Are you exercising but still not losing weight?

I see this all the time; people training hard, but still carrying excess body fat.

This could be down to the type of training you’re doing, and if you’re training at a low intensity, or just sticking to traditional cardio (running, cycling, aerobics etc.) then this could well be the case, but more often than not, it comes down to your diet.

You can’t out-train a bad diet

If you really want to get results from your training efforts, then you really need to be taking care of your diet. This doesn’t mean eating less (calories are, for the most part, irrelevant), it means eating better.

If you’re eating anything that your body sees as a toxin (sugar, alcohol, processed foods) then what isn’t excreted will be stored… in your fat cells. Our bodies are amazing in that they can deal with the huge array of insults we throw at them every day - stress, poor quality food, germs and bacteria, pollution etc., but there is a limit to how much they can deal with and process/excrete before they start to fall behind. That's when the excess toxins get stored and layers of fat build up.

Eat more toxins and your body stores more fat. Eat no toxins, and your body can start to break down and release the stored toxins (from your fat). So they key here is to eat healthy foods that won’t toxify your body and lead to storing more fat (even if they’re “low-calorie”!).

We need a toxin deficit, not a calorie deficit, to lose weight

These toxic foods also tend to be acidic in nature, causing your body more stress to counter the acid and retain its ideal pH level. This will also lead to fat storage, low energy levels, and osteoporosis.

In short, you need to give your body a chance to release stored toxins by (ideally) eliminating, or at least reducing the toxic load on the body. This means cutting out sugary and processed foods (and drinks), alcohol, cigarettes, and any intolerances or allergies (N.B. wheat and dairy are two VERY common intolerances that you may well not be aware you have. You can find out by simply eliminating them from your diet for 30 days and then testing your reaction when you re-introduce them).

Eat plenty of vegetables and low GL (Glycemic Load) fruits such as tomatoes, avocados, grapefruit, kiwi, plums, and berries, and ensure you get plenty of good fats to help protect your cells from acid damage. 

I recommend you only cook with coconut oil, and use extra-virgin olive oil cold (i.e. in salads), and include flaxseed, eggs, fish, avocados, nuts and seeds in your diet.

Once you reduce the amount of toxins you're consuming to a level below what your body can deal with, it will start to release and filter out stored toxins, and weight (fat) loss will follow. It's at this point that any increase in exercise will accelerate the process.

If you want help with either training or diet visit my website www.MarkOneFitness.co.uk