Fat Loss Feels Impossible as a Mum… Until You Do This

Calories matter.
Protein matters.

But they’re not the reason you keep failing fat loss.

In this weeks podcast, I’ll talk about the one thing that actually determines whether you lose weight and keep it off long term

Because fat loss isn’t about being perfect it’s about what you can repeat on your worst weeks.

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I’d love to hear your thoughts on this episode!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Fat loss can feel overwhelming. But the reality is, most people I've worked with and most people I actually know have done a pretty good job of losing fat. The problem is, they do it over and over and over again. And quite frankly, I actually think the fitness industry feeds into this. How many times do I see coaches on a diet and then six months later they're on another diet and they're trying to walk the walk and show you that they're relatable, yet you don't want a diet in January and then again in June. You want to do it once, you want to do it well, and then you want to maintain your results. But no one's telling you how to maintain your results because, you know, that's not where the money is. It's the truth. So instead of focusing on teaching you the skills in order to be successful long term, everyone's pretending that it is photo shoots or that you're cutting and bulking and cutting and bulking when that is not what you want or the reality that you need. So today, in this video, I am gonna try and talk to you about how you can dye at once and keep it off. Because I'm gonna look at the secret behind it all. It's maintenance, everybody. It's maintenance. And I'm gonna say that from somebody that thinks they've done it pretty well. In fact, this year I have gone between a range of about 2 kg, which is around four pounds. My weight's fluctuated. And let's be honest, that fluctuation could be a rather large poo or the time of the month. It's a consistent number. It's that is what you would call maintenance. Fluctuations will happen in maintenance, but that is maintenance at its finest. And that is someone that's done it for years. Now, that doesn't mean that I was somebody that's naturally always looked this way, always been super sporty, and always had my shit together. No, quite frankly, that is not me at all. In my early teens, um, twenties, I had quite an issue with food. Um, in fact, extreme starvation into huge binges was kind of the vibe that was going on there. Very unhealthy, and I'm not jesting or making that sound like it's not important. It was a really horrible, difficult time, which I worked through. But that's not the point of the video. The point of the video is that the skills that I have required and practiced and used are the skills that I have to maintain my results. And they're the things that you need to do in order to maintain yours. The first thing that I'm gonna break to you is maintenance is hard. And anyone that tells you otherwise is lying. And when I say it's hard, it's not something that completely takes over your head and you'll be thinking about like you think about dieting. No, that's not how it is. It's hard because you have to do more than the average person. And this might sound really rather mean, but the average person, especially in the UK or in the Western world, is overweight and underactive. And if you want to maintain your results and feel good in your body, you're probably gonna have to do things that most other people don't. And that is difficult because quite frankly, those people surround you, they're probably your loved ones and your friends, and you probably don't want to ditch them. Um, there might be a few. There might be a few you want to ditch, but you know, I'm not sure you can say, I want to maintain my results, so off you trot. So you need to understand you are going to have to do difficult things. Because the difficulty is you are being better than the average person, which, yeah, you can feel kind of smug about. Two, you are going to have to do things that you did on your diet pretty much most of the time. That's the reality of it. And those things are as long as you are doing your fat loss correctly and healthily. That means you're gonna be prioritizing protein, you're gonna be prioritizing fruits and vegetables, fibers, fluid, the basics, the very basics. And if you're not sure about what those, I will pop up a comment below and I'll do a video about that. But that's the basics. Like those things you still need to do even when you're no longer in a calorie deficit. And maintenance is when your body weight stays around the same. So when you've brought your calories up, you still gotta do some of those basic things pretty much day in, day out. But here's the thing: here's the little thing, is that there will be drift. It's normal, it happens to the best of us. But there are times in our life, you know, like holidays, stress, sleep deprivation, or Christmas. Whatever it might be, drift will happen. And what do I mean by drift? It means that those central values of eating protein, prioritizing fruits and veg, and those types of things, they will maybe slip slightly. It's normal. You know, on holiday, I was on holiday not that gone ago, and you may slip slightly. You might eat slightly less fruit and veg. You might eat slightly less protein, and those pancakes tasted really good, and you might have had a little extra gig of water, you know, that you don't normally have during the week, but it's holiday and you've had a few extra glasses. The key thing to remember is, is when this drift happens, is to be able to self-correct and to kind of come back to those main health values. That is the key. So I'll use me as an example. Just been on holiday and I didn't panic to go on holiday either. I felt good. I feel fit in my clothes, it was great. But whilst I was on holiday, I went a couple of days and I had felt like I hadn't had some veg as much vegetables. I'm not sure. I'd have maybe had some fruit, but I hadn't had any veg. I'm feeling a bit bloated, a little constipated. No one wants to feel bloated or constipated whilst wearing swimwear. So I was like, I know I need, I need some veggies. I need some