How to lose weight and keep it off with Slimming World

If you’ve decided that you want to lose weight it’s tempting to opt for one of the quick-fix fad diets which promise a rapid weight loss such as the ‘Master Cleanse’ or ‘Cabbage Soup Diet’; however these regimes are not a sensible, healthy option and any weight loss is likely to be regained with interest as soon as you resume your previous eating habits.

Food Optimising - a healthy approach to eating

The bottom line is that if you want to lose weight and maintain the loss you need to alter your eating habits for the better, stick to them for life and introduce some form of exercise into your daily routine.

Joining a slimming group can help to give you a kick-start to form healthy eating-habits, providing support and guidance throughout the weight-loss journey. There are many slimming classes around but I would recommend Slimming World, having been a member myself, finding it effective and easy to adapt to suit the whole family.

Food Optimising - a healthy approach to eating

Slimming World is all about ‘Food Optimising’, basically this means eating an abundance of ‘free foods’ which are unrefined and unprocessed foods such as fruit and vegetables, meat, fish, poultry, rice, pasta, pulses, eggs, fat-free yogurts and very low fat cottage cheese - literally as much as you like; keeping to a daily allowance of bread, cereals and dairy foods; and counting everything else as a ‘Syn’.  When you join you are given a booklet which lists all foods and explains how to go about optimising what you eat and if you are unsure about anything your consultant is on hand to guide you.

Eat plenty of healthy foods

Each day you decide if you are going to follow Green, Red or Extra-Easy...

Green - unlimited eggs, rice, pasta, pulses, baked beans, potatoes, fruit, vegetables, salad, fat-free yogurts, very low fat cottage cheese; plus two A choices (dairy) and two B choices (lean meat, fish, poultry, bread, cereal).

This option is for vegetarians and also suits anyone who is not a big meat eater but loves to fill up on carbs such as pasta and rice.

Red - unlimited eggs, lean meat, fish, poultry, fruit, vegetables, salad, fat-free yogurts, very low fat cottage cheese; plus two ‘Healthy Extra’ A choices (dairy) and two ‘Healthy Extra’ B choices (rice, pasta, pulses, potatoes, bread, cereal).

This option is great for carnivores, most men seem to prefer it!

Extra Easy - unlimited lean meat, fish, poultry, rice, pasta, pulses, potatoes, fruit, vegetables and salad, eggs and fat-free yogurts; plus one ‘Healthy Extra’ A choice (dairy) and one ‘Healthy Extra’ B choice (bread, cereal).

This is ideal for anyone who loves their meat and carbs together, but you have to take into account that you can only have one A and one B Healthy Extra, so either milk or cheese not both and bread or cereal not both. Personally I’d recommend getting to grips with Red and Green days to start with before moving onto this plan, but you can chose this plan if you prefer, or, go extra-easy at weekends as it allows you a bit more freedom of choice.

Healthy Extras

It’s important to try to use up your A and B allowances as they can’t be carried over to the next day.  I drink a lot of tea, so I use my milk allowance in cuppas throughout the day; or with my cereal allowance if I don’t fancy a cooked breakfast and I like to use my cheese allowance grated on top of pasta and vegetable sauce.  I would use my bread allowance if I wanted to take a sandwich to work for lunch.  You should eat regularly and until you feel fully satisfied, it’s not a deprivation diet.  If you’ve been on fad diets in the past it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you should be feeling hungry all the time.

Be a 'Synner'

Be a 'Synner'

Of course sticking to the ‘good’ foods might get a bit boring and you would be liable to fall off the wagon, so you’re allowed between 5-15 ‘Syns’ per day, this can any type of food or drink you like. Your booklet lists all the ‘Syn’ values; you can either include them as part of a meal, e.g. a sauce or gravy to go with your meat and vegetables, or as a treat such as chocolate or a G&T! If you can manage without ‘Syns’ for a few days they can be saved up which is great if you like to have a few glasses of wine on a Saturday night, or Sunday lunch with the family.

Its not rocket science

Obviously this diet works because you are cutting out all processed and fatty foods, unless you include them as ‘Syns’; and the high ‘Syn’ value of ‘goodie’ foods means that they can’t be consumed in large quantity. The emphasis is on cooking meals from scratch with free foods; you could make a delicious homemade soup which would be free, but a tin of vegetable soup could be 15 ‘Syns’ (depending on make/size), therefore being organised and making homemade soup will save your ‘Syns’.

