From ‘Dad Bod’ to Fab Bod: 10 Weeks On.
Believe it or not it’s not as easy as it would seem in my line of work to keep trim, despite working out more than the average person. In fact, training non-stop all week can be exhausting and cause me to crave rest, caffeine, carbs and sugar.
In the last ten weeks I have been working hard on perfecting a food lifestyle rather than a diet, that’s realistic and also enjoyable. Life does need to be about more than calorie-counting amd suffering through starvation! And that’s far from effective in the long run anyway..
There is so much fascinating research coming out all the time about new or improved findings regarding food groups and where the western world has been going wrong. However these radical new concepts are not easy to digest without a completely open mind and there have been times when I have read some of these ideas and found them hard to believe myself. I always test food theory out myself before advising it to anyone else. Some of it works and some of it doesn’t so I would always volunteer myself as a guinea pig so I can monitor my weight loss, improvement in skin condition and overall health, but also my mood, energy level and behaviour. If I try anything that makes me look better but feel worse, I would consider it an unsuccessful attempt and tweak it until all areas are improved.
Everyone’s reasons for training and nutritional advice are different. Everyone has different levels of commitment or time, when it comes to including my tips in their daily life. Some people want to train for a specific event coming up or a fitness test, others need a break for an hour away from their laptop to detress and recharge. Some people make contact due to a lack of self-confidence, others because they have suffered ill-health and need to make positive changes. Some have recently become mothers and want help getting back to their pre-pregnancy weight and many people have tried so many different routes and are desperate to find one that works. One thing all my clients have in common is that with regular training and nutritional advice, they feel so much better. As I have said many times, there is not one area of our lives that cannot be improved by better health and with patience and self-belief it is achievable.
Training is my job and something that I do very regularly, however the nutritional side of things benefits my whole family including two very young babies and a busy mother. The food we make isn’t difficult to make. It is inexpensive, enjoyable and allows for bags of creativity. Everyone’s energy levels are maintained, skin conditions are minimal and we are still allowing ourselves a cheat day once a week which we all enjoy. The only strict rule to the meals is the ratio in which it is distributed and a reduction of sugar and carbs. So far this seems extremely effective, however it is also something I continue to tweak almost daily with yet more research and advice from outside sources. It is exactly this technique that I apply with my clients. I am far from finding the perfect diet that works for everyone, because of course every person has different preferences, aims and wishes. But I can safely say that the adjustments my family and I are making to our eating habits are showing real improvements.
I will continue to monitor our progress and will include before and after photos in the upcoming weeks!
-Niall.
