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Adam Berry - The Gym Starter 17/5/23 Adam Berry - The Gym Starter 17/5/23

Creative Ways To Increase Your Steps Each Day

Steps are very important for your fitness journey - and sorry but I don’t mean the 90s pop band with whom I have a great affination - and yes that is a “tragedy”.

Sorry for the awful joke.

I mean walking. Or rather, I almost view it as physical meditation.

Steps are one of the single most important pillars to pin any fitness journey to for anyone. Simply because in terms of exercise especially, they are so easily accessible to everyone.

Although having said that, I have certainly noticed how much harder it is to get my steps in regularly since moving to Australia compared to living in the UK. Its a lot easier to walk in the rain than it is in the sun!

This is me most days here in Queensland.

Steps are a golden tool to help you in your fitness journey - especially if it is weight loss orientated - and so I am going to take you through as many ways as I can think of to help you increase those steps each and every day to help you conquer your goals.

The idea for this Blog Post came from a BBC article [1] I saw titled:

“Walking can boost your fitness and Mental Health says PHA (Public Health Agency)”

The article highlighted that in Northern Ireland two-thirds of adults are overweight or obese and that the average step count in Northern Ireland was 3000-4000 steps a day.

It also goes on to say that walking is often overlooked as a form of effective exercise, despite its ability to build stamina, burn excess calories and improve heart health.

The section that stood out to me the most was the comment by the NHS that said:

“walking is often overlooked as a form of effective exercise”

And I know this to be true. The number of times I have had to convince a client on the Strong & Confident Program that their daily steps are more important than their workouts, especially if they are wanting to lose weight is far too great. This is because the fitness industry and society will make you think that a workout burns more calories than it actually does compared to the daily habit of hitting that step target.

One thing the BBC article does miss out on is actually helping you figure out how to increase your steps so that you can improve your overall health and fitness. Which is exactly why I wanted to sit down and write this for you.

Now I am sure you have a million and one questions all about this topic - but don’t worry - I will of course take you through it all in the rest of this article.

Table of Contents for Creative Ways To Increase Your Steps Each Day:

Why Should You Increase Your Steps?
How Many Steps A Day To Lose Weight?
Can Walking Help Your Mental Health?
How To Increase Your Step Count at Home
How To Increase Your Step Count at Work

Why Should You Increase Your Steps?

I wanted to start by answering this question because without showing you the value of your steps each day it is far less likely you are going to nail the target you have set for yourself.

Let us start with your metabolism and how it is broken down.

Metabolism basically means the “amount of calories you burn each day” and it is a very hard thing to “break”. If you think that your metabolism is broken, and you don’t have hypothyroidism or another diagnosed metabolic condition by a doctor, then I come with good news.

Your Metabolism isn’t broken. It is more than likely you just aren’t understanding what goes into it and therefore what you can get out of it.

Our metabolism is a pretty static thing throughout our whole lives, even when as a woman, you go through pregnancy and menopause. Your Metabolism just doesn’t change.

As a study called Daily Energy Expenditure Through the Human Life Course [2] found out.

It looked at a cohort of people over their lifetime and analysed their metabolism from 8 days old to 95 years old and it found between the ages of 20 and 60 metabolism was stable.

You can see the trends in the graphs above. It should also be noted, there are some outliers from the trend, and if this is your lived experience then that needs to be noted.

READ MY BLOG THAT OUTLINES EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR METABOLISM:

IS YOUR METABOLISM BROKEN?

Now that you know your Metabolism is pretty stable from the age of 20 years old, what goes into it and how can you get the most out of it.

The two sections I really want you to take note of in the above image are:

EAT and NEAT

EAT: This is your Exercise Activity Thermogenesis and it is simply how many calories you burn when doing a prescribed movement. HIIT, a Group Fitness Session, a Monthly Issue Workout, a jog, a bike ride - anything that is “fitness”.

And it is worth just 5% of your Metabolism or “the number of calories you burn each day”.

NEAT: This is all other movements you do in your day. Standing on the tube to go to work, doing your grocery shop, cleaning the house, brushing your teeth, fidgeting at your desk, and yes, your daily steps.

This is worth a whopping 15% of your Metabolism or “the number of calories you burn each day”.

And is also the biggest portion of your Metabolism that is directly under your control.

In a weight loss scenario, this is crucially important to know and is a huge reason one of my 5 Awesome Rules for Fat Loss Life is 10,000 steps a day.

Not that you NEED to do 10,000 steps a day - but more on that later.

Understanding your Metabolism in this way is also why I frame movement for all of my clients and have called my online coaching program the Strong & Confident Program. You won’t lose weight by doing some workouts in the Gym. Workouts are designed to get a human strong, not smaller, and your Metabolism would agree with me.

There are many other reasons you should increase your step count each day which will be sprinkled in the rest of this article.

How Many Steps A Day To Lose Weight?

No.

It really isn’t.

And here is the good news: you don’t have to do Ultra Marathons to lose weight.

Earlier in this article, I mentioned the dreaded: 10,000 steps a day.

There are studies that back this up, but with a kicker, seldom spoken about when setting step targets.

A study called: Pattern of Daily Steps is Associated with Weight Loss: Secondary Analysis from the Step-Up Randomized Trial [3] found the following from 363 participants in this 18-month study:

“Results support the recommendation of accumulating 10,000 steps·day, with approximately 3,500 of these steps per day being performed at a moderate-to-vigorous intensity in bouts of at least 10 minutes, to enhance weight loss in response to a behavioural weight loss intervention. While these results have implications that inform public health recommendations for physical activity.”

Key things to highlight here are:

Firstly the participants were in a Calorie Deficit.

The second is they completed 3,500 steps at a vigorous intensity.

Third is that it took 18 months for the participants to achieve a greater than 10% of body weight loss and only 263 of them managed to stick with it.

The origins of 10,000 steps a day are quite odd really, it was invented as a target by a Japanese company that wanted to sell their pedometers - and then the figure just stuck - and it was popularised by FitBit.

Essentially there is no magic number of steps a day to lose weight - and all weight loss efforts are futile if you aren’t in a Calorie Deficit.

But increasing your NEAT is always going to help you burn more calories and increase your weight loss efforts - all else being equal.

For some of you, this would be 10,000 steps a day.

For others, an increase in your step count could simply be increasing to 5,000 or 8,000.

What I tell all my clients who are working on a Fat Loss phase is, to work on creative ways to increase their steps over the day, and then still target a walk at vigorous intensity - and the best way to judge that is to challenge yourself to walk fast enough to struggle to hold a conversation, or if you are outside in a colder climate, to a point where you don’t need to wear a jacket.

Let me tell you about my client Jason who lives in Wisconsin and is on the Strong and Confident Program.

Jason is a truck driver. He gets up at 2am and drives from Wisconsin all the way to Ohio to deliver bricks and other materials for buildings, and then he drives back.

His ability to get steps in is really tough. We are constantly working on his diet to make sure he is in a Calorie Deficit when he is on the road, and we have had to come up with some really creative ways to help him regularly hit his step target. Things like walking around the truck when waiting to load and unload. Doing Truck laps when he is at a rest stop.

He has now lost 10kg in three months. His starting weight was 124kg, or as he is American, 272lbs. And in the last screenshot below you can see he hit 252lbs recently.

Here is a snapshot of the hard work he put into increasing his steps from his feedback forms over the last few months of his training. You can see his increased focus on steps week on week and the outcomes associated with them just from what he is feeding back to me.

It really is an awesome insight.

FOR MORE READING ON THIS TOPIC HEAD HERE:

IS 10,000 STEPS A DAY ENOUGH TO LOSE WEIGHT AND BE HEALTHY?

Can Walking Help Your Mental Health?

It certainly can.

I am of the belief that a walk cures most things.

We know, at this point, that exercise benefits your mood, as it helps reduce stress levels, it increases dopamine in your system, releases endorphins and gives you a sense of productivity.

Walking also fits into this narrative very easily.

There is one other key benefit of walking that you don’t get from being in a gym.

Nature.

Being in nature is a great stress reliever as well. Getting Vitamin D on your skin, looking at trees, fresh air and all the good stuff that outside giving you is worth its weight in gold when it comes to improving your mental health.

Another added benefit to your mental health from walking is the fact you will sleep better. This comes from having increased activity levels, but also from your body being able to tell the difference between night and day. The more sunlight your body gets, the more it will help regulate your circadian rhythm which is responsible for the timing of your internal body clock.

I say to all my clients that a walk cures everything.

Stressed…go for a walk.

Anxious…go for a walk.

Angry…go for a walk.

Depressed…go for a walk (if you can).

Feeling pent up…go for a walk.

Feel like you need to move…go for a walk.

Walking demands you create space and time between whatever it is that is stressing you out, and your response to that stress. It allows you to process things not only mentally but physically too. Going for a walk is simply a way for you to iron out anything snags you have in your life.

And I think thats pretty cool - and something worth valuing in one’s life.

How To Increase Your Step Count at Home

Over the years I have trained many, many people who have office jobs and busy family lives.

Simply telling them to go for a vigorous walk at lunch was not possible.

Or, a walk when the children were in bed at night time, in East London, considering I train mainly women, was not a good idea either.

So we had to get creative - and I also had to educate them on what steps actually meant.

Your Apple Watch doesn’t just pick up steps when you walk, it picks up any intentional movement that also picks up your heart rate just a touch.

This means you can clock up your steps whenever you are doing any sort of task - because remember the goal isn’t to increase actual steps the goal is to increase your NEAT activity,

You can therefore increase your steps at home by:

Cleaning the house
Tidying up after your kids
Mowing the lawn (I have a two-acre yard, its like walking a marathon every time)
Squatting when you brush your teeth
Climbing the stairs in the ad breaks when you are watching Love Island

This reminds me of a very funny post I once did:

When I was working in London I had a couple of clients who refused to train with me if it clashed with Love Island - hence I decided to make them workout whilst they watched it.

As you can tell…I am not a Love Island fan…

Making your bed
Dancing in your living room
Having sex (hopefully lots of it)
Decorating
Doing some building work
Sawing some wood
Chopping some wood
Work upstairs so each time you need to eat you climb the staircase
Gardening
Chase your children
Play with your pets
Do calf raises whilst the kettle boils

Basically, anything goes in your house so long as it increases your activity level.

And yes, it may feel superfluous. It might feel a little weird, and a little forced. But the more you do it, the more normal it will feel, and the more you do it, the more likely you are to see the fruits of your labour, which will likely make you more and more motivated to continue.

And remember, if my fiancee was able to get 10,000 steps in a day when she was in a hotel room isolating as she returned to Australia during the covid-19 pandemic then I am sure there are many ways in which you can explore your entire home to increase your step count.

How To Increase Your Step Count at Work

You could set off a fake fire alarm…

But I don’t personally recommend it as you might get into trouble with the authorities.

This is quite a hard topic to approach because every job has different demands, and a nurse for example, probably won’t need to read this section. However, a lawyer or an administrator might need to. A truck driver has far less opportunity to increase their steps at work compared to a teacher.

What I will do is approach this section from the point of view of a generic “office worker” and hopefully some of it might give you some ideas to then adapt and take into your own professional life.

And remember, its not just about steps on your watch…its’s about increasing NEAT activity.

Park your car further away from the office
Stand on Public Transport during your commute
Offer to the morning coffee run
Make all the tea and coffee in the office all day for your co-workers
Drink lots of water so you have to make more journeys to the toilet (I recommend 2-3 litres a day)
Eat lots of fibrous food and remember Elmo…

Fidget at your desk
Walk on your lunch break
Have walking meetings
Always stand up when you are on the phone
Take the stairs, not the lift
Collect your own printouts
Hand out the days post
Greet your colleagues by saying hello each morning around the office
Go for a walk as opposed to grabbing a snack
Get a walking pad in your office
Get a standing desk
Get a foot cycling thingy like this:

As you can see, there are lots of opportunities in and around your office to help increase your steps at work. One thing I know very well from having worked in corporate and many different office setups, from being a City Banker to working in world-class stadiums, is that the first barrier to some of these changes is your co-worker’s judgement on what you are doing, and the second thing is really what is most important.

Focussed activity equals more productivity. I fully appreciate that the argument to your boss to allow you to work out during your work hours will likely fall on deaf ears - more fool your boss when you look at the science involved with this.

There was a study [3] in Denmark 15 randomized trials took place in the workplace. It totalled 3500 employees across 10-52 weeks and gave the employee one hour of training a week. The training - matched something known as Intelligent Physical Exercise Training (which is a fancy term for a personalised training session with a Personal Trainer) as well as meeting other physical activity guidelines.

Its conclusions are rather epic. So epic in fact, I decided to give you the whole conclusion verbatim:

“Physical exercise training at work as IPET benefits the worker in terms of decreasing health risk indicators, improving physical capacity and functions as well as perceived health. Also, the employer may benefit from allowing the employees work time for such training through decreased sickness absenteeism and presenteeism in terms of improved or maintained productivity and workability. Finally, on the societal level exercise can be “more than medicine” since exercise in a specific manner can maintain the individual's ordinary daily physical functions and ability to move (walk, run). This is becoming more and more important among the ageing workers and in a public health perspective.”

Now because despite the evidence on display, your boss isn’t going to give you a free pass to head to the gym for an hour a week, it still shows that physical exercise, any physical exercise, even to the level of walking more, will make you more productive. It will decrease your sickness, it will improve your mood and it will give you more energy to focus on your tasks at hand.

So despite what your co-workers might think, despite how odd it feels pedalling under your desk, it will all feel better when you have far less stress relating to your job, when you feel more socially included with your co-workers and when you are being more productive.

So if going for a walk at lunch takes you some way towards that…then it can’t be a bad thing, and you are also increasing your steps whilst at work.

What a win-win.

A Final Word…

I truly hope you found this article helpful. I have spent the best part of the last decade of my life helping people reframe and reimagine what fitness means to them and how they view their relationship with fitness.

Whether that is their relationship with food, exercise or themselves, I have helped 1000s of people focus on getting stronger in their mind, body and soul to help them have more increased confidence and self-esteem.

I do this in a variety of ways:

My Blog - www.thegymstarter.com/blog
My Training Program - The Strong and Confident Program
My Books - 27 Ways To Faster Fat Loss

As well as the usual social media channels.

If you would like to find out more about getting stronger then please drop me an email by using the form below:

Have a great day,

Thanks for reading

Coach Adam,

References:

Connolly, M.-L. (2023) Walking more can boost fitness and Mental Health, says Pha, BBC News. BBC. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-65163071 (Accessed: April 10, 2023).
Daily Energy Expenditure Through the Human Life Course | Science (no date). Available at: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abe5017 (Accessed: April 10, 2023).
Author links open overlay panelGisela Sjøgaard and AbstractBackgroundPhysical activity (PA) includes muscle activity during exercise (2016) Exercise is more than medicine: The working age population’s well-being and productivity, Journal of Sport and Health Science. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095254616300096 (Accessed: 17 May 2023).

Adam Berry - The Gym Starter 1/1/23 Adam Berry - The Gym Starter 1/1/23

How To Heal Emotional Eating

Emotional Eating is one tough subject, as is how to heal emotional eating.

It’s tough because writing this Blog I want to make sure that it is nuanced and careful enough to show empathy with what you are struggling with and show you the action steps to try and help you move forward.

It’s tough as well, because of how much you are suffering with it, and the difficult work that you will likely have to do to unpick your emotional eating behaviours in order to rebuild your relationship with food, and in truth, yourself.

The next most important thing to say here is that there is an inherent link between emotional eating, disordered eating and eating disorders. It is a sliding scale of severity, but I would encourage you to reach out to a Medical Professional if you feel like you may have any of the following eating disorders:

Anorexia Nervosa - severe food restriction and sometimes extreme exercising and other purging behaviours
Bulimia Nervosa - repeatedly binging on large amounts of food and then purging it
Muscle Dysmorphia - affecting men more than women, a disruptive obsession with musculature and physique. The individual will fixate on obtaining the ‘perfect’ form of musculature.
Orthorexia Nervosa - someone becomes so obsessed with planning a perfect diet that it disrupts their life.

There are 12 eating disorders and if your experience isn’t represented above then please head here to find out more.

Added to that there are some excellent charities that will be able to help you as well:

BEAT - UK
NEDA - America
Butterfly Foundation - Australia

Despite there being a link between eating disorders and emotional eating, I am not a medical professional. I will not be dealing with how to help you with an eating disorder. This blog will be about how to heal your emotional eating tendencies. If you recognise yourself to have any of the above eating disorders then please contact one of the charities above, or see your GP; please do this.

The only other thing I want to say is to thank you for being here. Thank you for trusting my words to try and help you through such a difficult topic.

Thank you for being open and willing to do the work involved in improving your relationship with food, and yourself as well.

It can be overcome. It can be worked on each and every day, and I have every faith you can conquer this.

So take my hand, and let’s help you figure this out so that you can stop being overwhelmed and controlled by your emotional eating behaviours.

We will find solutions.

I promise.

Table of Contents for How To Heal Emotional Eating:

What triggers/causes emotional eating?
Strategies to stop emotional eating
How to improve your relationship with food

What Triggers/Causes Emotional Eating?

This is a big list - and even the list I have curated here doesn’t cover it all, simply because the causes would be very different for everyone.

Stress
Boredom
Feeling unheard
Feeling unappreciated
Feeling overweight
Feeling lonely
Food guilt
The need for affection
The Media
Living in a fat-phobic society
Medical concerns
Feeling out of control
Lack of self-confidence
Lack of self-esteem
Addiction to food

This Blog post will reach thousands and thousands of people, and they will all resonate with something on that list. This is good news for you because it shows how normal it is. It shows that you’re not the only person who struggles with this and that you aren’t alone.

And not being alone is always a good place to be.

I can remember two very clear occasions when emotional eating took me over. I am a human being with a good understanding of my emotional self, I don’t suppress emotions and I do have a balanced relationship with food.

The first was when my agent, who I had been with since I left Drama School, told me that he could no longer represent me.

The second was when I split up with one of my past girlfriends.

On both occasions, I responded to my emotions with alcohol - and that does seem to be the food I go to when I do emotionally react to food.

However, on both occasions, I knew that I was emotionally resilient for that reaction to not embed itself into me as a habit.

I had two things helping me here.

The first is my resilience. I do think of myself as more resilient than your average person, I don’t think you could be a semi-professional football referee and not be a resilient human.

The second was the fact I was responding with alcohol. That put a natural barrier in place for me to not allow it to become a habit - because I know how addictive such a substance can be, and because of this my objective brain will always take over.

The causes of my reactions are quite clear here. The ending of two very significant relationships
in my life. Things that meant a great deal to me, and still do.

Please remember this:

“To fix emotional eating, don’t focus on the eating: focus on the emotions”

— Adam Berry

Every time I have a client working with me online on my Strong & Confident Program, and they tell me that they are struggling with emotional eating, they always follow it up with this statement:

“I love food”

We ALL love food.

Truly we do, because food gives us life. Whenever you say this statement or my clients say it to time, they are actually saying:

“I am addicted to the comfort that food gives me when I am feeling vulnerable. Food is my safety”

And this makes much more sense at a neurological level. In the study Mood, food and obesity [1] they illustrate this pathway really clearly:

In the study they also state:

“Reward and gratification associated with food consumption leads to dopamine (DA) production, which in turn activates reward and pleasure centres in the brain. An individual will repeatedly eat a particular food to experience this positive feeling of gratification. This type of repetitive behaviour of food intake leads to the activation of brain reward pathways that eventually overrides other signals of satiety and hunger. Thus, a gratification habit through a favourable food leads to overeating and morbid obesity”

This is critical for your understanding on how emotional eating works. When you eat, you get a hormonal response to the food you are eating, through what is also known as the “feel good” hormone; dopamine.

When you eat, you feel good, at a cellular level. Food bridges the gap for you.

Let's say you have had a disagreement with your boss at work, and they patronised you, made your points or concerns feel worthless and you were frustrated and upset by the whole exchange.

You might then turn to food because of these feelings. By doing that, you know you will get the sense of pleasure and comfort which you are craving.

This pleasure and comfort come in the form of dopamine. The more you practice this routine, the more you will come to rely on it. You also learn to develop this routine in other areas of your life where you might feel vulnerable.

And before you know it, your emotional eating has become a habit, a reflex, that feels out of your control, and the part of this equation that seems easier to fix, is trying to fix the food you are eating, as opposed to the emotions you are feeling, because you physically see the result of the emotions in the food, but seldom in life is trying to change the result of something a worthwhile endeavour without fixing what is causing that result.

The reason I have outlined all of this at the start of this post is so that you can now see why it is so hard to heal emotional eating, you are not just having to wrestle with your emotional core, but also your physiological self.

And that’s ok. It can be worked upon, and understanding your emotional eating in this way will hopefully help you start the process of healing from it. because you can now empathise with yourself a lot more on why it has been so damn hard, as opposed to just feeling like a constant failure every time you try.

So how do you heal from emotional eating…

Strategies to Stop Emotional Eating

The first thing to say is that you shouldn’t shout at yourself, nor should you think that it is a switch that can be turned off overnight.

You will always feel emotions. You must eat.

We cannot stop these two human things, so just trying to “stop” will be futile, I assure you.

My best piece of advice when it comes to healing emotional eating starts with the following quote which I want you to imprint on your brain.

Space and Time

“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

— Viktor E. Frankl

Take that mental picture of the quote…

This is one of the most powerful quotes there is when it comes to understanding human behaviour. Viktor E. Frankl was an Auschwitz survivor during World War Two and after the war, he became a psychologist developing his theory of psychology called logotherapy in Vienna.

Logotherapy is based on the belief that striving to find meaning in life is the primary, most powerful motivating driving force in humanity.

When you are in a pattern of emotional eating there are a series of events that occur which causes you to “emotionally eat”.

Conflict occurs which will trigger/upset you with someone else or within yourself
Your search for a resolution to the conflict doesn’t end positively.
No human collaborative resolution occurs.
You find emotional resolution in the food you eat.

It is the lack of resolution in steps two and three that drive you to emotional eating.

The timeframe will always differ based on different situations and how strong the emotions are or how intense the conflict is, but in every situation there is one common occurrence:

You are failing to find a resolution to your conflict.

In the quote above “resolution” is what Viktor E. Frankl is referring to when he says “space".

When you are faced with a conflict, the most important thing to do is to develop your own space. When we are in conflict as humans we often look for a resolution to conflict from an outer source; another person, a parent, a partner, a child, or a colleague.

The issue you have here is that you aren’t taking responsibility for managing your emotional self, you are allowing others to do it for you…fast forward that ten to twenty years and your whole centred self is dependent on others.

Which removes your own power.

Jim Carey was right:

Or more: you have the power.

And your power to lies in creating space and space is the key to healing you from this complex web of emotional eating.

So how do you create space and time in order to choose a different response to your emotions?

Strategy 1: Sit with uncomfortable emotions

This is a lot harder than it sounds which often means it is the first place to look - the harder the work, likely, the more positive the result.

One of the more obvious ways to create space and time is to simply let time pass. The issue with this is that it will mean sitting in the uncomfortable feelings that are driving you towards emotional eating.

The food you eat is your current solution to these feelings, but you also want to stop using food as the solution to these feelings. Here you need to get objective about the role food is playing in your life in these moments.

When you “fix” these feelings with food it is temporary relief because soon after you begin to feel guilty and upset about the food you just ate, leading you to more uncomfortable emotions. When this occurs you need to work with objectivity towards your food. Recognise this role it is having in this cycle of behaviour and do things to distract yourself from reaching for the food:

- Go for a walk or get some exercise in

- Journal about what caused your emotional state

- Talk to a friend about what happened

- Meditate for 10mins and practice some box breathing

- Reflect on how the situation could have occurred differently, what you weren’t happy about with what happened and how you might re-approach a similar situation in the future.

All of these actions are designed to help you process the emotion and distract you away from the need to reach for that food. To pattern interrupt your default setting, so that over time you can develop a different reflex in reaction to an emotional trigger.

Strategy 2: Have a structured diet

There are very few things in fitness that a structured diet will not help tremendously with, and emotional eating is high on that list.

In this day and age, we don’t protect our meal times as much as we need to. Whether that is protecting the time we actually eat, or whether it is protecting the moment we have with our food from distractions and other intrusions which de-values the role food has in your life.