How do I join

Slimming World classes are held all over the UK and Ireland and there are now groups in the US. There’s a joining fee of around £10 although special offers are often available, you pay a weekly fee, of around £5, to attend class. You have to pay for weeks that you don’t turn up, although you can book up to six weeks ‘holiday’ each year. When you reach your target you can attend classes free of charge as long as you keep the weight off.

Slimming World is suitable for everyone, no matter how much or little weight you have to lose. You receive an award (sticker and certificate) for each half-stone lost and there is a ‘Club 10’ award when you’ve lost 10% of your starting weight. You decide your target weight, but this has to be within a healthy BMI range. At each meeting you are weighed, which can take a little time if a lot of people attend the class, but gives you time to have a chat and a cuppa with the other members. After weighing you can stay for the ‘Body Image’ session; the consultant reads out each person’s loss/gain that week and to date (your actual weight is never divulged) and asks you to share what seems to be working, or, where you may have gone wrong. Prizes are given to the slimmer of the week; usually a selection of healthy foods such as fruit brought along by members.

Body Magic

Lose weight more quickly

Slimming World encourages members to incorporate gentle exercise into daily routine and there is a Body Magic progress chart included in your joining pack, where you can record any physical activity you complete, however I found that exercise was not the main focus of the meetings and was only discussed in passing, in fact ‘no exercise required’ is a selling point. I think this is a great shame because exercise is without doubt key to aiding weight loss and living a healthy life.

Slimming World - Pros and Cons

Pros

• It’s a great way to start to eat healthily with the emphasis on cooking from scratch using fresh ingredients.
• There is limited weighing/measuring of certain foods and free foods can be consumed freely.
• ‘Syn’ values make you aware of what is good to eat and what should be avoided, although most is common sense, seeing the ‘Syn’ value of your favourite ‘junk’ foods makes you think twice about eating them.
• If you find it difficult to diet on your own a group might offer the additional support you need.

Cons

• If you and a partner are attending each week it can be expensive (around £40 per month), but still may be cheaper than buying lots of take-away food!
• It can be expensive to buy fresh fruit and vegetables at the supermarket, but this shouldn’t be a problem if you learn to buy what’s in season and shop at markets instead of supermarkets.
• There is not enough emphasis on exercise and physical activity,
• There can be a lot of waiting around after weighing in for Image Therapy to start, especially at peak times e.g. New Year.
• You need to be organised, decide what you plan to eat and stick to it; you can’t start on a Red day and change to a Green day at lunchtime.
• If you don’t stick to the plan and go back to your old eating habits you will regain the weight.

I think that the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages and if you ‘Food Optimise’ for a few weeks you will definitely see results and feel more energised without ever feeling hungry.

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W E I G H T L O S S

Positive thoughts produce positive results. The only problem is that some of our most persistent, self-

defeating beliefs are stored deep in the unconscious, where they have the power to undermine our

happiness and sabotage our success. Now you can effortlessly change those negative beliefs to produce

the results you want.

Special combinations of brain wave frequencies are harmonically layered in soothing music to trigger

heightened states of receptivity. Here the unconscious is primed to receive and act on a new set of ideas.

Subliminal messages are deeply absorbed by the unconscious to immediately impact your sense of self,

your creativity and the dynamic expression of your power in the world.

Instructions for Listening

Listen to this program every day for six weeks. Be on the look-out for “coincidences” and acknowledge

even the smallest synchronicity as they occur. Once your subconscious has fully absorbed and

integrated the subliminal messages, reality conforms to what your subconscious mind believes. The results

are profound.

Track 1 can be used anytime and anyplace; while working, relaxing, exercising, reading or even sleeping.

The subconscious mind has the capacity to absorb subliminal messages without special attention from

the conscious mind.

Track 2  is designed to be used with stereo headphones to maximise the benefits of the brain wave

frequencies. When listening with headphones, find a time and place where you are not likely to be

disturbed. Position yourself comfortably with your spine straight and breathe deeply. This posture allows

your natural channels of energy to open and flow freely. Using headphones while consciously relaxing

enhances your receptivity to the brain wave frequencies and subliminal suggestions.

