interesting and bump up the workout intensity.

As a personal trainer in SE16, sometimes I workout at home myself. These three items are enough to make sure those workouts are time well spent.