Weight loss is one of the most popular goals amongst my clients, I’m going to share tops tips for successful weight loss. First and foremost, you’ve got to believe in yourself and realise losing weight requires small changes you can stick to so they build up over time, eventually leading to a healthier lifestyle and a trimmer you.

How does weight loss happen?

Calories in minus calories out: That’s the simple, age-old equation for creating a calorie deficit to lose weight. Burn more calories than you consume and you’ll lose weight, right? If only it were that easy!

The key to creating a calorie deficit is to burn a little more (or eat a little less) than your body requires for weight maintenance. The calories burned through exercise + non-exercise activity + basal metabolic rate need to be more than the calories consumed through food to produce weight loss. In general, you’ll need to create a deficit of 250–500 calories per day to lose 0.25 kg to 0.5 kg per week.

Since your basal metabolic rate (the calories you burn at rest) accounts for 60–70% of the calories burned throughout the day, it’s important to calculate that as a starting point if you’re wanting to create a deficit. How much your body burns at rest depends on many variables such as genetics, age, hormones and muscle mass.

Two ways to lose weight:

OK, so now you know about creating a calorie deficit; let’s talk about how to achieve it. There are two ways to lose weight: changing what you eat and changing how you move. Most people find a combination of the two leads to the most effective weight loss.

1. CHANGE WHAT YOU EAT AND DRINK

Reducing how much you eat and turning to more healthful foods are the prime directives for anyone looking to lose weight. That said, if you don’t just want to eat healthy, but want to lose weight, you’ll want to consider these five tips as well:

• Track What You Eat: What you put into your body makes a difference in your health and your weight. That slice of banana bread at the bakery looks divine. But choosing it over a banana adds more than just extra calories — you’ll be piling on more unhealthy fats and added sugar. As you track your intake, you get the bigger picture of what your food contains: carbs, fats, proteins, fiber, vitamins and minerals. To get the biggest nutritional bang for your calorie buck and create a bigger calorie deficit, consume the majority of your calories from unprocessed, whole foods. While it’s important to be as accurate as you can with food tracking when trying to create a calorie deficit, don’t lose your mind in the process. It gets easier with practice. Stick with it: Logging your food consistently (even if it’s not perfect) is one of the most effective ways to lose weight. I recommend clients to use the My Fitness Pal app downloadable from Itunes.

• Skip Soda: Added sugars — sweeteners added to foods or beverages when they are processed or prepared — are little more than empty calories that can lead to weight gain and even obesity, which increases the risk for chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Soda is one of the leading contributors of added sugars in the diet, along with cakes, pies, ice cream and even breakfast bars and cereal.

• Drink Water: Hydration is important for everyone, but it can also be a key component of your weight-loss efforts. In addition to keeping your body’s engine burning, water helps to stave off hunger: The more you drink, the less room you have for consuming calories.

• Plan Your Meals: Planning healthy meals ahead of time is one of the easiest things you can do to set yourself up for successful weight loss. It not only curbs the last-minute pizza delivery and fast-food drive-thru but will also help you save time, calories and money. It might even inspire you to introduce new meals into your daily routine.

• Practice Mindful Eating: Multitasking while eating — munching in front of the TV, snacking while writing emails or constant “sampling” while cooking — makes it challenging to be aware of what you’re putting in your body. Mindful eating is being aware of the taste, texture, smell and your body’s hunger and fullness cues. Knowing your cues and mastering the art of patience and mindfulness is the secret to losing weight for good and keeping it off.

2. BURN THOSE CALORIES (EXERCISE)

Reducing how many calories you eat is the best way to create a calorie deficit, but working it from the other way — burning more calories — works, too. Plus, regular exercise can boost metabolism, making creating a calorie deficit easier.

8 Simple Weight Loss Strategies:

It’s easy enough to say eat less, move more, but often more difficult to do. Here are a few ideas on how to make it easier:

1. REMOVE TEMPTATION: If you’re trying to set yourself up for success, keeping donuts and chips around isn’t doing you any favours. Give your pantry and fridge a little makeover to stay on track with your goals.

2. STOP EATING AFTER DINNER: Late-night noshes are usually high-calorie, large portions or snacky foods eaten mindlessly out of enjoyment to unwind from the stress of the day. It’s a recipe for weight gain and disaster.

