Unleash Your Inner Athlete: What Is HYROX & Why It Could Be Game‑Changing for You

At Team Transform, we champion strength, fitness, resilience—and a community that pushes you toward your best. HYROX is a global racing format that embodies all of this and more. Whether you're chasing performance goals, fat loss, or next‑level conditioning, a HYROX event offers a powerful challenge—and an opportunity to train with serious purpose.

🏁 Origins of HYROX: Where It Began

HYROX was launched by Olympian Moritz Fürste and entrepreneur Christian Toetzke in Germany, with the inaugural event held in 2018 in Hamburg (founded in 2017). The concept was developed to create a fitness competition that is accessible to a wide range of fitness levels, focusing on endurance and functional fitness. It’s name—a mashup of “hybrid” and “rockstar”—reflects the ethos: accessible yet elite-level, combining endurance and power in a standardised indoor race across cities worldwide.

Since then, HYROX has exploded globally. In 2025 in Sydney alone there were over 22000 people that competed.

🏃‍♀️ The Race Format: What to Expect

Every HYROX event follows the same standard format:

• 8 rounds of 1 km running, each alternating with 8 functional workout stations, including 1km Ski-Erg, 50m sled push, 50m pull, 80m burpee broad jumps, 1km rowing, 200m farmer carry, 100m sandbag lunges, and 100 wall balls.

This consistency allows you to benchmark performance globally—and your results carry meaning everywhere HYROX is held. Typical finish times range from around 60 minutes for fit amateur athletes to under an hour for elite competitors (top women: ~56–58 min; men: ~53–56 min)

You can enter solo (open or pro), doubles, mixed or same‑sex relay teams. There’s also a Pro Elite format and a global leaderboard connected to World Championship qualification.

💡 Why HYROX Aligns Perfectly with Team Transform’s Values

1. Balanced Strength & Conditioning

HYROX demands aerobic capacity, muscular endurance, functional strength, and mental grit. It mirrors our approach at Team Transform—structured strength training combined with aerobic and anaerobic conditioning for well-rounded fitness.

2. Goal-Oriented Motivation

Training for a measurable event (like HYROX) is powerful. You’ll aim for time splits, pacing, technique, and progression—much like how we track fitness and strength testing at Team Transform

3. Community & Competition

HYROX races are held in energetic, supportive environments—like being part of a global gym event. At Team Transform, we foster the same motivational vibe, mixing group workouts with individual milestones to help you push harder and support each other through the challenge.

🔧 How To Prep Effectively for a HYROX Race

• Work on pacing strategy: practice steady running between stations, and keep your transitions calm but efficient.

• Train movement patterns: sled pushes, wall balls, farmer’s carries—all integrated into your weekly strength/conditioning sessions.

• Simulate race segments in class: intersperse bursts of cardio and resistance in circuits or time-based challenges.

• Practice recovery under fatigue: learn to control your breathing and rhythm even when tired.

• Nutrition and rest: energy availability matters—plan your meals and recovery smartly (like you already do with our nutrition coaching).

✅ Top Benefits of HYROX for Our Community

Benefit Why It Matters

Goal Focused Progress Structured, measurable, motivates consistent training

Holistic Fitness Engages aerobic, strength and movement components

Community Spirit Races and training become shared achievements

All Levels Welcome Multiple divisions allow beginners and elite athletes alike to challenge themselves

Fun & Rewarding Crossing the finish line feels epic—and you get bragging rights worldwide

🏆 Ready to Take on the Challenge?

At Team Transform, we're excited to help members train specifically for HYROX—whether that’s simulating workout stations in class, dialing in running technique, or building race-day nutrition awareness.

If you're keen to set a goal, get race-ready, or simply test your fitness in a structured and fun way, get in touch about how to gear up for HYROX in your next training cycle.

HYROX isn’t just a race—it’s a journey. One that aligns perfectly with this team’s core values: strength, conditioning, accountability, and community.

Let’s take it on together and show the world what Team Transform athletes can do.

Can You Put a Price on Your Health and Fitness?

I want you to ask yourself, can you really put a price on your health and fitness? How do you value your health and fitness? Where does it fall on your list of priorities? Is it below family, friends, work, money, having fun even? Well consider all of those things without your health. How much fun can you have with family and friends if your lifestyle is slowly killing you? What good is working and having lots of money if you are unable to enjoy life?

This post is just about putting things into perspective.

Privilege, Not a Given Right.

So many people see exercise and eating healthy as a burden, an inconvenience, a real pain in the ass. Living healthy costs too much, takes up too much time or is just too hard. I’m sure those are the most common excuses. What people fail to grasp is having the ability to exercise and eat healthy is a privilege, not a given right. There are people all over the world dying of starvation who would give anything for the chance to have some fresh meat and vegetables, a nice wholesome nutritious meal. There are those that have disabilities and illnesses which leave them unable to even move, let alone run and do a few squats. People take so many everyday things for granted and it’s simply unbelievable.

Take a second and imagine the possibility of losing the ability to use your arms and legs. Imagine not being able to have full control of your body and be able to do whatever you want at any time. It is one of my single biggest fears in life and it’s incomprehensible to me, the struggles people with those disabilities would have to face day to day. Yet everyday someone with full ability to move chooses to do as little as possible, simply because it’s the easiest option.

Now take a second and really imagine you can’t afford food. I don’t mean ‘healthy food’; I mean any kind of food. You are homeless and broke and potentially have to eat anything you can find which could even be out of the rubbish. It’s not a nice thought is it? Yet even though you CAN afford it, you don’t see the value and benefits of it, and would rather put all kinds of junk in your body that is doing more harm than good. I’d say more than half the population eat for an emotional response as opposed to a health benefit. It might satisfy your taste buds for a minute or two but that’s it. It may bring a feeling of joy and euphoria temporarily, but then what? All the other effects are negative. What if you were forced to eat out of necessity and not pleasure? Survival and not gluttony? Do you think your opinion on food might change then? I love the expression “you eat to live, not live to eat”.

One thing to keep in mind at all times; Whenever you say “I can’t afford it”, “I don’t have the time” or “it’s too hard”; somewhere somebody has less money, less time, less physical ability and somehow has less excuses and is living a healthy active life.

Cost + Effort vs. Reward.

As a trainer you hear many different reasons why someone ‘can’t’ partake in your program, and cost is often a reason. In many cases those same people that say they “can’t afford your program” are the same people who spend ‘x’ amount on cigarettes and alcohol and junk food, which is all contributing to their problem, and wanting to do your program in the first place.  So it isn’t really so much the cost, but they either don’t see it as a priority, or they don’t see the value in it. Then there are those who say “eating healthy is too expensive”, yet they buy take-away food 3x a day every day. It’s amazing how much potential money you can save by purchasing food for the whole week and making it yourself, as opposed to buying food out all the time because it’s convenient.

When thinking about getting healthier and fitter, I imagine the average person would focus on how much it ‘costs’ and how much ‘effort‘ it’s going to be, completely disregarding the more important factor, which is what will the ‘reward’ be for my hard work and money. I hear so often about people paying for gym memberships that they don’t even use and it baffles me. Why would you give your money to someone else and getting nothing for it? Gyms aren’t charities. You opted for the cheapest gym available and you don’t think about the ‘cost’ because, in your opinion, it is affordable, even though you are getting nothing out of it. Then you have people who do go, but put little to no effort in, but still somehow expect a reward for the little bit of work they are putting in.