Your body is then constantly guessing when it is going to be fed, and how it is going to be fed, and your relationship with food is equally compromised because hormonally you have a lack of regulation, and you aren’t valuing how food can impact your life each and every day.

By eating in a structured manner, you will manage your hunger hormones in a much more level way, and this will allow you to not overreact to your hunger signals when you are feeling stressed in other parts of your life.

A structured diet is also the first step to repairing your relationship with food in all areas - something that you should always be looking to improve, to help heal emotional eating. You have a right to eat, you have a right to nourish yourself with food, as opposed to allowing your emotions to dominate all aspects of your diet.

A structured diet should look like this:

Breakfast.
Lunch.
Dinner.
Two snacks.
Each meal must fit on one plate.
You should also eat uninterrupted and participate as much as possible in the making and creating of the food.

FOR MORE HELP wITH THIS HEAD HERE:

LEARN FIVE EASY AND HEALTHY EATING HABITS

Strategy 3: Sleep

A lot like having a more improved structure to your diet, there are few things that optimal sleep doesn’t help cure. The issue here is that optimal sleep isn’t as available to everyone as being able to structure a diet properly is.

I do believe, deep down, you know this next statement to be true: lack of sleep equals more emotional responses to the world around you.

We are all more cranky when we are tired. We are all more sensitive when we are tired. We are all more stressed when we are tired.

This means that we are also a lot more emotional when we are tired, and therefore more susceptible to emotional eating.

There is a part of your brain which is responsible for your emotional responses to the world, it is known as your amygdala. The less sleep you have, the more active your amygdala is, and therefore the more likely you are to respond emotionally to stimuli around you.

Therefore the more likely you are to try and fix that feeling with food.

This is important for you to know for two reasons. The first is that there are some easy wins here for you. If you can improve your sleep, in any way that is accessible to you, then you will naturally be more likely to improve the chances of healing your emotional eating.

The other reason is that you now know that you can take action to improve your emotional eating in an accessible way, because we all have to sleep right. So by optimising that, you have a clear and direct path to improving this aspect of your life, overnight.

Some top tips I have for improving your sleep can be found here.

Strategy 4: Stop trying to change the size of your body

If emotional eating is a constant recurrence in your life and that is paired with constantly trying to lose weight then your desire to lose weight will always be a difficult process.

This comes down to the foundations you are setting yourself up with.

To lose weight and to be able to sustain it you will inevitably need to have a good relationship with food, as well as yourself.

One of the key aspects of building a better relationship with food, is loving the role food has n your life, as well as loving yourself within that process, and for as long as you are eating in a guilt-laden emotional state, then you will forever be destroying that relationship with the food you are eating.

Food is love. Food is nourishment.

In the same way, I am always telling my clients that the gym is a place to get stronger, I am telling them that their food is not there to be demonized, in fact, is a thing in your life to be celebrated and enjoyed.

Food is not destorying your body. It is sustaining it.

When you only view the food you are eating through the prism of how it is causing you to gain weight, as opposed to it actually keeping you alive, then you will inevitably begin to walk down a path of developing a toxic relationship with your food.

But you can’t avoid eating your food.

And then you reach emotionally to this frustrating situation you are in.

This leads to more food, which leads to more destruction of how you feel about the food and yourself.

The best way to stop this cycle is to stop trying to lose weight and start trying to build better habits and relationships with those habits surrounding your food.

And then by taking the pressure of your physique away from your food, and building these better habits, you will more than likely end up with a much stronger and more solid foundation to set a weight loss goal when you feel in a much stronger place with which to do that.

Some things that you will need to work on to get into this stronger position would be:

Releasing your guilty associations with food
Engaging in a much more balanced diet
Sticking to structured eating as outlined above
Keeping yourself hydrated
Not feeling exhausted at the prospect of being on a diet aka “diet fatigue”
No longer view yourself as “on a diet” or associate with a particular dietary style

The aim for you is to turn around that mental war you have with yourself which is associated with trying to lose weight. Once you do that, by working on the bullet points I laid out above, then you can begin to see the positive role food has in your life.

How to improve your relationship with food

Being an emotional eater is a sign that you don’t have a very positive relationship with food.

And if you start taking on everything else I have outlined in this article, then I would hazard a guess your relationship with food will start to improve.

However, there are some other signs that you might need to work on your relationship with food:

Avoidance of “bad” foods
Speaking about food in the negative most of the time
Speaking about yourself in the negative most of the time
You have “can” and “cannots’” in terms of what you eat outside of medical reasons
You believe certain foods are “good” and certain foods are “bad”
You are stressed when eating in a social setting because the food choice is out of your control
You ignore your hunger cues and fullness cues
You are overly reliant on calorie counting to control your food
You have had a history of yo-yo dieting
You over-exercise in response to overeating
You engage in disordered eating patterns or engage in eating disorder behaviour

You might not relate to all the things on that list, but you probably have one or two that really stood out to you.

But don’t worry, like any relationship, if you put in the work you can get more out of it and heal what is going on here.

Releasing yourself from dichotomous thinking

When I say: “Pizza”, “Doughnuts”, “Alcohol”, “Sugar”, or “Cake” what is the first word you think of in relation to these foods?

And when I say “Salad”, “Vegetables”, “Water”, “Protein”, or “Unprocessed Foods” - what word springs to mind?

This is dichotomous thinking; believing that certain things only fall into a good or bad category.

The truth is that all food has a place in your life - all food nourishes a part of yourself. A doughnut can be like eating a small hug, which has an emotional nourishment to it, and eating a broccoli stem might have a nutrient value that provides nourishment.

Either way, you are being nourished by that food.

Food has no moral value, and by telling yourself that eating a bag of crisps is naughty or bad for you, you are essentially telling yourself that you are naughty or bad.

And over time, if you do this with everything you eat, that will have an effect on your self-esteem - believe me, I have seen it in thousands of clients over the years.

It is also standing in the way of your ability to actually lose weight, as this study [2] describes:

“We conclude that holding dichotomous beliefs about food and eating may be linked to a rigid dietary restraint, which in turn impedes people’s ability to maintain a healthy weight.””

— PMID: 25903250

This thinking is often related to diet culture in the sense that you have an ingrained belief that eating “good” foods will lead you to lose weight and change your physique.

If you are trying to heal emotional eating, then that should be the goal, and in order to get there, understand that you require a balance of all foods in your diet because that is part of the process of healing this relationship.

If you do feel like you need a physique goal associated to this project, then I would suggest getting stronger should be your goal and that will help release the pressure of always trying to lose weight.

Remember, nothing bad can come of getting stronger…can it?

2. You have to give yourself permission to eat anything

This relates to my first point about dichotomous thinking.

But knowing there are no good or bad foods is one thing, actually allowing yourself to eat that way is a whole other.

In my experience, the lack of permission to eat anything always comes from a place of fear.

And fear is:

False

Expectation

Appearing

Real

Your fear of eating a McDonald’s is that it will lead you to gain body fat. When in truth, it really doesn’t.

A common misconception here is that 3500kcal equals one pound of body fat. In strict terms, it’s actually between 3,436kcal and 3,752kcal.

But if you were to eat 3,500kcals in one sitting then you still wouldn’t gain 1lb of body fat. This is because your metabolism is perpetually working. You have to digest the food, you are likely moving when you eat it and still moving throughout the day, you are breathing, you might be fidgeting and all of this leads to you burning calories.

Therefore the key message here is:

You need to eat 3500kcals MORE than you burn each day to gain 1lb of body fat

One Large McDonalds Big Mac Meal has around 1,320kcals in it. Three of those in one day would be around 3960kcals. So to gain one pound of body fat, to be eating 3500kcals MORE than you burn each day, you need to eat 6 Lagre Big Mac Meals.

Now I am not saying that you have a free pass to eat 5 Big Mac Meals every day. I am simply trying to outline the scientific facts behind body weight and help you to release your false expectations when you engage in eating such food.

Of course, I would always recommend a varied diet, full of nourishment, but never to the detriment of your physical or emotional health.

Balance. Always.

3. Mindful Eating…

In truth, I am not a huge fan of this term, simply because it has been overused and therefore
over complicated.

All mindful eating really is, is the following:

Be involved in the preparation of your food as much as possible.
Sit with your food with no distractions other than family and friends, at a table.
Give thanks for the food you are eating, and the people you are with.
Give thanks for what the food is doing to help sustain your life.

That’s it.

There’s no need to worry about it above that. The first port of call here is to take away all distractions. Don’t scroll social media when eating dinner. Don’t watch the news when you are eating lunch.

You can then layer in other questions about the food you are eating to help you with this.

How does the food feel?
What am I enjoying about eating this food?
Why am I eating this food?
What is my emotional state when eating this food?

And so on and so forth.

In Conclusion…

As you work on this process you can begin to look for signs that you are improving your relationship with food and getting a much stronger relationship with it:

Not feeling guilty about eating food.
Avoiding restricting certain foods from your diet.
Feeling less stressed when food choice is out of your control.
Not feeling the need to burn off calories through exercise.
Seeing the way you speak about food change.

I really really hope you can start to notice some of these things change in your life as you improve that relationship with food, and allow yourself to heal from emotional eating.

Being a slave to food your whole life, through fear and anxiety, is no way to live, and it is actually getting in the way of you being able to live the life you want.

Work on what is laid out in this article, and i truly hope it brings you the freedom you deserve to enjoy.

What’s Next…

Well, I am an Online Coach who has helped thousands of people work through the challenges in this article.

And it would be my pleasure to help you too.

My program, which is personal one-to-one online training called the Strong & Confident Program.

If you have ever wanted to achieve the following:

✅ Escape the constant dread of dieting?

✅ Release the guilt you attach to eating certain types of food?

✅ Learn to stop worrying about “the pesky last few pounds” and focus on all your body can do?

✅ Become truly happy with what your body is and what is capable of?

✅ Enjoy the feeling of being stronger and fitter as opposed to trying to reduce your size all the time?

✅ Achieve all of this and still lose body fat at the same time without huge restrictions and slavery to a fitness regime?

✅ Do it all on your own schedule, in your own way, with a program specifically designed for you?

Then please click on the button below and fill out an application form to start working with me.

Apply To Work With Me

If you feel like you need more help balancing your relationship with food then you can look through the following articles of mine as well:

Thank you so much for reading my work, and good luck with building a stronger relationship with food.

I cannot wait to see how you go!

Coach Adam

References:

Singh M. Mood, food, and obesity. Front Psychol. 2014 Sep 1;5:925. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00925. PMID: 25225489; PMCID: PMC4150387.
Palascha A, van Kleef E, van Trijp HC. How does thinking in Black and White terms relate to eating behavior and weight regain? J Health Psychol. 2015 May;20(5):638-48. doi: 10.1177/1359105315573440. PMID: 25903250.

Adam Berry - The Gym Starter 12/9/22 Adam Berry - The Gym Starter 12/9/22

5 Easy and Healthy Eating Habits For Weight Loss

This article will be a number of things:

Practical
Easy to implement
Realistic
Balanced

Nutrition is a very complex topic - and within that complexity, someone who is simply searching just to try and make a small change for their health by looking to improve their diet can easily be led off track and left feeling very very confused about all of the conflicting information out there and what it means to “eat healthily” especially when it comes to weight loss.

I will cut through that.

Today, I will tell you easy-to-implement things, to make your diet as simple as possible, and as healthy as possible to help you achieve your goals, leaving you with the knowledge and ability to improve your healthy eating habits.

I would also love to invite you to join my Free Facebook Group:

JOIN NOW

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR: 5 Easy and Healthy Eating Habits For Weight Loss

The Importance Of Healthy Eating Habits?
Healthy and Unhealthy Eating Habits
What Are 5 Healthy Eating Habits?
- Structured Eating
- No Black or White Thinking
- Increase Protein & Vegetables
- Healthy Snacks
- Plenty of Water

The Importance Of Healthy Eating Habits?

Habits are the building blocks of change and if losing weight is your goal, then change is what is required.

Changing something so integral to your existence like your diet is also a really hard thing to do - and to make sure that change is long-lasting and effective enough to help you reach your goals comes down to your ability to implement habitual change.

The reason “healthy” eating habits are so important isn’t that you should eat “healthy” all the time - in fact, you really shouldn’t do that - its because if you have habitually created the “healthy” eating if it is an automated process in your life, then when you feel like you have “fallen off the wagon” or “skipped on your diet” then getting back on track is the easiest thing possible.

As you know exactly what to do and how to do it.

Another importance of creating and having “healthy” eating habits is that helps you to stop focussing on only the negative aspects of what you are doing. It is so easy to beat yourself up for eating in an “unhealthy” way when you feel like that is all you do.

This creates a negative spin within you that can constantly feel like you will never be able to turn around, and therefore the cycle goes on and on now not only is your physical health decreasing, but so is your mental health.

By having automation in your day, covering your bases if you will, it makes the more enjoyable foods feel less significant, in the bigger picture of your life, and therefore it reduces any guilt you may have from eating the more “unhealthy” foods.

I want to help make sure that you are doing the best you can, with what you have available to you.

I also want to make sure that you have the ability to keep your diet in a place that dones’t swing from one extreme to the other all of the time, because when that happens you actually make no progress at all - my goal is to help you iron out the creases so that progress is achievable for you - and the habits I lay out in this article are important to make sure that is exactly what happens to you.

And then you will make the progress you desire.

Healthy and Unhealthy Eating Habits

You may have noticed that in this article so far I have put parenthesis around the words healthy and unhealthy.

This is because I never like being dogmatic when it comes to your nutrition - and to simply say that this is healthy and that is unhealthy, with no further context, could be misleading for someone.

I think we can all agree that vegetables are healthy.

Personally, I happen to know that Fruit is also healthy.

But believe me, there are people out there who would happily tell you otherwise.

I would also put forth an argument that a Pizza, a Donut or a Birthday Cake can be healthy when you view it in the correct context.

For example, if you are at a Birthday Party, and they serve your favourite Red Velvet Cake, everyone around you is enjoying it, and you happen to have said “No” because you view cake as unhealthy food, that is going to have an impact on your enjoyment of the occasion.

Food is community.

Food is family.

Food is nourishment.

Food is emotional.

Food is simply not as simple as healthy or unhealthy.

Food is not one thing or the other.

What might be healthy for the soul, might not be healthy for the body and vice versa. I have known many people in my life who have created extremely unhealthy bodies by only eating healthy food.

There will always be debates and arguments around what is healthy to eat and what is unhealthy to eat - and to be quite frank - I just think these waste peoples time.

Arguing over the effect of Gluten, Fructose or how to control your Insulin is actually nutritionists and personal trainers just trying to show off how big their brain is.

Whenever someone I follow or am engaged in conversation with about nutrition starts talking about having an extreme stance on one aspect of their diet, cutting out sugar or carbohydrates, for example, my respect for them dies away immediately.

And yours should too.

Because these people aren’t trying to help you, they are trying to convert you.

They have never walked a day in your shoes, and to simply say that “sugar is killing you” is not going to actually help you resolve what you need to resolve in your diet, as it will just cause more guilt and frustration within you.

I will now share with you 5 things you can do to really improve your eating habits in a healthy way - they may not be what you was expecting to see, but believe me, if your goal is to improve your health and to lose weight, or if your goal is just one of those options…

What Are 5 Healthy Eating Habits? - Structured Eating

This is front and centre for a reason.

You probably weren’t expecting the first habit that you need to work on is in fact eating more regularly.

I know I too would be surprised if I Googled “What Are 5 Healthy Eating Habits?” then I would not expect to see this as number one. I would expect it to be something simple like “eat less processed foods”.

However, without structure, everything else falls apart. You cannot build a house on sand, and you equally cannot build healthier eating habits on a poor structure.

Not only will a better structure improve your diet overall, but it will also improve your relationship with food as well.

There is a very common denominator with people I work with online and in person, who have a very keen desire to lose weight, and they very often have no structure in place with what and how they are eating.

They are simply winging it.

This has a couple of knock-on effects:

They have absolutely no idea how many calories they are eating - despite saying “I eat really healthy”
They react more emotionally to food.
They aren’t able to see that their overconsumption of food in isolated moments is related to the constant missing of meals.
They end up frustrated and walking down the path of looking for fat burners and other quick fix solutions.

Lets draw a line under it all.

And get you focussed on having a proper structure with your meals.

What Are 5 Healthy Eating Habits? - No Black or White Thinking

Call it what you want.

Diachotamus thinking.

Good food.

Bad food.

Black and white thinking.

Basically stop looking at your food in these terms.

Food doesn’t have a moral value. Calling your apple good, and a banana bad is the same as calling your sofa good, or your bed bad. It makes no logical sense.

When you label foods in this way you punch a hole in your ability to find balance and happiness in your diet, and therefore compromise your own happiness.

It also ceases your ability to actually lose weight.

As a study from the Journal of Health Psychology [1] points out:

“Results showed that eating-specific dichotomous thinking (dichotomous beliefs about food and eating) mediates the association between restraint eating and weight regain. We conclude that holding dichotomous beliefs about food and eating may be linked to a rigid dietary restraint, which in turn impedes people’s ability to maintain a healthy weight.”

When you assign morality to food, you are doing a number of things. Firslty you are putting those who eat in a way you view as “good” onto a Moral High Ground that you know you naturally can’t attian. Then when you eat foods you view as “bad” you are not only beneath others in society, you are also putting yourself down and dmagaing your self esteem.

You are also likely to be viewing foods as good and bad through the framing of “Diet Culture”, as in:

“If I eat good foods, I will lose weight”

But as the study above shows, that is actually counter itnuative, as it leads to an over restriction, then an over indulgence - perpetuating binge eating episodes and disorders.

Making the elusive weight loss even more elusive for you.

To help overcome this, there a few things you can do:

View your diet as a whole, don’t just focus on one or two aspects - keep a wide angle lens on and give equal respect and objectivity to everything you eat.
Listen to your hunger and fullness cues, try to tune into your body more, and question the feelings you have.
Ask yourself where your hunger or lack of satisfaction from eating has come from…are you really wanting more food or are you in need of human connection?
Look at all foods as nourishing. Nourishing your health and your body, nourishing your emotions, nourishing your mind. Every food can nourish you, and ask yourself what needs nourishing right now…and seek foods to that end.
Prioritise non weight loss based goals - like getting stronger and more confident (wink wink nudge nudge: The Strong & Confident Program).

What Are 5 Healthy Eating Habits? - Increase Protein and Vegetables

This is one of my Five Awesome Rules for Fat Loss Life.

Well the actual rule is “Protein and Veggies at every meal”

But increasing them from where they are right now will more than likely do you no harm at all, and it will indeed increase your likelihood to lose weight.

This occurs for a number of reasons, the first being, that the extra fibre in your system from the Vegetables will indeed keep you fuller for longer. Secondly, you can eat a lot of Vegetables in terms of volume, and take on relatively few calories compared to other foods.

For example, 100g of Carrots has 41 calories in it, compared to 100g of Chicken Breast which contains 165kcal.

My point here is that you will feel more full, and take on fewer calories, allowing you to adhere to your calorie deficit in a much more sustainable way.

Protein is one of the most satiating macronutrients there is.

As a study published in the BioMed Central Journal [2] states:

“The hierarchy for macronutrient-induced satiating efficiency is similar to that observed for diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT): protein is the most satiating macronutrient followed by CHOs and fat, which is least satiating”

Again this will lead you to feel fuller for longer, and more satisfied after eating as well as helping you recover from your exercise sessions in a much more efficient way.

For my clients on the Strong & Confident Program, I work on them increasing Protein to 100g a day if they are a meat-eater, and 80g a day if they are vegetarian - like me!

One of the best ways to implement this piece of advice is by having a DAS.

A “Daily Awesome Salad”

Just get your protein source, add it to some salad bag of food - and the job is done!

If you do this every day you will soon start reaping the benefits in terms of losing weight and building a more healthy eating habit.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT STAYING FULLER FOR LONGER BY READING MY BLOG POST THAT HAS

HELPED TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WITH THIS EXACT ISSUE

How To Stay Full In A Calorie Deficit Without Being Hungry

What Are 5 Healthy Eating Habits? - Healthy Snacks

If I had a pound or dollar for every time I get asked the following question:

“What healthy snacks can I have?”

And I look at the person who has asked me that question and simply say:

“You know the answer”

They look at me bewildered, and confused - because surely it’s not that simple is it?

And sadly, it is. It really is.

What is wrong with fruit being a snack?

In terms of a “snack” fruit literally ticks all of the boxes. It is convenient, it is cost-effective, it is filling and it is relatively low calorie compared to other kinds of snacks.

I also don’t know anyone who has food guilt over eating a banana. But eating a bag of crisps or a doughnut might trigger you. It doesn’t have to…but it might.

You can snack on vegetables too, however, they take more preparation and have a much higher barrier to entry to execute on.

I know it’s not exciting, I know it’s not sexy and I know when someone asks for a healthy snack they are wanting something like a Bounce Protein Ball or some kind of superior Kale Chip.

But again, they are very expensive and they won’t fill you up as much as an apple or banana.

There are plenty of exciting things you can do with fruit as well - if you have the time.

Other healthy snack ideas could be:

Trail Mix: grab a mix of any nuts, seeds, dried fruits savoury mix-ins like chickpeas, and just put it all together. The combinations here are endless.

Nuts: Be careful with nuts, as they are quite high in calories and may hinder your weight loss if over-consumed - and they are very easy to over-consume, but they do have many other benefits as well.

Seaweed Snacks - my fiancee eats seaweed all the time - and some of them are really tasty, but they don’t fill you up much.

The bottom line with “healthy snacks” is that if you want to avoid the obvious in terms of fruit, the preparation of these snacks can be quite a time-consuming exercise, and that negates the efficacy of the “snack”. Also, just because something is healthy doesn’t always make it the best option for weight loss, so always view these snacks in the realm of your calorie allowances.

Here are some of my favourite snacks from recipe books I send out to my clients:

What Are 5 Healthy Eating Habits? - Plenty of Water

This again features in my Five Awesome Rules for Fat Loss Life.

It never ceases to amaze me how many people are under-hydrated when they are trying to lose weight.

And it never ceases to amaze me how many people don’t recognise the amazing benefits of water in their ability to eat in a more healthy way for their diet.

I always ask my clients on the Strong & Confident Program to drink around three litres of water a day, which is quite a lot, but there are very few drawbacks to drinking enough water.

And that compared to the drawbacks of being dehydrated makes it well worth focussing on.

Water helps with cognitive function, muscle function, digestive function, complexion, joint function and energy levels throughout the day.

Water also has zero calories in it, therefore in terms of weight loss, it is really useful.

When you are dehydrated you will feel low on energy, might have a headache and generally won’t feel your best, which will lead you to consume more calories.

Don’t go from zero water to three litres immediately, build up slowly, and you may begin to notice the benefits on less water than three litres a day.

5 Easy and Healthy Eating Habits For Weight Loss

And that’s it…

Remember, to lose weight, you must be in a Calorie Deficit and to improve your eating habits you need to move away from the thoughts of certain foods being good and others being bad.

Having a “healthy” diet is different to everyone, but balance is the key to all things, and that means something different to all people.

One of the best things you can do to make your eating habits more healthy will be to stop trying to live up to the expectation of healthy eating you see on Social Media, and making sure you work hard on allowing your diet to work in the best way for your life.

And as always if you have any questions you only have to ask me.

To be able to do that don’t forget to send me a Friend Request by filling out the form below, and then you can email me your questions.

It would be my pleasure to answer them.

You will also get my book “27 Ways To Faster Fat Loss” sent to you for free.

I hope you found this article useful and that my tips help you improve your eating habits.

I cannot wait to see you again soon…

Coach Adam

References:

Palascha A, van Kleef E, van Trijp HC. How does thinking in Black and White terms relate to eating behavior and weight regain? J Health Psychol. 2015 May;20(5):638-48. doi: 10.1177/1359105315573440. PMID: 25903250.
Pesta DH, Samuel VT. A high-protein diet for reducing body fat: mechanisms and possible caveats. Nutr Metab (Lond). 2014 Nov 19;11(1):53. doi: 10.1186/1743-7075-11-53. PMID: 25489333; PMCID: PMC4258944.

Adam Berry - The Gym Starter 26/7/22 Adam Berry - The Gym Starter 26/7/22

How To Stay Active in the Winter - 3 Pillars for Success

A more succinct version of this article was originally published in Cove Magazine’s July/August Issue- which was a true honour of mine - to actually be published as a Fitness Writer.

