Weight loss Archives - Brighton Fit

2 August 2019

15 reasons why you may have or know someone with problematic eating

Kirstin Ahmed
Weight loss
body dysmorphia, bulimia, fast weight loss, problematic eating, unhealthy attitude to food
0

bulimia

There’s no one way of telling if you or someone you know has an unhealthy attitude to food. There are some indicators that might in isolation or combination point towards a less than healthy attitude (see below). But this is not an exhaustive list and some people with an unhealthy relationship with food may never identify with any of these. But they would be outliers as most of the rest of us who view food as pleasurable, exciting and imperative will not experience anything on this list ever.

Reasons for developing the poor attitude to food are always the place to start, these can sometimes go back years and be ingrained in the fibre that makes up our persona so often require a specialist to help work through. Often the result of weight loss is a control mechanism when so much else seems uncontrollable and often the individual wont see their physical self in the same way that the rest of us do (body dysmorphia).

So here is the list, and remember these people need our support and understanding not chastising and patronising, there are demons at work here…

Skipping meals
Complaining of constipation or stomach pain
Food obsessed but not eating
Weight fluctuations
Rigid meal plans and food rituals
Bizarre food combinations
Fixation on clean eating
Lack of menstruation
Going to the bathroom after meals
Excessive exercise
Not eating in front of others
Use of laxatives, diuretics or diet pills
Disappearance of a large amount of food in a short period of time
Hiding food or food wrappers in strange places
Wearing baggy clothes

17 April 2019

What you should know about sugar

Kirstin Ahmed
brighton personal trainer sessions, diets, Healthy body, Nutrition
added sugar, carbohydrate, diet, eating for health, fibre, macros, nutrition, sugar, sugar substitues, weight loss
0

How dietary sugar effects fitness

Sugar is the umbrella term used for natural sugar, added sugar or sugar substitute. As with any food type, eaten in excess or as part of a diet that contributes to excess will lead to weight gain. As sugar is a calorie dense food with very little in it that makes you feel full, it is easy to over consume it. Furthermore, sugars are often added to our foods without us realising. Obesity and being overweight can be a precursor to several conditions such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

So what are these sugars?

Let’s start with natural sugar: This is a form of sugar that is found in foods such as fruit which contains fructose, wheat which contains maltose, or beans which contain raffinose amongst many more. The sugar can take the form of simple or complex molecules and is often bound with proteins and fats.

Added sugars: Sugars that get added to food in manufacture in addition to ones naturally occurring. As a rule of thumb, they tend to be the type that are energy dense and nutrient poor i.e. ones that are made of small molecules and not bound to other types of nutrients. Examples include glucose, lactose, maltose, fructose, sucrose and other ingredients ending in ‘ose’

Sugar substitutes: This group of sugars include stevia, aspartame and sucralose and don’t have any calorific value. Studies have shown they can have an effect on gut bacteria and disturb metabolism.

Other substitutes like xylitol, erythritol and sorbitol are not as sweet and do have some calorific value but have been shown to have a negative effect on people who suffer with irritable bowel syndrome.

Moderating sugar intake in particular added sugars and sweeteners that come with very little additional calorific gain would be a sensible first step. Tips to reduce sugar consumption:

READ INGREDIENT LABELS
Try and save sports drinks for workouts of over 60mins only
Swap out flavoured yogurts for plain ones (add fresh fruit instead)
Swap sweetened canned fruit for natural syrup
Save desserts for special occasions
Sweeten food with mashed banana or apple sauce instead of sugar or syrup

9 April 2019

To eat workout calories back or not?

Kirstin Ahmed
diets, Nutrition, Personal trainer in Brighton
hunger, improve fitness, intermittent fasting, macro nutrient, muscle gain, weight loss, workout calories
0

workout calories So you’ve put some effort in calculating your macro nutrient requirement (macros) and you know how much you are burning in your workouts. Chances are you are looking to generate a small daily deficit in order to shift a few pounds, or you are aiming to avoid over eating. If you want help or more advice with this step please call any of our Brighton and Hove personal trainers

Your workouts will give you a few hundred calories per day to hypothetically consume (assuming they were not part of the initial calories in/out calculation). This would hold your calorie deficit at the same level that you calculated…. meaning that you could eat these calories back and still reach your goals in the same period of time.