What if for a second, you thought about the benefits ahead of how much it cost or how hard it would be? If all you had to do was spend an extra $30 a week and exercise at an adequate intensity 3-4x a week to achieve optimum health, would that not be worth the cost in the end? If you had to spend 3-6 hours out of your 168 week exercising, shopping and preparing nutritious meals; to prevent yourself from things such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes; all while increasing your energy and making you feel stronger and fitter; would that not be worth your time and effort?

For the majority, I believe those who don’t think about the reward and only worry about the cost, are the ones that haven’t set any goals and aren’t ready to make changes to their lives. If you are ready then you aren’t concerned with the cost or the effort required. You will do whatever it takes to achieve your goals and overcome obstacles along the way.

Make a list of all the pros and cons of beginning your health and fitness journey. Does the reward outweigh the effort and cost? How good will you feel once you achieve your goals? If something isn’t important enough to you, then you won’t do it, simple as that. Find your WHY.

Expectations and the ‘Right’ Questions to Ask.

I don’t think a trainer gets asked a question more frequently than “How much is it”? People will ask that first off even if they have no idea of what you do and the service you provide. This is because more often than not, people don’t know the right questions to ask. They don’t know what to expect. If you have never had a trainer or participated in group activity then you have no idea what it should cost and what you are getting for your money. So immediately you are basing your decision on cost alone, and looking for the cheapest option doesn’t guarantee that everywhere is the same and you will get anything out of it.

What you should expect from trainers is the best service possible. Before asking price, you should want to know what services they provide, what qualifications they have and what benefits will you receive. In a nutshell, what are you paying for?

How many everyday people are paying for gym memberships etc. and not even using them? You might opt for the cheapest gym membership you can find, so losing $7-$15 a week out of your account seems like nothing, but what are you getting out of it? What are you getting in return for your money? More often than not I think things are generally more expensive for a reason, especially when it comes to any kind of service industry. Do you get any kind of support? Are you being kept accountable? Does anyone help motivate and inspire you? Are you being provided with information to educate you and help achieve your goals? These are all important questions to ask yourself and are also relevant if you are looking for a personal trainer or group fitness business.

For anyone who has a gym membership and all they do is go there to walk on a treadmill, I say you are a fool and wasting your money. No offense, but you could easily do that for free anywhere, just walk outside. If you want to be shown how to do exercises properly and be given a program that is relevant to your goals and is fun, challenging and engaging, then you can expect to pay more money. You can also expect that the trainer has your best interests at heart and genuinely wants to help you succeed.

In Conclusion

In the end I believe your health and fitness is ‘priceless’, and you should be doing whatever is needed to get healthy and stay healthy. If you are reading this, chances are you are already a member of Team Transform, you have been a member, or you have at least enquired with us in the past. Regardless, I hope that you take several things mentioned into consideration in future. Even if you don’t hire a trainer or join a group fitness business or even a gym, you can always exercise on your own anywhere using your own body weight or things around. You can always quit smoking, drink less alcohol, buy less junk food and spend the money you are now saving on wholesome foods instead. “Where there is a will, there is a way”. Don’t abuse your body; someone out there would give anything to be in your situation. Eating healthy doesn’t have to suck and exercising doesn’t have to be the worst thing in the world. Find a way to make the most out of both and enjoy being a healthier, positive, fit, more energetic you!

Is ‘Motivation’ the Real Reason for Your Lack of Progress?

Something I hear often – as I’m sure a lot of trainers do in the industry – is “I have no motivation”, or “I’ve lost my motivation”. I don’t think many things bother me more to hear than this statement, and I actually feel most people don’t even know what they actually mean when they say it. So what exactly does motivation mean to you? If you were asked to define motivation, what would you say?

Motivation can be defined as “Internal and External factors that stimulate desire and energy in people to be continually interested and committed to do a job, role or subject, or to make an effort to attain a goal”. The most basic definition I’ve found is “a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way”.

Now this is purely just my personal opinion, and people can agree or disagree, but I feel “I’m not motivated” is just a big cop-out. Along with “I can’t afford it”, it’s the most commonly used reason I tend to hear why people either don’t achieve results or they just simply stop training, and that comes down to priorities.

When I hear “I’m not motivated”, a few other things run through my head instantly. “I’m lazy”; “I’m not bothered”; “I don’t know what I want”; “I haven’t set any goals”; “The goal I set myself isn’t actually that important to me” or “I’ve hit a plateau and don’t know how to move forward”. This is what I believe people ACTUALLY mean when they say they aren’t motivated. 

The two main sort of ‘statements’ I have come to base my coaching around is “If you quit now, how much closer will that get you to your goal?”, and “If you haven’t achieved your goal, how can you possibly not be motivated, when you aren’t where you want to be?”.

That’s the biggest thing I don’t understand, and that’s why I think people don’t know what they actually mean when they use the word motivation. If your goal was to lose 10kg in 3 months and you’ve only lost 2, how can you possibly have no motivation? Your motivation should be to lose those extra 8kg right? I feel like motivation is the excuse we give ourselves for not achieving anything or not taking action, and I think people mistake “motivation” for fear of failure or self-doubt. More than likely if you find yourself in a position where you are unmotivated, it’s because you don’t have any inspiration or a positive circle of influence; also more than likely you haven’t sat done and thought hard about what exactly it is that you want and you don’t have any clarity around your goals. You lack the WHY that drives us forward.

There is a quote that you’ll see in a lot of fitness memes which goes along the lines of “If it’s important to you, you’ll find a way, if not you’ll find an excuse”. It’s such a simple but true statement and I’m sure everyone can recall a time in their lives where they have come up with an excuse not to do something coz it just wasn’t that important to them (like a lot of kids and homework haha). 

The next time you are feeling ‘un-motivated’ I want you to stop and take a second and think the following; 

A) Have I set myself a goal(s)? If so, what is it specifically? How long have you given yourself to achieve it? Is it measureable? Is it realistic? Why is it important to you? If it’s not important to you then you need to find a new goal. 

B) I have a goal but I’m not achieving results – first refer back to A).

Then ask yourself are you doing everything you can to achieve your goal?

Are you managing your time well enough?

Could you put more effort in?

Could you be better prepared?

Do you have the information/knowledge required and if not what are you doing about it?

Don’t be afraid to ask questions and research. If you have given something a long enough try and it’s not working for you, mix it up. There is no one size fits all. Find what is going to ultimately work for you. 

C) Do I have a positive circle of influence and support network? Are your friend group / family supportive of your goals? Do they push you up or do they pull you down? Are they the type of people that you can count on when times are tough, or do they just mock and criticise and hold you back? It’s extremely hard to achieve anything if you have no self-belief and then no one there to help give you that self-belief. Find and surround yourself with the type of people you want to be and

GOOD HEALTH IS 365 – 52 – 12

When you hear/read about, or speak to successful people in any facet of life, how often do you hear that they only worked at their success a few days a week, or just on the weekdays? If I was to guess I would have to say in my opinion not very often. This is because success doesn’t just come from working at something a few days a week, or a few months a year, it comes from a combination of these 6 key things;

1. A Positive Mind Set

2. Goal Setting

3. Obtaining Knowledge

4. Applying Knowledge

5. Developing Positive Daily Habits

6. Hard Work and Consistency.

To be ‘successful’ at Good Health you need to apply these same things, and that is where I feel a lot of people get it completely wrong. Good health requires a holistic approach all year round, it’s not  seasonal; you don’t just put more focus on your health because summer is coming up. It isn’t social; you don’t exercise and eat well only when you have someone else to do it with you. It isn’t emotional either; you don’t focus on health just because you are feeling good, bad, happy or sad.

