Think about this image for a moment………………
In one way it shows maternal bonding, perhaps in a different way it demonstrates why we are obsessed with weight loss. Think of the effect of your child seeing mummy on the scales (possibly every day), what message are we sending the next generation?
Is it any wonder that we constantly focus on weight as generations of women before us. This is perpetuated by the UK’s £2bn pa diet industry. The average woman will start 3 diets each year and studies show there is an 84% failure rate for those following diets – great news for an industry just waiting to sell you a new diet and peddle their products!!
The only sustainable way to stay healthy – and not be obese – is to keep as active as possible and eat regularly. Eat three meals a day: lots of fruit and vegetables, lean protein, high fibre carbohydrate foods in moderate quantities and cut down on nutrient poor sugary foods; cakes, pies, biscuits, confectionery, soft drinks and alcohol. This on its own should achieve a calorie deficit leading to fat loss.
Did I mention activity? Following a fad diet which prevents you eating regularly or sensibly leads to fatigue and lethargy. You won’t feel like walking up the stairs, completing your workout or taking the children swimming. If you’re overweight that simply compounds the problem and you remain trapped in the vicious circle which feeds the diet industry and their minions.
Exercise – which can be built into everyday lifestyle can cost nothing – is crucial to health but very few extreme diet advocates make much of it because; walking up stairs instead of taking the lift isn’t very sexy or marketable as a quick fix.
Not difficult or complicated. But it isn’t glamorous, celebrity-led, fashionable or likely to do much to sustain a £2 billion industry.
Stop obsessing over arbitrary pounds!
There's no magic number at which we all suddenly look slim. Women are incredibly varied in height, body formation and fat distribution.
Focus on living a healthier, more active lifestyle and measuring your success not by what you see on the scale, but with how energized and comfortable you feel within your own body.
Be the fittest version of YOU.
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Debs @ bournetraining.co.uk