Diets, like clothes, should be tailored to you. How do you take a break from your diet without losing progress?
Why would you even want to, if you haven’t reached your fat loss goal yet? First of all, if you’re serious about dieting, it isn’t easy to do. Taking a one- or two-week break every six to 12 weeks of dieting, can give you some much needed respite to regain momentum and motivation to stick to the plan. (If you’re on a longer-term fat loss journey, lasting months or even years, you may want to consider maintenance phases in addition to diet breaks. Read this article to learn more.) Moreover, life happens. You may go on holiday, move house, change job, or experience other life-changing circumstances, during which trying to diet is only going to backfire. This is a great time for a diet break. Last but not least, you won’t be dieting forever (I hope). Once you reach your goals, you’ll need to maintain those results. This will be much easier to do if you practised maintenance in a previous diet break or two. In this article, I’ll break down what to do, so you can enjoy your diet break without losing progress, by answering the following questions:
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Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work gains success. Greatness will come. Reflecting on the past two years of coaching people online and in person, I created a list of the advice that my clients have found most helpful in the pursuit of their goals, but that seems to be underrated in an online fitness space rife with detox teas and abs-blasting workouts.
This article breaks down these tips into the following categories:
There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. Training and dieting plateaus are normal to an extent, but they can cripple your results if they are too frequent.
Being able to assess your training in an objective manner and to identify why you’ve plateaued, is going to be essential to chart a path out of your current funk and to create a preventative strategy for the future. This article breaks down the following common reasons for a plateau and the troubleshooting approach to each one:
Start with the reason that seems most likely, apply the suggestions for that alone, then wait at least four to six weeks before re-evaluating whether you’re still “stuck”. Why not try all of these solutions at once? Though it might seem slower to produce results, this trial-and-error approach is the most effective in the long run. Altering too many variables at once will make it challenging, if not impossible, to figure out which change was the most helpful. Now, let’s tackle the first reason: Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach. Spoiler alert: Yes, it’s possible! (Gasp.)
Humans were changing their body size long before calories and calorie-tracking apps existed. Tracking calories and macros can be a very successful approach to losing fat, gaining muscle, or maintaining your weight. In fact, it’s the method I’ve had the greatest success with in my own bodybuilding journey, and I employ it with many clients. However, it isn’t for everyone. You can never track calories or macros, and still get great results. So, if you’ve tried it and it just isn’t for you, why not have a crack at one of the three fat loss methods in this article? Fair warning: Not a single one of them involves cutting out entire food groups, your favourite treats, or any joy from your life! Positivity, confidence, and persistence are key in life, so never give up on yourself. If you’ve been reading this blog since 2019 (hats off to you, OG Reader!), you might remember “Hardgainer, Now What?”, an article I published in January 2019.
Over two years later, I decided it was high time to revamp the original post, tackling the topic from a new perspective: What are some key aspects of training and nutrition, which hardgainers typically struggle with, and which could have a dramatic impact on your physique? First of all, a hardgainer is someone who thinks they struggle to build muscle or to put on any weight at all. They usually look like the typical “skinny kid” and believe they have “bad genetics” for muscle growth. I view myself as a hardgainer and, at some point in my bodybuilding journey – and sometimes to this day – I’ve had all three of the issues I’m going to cover in this article. What’s more, over these past years working as a coach, I noticed that many clients who wanted help building muscle, were facing similar hardships. So I’m going to share:
Ready for the brain gains? |
Nikias TomasielloWelcome to my blog. I’m an online fitness coach with a passion for bodybuilding, fantasy, and bread. Want to work with me? Check out my services!Archives
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