Good health requires an investment and commitment from yourself, and it deserves to be a top priority in your life, which is often not the case. I find a lot of people join gyms, start exercise programs and go on diets for the wrong reasons, and in the end, more often than not they fail. But why do people fail? Let’s look at a few different contributing factors shall we?

The ‘health and fitness’ industry has become saturated with countless amounts of diets, supplements and different types of exercise equipment. As the weight of the average Australian goes up higher and higher, someone else is trying to earn a quick buck or two off of your insecurities, as well as a lack of knowledge/understanding about good health.

All the information you need to be healthy is on the internet and in books for you to read. There has never been more easily accessible ways to find out how to get ‘in shape’ then there are today. So if having the information was the answer then why is the average Australian getting fatter?

There are gyms popping up in every suburb, with some even having 2-4 different gyms right near each other! If more gyms were the answer then why are we getting bigger?

I see a new piece of ‘home exercise equipment’ being advertised on some morning show every other week, with the general selling point usually being along the lines of “Do this for just 15mins a day and watch that body fat just disappear!’, but there is always the fine print which states you of course have to eat healthy to achieve results (No way!?). I’d be willing to bet the shredded models they have using this magical piece of equipment never touch it in their own personal workout out plans, because it is for the most part, not very effective. Yet, with every Danoz Direct purchase that gets used three times and ends up under the bed or in the garage collecting dust, the average Australians waist line increases.

‘Fat Burning Supplements’ and ‘Weight Loss Diets’ are probably the biggest problem because they are everywhere, they are easily accessible, they have great marketing, they say everything you want to hear and they give the impression that you will achieve amazing results in a short amount of time. Part of why they are a big problem is because in some cases they DO work, but as soon as you stop taking the fat burner or get off the diet, you put the weight back on. So there are all these diets and products for sale and this still isn’t the answer!?

Despite all the information being available, gyms everywhere, equipment you can buy and use at home, amazing diets and unbelievable supplements, millions of Australians are still struggling to achieve good health; and so many die from lifestyle diseases every year. It could be avoided however, if average Joe started prioritising their health, and accepted that change needs to happen as a whole.

You need to be more positive:

change the way you view situations and the way you view yourself. Negative thoughts and a negative attitude produce negative results.

You need to set goals: 

Find your “WHY”. If you don’t have a powerful enough reason to want to achieve results then you won’t think the effort is worth it. Discover what you really want, make sure it’s measureable and give yourself a timeframe. “I want to get fit”, “I want to lose weight”, “I want to tone up” are the 3 most common ‘goals’ I hear and they literally mean nothing to me. I don’t’ think most people know what they want and it’s because no one has asked them, or they’ve never really give it that much thought. You also need to ensure your actions are in line with your goals.

You need to obtain knowledge: 

Get online or get some books and do some research. Try and stick to accredited sources but and avoid companies just trying to sell you a product. Ask a trusted health or fitness professional questions. If you don’t ask you’ll never know!

You need to apply the knowledge you have learned: 

Knowledge is useless if you do nothing with it. What good is knowing all the right foods to eat if you continually eat junk? What’s the point of knowing the best work out routines to do if you don’t exercise, or don’t put in the effort when you do? Take action and don’t procrastinate!

You need to develop positive daily habits: 

Making time to exercise (or at least be active) every day and actually getting it done. Being prepared and plan meals ahead so you don’t eat based on how you are feeling. Making sure you drink enough water and get enough sleep. Ensure you have a balance between work, health and family/friends. Whatever it is, make sure it is contributing to your goal, and at the same time work on removing the bad habits that are holding you back, or negating your hard work in other areas.

You need work your ass off, and be consistent with your efforts: 

There is no substitute for hard work. It’s those days where you feel like giving up and quitting where the hard work really pays off. When you consistently work hard you develop the ability to grind out those shitty days and ignore the little voices in your head that tell you to give up. You can get all the other areas right but if you only put in 50% of your efforts then your results are going to be reflected as such. You have to be consistent with those efforts as well. There is no good killing it Monday-Friday training hard and eating well, then the weekend comes around and you do nothing but binge on junk and over-eat wherever possible. A big part of consistency is having a routine, and implementing your weekly habits into the weekend. Fat doesn’t know what day it is, and it’s not taking any days off!

In closing, I believe good health requires a 365 day, 52 week, 12 month a year mentality and It’s called a ‘Healthy Lifestyle’. Now does this mean you have to exercise every single day of the year? No. Does this mean you have to be 100% compliant to perfect nutrition every meal of every day? No. What does it mean then? It means work on being positive every day. Make health a priority and make good – if not better – choices wherever possible. Be active at any given opportunity, your body is designed to move! Get out and walk, swim, dance. Learn as much as you can, you can never have too much knowledge or too many skill-sets. Always have something to aim for and never settle for anything less than being the best version of you that you can be. You’ll never know what you are truly capable of unless you try. Surround yourself with positive like-minded people, that want to help you succeed, not bring you down with them when they don’t.

Healthy lifestyles are for everyone. You don’t have to be rich and live in the northern beaches to prioritise your health. If you want to feel good, look good, be confident, have loads of energy and be productive, then stop looking for the quick fix or the short-term solution. Start making a change today, make good health a lifestyle and never look back, you and your body deserve it!

The 5 Stages of Change

IN THIS POST I WILL TALK ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF POSITIVE CHANGE, CHANGES THAT I HAVE EXPERIENCED AND UNDERGONE PERSONALLY, AND THE 5 STAGES OF CHANGE.

Firstly though, what do I mean when I talk about change? In relation to health and fitness I’m talking about changing habits, thinking differently and overcoming obstacles and barriers that hold you back. It’s about making the necessary changes to become a healthier, stronger, fitter and more positive person, full of confidence. All of these things can be achieved and improved upon through changing your mind set. Prioritising your own personal health and fitness, and viewing yourself how you’d like others to see you.

For me personally, I would definitely have to say the biggest change come about after finishing my personal training course, and then getting into the industry. In my teens I was extremely negative and had low self-esteem. From 19 onwards, after I began training in the gym, I gained some confidence and created some better habits. The process of my change definitely started there, but I still had a long way to go. I still ate poorly, spent loads on supplements that did nothing, and going out drinking every weekend wouldn’t have helped either. I got comfortable in jobs that I had no real future in and that definitely didn’t help my outlook on life. It wasn’t until finally, at 25, I decided what I wanted to do with my life and completed my Cert III and IV in Fitness. Knowledge is a powerful tool, and the more I learnt and applied into my own life the better everything became. Changing my eating habits not only made me feel better, it made my training more efficient. Knowing correct training methods, in addition to eating better, produced better results. With greater results I gained more confidence and self-esteem – and knowing that I needed to be motivating and inspiring to others so they could achieve results – this made me want to keep improving further.  

Change didn’t happen over-night, it took years. I had to learn what the right and wrong things to do were. Then I had to implement them into my life, making small gradual changes and developing positive habits. Knowledge is great, but if you don’t take action then it’s useless knowledge. Taking action is great, but without the right knowledge then you might be wasting your time with pointless actions. I’m not talking about being intelligent, but knowing the correct steps to take in order to achieve your goals, and then doing them consistently.  