It still feels very odd to me, being English, and talking about Winter in Australia over the months of June, July and August.

Right now the Northern Hemisphere is on fire because of incredibly hot temperatures - and I’m looking at buying a dressing gown to match my slippers as I’m really rather cold in Australia at the moment.

Just one of those other things that get turned literally upside down when you move hemispheres.

And it’s one of those things that you don’t realise will affect you as much as it does - moving your entire seasons around is weirder than you would believe.

However, I digress…

Cove Magazine asked me to write about staying active in Winter for them in their July 2022 edition, and I thought it a great time to publish this article on my website as well as before the Northern Hemisphere knows it - the heat will have calmed down and the nights will be drawing in, and you will be back to seeing your breath more often than not.

Summer only lasts a matter of weeks in England.

So I figured this would be apt.

This article focuses on a series of “Pillars of Success” that you should work on in order to help you remain active throughout Winter. The role of this article is to increase the chances of you being able to be active in Winter - as opposed to giving you a “by write” plan of what to do - because let’s face it - “by write” plans seldom work when you have to deal with that thing called life as well.

My job is to make things possible for you.

Not to tell you what to do.

Because I have never lived a day in your shoes - your experience of life will be individual to you.

But these pillars are designed for you to work on building that pillar up in your life to make the likelihood of activity increasing during the winter months a lot more likely.

Many people experience lower activity levels in Winter. As this study [1] in the Journal of Sports and Health Science found that 43.9% of people are likely to delay exercise in Winter compared to Summer which was 51.8%. Individuals who listed “Rain” as the adverse weather condition were 3.49 times more likely to delay exercising compared to “Heat” as the adverse weather condition and those who listed Ice and Snow were more likely to delay exercise compared to those who were just concerned with the cold.

And then again in this study [2] you can see the varied activity levels per season in 5085 participants:

So let's get to work on fleshing out the three pillars designed to help you succeed in Winter. On their surface they seem quite obvious and straightforward - but understanding the nuance of what is behind that surface will really help you strengthen your resolve and resilience in this field.

Before we get into it, I want to thank you for being here and reading my work. I want to thank you so much - that I would love it if you sent me a friend request so we can stay in touch a little more - and I can offer much more help to you than just this Blog Post. I will send you a Calorie Calculator, my book, free workouts and much more (some of which will be appropriate - some of which might not). So if you like the cut of my jib I have two options for you to become my friend.

Firstly just put your email address in here:

Secondly, you can join my Free Facebook Group called “Straightforward Fat Loss” - just click on the button below…

Join now

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR:

How To Stay Active in the Winter - 3 Pillars For Success

PILLAR 1: Get your Sleep on Track
- The correlation between Sleep and your Activity Levels
- How to Improve Your Sleep Hygiene
PILLAR 2: Understanding your Exercise
PILLAR 3: Managing your Diet

PILLAR 1: Get your Sleep on track

When it’s dark outside we tend to hibernate a little bit more – and this can cause very different behaviour relating to your sleep. For example, you might stay up later watching Netflix because you don’t feel as tired from the day due to a drop in activity levels as it is in Winter. Or you end up eating later into the evening causing your sleep to be interrupted at night making you less likely to have the energy to work out the next day.

The second your sleep is negatively impacted, your desire to remain active will diminish greatly regardless of the season.

In anything to do with fitness - whether you want to run a marathon, lose 20lbs or get strong enough to fight a bear in the woods, you need to prioritise your sleep. Ask any Athlete - the only way they can maintain their high-performance levels is through having very well-regulated and well-structured sleep.

Now I know you aren’t an Athlete. But it’s all relative right?

The Correlation Between Sleep and Activity Levels

There is a strong correlation between physical activity and quality of sleep.

As this study [3] shows:

“Twelve weeks of exercise training increased sleep duration and variables of sleep quality in adolescents. These investigators found exercise training to decrease NREM stage N1 (very light sleep) while increasing REM sleep, sleep continuity, and sleep efficiency when using polysomnography:”

This study [4] also found that:

“Regardless of the time of day, engaging in resistance exercise did improve sleep quality”

Makes sense right?

The more you move, the more tired your body will be and the better quality of sleep you will have.

So when that reduces, even slightly, during the Winter, it will have an impact on how restful your sleep truly is by stopping you from getting into that deep REM or Slow Wave Sleep.

This knowledge puts you in a catch-22 situation though.

Activity helps me sleep….Sleep helps me stay active…Winter stops me from being more active…

The key here is to just start somewhere. Try and get the ball rolling in some way.

Remember your goal is to be as active as possible throughout Winter, and we can improve your sleep in many different ways…

Want to find out Why Your Sleep Affects Your Body Weight?

Read my Blog Post that has helped hundreds of people get better sleep…and improve their fitness journey

WHY DOES SLEEP AFFECT YOUR WEIGHT LOSS?

How To Improve Your Sleep Hygiene during Winter

The rules here are the same as every other month of the year.

In my Blog Post “Why Your Sleep Affects Your Body Weight?“ I identify these 8 ways to improve your sleep:

Plan to get 8 hours of sleep a night
Sleep with the Sun
Exercise regularly
Listen to a Sleep Story
Listen to a Sleep Meditation
Put your phone down 60mins before sleep
Reduce Caffeine intake
Reduce Alcohol consumption

All of these stand true no matter what time of the year it is. However, Winter can cause issues with your achievement of some of these more than others and there are some that exist because of Winter that isn’t on that list.

So let me address that.

In Winter;

You will be more likely to eat more Comfort Food

On a cold winter day give me a nice hot mug of cocoa, any time of the day. Give me refined carbohydrates, and foods full of fat so that I feel like I am getting a nice warm hug from my food.

Added to that - a nice bit of Scotch or a Rum Toddy.

And plenty of Tea. I am English after all.

Or my Mum’s Roast Potatoes. Every night of the week.

During Winter we eat heavier meals - that’s just what happens. It’s not right or wrong, it is what we need. We want that warming hearty broth by the fire or the big bowl of Shepherds Pie to warm us through.

And we naturally consume more calories as we believe we are more hungry in the Wintertime too.

As this study [5] found;

“Daily caloric intake was higher by 86 kcal/day during the fall compared to the spring. Percentage of calories from carbohydrate, fat and saturated fat showed slight seasonal variation, with a peak in the spring for carbohydrate and in the fall for total fat and saturated fat intake. The lowest physical activity level was observed in the winter and the highest in the spring. Body weight varied by about 1/2 kg throughout the year, with a peak in the winter”

The extra calories aren’t so much of a problem, in relation to your ability to sleep, however, they might interrupt your sleep and you will wake up more during your sleep.

Added to this we also perceive ourselves to be more hungry in the Wintertime as this study [6] concludes:

“The subjects rated themselves hungrier at the end of the meal in the fall even though the larger meals resulted in a greater estimated amount of food in the stomach. In the winter and spring there was a strong negative relationship between the amount eaten in the meal and self-rated hunger at the end of the meal.”

This all means you are more likely to eat closer to bedtimes - as you feel like you are still hungry - and that will in turn affect how restful your sleep is once again.

Knowledge is power - and being able to understand this will hopefully help you make more informed choices throughout the colder months.

So when it's close to bedtime - and you are lurching for that hot chocolate before bedtime just asks yourself a series of questions:

Am I actually hungry?
If I’m not actually hungry what am i?
Am I bored?
Am I in need of a hug?
Am I stressed?
Am I anxious?
Am I feeling lonely?
What emotion is driving my hunger?
Will I be able to sleep without having this hot chocolate…if so do I then truly need it?

As you work through those you will be surprised how much you will realise you actually don’t want the Hot Chocolate, it was indeed something else - and then you will have a much more restful sleep.

Alcohol and Caffeine both affect your sleep negatively. They both stop you from being able to experience deep REM restful sleep which will in turn mean that getting your exercise in the next day will be just that little bit harder.

Try to drink water in the afternoons and evenings, or herbal teas. That will help greatly - although I do understand the need for a warm cuppa in the middle of winter.

In Winter;

You will get less daylight

Daylight is crucial to our body’s ability to release melatonin - the hormone that makes us sleepy and drowsy.

Your body needs a clear distinction between night and day. This distinction is critical in your ability to release melatonin appropriately to allow you to sleep well. This is known as a circadian rhythm - and it is mightily important we try to stick to it as best we can.

The key here is to make sure you still get daylight. Not necessarily sunlight.

I know the sun shines all of about 2 weeks in the UK - but unlike parts of Scandanavia you do still get Daylight - and that is critical.

Melatonin time and time again proves that it does indeed improve a person’s sleep, as this Meta-Analysis study [6] concludes:

“Our meta-analysis demonstrates that melatonin significantly improves sleep in subjects with primary sleep disorders compared to placebo. Melatonin reduces sleep-onset latency, increases total sleep time and improves overall sleep quality compared to placebo to a statistically significant degree.”

Therefore you want to do everything you can to make sure your melatonin is firing well for you - and this can be achieved without supplementation. To help with this make sure you are getting out and about in the Wintertime as best you can - exposing yourself to daylight at every opportunity. Get out for lunch, go for small walks, or even sit by a window despite how grey it might be just to get that extra dose of daylight to help improve your sleep.

The other aspect of this is regulating your sleep times. Avoiding daytime naps and making sure that your bed is a place for only sleep and sex will really help here. Even though it can suck to wake up at 5:30 am on a cold winters day (and trust me - I know it does I’m a Personal Trainer with clients all over the world managing many different time zones) making sure you went to bed at the same time each day - and you woke up at the same time will help your hormones, not just your melatonin, but all of your hormones regulate and function in a much better way - which is going to do one thing - help you have enough energy to exercise the next day.

In Winter;

You may be more stressed

The evidence here is quite inconclusive. I have seen a couple of studies that back up the notion of “Seasonal Depression Disorder” admitting there can be a slight increase in low mood through Winter, and there are other studies that say the difference is negligible to other seasons.

There is also one study [7] from Iran that concluded:

“Common depression was more prevalent in the parts of the country where cold and rainy weather was more abundant”

I also think colloquially we all seem a little more dreary in the Wintertime.

If nothing else it explains the English disposition.

And it makes a lot of sense to me - increasing energy prices in Winter, less socialising, anxiety around affording Christmas, and of course the lack of sunshine and the ability to enjoy the outdoors as much with shorter days will all play into the narrative of feeling lower during this time.

That within itself is just natural human behaviour; being denied these things will have an effect.

And the more stressed you are…the less you sleep.

For a whole multitude of reasons but this is physiological as well. In our brains, we have an emotional control centre called the “Amygdala” - and the more stressed you are the more active your amygdala is and when your amygdala is active your sleep is negatively affected.

I can’t very well tell you to just stop worrying about things that drive the low mood in the Wintertime. But I can very well tell you that a key to helping those feelings feel so prevalent in your day-to-day is to make sure you improve your sleep.

And to do that we need to process this stress properly.

And again here we end up in the catch-22 - as exercise is a great way to process stress - but as its winter - we know the likelihood of that happening is reduced.

So how else do you process your stress? There are many things you can do here - but that could be a whole Blog within itself…in fact, it is:

How Do You Get Motivated To Exercise When You Are Depressed?

But here are some helpful bullet point tips from that Blog Post:

Understand you are not alone in feeling this way
Remove expectations from your life
Start with small things and build up from there
Acknowledge your wins
Get a plan

Another great tool here to process your stress and therefore allow you to stay more active in winter is to give yourself moments of stillness. Meditation can be a great tool in your toolbox when you need it and I know that when I am ever so stressed taking moments to breathe and just focus on that can really help me calm myself down and get ready to tackle the next task.

I have a series of Meditations called The Daily Stillness which you can get. by signing up right here

If you improve your sleep, even just a little bit, it will help kickstart the wheel to looking after your fitness during these darker months, and your motivation will return.

Pillar 2: Understanding Your Exercise

Within your fitness regime, it’s always very important to change your expectations based on the changing circumstances you’re facing.

To expect the same output from yourself in terms of energy for working out might be doing more harm than good for you over winter.

If you’re the type of person who gets energy from the bright sunshine it might be a good idea to have some self-empathy over the winter months and reduce the frequency with which you are working out, or the intensity, or both.

During the winter your ability to keep working out to the same intensity will likely be very reduced, for a number of reasons but mainly, you are cold, wet and miserable. That’s not good energy to be working out with and it will likely have an effect on how heavy you are able to lift.

Personally, when it comes to Winter, I would reduce the frequency with which you workout.

As this study [8] found:

“It appears that Reduced Strength Training frequency does not affect the maintenance of muscle mass and strength”

Reduced training is the key statement here. The study took 33 beginners to exercise and tested three groups. The three groups were divided into one session a week, two sessions a week and no sessions at all. Across the strength tests performed for the two groups that remained to train over a 16-week period, they lost no significant strength. In fact, even those who stopped entirely they lost 5% of muscle mass and 22% of strength.

Studies like this one [9] that showed when someone is completely immobilized they can lose 5-10% of muscle mass in just 10 - 21 days.

To combat this you don’t need to work out, you just need to keep moving. You still build muscle without working out. Moving builds muscle. That can be walking, it can be playing a sport, it can be working in the garden.

So if you can’t keep up the frequency of your normal regime throughout Winter then all you have to do is reduce the frequency, and try to keep mobile elsewhere in your life.

That will keep you ticking over nicely.

The issue with keeping active in the winter comes down to people taking a small break, and that break lasting for the best part of the year, as opposed to a few weeks with reduced frequency.

It is similar to going on holiday. No one is expecting you to work out on holiday, you should enjoy yourself when on holiday. But the reason many people think that holidays ruin their progress is because of their inability to get back into the gym when they get back.

They don’t realise 9 months have passed since their holiday - they just remember their holiday being the reason they stopped going.

Winter is three months long.

If you can keep going to the gym once a week for three months - you will lose no progress.

Then when the three months are over just back on track.

PILLAR 3: Managing Your Diet

It wouldn’t be a fitness article without the proverbial ‘eat a balanced diet’ would it?

But there is a reason a cliché is a cliche, because there’s always an element of truth to it.

Fundamentally calories give you energy to do things.

When trying to lose weight you restrict your calorie intake which causes a reaction in the body to move less. This is known as Metabolic Adaptation.

Simply put, the more weight you lose, the more your body will fight against you in your goals to lose weight. This happens through a number of processes but one that impacts us the most is that it makes you move less.

As this study [9] done in pre-meonpausal women found:

“Metabolic adaptation after a 16% weight loss increases the length of time necessary to achieve weight loss goals”

Your body loves being where it is at. This is known as homeostasis, and is one reason that weight loss requires a lot of effort, and combined with metabolic adaptation shows why it so many people don’t succeed at losing weight.

If you’re struggling with your energy levels in winter, and you’re trying to lose weight by reducing calories, then you’re compounding two problems.

I know we have spoken about trying to protect your energy through improving your sleep, but most people in the world don’t have as much energy in the Winter as they do in the Summer. That is simply human.

Therefore in Winter if you are chasing physique goals as well - as in trying to lose weight - you might be trying to bite off more than you can chew.

Lower Calories to lose weight results in less energy. Winter results in less energy, Then there will be less likelihood of you feeling like moving.

To combat this I strongly suggest, nay, I recommend exclusively that you increase your calories to maintenance. Give yourself a scheduled “diet break” enjoy eating a few more calories and all of the benefits that will bring you.

Read my article that has helped 100s of people understand maintenance calories a lot better:

How To Find Your Calorie Maintenance level

The quickest and simplest way to find your maintenance level would be to take your Goal Bodyweight in LBS and multiply it by 14.

The other method is to keep adding 200kcals into your diet until the scale represents between 1-5lbs above where you started. This method requires much more adherence to tracking your scale weight, and trusting the rollercoaster that is tracking your weight regularly.

And yes. By increasing your weight to maintenance, the scale will go up for the period of time you do that.

But…if the aim is to do this as you try and continue to keep your workouts up, as you will have more energy with which you can workout with, then you will likely not notice an increase in body fat, as much as you think you will.

Scale Weight might well increase.

Body Fat likely will not.

Especially if you only do this over the period of Winter.

As you are increasing your intake, sadly I wouldn’t advise this all comes from alcohol and take outs. Rememebr the goal here is to help you maintain positive energy. Therefore please try and fill these extra calories up with lots of fruits and vegetables and other nutrient dense foods.

How To Stay Active in the Winter - 3 Pillars For Success

And that’s it…

Remember the goal throughout Winter is to keep your energy levels up by managing your sleep, exercise and diet a lot better. Which will in turn make your winter feel more of a success to you.

Increase your sleep and your diet as best you can, and allow that extra energy to keep driving you to being active.

Winter will make you want to move a little less, and being aware of that is one of the key aspects in helping you understand how to manage other aspects of your health through Winter.

Knowledge is power.

You know that Winter will decrease the likelihood of you being able to remain active, therefore you need to keep putting yourself in the best position possible each day to stay on track in the best way possible.

And above all, prioritise your sleep, that will make everything else more likely to happen .

how to stay active in the winter at home

And as always if you have any questions you only have to ask me.

To be able to do that don’t forget to send me a Friend Request by filling out the form below

I hope you found this article useful and that you enjoy the Winter.

I cannot wait to see you again soon…

Coach Adam

References:

Abram L. Wagner, Florian Keusch, Ting Yan, Philippa J. Clarke, The impact of weather on summer and winter exercise behaviors, Journal of Sport and Health Science, Volume 8, Issue 1, 2019, Pages 39-45, ISSN 2095-2546, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2016.07.007.(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095254616300576)
Pivarnik, James M., Mathew J. Reeves, and Ann P. Rafferty. "Seasonal variation in adult leisure-time physical activity." Medicine and science in sports and exercise 35.6 (2003): 1004-1008.
Mendelson M, Borowik A, Michallet AS, Perrin C, Monneret D, Faure P, Levy P, Pépin JL, Wuyam B, Flore P. Sleep quality, sleep duration and physical activity in obese adolescents: effects of exercise training. Pediatr Obes. 2016 Feb;11(1):26-32. doi: 10.1111/ijpo.12015. Epub 2015 Mar 2. PMID: 25727885.
Alley J. R., Mazzochi J. W., Smith C. J., Morris D. M., Collier S. R. Effects of resistance exercise timing on sleep architecture and nocturnal blood pressure. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2015;29(5):1378–1385. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000000750.
Ma, Y., Olendzki, B., Li, W. et al. Seasonal variation in food intake, physical activity, and body weight in a predominantly overweight population. Eur J Clin Nutr 60, 519–528 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602346
Ferracioli-Oda E, Qawasmi A, Bloch MH. Meta-analysis: melatonin for the treatment of primary sleep disorders. PLoS One. 2013 May 17;8(5):e63773. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0063773. PMID: 23691095; PMCID: PMC3656905.
Mirzakhani L, Poursafa P. The Association between Depression and Climatic Conditions in the Iran Way to Preventive of Depression. Int J Prev Med. 2014 Aug;5(8):947-51. PMID: 25489441; PMCID: PMC4258674.
Brad Jon Schoenfeld, Jozo Grgic, James Krieger. (2019) How many times per week should a muscle be trained to maximize muscle hypertrophy? A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies examining the effects of resistance training frequency. Journal of Sports Sciences 37:11, pages 1286-1295.

Adam Berry - The Gym Starter 9/5/22 Adam Berry - The Gym Starter 9/5/22

How To Set A Fitness Goal For Beginners

Upon researching “How To Set A Fitness Goal For Beginners”, on page one of Google, an example of a good fitness goal which was number two on their list, to help you live a healthier life by a website called “Life Hack” was, I kid you not,

“Add Some Lemon and Apple Cider Vinegar to Your Water”

Confirming my urgent requirement to get this Blog Post written. When Google allows Apple Cider Vinegar and Lemon as the epitome of fitness goals and health - the world needs to be put to rights.

I got the idea for this article when I was writing the second edition of my book: “27 Ways To Faster Fat Loss”.

There was a section in there all about SMART Goals, and now that I am older, wiser and a little more experienced with Fitness compared to when I first wrote my book, I realised how dumb a SMART Goal is for a Fitness-led goal. This is despite what all Personal Trainers are taught in PT School - and what many personal trainers will tell you.

I think now we need an obligatory pitch: here’s me and my book:

I will give you this book - for free.

But there is a catch. I also want us to become friends. If we become friends, I won’t just send you this book for free, I will also send you a Free Calorie and Macro Calculator, and Two Workout Guides. I might also send you some funny stories from my life, some links to other helpful content that I create and generally some musings from my life.

If you would like to become my friend, then please send me a friend request by filling out the form:

Thank you for becoming my friend.

And now that we are friends let me show you exactly how to set your fitness goals as a beginner for success as opposed to failure - because success is what you want…isn’t it?

Table of Contents for:

How To Set A Fitness Goal For Beginners:

SMART Goals And Why They Won’t Help You
What Do Fitness Goals and The Theory of Acting Have In Common?
How To Set Process-Driven Goals
The Art of a Promise

SMART Goals And Why They Won’t Help You As A Beginner

One of my favourite all-time Joey quotes

If you are unfamiliar with the term SMART Goal then let me take a brief minute to explain them. Developed by a man called George Doran. He was a consultant and former Director of the Washington Water Power Company.

To me, this is a red flag immediately for applying a SMART Goal to a fitness desire - because business and fitness are very different beasts.

SMART stands for:

S - Specific

M - Measurable

A - Achievable

R - Realistic

T - Time-Bound

And let me be clear, I don’t think SMART Goals are wrong or don’t have a place - I just don’t think they are right in a fitness setting, especially for someone new to fitness.

You can look at the acronyms and think - huh - that would make sense for a fitness goal - especially if i am a beginner.

So let’s run it through and set a SMART goal for your fitness goal:

S - To Lose 5kgs

M - I will use the scale to measure my weight loss

A - 5kgs is a realistic amount of weight in the time frame I am setting.

R - I weighed 5kgs less two years ago - I believe I can do it again

T - I want to do this in four months

As you can see - the set goal to lose 5kgs makes sense and seems perfectly fine on the surface.

But SMART Goals do have their critics away from me. One of the biggest criticisms is that they are inflexible and therefore in terms of long-term goals they can be problematic. If you’re new to fitness then the long term is where your mind wants to be.

This is the first issue with SMART Goals in a fitness setting for beginners especially.

Fitness takes time - a lot longer than people will have you believe - and therefore the larger the goal, the more flexibility you will need as you progress through your journey.

One of the other issues I have with SMART Goals, and the bigger sticking point with them in terms of starting your fitness journey is that they set you up to focus on the result a lot more than the process. This can lead you to feel like you are only accomplished or worthy of praise when the result is achieved.

This is problematic because fitness, whether that be performance-based goals, or weight loss goals, is driven by executing a process.

Even if it is your first day or your 4000th day.

In fact, this study [1] emphasises the point of why SMART Goals shouldn’t be set and need to be rethought in the fitness industry, especially when it comes to beginners.

It states that:

“Both goal types are context-dependent and it is now recognised that, in some cases, performance goals can even be detrimental to the achievement of desired outcomes. Consequently, the current practice may be theoretically appropriate for physically active individuals but a different approach (e.g., learning goals) may be preferable for inactive individuals who are new to physical activity (i.e., most of the population).”

So the goal should be about learning, not about achieving. When you focus on just achievement it can be detrimental to achieving your fitness goal.

Now that, to me, sounds like the smartest idea I have heard yet when it comes to goal setting.

What Do Fitness Goals and The Theory of Acting Have In Common?

If you are new here…a quick little bio about me:

Alas, it’s true. I’m a fitness charlatan, a fitness fraud; a downright fake.

I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Acting and actually, it is one of the best blessings I ever had as a fitness professional. I was able to learn movement, the theories and application of fitness and physical work, but understanding human psychology and why people behave the way they do is all down to my career and training as an actor.

If you are interested you can find out all about my acting life here - but that won't help you set a fitness goal as a beginner.

And I apply what I learned about building a character and a role to how to go about setting fitness goals.

Now let me try to break it down as quickly and as succinctly as possible for you.

You may have heard of the Actors Studio in New York. This is one of the meccas of acting in the 20th century responsible for the likes of Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, James Dean, Steve McQueen, Mark Rylance, Sally Field, Sidney Poitier and many many more.

They were schooled by a man called “Lee Strasberg” who created the “methodological approach “. This approach hails back to the work of a Russain Director and Actor called Konstantin Stanislavski.