Reasons that you should eat these calories back:

If your calculated macro deficit is close to 500kcals/day. Adding this deficit to the ones lost during your workout multiple times per week could put you at risk of reducing your metabolic rate (when the body senses it does not have sufficient fuel it makes changes to conserve energy such as a reduction in metabolic rate)
If you are hungry. All hunger is not the same! But all hunger is generated because your body is warning you its low on fuel. Hunger can be a useful tool to manipulate hormone levels that perceive levels of satiety (a key tool used in intermittent fasting), however assuming you are not fasting you should respond to your hunger signals and eat something.

On the other hand…..you may want to reconsider not eating workout calories back because studies have shown that it is common to overestimate calorie burn and underestimate calorie consumption so your calculated deficit may not be accurate.

It really comes down to what your goal is, how hard and long you are exercising for and how good your macro calculation is.

1 February 2019

What is behavioural therapy, why should you consider it and how does it relate to weight loss?

Kirstin Ahmed
Weight loss
behavioural therapy, BMI, CBT, intelligent weight loss, intensive start, lose weight, obesity
0

Image result for intelligent weight loss

Weight loss is a complicated, but you know that… Here’s what we know:

Behavioural therapy, which is made up of dietary and physical activity recommendations along with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), is a powerful and successful method of weight loss.

The problem most people have is keeping the weight off; this has been heavily researched, and it is now known that the average length of time from the start of weight loss to weight regain is 5-6 months.

Exercise plays a positive role in bucking this trend and maintaining weight loss, and also has a positive effect on insulin sensitivity which is good news in the prevention of type II diabetes (a high risk associated with obesity). In fact, in recent studies, the best weight loss and maintenance (in the 2 years after the start of the weight loss program) results were seen in those who incorporated exercise from start of the program. The success was attributed to the intensive style that was adopted where the weight loss participants met with their dietitian and physical trainer face to face for regular sessions.

What we knew prior to these studies was that the timing of the introduction of exercise to a weight loss program was key to obese individuals’ success. Research had shown that exercise was vital to keep weight off but that participants grew weary and eventually ceased exercising after 3-6 months (50% drop off rate). What was novel about the recent study was that if an intensive approach from the start was adopted then this was not the case and that participants saw a significantly better rate of success.

So the message from this research is to make sure you plan your weight loss journey:

Do consider how you are going to include the physical AND mental sides of weight loss in your approach and do consider how you are going to ensure the weight stays off once you have successfully lost it.

If you would like to try an intensive approach, we have developed a package that combines work with our Dietitian, Alice, with the physical training our personal trainers offer, just get in touch to discuss your requirements.

18 August 2018

Is the wait worth the weight?

Kirstin Ahmed
diets, Healthy aging, Healthy body, Nutrition, Weight loss
calorie restriction, diet, fasting for weight loss, gut flora, gut health, healthy eating, how to fast, IF, intermittent fasting, longevity, nutrition, periodic fasting, PF, Ramadan, weight loss
0

Intermittent fasting

Intermittent fasting, what is it?

There are a number of ways of achieving the same goal here but simply put this is a period of fast in your eating. Common ways of introducing a break in eating are introducing a 14-16 hour fast into a 24 hour period, whilst this may sound like a long time one way people find relatively easy to achieve this stretch is by including the 8 hours of sleep at night time into this and skipping breakfast in the morning. Other ways you may have read about are the 5:2 diet, the 24 hour fast, alternate day fasting, the warrior diet, spontaneous meal skipping and many more!…

The 5:2 diet has previously been discussed here , the 24 hour fast is tricky for a lot of people as the fast window is so big, on the alternate day fasting it is recommended to eat 500kcals on your fast day, the warrior diet proposes a period of fast during the day and feast at night, and so on…

Q: What do the marketeers promise from the results of intermittent fasting? and what do some in the fitness industry (marketeers?) promise from the results of intermittent fasting?