Ultimately you have to be mentally prepared for change. Just wanting to look good or “lose weight” (as is the most common goal I hear) isn’t enough majority of the time. People that want to start training but don’t want to change their eating habits or don’t want to quit smoking typically don’t achieve results. The same can be said for people that want to go on ridiculous diets because some celebrity told them they’d lose weight, but they don’t want to put any hard work into exercising or at least be more active. Change needs to be gradual, consistent and above all, needs to be holistic. If you want a bangin’ body but don’t want to change all the negative things that are impeding you, then the simple fact of the matter is you won’t get it. Identifying and overcoming barriers is an important part of change. Why are you; Missing training sessions? Missing meals? Eating too much? Snacking on junk throughout the day? Not drinking enough water? Not getting enough sleep? All these things are going to negatively impact your results, so you need to think about why you are doing/not doing these things and find a solution. If you want to change your health/fitness/body composition then it has to be made a priority in your life. I’ve found a very common obstacle for mums is that they put everything and everyone else before themselves. Sometimes you have to be a little bit selfish because without your health, what good are you to your children, and what kind of example are you setting? Time is probably the most common obstacle for people, other than their love of sweets, so planning and organizing needs to happen. Maybe you have to wake up earlier, maybe you have to meal prep, whatever it is if you can’t break through your barrier, then you have to find a way around it.

HERE ARE SOME THINGS TO CONSIDER:

– Identify powerful enough reasons to change behaviour. You have to find your ‘WHY’. Dig deep and find something within that triggers an emotional response. An extreme example would be someone being told by their doctor that if they don’t change their lifestyle they are going to die. If that isn’t a powerful enough reason to change then I doubt anything is, but you see what I’m getting at. Wanting to lose weight isn’t enough, you have to dig deeper than that, and then you will really be ready to start changing.

– Believe in yourself and be passionate about your goal. If you don’t believe in yourself then how do you expect others to? Having a positive circle of influence is important, people to push you and motivate you. However it’s not enough if you truly don’t believe within yourself that you can achieve your goals. A simple trick to begin changing your mind set to positive is start sentences with “I Can”, or “I Will” as opposed to “I’ll Try”, or “Maybe”. If you do this regularly enough you will slowly change your mind set and will make fewer excuses for things. Be confident that with a good support network, the right knowledge, and the necessary actions, you can and will achieve your goals.

– Believe the new behaviour is important and worthwhile, and that the pros of changing far outweigh the cons. Understand that the many rewards and benefits of exercise and good nutrition will greatly exceed the effort required. Changing your lifestyle is by no means easy, especially the older you are and longer you have adopted bad habits. Knowing that you will look and feel great, potentially better then you ever have, definitely makes it all worth it in the end. Yes you will have to work hard and make sacrifices, but as a result you’ll have more energy, have a better outlook on life and be proud of the body you have earned in the end.

– Know that changing your lifestyle is important, beneficial and achievable. Not only will you more than likely prolong your life and get sick less often, you will be setting an example for your loved ones. The positive changes you make may very well have an impact on someone else – in particular your children – and with child obesity on the rise, a positive role model is extremely important. With majority of my business being based on referrals, it’s evident that the changes you make and the results you achieve will have positive effects on those around you. If someone they know has made changes and seen results, then it makes it seem all the more achievable for themselves.

– Reminder of old behaviour. As much as people may hate photo’s at the time, looking back and seeing yourself 5/10/20kg heavier justifies the changes you made and the need not to go backwards. Trying on clothes you wore regularly that are now way too big is another reminder of how far you’ve come. Fitness testing is for that same purpose. You might not necessarily care if you can run faster or do more push ups, but looking at where you started and knowing what you can do now is extremely satisfying and should help keep you motivated to further progress.

To wrap this up, below are the 5 stages of change. Reading through this, I’m sure many of you can relate and might have gone through these stages several times in different parts of your life; I know I have! Have a think about what stage you think you might be at in regards to your health and fitness, and what you need to do in order to move on to the next stage. Alternatively, consider why you might be stuck at a certain stage and what obstacles need to be overcome.

Stages of change:

1.      Pre- contemplation

– Not thinking about change

– May be resigned to their fate

– May feel immune to any dangers

– In denial and does not believe it applies to them

– Tried before and now simply gives up.

2.      Contemplation

– Weighing up benefits and costs of proposed change

– Assess barriers to change (time, expense, hassle, fear)

– Undecided especially when giving up a behaviour they enjoy

– Can feel a sense of loss despite perceived gain

– Inquiring about who can help them change.

3.      Preparation

– Prepares to make a specific change which involves finding time, having the right gear and resources.

– May experiment with small changes as their determination increases

– Taking a definitive action to change; actually doing it.

– Praise essential at this stage.

– Persistence at the new behaviour is necessary to move onto the next stage.

4.      Maintenance

– Maintaining new behaviour over time

– Usually 6 months is considered a reasonable time for new habits to develop

– Not unusual for recycling through the stages several times before the behaviour truly becomes established.

5.      Relapse

– Emphasise that this is a normal part of the process of change as any perceived discouragement may result in giving up all together.

– May feel demoralized, disappointed, angry with self or embarrassed.

– Can try to avoid others associated with new behaviour.

– Important to discuss strategies to prevent relapse.

The Slight Edge

I recently listened to the audio version of the book “The Slight Edge” written by Jeff Olsen.  In the book he talks about why so many people are unsuccessful in life, and how successful people get to where they are, and it’s no gimmick, it’s not a “get rich quick” book, he basically just tells it how it is!

When you think about the world today, there is more information about things then there has ever been. There is greater access to information with greater technology to get that information to people then there has ever been; it’s so easy to access information! However, if information and technology was the answer, well there would be no problems would there? If it was as simple as just looking up the answer to the question you have online, then most of life’s problems would be taken care of, because you can pretty much guarantee there WILL be the information you are looking for online.

Obesity and other lifestyle diseases are becoming more and more prevalent in today’s society, especially in this country. Google has pretty much any answer you can possibly have about health, weight loss, exercise etc. New trainers and gyms are popping up everywhere all the time. There are more and more resources available to people to help with weight loss and yet as a country we are still getting bigger, why? Jeff suggests that having information and technology simply isn’t enough, if you don’t know how to process that information and use it to get results. He says you have to change people’s environment and association.

The book doesn’t just simply talk about being successful in terms of health and fitness, but obviously that resonates with me the most in my profession. In my time as a trainer (not that I wasn’t already aware), I’ve noticed one really common theme, which is people want the “quick fix” to problems, they want to get things done or get results in the shortest time possible, with the least amount of effort. This results’ in people taking weight loss pills and trying FAD diets that just aren’t sustainable, then after losing lots of weight, just to put it all back on again, wonder where they went wrong.

The major point in the book that Jeff mentions repeatedly throughout is “You have to do the easy little things consistently over a long enough period of time to make it work for you”.  Notice that word EASY? He didn’t mention you have to do really difficult things for the remainder of your life, you just have to do the easy things consistently and for long enough to see results. In the book he mentions a quote which says “everything you need to become successful is easy to do, but it is also easy NOT to do”. If it’s easy to become successful why aren’t more people successful? Because it’s easy not to be successful. I can’t believe how simple but true that really is. Most things that are easy enough to do, like eat well and be active, are just as easy not to do.

People make the mistake in not doing the simple little thing at that moment in time because it seems insignificant. Like eating that ice-cream after dinner, it’s only one night right it won’t hurt? You aren’t going to wake up fatter tomorrow because of that one ice-cream right? Switch it around, instead of the ice-cream you eat a nice piece of fruit, you aren’t going to become healthier then and there after one piece of fruit are you? But that one wrong decision you make in that moment is going to be the reason you put on weight, because it’s going to compound with other small errors in judgement over time. Now I’m not saying people can’t enjoy the foods they love every now and then and in moderation, but for a lot of people, they are making the one tiny little wrong decision over and over again.

