A fat loss post by Cambridge personal trainer Callie Durbrow
Hey, welcome to Day #1 of the Cambridge Training Fat Loss Challenge! This is going to be an awesome journey for the next 30 days and I’m so excited for you to be following along with me. Along the way you’ll get an inside look at the best ways to lose fat, eat healthy (and enjoy it!) and boost your energy levels so you’ll enjoy every day life while looking great.
The first thing we need to do is lay some groundwork. There is so much stuff out there on the internet today and I want to make this really simple for you. I know that figuring out what to eat, what exercises to do in the gym and when to eat carbs are just SOME of the questions that you may be struggling with. Well, with this 30 day challenge we’re going to answer all of those and then some….
One thing that is a great motivator to start is to take a “before” picture. In our Cambridge personal training program I start everyone off with a before picture and some measurements and I track their progress every several weeks. The easiest thing for you to do is just snap a few quick pictures with your cell phone while looking in the mirror. Take a front view picture and a side view without a shirt. This is shocking sometimes but trust me, it feels awesome when you can take another one and compare the results!
In this fat loss journey I want you to also write down your ideal picture of yourself. Don’t worry only about weight but think about how you want your clothes to fit, what you want to wear and anything that will make you happy. Look at these goals every day.
Now, what are you going to learn from me? In this 30 day program I want you to step up to the challenge every day, whether it’s nutrition, training exercises or mindset tactics. Everything comes full circle and you need to be firing on all cylinders to achieve your dream body.
This won’t be a quick fix kinda thing though, you won’t lose all the weight and fat in just 30 days but I want you to begin a life transformation and then keep it going….
So, here we go. It’s very simple.
I had a basketball coach when I was in high school and he had a favorite saying, Keep It Simple Stupid. KISS. He would get so mad at us when we did something fancy or tried to show off. You know how high school kids always want to make a flashy play and get on tv or in the newspaper. Well, not with Coach Cassidy….he was all about the fundamental bounce passes, setting good screens and rebounding.
If you know anything about basketball, those are like the most boring things ever 🙂 But, they work and once we bought into that system and played as a team, we were so much better off.
Anyway, enough about that but my point is that we KISS it here people. There are three things that you need to focus on and if you do, you’re in good shape (literally!).
1. Strength Training (this can be anything from body weight, dumbbells, bands, medicine balls, kettlebells or barbells)
2. Metabolic Cardio Training (this is very different from long, slow cardio. This will all be explained in later posts, but basically you want to work harder and smarter for a higher calorie burn)
3. Nutrition (nutrition is one of the hardest changes to make because it’s very long term. In this challenge you’ll learn how to eat correctly, when to eat and what to eat to optimize your fat loss)
One last thing, why did I call this the “Fat Loss Challenge” and not the Weight Loss Challenge? Because our whole process is about losing FAT. I don’t really care how much you weigh, I care what you are made up of. What is your body composition? This means how much of your body is muscle and how much is fat (also taking into account bones, organs, etc).
If you are eating healthy, performing proper strength training and metabolic based cardio, then you WILL lose fat. Welcome aboard and be sure to check out the blog every day for a new tip or tactic to lead you on toward your best body ever!
Next up, tomorrow we’ll check out some motivation and mindset, and why this even matters. I mean, can’t you just go to the gym and eat healthy? Yep you can, but eventually that will get really boring, so find out why you need to do a little extra….
Leave me a quick comment below with your ULTIMATE fat loss goal. Letting the world know about it is much more motivating and keeps you accountable. See you at the next one!