The Drama School in London which I attended, known as The Drama Centre, is also responsible for actors such as Tom Hardy, Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan, Simon Callow, Emilia Clarke, Alexander Dreymon (who was actually my roommate), Rege-Jean Page and many many more, also schooled us on the workings of Konstantin Stanislavski.

Stan - as we call him in the industry - believed that each and every character in a play has one overarching “Super Objective”

Hamlet wants to avenge his father’s death. Juliet wants to be happily married and create peace between the houses. Richard III wants to be accepted by England and the Court. Prospero wants to be acknowledged as the great man he is. Iago wants to usurp Othello at any cost and get revenge on him because he believes he is the better man.

These are all my interpretations of the situation, and each actor and director will interpret different things from the text.

There is no right or wrong just exploration. Just like in fitness.

But once the Super Objective is set - you then break it down even further - into something called “Actions”.

I would then apply my actions to each scene I appear in - and over time the actions build up and lead to getting closer to my super-objective.

If I was Juliet on the balcony, for the first part of the scene would be “To plan a way to see Romeo again, in order to stay safe and protect my family” then when Romeo appears the action would change to “Collaborate with Romeo to meet safety and to show him how much I loved him, in order to seduce him into marrying me”

Then we can break it down further into an “Activity” which is literally the attitude with which you execute each line to help achieve your “Action” for the scene and this is how you break down a script to create a story and a performance.

As actors, we call it “the process of creating a role”

How To Set Process-Driven Goals?

As I mentioned previously - the SMART Goal focuses you too much on the result.

Whereas setting yourself Objectives and Actions focuses you a lot more on the process - and without a process, you simply won’t achieve your goals.

Let’s run the SMART Scenario from before setting a Super Objective, style goal, for beginners.

Super Objective: To lose 5kgs

Actions: Workout 2x a week, Increase Water, Increase Sleep, Increase Daily Steps, Eat Breakfast every day

Activities: Plan my diary to accommodate the Gym, Buy a water bottle I love drinking from, Stop scrolling on Instagram before bedtime (unless I am catching up on @the_gym_starters page), park further away from work each day, plan my breakfast the night before and protect the time I have to eat it.

Do you see how that throws you into the process of accomplishment and habit creation, whilst also prioritising your health?

Now Let’s Get Fancy…

“In Order To’s” With Your Goals

If you want to get really fancy, and I really recommend this because the more specific you are with your objectives and investigations, the more specific you will be with your actions to execute them, to be fancier, let's add the “In Order To” aspect. Having worked with 100s of beginners to fitness before I am aware that being specific about your process is really helpful.

Super Objective is set as a goal: To lose 5kgs in order to have more self-confidence

Actions:

Workout 2x a week in order to feel strong and powerful which will help my confidence increase,
Increase Water in order to keep hydrated helping me move better, digest better and curb hunger, therefore, helping me create a calorie deficit,
Increase Sleep in order to keep my emotions under control a lot more and to help decrease my stress and therefore my diet should be more aligned to my goals,
Increase Daily Steps in order to increase easily accessible movement will give me more energy as my heart health improves,
Eat Breakfast every day in order to start my day with structure around my food and therefore reduce the likelihood of binging in the evenings and snacking throughout the day

Activities:

Plan my diary to accommodate the Gym in order to be more likely to execute the movement side of my training plan
Buy a water bottle I love drinking from in order to keep up the habit and to try to get closer to my objective of 3L a day
Stop scrolling on Instagram before bedtime in order to help me sleep more restoratively and deeply as well as bring my bedtime forward a little each night - unless, of course, I am reading Adam’s posts…
Park further away from work each day in order to help me increase those little pieces of movement which add up over time and to help me compose myself ready for the next thing I have to execute in my day
Plan my breakfast the night before and protect the time I have to eat it in order to help me create a better relationship with food by spending time with my meals and setting the tone for the rest of the day

Suddenly the word “Goal” takes on a lot more meaning, and the act of setting that goal will have inspired you a lot more.

And you can see why as an actor we would be this meticulous in planning our performances…

And yes, it is a lot more work at the start as a beginner. It does take a little more time and practice of course, but by spending this time in the beginning, you are buying yourself more consistency, and better relationships with exercise and nutrition and you will reach your super-objective a lot more efficiently. Mainly because you won’t be stopping and starting over and over again…you will just execute straight away.

One Last Step: Prioritise Education

Looking at the study [1] I previously spoke about they said this:

“a different approach (e.g., learning goals) may be preferable for inactive individuals who are new to physical activity (i.e., most of the population)”

Which led me to create this:

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A post shared by Adam | TheGymStarter | Fat Loss & Fitness Coach (@the_gym_starter)

You have to view your Fitness as your Hobby.

You have to have the same approach to it as you do your Cross Stitch, your baking and your learning to play a musical instrument.

You read books on it, you study the subject, you experiment with things and you learn from as many different people as possible to get better at your hobby.

You have started in a fantastic way, you are here, reading this.

You have got further on this page than most people will have, which means you personally really want to succeed with your objectives. That immediately sets you apart. I am sure you have heard the stat that 95% of Diets fail, although we can debate the validity of this stat, it does reveal something.

Changing your physique is a really hard thing to do, and most people, the vast vast majority of those people who try, don’t succeed. I personally believe that it is because they don’t adopt an educational attitude towards their fitness journey in the beginning.

They don’t develop their own fitness brains enough, they don’t investigate themselves enough, and always remain focused on one thing and one thing only - the end goal - without a worry about what you can learn as you go through the process.

If you want to be in the minority, you have to adopt different behaviours and attitudes to what you do compared to what others have done - and that is the main reason that fitness is so terribly personal to each individual human.

“Everybody is different and every body is different”

— Adam Berry

Without a doubt the more you personalise your fitness journey and set fitness goals in a process-driven way - as opposed to comparing yourself to what others are doing and the results they are achieving, the more you will learn about yourself and the more your fitness will become a priority for yourself.

Think about the huge world that fitness is, and all that there is to learn within it.

Heck, I have been a Coach for nearly a decade and I keep learning about new things, and different ideas and investigating what fitness means to me on a day-by-day basis.

It’s a treasure trove of learning new skills and discovering new things about oneself in order to keep progressing through life.

One of the reasons I became a coach was because I was sick and tired of feeling like I had stopped learning as a human. I was sitting in my corporate office, doing the same mundane things each and every day…and I was missing a vocation in my life. Coaching has become that vocation and it is a beautiful feeling.

Looking at our goals from above, we can then add a learning outcome to them as well:

Plan my diary to accommodate the Gym in order to be more likely to execute the movement side of my training plan and then I can learn and identify the things in my life that might stop me from being as consistent as I wish.

Buy a water bottle I love drinking from in order to keep up the habit and to try to get closer to my objective of 3L a day and I can learn how much more positive my body feels in the gym and throughout my day when it is hydrated properly and whether or not I enjoy that feeling.
Stop scrolling on Instagram before bedtime (unless I am catching up on @the_gym_starters page) in order to help me sleep more restoratively and deeply as well as bring my bedtime forward a little each night - unless, of course, I am reading Adams posts…so that I can learn how to get the most out of my day and how having that focussed energy that sleep brings me can make my day so much easier to get through.
Park further away from work each day in order to help me increase those little pieces of movement which add up over time and to help me compose myself ready for the next thing I have to execute in my day and I can learn how much better my body feels for these micro-doses of steps and regulated movement
Plan my breakfast the night before and protect the time I have to eat it in order to help me create a better relationship with food by spending time with my meals and setting the tone for the rest of the day so that I can learn and discover how much better my nutrition is throughout the day when I give myself a big win at the start of the day.

As you can see, these learning outcomes refocus you onto the result of your actions as opposed to the result of your “fitness”, and when you start noticing those results that are tied into your process you will be more motivated to continue.

Other topics you can try to learn about when on a fitness journey as a beginner are:

How certain foods make you feel
How to improve your form in your exercises
How to increase your strength
How to protect yourself from Binge Eating episodes
The effect that sleep has on your day
The differences between different exercise setups and why some are more preferred than others
The nuances of a Calorie Deficit
The calories in your food
How your hormones might change the way you feel about training
How to build muscle
How to lose body fat

I could go on and on and on…

And each one will create a rabbit hole you can get lost down and discover so much about yourself as you explore and crucially learn.

The Art Of A Promise

Each week I ask my clients on their Weekly Check-In Forms to set goals for themselves in the context of a weekly promises on their movement and their nutrition.

I state the following:

“The promises you make for yourself are the most important. They are the foundation of your confidence - and should take priority in how you move towards what it is you want for yourself.   Focusing on actions over outcomes means you are focusing on what you can control not what you can’t. Promises will be set and split between movement and nutrition - and these are non-negotiable - they are the standards you set for you - and these promises will create actions which will ultimately get you closer to where you want to be”

When you view your goals which you set as a promise to yourself, you are more likely to fully commit to them.

It’s very interesting to me that we are all more than accepting of the idea that we would keep a promise to a friend - and make sure that we did not betray that trust or not keep our word to that person, yet when it comes to ourselves it’s almost normal to let ourselves down.

It’s almost accepted as the default state.

I would like to propose that this is completely inverted.

For if you cannot keep a promise to yourself, how would your friend truly know that they would be able to trust you when you can’t trust yourself?

As Plato said:

““The first and best victory is to conquer self””

— Plato

and Mahatma Ghandi said:

“Your capacity to keep your vow will depend on the purity of your life”

— Ghandi

I know so many people who just cannot keep a promise to themselves, and their confidence has hit rock bottom, they question everything and never feel like they are good enough for themselves - let alone others.

This then leads them to look for validation from others - so they then begin to over-commit to everyone else around them - and they are left with no time to actually set promises for themselves, let alone execute on them too.

I’m sure you can see the vicious cycle that gets created here.

And I am sure you can relate to the people-pleasing nature that occurs in these situations.

If you struggle with your confidence, and if you struggle with people-pleasing, then I have a worksheet for you to fill out in order to start rebuilding that confidence for you. To access it then all you need to do is click on the button below - and it will open up a Google Form for you.

Please feel free to fill it out and start working on yourself in this manner.

Setting promises is an art form, and setting fitness goals for beginners is an art form.

And the more you work on the art, you develop the skill, the more you investigate, the more beautiful the journey becomes.

The First Step To Building Your Confidence Worksheet

What’s Next?

I really hope you found this article useful, and that you feel a lot better about setting goals as a beginner in fitness.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my work, it really does mean a lot to me to have you here.

I also have some other articles you might find useful to help you navigate the early stages of your Fitness Journey:

Added to all of that, don’t forget to add me as your friend, and you can get two workout guides from me, a calorie calculator AND my book: “27 Ways To Faster Fat Loss”

Thank you so much for reading my work and for being here.

References:

Swann C, Rosenbaum S, Lawrence A, Vella SA, McEwan D, Ekkekakis P. Updating goal-setting theory in physical activity promotion: a critical conceptual review. Health Psychol Rev. 2021 Mar;15(1):34-50. doi: 10.1080/17437199.2019.1706616. Epub 2020 Jan 27. PMID: 31900043.

Adam Berry - The Gym Starter 30/3/22 Adam Berry - The Gym Starter 30/3/22

How To Stop Yourself Counting Calories Obsessively: Life After Apps

How To Stop Counting Calories Obsessively

You might think that my choice of image for this article is an odd one.

But by the end of you reading this, I promise it will become clear.

I am writing this because I got this gorgeous question from one of my one-to-one clients on the Strong and Confident Program.

Firstly, the fact that my client feels like she is personally battling this, means that there are probably millions of others out there battling with it as well.

It’s normal to feel scared about wanting to stop counting calories.

So my first point is, if you are here reading this, you are not alone.

You are here because you are struggling, and you want to find a release…this Article will provide that release from counting calories obsessively.

An awful lot of people when they are struggling feel lonely.

So please don’t.

To help stop you from feeling lonely, it would be awesome if you wanted to become my friend.

As your friend, I will send you some things. Links to my podcasts, an opportunity to work with me, some educational material, and a few books. and workout programs and probably the odd story about me, and my cats Nala and Simba.

If you want to chat more, please just send me a friend request by filling out this form:

My face now we are friends:

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR: How To Stop Yourself Counting Calories Obsessively: Life After Apps

Does Calorie Counting Work?
Should You Stop Counting Calories?
Strategies to manage Calories Without Calorie Counting
The Process Behind Stopping Calorie Counting
A Little Pep Talk

You can listen to the audio version of this Blog Post on my Podcast: The Fitness Solution

You can watch the video version of this Blog Post on my YouTube Channel:

Does Calorie Counting Work?

It wouldn’t take you long to flick through my Blog Posts and see that I regularly give out advice to help people learn how to manage counting calories and how to make it more effective.

This is because if your goal is weight loss or weight gain - counting calories can work.

But that doesn’t mean it will always work.

And it doesn’t mean that it is the best strategy for everyone.

If you look at the titles of my posts:

It would be fair to assume that I am indeed in favour of this as a strategy. But if you read the posts and look deeper, you will see the great variance and nuance in my message around Counting Calories and their relative success for you in your Weight Loss goals.

This morning I was talking to a Physician who specialises in Type 2 Diabetes Healthcare - and we got into a glorious discussion about what is optimal healthcare for these clients.

The conclusion we both had was:

You have to let the person decide what science you are going to use.

There is Science out there that clearly shows Calorie Counting can help manage body composition [1]:

“Over 3 times as many Consistent Trackers as Inconsistent Trackers achieved ≥ 5% weight loss at 3 months (48 vs. 13%) and at 6 months (54 vs. 15%; ps < .001). Though causality cannot be determined by the present study, tracking weight and/or diet nearly every day [on a Commercial App] per week for 12 weeks a commercial app may serve as an effective strategy for weight loss. Strategies are needed to promote greater consistency in tracking.”

There is also science that shows truly how damaging counting calories can be. Damaging for a relationship with food, relationship with body image, relationship with social occasions - and this damage is real - I’ve worked with more than enough people to know that to be true.

This study [2] analysed 5.5k posts on community forums and three mobile food journals in relation to the difficulties with food tracking.

It found posts summing up these emotions of those who engaged in this behaviour:

Food journalers report feelings of shame, judgment, or obsession associated with current designs. P6 reported journaling “made me feel guilty sometimes”, while P27 noted a lack of positive feedback: “I always felt guilty when I ate too much, and there wasn't that much pride when I was under my goal.”
“Sometimes I feel like not logging things because I know it’s really unhealthy”
”It made me too focused and obsessive about what I was eating”
“It was more of an on the way to an eating disorder thing than anything else (tried to keep calories extremely low)”
“I think I was hesitant to do the logging if not alone”
“I had more of a problem with eating out at a friend’s house because I didn’t want to ask for ingredients or mention that I was logging calories”

Many of those feelings I can imagine you relate to. Which is why you are here.

The great tragedy in all of this is that my dear friend, “the fitness industry” has painted this as a black and white scenario.

Counting Calories = losing weight. Regardless of the cost.

And with all behaviour there is a cost attached - and you must always ask yourself when engaging in behaviour whether the cost is worth it.

But the good old “fitness industry” doesn’t tell you this. It doesn’t understand that everybody is different and you need a unique path for you.

It just draws a line from where you are to where you want to be and expects you to follow it.

Counting Calories has worked for many people. If it didn’t Under Armour would never have bought My Fitness Pal.

But its greatest failure is its inability to screen its users to actually check to see whether or not they should be counting calories.

Because there is a whole host of people, people more than likely just like you, who should not have engaged in tracking calories, to begin with.

So here I am. A humble fella with just his keyboard as his weapon to try and help you reverse that damage and show you a way out of this tunnel you feel like you are in.

Take my hand… Let’s find you a way out.

Should You Stop Counting Calories?

As I mentioned previously, many people can count calories and use it as a perfectly decent way to manage their intake.

But many others cannot.

This doesn't mean that one person is superior to the other, it simply means that there are no black and white rules in fitness, other than you must always treat each and every case on its individual merits.

This also doesn't mean that if you don’t count calories, you can’t achieve your goals.

Believe me, you really can. In fact, I would say 80% of my clients on The Strong and Confident Program don’t count their calories, and we manage their nutritional needs in other ways - more on this later.

As I write this, it is very important to me that I am clear on who should not be counting calories, so that you can judge whether you fall into one of these categories, and can therefore learn how to move away from this obsessive behaviour.

Have you ever been diagnosed with an Eating Disorder?

If the answer to this question is yes. Then you should not be counting calories.

Period.

No ifs. No buts.

End of discussion really.

You must remember with every behaviour there is a cost attached, and the cost attached to counting calories if you have ever had a diagnosed eating disorder - or suspect you might have an eating disorder - just isn’t worth it.

It’s not worth the cost to your Mental Health and physical health.

Knowing the calories in your food is not worth the negative effects that can occur from counting calories.

This study [3] looked into this very topic and found:

“Of the app [MyFitnessPal] users, 73% stated that the app had at least somewhat contributed to their eating disorder, with 30% reporting that the app very much contributed to their eating disorder. Additionally, the more likely an individual was to report that usage of the calorie tracker had contributed to their eating disorder, the more likely they were to have higher eating disorder symptoms”

If you are already susceptible to an eating disorder, tracking your calories is only going to re-open that pandora’s box again.

And believe me, no physique goal is worth that.

Are you a perfectionist?

If you have perfectionist tendencies, then tracking your calories is not a good idea as it will create too much stress in your life.

Calories aren’t perfect.

The calories that are published on packets can be up to 20% inaccurate.

This study found the following:

“Measured energy values exceeded label statements by 8% on average in pre-packaged convenience meals (12), which is slightly higher but consistent with the label disparity of 4.3% in packaged snack foods. Also consistent with this study, most products in our sample fell within the allowable limit of 20% over the label calories per Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations”

Added to that, all the clever equations we use in Fitness to help calculate your Maintenance Calories, for it is from there where we can establish your Calorie Window, is just the best guess.

Figuring out your weight, height and age, and then asking you to subjectively rate your movement each week in terms of intensity is not going to be accurate.

This is why when you use many different Calorie Calculators, you get different numbers. Whether it’s the Katch McArdle Method, or the Mifflin St. Jeor neither are perfect.

This is exactly why I work with a Calorie Window with all of my clients. I don’t need their calories to be perfect, I need them to be in a range that will work.

Therefore if you are a perfectionist in an imperfect set up you will find untold stress in trying to get it right all the time.

You can’t get it right. But you don’t need to. Comprehending the imperfect system will help you be less obsessive with counting calories.

Do you feel guilty after eating certain foods?

If you can’t eat a Krispy Kreme doughnut without feeling like you have to go to the gym for an hour to “burn off those calories” then you need to start creating space between what you eat and that immediate feedback on the calories involved.

No good can come from eating something and then chastising yourself by logging it immediately, and to see that the calories are more than expected which compounds all of those feelings of shame and guilt around what you enjoyed.

Even though you see tracking and logging your foods as a way of working towards your goals, it is actually counter-intuitive if you experience this guilty feeling. This is because it will slowly rot away your self-esteem. You will feel completely undermined, and you will be left with three choices:

Spend countless hours in the gym time and time again to punish yourself for the food you ate - damaging your relationship with your body and exercise.
Stop tracking the foods that make you feel this way and therefore feel like a failure every time you have them - and be aware you are “lying” to yourself about your caloric intake - damaging your sense of self-worth.
Give up on your whole fitness journey period - again leading you down a path of feeling like a failure and thinking you will never succeed at changing what you want to change.

None of those options are ideal for your long-term success.

Do you refuse to eat when you are hungry because you are worried about going over your Calories?

Calories are a best guess.

If you are refusing to eat when you are genuinely hungry because you might be over for a day - then you have a problem.

Hunger can mean many things - not all hunger is a desire for food.

Hunger can mean you are bored, you need a hug, or you are in need of a connection other than for food.

But there is an element of hunger that is related to the need for food - if you are denying that hunger too much in order to stay within your calories, and you are doing it too often, then there is no way you will be able to keep that up.

The hunger will win - and then you will again give into that physiological feeling - perpetuating your feelings of failure either way.

Strategies to manage Calories Without Calorie Counting

You are probably sitting there thinking this all so far makes sense but how on earth do you keep working on your goals when you have no idea what your intake is?

But there are many ways to manage a calorie deficit without having to track your calories.

A Study called: The Effect of Adherence to Dietary Tracking on Weight Loss: Using HLM to Model Weight Loss over Time [3] concluded that:

“Consistent trackers had significant weight loss (-9.99 pounds), following a linear relationship with consistent loss throughout the year. In addition, the weight-loss trend for the rare and inconsistent trackers followed a nonlinear path, with the holidays slowing weight loss and the onset of summer increasing weight loss. These results show the importance of frequent dietary tracking for consistent long-term weight loss success”

However, when you look at how they were asked to track their dietary intake you find a great nuance that doesn’t involve MyFitness Pal.

They managed this long-term weight loss by:

Maintain daily food journals and physical activity records;
Reduce portion sizes;
Reduce foods high in calories, fat, and simple sugar;
Increase consumption of fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products;
Weigh themselves frequently and at least weekly

They each worked with a Health Coach and attended interactive sessions designed to educate them on nutrition and exercise adherence.

Strategy 1: Food Journals

The food journal in the study above could well have been on MyFitness Pal. But it doesn't have to be on there exclusively.

A Food Journal can just be writing a record of what you ate and when you ate it. No Calories but just the foods.

For example:

I'm Scared To Stop Counting Calories Obsessively

I chose this diary as an example because I love the “Starbucks” comment.

I do think that with Food Journals if you can also document an emotion along with the food you are eating it would be really helpful. It just needs to be a sentence, explaining how you were feeling at the time and how that led. to you eating what you had.

For example:

Porridge with peanut butter - was a little tired but wanted to have a good breakfast.
Coffee - I was tired, and I love starting my day with coffee.
Plant Kitchen No Chicken Indian Wrap - I thought this was a good lunch option, but I was a little short on time because of my work schedule, but I enjoyed it.

By doing this you begin to create objectivity between your food and emotions. You can begin to see how your emotions are impacting your food choices and the more information you gather in this way the more you can see patterns and get insights into how your emotional state affects your caloric choices.

Strategy 2: A Structured Diet

I come across an awful lot of people who use Calorie Counting as a way to try and control emotional and binge eating. But as we have seen from the studies, this can be very counterintuitive.

A lot of calories do come into your diet when:

You don’t eat because you are “busy”
You restrict too much and then binge.

This is where a structured diet will have huge benefits. The two issues are essentially the same.

Just yesterday, I had a banana for breakfast and some toast at about 07:30 am - not a huge amount of calories for me - then I didn’t eat again until I was in a restaurant at about 12:30. But by that point, I could feel my blood sugar levels dropping, I was getting anxious and was beyond hungry. The second I sat in the restaurant, before my lunch, I asked for a Croissant with Nutella in it. Just because I was ravenous.

I then ate my full lunch too.

That is an extra lot of calories that could have been managed a lot better by having a much better breakfast.

I have worked with many people who vow that they don’t eat that much, I then ask them to start eating breakfast…and they start to achieve their goals.

As this study [4] backs up:

“Eating breakfast is a characteristic common to successful weight loss maintainers and may be a factor in their success.”

When you don’t eat at regular times during the day it creates moments where you overeat at mealtimes.

By eating in a more structured way you protect yourself against that.

In many ways - you will feel like you are eating more - and yet you are actually consuming less.

How To Structure Your Diet

I have one method: 3 Meals. 2 Snacks.

Each meal must fit on one plate - as much food as you want - but it must only be on one plate.

If you have an alcoholic beverage the night before - try and take away a snack the next day - but this isn’t essential.

Remember:

“We find freedom within a structure, without structure all we have is chaos”

— Adam Berry

The other important aspect of structured dieting is actually spending time with your food. Don’t eat in a distracted manner, if possible. As in, don’t work as you eat, don’t watch TV as you eat, and certainly don’t scroll social media as you eat.

I fully respect and understand the issues with this advice for parents with young children - you are exempt - just do what you need to do to get through dinner.

But allowing yourself a moment of self-love, self-care and nourishment when you eat is going to help you improve that relationship with food, and will help stop the mindless eating.

It is all about being more mindful, not mindless.

Strategy 3: Five Awesome Rules For Fat Loss Life

I came up with this for my clients when I first became a personal trainer. It was more instinct than science, and since then science has very much backed up what I put in place.

