Are You Fasting? ...Or Are You Starving Yourself?

I've always said that fasting should NOT be done for weight loss, just that weight loss can be a welcome side effect of fasting.

But there's a big difference between starving yourself (huge calorie deficit), and fasting done properly.

You see, fasting doesn't simply mean not eating, it's not eating for a specific period of time.

It doesn't necessarily mean eating fewer calories, it just means you eat them within a specific time window.

Many people jump on the fasting bandwagon and just start skipping meals, but they still pick at things between meals (especially calorie-containing drinks).

This is not fasting. It's just calorie restriction, and it can be dangerous.

If you want to start fasting, you need to pick your time period and not consume ANY calories (food or drink) within that time window.

The caveat though, to ensure you're not just starving yourself, is that you need to consume your regular daily calories when you do eat (though usually not all in one go).

This is where many people get it wrong.

Yes, you can save yourself a few calories by fasting because usually it's quite difficult to over-eat in a short time window (*if eating the right foods). 

And you can deliberately eat fewer calories (if hoping to achieve weight loss) whilst practicing fasting, but that's not the goal of fasting.

What you need to focus on when you do eat, is quality of food and nutritional content.

If you're eating fewer calories, you need to make sure you're getting all the nutrition you need from those calories.

Traditional "Diets" (and many of the "Diet" based clubs) have focused purely on calories, which will work to an extent, for a while... until it doesn't any more; but they don't focus on health.

During your non-fasting periods, you should:

1. Ensure you're getting adequate calories (set your calorie target based on your goals)

2. Prioritise healthy, nutritious foods over junk foods

3. Make sure you're hitting your Protein target - protein literally means "first place" or "primary" (derived from the Greek word Proteios)

4. Split the remaining calories (after protein) between carbohydrates and fats - again, your personal nutritional requirements will determine the ratio for this.

Whilst fasting, you should:

1. Not consume ANY calories, or "calorie-free" drinks (like "Diet" sodas etc.)

2. Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated and help with hunger

3. Keep yourself busy - often it's boredom that gets us, not actual hunger

I see too many people starving themselves all day only to come home and gorge themselves with junk food, because we tend to make poor food choices when we're hungry; certainly opting for quicker, easier, more convenient options, which are rarely the most nutritious.

So, if you're planning on using one of the the many fasting options out there (for most it will generally boil down to intermittent fasting of varying time windows), ensure that when you do eat, you're eating good, healthy foods, and not stuffing yourself with whatever you fancy "because you haven't eaten all day".

I talk about my preferred method of fasting in the trainings in MoveBetter.Club, so if you want more help with nutrition, training and lifestyle to improve health and get you moving better, check it out.

MoveBetter.Club

Mark

What Do I See When I Look In The Mirror?

We all want to look better.

The problem is... we're never happy.

The grass is always greener.

To most, I [apparently] look to be in pretty good shape.

But in truth, I feel I've got a LOOONG way to go still.

I resent that I don't look how I want to look after years of consistent effort, hard training, watching what I eat, even making a career out of helping other people achieve great physiques.

When I look in the mirror I see:

• A bit too much body fat
• Skinny legs
• Almost no shoulders
• Small arms
• A spongey waistline
• Bad posture
• No chest

Probably the same things most people see to some extent.

But working with and around guys who look amazing, how I'd want to look... They're all thinking the same! They don't see a great physique, they see the flaws and imperfections.

Body dysmorphia is real, people!

But it's not all bad.

You can USE that to spur you on, to make continual progress and to motivate you to work harder.

Don't get all depressed that you don't look the way you want (you never will, because there'll always be something you want to change).

Don't throw in the towel and say it's all pointless.

Focus not on how you look right now, or even on how you want to look (though I'm sure you've got a good idea), but on the progress you've made or are making.

I've had so many people over the years who've refused to take their "before" photos and regretted it 6 months down the line.

You'll never reach "perfect", but if you take pictures and compare them every few months, you'll see progress.

As long as you're seeing progress when you compare - you're doing it right!

Either carry on doing what you're doing, or if you want faster progress, tweak things to up the game; just make sure you're being realistic about what's achievable in your set timeframe.

So don't worry about what you see in the mirror not being what you want to see.

Use it to inspire you and make damn sure that when you compare photos in 6 months you've done something about it.

I hate seeing photos of myself - all I see is the negative, but what I'm really seeing is an opportunity to get better.