A: Weight loss and improved athletic performance respectively

TRUTH:

Firstly throw away anything you read that promises you anything, you want to read only information backed by peer reviewed scientific study; this will ensure you receive objective, unbiased information not motivated by your cash. You will be offered statistics to prove or disprove a hypothesis made in the publication followed by a conclusion based on the stats, i.e. simply offered the scientific results.

We often hear from people that there is too much confusing and conflicting information out there, this is because you are reading information from the wrong source! The majority of people writing online are doing so because they are making a living doing so and therefore need to influence you!.A good place to start if you do not have access to scientific papers through a university is Google scholar. Fortunately I do have access to a University library (I am completing my doctorate as we speak!) and have filtered out some relevant papers on this subject to clarify the debate:

The subject of weight loss as a result of intermittent fasting (IF) is inconclusive. Testing hundreds of fasting protocols across many species in many research groups has not led to the guaranteed weight loss solution that is punted by get rich quick marketeers. The weight loss results from IF are no better than the results from calorie restriction and have actually been shown to increase sleep disturbance and reduce concentration/accuracy result when tested with patients in a Ramadan fasting study (similar to the warrior diet). What this means is that whilst you may lose weight as a result of IF it may not be directly due to the metabolic and hormonal changes that IF induces, instead probably being the results of a reduction in overall calorie intake.

Reducing your overall calorie intake has been proven scientifically to reduce weight, however this is only maintained long term under certain conditions for example; reducing calorie intake (generating a calorie deficit) by a small amount (a percentage of your daily BMI is usually the way we calculate this) over the medium term, ensuring you still hit your daily macro nutrient split (although varying these is reputed to have effects on satiety, which we will discuss in another post) and then gradually increasing your calories after the period of deficit. These results will be maximised with a balanced exercise program, but significantly the weight loss gains you make have been proven to be best in those who engage in regular exercise after the period of calorie deficit as well as during.

What the studies do agree on with IF, however, is that of gut health improvements leading to lifespan extension, it ameliorates the clinical course and pathology of Multiple sclerosis (MS) and can counteract other disease processes, has profound beneficial effects on many different indices of health, can improve functional outcome in a wide range of age-related disorders including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancers and neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease Parkinson’s disease and stroke. All due to a cascade of reactions related to the gut flora changes.

So that’s the science. Now you make up your own mind

31 July 2018

Macro’s 101

Kirstin Ahmed
diets, Nutrition, Weight loss
dietician, dietitian, exercise nutrition, food balance, healthy eating, macronutrients, macros 101, micronutrients, nutrition, nutritional supplemets, supplements
0

online macronutrients

You’ll hear this term a lot if you read anything to do with food and balance; in the fitness industry we use it in the same way as they do in the nutritional industry. Which is to say that a diet is made up of macronutrients and micronutrients. Macronutrients, or macro’s are your carbohydrates, fats and proteins whereas micronutrients are your vitamins and minerals.

In biochemistry a macronutrient is any substance such as carbon, hydrogen or oxygen that is required by the body in relatively large amounts and it is the same in botany (plants) for nitrogen, hydrogen or phosphorus.

Macro, from the Greek makros, means large and so we use it to describe fuels that are required in large amounts by the body.

Carbohydrates, fats and proteins are made up from molecules and these in turn are made up from atoms of carbon, hydrogen or oxygen in different combinations. It is how these atoms are put together and with what bonds between them that determines their function in the body. Essentially, the break down of molecules releases energy and this energy is used by the body to function.

The body operates a priority system whereby the first source of energy is derives is from the glucose circulating in the blood. This is a small molecule that is easily accessible and easily broken down to be used for energy, however there is only a certain amount of circulating glucose one can store in ones blood and so the body then must turn to its second choice. This usually happens after about 20mins of aerobic exercise and is one of the key factors we consider when, as online personal trainers or Brighton personal trainers, we are creating weight loss plans for clients. Because what happens next is crucial; the body looks for its next favourite energy source and as a result of prior planning it is able to accesses the molecules of fat it has stored for just these occasions.