These Five Rules are very simple:

Be in a Calorie Deficit

and the others help you achieve that, without counting calories:

2. Three Litres of Water A Day

3. Protein and Veggies at every meal

4. 10,000 steps a day

5. 7-8 hours of sleep a night

I explain all of them in much more detail right here:

5 Easy Ways To Do A Calorie Deficit Diet without Working Out

Or you can watch this:

Strategy 4: Portions and Food Choice

Now within 3 Meals, 2 Snacks it would be wise to still follow some guidelines for better nutrition. It’s important we don’t overthink this because overthinking this can lead you back to that desire to track what you are doing to make sure you are getting it “right”.

I recommend Protein and Vegetables at every meal.

In fact, some meals I have personally, are only protein and veggies.

You are allowed Carbs - probably more Carbs than you think you should have - in fact, Carbohydrates will be the fair majority of your diet - in the forms of Fruit, Vegetables, and Complex Grains.

Remember, no one ever gained weight from eating too many fruits and vegetables.

The fact that within 3 meals, and 2 snacks you are only allowed your food to fit onto one plate is designed to help control portions.

When it comes to Carbohydrates, portion control is the issue. They are so easy to overeat.

This is why I always recommend building your plate of food with Protein first, Vegetables second, then Carbohydrates last.

But it is also why you should make sure your food fits onto one plate because then you know you are controlling portions in a more optimal way.

When you look at the study I referenced earlier one of the points that led to more successful weight loss was:

“Reduce foods high in calories, fat, and simple sugar”

There are a number of other studies that back this up. In this study [5] participants had maintained a weight loss of at least 13.6kg for at least 1 year, and they found that:

“Successful maintainers of weight loss reported continued consumption of a low-energy and low-fat diet.”

The tasty food isn’t the Carbohydrates. It’s a very real combination of carbohydrates, Fat and Salt.

Like with potato chips. Let’s take the greatest potato chips ever made:

How To Stop Counting Calories Without Gaining Weight

These have:

123kcals, 6.5g of Fat which is 58.5kcal and 14.3g of carbohydrate which is 57.2kcal.

If you want to have a bag of chips, then please do. But as you do. consider the portion size a lot more and by doing that you will naturally improve your calorie management.

The Process Behind Stopping Counting Calories Obsessively

Everything I have so far said in this article will help you stop calorie counting because it is all designed to help take your fear away.

Because I get it.

You are stuck in this loop of;

“I don’t want to count calories anymore, but I am scared of having no control over what I am doing”

And the thought of just not logging into MyFitness Pal and not tracking that one carrot and teaspoon of Hummus you ate a 20:30 when you were at a friend’s house is just too scary.

So there are a couple of things you can do to help ween yourself off tracking your calories.

Make Sure You Have A Structured Diet

I am not going to go through the structure again;

***Cough***

Three Meals, two Snacks

***Cough***

But I do want to make sure I emphasise how truly important this is to your success away from tracking calories obsessively.

Track One Meal A Day

Pick a meal - any meal - and just track that each day. Then over time, you will see that you are still making progress by only tracking one-fifth of your intake, and you will show yourself that everything else you have implemented aside from tracking food is working.

Go into an Education Mindset

I believe this should be the case for anyone who starts tracking anyway - but sadly very few people set themselves up in this manner. When you started tracking your calories, rather than using it as a way to control your intake, you should have used it as a way to educate yourself about your intake.

And this difference takes away the shame.

It adds in the aspect of investigation and exploration, two very important themes in how I work with clients.

Therefore if you are trying to stop tracking calories obsessively, give yourself a time frame of a month or two to use the tracking as a way of learning, a tool for you to create a knowledge and database in your head about what you usually eat and how that all plays into your goals.

Tracking your calories should only ever be used as an educational tool - not a tool to control you, and the more you learn the more freedom you will find over time.

Make Sure You Are Doing “The Work”

Many people use calorie counting to control their intake because it gives them a sense of working towards their goals. They almost use it as a way to make up for doing the other work that is required.

They aren’t going to the gym, they aren’t getting their steps in, they aren’t making mindful and healthful choices with their food and so they can use tracking as a way to either help beat themselves up for not doing the other work, or they see tracking their intake as “the work”.

A great way to make sure you feel comfortable in moving away from tracking your calories is to make sure that you are executing a well-thought-through plan each day that helps you move towards your goals.

I am by no means saying you can give up tracking and do nothing else and still achieve your goals. Implementing the rest of your plan will help reduce your anxiety about stopping counting your calories.

A Little Pep Talk: Life After Apps

The reason you are so nervous about giving up calorie tracking is that you are scared of undoing your progress, or not making any at all.

This comes down to a trust issue.

MyFitness Pal is very clever in the sense that it gets you to put your trust into it and you therefore attach your success to the app.

Its a very good marketing strategy. But it comes at great cost. Great cost at your relationship with food, and great cost at the expense of your confidence in yourself.

To give up calorie counting. you have to teach yourself to believe in yourself.

You have to build your confidence to be able to stand on your own two feet.

You have to trust that you are able. You have to trust that you can do this. You have to trust that you won’t “screw up again”.

And I know that you can do that.

As this article draws to an end, I want you to use this as your guide, I want you to start working on the concepts laid out in it, and I want you to start rebuilding your trust in yourself.

You deserve food freedom.
You deserve unconditional permission to eat and enjoy your food.

You deserve the balance that can be found between those two concepts and your goals. You deserve self-love and self-trust.

You deserve self-empathy and compassion.

I started this Article with a text from one of my clients who gets one-to-one coaching from me on the Strong & Confident Program.

I would also like to finish with what she put in her weekly report to me the other week.

There are four weeks between the first text I showed you and the one I am about to show you:

She has put in the work to get to this point. She has implemented behaviours and actions that have bought balance into her life.

Those behaviours have allowed her to begin to release the toxic control that counting calories can have.

Set and Keep Promises To Yourself

If you want help developing a system where you can rebuild that trust in yourself. Rebuild your confidence and develop your ability to know that you are doing the things that will work towards your goals then I would suggest starting with getting a few things written down and laid out for you immediately so that you can have a system which supports you.

It started with this Google Form right here:

The First Step To Building Your Confidence

What’s Next?

I hope you found this article useful, and that you feel a lot better about your struggles at the moment.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my work, it really does mean a lot to me to have you here.

I also have some other articles you might find useful to help you navigate scale weight and your relationship with it:

It would also be a delight if you wanted to join my Facebook Group. It’s a safe space for anyone who would like some free help with empowering their Fitness Journey. I can’t wait to have you in there.

Join Now

References:

Patel ML, Brooks TL, Bennett GG. Consistent self-monitoring in a commercial app-based intervention for weight loss: results from a randomized trial. J Behav Med. 2020 Jun;43(3):391-401. doi: 10.1007/s10865-019-00091-8. Epub 2019 Aug 8. PMID: 31396820.
Cordeiro F, Epstein DA, Thomaz E, Bales E, Jagannathan AK, Abowd GD, Fogarty J. Barriers and Negative Nudges: Exploring Challenges in Food Journaling. Proc SIGCHI Conf Hum Factor Comput Syst. 2015 Apr;2015:1159-1162. doi: 10.1145/2702123.2702155. PMID: 26894233; PMCID: PMC4755274.
Ingels JS, Misra R, Stewart J, Lucke-Wold B, Shawley-Brzoska S. The Effect of Adherence to Dietary Tracking on Weight Loss: Using HLM to Model Weight Loss over Time. J Diabetes Res. 2017;2017:6951495. doi: 10.1155/2017/6951495. Epub 2017 Aug 9. PMID: 28852651; PMCID: PMC5568610.
Wyatt HR, Grunwald GK, Mosca CL, Klem ML, Wing RR, Hill JO. Long-term weight loss and breakfast in subjects in the National Weight Control Registry. Obes Res. 2002 Feb;10(2):78-82. doi: 10.1038/oby.2002.13. PMID: 11836452.
Shick SM, Wing RR, Klem ML, McGuire MT, Hill JO, Seagle H. Persons successful at long-term weight loss and maintenance continue to consume a low-energy, low-fat diet. J Am Diet Assoc. 1998 Apr;98(4):408-13. doi: 10.1016/S0002-8223(98)00093-5. PMID: 9550162.

Adam Berry - The Gym Starter 13/3/22 Adam Berry - The Gym Starter 13/3/22

How To Get Past and Fix A Weight Loss Plateau

will a weight loss plateau go away on its own

I absolutely love this image.

Because in one fell swoop it has summed up this horrible term that the Fitness Industry has perpetuated over and over and over again as a negative happening.

The Weight Loss Plateau.

Just the word plateau is horrible to say - “plateauuuuuuuuu….”. And the connotations of what it means are even worse:

If you are in a Plateau - you probably think:

You are failing
You are never going to reach “your goal”
You need to try something new
You chose the wrong path
You can’t seem to “crack” it
That everyone else knows something you don’t.

And not one single one of those feelings is true.

I can promise you that.

In this article, I am going to take you through How To Get Past and Fix A Weight Loss Plateau - and I almost guarantee it isn’t going to be what you were expecting.

Which is exciting - but not as exciting as what I am about to offer you.

I want to be your friend.

As your friend - I will obviously stay in touch, send you things, some educational, some thoughtful, and probably some that are a bit near the mark - but hey ho - I think that is the hallmark of a beautiful friendship: balance.

If you would like to be my friend also then please send me a friend request right here:

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR HOW TO GET PAST AND FIX A WEIGHT LOSS PLATEAU:

What is a weight loss plateau?
Why do weight loss plateaus occur?
How does scale weight actually work?
How to actually get past your weight loss plateau

What Is A Weight Loss Plateau?

If you’re in one…replace the word “fetch” with scale weight - and this GIF sums it up pretty well.

A weight-loss plateau (urgh) is when your body weight seems to have stopped going down on the scale - even though you have changed very little in your behaviour compared to when it was coming down.

It is normally regarded as a temporary stalling of scale weight.

There was a study done in 2021 called: Management Of Weight Loss Plateau [1].

In this study they define weight loss and a weight loss plateau thus:

“Studies comparing different diets have shown that a similar degree of weight loss can be achieved in an 8 to 12-week period, as long as a caloric deficit is achieved.[1] However, when looking at individuals in the longer-term, 24-weeks and beyond, only about 10 to 20% of those individuals successfully maintain their weight loss”

This doesn't mean they successfully maintain the weight they got to - this means the actual stats of the scale falling.

It also goes on to say:

“A misconception to beginners attempting to lose weight is that the process is linear. Therefore, one can expect that weight loss will occur more rapidly in the early stages. Still, then in the coming weeks, the weight may stay steady or even slightly increased despite maintaining the established calorie deficit”

This sets us up nicely for the rest of this article.

Why Do Weight Loss Plateaus Occur?

This is a very loaded question because as I always say “everybody is different” and every body is different.

And the solution to a weight loss plateau is likely not one sole thing for each person.

However, the most important point to this question is not a physical thing.

It’s not “your calories need to come down” or “you need to do more exercise”

It’s a psychological point that needs to be made - and it is so very important that I am putting it front and centre of this article.

Why do weight loss plateaus occur?

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What a truly lovely thing to say.

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Not only have I just released a new episode of The Fitness Solution, it’s a video episode too.

So you can watch as well listen if you do wish.

This episode has come from a conversation I had w

Take Me There…

You Have Been Conditioned To View Them Negatively

Let me be very clear here.

Maintaining your body weight is a true success.

Sadly, we live in a world where allowing you to actually be proud of what you have achieved thus far, and promoting the fact that the scale may not be going down - but by golly - it isn’t going up…that is a true success.

This is what you and the fitness industry has allowed you to view as a:

“Plateauuuuuuu”

As a negative happening in your life. When actually it is a true success.

I am sure you have heard the phrase: “80% of all diets fail”. The definition of successful weight loss maintenance is:

“Successful long-term weight loss maintenance is intentionally losing at least 10% of initial body weight and keeping it off for at least 1 year.” [3]

Therefore if you are currently in an active deficit, and you have lost 10% or more of your body weight and your weight loss has “plateaued” you are actually on the path of being in the top 20% of the world’s population when it comes to dieting.

“Research has shown that approximately 20% of overweight individuals are successful at long-term weight loss when defined as losing at least 10% of initial body weight and maintaining the loss for at least 1 year” [2]

Therefore you aren’t stalling, failing or just not good enough.

You are actually in an elitist group of people. A rare cohort of incredible success - and you have been told to see it as a failure.

That’s a damn fucking shame.

I am sorry that we have done this to you. I am truly sorry that you have been led to believe that it is possible to keep dieting down and down and down and if that process ever stops then you are simply not good enough.

This has led to many people getting frustrated, angry and feeling shame at their inability to see scale weight continuing to tumble and it has to stop. Right now. Right here. With this post.

How Does Scale Weight Actually Work?

Scale Weight is a very fickle thing. You may or may not be aware that scale weight when you are in an active calorie deficit and trying to lose weight, will fluctuate.

Wildly.

Up and down. It will be stubborn at times. One day you can weigh on things, and the very next 24 hours later you can weigh 5-7lbs more.

This is normal.

In fact let me show you some of my weight readings, when I was in a caloric deficit and weighed myself each and every day.

This is July into August of 2021 - I started at 85.4kg and then deficit down to 81.9kg.

how long does it take to get past a weight loss plateau

It looks like the best rollercoaster you have ever been on.

But as you can see I was constantly trading peaks and troughs. This is actually a very normal graph of scale weight. If you ever see a graph that is more linear than this - that is indeed not giving you the full picture of someone’s body weight.

I have Coached many people through weight loss and every single one of them have had this experience.

These fluctuations mainly occur due to:

Hormones and Menstrual Cycle
Medications
Sleep
Types of food you consume
Digestion
Exercise

One of the most common reasons scale weight will fluctuate is because carbohydrates retain water. When you eat any Carbohydrate your body will absorb 3g-4g of Water to help store the glycogen from the food.

This is not body fat and is perfectly normal - and is a big reason you see a big reduction in scale weight when someone goes “low-carb”

There is just one other thing to say here and that is that when you are tracking scale weight as a marker of success or not when trying to lose weight, you must gather more data than weekly scale readngs.

This is another common reason that plateaus occur - you just aren’t getting enough data.

Looking at the same graph from my weight as before I have circled every seventh reading - to repllicate one a week weigh ins.

how do i get out of my weight loss plateau

As you can see every other week my weight was up from the week before.

Looking at the last circle, which is seven days from the one previous if I was weighing in weekly, and weighed in on the 6th day I would have had a reading that was lower than the last reading 7 days previous as opposed to one that was higher.

This is when data can become your best friend - and the more you gather the more insightful you can be when it comes to analysing what is going on.

If you have Scale Anxiety then please read my article that has helped hundreds of people overcome gravitophobia:

Have Scale Anxiety? Learn to imrpove your relationship with the scale

How To Actually Get Past Your Weight Loss Plateau

I guarantee I could find someone on the internet telling you very opposing things in relation to this question. You will be told to:

Reduce Calories
Increase Calories
More Exercise
Less Exercise
More Water
Less Water

And each person is just confusing you more and more and more - adding to your frustration and not knowing where to turn.

In truth, each solution could be correct.

Reducing your calories may lead to a calorie deficit as you will be consuming less in the short term.

Increasing your calories may lead to a calorie deficit in the long term as you might be less likely to binge and more adherent to your calorie moderate calorie deficit as opposed to always reducing and cutting and restricting.

More exercise might lead to a calorie deficit in the shorter term by way of burning calories (but this is a very silly way to go about losing weight) but it might lead to more hunger.

Less exercise might lead to a calorie deficit due to less hunger from exercise - especially with things like HIIT.

And water might help reduce hunger, but it does have a weight to it, and that will show up on the scale.

But I understand none of this is overly helpful right now.

Therefore I propose these solutions to your weight loss plateau problem.

Reframe it as a Success

What is the opposite of weight loss not going down? It going up…

And if weight loss is your ultimate goal, but it is in a “plateau” then you are indeed doing a fantastic job as your weight is stable and you are learning to manage your new body and its new weight.

I do feel like I want to caveat the above statement.

A lot of people, women especially, but men too, do feel great shame when their weight increases. This is because they get so much praise when their weight is coming down. Praise from friends, family, coaches, and society at large. This leads them to feel like failures when their weight may increase again, even if it is only slightly. As I mentioned before learning to maintain weight loss is incredibly difficult, and there is no shame or failure attached to regaining weight - because what the scale doesn't show is how much you have learnt, how much more skill you have developed in the gym, how consistent you have been with your actions, how much better your mental health is as a result of working hard and trying, how much more energy you have and how much better you are sleeping.

Even if you learn to manage your new body at its new weight and it is slightly up from the lowest scale reading you have - you are still succeeding at so much more than you are giving yourself credit for.

Remember, 80% of people cant maintain their weight.

A plateau really isn’t a bad thing.

Trust Yourself

Look at it this way…you got to the point of which a plateau can actually occur. You must have done something right thus far.

So now you just need to trust yourself. Trust you know what you are doing, trust that your actions will lead to the result you are after. One of the hardest things for people who are trying to lose weight is this element of trust.

Usually, because they have been sent on a path of yoyo dieting and then been made to feel like they themselves are the thing that is broken - not the diet itself. And relearning to trust yourself is very hard

To get to the issues of a weight loss plateau, you have a process that has worked, you have a process that is sustainable for you and you have a process that you know you can trust - you’re at this point already - and now it’s just a case of making sure that you trust that process, and trust yourself.

Remain Consistent, Remain Patient

The more weight you lose the slower it will occur. This is because many people who want to lose weight probably want to because they view the body fat they now have as excess.

They are above their body’s settling point that they are used to for themselves.

This can happen for many reasons, mainly lifestyle factors like becoming parents or changing from an active job to a sedentary one.

At the beginning with a tiny bit of focus, and dialling up a few things in terms of their diet, increasing some steps, in fact living by my 5 Awesome Rules for Fat Loss Life (please excuse how cringy the video below is), they then manage to lose that “extra” body fat relatively quickly.

But the closer you get to the point upon which you’re near when you want to be - think the classic last 5lbs of stubborn fat - then it will take an awful lot longer to get there.

The curve will always level off.

There is more at play in terms of this as well - which I go into further down.

But generally - you will lose weight quickest in the beginning - and this is also why many people do 6-week challenges that are all about losing lots of weight in that time frame - it’s a safe and easy way for personal trainers to get all the glory without having to actually do the hard work for people - get them through the moments when it feels hardest for them.

It’s a huge reason I don’t do them. I’m a Coach and there is no glory in not supporting people properly.

I digress.

As the curve levels off (something you have been told to view as a plateau), the most important thing to do here is to be consistent. Is to not change anything drastic, and just keep ticking off the days and the process.

Begin to enjoy the process more, begin to appreciate that you are doing so much more good for yourself than necessarily losing weight.

And the more you focus on the process provided it has been set up correctly (preferably with the aid of a Coach - I know a good one wink, wink, nudge, nudge: head here) then the results will eventually take care of themselves.

Patience is a virtue - and I’m sorry but if your weight hasn’t decreased in two weeks you are not in a plateau. In fact, if your weight hasn't decreased in a month, you are not in a plateau. If you are executing the behaviours that constitute a calorie deficit and your weight hasn’t moved from month one to month six, and you have investigated the areas of your life that you think might be getting in the way, then we can look into the possibility that you are indeed in a plateau.

Without a doubt, one of the main ways to get past a weight loss plateau is be more patient with yourself and the process.

Realise there is so much more to celebrate

SO MUCH MORE!

I used to call my coaching program this - because the list of things you can celebrate and crucially should celebrate away from weight loss is so much more empowering than celebrating the reduction of your body.

Getting Stronger
Being Consistent with your own health
Better Sleep
Eating in a more balanced way
Having more energy
Improving your relationship with you
Improving your relationship with others
Being in nature more
Learning new skills and applying them
Improving your relationship with food
Improving your relationship with exercise - more on this here: How To Love Exercise Again
Building your confidence through keeping promises with yourself
Building your self-esteem
Improving your mental health
Burning more energy
Increasing your Metabolism

I’m sure there’s more - but I’m a little hungover today so let’s leave it there.

But look at that list.

It’s a bloody good one isn’t it?

Why would you want to give up all of those benefits simply because you aren’t losing weight? Or you have lost weight and it appears to have stalled.

If you are engaging in a health and fitness journey and you are not working on all of those things that I have listed - and only working on losing weight - you are setting yourself up for complete failure - because naturally, your weight loss will stop - and when that happens you will feel like you are failing.

I always say:

“Focus on production, not reduction”

— Adam Berry, The Gym Starter

I appreciate that list might look overwhelming, but many of it is the by-product of just engaging in physical movement and an active lifestyle appropriately - and only focussing on weight loss - that is not an appropriate way to engage with not just movement, but yourself too.

I understand and appreciate that weight loss might be a great tool for which people begin, get started and can discover all of this - but once you have got over that initial moment of engaging because of your body weight - you need to transfer your thoughts onto that list I have laid out.

Be proud of what you managed to lift and how you managed to lift it. Be proud of the fact that you are eating in a more structured way and that is having huge benefits on your relationship with food.

And if you aren’t doing those things and if you aren’t focussing on that list …it could be an indicator as to why your weight loss has plateaued.

Bodyweight Settling Points

Set Point theory is the premise that you have a predisposition to a certain body weight. This is due to a number of factors, but genetics and lifestyle are the two main ones.

It is only a theory, but it is backed by quite a lot of evidential studies. [3, 4, 5].

This doesn’t mean that you are predetermined to always be overweight if that is where your set point is. It means that changing it might be a lot harder than you ever thought possible. Having worked with thousands of people on weight loss over my career I have found this to be true as well. Very few people lose the 3 stone of weight that they were aiming to, and then also manage to stay there for the rest of their lives. Most people I have worked with, we are always trading around 5lbs here and 5lbs there - and those who do lose more, have to overhaul a lot in their lives both mentally and physically to manage it, and it takes a lot longer than you would ever believe.

Setpoint theory is also why we define successful weight loss as losing 10% of your body weight and keeping it off for at least a year. You may lose 17% initially - but that might be an amount too great for your body and therefore 10% is the marker of successful weight loss.

Because weight will come up and down.

You can change your set point - which is why I refer to it as a “settling point”. At different phases in our lives, we will probably have different bodyweights. Think of it like this - if I took you out of your environment right now and placed you on an island somewhere to live - it is likely that your bodyweight will change - as you have different access to different foods.

This happened to me - when I moved to Australia - trying to learn the nuances in the different foods here took a while - and it meant I stuck to things I knew a little more - which were obviously brands that generally pack their food with calories.

Added to that my activity levels were very different whilst I was trying to find a job, get used to being out of the sun for certain hours of the day and not having the money to be able to pay for a Gym whilst I was setting everything up.

Then once I got used to my environment, my body weight started to decline again back to where it nearly always sits at around 80kgs.

Therefore your body settles depending on its environment - and the more comfortable you are in an environment the more likely you are to hit a plateau.

Added to all of this, we also have mechanisms in our body that when it realises calories are being reduced, it changes your hormones to increase hunger to protect you. These hormones are affected by Adipose Tissue (Fat Cells) and the more of them you have the more the hormones will affect you making things just that little bit harder for you.

And as you can imagine, the closer to that point you get - the more your body will fight back - the more likely you are to be in a plateau.

This is exactly why you should focus a lot more on the list above than just the scale readings you are collecting.

Metabolic Apdation (check in with your numbers)

Metabolic Adaption [6] is the very simple fact of life that a smaller organism needs fewer calories to survive. As you lose weight, you will require fewer calories to maintain that weight.

Therefore if you have been losing weight, and that seems to have slowed down for a long enough period to quantify an actual plateau (at least a couple of months) depending on the amount of weight you have lost in that time, it could mean you need to check your calorie deficit numbers again.

The caloric maintenance of your body has literally changed - and it is quite common for someone to still be eating the same amount of calories that were designed for when they started their fitness journey as opposed to where they are now - as they have noticed a big slow down in weight loss.

So always check in with your maintenance numbers, which will then allow you to adjust your calorie numbers.

For more on Bodyweight Maintenance head here: How To Find Your Calorie Maintenance Level

And if you want a free Calorie Calculator then please head here: Free Fitness Goodies

Build More Muscle and Be More Active???

It would be remiss of me to write this whole article without touching on these points.