I'm not saying be happy with how you look no matter what, or to focus on the the negatives, I'm saying look at it from another angle and appreciate the flaws. See them for the opportunities they are.

Also consider the cost of getting into that "ideal" shape.

Time.
Effort.

Sacrificing family time for training.

Going without or limiting foods you enjoy.

Being miserable.

It's HARD work to get in cover model shape, and hard work to stay there.

Are you willing to pay that price?

Or would you be happy with being in "decent" shape, but still having time to enjoy yourself and have the odd treat? Being healthier and more energetic, not drained and tired from training all the time?

I've changed my focus over the years, especially since having kids.

I want to be here for as long as I can, for them.

I want to be able to keep up with them, maybe even beat them at sports even when I'm old.

I started to feel my knees hurting when I knelt on the floor to play with my 5-year old and couldn't stay there for more than a few minutes - then walked like an old man for a minute when I got up.

(That's not the case any more - now I can kneel or sit on the floor for as long as I want, the way we should be able to!)

And I created MoveBetter.Club to teach all of this to anyone who wants to know, even if they don't have the budget for Personal Training.

The point is, your goals will change and you'll always want more - it's natural.

The millionaire doesn't stop - he then wants 10 million... then 100 million... then a billion...

Fitness is the same. Why would you be happy when you know you could look and feel even better?

Don't get too hung up on what you see in the moment, instead focus on what improvements you made over time, be that a month or a year. 

As long as you're making progress, be happy.

And if you're like me, and no longer care who benches more than you but DO care about being able to move and function well now and in future, check out MoveBetter.Club.

Mark

Get Outside

Keeping along the same lines as my last email about Earthing it seems appropriate to mention outdoor training again since it's practically summer.

The weather is turning and it would be rude to train indoors when the sun's shining, because the sun IS NOT bad for us - far from it in fact! (maybe I'll share my thoughts on that in the next email... join the list by claiming your free gift via the box on the right here >>>)

We wait most of the year for good weather, then go and do stuff indoors when it's sunny!

Take your training outside whenever you can.

Summer is a great time to get outside and mix up your training a bit.

This weekend, I simply took a kettlebell into the garden and did my workout barefoot on the grass, in the sun.

You could do the same.

If you have any gym kit like kettlebells, dumbbells, club bells, medicine balls, resistance bands... you can take them outside and do your workout there.

Not forgetting bodyweight exercises, Animal Flow, Rope Flow etc.

The benefits of sunlight, fresh air and earthing are not to be overlooked, and there's nothing worse than going in the gym for your workout and looking out at the beautiful weather!

Yes, it's important to keep your training up, but unless you have one very specific goal that requires you to train in the gym, and only in the gym, you can mix it up a bit.

Train in the gym when the weather's not so good (there's still plenty of opportunity for this, even in the summer here in the UK), and when the weather's good - get outside and do something different.

You may be able to take your regular workout outside, especially if you go to the gym to walk/run on the treadmill!!

...or do something completely different.

Try some track workouts - running drills, sprints, hill work, bounding, skipping, hopping...

You could either seize the day when the weather's good and change things on the fly, or you could change the focus of your training for the summer months to incorporate more outdoor training and activities.

Your results won't suffer much if you swap a couple of gym workouts for something like climbing, mountain biking, paddle boarding, kayaking, a kick-around with the boys, or even an outdoor fitness class or bootcamp...

Just pick an outdoor sport and do that for a couple of months to increase coordination, reactions and functional movement, and, of course, vitamin D levels :)

Keep up your strength work. 2 workouts a week is enough to maintain strength levels if you're still doing other training too and it gives you a chance to work some conditioning and skills too.

You could even do your strength work outside if you have the kit available - strongman training is exceptional for strength and functional movement and is best suited to outdoors anyway! 

Grab some heavy kettlebells or a sandbag and go for a walk.

So don't skip workouts because it's too nice to go to the gym (it's just an excuse!).

And don't skip the sunshine because you want to do grunt work in the gym.

Combine the two. Train, but do it outdoors.

When it's raining - go to the gym.

(or embrace the elements and get wet!)

Now go outside!

Mark

P.s. Many of the workouts on MoveBetter.Club are suitable to do outside with minimal or zero equipment - if you haven't checked it out yet, go there now and sign up. It could change the way you train forever!