Every single decision you make DOES matter. Making the decision to put your seat belt on is a small decision no-one really thinks about, most of us just do it, yet it saves thousands of lives every day. Most of society I would imagine shower and brush their teeth daily, it’s part of a routine, you don’t think about it you just do it. People wear make-up and nice clothes to make their appearance better, people go to the doctor’s when they are sick and take whatever medication is prescribed. These are all little decisions made daily that wouldn’t even really be given much thought because they are benefitting people in some way. So why doesn’t the majority of public just as easily think about what they are putting in their mouths, and what they are doing, or not doing, to be active?

It matters what you eat, it matters if you exercise or not. How can you be successful without your health? If you can’t enjoy life feeling good, looking good, and being able to do anything you want at any time then how can you truly be successful?

This next part Jeff talks about I really felt I could relate to personally and I will share my experience after I explain.

Jeff say’s basically the key to any success is this formula: Positive philosophies create a positive attitude. Having a positive attitude results in positive actions. Finally, doing positive actions ends with positive results. Philosophies are your way of thinking, your values and beliefs combined with knowledge. Having good knowledge and good values will create a positive attitude. Wrong information turns into a bad attitude which results in bad actions and poor results. When you start anything you are at your lowest point of knowledge and your highest point of anxiety. As you knowledge goes up anxiety goes down. The more you know what you are doing the more confident you will be.

The Slight Edge breaks knowledge up into a 4 part process. 1. Learn Knowledge: This is simply as the name suggests, you read books, you study and you learn. It is the theory part of your knowledge, this is school and university. 2. Activity Knowledge: “Do the thing and you will have the power”. Learning how to do the activity. People skip activity knowledge due to fear of failure. You can’t just study and learn knowledge and never put it into practice, and you can’t just keep doing an activity without learning how to do it properly. You have to first learn how to do the activity then do it. The first two go hand-in-hand. 3. Modelling Knowledge: You have to seek out successful positive people. Base your positive actions on what you obtain from them. Successful people are successful for a reason; find out what they have done. “You are the combined product of the 5 people you associate the most with”. Having a positive or negative circle of influence can greatly affect you as a person. It’s difficult to be positive and achieve things if people don’t support you.  4. Teach Knowledge: People go from learn knowledge straight to teach knowledge, people don’t want to do the activity themselves. How can you possibly expect people to listen to you and learn from you if you have no experiences, if you haven’t taken actions and experienced activity knowledge? Teach Knowledge is being a leader, inspiring people, getting people to do something they wouldn’t have done if you hadn’t been there.

Now I feel like I went through that exact process of knowledge when I became a personal trainer. I learned knowledge from my AIF course. Now had I of gone straight from the course into the industry trying to train people I think I would have been a terrible trainer and failed miserably. What I did was the mentor program at Vision, learning how to become a good trainer, all the while experiencing what it was like on the other end, getting trained personally by the manager. So I obtained activity knowledge from both the trainer and client perspective. With modelling knowledge I have met and spoken with some pretty successful people and taken bits and pieces from them, and I also myself have had business coaches who worked with me to improve my business and just life as a whole really. Finally obviously teach knowledge I experience every day as a trainer, trying to motivate people in sessions, correcting technique, teaching new exercises, informing clients on better food choices etc. I’d like to think that there are definitely members of my Team Transform that can say they have made positive changes in their lives and achieved some great results in health and fitness thanks to my guidance and support.

Adding on to daily disciplines, making good decisions, having good philosophies and obtaining good knowledge, Jeff says that people who end up successful take responsibility for their actions. When you blame others you give up control. Unsuccessful people blame everyone else for their mistakes. Successful people do what unsuccessful people aren’t willing to do.  Everyone has 24 hours in a day. Obviously some people might be busier than others but how do some extremely busy people still manage to get in exercise and healthy eating?  Making smarter decisions, time management, being consistent, and being prepared, these are all things that aid in being successful. Saying “I don’t have the time” isn’t going to create time. Wake up 30mins earlier. Prepare meals on 1-2 days of the week so the rest of the week you don’t have to worry about it.  People think the answer to being consistent is “will power”. TIME is the answer.  Time will either promote you or expose you. When you enter a darkened room you reach for the light switch. Why? Because you know what will happen, you don’t think about it, you just do it. If you KNOW that in TIME results will happen if you are consistent over time, then results will come. Someone who walks 30mins in a day, it’s easy to do; it’s also easy not to do. Over time, that walk compounded will make you healthier; not walking every day will make you unhealthier. Blaming the kids, job, weather, time for not going for a walk isn’t going to bring success. Take responsibility for WHY you aren’t doing the things you need to achieve results, and then make the necessary change.

Finally, people want fast results. If people don’t see immediate results then more often than not they quit, “it doesn’t work what’s the point”. Let me ask you this question though, “how far does quitting get you?” Will that get you closer to your goal or further away from it? It’s EASIER to stop, then to keep trying, so people stop. If you could do something small and easy as walk for 5-10 mins a day, and then double that every week, how far would you be walking in 6 months’ time? Remember, simple little things compounded are what achieve results and bring success!

 In summary: Be consistent, manage time better, obtain as much knowledge as you can, know what to do with that knowledge and take action, surround yourself with positive people, be patient, and don’t be afraid to fail.

Jeff mentions a quote in the book which I will leave you with.

“Do or Not Do, there is no try” – Yoda, Star Wars.

Meal Prepping Made Easy: Simple Tips to Stay on Track and Get Results

When life gets busy, our nutrition is often the first thing to slip. But if you're working toward a fitness goal—whether it's fat loss, muscle gain, or just feeling better—what you eat consistently matters most. That’s where meal prepping comes in.

Meal prepping isn’t about spending your whole Sunday cooking or eating boring food every day. It's about setting yourself up for success, reducing stress, and removing the guesswork during your busy week. Here are my top tips to help make meal prepping simple, sustainable, and effective:

1. Start with a Simple Plan

You don’t need a complex spreadsheet to begin. Just ask yourself:

• How many meals do I need for the week?

• Which meals are my biggest struggle (typically its breakfast and lunch for most people)

• Do I want full meals prepped or just parts of meals (like proteins or snacks)?

Start small. Prepping just your lunches or protein for the week is a win.

2. Build Balanced Meals

A well-prepped meal should include:

• Protein: chicken, beef, pork, turkey, lamb, eggs, tofu, lentils, natural Greek yoghurt

• Carbohydrates: rice, sweet potato, oats, quinoa, bananas, berries

• Fats: olive oil, avocado, nuts

• Vegetables: broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, spinach, + the more color, the better

Think: grilled chicken + brown rice + broccoli + olive oil drizzle — simple, tasty, effective.

3. Batch Cook Basics

Choose 1–2 proteins, 1–2 carb sources, and 2–3 veggies for the week. Cook them in bulk, then mix and match.

Example:

• Grilled chicken and lean beef mince

• Sweet potato and basmati rice

• Roasted broccoli, carrots, and zucchini

Use different seasonings or sauces throughout the week to avoid boredom.

4. Use Tools to Save Time

Invest in time-saving tools like:

• Slow cooker or Instant Pot – for easy proteins

• Rice cooker – walk away while it cooks

• Air fryer – great for crispy veggies or reheating

Also: quality containers make a huge difference. Opt for glass or BPA-free plastic that stack well in the fridge.

5. Portion with Your Goals in Mind

Your prep should align with your fitness goals:

• Trying to lose weight? Prioritize portion control and lean protein.

