Which could explain your:
* Weight
* Bloating
* Tiredness
* Mood
* Stress
* Confidence
* Relationship with the other half
* Uncontrolled hunger
* Risk of Type 2 diabetes
* The number of pills you pop
* And – dare I say it – your happiness
The question?
“Tell me all about YOU”
Now, this is the first question I ask someone who applies to enrol on my Fit For Life Body Transformation programme
For the simple reason that this tells me about your:
* Diet – Are you considering how this impacts your weight, mood, sleep, hunger, stress, joints, immune system, bloating etc. How important is this to you?
* Sleep – Are you busy with kids / sorting everyone else out / working late / struggling to switch off / always waking up at 4am and struggling to get back to sleep, leaving you wide awake, tired and moody the following day?
^^^ Which leaves you reaching for the biscuit tin to get that ‘feel good’ hormone pick me up at 323pm…
* Exercise – Do you see exercise as having to be this long, tedious thing that you somehow have to fit into your already hectic day where you feel like you don’t have 2 minutes for a cup of coffee let alone a burpee?
* And finally … this tells me what’s important to YOU. Kids, family, career, confidence, anxiety, fear, relationship with food etc.
And it’s this one HUGE question that allows me to give you quick and simple lifestyle changes that can literally turn this game upside down
AKA
You drop a dress size, suddenly have more energy, realise you CAN enjoy a family party without putting on 10 lbs, and feel more confident in your favourite, more fashionable clothes.
But it’s this question that seems to have been overlooked by some doctors, according to a group of medics.
Did you read about it (link at the bottom)?
A lot of people have sent it to me over the past few days.
And – I have to admit – even I was a little surprised by the study stating that fewer than 10% of medical students at Edinburgh University felt adequately trained to give advice on physical activity.
It’s reported that nutrition and exercise is barely taught to medical students.
Which – as disappointing as it is – is also understandable.
I mean, a GP is a GENERAL practitioner.
They need knowledge on MANY subjects.
BUT…
Given the state of the NHS
And the fact we’re fatter than ever, spending more time in gyms than ever and wasting more time on so-called ‘weight loss’ supplements THAN EVER…
Surely it’s time to put more focus on the ONE thing that can literally save the NHS (in my opinion)?
That is, of course, lifestyle interventions.
What you eat, how you move, your relationship with food, how you handle your thoughts, and your sleep.
A focus on prevention rather than simply treating the symptoms
^^^ Would you really just turn the car radio up louder if you’re engine was making funny noises?
Easier said than done all of this prevention stuff, I know.
Because – as a I said – a GP can’t specialise in nutrition and exercise science (unless they want ANOTHER 3-6 years at university)
^^^ Particularly with the time they have to see patients
I mean, it’s like expecting the Indian dish at the all-you-can eat Chinese buffet to be as good as what the Palm serve you near Marlborough (if you haven’t tried it, check it out!)
OR
Like me asking the plumber: ‘sort me electrics out whilst you’re here, will ya? It’ll save me a few squid’
^^^ Don’t know why I said that in cockney accent.
You need a specific person with a specific set of tools to solve a problem at that given time.
Because – in my opinion (I’ve said that a lot today) – the old saying of ‘eat less and move more’
Is about as useful as ‘buy low, sell high’
Great on paper
But it doesn’t even touch the deep-rooted issues that mean you get stuck
Make you fall off the bandwagon and blame willpower for yet another failed diet.
Lead you into the vicious yoyo dieting cycle:
Diet –> lose weight –> live a little –> Struggle to control yourself and binge (on prosecco and chocolate) –> Blame yourself for ‘not having the willpower –> And diet starts again Monday (or worse, 1st January as Christmas seems to be starting even earlier this year)
How do I know?
Well, I’ve been there.
Thinking I had to give up all of my favourite foods to get lean
^^^ Only to feel out of control at the weekends (eating when I wasn’t even hungry…)
Thinking that I had to hop on the endless treadmill to lose fat
Wondering why switching from white bread to brown bread wasn’t helping me lose weight
I could go on…
And it’s exactly why I’ve spent the last 7 years at university
To help busy, frustrated ‘dieters’ get back in control of their hunger, ditch the love handles, and feel more confident in their favourite clothes (so you can bin the baggy ones for good)
Best wishes,
Matt
PS. Tomorrow, I’ve got a ‘new and improved’ brownie recipe for you that I did over the weekend for my cousins joint 12th and 4th (I think) birthdays.
PPS. Here’s the link to the article: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/oct/19/doctors-know-too-little-about-effects-of-nutrition-and-exercise