These are converted to glucose to be used for energy, in fact the number one goal of the body is to serve the brain with energy so this is the first place the body will check if it needs fuelling. In an exercise session the energy will quickly then be directed to the working muscles via the pumping blood flow to ensure they can keep operating at the level needed.

So that’s it in a nutshell! If you have any questions about any of this or anything else just drop us a line as usual…

30 May 2018

Food and Exercise made simple

Kirstin Ahmed
Healthy body, Weight loss
dietary requirements, dietician, dietitian, diets, exercise and weight loss, healthy eating, healthy weight loss, how to lose weight, lose weight, not dieting, nutrition, nutrition and exercise, personal training and food
0

food and exercise

What if you could combine the services of an expert in nutrition and dietetics; someone who could take account of your personal food likes and dislikes, who understood your work routine and time restrictions and could plan all 3 meals a day for you – down to the gram!

….Along with an expert in health and fitness; someone who could plan an exercise regime for you whilst noting your biomechanics and fitness levels, who considered your injuries and body type along with your exercise loves and hates.

Not just people who have gone off and done weekend courses or online training but genuine experts who have spent years studying and working with people like you. Who understand how you tick, when yes means no and when to push and when to give you space. People who actually like people, people who have learned as much in their academic pursuit as they have in clinics and studios around the world. Experts in their fields who give talks, seminars, teach and train others and who are quite rightly highly respected.

What if these people talked to each other, altered their prescription for you based on your feedback and response. What if they incrementally pushed you along a clear and planned path whilst continually communicating with you and listening to your wants each step of the way?

Would you fall of the wagon then? Would ya? Well would ya?

Maybe…

But what if those same people picked you up, helped you dust yourself off and provided a push up back onto the wagon, without pressure, without patronising you but instead with a very fair, kind and firm hand until you were well seated and gently started nudging you along again.

Would that work for you? Would it give you the boost to get your own drive back? Could it buy you the precious… oh so precious time you need to sleep/think/plan/catch up/take control/ and eventually walk, head tall away from them in control, with all the confidence in the world?

YES?

Well what’s stopping you?

Here you go: https://brightonfit.co.uk/weight-loss/

23 March 2018

Brightonfit personal trainer workouts

Kirstin Ahmed
brighton personal trainer sessions, Exercise routine, Female fitness, Personal trainer in Brighton, Personal training, Weight lifting, Weight loss
brighton personal training sessions, HIIT sessions, HIIT training
0

Ever wondered what kind of workouts we do? Well the answer is we do all of the workouts we ask you to do! Otherwise how would we know what to ask of you and where the difficult sections were and how to coach you through and design a balanced program?

This Brighton personal training session is designed for intermediates. It should take you about 45mins and some of the exercises use a weight (ball, kettlebell or dumbell), you should be able to perform this at home, in a park or your gym.

The session is split into 3 x 15 minute sections. Each section contains 5 exercises. You should aim to complete each exercise 10 times each side (ie split jacks) or 20 time if using both sides of your body together (ie a box jump). You must not rest between exercises and when you get to the end of the first 5 you rest for up to 60 seconds before repeating 4 more times. That will be the end of the first section and you may rest for up to 3 minutes before repeating the same format for the second and third section.

This is a fast paced session, each exercise must be performed with the focus on form, power and speed with the goal of keeping your heart rate as high as you can for as long as you can whilst maintaining form.

The explosive exercises (tucks, jacks, jumps, squats and thrusts) are very important to make sure you are really jumping/pushing hard and fast in combination. These are the plyometric sections of the workout and improve the power capacity of your muscles in a slightly different way to some of the pure strength based ones.

This workout can be repeated as often as you like. Remember not to train on sore muscles. You will develop lean muscle and burn excess fat very effectively training like this, but remember even as personal trainers doing these sessions we don’t rely on just one type of training and we mix these sessions up with running in Brighton and Hove, pure strength training and training specifically for the sports we play and recommend that you do the same. Watch this blog for more training sessions.

