Operation weight loss – Healthista’s Olivia Hartland-Robbins joins Lift Studios Fulham to help her get back in shape. With 5 non-negotiable healthy rules to stick by, here is rule number 2 – move daily
‘Mark I’m miserable. None of my clothes fit me and I’ve lost all my confidence’ – these were my exact words as I sat there holding back the tears and asking for weight loss help.
I had gained 17kg’s in 3 years (that’s nearly 40 lbs)! Why? Lockdowns, family illness and job pressures, to name just a few reasons.
Feeling unhealthy, constantly exhausted and insecure meant it was time to make a healthy change. Most of us set goals in January, but the ‘new year, new me’ mentality can often pile on the pressure, so why not start now?
Thankfully Mark Stanton, co-founder of LIFT Studios in Fulham agreed to help me lose weight and gain my confidence back.
it was time to make a healthy change
Mark has almost two decades of personal training and sports performance coaching under his belt, and has completed an undergraduate degree in Sports Science followed by a Masters in Strength and Conditioning.
Mark knows everything there is to know surrounding the science related to training, without using any complicated or overwhelming explanations. Not only does Mark know how to train professional athletes, he is also a marvel when helping beginners get into great shape and build their confidence around the gym and in themselves – which is EXACTLY what I need right now.
Like a growing number of quality boutique gyms, LIFT Studios offers one-to-one personal training, providing a fully bespoke service to help you reach your goals, with no generic programmes in sight.
READ MORE: Serious about weight loss? 5 non-negotiable rules to live by – part one
Mark and his team at Lift use a lifestyle medicine based framework to help structure the support and guidance they give you.
Lifestyle medicine is an evidence-based approach to achieving optimal health through replacing unhealthy behaviours with positive ones.
Mark believes the nearer you can get to ‘optimal health’ the greater your results from training will be. Most importantly these results will be longer lasting and maintainable having developed heathy habits and a healthy body along the way.
The key pillars Lift stand by in achieving optimal health are:
- Physical activity
- Diet and nutrition
- Sleep
- Stress and substances
- Social connection
The approach helps to highlight the link between each pillar, showing us how if we struggle with one aspect, it can affect others and jeopardise your health or ability to achieve the best results.
With this in mind mark set 5 rules I have to try to stick to from here on out. Not only is this the starting point, but these rules should also serve as a daily lifestyle goal.
Check back in every day this week, where I will be revealing the five different rules daily…
Rule #2 Move daily
No matter what anyone tells you, there is no single best form of exercise to lose weight. While it is great to have a personal trainer push and guide me through a weight loss journey, Mark insists I have all the tools to achieve the desired weight loss without him.
Referring back to the above, if we are talking solely about weight loss, you can increase your calorie deficit doing any activity, be it, walking, taking the stairs, yoga, Pilates, HIIT training, swimming – you get the idea.
So in short Mark asked me to increase my daily energy expenditure through both training and daily NEAT.
Walking is one of the easiest (and cheapest) ways to lose weight and burn fat
Now you may have already heard of NEAT, ‘non-exercise activity thermogenesis’ – this is the energy expended for everything we do that is not sleeping, eating or sports-like exercise. It ranges from the calories you burn commuting, typing, cooking, fidgeting and walking around casually during the day.
Walking is one of the easiest (and cheapest) ways to lose weight and burn fat. Walking to work, walking home, a lunch time walk, a weekend dog walk, walking up escalators and stairs – never miss an opportunity to get those steps in.
Walking also makes you feel better mentally, clears the head and boosts those feel-good endorphins that provide you with energy even when you’re feeling tired.
READ MORE: 7 ways walking can boost creativity – proven by science
Therefore my goal was to take 10,000 steps daily as a minimum. I also needed to make sure I was taking the stairs wherever possible – I work on the fourth floor so this didn’t fill me with much joy.
One thing I will say though, an office job is not a great job to have when you are trying to be ‘as active as possible’, but we can only try our best right?
But why then is Mark an advocate for weight training or doing sessions with a personal trainer?
my goal was to take 10,000 steps daily as a minimum
Aside from strength gains and improved health markers associated with this, Mark explained that if all activity we do is burning calories, then we may as well do something useful with those calories burnt.
Weight training for example can stimulate your muscles and change your body shape all while burning calories, so if you have the opportunity to do that why wouldn’t you? It does however all come down to what you enjoy and what you are most likely to keep doing in the long term.
Check back in tomorrow for part 3 of the healthy non-negotiable rules to stick by for weight loss.
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