Hey everyone,
Firstly, thanks to anyone that has joined in my online fitness classes. I hope you find them valuable, challenging and motivating! The videos are on my Facebook business page, so you can view / complete at your own leisure -FREE ONLINE CLASSES
Now, to some recent Q&A people have asked me, which I thought would be useful to share!
1.Q. I'll be starting fasting for Ramadan. How can I stay lean and retain muscle during this period, and when / how should I train?
A. Calories still count, and as long as you follow my advice, muscle loss sin't going to be a concern. Depending where you live, the fast could be between 16-20 hours, which isn't too dissimilar from typical intermittent fasting protocols. Except the not drinking thing.
So all you need to do is adjust your training schedule once you have BROKEN your fast. Eat a small high protein / carb snack and hydrate yourself. Train. Consume the remainder of your calories in 2-3 meal if possible, then sleep. I've put a graphic on my Instagram to demonstrate this @meanandleanfitness
2. Q. How can I stop raiding the fridge every 5 minutes during lockdown and keep to my diet?
A. Diet adherence is obviously important. If you can't stick to a diet, you're not going to be very successful with your goals. Its especially challenging right now, as snacking for the most part, is linked to boredom rather than actual hunger.
Hopefully, you're all aware that all diets work. They all work on the same premise of a calorie deficit. The more calories you burn compared to what you consume. Energy in vs energy out. It can get a little more complicated as you get leaner, but for the most part, this is the first rule of thermodynamics!
So, my TOP 3 recommendations -
1. Setup your environment for success - If your house is filled with high calorie, hyper palatable food, there's a good chance you're going to eat them even if you have healthier alternatives available. Simple solution, don't keep tasty, energy dense foods in the house. If you're serious about your goals, this is the simplest thing you can do to achieve success.
If you have to keep them in the house. keep them out of sight. Food packaging plays a huge role in driving us to eat. Supermarkets know this, and arrange their aisles strategically to psychologically make you buy these types of food. Remove the association of recognizing your fave foods, and you'll increase your chances of not eating them.
2. Increase your energy 'out'. Controlling what we eat is part of the equation, and you can't out train a bad diet, so to speak. But increasing your daily activity will certainly help. Join in my fitness classes, do some other home workouts whilst no gyms are open, go outside for your daily run / walk. Do the housework. Do some gardening. Keeping yourself busy will prevent the boredom and reduce the triggers to eat the fridge!
3. Consume more protein, fibre, fruit and vegetables. Protein is super important for muscle repair and retention, and as a nation, we don't consume enough. Its also the most filling out of all the macro-nutrients! Fibre also keeps you fuller for longer, which are also found in fruits and vegetables. Its keeps your gut healthy, and will naturally boost your immune system, which is super important right now.
BONUS TIPS! Get a good nights sleep. A crap nights sleep has a major impact on self control, hunger levels and impairs decision making. Meaning, you're more likely to say 'balls to this', and raid the cookie jar. Hormones called Ghrelin (regulates your hunger levels) goes up, and Leptin (satiety hormone) goes down. Double whammy. Studies have proven poor eating habits match a rubbish nights sleep of less than 5 hours.
That's all for today! Oh by the way, ff you want any resistance bands, some of my good friends over at Teknifit have kindly offered you a 15% discount on all products using my code 'MeanLean15' at checkout. You're welcome!