And I have put a question mark next to the points for very good reason. For this article, I have written it with the perspective that you probably already are being very active - and probably don’t have the privilege. to increase that part of your life too much.

If you are stuck, and you aren’t doing 2-3x strength sessions a week, you aren’t regularly hitting 8k steps a day at least, then yes - please do that.

By doing that I almost guarantee your weight will change again.

I also want to discuss the art of building muscle here.

Everyone is different - but building muscle takes time. It takes more time if you are female and it takes more time the more experienced you are at doing it.

For a woman, you are looking at about 1lb a month in the first year, then 0.5lb a month in the second year of training.

For a man, you are looking at about 2lbs a month in the first year, and then 1lb a month in the second year of training.

1lb of Muscle at rest burns 5kcal a day.

Therefore after your first year of training as a woman, you will have only added an extra 60kcals a day to your metabolism, and if you are a man, you can double that.

Yes, building muscle will help your metabolism because you will also burn calories as you exercise, and after you exercise. But in order to improve your metabolism enough to see it on the scale and to help break through a plateau you are going to have to be very dedicated to the cause of building muscle for a period of time a lot longer than you probably believed before you read this article.

Of course, I am an advocate of strength training for all people - I just wanted to bring to your attention that when people tell you to build muscle to improve your metabolism, it is true, but not in the manner you may interpret it, or the manner in which they believe it would help you also.

Just be aware, that building muscle probably isn’t the quick fix you are hoping for to break through a plateau - but it’s a blinking good thing to do for your health.

What’s Next?

How long does a weight loss plateau last

I really hope you found this article useful, and that you feel a lot better about your struggles at the moment. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my work, it really does mean a lot to me to have you here.

If you would like a Free Calorie and Macro Calculator then just put your email in here:

References:

Sarwan G, Rehman A. Management Of Weight Loss Plateau. [Updated 2021 Oct 29]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK576400/
Wing RR, Phelan S. Long-term weight loss maintenance. Am J Clin Nutr. 2005 Jul;82(1 Suppl):222S-225S. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/82.1.222S. PMID: 16002825.
GEMA FRÜHBECK,, JAVIER GÓMEZ‐AMBROSI, Rationale for the existence of additional adipostatic hormones, The FASEB Journal, 10.1096/fj.00-0829hyp, 15, 11, (1996-2006), (2001).
Hoeger, W., Hoeger, S., Fawson, A., & Hoeger, C. (2019). Principles and labs for fitness and wellness. Cengage.
Liao, T., Zhang, S.-L., Yuan, X., Mo, W. Q., Wei, F., Zhao, S.N., Yang, W., Liu, H., & Rong, X. (2020). Liraglutide lowers body weight set point in DIO rats and its relationship with hypothalamic microglia activation. Obesity: A Research Journal, 28(1), 122-131. doi: 10.1002/oby.22666
Trexler, E.T., Smith-Ryan, A.E. & Norton, L.E. Metabolic adaptation to weight loss: implications for the athlete. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 11, 7 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1186/1550-2783-11-7

Adam Berry - The Gym Starter 12/2/22 Adam Berry - The Gym Starter 12/2/22

How To Start Your Fitness Journey: A Guide for Beginners

As you probably know by now, I’m The Gym Starter, better known as Adam and I find it shocking that I haven’t written this article sooner.

I’m working on my own self compassion with this…a theme that will be key to this article…so if I can forgive myself, I’m hoping, you can too dear reader.

There was a phrase I was taught at Drama School when it came to writing:

“Don’t get it right, get it written”

— Unknown

Which along with self-compassion is one of the most important tasks for someone who wants to “start their fitness journey”

Before we begin, I just wanted to let you know that I have indeed written a Workout Guide exactly for you. It’s called The Beginners Bodyweight Workout Guide and is made up of 10-minute workouts, to do at home. It has 56 workouts in there and you can get this totally for free.

how to start your fitness journey at home

If you chose to acquire it, you are also acquiring me as your friend. This brings me joys untold but does come with a warning. The warning being: I will send you things. Helpful things. Things like Podcasts, Articles and thoughts…these thoughts might not always be appropriate, but in truth, isn’t that what makes friends friends?

To send me a friend request (and to get The Beginners Bodyweight Guide) just put your email in here:

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR:

How To Start Your Fitness Journey:

Step 1: The truth behind being able to start
Step 2: Why is it called a journey?
Step 3: Releasing Expectations
Step 4: Understanding confidence
Step 5: Understanding there is no right/or wrong
Step 6: What Should You Do In The Gym?

Step 1: The Truth Behind Being Able To Start

At the point of which I am writing this…the number one hit on Google for this topic (a position I am hoping to overthrow) outlines 6 points about starting.

One of which is “create a vision board”.

I remember doing this once because I was told to do it. It didn’t connect me to my dreams, it just annoyed me - because it forced my brain into the world of comparison, and it constantly reminded me of where I wasn’t - not where I currently am.

Maybe I’m just bad at Vision Boards - and if that is your thing, then great, but I don’t think it offers much help here.

Starting a Fitness Journey might just be one of the hardest things someone is going to do.

And I just don’t think a Vision Board is really going to help someone overcome their fears.

Fears of:

Failure
The Gym Environment
Judgement from others
Resistance from loved ones
Overwhelm of information
Getting it wrong
It taking too long

and one of the biggest fears:

Not being good enough

For it is within these topics that we have to truly find the answers.

I could tell you all the practical stuff in the world:

Find a Gym you like
Ask for help from Personal Trainer at the Gym
Start with X workout
Eat-in a Calorie Deficit to lose weight
Get a Vision Board

But none of that is really going to create the lasting change you need until we deal with the fears that you have about fitness.

Fear is:

F alse
E xpectation
A ppearing
R eal

And having practical help, will not alleviate these false expectations, they will simply suspend them - and when they come home to roost again you will have fallen into the same pattern as before of starting then stopping and feeling like a failure.

The issue with allowing fear to dominate in the short term is that it feeds the fear in the longer term. By not addressing your fear when you first feel it, you give it more and more power over time, to the point it will dominate you more than it needs to.

All of those fears I listed above are very real, but the more you find the courage to work against them, the less significant the fear will feel.

And it is my job to help you find the courage to negotiate those fears in order to help you start your fitness journey.

You are here now. You are in a safe space.

Just this weekend I felt the need to reach out to an old client of the Strong & Confident Program.

She had her fears. She was very new to exercise and working out. She had never worked with a Coach before - and even though our time came to an end about a year ago, just the other day I sent her this:

This should always be the ultimate goal. To continue being active, to continue getting stronger, to be able to get rid of your fears, so the changes last forever. So they last the entire length of your journey… also known as: Life.

Step 2: Why Is It Called A Journey?

Just quickly, every time I put a Schitts Creek GIF into one of these articles, it slows me down, because I then have to go back and watch it all over again…HOW GOOD IS SCHITT’S CREEK?

Ok, I’ve now managed to prize myself away from Netflix. I need to be honest with you.

I have a love/hate relationship with the word “journey”.

But the more I see, and I am nearly 10 years into my Personal Training Career the more I understand why we use this word, and why I am currently in a phase of loving it more than hating it.

It comes down to the human experience. We live to experience, not to simply achieve.

In fact, the more you focus on achievement, quite often the more elusive it becomes.

Because what happens is you close yourself off to everything the journey has to offer.

A journey undulates.

A journey has a beginning (the topic if this article)

A middle

An end

A journey will be hard at times.

It will also be easy at times.

You will want to stop

You will want to speed it up

You will have to be patient

You will have to contend with things both in and out of your control

A journey changes as you experience it

It has phases

And it also guarantees you stay in the moment.

You have to be present.

If you want to get somewhere - you can’t rush the process of getting there. It will only ever take as long as it takes.

In Intuitive Eating: 4th Edition Evelyn Tribole states:

“We call it a journey because there is no judgement attached”

I might have paraphrased, but I like the effect of these words. The more we can disassociate with judgement from ourselves with regards to fitness, the more present in the human experience we can be.

I say we because this is something I have to work on as well.

Each month, I set my clients a monthly challenge - for February 2022 its to read a book by a psychologist. The book is by Dr Julie Smith, and is called “Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before”

In the section addressing the topic of self-acceptance, she explains that the “work is never done”. She reveals that on the journey of living a life of self-compassion, you do the work every day to live in align with unconditional self-acceptance; you never arrive.

And it is through the same lens that those who are successful in fitness view their fitness. It is this that makes it a journey for them.

And it is this that is the key to getting your journey started.

Step 3: Releasing Expectation

I talk about this very often with fitness - the biggest thing that will perpetuate your feelings of failure is your expectations of the result.

Its a very frustrating dichotomy:

We have to have a goal to get started on a fitness journey, but these goals can also be the reason you give up.

And it all comes down to your expectations.

Society at large has done a fantastic job on selling you the unachievable dream in terms of fitness. I’m not here to sour your hopes and dreams about getting started, but a realistic starting point for you would be to take what you want to achieve and then at least double the time frame in which you think it will be achievable.

By lengthening out your time frame, you will give yourself more space and time to allow your fitness to develop properly. The human body doesn’t change quickly, and more importantly the faster it does change the harder it is to sustain.

Many diets are built on your willpower, not habit transformation,

And your willpower will run out. As your life gets stressful. And your life will get stressful.

And when that happens, you won’t be able to live up to your expectations - which creates more stress, and the cycle will continue until you finally stop your fitness journey.

All because you tried to do too much, too soon and it just wasn’t sustainable.

Nor was it flexible.

My birthday is in early February. This means every new year I know it is futile to set huge expectations of fitness because |’m going to enjoy my birthday, and I won’t be able to keep up with a 4x a week program in the Gym at that time in my life.

For you, it could be lots of your friends are getting married, the school holidays, the Christmas/New Year combination or why is it that every single human in your family seems to have their birthday in the same month?

When these events which happen every year coincide with the 12 week period you gave yourself to “lose the weight” you obviously aren’t going to sacrifice making memories for going to the Gym.

And nor should you have to.

The only time you think you should have to is when you have far too strict a time frame to achieve your goals.

When you open up your time frame you create flexibility in your fitness journey to allow for your life.

This is crucial…because when it comes down to:

Life vs Fitness Journey

Life ALWAYS wins.

You should never have to pip one against the other - this is another reason we call it a journey. It has to have the ability to work with your life, not versus it.

Step 4: Understanding Confidence

Now that we have managed to take away your expectations, legitimised your fears and strategised on how to help you overcome them as well as actually figured out why it’s called a journey and how that will scope your attitude towards your future fitness I’m hoping you will feel a little more confident about starting.

Which is great.

And a good sign that you are setting yourself up for success, and not for repeated failure.

But confidence is a fickle thing.

And when you might actually be faced with a little more resistance it can evaporate quickly on us.

I’ve had many clients say to me over the years that they wished they had my confidence - and for many years I was never really sure where my confidence came from.

Then I heard something that bought it all into focus for me.

And I want you to remember this too.

Between where you are right now….and the confidence you wish to have is one word:

Courage

Now it’s important to remember this quote when discussing courage:

“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow”

— Mary Anne Radmacher

Courage comes in many forms. Sometimes it is the Braveheart-Esque bashing of the chest very masculine energy (FYI: I don’t have a great deal of that energy).

Sometimes it is having the courage to lead yourself with self-compassion.

Sometimes it’s having the courage to execute on the small things each day you said you would.

Confidence is something we must build at all different times in our lives. It is not something inherently given to you by God.

One reason I have confidence is because I have always been able to build a new comfort zone in new environments.

We can’t get confident unless we become comfortable. But you must keep levelling up your comfort zone to continue feeding your confidence. When you stop stretching out, when you stop trying to rebuild new zones of comfort in your life, you end up in what is known as a fixed mindset - and when you are challenged with a new environment or a new prospect ahead of you, like a fitness journey, you have no recent experience in building a new comfort zone, and so it seems all far too much to handle.

You stay where you are - and your confidence isn’t fed.

To build each new zone of comfort in your life you must have courage. This can be built slowly, or quickly, it really doesn't matter, but we do have to keep in order to keep driving our confidence and to not withdraw.

For example, at home I was always a very confident person, in my comfort zone and felt very capable at school…then I got into Drama School.

The first two years of my life at Drama School, yes; two years, I was low on confidence. I was out of my comfort zone by a long way and had to very slowly rebuild it alongside trying to figure out how to find out who I was in the world of a very elite Drama School full of extremely talented people.

I honestly never felt confident at Drama School, and in my abilities there, until my third year.

But I didn’t shy away. It was my dream coming true, I wasn’t going to stay at home and not show up each day. I just focussed on looking for my wins, trying to develop my ability, crafting my talent into a skill and rebuilding a comfort zone for me there on the first floor of a dingy building in Farringdon, London.

And that took courage. My courage took patience, it took self-compassion and it took a lot of failures and it took a lot of time. But I knew with every experience, both positive and negative, I would be able to make it my comfort zone - and when I managed that - I was a different person altogether.

And this is something I have done time and time and time again in my life.

The more comfort zones I have built, the more feedback I have in my life that I can figure it out. The easier it is to build again, and again, and again.

The above image shows where growth and therefore the building of your confidence lies.

Imagine the image as stepping stones over a river. You start on the first one, then once you are balanced and comfortable on that stone, you stretch your leg out, and move onto the next stone.

When you over stretch, you fall in and begin to panic.

But each time you stretch, you then find comfort again, and then you know you are ready to stretch once more. Avoiding panic.

Each Zone on the above diagram comes with words attached:

Comfort Zone: Unchallenged, Safe, Low Risk- Low Reward, Easy, Stable, Secure

Stretch Zone: Education focussed, Willing to learn, Find Purpose, Conquer Objectives, Anticipating, Excited

Panic Zone: Panic, Annoyed, Stressed, Lacks Self Confidence, Frustrated, Fed Up, Fearful, Effected by Opinions, Excuse Driven, Overwhelmed

We exist in all three zones in very different aspects of our lives. But let's convert this model into starting your Fitness Journey…because that is why you are here isn’t it?

In terms of Fitness, the Comfort Zone is not a good place to be. You will find your workouts uninteresting, you will find your journey monotonous, and progress will feel incredibly slow.

The Stretch Zone is where I try to keep all of my clients on my Strong and Confident Program. I think one of the most important aspects of a Fitness Journey is that of education - and I spend a lot of time trying to educate my clients on what they are doing. A fitness journey is a skill, and you can’t get better at that skill unless you learn more about it, and practice what you are learning.

My Weekly Forms for instance, which my clients use as a journal focus their minds on completing objectives, trying to get them excited about the progress they are journalling each week, and keeping them focussed on the purpose of living an active lifestyle and how they balance that into their lives.

Now, without a doubt, many of my clients miss the stretch zone and end up in the panic zone. They can feel overwhelmed, try to do too much at once, many of them lack self-confidence as a result of literally “over-stretching” all the time - and as you can imagine this undermines their ability to actually grow.

My job as their Personal Trainer is to write plans and workouts and check their form on exercises.

My role as their Coach is to keep them in the Stretch Zone.

And as you start your Fitness Journey - this will be your role too.

Don’t get overwhelmed by all the information, don’t worry about the result.

Focus on the process, not the outcome. The process is within your control, the output is not.

And by remaining in the stretch zone, you will stay rooted in the process, and build your confidence naturally. And as you grow, the way in which you stretch yourself will grow as well - ensuring constant development and growth throughout your Fitness Journey.

Step 5: Understanding There Is No Right or Wrong

Fitness can be a very overwhelming topic.

Wait: Where have you seen that word before in this article?

Overwhelm puts you into the Panic Zone.

Overwhelm can make you feel paralysed.

Overwhelm can make you feel like there’s no possible way you can do it.

And I’m sure whenever you have looked into “The Best Meal Plan” or “What Exercise is best for Fat Loss - Cardio or Weight Training” or even “How To Lose A Stone” the sheer amount of conflicting information has just made your brain go:

This is why truly getting to grips with the understanding that there is no right or wrong, just exploration is crucial as you start your journey.

Worrying about things that are well out of what you need to worry about isn’t going to help you.

At all.

To see whether or not you are achieving what you want to achieve with your fitness journey, all you need to do is the following:

One action every day that moves you further down the road

This could be increasing your step count day on day.

This could be increasing your step count on rest days, and doing your workout when it is planned.

This could be having a protein shake today.

This could be increasing your Vegetable intake.

Or my personal favourite:

Increase your sleep

And each day as you string together new behaviours you will make far greater progress, far quicker, than if you focus on what is right, or what is best.

I would go so far as to say, as long as today, you build in what you did yesterday - that is all you ever need to do really.

This doesn’t mean keep doing more.

Sometimes building on yesterday can mean having a rest day to allow the foundations to settle. It could mean listening to The Fitness Solution Podcast to educate and get a greater understanding of where you are at.

It could mean working out again.

You see, the options are actually limitless when you stop focussing on what is right and wrong and start focussing on what you want to explore.

And with limitless options, your journey will be full of colour, intrigue and excitement.

Step 6: What and How To Do. Not Why To Do It

This quote is another of my favourites.

“Practice makes progress permanent”

— Adam Berry

A lot of people when setting someone up on a fitness journey will try and get you to focus wholly on your “why”. Try and pull those emotional heartstrings:

You know the kind of stuff I mean:

To be able to play with my children
To feel more confident
To feel comfortable in photos
To feel sexy again
To reduce my tiredness
To improve my mental health
To reduce my feelings of anxiety
To get strong enough to fight a bear in the woods

The list goes on and on and on.

And I’m not demeaning why you want to do something, but when we attach whys to actions we frame them through judgement.

“To be able to play with my children” which could actually be “I’m too unfit and lazy to be able to enjoy time with my children”

“To feel sexy again” which could actually be “To feel less self-conscious and to feel desired by the opposite sex. To reduce my loneliness and to hopefully find some happiness through the attachment of another human”

And the truth behind the simpler forms of the whys is loaded with self-guilt, lack of self-compassion and brutal self-talk and inner feelings that will only focus you more on them.

You know why you are wanting to start a fitness journey - and really - you only need to use that as a motivator once.

That was your motivation for searching for this article on Google.

Now it’s about practical application.

Now it’s about building progress.

And making that progress permanent.

This is why, as you start your Fitness Journey it is vitally important you focus on “What to Do” and “How To Do It”.

What and How takes away the judgement of the “Why” and places you into a Stretch Zone.

Whereas focussing on the “Why” puts you into the Panic Zone.

Look at this practically. If you went to the Gym because you wanted to lose weight, a perfectly fair and reasonable goal, but you associate the action of going to the gym solely with why you are there.

“To lose weight” which could actually be “To feel more attractive to the opposite sex and to feel less judged by society”.

The Gym then becomes the place where you are going to get fixed, where you are going to try and remove your feelings - and that is not a nice energy to be working with when you are working out. It’s an energy that makes everything so much harder because you are focussed far too much on your negative self.

Therefore get focussed on the Practical.

What Should You Do In The Gym?

Honestly? Do what you enjoy.

That is your number one priority. As long as it is safe.

Don’t do what I have done on a couple of occasions.

Like fall off a treadmill at 18km/h. Yup I did that.

Try not to load a Deadlift Bar up unevenly by 20kgs, when thinking you’re going for a PB. Yup. I did that too.

Another thing I have done in the Gym that bought me no enjoyment. Enjoyment is key.

Because enjoyment is sustainable.

And…

Enjoyment is moveable. It’s so very easy to get caught up in optimal strength training for “best results”.

But if you hate doing it…you will never get to those “best results” because you won’t be able to do it for long enough.

Added to that by starting with what you enjoy, you can then build from there. What you enjoy can change over time as you get stronger, see results and keep consistent. What I enjoy now in the Gym is vastly different to what I enjoyed 3 or 4 years ago.

And that’s ok.

Because that means what I am doing right now is optimal for my results - because in four years time I will hopefully still be going and loving the benefits attached to being that consistent with my movement.

Let me tell you a little secret.

I used to get really caught up on what was the “ideal” thing for my clients - and it used to get in the way so much. Strength Training and Fitness for the vast majority of people isn’t that complex or needs to be overthought.

I used to feel so insignificant, and so unknowledgeable because I didn’t know the secret order of exercises to progress someone over a year.

I didn’t know what it felt like everyone else seemed to know…and that made me very worried indeed.

But there is no secret. Which is why I didn’t know it.

In fact…the thing that every other trainer seemed to know only got in the way of how they worked with people. They overthought it too much also.

The most optimal thing in strength training for the general population is showing up, and doing something that you enjoy.

Then from there, we can look at workouts that will progress you over time.

But that’s not as hard as it sounds. And don’t let it worry you.

The key principles to What to do in the Gym are:

Show Up
Enjoy what you do when you show up
Work on improving your form
Work on increasing the intensity of what you do in the Gym (heavier weights, longer runs, more sets and reps)

I have two workout Manuals I give away that work on these compelte principles.

how to start your fitness journey for beginners

The Confident and Strong Manual is a month of Gym Workouts and Home Workouts designed to be quick, accessible and straightforward for you.

They take care of all of the principles outlined above and will really help you start your Strength Training.

The Beginners Bodyweight Guide has a slightly lower barrier to entry and can be done at home. The workouts are just 10mins a day and include guided walks by myself as well - which is one of the most underrated forms of movement a human can do.

To get these manuals then all you have to do is put your email address in below and I will send the straight to you.

What’s Next?

how to start exercising when youre out of shape

I really hope you found this article useful, and you feel a lot more comfortable about starting your journey.

I also have some other articles you might find useful to help flesh out how to go about starting your Fitness Journey.

Thank you so much for being here - it means an awful lot to me.

Have a great day…

Coach Adam

Adam Berry - The Gym Starter 24/11/21 Adam Berry - The Gym Starter 24/11/21

How Do You Get Motivated To Exercise When You Are Depressed?

I asked my TikTok (@thegymstarter) community what they wanted to see on my Blog.

One of the suggestions came from someone who I refer to as:

“My sister from another mister”

I basically grew up with her. We would spend hours together as children playing around, playing dress-up, writing songs, using her video camera to create episodes of Eastenders and make music videos. It was an incredibly fun time, full of honest innocence.

In fact, I don’t think I have one unhappy memory of being looked after by this persons family.

We went to the same school, we went to the same church, and she and her family are as good as my family. We carpooled to school for years and years. Her Mum was a huge inspiration to me with fitness, her Dad with photography.

She had an older sister too. Who is equally a wonderful person.

When we were teenagers we would spend many Friday and Saturday nights out clubbing in Romford together, me trying to make sure they were always ok - I’d drive them both home nearly every week - just to make sure they were safe. I felt loved by them, and we were without doubt as close as close can be.

But with time, we drifted apart. As we grew older and found our voices, found our lives.

And then one day she popped up on my TikTok Feed. And I started seeing videos about much more complex issues around Mental Health and especially Depression. Which made me feel very concerned that someone I loved so much, someone I spent a long time protecting, ratifying whether her Boyfriends passed “The Adam Test” (which was a brutal test that I devised to see whether I thought the bloke was good enough for my sister from another mister), it was hard to see that she had suffered drastically, and it moved me greatly.

She asked me to write this article.

Her exact question was: “Workouts when you’re depressed/neurodivergent”.

To which I had to learn what Neuro Divergent meant, which I now have a grasp on. This also ties in with Mens Health Month, and although I have never been able to grow a Moustache, I think this post is very relevant and I truly hope it helps you.

Firstly, I want to say that you are not alone, you are very very welcome here and if right now you are suffering, and that is what bought you to this article, you are in a safe place. If you need to talk about anything, then please email me on adam@thegymstarter.com - or you can DM me on Instagram - @the_gym_starter

Added to that, we can become friends.

And as your friend, I’ll email you things. Sometimes they will be educational, sometimes they will be inappropriate, sometimes I might just want to know how you are; either way…it would be delightful to connect with you more.

Just send me a friend request by filling out the form below…

Oh, and I will also send you some free fitness goodies to help start our new friendship off on the best foot possible.

Now that we are besties….

I also want to share this with you: I have never had clinical depression, I have never had a diagnosed Mental Health issue, and I am not a Psychologist or Therapist of any kind. That being said, I have definitely had low moods and some very dark moments in my life.

However, the reason I became a Personal Trainer was to help someone who had some Mental Health issues, and I have spent a decade of my life working with people who are clinically depressed and helping them navigate their movement and nutrition as well. I have looked into this topic so many times, and every day I work hard to learn more about it, so that I can help those who are suffering more and more.