Subliminal Messages

I am active, attractive and in demand

I love myself, I feel great

I am healthy, I look great

I eat what is good for me

Every cell of my body exudes beauty and health

I respect myself, I control my weight

I enjoy my body, my body is great

I relax into my perfect weight

I let my slim self emerge

I am nourished, I am satisfied

I burn fat

I am active and full of energy

I love exercise

I achieve my goals with ease

I surrender to appreciation

I Honor myself, I Honor my body

I respect the integrity and wisdom of my body

I eat less, I weigh less

I feel light

I am whole, complete and satisfied

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Muscle Recovery

Very interesting research lately provides new insight on how to recover quicker from sore muscles. It was found that low-intensity exercise on your days away from the gym actually help quicken the healing process.

The reason here is that light exercise such as walking or biking for about 15-20 minutes helps improve blood flow to your muscles all over your body. This improved blood flow in turn carries nutrients which are essential in muscle tissue recovery.

Makes sense doesn’t it? Now many people who take a rest day or two but then end up falling out of their routine have something new to consider. If you just add a quick walk to the grocery store or give yourself a break and get out of the house to relax your mind you are doing your body extra good.

This is also interesting for those who over-train at the gym and don’t get enough rest. Just keeping a one day on, one day off routine for best results can now be enhanced by doing light cardio on the off day.

Here are some extra ideas you may want to consider to help muscle recovery:

• Nutrition: Notice that in the statement above it is stated that improved blood flow carries nutrients to aid in muscle recovery. This means that you should pay special attention to eating extra healthy when you are sore so that you get all the adequate minerals, vitamins and amino acids (found in protein).
• Warm-Up/Cool Down: Leaving enough time before and after your workout for warming up and cooling down is an absolute must to allow your body to prepare for workouts and then to slow down and bring your heart rate back to normal
• Flexibility Training: Also allowing 10-15 minutes after your workout for training your flexibility is really important for relaxing your muscles and re-aligning everything.
• Adequate Sleep: You should be aiming for 7-8 hours a night, no exceptions! Sleep is absolutely essential to muscle recovery.
• Massage Therapy: I can’t stress enough how much massage therapy has helped me with muscle recovery. A registered massage therapist will know exactly where your trouble spots are and allow them to massage out all the knots. This will also improve blood flow to that area and increase recovery speed.
• Adequate water intake: Aiming for 2 liters of water a day is best practice for anyone exercising, and increasing this especially on cardio days is very smart.
• Yoga/Meditation/Relaxation: Reducing stress in your life is made easy if you practice any of these…just get rid of all your hang-ups and try them already!

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Post Workout Nutrition

Post Workout Nutrition

Post workout nutrition is a very important part of any diet and training regimen and I believe it gets missed a lot even by professional athletes and trainers. It’s important to understand the science behind this to really get the big picture, so let me start with that…

During exercise our body breaks down glycogen (sugar molecules which we get from food), as well as some fat and some protein. Glycogen of course is the most readily available in most cases and is the fuel for us to not only exercise but to also allow us to really pushes through to the next level.

If our training intensity is high enough and we are exercising for about an hour our glycogen stores are diminished substantially and our body turns to protein and then fat for fuel. This is unfortunate because it means that we actually break down muscle sooner than our body breaks down fat for energy. From an evolutionary standpoint this makes sense because our bodies learned to store fat for times when food was lacking (picture a bear hibernating during winter). Pretty interesting if you look at it in this point of view isn’t it?

Your Post Workout Nutrition Focus:
But, here is the golden nugget…after our exercise routine our bodies ability to restore our glycogen stores are at its highest. Researchers believe that this time is usually limited to within 30 to 60 minutes after exercise. Thus, you want to make sure you save your high glycemic foods to this time period (as well as pre-workout but that will be in another article!).

Many of you may think that if you starve your body after exercise that you will begin to burn fat and therefore make you eliminate body fat. Unfortunately, the complete opposite is true!!!

If you starve your body after exercise you are going to be hit by a number of negative consequences.

Firstly, if you don’t get enough high quality carbohydrates within 60 minutes post-workout then your glycogen stores will not be at their optimal level next time you workout. This means that you won’t have maximal energy and will feel drained and unmotivated next time your exercising. Can we all relate?

Secondly, you are telling your body that it may not get food again for quite a while. Our body takes this to heart and reduces our metabolism to compensate and also begins to store food as fat as much as it can just in case it doesn’t get food again.

Pretty much a double whammy right? So now that you know the science behind post workout nutrition what are some healthy examples of foods to eat?

