Top-ten weight-loss tips

1. Start with the end in mind

Do you have a final goal? Set a specific and measureable target, and have a set time frame, for example, ‘I want to lose one dress size in five weeks and three dress sizes in six months.’ With many of my clients, we write these down on a ‘weight loss contract’ and we both sign it. Then I get my client to ask someone close to them to countersign the contract, further reinforcing personal responsibility.

2. Take photos

Before and after photos make a great motivational tool and by retaking them you will see the inches drop off before your eyes. Retake every two to four weeks. You could also try buying jeans in the size you want to be. Once you do finally fit into your dream size jeans, the sense of achievement will be huge.

3. Envisage any likely stumbling blocks now

Take time to think of anything you feel may crop up and hinder your progress. Maybe you have tried to lose weight or ‘tone up’ before, and been unsuccessful? Did anything in particular stop you? Either way, make a plan of action to help overcome possible challenges now. Can’t get to the gym? Plan a home workout. Hungry between meals at work? Keep some nuts in your draw to stop you snacking on chocolate from the vending machine.

4. Nutrition

Try and stick to meat, fish, nuts, eggs, and fruit and veg. This eliminates all the sugar and starchy carbohydrates from your diet. Starches and sugars spike your blood sugar, and hormonal effects caused by insulin encourage your body to store more calories as body fat. Proteins and fats have little or no effect on this hormonal mechanism. They also make you feel fuller and stop your hunger pangs.

5. Drink more water

This may seem obvious, but many people mistake the feeling of thirst for hunger. Aim to drink eight glasses of water spread over the day.

6. Get eight hours of sleep a night

Evidence has shown that sleep plays a major role in body composition, and studies suggest that chronic partial sleep may increase the risk of obesity and weight gain. Of particular importance is the influence of the stress hormone cortisol, which tells your body to store fat.

7. Aim to train four to five times a week

One of the most common things I hear is ‘I find it hard to make the time to train four or five times a week’. I ask my clients to treat training sessions like important business appointments. Put them in your diary so they become a priority.

8. Lift weights

The number-one training stimulus when seeking body-fat loss is weight lifting. Training with weights elevates your RMR (resting metabolic rate). For every pound of lean muscle ‘tone’ you develop, your body expends an extra 50 calories. By using my Metabolic Weight Training plan, I help my clients develop a leaner body. By developing just an extra 5lb of lean muscle ‘tone’, that’s an extra 250 calories burned every day, just to sustain the extra muscle ‘tone’. This is extra calories on top of what you burn during and after sessions. But don’t worry, you won’t get bulky - women don’t have the right hormonal balance to build much muscle mass.

9. Integrate interval cardio into your routine

Interval training not only burns calories during the session, the real magic is that they also significantly elevate EPOC (exercise post oxygen consumption). This is the calories burned after the training session has finished. Running at a constant speed for longer periods doesn’t affect EPOC; working for a shorter time period but at a higher intensity does this for many hours. I get my clients to jog for one minute and then run/sprint for 30 seconds, repeating ten to 15 times.

10. Get yourself a personal trainer

Following the above protocols will make you lose weight. However, if you are still unsure, make use of professional knowledge. Seek a PT who specialises in weight-loss and ‘toning’, and ask for some references from past happy clients who have seen results. They should be able to provide you with some. If they can’t, go somewhere else.