Not getting Results? This might be why...

I wanted to share my thoughts today on how you can achieve successful changes to your body. Whether it's weight loss, gaining lean muscle, or simply sorting out your diet, the concepts are the same.

Having been in this industry for 8 years now, I always hear stories about why people struggle. More often than not, it's not the lack of knowledge, or willingness to workout (although sometimes it can be).
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The majority of the time, it's overwhelm and willpower that buckles first.

A BIT OF SCIENCE

There's an area of your brain (the pre-frontal cortex if you're interested) that is responsible for making decisions, thinking clearly and enforcing your will power. The trouble is, in this busy environment in which we live, we are asking a lot of ourselves, and therefore when this part of the brain get's tired, the animal part of the brain kicks in and wants to simply survive which often leads to making poor choices

AN EXAMPLE

You start your day full of enthusiasm for your training plan, and new way of life. You enjoy a healthy breakfast, and head off to work. As the day progresses, a few stressful things happen at work, your boss puts unplanned pressure on you. You haven't planned lunch yet, but you know what you should be eating, so you plan on simply choosing wisely when the time comes. It get's to 1.35pm and you haven't eaten since 7am

You rush to the nearest pret, and although you know you should be choosing the wholemeal wrap, you end up going for the toastie. Your animal brain kicked in, and won. You feel guilty afterwards but justify it as you're busy and it wasn't your fault.
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And so it continues.

THE SOLUTION

In the simplest possible way of putting it, you need to reduce the amount of thinking you do. Don't leave your meals to chance, or wait until the last minute to decide, as you will be relying on the wrong part of your brain which will choose anything but the healthy option. 
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Decide what you're going to eat, plan it, and don't think about it again. The best thing to do it plan your week in advance in as much detail as you can. So every sunday, plan your meals, workouts and have a think about any obstacles that may come up. It may seem like a lot of work, but each week it will get quicker, and you will see the difference in the outcome of your week almost instantly

HELPFUL TIPS

Focus on one thing at a time. Plan it properly and then just do it. Do whatever you can so you don't have to keep thinking and using your willpower to save you. Will power will only get you so far, and will fail you at some stage.

I hope you found that useful. If you have any questions about any of this, just hit reply and ask.

Best, 
Sam Warrington

 

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