3. LEARN HOW TO ORDER AT RESTAURANTS: Eating out can rack up the calories, so knowing how to make healthy menu swaps is key.

4. MASTER CALORIE SWAPS: Whether it’s swapping hummus for mayo or zucchini noodles in lieu of traditional spaghetti, the calories you save really add up when you’re trying to create a calorie deficit.

5. CONSIDER NON-SCALE VICTORIES: Your weight is determined by a variety of factors, including hydration, climate, when you last ate, bathroom habits and exercise. In other words, weight fluctuation is common, and there’s much more to good health than a number on a scale.

6. GET ADEQUATE SLEEP: Sleep is undervalued. Getting enough quality sleep is holistically tied to your health and weight-loss goals. Sleep offers our bodies a chance at restoration and rejuvenation. When we’re sleep-deprived, we tend to eat more, exercise less and make poor food choices.

If you slip up....

Get right back on track as soon as you can. I get it, we all fall off the wagon sometimes. It’s OK — what’s more important is understanding why you blew it and getting back on track. Try, fail and adjust … it’s a journey.

Good luck xx

Sssshhhh secrets of a London PT, uncovering top tips for wellbeing, fitness & nutrition.

Sleep for that killer body, ok. You have got this. I believe in you.

Do you wake up naturally, fresh, energized, ready to kick some serious ass each day?

No? The chances are your alarm goes off, you hit snooze, you feel tired, you calculate how many days it is until Friday, drag yourself to work, grab a large skinny cappuccino and the cycle continues….

Sacrificing sleep is the norm and the truth is most of us are sleep deprived. I urge you, STOP underestimating the importance of sleep. Sleep is fundamental to our wellbeing, fitness and our nutritional goals.

Why sleep for that killer body?

Depriving your body of sleep means you run up a sleep debt; the body then borrows energy from the immune system, resulting in sub optimal performance. Let me explain:

1. Sleep deprivation disrupts and limits your body’s ability to use insulin. This is bad news as insulin’s job is to remove fatty acids and lipids from your blood stream and prevent fat storage. As your insulin function declines, more fat circulates in your blood and gets stored in all the wrong places like your tissues and liver, leading to weight gain and eventually diabetes.

2. Hunger is controlled by the hormones leptin and ghrelin, not willpower, ok! Leptin is produced in our fat cells, the less you produce the more your stomach feels empty. The more ghrelin you produce, the hungrier you feel and the fewer calories you burn and the more fat you store. Successful weight management comes from controlling these hormones; the problem is sleep deprivation makes controlling them nearly impossible. So gorgeous people, get more sleep, have better hormone control and you will eat less.

3. Lack of sleep leads to higher cortisol levels – the naughty stress hormone associated with fat gain (piss off cortisol)! This little bugger Mr.cortisol activates reward centres in our brain that make us want food! Along with rising levels of Ghrelin this is not good news, as this duo shut down areas of your brain that leave you feeling satisfied after a meal, leaving you feeling hungry, even after a serious chow-down.

4. Back away from the cookie jar! Sleep deprivation pushes you in the direction of foods you know you shouldn’t eat as it impairs activity in your frontal lobe, which controls complex decisions such as to eat or not to eat a [all the] cookie[s]!

5. Muscle helps us burn fat and stay young – LIKE! Sleep deprivation decreases protein synthesis, the body’s ability to make muscle, causing muscle loss.

6. Human growth hormone (HGH) has its highest production during slow-wave sleep, it is a key player in keeping us wrinkle free and looking fine!

How much sleep do you need?

The million $ question – between 7 – 9 hours is advisable, the more active you are, the more sleep your body requires.

Good Zzzzzz’s strategy:

Schedule your bedtime like an important meeting; you wouldn’t cancel on your boss. Ideally at 10.30pm or at least the same time each day. Darkness, oh hello there, turn off all electricals, put down the mobile and don’t bother to email your boss back! Sex, scientist say 6 minutes extra shut eye is had if we sexercise before bed! Temperature, keep it low as otherwise it will inhibit melatonin, which is the hormone that regulates sleep.

Now you are armed with some facts, I will leave you with some good news, sleep is free and it is available tonight!

Good night, sleep tight and don’t let the bedbugs bite.