1. Don't worry about what you ate or didn't do yesterday, today is a new day, get focused today.
​We all suffer set backs, whether that's having 5 Christmas meals in a row with family or a binge night out, maybe a sickness that prevents you from moving, or medication that see's you putting on weight for no reason... the common thing here is you, this is happening to you, you can get up tomorrow and get back on the wagon. Are you going to make it happen?

​2. Get rid of the leftovers, make better choices.
​Chrismtas and New Years are over, you do not need to hang on to that half a bag of snacks or half a bottle of wine in the fridge, throw it out and restock with healthy and yummy options. Nourish yourself and replace all those nutrients you've lost.

​3. Set an exercise schedule and stick to it.
You might not have time for a 60minute walk, or a 45 minute gym session, but you can make time for a 20 minute walk or jog. Do some press ups and sit ups at home. There 's no excuse, get moving.

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Last week I set my team members homework, here it is.
Go ahead and use it as your at home mini workout while you are on holiday,
at the beach, off work or not at the gym.

​Keep active, keep healthy, keep energised.

​Homework:

1 x 20/30 minute fast paced walk (or jog, if you are already a runner)

1 x  15 squats, 
       12 lunges ( 6 on each leg), 
       2 x 10 jump squats (rest in between)
       2 x 12 split/jump lunges (switch legs, rest in-between)
       15 incline press-ups (basically press-ups on your dining room chair seat)
       12 bench dips/tricep dips (also on your dining room chair)
       2 x 10 sit ups (rest in between)
        2 x planks, hold for 60secs each time, with a rest in between
      (if your feeling up for it repeat the whole thing again!)

Adaptations:
You can do both of these (run & strength work) on the same day if you have time, or split them up.
If you have injuries etc please adapt, maybe you can do one of the above twice :)

Enjoy!  

1. You slip up and give up. It's all too easy to have a bad day, or two bad days in a row of bad eating and drinking and then feel like, "oh well, I've blown it now" and give up. We all have bad days, or lazy days, or unhealthy days, it's what you choose to do next that counts. Just wake up the next day, reset and start again. Be stronger than your oldself!

2. You are spending time with the wrong people. Are your co-workers, friends or family members constantly putting pressure on you to eat, or do something else when that was your exercise time? You need to be around people who have the same goals as you. Or, simply tell your friends that you have goal "xyz" right now and be honest about what you are doing, it's likely most of them will be saying "oh that's so great, I need to do that too!"
Find like minded people. Don't be afraid to say no, or to be honest.

3.  You don't have a plan. Have you talked to an energetic/fit person lately? You'll find that they have specific days and times they workout, they stick to this, or they plan around it. Don't 'wing' your exercise. Sit down and write a weekly routine, then stick to it. Fit people make it happen.

4. You haven't considered your priorities. If your number one goal is to get healthy, then this is your priority, this will take thought and time and planning, you'll have to say no to things, you'll have to change your routine. Have you prioritised your health goals?

A plateau is when your body gets used to doing the same level of physical activity. You might think you are getting fitter - because it's getting easier, but that is when you know it's time to change it up.

​For example you might be running twice a week for 30 minutes, or you might be taking the same spin class on a Tuesday night. By doing the same activity over and over your body adapts and it becomes less challenging and less effective. 

To get stronger, leaner, lighter, healthier and happier you, you need to challenge your body (and mind!)

How to change it up?

• Add running intervals, 2 minutes fast, then 2 minutes slow etc
• Switch between  jogging and power walking,
• If you are at the gym change your piece of cardio equipment and use the programs on the machines so that your intensity goes up and down.
• Add in  a new activity every fortnight
• Use  your heart rate monitor

It is more beneficial to do a 15 minute workout full of variety that brings your heart rate up and down, then a 25 minute same paced jog/walk on the treadmill.

Change it up! As well as keeping it different for your body, you are also learning new skills, meeting new people and having a lot more fun in the process.

Personal Trainers - do I really need one?
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For some people to change their life to a healthy way of living is going to be a complete over haul of how they live. This might involve major changes; sleeping, eating, cooking, shopping, receipes, getting up at different times of the day, cutting back on other activities to allow time for exercise, forming new habits, moving away from un-supportive/unhealthy peer groups and more.

A trainer should provide an environment that makes it as easy as possible for this major change to occur, so that when you are ready, they are there with all the hard bits' sorted, and all of the easy bits' left for you to do.
A trainer is there to support the long term lifestyle change of that person. 
When you go it alone it's all too easy to fall off the wagon,  the trainer is the friend that doesn't judge, shows up, wants results as much (or sometimes more) than you, they get it, they want it, they live it.

I am not an expert in weight loss, I am an expert in my own body, and I have certainly batted with weight loss & gain.
In 2010 I finally cracked it, I got serious,  I got over myself, I got healthy and the weight loss came along with that fairly easily.
In the years between 2011-2012 I had two children, I put on weight (as expected), then I lost it again, I knew I would, and I have kept it off, this is because of what I had learnt, what I have adjusted to, and what I'm internally motivated to do.  I have sustained my weight loss long term by adhering to these 3 simple rules.

Secret one: You need to adjust your nutrition
Yes what you eat plays a huge role in weight loss, you can exercise till your blue in the face but if you're still putting the wrong food sources and liquids in your body you won't sustain a long term, healthy weight loss. You need energy to lose weight, energy from whole food healthy sources.
If you think you can exercise without adapting (notice I say adapting not changing) your nutrition you are probably not going to get your ultimate result.

Secret Two: You need to move more, but it doesn't have to be punishing workouts 7 days a week
Yes you need to be more active, this helps speed up your metabolism, encourages serotonin and endorphins, gives you more energy, helps with flexibility in everyday life, bone and joint health, circulation and helps curb those awful, and mostly naughty, cravings. You do not need to punish yourself with gruelling workouts everyday, if you follow secret one, then you can do secret two moderately.

Secret Three: It is not easy and, you'll need to find the root of the initial weight gain
If losing weight was easy we wouldn't have such a large obesity crises in NZ.  For some, an initial weight loss might come easy, as your body is shocked by this new regime, but will it stay off for ever? What happens when you plateau?
Weight loss is a lifestyle change, not a diet. A diet ends, a lifestyle change is with you forever, yes forever.
What caused the weight loss initially? Nutrition, hormones, medical condition, emotional stress? Get to the root of why, the why is way through to the other side.

Do I really need to follow the program set for me, why can't I just change it around a bit to suit how I feel?

When your Personal Trainer writes you a program it is well thought out, (this includes 1:1, bootcamps, sports training etc) the exercises are in a certain order and they will target different muscle areas to suit your goals and your injuries, - it will be highly beneficial to follow the program in that order.

The first exercises you will usually do are the harder ones, the ones that use more energy, need more balance and effort, these are called compound exercises and they basically use multiple (or more than one muscle), for example a squat or a bench press. Then you will move on to isolated exercises which is only using one muscle eg a bicep curl.

Also your Personal Trainer might be writing your program in order to fatigue (use) different muscles, for example, one chest set, one back set, one leg set, one ab set. Or just a chest day, just a back day, just a legs day. Often described as split programs, or push and pull.
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A qualified Personal Trainer puts a lot of thought into their program, their client and their exercises, (I know I do!) so you can trust them and trust the process and that leaves you just to focus on sweating it out!