You WON’T burn it off!!

I hear of this more often than I’d like – people deciding that it’s ok to keep up their current eating habits (and for the sake of this story let’s assume those habits aren’t great) because they exercise and believe they will “burn it off.” Then, even worse, there are some people who eat MORE food (on top of already not-so-great habits) with the same mindset – “it’s ok, I’ll burn it off.” You absolutely do burn calories when you exercise, and if it’s intense you will also burn calories later in the day as you recover, but you can’t out train a bad diet. Unless you’re planning marathon style exercise sessions – you CAN’T do it!!! And if you’re guilty of ‘I’m too busy to exercise’ this will hopefully hit home.

Two groups of people who are most likely to get away with excess calories are professional athletes…. and kids – the ones who run all day!

But for most of us – we will be very lucky to lose weight (exercising or not) if we eat badly/too much. Have a think about your own journey – and I think you’ll agree.

The day I realised this, was the day I stopped banging my head against a wall. I then worked on my eating as a priority, as I knew that had the most control over weight/fat loss, and my workouts were much more enjoyable with a focus on being fitter and stronger (and subsequently being happier with how I look). The focus wasn’t on burning off excess food or punishing myself, as I’d learnt this isn’t how it works. I wish I’d worked it out sooner – but better late than never I guess.

I must admit, if I’ve gone off track with food (which thankfully happens rarely these days) I still sometimes find myself using workouts as a kind of ‘punishment’ ….. Even though I know that’s not what gets me my results. It’s pretty hard to snap out of that mentality, it really is. But you need to try, otherwise you’ll be an over-eater and over-exerciser forever (or until you change your ways!). If you’re relatively new to the whole weight loss world, the first change you should be working on is your food. Get yourself in the right place mentally by understanding your need to look at your eating first, then focus on the exercise. If you’re not open to making some changes with your food, you’re going to be in a bit of trouble. Change brings change.

As a trainer, I find it sad and frustrating seeing clients bust their butts at training, but never get the results that they want. If you feel like you are working really hard, but see no change over a period of time, it usually means there’s an issue with food. You are more than likely getting fitter and stronger, and feel better within yourself, but if you are eating too much and making poor choices, your weight is unlikely to change and your clothes probably won’t feel any looser. Please, please please understand that your eating must change first and foremost – IT’S A MUST!!!!!

If you choose not to change or fix your eating, your relationship with exercise will become more damaged than it maybe already is – you’ll be giving it everything but it will give you very little back (assuming that weight/fat loss if your goal). This then results in frustration and confusion and either give up, or you’ll question if the type of exercise you are doing is wrong, and wonder what changes you need to make to your workouts. Some people even try to workout for longer, or push a little harder. But again, it comes back to moving on from the mindset that you’ll ‘burn if off.’ I can’t emphasise enough how much more enjoyable workouts are when you’re not in ‘punishment mode’ – the pressure comes off and you still get great results. AND you will hopefully enjoy working out a little more!

So make a conscious decision to end the vicious cycle of over-eating – punishment and guilt – over-eating – punishment and guilt, and so on . Its unhealthy, and a waste of time and effort. And back to those that claim ‘I’m too busy’ to effectively lose weight – think about getting your food right (takes little time) and cutting out time-consuming punishment style workouts.

Again, exercise DOES burn calories and is a huge part of your weight loss efforts, but you won’t see much change (in regards to weight loss) if you still eat whatever and whenever you like. And don’t get me wrong, your diet does NOT need to be crazy strict and hard to maintain, just balanced, sensible and consistent. Come and see me if you want a hand with your eating plan.

Make today the day you realise that you won’t out-run or out-squat or out-cycle a poor diet. I wish we could, but we can’t.

Focus – fix food first!!

Have a super day

Paula