This article is a summary of everything I have learnt with working with people who are on medications, are actively suffering and have still managed to work with me - its my blueprint for my Sister from another Mister so that when she gets into a dark place again - she has the framework to help her negotiate everything she wants on what I know best - Movement and Nutrition.

I always say make sure you follow me for empathetic fitness advice with a great smile.

And the only reason I have such a great smile is because of people like you. I see yours, and reflect it back. I hope by seeing mine, you too can see I’m a reflection of you and your smile keeps me inspired every day, even if you can’t see it all of the time.

My greatest memories as a personal trainer are not that of people hitting PBs - its those quiet talks, those moments where I was the only person left for someone to talk to about their issue and how in those moments my clients didn’t have a Personal Trainer - they had a friend.

You’ve got a friend in me. Always and forever. You are not alone. And I will try and help you as much as I can right now.

Table of Contents for: How Do You Get Motivated To Exercise When You Are Depressed? :

Step 1: You are not alone
Step 2: Take away expectation
Step 3: Start small and build from there
Step 4: Acknowledge the wins
Step 5: Have a plan
A note on Neuro-Divergence

Step One: You Are Not Alone

Let us start with some stats [1].

“How common is depression?

More than 264 million people suffer from depression worldwide. (World Health Organization, 2020)
Depression is the leading cause of disability in the world. (World Health Organization, 2020)
Neuropsychiatric disorders are the leading cause of disability in the U.S. with major depressive disorder being the most common. (National Institute of Mental Health, 2013)

Depression statistics in America

17.3 million adults (7.1% of the adult population) have had at least one major depressive episode. (National Institute of Mental Health, 2017)
Of those with major depressive episodes, 63.8% of adults and 70.77% of adolescents had severe impairment. (National Institute of Mental Health, 2017)
Women are nearly twice as likely as men to have depression. (Centers for Disease Control, 2017)
Major depressive episodes were most prevalent among adults (11.3%) and adolescents (16.9%) reporting two or more races. (National Institute of Mental Health, 2017)

Depression statistics by age

Adolescents aged 12 to 17 years old had the highest rate of major depressive episodes (14.4%) followed by young adults 18 to 25 years old (13.8%). (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Association, 2018)
Older adults aged 50 and older had the lowest rate of major depressive episodes (4.5%). (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Association, 2018)
11.5 million adults had a major depressive episode with severe impairment in the past year as of 2018. (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Association, 2018)
Severe depression among college students rose from 9.4% to 21.1% from 2013 to 2018. (Journal of Adolescent Health, 2019)
The rate of moderate to severe depression rose from 23.2% to 41.1% from 2007 to 2018. (Journal of Adolescent Health, 2019)”

I know this doesn’t help you feel like you are not alone if you are in an episode of poor Mental Health. But widening out the context of everything we do in life gives us something that is very important: Perspective.

And when it comes to Movement and Motivation perspective is one of the single most effective things you can have to make you feel like you aren’t failing.

We live in a very false world. We live in a world where highlights are everything and only promoting the best of life is what matters - what is valued.

But look at the stats. That isn’t life.

Life is a complex tapestry of emotions and humanity. And tapestries are beautiful. You are woven into the fabric of society, which is what makes our society great. You don’t darken the doorway with your presence, you light it up - you light it up by the sheer fact you are here - living and breathing.

Do you know what the chances are of your existence?

This is mind-blowing. The answer is 1 in 10 to the power of 265,000,000. That’s a 10 with 256 million zeros after it.

The best analogy I found was this: It is the probability of 2 million people coming together, to each roll a dice with a trillion sides on it, and they all get the same number.

The chances of your existence are basically zero. This means you are a miracle. This means we are all miracles together and that’s what makes the world awesome.

Even if we don’t feel like a miracle all of the time - we are. It doesn't change the facts. What does change is our interpretation of the facts.

And what happens when two miracles get together? Magic. Magic is what happens. When you talk to someone, when you process your feelings through discussion and perspective you create magic.

Step 2: Take Away Expectation

In a paper called: “On the Maintenance of Expectations in Major Depression – Investigating a Neglected Phenomenon” [2] which was published in 2017, they propose:

“For major depressive disorder (MDD), there is evidence that people suffering from MDD hold situation-specific dysfunctional expectations which may be elicited by depressive core beliefs (Kube et al., 2016)”

They go on to conclude that;

“The maintenance of expectations despite experiences that are contrary to expectations is believed to be a core feature of MDD”

Huh.

Now that is interesting.

Expecting something, that lived experience doesn’t equate is a “core feature of MDD”.

I see this every day in Fitness. I see the perpetual cycle of people feeling like failures because their lived perception of what fitness is, is so wildly misguided compared to lived reality.

It’s also something I have come to learn over time as a Personal Trainer - and making sure that the first thing I do with new clients on the Strong & Confident Program is quite simply to manage those expectations immediately.

Because I don’t want my clients lived experiences to make them feel like a failure.

I do not mean to trivialise your struggle, by simply stating that your learned expectations are the issue you are facing, and it is as simple as letting go of those expectations. Because those expectations can be very deeply rooted in who you are as a person. Added to that a huge part of your mental health does come down to Chemistry - which has nothing to do with expectation.

But I know I can influence these thoughts through the window of what this article is about: Fitness and Motivation.

What Expectations Should You Remove from your Fitness Journey?

Expectation 1: Thinking it will be the same process as your friends experience

Here comes the quote….

“Comparison is the thief of joy”

— Theodore Roosevelt

I understand that knowing this is one thing - being able to execute a whole other - and if you ar in the midst of an Mental Health Episode then its even harder.

Aside from making love, fitness is one of the most personal experiences you will probably have. Not only your physical ability and skill, your genetics, but also your emotional resonance with what fitness is in your life.

The number one joy out of fitness is the fact that you get to explore it, the fact that is your personal journey and the fact that you are the only person you should be doing it for.

So as easy as it is for me to say don’t compare yourself to others, the only way in which you can do that is to focus on the self - focus on your productivity, focus on what you are able to do, focus on what you can achieve and focus on what wins you are picking up along the way.

And I’m not talking about Squatting 100kgs.

I’m simply talking about the real world wins each day. The real world wins that can so often elude you at periods of time in your life when you feel this way.

Then you begin to build a foundation. A foundation of strength, a foundation of habit, a foundation of persistence - and it is from that foundation, from the feedback loop of what you are achieving, no matter what it is compared to others, that you can then build other behaviours that you want to see yourself doing.

This foundation is your insulation from these episodes of poorer mental health being more severe the next time they come around.

Expectation 2: Endorphins “being the answer”

Exercise has the ability to make you feel better about yourself.

But it doesn't necessarily mean that it is the only answer.

Exercise improves your sense of well-being, and releases these things known as endorphins, which help alleviate pain in the Brian similar to Morphine.

But you shouldn't put all of your eggs in one basket - despite what Resse Witherspoon thinks.

When I hear something like:

“Exercise makes you happy and releases endorphins and therefore helps with depression”

Although Scientifically I know it to be true, if I was going through a bout of low mood, | would then expect the high of exercise to be so good - because it’s all anyone seems to bang on about all the damn day long.

And that’s not really what happens.

Of course, I believe in the power of movement to help all people - I am an award-winning Online Coach and Personal Trainer.

But I know that what happens after a workout is certainly not as big a high as the marketing would make you believe. It’s subtle, but a very real sense of accomplishment. It’s a little tick in your day that makes you say to yourself - good job - what’s next?

And the more you repeat the cycle, the more good jobs you get done. The more ticks you put in your wins column, the more you build that strong foundation that insulates you from your future self.

Expectation 3: Your definition of a Workout

What is a workout?

Well, I chose to show you, Mike - because who doesn't love Monsters Inc - it is the greatest Disney Pixar film there is.

But also - when searching “workout” on Giphy I saw far too many toxic images of what a workout is - and I didn’t want to perpetuate that stigma.

When you look at the origin of where the word comes from, you have to break it into two sections:

Section 1: Work - As a noun, it is thus [3]:

“Activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result”

“A task or tasks to be undertaken”

When I first read this definition I was worried about the words “purpose or result”. As in, it would take you towards thinking about “losing 5kgs” or behaviours that perpetuate negative body image and procrastination towards yourself.

But in truth, a purpose or result can simply be - to move, to walk, to enjoy. A result can be a process-driven result, nay, it should be a process-driven result.

Not a goal-based result.

Section 2: Out - As an adverb, it is thus [4]:

“Moving or appearing to move away from a particular place, especially one that is enclosed or hidden”

Therefore, if you look at a workout as a physical effort to move you away from a place that is enclosed or hidden you can quantify a workout as anything that achieves that.

As in, it doesn’t have to be lifting heavy weights and slaying yourself in a gym packed with mirrors that make you feel even worse about yourself.

It can simply be the physical act of moving from Point A to Point B.

A common dialogue in the conversation about depression is that those who are suffering find it hard enough to even shower, let alone do much else. Well moving from Point A (your bed) to Point B (your shower) can be viewed as a workout.

And when you can reframe it thus, you can begin to build momentum.

You can begin to build those strong foundations I keep discussing with regards to putting ticks in your win column.

Added to this the term workout has only been around 100 years or so. It is also thought that the “out” part of the word comes from the meaning of “outside” [5].

Hence going for a walk…is a workout; It produces a physical effort towards a goal.

That goal being, to go outside.

What I am trying to do here is lower the barrier of entry for you. Help you reframe the mammoth task right now of finding the motivation to exercise. Making the leap from a low mood to a Gym is huge.

Making the leap from a low mood to getting outside for a walk, might be less huge.

And actually going outside has been shown many times over to have huge benefits on mood [6].

Step 3: Start Small And Build From There

Nothing builds confidence more than showing up for yourself regularly and always ticking off the things you want to do.

Talk to anyone who has accomplished anything large in their life, and they will all tell you the same thing:

“It’s the daily habits inside and out that create big effort”

Whether you’re an athlete training for the Olympics, a Dancer stretching, a musician doing their Arpeggio’s or, take it from me, an actor showing up to over 1000 auditions just to get a job.

Make no mistake, insulating yourself, building these big foundations that will support you in the future, these strategies and assurances in your life to help you deal with low mood when it comes around again is a big effort

And therefore, to achieve that you must build slowly and surely.

Breaking a big effort into bite-size chunks is the best way to go - because the bigger the task the more likely you are to procrastinate around it.

I remember when I had to put my Visa Application together for Australia - it turned out to be a 75-page document outlining every fact and figure to prove that I was in a genuine and ongoing relationship to the exclusivity of all others with my fiancee.

And you would think that sounds quite straightforward - but actually proving the fact to someone who has never seen you, spoke to you or knows anything about you other than seeing the 75-page document, to also prove enough evidence so that you aren’t being fraudulent is a very very scary task.

And boy did I put it off.

Not because I didn’t believe it possible - but because of how daunting the whole thing was - and the more I thought trying to get it done quickly the more I delayed taking action.

I had to just focus on it one request at a time.

Put a system and a framework in place - and go from there.

Much like when I ran the London Marathon.

how to get motivated to exercise when depressed

Look at how young I look - even still at 20 miles in.

When I ran that marathon, I had to reverse engineer my journey. I had to look at the final goal - which for me was completing a Marathon - and then figure with about a years notice how to work towards it.

It started with running 5kms, then 10kms, then 15kms, then 20kms…until Race Day.

It wasn’t a linear journey either. Some days when I had to run 15kms I could only do 10km or 5km, I had to appreciate how much energy my body had, and respond in the moment to it, understanding that within the framework of my rather large and overwhelming training plan, I had to appreciate the flexibility I needed within it.

I remember two very distinct occasions within this journey as well.

One was when I was sitting in the bath, battered and beaten physically and emotionally because I tried to run at a pace for a four-hour marathon over a 20km distance, and I just couldn’t do it. I had nothing in me that was strong enough to keep that up - and I was feeling really rubbish about everything. I got on the phone to one of my very good friends and wonderful running coach, James, and ,made me realise that the only person putting me under this pressure to run that goal was me - and the sooner I disassociated with that as a goal, the more enjoyable my training would be.

I never looked back.

And the second time, was in the build-up to the race - I was quite worried about a month away from that I would hurt myself running, and I knew I had put in enough work - maybe not the most, and I certainly could have done a lot more, but I suffered a rough injury in training when I was also refereeing, and I just went into protection mode - and didn’t run in the build-up to the marathon.

I was overwhelmed with the thoughts of how big the task ahead was - so I withdrew.

Even having done the work.

This is perfectly normal - the pre-game nerves, the stage fright, the anxiety this can cause. A rebound of emotions is normal - which is why it is so important to have the feedback of little behaviours that have led you to this moment to support you.

So that, when you get stopped in your tracks with these feelings, you also can look back and say “I have a body of evidence contrary to what my brain is telling me right now” - and no one can take that work away from me.

STEP 4: Acknowledge The Wins

Each week on the Strong and Confident Program I send out a Weekly Report form to my clients.

And it serves two purposes.

To give them a moment to reflect on what has passed, and set themselves up for the week commencing - again focussing them onto the process rather than the goal.
To get them to physically write down and celebrate the wins they have built up over the week.

And when they put something on there that they haven’t mentioned to me before, I get very wound up. Because when the big wins come I expect a text message.

Just like this one from my friend who is three weeks into her journey with me:

Then when they have a moment of self-doubt, provided they have filled in the form each week, we have a body of evidence to show them that they are able to achieve.

I can show them that they have built the foundations.

I can prove to them, that they themselves wrote words contrary to what their thoughts are at the moment, and that this moment will pass, as it always does with time, and they will soon be able to get back to nailing their journey.

Wins are so easily looked over, whereas what are perceived failures are so easily focussed on and so easily fixated on.

This is why, writing down your wins, talking to a Coach about your wins, taking a moment to track your stats, and ticking off your consistency is all really really important.

What you see more of, the brain focuses on more and more. You get a feedback loop akin to what you are being exposed to.

And this feedback loop can be used both positively and negatively.

If all you see are size 10 models with perfect skin due to photoshop on Instagram, it's going to make you think that is normal life, and therefore create an unrealistic expectation of yourself - hence creating a negative feedback loop.

Therefore you need to take every opportunity to make note of your wins. Make note of your achievements and celebrate them.

No matter how small they seem in comparison to anything else.

Your wins are personal to you - it's irrelevant what others are achieving - they are your wins and it’s your journey - that is all that matters.

You can do this in a number of ways but for someone who has a low mood, I think the best way to record your wins would be through journaling.

Journalling has been shown to reduce anxiety and depression.

In this study [7] they took 40 people who were diagnosed with current MDD and asked them to expressively write about their deepest thoughts and feelings for 20mins a day, and four weeks later they showed decreases in depression scores measured by the Beck Depression Inventory and Patient Health Questionnaire.

This study called: “The effect of expressive writing on the error-related negativity among individuals with chronic worry” found results very similar buy using expressive writing to help reduce worry and stress in those who engaged with it.

Writing your feelings down, helps you process them. Writing your wins down helps you acknowledge them.

And once those two things are happening, then the foundations again grow stronger.

STEP 5: Have A Plan

Nothing builds confidence more than showing up for yourself and not letting yourself down.

One way to ensure that is a much more foolproof system is by having a plan to execute, a format to stick to.

By knowing what you are going to do, it will make the execution of what you are going to do a lot easier.

Again, it lowers the barrier of entry to the task - and the lower you can get that barrier, the easier the execution will be.

The plan doesn’t have to be overwhelming, it doesn’t have to be for the rest of your life or even the year.

In fact, I would argue the smaller the plan the better.

It can be a plan just for that day.

It can be a plan just for your movement session.

It can be as simple as you need it to be, to avoid overwhelm and procrastination around it.

Write down a few exercises you want to investigate in your movement. Write down how long you want to stay at the Gym for, and make sure you plan yourself accordingly for it.

The objective here is to make sure that it is so easy, its nearly impossible for you to back down.

One plan I like to use with clients is the two-minute rule. Especially when they are struggling. I got the two-minute rule from James Clears amazing book “Atomic Habits”.

Over to James [9]:

“The Two-Minute Rule states “When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.”

You’ll find that nearly any habit can be scaled down into a two-minute version:

“Read before bed each night” becomes “Read one page.”
“Do thirty minutes of yoga” becomes “Take out my yoga mat.”
“Study for class” becomes “Open my notes.”
“Fold the laundry” becomes “Fold one pair of socks.”
“Run three miles” becomes “Tie my running shoes.”

The idea is to make your habits as easy as possible to start. Anyone can meditate for one minute, read one page, or put one item of clothing away. And, as we have just discussed, this is a powerful strategy because once you’ve started doing the right thing, it is much easier to continue doing it. A new habit should not feel like a challenge. The actions that follow can be challenging, but the first two minutes should be easy. What you want is a “gateway habit” that naturally leads you down a more productive path.”

Back to me;

Once you have broken your habit down to a two-minute action, you can build from there. If you have mindfully done a “two-minute rule” you are a lot more likely to execute away from that point. And if you don’t, you still did the action for two minutes.

If you want a plan for the Gym I have two free offerings for you.

Offering 1: 10-minute Workouts:

I have an 8-week system, which I will send to you for free that is a series of 10min workouts. I originally wrote this for very busy mums who just didn’t have the time to workout at a Gym, and needed a no weights home system to just rack up the habit - it was really effective when I launched it.

It’s called The Beginners Bodyweight Workout Guide.

If you would like this free offering then please click here.

Offering 2: The Confident and Strong 4-Week Workout Manual

This is an In-Gym or At-Home solution for a month. Workouts are a little longer than 10 minutes, but to complete the program you just need 4 weeks. Every workout is written for you, and you can interchange the Gym solution or the Home solution depending on your circumstances. It is a complete workout manual that is designed to lower that barrier of entry and show you that movement can be effective in any situation.

Added to that after each workout it has a section where you are asked to give gratitude for the workout, and you can use that as your Journal as well.

If you would like The Confident and Strong Program 4-Week Workout Manual for free then click here

A Note on Neuro-Divergence

I didn’t know what this was until I got the question on TikTok from my sister from another mister.

But the term neurodivergent “refers to the concept that certain developmental disorders are normal variations in the brain. And people who have these features also have certain strengths.

Besides ADHD, neurodiversity commonly refers to people with:

Autism spectrum disorder
Dyslexia
Dyspraxia
Other learning disabilities” [10]

As I am not a specialist in any aspect of these developmental disorders I can’t comment medically on how best to balance these with fitness and movement.

But I can give you my best opinion on it.

The way I see this is that people who are Neurodivergent have a special natural advantage that they can exploit.

Think of your divergence as a superpower.

And feel free to forget the standards that you hear about fitness because they may very often be antithetical to your divergence.

The fitness industry is still very behind in terms of adapting and making the space a suitable place to exist for people with disabilities. Heck, we are still a long way behind in making it an open space for people who have higher weight bodies.

But we are getting better.

Therefore it comes as no surprise to me, the accessibility to information for those who are Neurodivergent isn’t exactly there.

For example, traits of someone with ADHD are:

being unable to sit still, especially in calm or quiet surroundings
constantly fidgeting
being unable to concentrate on tasks
excessive physical movement
excessive talking
being unable to wait their turn
acting without thinking
interrupting conversations
little or no sense of danger [11]

Some of these can be leaned into in terms of your movement. If your ADHD presents as constantly fidgeting, then maybe design a workout where you perform Tri-Sets (3 exercises back to back before rest periods) or perform larger circuits than normal to minimise rest periods.

If you find it hard to concentrate, then it might be wise to just aim to go to the Gym for 20 minutes more frequently, rather than try to be there for an hour and you exceed your capacity.

If your ADHD presents as little or no sense of danger, maybe consider going with a friend, and just ask them to keep an eye on you, as you don’t want to injure yourself, or get some sessions with a Personal Trainer so you can safely test your maximums and then know to work within those.

A common trait of people who are Dyslexic is that they can perceive visual information better than those without the condition. Therefore the Gym could be a marvellous place for them to explore their body through space and before each exercise as opposed to focusing on trying to track numbers and read books on working out, it might be a good idea to work towards making your lifts look better visually. Prepare yourself by looking at “optimal form” videos and show progress to yourself by working towards replicating that.

My point is that there are no set rules.

Fitness has guidelines, but the most important guideline is that you work in a manner that you find inspiring for yourself. The more you work against yourself, the harder fitness is full stop. So learn to manipulate fitness to your needs and how you need it to operate in your life.

Use your superpower to your advantage.

Rip up the rule book.

In the same we amend certain movement patterns to peoples ability so that they can get the most out of what they are doing, you also have the power to amend fitness to suit you.

Make your movement something that works for you, in your life, in your way.

That's all any of us ever do - and is the ultimate goal no matter who you are.

Did You Find This Useful?

Firstly I want to say a huge thank you for reading my article. If you are currently in a low mood or depression and are looking to use exercise as a way of helping you manage it, then I can tell you from my experience of working with people in this manner, physical movement is a phenomenal way of processing your emotions physically - in the same way Journalling is a great way of processing your emotions mentally.

I hope this has helped you feel like the bar can be lowered, so that you can see yourself being able to move and using it as a tool to manage your Mental Health in the future.

And of course, if you need to talk to anyone about your mental health then please see your Doctor or call one of the many many many fantastic charities in your country that can help you.

Across this website, I have other Articles all about managing your mental health through movement:

I would also love to invite you to grab some free fitness goodies from me, including a free month of coaching on The Strong and Confident Program

You also have a unique opportunity to grab some fitness goodies from me as a thank you for reading this article…to find out how…read more below:

Thank you so much for reading my article - I really hope you found it helpful.

You are also invited to get a bundle of Fat Loss Goodies from me including:

✅ Get yourself a free month of workouts (Home and Gym-based options)

✅ Get yourself a free copy of my e-book ”27 Ways To Faster Fast Loss”

✅ Get yourself a free customized Calorie Calculator

Straight to your Inbox

All you have to do is put your email address in below:

References:

SingleCare Team | Updated on Jan. 21, Team, S.C. & Team, S.C., 2021. Statistics about depression in the U.S. The Checkup. Available at: https://www.singlecare.com/blog/news/depression-statistics/ [Accessed November 21, 2021].
Kube T, Rief W, Glombiewski JA. On the Maintenance of Expectations in Major Depression - Investigating a Neglected Phenomenon. Front Psychol. 2017;8:9. Published 2017 Jan 18. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00009
OED Definition of “Work”
OED Definition of “Out”
Anon, Workout word origin. Etymologeek. Available at: https://etymologeek.com/eng/workout [Accessed November 22, 2021].
Anon, 16/10/2016 green is good for you. Available at: http://www.unature.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Green-is-good-for-you.pdf [Accessed November 12, 2021].
Krpan, K.M. et al., 2013. An everyday activity as a treatment for depression: The benefits of expressive writing for people diagnosed with major depressive disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165032713004448 [Accessed November 24, 2021].
Schroder, H.S., Moran, T.P. & Moser, J.S., 2017. The effect of expressive writing on the error‐related negativity among individuals with chronic worry. Wiley Online Library. Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/psyp.12990 [Accessed November 24, 2021].
Anon, 2020. How to stop procrastinating by using the "2-Minute Rule". James Clear. Available at: https://jamesclear.com/how-to-stop-procrastinating [Accessed November 24, 2021].
Wiginton, K., What is neurodiversity? WebMD. Available at: https://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/features/what-is-neurodiversity [Accessed November 24, 2021].
Anon, NHS choices. Available at: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-adhd/symptoms/ [Accessed November 24, 2021].

Adam Berry - The Gym Starter 20/11/21 Adam Berry - The Gym Starter 20/11/21

How To Love Exercise Again

One of the greatest DMs I ever got happened about 6 years ago when I was working in London as a Personal Trainer.

This wonderful human messaged me asking for details about my Personal Training…and I asked her why she wanted to work with me?

Her response was:

“All of your clients look like they are having fun”

Amy became a client for two years. Her partner and now fiancee…soon to be husband, and I can’t wait to see them get married...became a client for 3 years.

I miss Amy and Howard every day and when I got that message, it lit me up.

It got me in the feels.

Many many many of the friends I work with usually come to me because they believe that I have the key to helping them love exercise again.

They see my balanced approach, my forgiving tone, and my ability to program to their needs, and I think I make them feel safe and special.

As a Personal Trainer, my job is to make you feel two inches taller when you walk out of the gym than when you walked into it - sadly, just tracking your weight loss doesn't do that.

