This blog is mainly directed at other driving instructors. Due to the nature of our job it requires long hours sitting down, not only in the vehicle but also afterwards in running our business. I've always been active, I enjoy physical exercise, but I've always struggled to lose weight, or lets say enough weight that I'm satisfied with my progress. It does require a change in lifestyle and commitment. Lockdown presented a great opportunity to not only focus on my nutrition but also regular exercise. I've also done a lot of research into the problems that people have and that need to be overcome in order to lose weight. Or put bluntly lose FAT. Its not after all as easy as it sounds. Fitness Tracking
By far one of the best investments I've made is in a fitness tracker. You don't necessarily need this but I found I could set some goals, whether I tried to reach 1000 active minutes a week, or 15,000 steps a day for a week. I would challenge myself to do more. It also helps with sleep and calories burnt. My personal choice is the Fit Bit. There are a variety of devices on the market, my second and third choice would probably be a Withings or Garmin. They work as great smart watches also, so you are not always pulling your phone out to see a text message. What goes in!
When you start off your weight loss program you need to understand what you are putting into your body. My suggestion is that you track your food intake for around 1-2 weeks to understand how many calories you are eating. Once you understand your Base Metabolic rate and calories coming in you can begin to work on your goals. I would also monitor your weight over this period to see if you are gaining weight losing weight or staying the same. Whilst not essential I prefer to use Smart Scales that also monitor Protein/Water/BMI/Fat Mass/Muscle Mass as this help to understand where you are losing weight when the time comes. My personal choice for smart scales are the Withings products. These are by far the best on the market. What is a calorie deficit? You now have a picture of how much food you are eating, and whether that food intake is too high and by how much. Exercising more and eating less will give you results. It is recommended that the average man should not eat less than 1500calories per day. To lose 1lb a week you should have a 500 calorie deficit. As a benchmark I work on around a 750 calorie deficit per day. So what does 1500 calories look like? You may actually be surprised. Here is my typical daily food intake which is made up of around 5 meals per day. I do this to increase my metabolism. Breakfast: Soya & Linseed Bread x 2 = 252 calories Two Free Range Eggs = 320 calories Morning Snack: Strawberries = 33 calories Skyr Natural Yogurt = 65 calories Flaxseed & Pumpkin Seeds = 84 calories Lunch: Chicken Breast = 14 calories Rice Portion = 88 calories Afternoon Snack: One banana = 105 calories Dinner: Purition Shake = 188 calories Almond Milk = 88 calories I do enjoy a home latte during the day. I also purchased some digital scales. This has been well worth the investment. You will be surprised the difference between 30g or 50g its hardly possible to tell the difference, but if you are counting calories its worth having and great for just around the kitchen. I can highly recommend the Salter digital scales.
Total: 1300 calories excluding the lattes. I always try to eat a proper meal but due to work demands it is not always easy to fit meals into my plans. You don't need to eat less to lose weight. Its possible to exercise more, and still manage that calorie deficit. Exercise I started off building up my running. I actually ran for 5 miles a few days. But I realised I actually don't like running. In fact I've never enjoyed running. I feel a body is better suited to certain sports, and its all about moving, it does not matter how you do it. I much prefer to walk, and my aim is to complete around 10,000 steps per day. It really does work. I also play Tennis twice a week and when the weather is nice I cycle. After about 4 weeks I really started to see changes in my body. After 8 weeks the weight was flying off. During lockdown I had little to do other than go walking, and prep my meals. Walking is very under rated. Its very easy on the joints, low risk and a very pleasant experience. You also don't need a lot of gear to go walking. So my advice. Get moving and start walking, especially just to begin with if you are new to exercise. In summary: You need to be very strict with your exercise plan. You also need to be very strict with your meal preps. Another point that is very under rated is sleep. Very often we don't get enough sleep to help our bodies recover. I would seek medical advice, and or advice from a personal trainer before taking steps to lose weight. You need to understand your own body and how it functions, as shredding calories and exercising can be very hard on the body. You may even find your body starts to resist the chance and you need to reverse diet. Some people call this bulking. Reverse dieting is the process of adding calories and then going back into a calorie deficit to help your body recover. Good luck. I'm still trying to reach my targets and currently want to reach the recommended weight for my height and age.