LETS GET PHYSICAL!
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Incorporate strength training 3-4 times a week: Although nutrition is the key to losing weight, incorporating strength training into your weekly routine can help burn calories, improve your posture and build muscle mass. Make sure to do some form of strength training for all major muscle groups at least two times a week. Aim to do a single set of each exercise, using a weight or resistance level heavy enough to tire your muscles after about 12 to 15 repetitions. You can also do bodyweight exercises from home with a focus on progressing each week by increasing either intensity, weight, volume or frequency of your workout. Have Pride in Yourself Overall, the one message I would
• Use lean sources of chicken and turkey in your recipes instead of skin-on versions, and use leaner cuts of other meats such as beef or pork. • Replace one sugary drink each day with a glass of water. Switch beer to light beer, and mix your spirits with low calorie mixers. • Add an extra bit of non starchy vegetables to each meal throughout the day Manage your stress levels: Stress triggers the release of hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. Unfortunately when people are under constant stress, cortisol can remain in your bloodstream which will increase your appetite and could lead to overeating. On top of that, an increase in stress can cause poor decision making, lack of energy and mood swings which will all negatively impact your health over time. Exercising in general has always been a great way to decrease stress and give somebody a sense of achievement and motivation. Other ways to de-stress are by seeing friends and family, going for a walk or a run together and prioritising time in your day just for you. Improve your sleep quality: Quit clicking on that next episode of Drag Race at 2am and get to bed early! One of the most important pieces of advice I can give you if you really want to improve your health is to have a good long look at your sleep. Most people need 7-9 hours of sleep a night to help their body recover, promote better productivity as well as maintaining good mental and physical health. A lack of sleep can have a negative impact on how you perform in the gym, impact decision making when it comes to exercise and nutrition and cause mood swings and depressive thoughts. So try to get to bed around the same time each night and wake at the same time each morning. Create a bedtime routine where you avoid blue light (put away that phone!) an hour before sleep and avoid caffeine and alcohol if you can closer to bedtime. Fixing your sleep habits is maybe the most underrated area when it comes to improving your overall health.
Be realistic with your weight loss goals: When it comes to weight loss the number one factor we need to consider is diet. We live in a culture of restrictive dieting, quick fix calorie cutting and an over stimulus of social media images promoting unrealistic body standards and filtered ideas of the perfect body. Rather than finding foods to nourish and benefit our bodies we instead see countless advertisements on how to cut back on our favourite foods, restrict what we are eating and in general have a negative experience with eating healthy. Its exhausting! Instead of creating that negative experience through a diet that won’t stick to, keep it simple! Remember food is a source of energy for our bodies and the more we learn to use it in a positive way the more beneficial it will be in the long run. Weight loss takes time and work! Stick to an 80/20 approach: Don’t cut all the foods you enjoy out of your diet, instead aim to get 80% of your foods from high quality nutrient rich sources and the remaining 20% from foods that will satisfy your cravings. That way you can have the best of both worlds without feeling like you’re restricting yourself once the weekend comes. Include a source of protein with each meal: When it comes to protein, try to get around 20–30 grams of protein with each meal. You’ll feel full for longer, preserve muscle mass and won’t feel the need to snack throughout the day. Examples of foods high in protein include meat, fish, poultry, eggs, legumes, and soy products like tofu or tempeh. Make small simple changes to your diet: Making small changes to begin with when starting a weight loss journey can make a much bigger impact over time. • Swap white bread, rice and pasta for healthier whole grain versions.
We switched to working online, our approach to getting fit was with home workouts, daily walks, mindful eating and decreasing stress. In the meantime the entire fitness industry began to adapt to the current climate. Virtual classes from local gyms became available, soon we had outdoor classes and suddenly, just like Pride, we had a community again, we were back where we needed to be and we could support each other. As we are readapting to life post covid, people are beginning to push themselves back into a routine. With events like Pride approaching there is a need to look after ourselves and improve our health. So here are 8 simple tips I would recommend to start introducing into your day to day routine.
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by John Varian So who agrees the last two years have been tough as hell? I know I do. Over the last two years the world as we know it changed forever but so did our approach to getting fit and looking after ourselves. Throughout the country gyms were closed down, indoor classes were scrapped and suddenly we weren’t sure how exactly we were going to get our 1 hour fix of adrenaline induced stress relief for the day. My own personal training clients would message me from home, panicking at the prospect of losing all the hard work they’d put in, ready to throw in the towel and start their new life as a takeaway connoisseur, snuggled up on the couch for the week because they were suddenly facing an impossible feat. But then we did the obvious. We went back to basics and worked on the fundamentals. We made sure we did some form of activity every day throughout our 5km radius, we kept an eye on what we were eating, we nourished our bodies to keep our immune system high against covid and we made sure to get a hell of a lot of shut eye. I reminded my clients that getting fit and healthy has existed a long time before gyms and fitness centres were around.
8 ways you can improve your Health and Fitness: Find a Fun Form of Exercise:
genuinely want people to understand when it comes to their health and fitness needs is that it all starts with you and how you view yourself. Pride is a celebration of who we are and who we are proud to be. We celebrate where we came from, the countless work that got us to where we are today and we look optimistically to where the future will take us next. Every single person has had their own private journey and roadmap to get to a place of acceptance and love for who they are. The same applies to how you view yourself and your body image. We need to start appreciating the amazing things our bodies can do and achieve instead of focusing on how it looks or is perceived to others. If the last two years taught us anything it’s that everything can change in a flash and we need to make sure we take care of ourselves first. Keep your health and fitness goals simple and you’ll make the process so much easier for yourself. So start incorporating these 8 steps into your routine during the build up to Pride then get out there and celebrate who you are in the best way possible. John Varian is a certified and accredited Personal Trainer who has over 5 years experience helping individuals reach their health and fitness goals through jvhealthpt.com
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Just because your best friend loves spinning doesn’t mean you have to. After all, everyone’s preferences are different. It’s important to find a kind of exercise that you really enjoy so you can stick with it. If running is too much too soon, start with walking. Aim to hit 10,000 steps to begin and set yourself a challenge each week to continuously increase those steps. Marching in the Pride parade alone is guaranteed to burn some calories. Follow it up with a night of dancing to your favourite Abba songs and you got yourself a workout! If you’re staying close to home, try yoga, home workouts or pilates. If you want to get out of the house, try some new hikes around your city or dig the bike out of your shed and take it for a spin. Join a class at your local gym and explore the different options available. Whatever it is just make sure you enjoy it and you want to come back each week
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