Post Workout Foods:
Fruit especially those extra sweet ones such as ripe bananas, apples, pears, watermelon are fantastic solutions for post-workout nutrition.

New research however shows that your body also has greater uptake of essential amino acids which are found in proteins right after your workout. So having a full meal like a bowl of brown rice with chicken, vegetables and cashews with light teriyaki sauce would be perfect. Of course, you can be creative with this and substitute fish, lean beef or even prawns. Something like roasted or steamed yam with a tablespoon of organic butter and spices sprinkled on top is also very smart.

For those seeking weight loss: carrots, chocolate milk, honey on whole wheat toast, steamed nugget potatoes, lentil soup, whole wheat pasta with tomato sauce, fruit salad, yogurt and oats.

For those seeking muscle gain: your favorite pasta with low fat sauces and extra veggies, cereal with skim milk, dark chocolate, gatorade, chili.

Have any questions about your post workout nutrition? Please leave a comment below…

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Weight Loss Motivation

The most common question I get is “how do you stay motivated?” So here are some great tips on being successful in your goals:

- Set weekly goals.

- For extra motivation train with a partner or join a group.

- Swimming is an excellent way to get you started, switch things up a bit and to reduce impact on your body.

- Seek the advice of a certified fitness professional and make sure it’s someone you feel comfortable with.

- If you don’t get time to the gym one day or you are traveling you can do a heck of a lot at home with stability balls, resistance bands and videos

- In the beginning, aim for 3 exercise sessions/week with no more than two days rest in between. Increase duration of each session as your fitness level improves. 
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- Add a lot of variety into your workouts. If you find you are getting bored of running on the treadmill for 30mins, switch it up! Try 10mins run, 10mins eliptical trainer, 10mins stairmaster. For weight training, never do the same workout! Just mix it up as you go and make sure you challenge yourself.

- Start slowly and build up to fitness programs and better eating habits. Really enjoy that feeling you get after your workout. Try to relax, free yourself from stress and most importantly have fun!

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Fat Loss Secret

Fat Loss Secret

When it comes to fat loss you may think that there really is no secret. Highly intense training and super strict diet is all it takes right?

Well the answer may be a little more surprising than you think. In fact, there are a ton of secrets that I have come across and researched along the way of training for over 18 years now and when you combine them together they create a dramatic and powerful change.

Lately I’ve been having a ton of feedback with visitors of this blog leaving comments as well as our Facebook & Twitter page and the topic of fat loss is almost always the most asked about question. So I thought it was time to try a new series of articles out where I talk about the latest interesting research that is being discovered and talked about when it comes to fat loss.

Fat Loss Secret

One of the most fascinating of these a study at the Wayne State university which found that slowing down the time it takes to lower a weight can actually boost your metabolism!

This is a pretty cool secret to fat loss which I think is as easy as pie, and I’ve actually come across this ideology in training when reading some exercise routines which have been discovered in bodybuilding quite a few years ago.

Back to the secret, the study was specific in finding that taking just 3 seconds to lower a heavy weight can actually boost metabolism for as long as 72 hours after lifting the weights. Researchers have hypothesized that the reason that this occurs is based on negative resistance. When we do workouts which focus on the lowering or negative resistance part of an exercise our muscles see greater damage, and the body then elevates metabolism to help with the repair process.

In this case, the study was done with heavy weights where the maximum repetitions used was just 6, but testing this ideology with higher reps is definitely worth a try if it can help you lose fat a little quicker, doesn’t it?

Top 3 Fat Loss Supplements

Since we’re talking about muscle damage it then makes sense to include natural supplements which can help our body with recovery. Without a doubt the top 3 supplements would be:

Gluatmine (Try: Optimum Glutamine)
BCAA’s (Try: Optimum BCAA 1000 Caps)
Whey Protein (Try: 100% Natural Whey)

Fat Loss Secret Conclusion

Whatever advantage you can get for knowing more and more fat loss secrets the quicker you will be able to attain your beach body 6 pack goals, and little secrets like this one are pretty sweet especially since you don’t really have to do any more work. Throw this type of slow negative resistance exercises at least once a week in your routine to see how much it affects your physique and try and if you’re diet isn’t always 100% then the above mentioned supplements will really help your body recover and show better results.

If you like this secret and want to know more fat loss secrets please leave a comment below, as I always I appreciate your feedback…

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