vegetables. That will help. So we go out. We went to somewhere called a cowfish. It's a burger and sushi blaze. I was like, this burger looks amazing. But you know what? I'm gonna skip the bun because I'd rather have some frozen yogurt later. And I'm going to sub the fries for some grilled veg. One, I didn't lose any of the flavor by not having the bun. It was fantastic. Who knew cream cheese on a burger would taste that good? It was like jalapenos, cream cheese, burger, lettuce, tomato, and then more jalapenos. So good. And then I had these grilled veg, which were delicious and just what I needed. And I felt so much better. And that's the thing. Like I did a few days and I self-corrected. Now, sometimes those drifts might take slightly longer. But if it's anything from like a week to two weeks, probably very little will happen. And you can self-correct. You don't berate yourself, you don't judge yourself for that drift, you just self-correct and carry on. But it's when the drift happens for longer periods of time, and you can see how that's how the weight creeps on. Because it's the little things that the not taking care of the protein and not eating the fruits and veg. Because those things do help fill you up. So you're not necessarily snacking on crisps and chocolates and those things, whatever it might be. And those foods are not inherently bad. I'm gonna talk about that in a minute. But you know, you can't eat those all the time because they aren't very filling and then aren't nutrientally dense, and you know, that's just the way it is. So that is kind of key. Self-correction is key, and self-correction comes from your ability to be able to react well. And we need to practice this. We need to practice this in your fat loss, ideally. You need to have the mindset approach around this. You need to be able to identify when you're hungry, when you're full, being able to say, I'm gonna stop when I'm full, to be able to ask yourself whether you really want something or not. It's okay to not want something. It's okay to be able to eat something and order something and then be able to stop and be like, I don't want any more, I'm gonna take it home. But these mindset things you have to practice to realize that then, although the calories change from a deficit to maintenance, your mind around food is the same. It's not on and off, it's a continual thing that goes on and on and on. We don't really, unfortunately, I hate to break it to you, we don't stop our health goals. It doesn't stop, it's not just because you're on a diet, off a diet, everything sorted. You have to work at this continuously. Hence why I said maintenance is hard. So I feel like I'm being like a bit mean and you're like, oh my goodness, this is awful. Like, how am I gonna actually do any of this? So let's have some takeaways. Let's have a think about how we can put this in practical terms for you to make this easier. So, firstly, I would suggest you put a post-it note on your fridge or your cupboard, wherever it might be, or both. And all it's gonna say, is this going to take me towards my goal? Yes. Super. No. Now, this is when you have to ask yourself a few key questions. And it will take practice. You might not be great at this to begin with, but you can practice. You're gonna ask yourself, am I hungry? Well, if yes, great. If no, then you know, get away from that fridge. Do I really, really want this? Is this a hell yes? Is this worth going further away from my goal? Yes or no? Now, what do I mean by the hell yes? Now, I have a whole podcast on this, but I'm gonna go into it. Carrot cake. Oh yeah, I love carrot cake with really good cheese frosting on top. Nuts, preferably in it, no raisins, ideally, but you know, I won't be fussy. I love carrot cake. It is the top cake, and anyone that says otherwise, we will have words. However, a Mr. Kipling's cake or any like processy kind of like, you know, Swiss roll or I don't know, or whatever it might be from like a supermarket, probably not gonna have the same vibe. Probably not gonna bother. In fact, I won't bother. But if my mum had lovingly made me carrot cake and she doesn't do it very often, then I'm probably gonna say yes, enjoy that cake and move on. The key to maintenance. And that is the thing, it's also the reaction. I'm not gonna berate myself, I'm not gonna feel guilty, I'm just gonna have a slice and move on. I'm not gonna have two or three because you know I've started and I ruined everything. Nope, just the one, and it's gonna taste good, and I'm gonna enjoy it so much. And then the other thing, something like that, I just wouldn't bother. And that is the kind of thing that you need to think about. It needs to be something that makes you want to move slightly further away from your goal and then come back rather than just eating it for the sake of eating it. And these are questions that I ask myself every day. I'm sure lots of people do, but it just really helps. So to be clear, you're gonna have a post-it note. Is this gonna move me closer to my goal? Yes or no? Am I really hungry? And is this a hell yes? And if it's not a hell yeah, it's okay to just be like, no. If it's just kind of a mediocre chocolate cake, chocolate cake doesn't do anything for me. So like I would be like, it might be homemade, but I'm still a bit. Whereas, you know, carrot cake or lemon cake, then I might be up there, yeah. Yeah. And that is the key. I feel like I'm going on a little bit, but it's the mindset around that. So again, is this moving me towards my goal? Am I actually hungry? Is this a hell yes? And then after that, if you really want to go somewhere, am I satisfied and am I full? Okay, so there are some things to think about. And actually, if you can start to really work around your mindset around food, you will see long-term results, I am sure. Now, I hope, I hope that was helpful. I hope that was succinct and you can take it away and use it. Please comment if you enjoyed this. If you want to know more, subscribe and I'll do some more videos. And also in the I don't know, the written bit below, or technical, huh? Um, I will put my podcast and my Instagram as well. But anyway, uh so glad to talk to you today. Uh, hope you found that useful and I will catch you soon.