Achieving a lean and toned body is easier than you might think. Aristotle once said “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit”. Some habits are difficult to break. Following these 3 simple steps should lay the foundations that will help you reach your fitness goals:
1. Plan Your Food In Advance
You have all heard the saying ‘fail to prepare and prepare to fail.’ Truer words could not be said when it comes to your eating plan. If you are consistently eating on the run, the likelihood of you achieving a lean body is pretty small.
The choices in shops, cafes and garages are pretty poor so you are reducing your chances of eating a quality healthy meal. Very often, the best of a bad lot isn’t that great and will have a lot of hidden rubbish added to them.
If you can plan your week in advance you will have much more control over what you eat and when you have structure to your eating plan you will greatly reduce the cravings for poorer food choices.
Eating balanced meals regularly will stabilise your blood sugars. Don’t forget that low blood sugar levels increase cravings for sugary junk food and reduce the likelihood of you wanting to eat healthy foods.
2. Exercise Regularly
Aim for 3 workouts per week where you work all the big muscles in your body in a dynamic nature. Big movements like squatting, lunging, pulling and pressing will burn more calories and raise your metabolism for around 2 days after the session.
Aim to move more each day, simply by walking more, taking the stairs and generally moving wherever the chance arises.
3. Create A Good Sleeping Routine
A good sleeping routine is instrumental to achieving a leaner body and optimal health. The aim should be to be sleeping for 10.30pm and rise around 6.30 am. By doing this you will optimise your body’s circadian cycle (your daily natural rhythm).
Certain hormones are released more at certain times of the day. Too many late nights will disturb this natural rhythm which can have catastrophic effects on our fat loss results.
Between 10pm-12am you release the hormones that help repair and build muscles – this is undoubtedly one of the key factors in fat loss. Additionally getting around 7-8 hours quality sleep optimises the release of melatonin which has been shown to increase your body’s fat burning capability.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that people who are sleep deprived are more likely to eat sugary foods and exercise less which will obviously have a negative effect on achieving a leaner body.