• Looking to build muscle? Bump up those carb and protein portions.

• Just want to feel better? Focus on whole, minimally processed foods.

Using a food scale or your hand (e.g. palm-sized protein, fist of veggies, cupped hand of carbs) is a great way to keep portions consistent.

6. Prep Snacks & Emergency Options

Don’t forget the little things:

• Hard-boiled eggs, Greek yogurt, whey protein shakes / protein balls, veggie sticks, fruit, rice cakes

• Keep a few frozen meals or protein bars on hand for busy days or travel

These can be the difference between staying on track or grabbing fast food.

7. Make It Enjoyable

Meal prep doesn’t have to be boring or bland. Spice blends, marinades, and fresh herbs can make a big difference. Find 3–4 go-to recipes you love and rotate them weekly.

Remember: consistency beats perfection. Even prepping a few meals per week can make a huge difference in your results.

Final Thoughts

Meal prepping isn’t just about food—it’s about freedom. You’re freeing up mental space, saving money, and taking control of your health.

Start small, build a routine that fits your lifestyle, and keep it realistic. The more consistent you are, the faster you'll see progress—and the easier it becomes to maintain long term.

Need help getting started? I can help you build good daily nutrition habits that can fit around your lifestyle, just get in touch and let’s have a chat about making a plan!

8 POWERFUL STRATEGIES TO STAY OUT OF THE STARVATION MODE AND LOSE FAT PERMANENTLY, WITHOUT DIETING OR DEPRIVATION.

You must give up the entire concept of dieting on very low calories to lose weight. You’ll never lose weight permanently with low calorie diets – it’s physiologically impossible. Temporary dieting can only produce temporary results. You must use other methods. Let’s look at the eight strategies you can use to lose fat permanently while staying out of the starvation mode.

1. Adopt the “habit” mind-set instead of the “diet” mind-set

The first step towards losing fat permanently has more to do with your mind-set than it does with nutrition or exercise. You have to change your entire attitude about nutrition and exercise. Instead of adopting the mind-set of short-term “diets,” you must adopt the mind-set of lifelong “habits.” A habit is a behaviour that you perform automatically without much conscious thought or effort. Once a habit is firmly established – good or bad – it takes enormous strength to break it. It’s like trying to swim upstream against the current.

The entire concept of “dieting” for fat loss is flawed. When you say you’re “going on a diet” the underlying implication is that it’s a temporary change and at some point you’re going to have to “go off” the diet. With this type of attitude, you’re setting yourself up for failure right from the start.

Permanent fat loss can’t be achieved by going on and off diets. It can only be achieved by adopting new exercise and nutrition habits that you can maintain for the rest of your life. Depending on your goal, you may need to make your diet more or less restrictive at certain times, but you always must maintain a baseline of healthy eating habits that never change. Usually you’ll eat the same foods all year round. When you want to lose body fat, all you need to do is simply eat a little bit less of those same foods and exercise a lot more.

Nature abhors a vacuum. The best way to get rid of undesirable habits such as poor nutrition or inactivity is by replacing them with new ones, not attempting to overcome them with sheer willpower. Achievement expert Brian Tracy likens this to covering up a bad paint job by layering over with a new paint that is thick enough so the old paint disappears. The new habit then takes over as the old one is filed away in the subconscious mind.

Good nutrition habits are not easy to form, but once you’ve formed them, they’re just as hard to break as the bad ones. Orison Swett Marden put it this way: “The beginning of a habit is like an invisible thread, but every time we repeat the act we strengthen the strand, add to it another filament, until it becomes a great cable and binds us irrevocably.”

Initially, there will be a period where starting the new habit feels uncomfortable. Be patient – everything is difficult in the beginning. For a new behaviour to become permanently entrenched into your nervous system, it could take months. However, the roots of nutrition and exercise habits can be formed in just 21 days. That’s why it’s so important to give 100% total effort and commitment for the first 21 days. Once those 21 days have gone by, you’ll already be leaner and you’ll be on your way to making your new habits as effortless and natural as brushing your teeth or taking a shower.

2. Keep your muscle at all costs

The critical factor in turning your body into a “fat-burning machine” is to build and maintain as much lean body mass as possible. Muscle is the body-builders fat burning secret weapon! Muscle is your metabolic furnace. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn, even at rest. With more muscle, you burn more calories even while you sleep.

With a higher lean body mass, you’ll also burn more calories during exercise. If you put two people side by side jogging on a treadmill, one of them with 180 pounds of lean body mass and the other with 150 pounds of lean body mass, the person with 180 pounds of lean body mass will burn more calories from the exact same workout. The most efficient way to burn more calories and lose more body fat is to gain more muscle. That’s why weight training is an important part of the fat loss equation.

3. Use a small calorie deficit.

To lose body fat, you must be in negative calorie balance (a calorie deficit). You can create a calorie deficit by increasing activity, by decreasing calories or with a combination of both. The most efficient approach to fat loss is to decrease your calories a little and increase your activity a lot.

The most commonly recommended guideline is to reduce your calories by 500 to 1000 less than your maintenance level. For example, if you are female and your calorie maintenance level is 2100 calories per day, then a 500 calorie deficit would put you at 1600 calories per day. If you’re a male with a calorie maintenance level of 2900 calories per day, then a 500 calorie deficit would put you at 2400 calories per day. A 500 calorie deficit over seven days is 3500 calories in one week. There are 3500 calories in a pound of fat, so (in theory), a 500 calorie per day deficit will result in a loss of one pound of body fat per week. It follows that a 750 calorie deficit would produce a loss of one and a half pounds per week and a 1000 calorie deficit would produce a two pound per week reduction.

Because of the way the weight regulating mechanism works, fat loss seldom follows these calculations precisely, so don’t get caught up in them. An emphasis on exercise with a small reduction in calories is the best approach. 500 to 750 calorie deficit below your maintenance level is usually plenty. Add weight training and aerobics into the mix and this will produce as close to 100% fat loss as possible.

An alternate (and preferred) method is to set your calorie deficit as a percentage of your maintenance level. 15-20% is the recommended starting calorie reduction for fat loss. This is considered a small calorie deficit and a small calorie deficit is the key to losing fat while maintaining muscle.

With a 2100 calorie maintenance level, 20% would be a 420 calorie deficit, which would put you at 1680 calories per day. With a 2900 calorie maintenance level, a 20% deficit would be 580 calories. That would put you at 2380 calories per day. The reason the percentage method is better is because using an absolute number like 500, 750 or 1000 calories as a deficit instead of a percentage deficit might drop your calories into the danger zone. For example, if you are a male with a 3500 calorie maintenance level, a 750 calorie deficit to 2750 calories per day is only a 21% drop (a small, safe and acceptable deficit.) However, if you are a female with an 1800 calorie per day maintenance level and you cut your calories by 750 per day to 1050 calories, that is a 41% cut. Using the percentage method is more individualized.

At times, an aggressive calorie deficit greater than 20% may be called for, but calorie cuts greater than 20% are much more likely to cause muscle loss and metabolic slowdown. If you do use a calorie deficit greater than 20%, then it’s wise to raise calories at regular intervals using the “zigzag method” you’ll learn about in chapter six. This will “trick your body” and prevent your metabolism from slowing down when you have a large calorie deficit.

Always start with a small deficit. In other words, cut calories out slowly. It’s better to start with a small deficit and then progressively increase towards your maximal deficit than to make a sudden drop in calories all at once. The body cannot be forced to lose fat – you must coax it. Based on what you now know about the body’s weight-regulating mechanism, the optimal amount to decrease your caloric intake for fat loss is as little as possible – as long as you’re still losing body fat.

