Healthy eating (even dieting!) does not always have to be about imposing strict limitations on yourself or feeling deprived. The cornerstone of a healthy diet is replacing processed food with nutrient-dense whole foods high in protein. Being able to practice creativity and flexibility in your food and ingredient choices will give you a balanced and deprivation-free lifestyle – it is not just about chicken breast and broccoli!
Have a light nutritious snack and drink plenty of water before heading to an event.
Weddings, catchup sessions or weekend events can be a nightmare when dieting. Filling ourselves up with light snacks such as a piece of fruit, some egg whites or lean proteins and plenty of water can help to stop us from binging or ordering extra French fries. Plan your total daily calories to leave enough to cover you for evening events.
Healthy eating (even dieting!) does not always have to be about imposing strict limitations on yourself or feeling deprived. The cornerstone of a healthy diet is replacing processed food with nutrient-dense whole foods high in protein. Being able to practice creativity and flexibility in your food and ingredient choices will give you a balanced and deprivation-free lifestyle – it is not just about chicken breast and broccoli!
A great fat loss tip which I have found very useful is ensuring that you weigh yourself and record it diligently every morning. This ensures that you start the day in the right mindset and are therefore more likely to adhere to any diet you may be attempting.
During festive seasons, if you are eating snacks, eat one or two outside but do not take any back home. Design an environment that is hard for you to have any junk food within reach – doing this can greatly reduce your calorie intake!
It can be daunting to be on a diet during a festive season, but if you do indulge then simply get back on track immediately afterwards. Exercising will also help. For me personally these 2 things helped a lot:
For the majority of us “regular Joes” the most important thing that people forget when trying to get in shape is to also remember to rest, chill and have fun, and I don’t mean just between sets at the gym.
The effect of cortisol caused by mental or physical stress takes a real toll on your body and can massively hinder your progress as well as making it harder to maintain muscle mass.
Take time to relax and unwind, unplug yourself from your responsibilities and do something that isn’t work-related that you enjoy, whether that’s walking your dog or taking your kids for a bike ride on the parks around Singapore!
My tip to reduce calories when dieting is to ask for any dressings or sauces on the side. Salads are a common choice when it comes to dieting but people tend to forget that dressings and sauces are laden with fat and calories. Asking for them on the side, you can add as little or as much to your meal as you need to without blowing your calories.
To avoid getting hungry and overeating while dieting I recommend stocking up on low calorie, filling snacks as one of the most sensible things you can do. How many times have you overeaten or made poor choices because you got too hungry? By snacking in between meals, you will make better decisions at lunch and dinner since you won’t feel starving.
Protein bars, canned tuna, fruit, or yogurts are great options to keep in your office desk or pantry.
A big part of losing fat comes from actually dieting properly. Dieting properly means having control over your caloric and nutritional intake.
How do we do this efficiently? We start with the basics; track everything. Knowing exactly what and how much we are taking in is essential to any diet.
You can start with taking photos of meals for your coach, using a tracking app such as MyFitnessPal, or simply logging nutritional values from food labels. Soon you’ll start to understand the nutritional values of foods and then planning food for the day gets much easier.
If you aren’t already tracking your food and drinks, start now!
Nutrition is obviously the one of the biggest issues for losing body fat. We need to be able to control our appetite and in order to do this it is helpful to prepare our meals in advance and to learn what portion sizes should look like.
If you have a nutrition plan, measure the weights and amounts of every single food and put them out on a plate so that you can see and memorize how the meal should look. I find it easiest to do this by using a divided place. Yes, it takes some time at first but it’s only for the first few times. Afterwards your brain remembers how much food you need without thinking. No stress and very easy!
One of my favorite ways to lose weight is to cut back on sugar and starches or, in other words, refined carbohydrates.
Refined carbs lack essential nutrients such as fibre, protein and healthy fats, and instead they feed the body with fast calories and sugar highs. If the body is lacking nutrients, it will never feel full and satisfied, thus causing you to consume or crave more food.
Another benefit of cutting carbs is that it lowers insulin levels, helping reduce inflammation which allows your body to expel excess water out of your body. This reduces bloat and unnecessary water weight, making weight loss significantly easier.
When it comes to weight training, I strongly recommend trying to maintain training intensity. This is where having a good personal training coach comes in handy.
If I’m trying to get super lean for a competition I usually do some cardio before meals to make sure my body has ‘space in the tank for fuel’.
*Results will vary from individual to individual
**Results are based on each client’s circumstances.