But rebuilding your relationship with exercise so that you can learn to love moving again is one of the most important things I can do for anyone who comes across me - and I want to help you improve your relationship with exercise.

And as you are here…I want to show you exactly how to do that here in this article. Show you precisley how to love exercise again.

But first, let's be friends. The fact you are here means so much to me. And if we become friends I’ll email you things. Sometimes they will be educational, sometimes they will be inappropriate, and sometimes I might just want to know how you are; either way…it would be delightful to connect with you.

Just send me a friend request by filling out the form below…

Oh, and I will also send you some free fitness goodies to help start our new friendship off on the best foot possible.

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR “HOW TO LOVE EXERCISE AGAIN”

Terminology Matters
Why are you exercising?
Releasing expectation: The All or Nothing Mindset
Ask Yourself How and What?
The Success Loop

Terminology Matters

I have to start here.

Not because I don’t think you need to learn how to talk.

But you probably do need to learn how to talk about exercise…

The words we chose, and the verbiage we work with each and every day is very very important. View the way you talk about movement in your life as micro messages for your relationship with it.

Words carry great meaning in our lives and if you are trying to rebuild a relationship - or even begin a relationship with movement then the words you use will frame the way in which you think about what it is you are doing.

And there are some key things you need to change here.

The fitness industry thrives from talking about extremes because extremes sell. They create a void between you and the outcome and therefore you will spend money on making that void smaller.

What the fitness industry sucks at in terms of its verbiage is balance - and the more you use words and terms that promote balance in your thoughts, the better your relationship with movement will become.

Say: “Movement” not Exercise

A paper called “Move Your DNA: The Difference Between Exercise and Movement” [1] which was published by the Journal of Evolution and Health in 2017 it outlines a very interesting concept between the two words of Movement and Exercise.

It states that: “Caspersen et al. (1985) define “physical activity” as “any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that result in energy expenditure” (i.e., calories utilized) and “exercise” as “physical activity that is planned, structured, repetitive, and purposive in the sense that improvement or maintenance of one or more components of physical fitness is an objective.”

The paper then goes on to define the movement as:

“Movement” is a term used abundantly in discussions about evolutionary health, yet has not been clearly defined—especially as compared to related terms like “exercise” and “physical activity.” However, the effects and benefits of movement are not limited to caloric expenditure and physical fitness; movement facilitates operations in almost every human system (e.g. immune, digestive, nervous)”

And it concludes with the proposed definition of movement as: “any motion that creates a change in the shape of a body or parts of a body”

Which is a phrase I like. A lot.

Previously I stated that words carry great meaning - and the word Exercise is wrapped up in feelings of struggle, punishment, diet culture, expelling calories, and Physical Education classes you muddled through and hated doing…

Whereas Movement.

Well, we all move. All of the time.

We all have to move all of the time, and therefore all movement matters.

When you look at your Workout Plans and understand that they are a very small concept of your overall movement for the day you fall into line with the Science.

And when you are trying to lose weight, being aligned with the science as opposed to being at odds with it will help give you perspective and allow you to rebuild that relationship with exercise.

When you workout you are merely burning 5% of the Calories you will burn overall for that day.

It’s a small piece of the pie.

But when you look at Movement in total it’s 90% of the calories you burn every day divided thus:

70% is your Basal Metabolic Rate - your metabolic baseline

15% is your daily movement outside of prescribed exercise - we call this NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis).

5% is your prescribed movement session or a “workout” (Activity Thermogenesis)

And when you can see your movement in this way, you see that all movement matters, all movement is important…and missing a workout really isn’t that big a deal.

In fact missing a workout should be seen as an opportunity missed to get stronger, not a moment where you failed and gained weight. When you see it as a missed opportunity to get stronger, you can easily recuperate that moment by doing one thing…giving yourself the opportunity again.

To learn more about your Metabolism please read my article that has helped hundreds of people understand the science of burning calories and help them improve their relationship with exercise

IS YOUR METABOLISM BROKEN?

Food is nourishing, not good or bad

We have grown up in a society where we divide foods into two groups.

Food that is good for you, and food that is bad for you.

However, neither is true.

Foods can be more nutrient-dense and less nutrient-dense. Foods can have higher calories or lower calories. Foods can make us feel more energised or less energised.

And that is it.

Of all my clients on the Strong and Confident Program I ask one thing of them when it comes to diet, and that is to use their guiding light as the word “nourishing”.

Because there are times in your life when a Pizza (especially when there is Pineapple on there) is going to nourish you, and there are times when a Pumpkin Salad will nourish you also.

Sometimes you need to nourish your cells with nutrient-dense foods. Sometimes you need to nourish your emotions with food that is like getting a warm hug.

Both are valid and neither take you away from your goals, so long as you are giving yourself absolute permission to enjoy the food you are eating and therefore can enjoy it without guilt attached.

A key metric in being able to do this is understanding how much weight the human actually gains from overeating.

A study [2] produced by the American Diabetes Association looked at just this. It took 29 men and made them eat at 40% above their Maintenance Calories for 8 weeks every single day. This varied between 1200kcal and 1500kcal ABOVE their maintenance calories. Every. Single. Day.

In two months of overeating in a controlled environment, they gained just 9lbs of body fat, or 0.16lbs of fat a day.

By having some food when you need to nourish your emotions, it isn’t going to make you gain a stone overnight. It’s not going to derail all of your progress. This doesn't mean don’t take actions that help you process your emotions and your stress levels, of course, I would always recommend that, but one very key aspect of managing those stress levels when you are working towards a goal in movement is to comprehend what really happens to your body when you indulge, as opposed to what you think is gong to happen.

Say: Stronger, not Slimmer

This will be the title of my next book.

And yes, if you’re a publisher reading this please drop me an email, because I REALLY WANT TO WRITE THAT BOOK (adam@thegymstarter.com)

You have been told your whole life that slimmer is better. Thinner is sexier. But it’s not true.

The truth here is that getting stronger is more accessible to everyone.

There is this phenomenon in life called “Set Point Theory”. The fact it is referred to as a theory has always cast doubt in my mind about its validity, however, the more I have looked into it, the more I understand where the “theory” comes from and the truth behind it.

In this study called: Is there evidence for a set point that regulates human body weight?

”Taken collectively, these data provide evidence for the idea that there is biological (active) control of body weight and also weight stability (and thus a set point at a healthy steady-state) in response to eating healthy chow diets. By contrast, this regulation is lost or camouflaged by Western diets, suggesting that the failure of biological control is due mainly to external factors”

The study proposes that there isn't so much a “set point” but a range described as a “settling point”: upon which adult bodies exist at.

Colloquially I have known this to be true as well. When I became a Personal Trainer I dreamed of the transformation pictures I was going to create for my clients where they looked like totally different humans, but what I have found to be true is that in those photos you see on Instagram, they nearly always are different humans, or at least the photos are incredibly heavily edited.

I learnt this lesson about two years in when it just dawned on me that for the majority of my clients, who could afford Personal Training, they had a very set environment - a stable job, a stable relationship, a stable home life, very regular habits, and they were for the most part very comfortable in their environment - which meant when it came to losing weight with them, we were discussing losing a few pounds, not a few stones.

And surprisingly the clients who were the most consistent, the most engaged and the most interested in their fitness journey’s were those who focussed on getting Stronger - not slimmer.

The study cited above concludes that your body does have biological settling points, but it is actually your environment that is masking over what these true setpoints are - and changing your environment is really hard to do - because as we grow older we build our responsibilities on our stability.

I would also argue that the word environment refers to both internal and external environments. The study cited above only look sta the physical environment. But your mental environment here is just as powerful and must be dealt with as much due care and attention. The way in which you view yourself, speak about yourself to yourself and others is as much a part of your environment as the physical world you live in.

This is why getting stronger is a much more accessible way to focus your movement compared to losing weight.

Stronger, not slimmer.

It’s also why I created the Strong & Confident Program, not the Slimmer Is Better Program.

Say: Energy, not Calories

Calories are a unit of measurement of energy in your food. However, Calories are often associated with over restriction and/or overeating.

They can be used as a method to count your food amounts and therefore control what it is you are eating. This isn’t true in all cases with all people, I personally am a proponent of being Calorie aware, but if you are someone who is trying to learn how to love exercise again, or even trying to learn how to love exercise period, then focussing on calories might not be useful for you.

Instead, look at your food with a wider angle lens.

Look at it as Energy - and when you are managing your nutrition throughout the day ask yourself what kind of Energy do I want from what it is I am eating.

Sometimes that energy will be of comfort. Sometimes that energy will be of absolute nourishment. Sometimes it will be that of community.

When you view your food as an energy source, as opposed to a calorie source, you will choose foods that relate far deeper to your needs of hunger and nourishment compared to if you just focussed on the calories and the macros involved with the food you are eating.

Say: Exploration, not Right/Wrong

I repeat this message daily to my clients on the Strong & Confident Program.

I have to repeat it daily because in some cases for 50+ years they have been told that what they are doing is wrong - and what they should be doing is right.

Undoing 30+ years of micro-messaging from diet companies, fitness magazines, lifestyle magazines and modern media is hard work.

But its work that I personally see as an honour to have to do.

If you are familiar with my work, and that of Kamala, you will know the phrase you are about to read. If you are new to my work, then this is the single most important thing I need you to understand when it comes to movement and nutrition.

Are you ready?

““There is no right or wrong, just exploration””

— Adam Berry, The Gym Starter

You can’t get a movement plan wrong. You can’t get your nutrition wrong. You can’t get anything on a fitness journey wrong.

A fitness journey means that it exists without judgement.

If you constantly think that what you are doing is right or wrong, then you are constantly living in a world with judgement. You aren’t on trial, you aren’t in front of a jury - and if you think you are…then you need to recover that relationship yourself.

Living through judgement is very stressful, both internal judgement and external judgement - and this work can be hard enough as it is, without that added stress being added.

Why are you exercising?

And if it is to “put the ab in fab” then you need to stop. RIGHT NOW.

I touched on this above but I wanted to go a little bit deeper into this particular theme.

I have trained many many people who wanted to lose weight - and the reasons for this are multi-faceted. It could be because they want to look good at a wedding, it could be because they feel uncomfortable in their skin, it could be because they think losing weight will improve their self-confidence.

I want you to take a moment and think about when you have engaged with movement before. What was the reason you did it for?

“Did you want to lose weight because of ‘X’?”

And if so…ask yourself why can X only happen in the context of weight loss.

Why do you need to lose weight in order to:

Look good at a wedding? Feel comfortable in your skin? or have self-confidence?

The truth is that you simply do not need to lose weight in order to achieve any of those things. You need to be able to give yourself permission outside of losing weight in order to explore those feelings.

There are two great ironies in terms of weight loss and exercise.

The first is as I outlined above in the sense that it is counterintuitive to your metabolism to engage with prescribed exercise for the sole reason to create weight loss.

The second is that dieting undermines your confidence. You are literally pulling the rug from under your feet every time you diet. You are making yourself constantly question your validity, question your choices and question your freedom around movement and exercise in the name of reducing your body size.

As opposed to giving yourself permission to enjoy what it is you are doing, what it is you are trying to achieve.

This is why changing the framing of why you are wanting to move is really important.

Changing it from “to lose weight because of X”

To:

“Get strong enough to fight a bear in the woods”

This will take away food guilt and frustration because suddenly foods that were off your imaginary fat loss table are now in play - because to get strong enough to fight a bear, my friend, you’re going to need the calories and you will feel the need to choose foods that nourish your goals, rather than withdraw you from them.

100% of my clients who only moved to reduce their body size have all struggled to be consistent with their movement schedules.

100% of my clients who move to get strong enough to fight a bear in the woods have a relationship with exercise that is based on discovery and investigation.

A relationship with exercise that excites them with the possibility and releases them from the guilt of diet culture.

Losing weight may well be a consequence of their actions, but when they have a framing of getting stronger they see their movement plans as opportunities of growth, opportunities of development and opportunities of discovery.

And if you miss an opportunity that’s ok.

But when you believe that your movement schedule is the key to losing weight, and you attach the all or nothing mindset to it, then you will attach far too much guilt to missing a movement session which will eventually lead to you giving up and feeling like a failure compared to having a more balanced perspective.

Move to get strong in your body, in your mind and in your soul.

That is a much more inspiring message to tell yourself than because you want to fit in a dress because society deems that more acceptable.

Releasing expectation: The all-or-nothing mindset

When you approach movement and nutrition with an all or nothing mindset you always end up with nothing.

Extremes lead to extremes.

You may well be able to give your movement a 100% attitude for a period of time, but when you have done that, and you can’t keep up with it, like the vast majority of people who are not professional athletes can’t, then when you grind to a halt because of stressors in your life like work, family and other things, you again end up feeling like a failure and giving up.

Some people can give movement their all for 6 months.

Some people can give movement their all for 6 weeks.

Some can do it for a week.

But they all end up stopping when they believe that the only way to success is by giving it all.

Those who incorporate a balanced approach to their movement success end up being more consistent over much longer periods of time and being able to adopt a balanced mindset is much easier said than done.

How to adopt a balanced mindset to movement and nutrition?

My best piece of advice for this is to adopt what I call a wide-angle lens.

Zoom out on your life.

Stop listening to diet culture that makes you think that you should be able to lose 10kgs in 12 weeks. Stop allowing yourself to feel like a failure when you have a Pizza with pineapple on it because you believe it has made you gain 3lbs of fat.

Stop calling yourself fat.

You have fat.

There is a difference between those two statements.

You must comprehend and understand and truly internalise what I outlined previously about the body’s settling points. Great change of your body requires a change in both your internal and external environments, and that is not something that is accessible to all people.

But getting stronger is.

You must realise that one movement session will not give you muscles like Arnie. That one can of Spinach will not make you look like Popeye.

And that missing one movement session will not undo all of your progress.

Or that eating one bag of chips will not make you gain 6lbs of body fat.

Nothing in life changes that quickly - and that is a good thing.

I would even argue you could miss a month from moving and the progress you “lose” is finite.

By comprehending this, you will find freedom in both your movement and your nutrition. You will be able to give yourself full freedom and permission to enjoy foods you want to eat, and you will be able to remove the guilt and stigma from your life that is associated with your actions.

You will be able to find peace from second-guessing everything that you do - because you can begin to realise that it just isn’t that big a deal.

I’m a personal trainer, I have a roster of clients that rely on me every day for my expertise in this field, and there are times that I don’t work out, there are times that I eat pizza three days in a row, and there are times I may have alcohol every night - erm 2021 and lockdown is calling.

The only reason I am able to do this is that when I look at myself over the years I know that I have been consistent with my movement and nutrition more than not.

And consistent means at a maximum 25 days out of 30 in a month.

Not 30 days out of 30 - that’s perfection.

You will always need to have respect for your work, your home life, other demands on your being like socialising and travelling - and by making sure you have a wide-angle lens on what it is you want to achieve you will always be able to make movement and nutrition fit in around these things. But when you have the all or nothing mindset…when bigger priorities like paying your mortgage kick in, you will feel like you are letting yourself down, when in fact you are just being a beautiful human being.

There will always be pressure from all angles of your life - and therefore the more we can work on releasing pressure from your movement, you will be able to build a much better relationship with it. Take Kevin for example, if we can take exercise out of his hot pot, he might not be so overwhelmed and might not drop everything on the floor….and that’s the goal.

To view the movement as something that stops your cup from overflowing - not adds to your overwhelm.

I found this when looking for GIFs about Balance.

And it brightened up my day - I hope it does yours too.

Ask Yourself How and What Questions

You have more than likely seen many a Personal Trainer talks about your “Why?”. Some dude in a room in a gym that knows nothing about you pretending to give a shit about why you want to “get fit” and that his methods of Heavy Barbell Back Squatting will magically answer all the problems associated with your marriage, relationship with children and take out the stress from work.

This dude who is 25 years old, lives with his parents and has no idea how hard you find moving and how nervous you were to ever step foot in the Gym because well let’s face it, he has the empathy of a Goldfish.

Finding out about clients’ “Why” is nothing other than a sales tactic, and unsurprisingly it sets you up for failure. It focuses you on all of your insecurities, and it focuses your mind on fixing those insecurities.

It turns your main focus into a results-based solution.

A “why?” question is what’s known as an extrinsic motivational question.

And the issue with extrinsic motivation is that it fades quite quickly. Especially when the lived experience is not what your expectation was at the start. When those results aren’t as forthcoming as quickly as you think they should be, or when your life takes over and you can’t show up as much as you hoped, you think everything is going wrong and that you will never be able to achieve what you hoped for.

You need to get down and dirty with intrinsic motivational questions.

This is why as your Coach I would ask you different questions. I would only ask you:

How are you going to achieve your objectives?

What are you going to do to achieve your objectives?

And your mind will be razor-focussed only on the next week or two.

This way you throw yourself into a process.

Carol Dweck in her book “Mindset” states:

“Becoming is better than being”

— Carol Dweck, Mindset

If you really want to learn how to love exercise again the greatest thing you can do is forget about the why - and enjoy the process.

Become who you want to become. Rather than try to live up to being who you want to be.

You have probably heard Personal Trainers all over the internet tell you to enjoy the process without you actually being told how that happens. I know I have experienced this.

I have been told it so many times, I almost feel guilty that I don’t enjoy the process because no one showed me how that part works - they just told me to enjoy it.

No one actually laid it out for you in a way you can actually comprehend. But I am going to do that for you…

To truly enjoy the process you must see your movement as an investigation.

And each time you do a movement session, you will give yourself one goal, one new thing to investigate. Lifting weights and building strength is a skill. Developing movements is a skill, and skill is developed in one way.

Through mindful repetition.

There is a very famous quote that states:

“Repetition is the mother of skill ”

— Tony Robbins

I would also like to add the word persistence to that quote.

“Persistence through repetition is the mother of skill”

— Adam Berry, The Gym Starter

Especially in relation to building strength.

It’s not just enough to repeat something, without being present with it, and in order to bring your mind with you to your workout, you need to investigate what it is you want to achieve.

When I was on Stage, one of the very best Directors I ever worked with every night at the half-hour call would come on the tannoy and announce:

“Your theme for tonight’s performance is X”

And he would insert a theme that he knew was a feature of the story, and he would want us to see how that thought would enhance our ability to tell the story for that evening’s audience.

The themes he came up with would be both technical and emotional:

Love
Money
Sex
Hatred
Poetry
Positioning
Listening
Friendships
Loss
Danger
Super Objectives

And the list goes on. Each night, we would allow this one word to resonate through our performance and see how that might change the rhythm and the presence of our performance.

Performing a Play for a total of one hundred performances is going to get monotonous and stale. There is a trap that many ensembles fall into where they just phone in the performance because they know it that well, and they can run it on auto-pilot.

Ever felt like that in the Gym? Of course, you have.

But your movement session should not be phoned in. You should try your hardest to not make it seem like you’re just there doing the work for the sake of the work - this can’t be avoided every time of course - but investigating a theme when you workout it can reduce the chances of this happening to you.

Investigation cues I use with clients are:

Develop the range of motion
Explore the floor
Root the Glutes
Stack your joints
Tempo
The feeling of strength
What muscle are you trying to activate?
Intensity of Exertion
How does one movement pattern inform another movement pattern?

Some of these are more complex than others, and some of them require more context than I can get into here on the Blog - they are always ongoing and deep discussions with my clients on how they can get the most out of their movement and develop the skill.

The Success Loop

In my article, “How Do You Get Motivated To Lose Weight and Exercise?” I outline the idea of the success loop.

The success loop is something I have designed to help people understand the science behind motivation and how they can make sure that motivation is the last thing they rely on in order to love exercise again.

Many people think that beginning fitness starts with Motivation.

They see their journey thus:

Get Motivated -> Take Action -> Get Results

However, Motivation actually works this way:

You take action first, then you get results and those results are what keep you motivated.

Or as I say it:

DO -> TRACK -> REPEAT

The Success Loop takes this one step further, and looks like this:

Here you can see I have added in a very important aspect of what continues to perpetuate your motivation to investigate movement - and it is education.

Because educating yourself can keep you inspired to carry on.

As you look to rebuild your relationship with exercise, I want you to think about how much are you learning on this journey. Heck, you wouldn’t have a hobby and not learn how to do it. Many many people think exercise is something you justhave to show up for, tick the box and away you go…

But when you start investigating what and how you are going execute your movement, you start to look at educating yourself in the process - and the more you learn, the more awesome your movement will become.

So read Blogs, follow people who focus on educating you, not showing off in front of you, question the choices your personal trainer makes with them and ask them insightful questions about how you move and why things are they way they are in your sessions.

Education leads to empowerment.

And an empowered human is a Strong and Confident human.

And Finally…

Before you consider everything in this Blog Post the heartbeat of how you move, what you move in what way and how to truly love exercise again is that you have to enjoy it.

At the very front of the success loop, at the very front of what you chose to do, before you even think about about what to do and how to do it you must ask yourself - what do I enjoy doing the most?

This whole article has been about how to change your outlook on movement.

To promote a more balanced view of fitness in your mind, because being imbalanced is probably the reason you feel out of love with movement in the first place.

Every human I have ever worked with, who had the sole desire to move in order to lose weight, has had an awful relationship with exercise, and we have had to do some really hard work to refocus them onto the thought of getting stronger and more confident.

Because there is nothing inspiring about reducing the size of your body.

You should love yourself more than having a mentality of diminishing yourself.

You should love yourself so much that you do things you enjoy - and learn how to enjoy them more.

Have fun. You deserve to have fun, just like Amy wanted to all those years ago.

And, in my most personal of opinons, that is a far more insipiring thought than going to the Gym to just burn some calories.

Did You Find This Useful?

Firstly I want to say a huge thank you for reading my article, and I hope it has given you some food for thought in relation to rebuilding your relationship with movement.

Across this website, I have other Articles all about managing your relationship with exercise:

I would also love to invite you to grab some free fitness goodies from me, including a free month of coaching on The Strong and Confident Program

how to lose weight when you hate exercise

You also have a unique opportunity to grab a Free Month of Coaching from me as a thank you for being here.

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Thank you so much for reading my article - I really hope you found it helpful.

References:

Anon, Move your DNA: Movement ecology and the ... - escholarship.org. Available at: https://escholarship.org/content/qt1k6948g0/qt1k6948g0.pdf?t=q3qtt8 [Accessed November 14, 2021].
Johannsen DL, Tchoukalova Y, Tam CS, et al. Effect of 8 weeks of overfeeding on ectopic fat deposition and insulin sensitivity: testing the "adipose tissue expandability" hypothesis. Diabetes Care. 2014;37(10):2789-2797. doi:10.2337/dc14-0761
Müller MJ, Bosy-Westphal A, Heymsfield SB. Is there evidence for a set point that regulates human body weight?. F1000 Med Rep. 2010;2:59. Published 2010 Aug 9. doi:10.3410/M2-59

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Why Should You Increase Your Steps?

READ MY BLOG THAT OUTLINES EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR METABOLISM:

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Emotional Eating is one tough subject, as is how to heal emotional eating.

Table of Contents for How To Heal Emotional Eating:

What Triggers/Causes Emotional Eating?

Strategies to Stop Emotional Eating

Space and Time

Strategy 1: Sit with uncomfortable emotions

Strategy 2: Have a structured diet

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Strategy 3: Sleep

Strategy 4: Stop trying to change the size of your body

How to improve your relationship with food

Releasing yourself from dichotomous thinking

2. You have to give yourself permission to eat anything

3. Mindful Eating…

In Conclusion…

What’s Next…

Thank you so much for reading my work, and good luck with building a stronger relationship with food.

I cannot wait to see how you go!

Coach Adam

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR: 5 Easy and Healthy Eating Habits For Weight Loss

The Importance Of Healthy Eating Habits?

Healthy and Unhealthy Eating Habits

What Are 5 Healthy Eating Habits? - Structured Eating

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What Are 5 Healthy Eating Habits? - No Black or White Thinking

What Are 5 Healthy Eating Habits? - Increase Protein and Vegetables

What Are 5 Healthy Eating Habits? - Healthy Snacks

What Are 5 Healthy Eating Habits? - Plenty of Water

5 Easy and Healthy Eating Habits For Weight Loss

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I hope you found this article useful and that my tips help you improve your eating habits.

It still feels very odd to me, being English, and talking about Winter in Australia over the months of June, July and August.

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