4. Use exercise to burn the fat rather than diets to starve the fat

To lose body fat, there must be a calorie deficit. Such are the laws of thermodynamics and energy balance. However, there’s more than one way to create a calorie deficit. One way is to decrease your calorie intake from food. The other is to increase the amount of calories you burn though exercise.

Of the two ways to create a calorie deficit, burning the calories is the superior method. This is because large calorie deficits cause muscle loss and trigger the starvation response. Ironically, most people do the opposite: They slash their calories to starvation levels and exercise too little or not at all. This causes a decrease in lean body mass and invokes the starvation mechanism.

Paradoxical as it seems, the most effective approach to fat loss is to eat more (keep the calorie reduction small) and let the exercise burn the fat. You don’t have to starve yourself – you just have to choose the right foods and make exercise a part of your lifestyle.

Why would anyone resort to starvation diets when they can burn fat more efficiently through exercise? Perhaps they believe that eating more food and working out at the same time will “cancel each other out. Maybe they shy away from the hard work involved in exercise. There’s also a trend these days towards avoiding too much aerobic exercise because of the false belief that it will make you lose muscle. Quite to the contrary, aerobic exercise –combined with weight training – is the only method of fat loss that allows you to create a calorie deficit and burn fat without slowing down the metabolism.

Here are the reasons why exercise – not dieting – is the superior method of losing body fat:

1.      Exercise – aerobic and weight training – raises your metabolic rate.

2.      Exercise creates a caloric deficit without triggering the starvation response.

3.      Exercise is good for your health. Dieting is harmful to your health.

4.      Exercise, especially weight training, signals your body to keep your muscle and not burn it for energy. Dieting without exercise can result in up to 50% of the weight loss to come from lean body mass.

5.      Exercise increases fat-burning enzymes and hormones.

6.      Exercise increases the cells sensitivity to insulin so that carbohydrates are burned for energy and stored as glycogen rather than being stored as fat.

5. Determine your minimal calorie requirements and never drop below them – ever!

One way to ensure that you never go into starvation mode is to determine the minimum amount of calories you can eat without slowing your metabolism. Then, use that as your rock bottom calorie number.

Because nutrition must be individualized, it’s difficult to set an absolute single figure for everyone as a minimal calorie requirement, but the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) has suggested some guidelines. In their position stand on healthy and unhealthy weight loss programs, the ACSM recommends 1200 calories as the minimal daily calorie level for women and 1800 as the minimum for men. They also suggest a maximum deficit of 1000 calories below maintenance.

The 1000 calorie maximum deficit is good advice, but it’s just a guideline. Sometimes a 1000 calorie per day deficit can be too much. People with low bodyweight and/or low activity levels will have relatively low daily calorie needs, so 1000 below maintenance could be too low.

For example, it’s not uncommon for a female to require only 1900 calories per day to maintain her weight. If she were to drop 1000 calories off this already low maintenance level, this would bring her to a dangerously low 900 calories per day. 1200 should be her rock bottom number, and a small 20% deficit of only 380 calories would be even better (1520 calories per day).

6. Eat more frequently and never skip meals

Grazing is better for you than gorging. Chapter seven will discuss the importance of small frequent meals in much more detail. For now, let it suffice to say that the bodyinterprets missed meals as starvation. Let’s suppose you eat lunch at 12:00 noon and dinner at 7:00 pm. If you skip breakfast the next day, that’s 17 hours without food. This sends an unmistakable signal to your body that you are starving, even if your lunch and dinner are large meals.

Your goal should be to eat approximately every three hours. Establish scheduled meal times and stick to them. Regularity in your eating habits is critical. By eating smaller portions more frequently, you’ll be able to eat more food than you’ve ever eaten before without being deprived or starving yourself. Most people say they eat more on this program than they’ve ever eaten yet they get leaner than they’ve ever been before.

7. Don’t stay in a negative calorie balance long

The chances are good that you know at least one person who always seems to be on a diet. The odds are also good that although these habitual dieters may achieve some small weight losses, they are among the 95% that always gain it back. Then, discouraged with the failure of their last diet, they quickly embark on the latest “diet of the month” and repeat the cycle.

When fat loss stops or begins to slow down after being in a substantial calorie deficit, most people panic and cut their calories even further. Sometimes this works and it breaks the plateau. More often than not, it digs you into an even deeper metabolic rut. The best thing you can do is to raise your calories for a few days or sometimes even for a few weeks.

Your body’s weight regulating mechanism works both ways: It can decrease your rate of energy expenditure when there is a calorie deficit, or it can also increase its rate of energy expenditure when there is a calorie surplus. When you eat more, your body burns more. A temporary increase in calories when you have hit a plateau will “spike” your metabolic rate. It sends a signal to your body that you are not starving and that it’s OK to keep burning calories.

This practice of raising your caloric intake up and down is known as “cycling” your calories (also known as the “zigzag” method). In general, the lower you go with your calories, the more important it is to take periodic high calorie days. We’ll take a much closer look at “cycling” your calorie and macro-nutrient intakes in later chapters.

8. Make your goal to lose weight slowly at a rate of 1-2 lbs. per week. Be patient.

The best way to lose fat permanently without muscle loss is to lose weight slowly with a focus on exercise rather than severe calorie cutting. In the chapter on goal setting, we already made the suggestion to lose no more than two pounds per week. Let’s take a closer look at the logic behind that recommendation.

In the ACSM’s position statement on “Healthy and unhealthy weight loss programs,” The ACSM recommends losing weight at a maximum rate of two pounds per week. This two pound figure has become almost universally accepted as the standard guideline for safe weight loss.

Why? Because you can lose more than two pounds of weight per week, but you’re highly unlikely to lose more than two pounds of fat per week. Even at two pounds per week, it’s difficult to lose 100% body fat with no loss of lean body mass. Over the years that I’ve been doing personal coaching programs, I’ve kept progress charts for every client that meticulously document skin-folds, body fat, body weight, lbs. of fat and lbs. of lean mass. I have literally hundreds of these charts in my files. Analysing these real-life case studies has proven to me without a shadow of a doubt that when you lose more than two pounds per week, you almost always lose muscle along with the fat. I’ve seen fat loss greater than two pounds per week on numerous occasions, but this is the exception rather than the rule. Usually this only happens when someone has a large amount of weight to lose.

The more slowly you lose weight, the easier it is to maintain your lean muscle mass and keep the fat off. It’s better to lose only one pound of pure fat per week than it is to lose two pounds per week with one pound from muscle and one pound from fat.

Body-builders usually set their goal to lose weight at a rate one to one and a half pounds per week. Losing only a single pound a week may seem like an excruciatingly slow process, however, this is one of the best-kept secrets of body-builders and fitness models and one of the most important keys to permanent fat loss. Why would you want to lose weight faster if you know you’re going to lose muscle and there’s a 95% chance that you’re going to put the fat back on?

What should you do if you lose more than two pounds per week? It depends; everything is relative to the individual. If you have a large amount of fat to lose, then losing three pounds a week is safe and acceptable during the early stages (as long as you’re measuring your body composition and the weight you’re losing is fat and not muscle). However, as you get closer to your long-term goal, expect the weight loss to slow to one or two pounds per week.

For most people, losing more than two pounds per week means that you should actually eat more! This may be difficult for you to accept, but if you lose more than the recommended amount, you’re not just losing fat – you’re losing muscle. Don’t let the temporary ego boost from a large drop in scale weight sabotage your efforts in the long run. Be patient. Don’t ever confuse weight loss with fat loss.