Click on the photo below for a link to a bigger image you can print out if you like.

Let us know how it goes….any questions, get in touch.

25 April 2017

How to do the 5:2 diet

Kirstin Ahmed
diets
5:2 diet, calorie counting, diet foods, dieting, fasting, intermittent fasting, the fast diet, weight loss
0

how to do the 5-2 diet

If you read this blog you will know I don’t think much of diets, diet foods, the diet industry and so on.

I have good reason of course because I deal with people struggling with weight loss on a daily basis and feel that the diet industry does more damage than good. In fact I don’t really see much good done at all within the industry…except in a few instance; when people become accountable to one another in a group situation where the mutual goal of the group is healthy eating and wellness. Or in situations where individuals are educated and start to take responsibility for their own eating and learning. These 2 weight loss strategies I am a fan of.

And to some extent I feel that the success of the 5:2 diet is not in its scientific construction but due to the fact that it forces people to count calories and understand what adds up to what. In a week because of this their total calorie consumption is marginally lower than what it had been and therefore these people loose weight. Because the calorie reduction is only marginally lower than their previous intake they have not crash dieted and therefore tend not to re-gain the weight. Added to this they tent to keep this pattern of eating up furthermore they have educated themselves along the way by having to add calories for such a period that they cannot help but make better choices further down the line. It is a win win win eating plan

….you do not need to buy the books through. In fact if you buy the books in my opinion you loose one of the wins which is huge, because you don’t educate yourself on what meals can make up your 500kcal day and instead you rely on someone else’s knowledge.

28 January 2017

Weight loss; which works best exercise or diets?

Kirstin Ahmed
Weight loss
basal metabolic rate, bmr, calorie requirement, counting calories, exercise and diet, fat loss, food diary, metabolism
0

brightonfit bodyfat

If your body shape falls towards or beyond the right hand side of these sets of images (approx. over 25%) and you are reading this then you are probably interested in the answer to the question of exercise vs. diets.

I’ll try and amass the vast swathes of research done in this field here: Firstly with respect to diets there is simply no diet that works better for fat loss than another; what makes a diet ‘successful’ is one that is adhered to over time. So whatever you can stick to is what will provide the most result. The reason I have highlighted the word success is that by its nature a diet is usually a short term program and what we see has the most success is sustainable (i.e. long term) modifications to ones diet.

So let us consider that verses exercise and take a look at what has the most effect. The best way to consider which of these has the most effect is to compare the results using the same currency. If we consider the body as a physiological entity then we are talking about calories. When we look at how many calories our bodies require on a 24hr cycle we see the majority are needed to operate internal functions such as breathing and metabolising our food (BMR). Only a small percentage on top of this would be burned in an exercise session. Therefore the effect of exercise alone on immediate calorie expenditure is heavily diluted by all the other calorie expenses of the body; you can see your calorie requirement and BMR here.

However in most forms of exercise you build lean muscle either as an intent or a by product depending on your session choice; and here is where exercise wins in the comparison to diets. Lean muscle burns lots more calories than other tissue types and so whilst it is not an immediate effect on calorie expenditure by the body a long term effect of exercise does result in more calories (and therefore fat) being burnt.

So what about diets; or as we said earlier changing your diet? Well if the answer is consistency you have to ask yourself “Can i live like this?” and if the answer is no then you have made your changes too strict and you must change them to be more realistic. If you can keep a food diary this will really help, studies show that what people are notoriously bad at is estimating the calories they eat. If you start with a diary and a calculator you can tot up your intake accurately and wont leave anything to chance. As you gain experience you can probably start trusting that your estimations are accurate, but its worth checking in every now and again to ensure you have not drifted!

A couple of tips that can help you stay on the straight and narrow:

1 = Never eat lunch out unless someone else is buying! This is pretty simply a filtering mechanism to prevent you eating food that you have not prepared but is a good way to remind yourself.

2 = A couple of minutes a day with your food diary is more valuable than 30 mins in the gym.