5 Ways to Help you Lose Weight before Christmas

It's just over one month to go before Christmas and if you'll looking to lose a few pounds from now to than here are my top 5 tips to help you squeeze into that 'little black dress' or dashing tuxedo for the party season:-

1.) Eat regular healthy meals and snacks:- Ensure you eat regularly in order to keep your metabolism and energy levels up.  This will also reduce the risk of overeating at meal times or grabbing a sugary snack, as energy levels will be more steady and you won't be looking for an energy boost.  Make sure that your foods are healthy, containing a good source of protein such as fish and chicken, carbohydrates, such as potatoes, rice and pasta and plenty of fruit and vegetables, which contain vital vitamins and minerals.

2.) Avoid Fizzy Drinks:- Cut out full sugar fizzy drinks as they are filled with loads of sugar and calories.  A 2 litre bottle of Coke contains 800 calories, so you can see how quickly you could rack up the calories by just having a few drinks during the day. Aim to drink 6-8 glasses of water instead to keep you hydrated and keep your metabolism up.

3.) Keep a Food Diary:- Write down everything that you eat and drink.  This will help you to focus and see where you are going wrong and fix it. 

4.) Control your Portion Sizes:- Ensure half of your dinner plate contains vegetables, a quarter of the plate with a protein source and a quarter containing a good source of carbohydrates.

5.) Be more Active:- Start moving your body more, ditch the car and walk instead.  Go for a jog or attend a fitness class.  Doing this will not only help you to burn calories but you will be more likely to choose the healthier types of food to eat as well.

5 Tips to Keep You Motivated

Cold days and long nights can lead to many of us at this time of year to get tempted to stay at home on the sofa, rather than go to the gym or a class.  It starts to get hard to keep yourself motivated when it's raining outside and the pull of the sofa and warmth of the living room is so strong.

Fear not, here's my top 5 tips to keep yourself motivated during the autumn/winter seasons:-

1.)  Get a gym buddy- Training with a friend will motivate you both and bring the best out of you.  You will be motivated to push yourself harder and further to try to better each other in friendly competition.  Having a gym buddy will reduce the temptation of deciding not to go as you don't want to let your buddy down.

2.) Go to gym/class straight from work/college:- Take out the temptation of staying on that sofa by packing your kit the night before and go straight there.  Have a snack, such as a Herbalife protein bar before hand to get you through it and have your dinner after.  If the class ends too late for dinner than have your dinner at lunch time and have a lighter meal such as a Herbalife meal replacement shake for dinner instead.

3.) Hire a Personal Trainer:- If you need motivation than a personal trainer could be the answer.  A personal trainer will ensure you are doing the exercises correctly, so they are as effective as they can be and will teach you new exercises to help challenge your body in order to gain the results that you want.

4.)  Try something new: - Try out a new exercise routine or class in order to challenge yourself and gain results.

5.) Set yourself a fitness goal:- Set yourself a realistic goal such as aiming to lose a stone in 3 months or being able to do 10 full push ups in 6 weeks. You can join the Herbalife Weight Loss or Level 10 challenges and be in with the chance of winning cash prizes.   Setting yourself a goal will help you to stay focused and maintain motivation.  You can even share your goals on social media in order to motivate you to stick to it and be successful.

I hope these tips have helped to keep you motivated at this time of year and if anyone is interested in either of the Herbalife challenges and products or personal training, please get in touch.

Herbalife F1 Breakfast Shake v McDonald's Breakfast

Experts say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day as this enables your body to be refuelled after a good night's sleep. In fact the very name literally means 'breaking your fast' as your body has had 6-8 hours of no nourishment and needs nutrients to replenish its stores, ready to face the day ahead.

However in our ever increasing busy world, many people either skip breakfast, which will encourage people to grab a sugary snack later on as their body crashes and over eat during their next meal, encouraging weight gain. Or they grab a breakfast on the go such as a McDonald's.

There is an alternative to getting the best nutrients into your body which is quick and easy.

 The Herbalife Formula One protein shake is a meal replacement drink that has all the nutrients your body needs but is well balanced and low in calories and fat and high in protein, which will keep you fuller for longer.  It comes in 8 tasty flavours such as chocolate, tropical fruit, cookies and cream,  strawberry and cappuccino.

Below I have compared Herbalife F1's nutritional content with a few examples from McDonald's official UK breakfast menu.  

Herbalife F1                                                   V            McDonalds Sausage and Egg McMuffin

Cals  (depending on flavour):- 220-225                       458

Fat:- 6.3g                                                                      20g

Protein:- 17.4g                                                              Not shown

Herbalife F1                                                   V            McDonalds Bacon and Egg McMuffin

Cals  (depending on flavour):- 220-225                       348

Fat:- 6.3g                                                                      17g

Protein:- 17.4g                                                              Not shown

Herbalife F1                                                   V   McDonalds Sausage, Egg and Cheese Bagel

Cals  (depending on flavour):- 220-225                       562

Fat:- 6.3g                                                                      28g

Protein:- 17.4g                                                              Not shown

Herbalife F1                                                   V            McDonald's Big Breakfast

Cals  (depending on flavour):- 220-225                       611

Fat:- 6.3g                                                                      35g

Protein:- 17.4g                                                              Not shown


The McDonald's items are singular but if you add a harsh brown (136 cals/8.2 fat) and a Mocha (318 cals/11g) and add these to a McDonalds Sausage, egg and Cheese Bagel, than total calorie intake would be 1016 and fat intake 47.2g!

Total daily calorie intake for a woman is around 2,000 calories and for a man it is 2,500.

Total daily fat intake is recommended to be 70g.

So if you choose the McDonald's version of a breakfast you have consumed a large part of your total calorie intake for the day and nearly all of your total fat intake for that day as well!

If you want to lose weight and you are finding that you are skipping breakfast or having a McDonald's regularly than maybe it's time to try Herbalife.

Contact me if you're interested in trying out our 6 day breakfast trial pack for only £10!

Intensity is Key

I was covering my usual Swimfit session today and noticed one of my girls swimming leisurely on her front and back using her legs but not much her arms.  From where I was standing  I couldn't see her being slightly out of breath, which she should have been if she wanted to get the health benefits of exercise.

When she was at my end of the pool I asked her what her fitness goals were?   She told me that it was to lose body fat and improve her stamina.  I informed her in order to achieve her fitness goals she needed to be upping her intensity by using her arms fully, thereby increasing her heart rate as she would be using all her limbs and therefore needing to burn more body fat for energy.

Once she started to implement my advice she started to get more out of breath and had to rest after each length.  I told her that this is what she should be aiming for each time in order to achieve her goals.

A lot of people think that if they just turn up to a pool, gym or class that they will have the fat burning off their bodies in next to no time but like life you only get out what you put in and if you want to lose weight, build muscle or increase stamina or flexibility you have to work for it.

Until science comes up with a pill to get you fit or a fitness surrogate who will do the work for you people will have to put the effort in to get the fitness results that they want and desire.