*This post is directly out of the book “Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle” by Tom Venuto. 

THINGS TO FOCUS ON BESIDES THE SCALES + 7 FACTORS THAT CAN AFFECT YOUR WEIGHT

Do you let the scales dictate your success when it comes to your health and fitness?

If you don’t see immediate results do you often go into ‘self-sabotage’ mode?

I have found over time that a lot of peoples mentalities is; “if I haven’t lost this week after all my hard work, what’s the point, I may as well just eat whatever I want”. It’s pretty normal to have this mind set, as people want results right away, and with hard work you expect immediate progress right? I urge people to not be deterred by the scale, and don’t rely on it as your soul form of tracking and determining progress. Regular photo’s, girth measurements, the way your clothes fit, these are all alternative ways to keep track of how you are doing, without stepping on the ‘dreaded scale’.

A question I like to ask people who take not seeing results really hard is, “how closer to your goal will you be if you stop now?” If you have been working your butt off and haven’t seen progress, what can you expect to see if you stop altogether? The only way to make progress is to work hard and be consistent with your eating and training. Both go hand in hand and are equally important. You may see initial results from training hard and not changing your diet, or you may see similar results by not exercising but making a big change to your eating habits. Eventually though, more often than not, you will plateau and will need to work on the other to move further ahead.

Making a lifestyle change and doing a transformation are big steps to take and require ticking many different boxes to accomplish. Instead of focusing entirely on the weight on the scales, find other ways to track progress and stay motivated. The following things are essential when trying to achieve a goal in relation to health and fitness;

* Set goals – Without specific goals you will often coast without a direction or purpose. Have them be measureable and with a deadline. Setting a timeframe will keep you more accountable. Write it down somewhere you can see it often and read it to remind you why you are doing this.

* Be consistent – With whatever you are doing make sure you are consistent with it. Give something time to work! I once had an online enquiry tell me she tried eating well for one single week and didn’t lose any weight so she went back to eating bad. I thought that was crazy! Only after a good 4-6 weeks can you properly assess if something is working or not, and then you can make alterations where necessary.
*  Be prepared – Now preparing meals is gold, can save a lot of time and will more than likely deter from eating off the plan. It isn’t the only way to be prepared however. Set out a timetable for the week; an ‘events calendar’. If possible, set times for when you want to train regularly. Set times for eating. Enter your work times. Include as much detail as possible. If you have particular days where you meet with friends, have that on there, and know ahead of time, I’m going to be with these friends at this time, and assess potential obstacles and barriers to overcome. Simply looking at a menu at a restaurant ahead of time could make the difference to sticking to a plan or not. Having a plan before you will out will ensure you don’t slack off and complete everything you need to. I often watch people walk in to a gym, not know what to do, move through machine after machine only doing 1 set of each and then leave. Although it’s great that they are making the effort to do something, I feel the desired affect would not have been achieved, and it’s because there was no plan.

* Training Intensity – Knowing the purpose of a session is important. Are you trying to burn as many calories as possible in the shortest amount of time? Are you trying to get your heart rate to 80-90% of your maximum? Are you aiming to improve your cardiovascular endurance where you want to be able to maintain exercise for an extended period of time? Maybe you are training for hypertrophy or strength where the weight you are lifting will vary vs. the amount of reps / time you are working for? Regardless of the sessions purpose it’s important that you are making necessary adjustments in relation to that purpose, and are always pushing yourself to improve. If you are doing something like TABATA that requires maximal effort for a short amount of time, I don’t care how fit you are it should be challenging. Whether you are an athlete or a beginner, everyone has a threshold or point of exhaustion. The only difference between the 2 people should be the rate of recovery. Ensure you are putting everything you have in to every workout and always aim to progress, whether it’s an increase in weight lifted, metres ran, exercise altered, you can pretty much ALWAYS make something more difficult to suit your level. In saying that, always remember form and technique is crucial, never comprise form and risk injury for the sake of false progression. Listen to your body!

* Have performance indicators and ways to track progress – Stepping on scales once a week or fortnight, taking girth measurements, taking photos, trying on clothes that previously didn’t fit, these are all ways to track progress. Also things like fitness testing and strength tests are also great performance indicators which can also keep you focused, without putting a major emphasis on weight gain / loss. Setting training goals can be a great way to ensure you are getting results, without stepping on the scales.

* Plain old fashioned hard work – You can be prepared as much as possible and do everything right, but at the end of the day if you don’t put 100% effort in you won’t get 100% return. If you find excuses for things, you won’t get results. If you approach a training session with a negative mind frame and an “I’m not bothered” attitude, then you won’t get results. If you don’t make your health a priority, then you will never get to where you want to be, and it will affect other aspects of your life. Give every aspect of this your utmost effort, and eventually you will achieve what you set out to achieve. Have faith and believe in yourself. The work you put in now, and the satisfaction you feel after achieving awesome results, will make all the hard work and sweat and pain worth it in the end, I can guarantee you that.

To keep with the theme of not focusing on weight moving on the scales, I’d like to end this post with different factors that can affect your weight. I hope you take this into consideration the next time you step on the scales and aren’t happy with what you see.

7 Factors that can affect your weight:

# 1 Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) – This is the rate at which your body uses energy at rest. Exercising and increasing muscle mass can increase your BMR, whereas low-calorie diets can lower it.

# 2 Stress – Cortisol is released in response to fear or stress by the adrenal glands as part of the fight-or-flight mechanism.  Cortisol influences, regulates or modulates many of the changes that occur in the body in response to stress including blood sugar (glucose) levels. The greater glucose levels the more insulin you will produce. If you don’t use the glucose for energy it will be stored as fat. Insulin hinders the body’s ability to breakdown fat that has already been stored. This chain reaction can happen from stressing too much!

# 3 Medical conditions – Hypothyroidism is one example. The thyroid gland produces the hormones tetraiodothyronine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). Together these hormones regulate how your cells use energy. Hypothyroidism is a condition where your thyroid gland does not make enough thyroid hormone. Low levels of thyroid hormone interfere with the body’s ability to perform normal metabolic functions such as efficient use of energy from food products, regulation of many chemical reactions in the body, and maintenance of healthy cells, bones and muscles, to name a few. Other medical conditions include; PCOS, Menopause, PMS, Pregnancy and more.

# 4 Medical treatments – Prescription medications that can affect your weight include anti-depressants, anti-psychotics, insulin, drugs that prevent seizures and migraines, plus many others.

# 5 The types of foods you eat and how much – Foods high in saturated fats, salts, sugar, cholesterol as well as alcohol will all have a direct impact on your weight. Also over-eating / under-eating will obviously result in changes to your weight.

# 6 Water – The more you sweat the more weight you will lose, but you are losing water not fat. As soon as you rehydrate yourself your weight will go back up. You should always ensure you are drinking enough water, and this in turn can have a positive effect on losing weight and keeping it off. Frequently drinking water will help with fighting hunger also. Dehydration can have a negative effect on your metabolism, and as such will make it harder to lose weight and prevent weight gain.

# 7 How much sleep you get a night – A lack of sleep can often result in turning to caffeine from coffee or high-sugar energy drinks. The more tired you are the more likely you are to miss workouts and just be less active in general as well. The longer you are awake, the more likely you will consume extra calories that you don’t need. Sleeplessness has also been found to have an effect on your metabolism. Ensure you are getting 7-8 hours of sleep a night, and waking up fresh, ready to tackle the day!