By Alexa Toweresy and Lauren Hannaford
IsoWhey Sports Experts
Getting fit, toned and ready to brave the rising hemlines is something many of us only start thinking about when summer arrives. But expecting to get in shape and ditch the winter weight overnight just isn’t realistic, and can lead to an unhelpful cycle of deprivation and overeating. A kinder approach? Step up your healthy eating and exercise routine during winter, so that when summer arrives, you’re feeling confident and happy in yourself. Here, we chat to the experts about their top strategies for getting a summer body, even during winter. Trust us, your future self will thank you!
Keep a lifestyle diary
When you’re embarking on a health and fitness journey, it’s a smart idea to keep a lifestyle diary for five to seven days, suggests Alexa Towersey, IsoWhey® Sports athlete, founder of Creating Curves, and personal trainer behind the lean physiques of beauty queens Renae Ayris and Laura Dundovic. “Your diary should include everything from what you eat, when you eat, how much training and relaxation time you get and more,” she says. “It creates awareness and accountability and allows you to identify the limiting factors and stressors that may be hindering your progress.” For instance, if your diary reveals you’re grabbing takeaway multiple times a week, consider a healthy meal delivery service, or setting aside one night a week to batch-cook a few healthy meals.
Do exercise you actually look forward to
“So many people sign up to a gym, try a few machines and decide that they don’t enjoy exercising,” says Towersey. “Different people enjoy different types of workouts and once you find what works for you, exercising stops being a chore and becomes something you really look forward to.” If gyms aren’t your thing, sign up to a running group, try a new type of dance class or consider getting a personal trainer, who can tailor an exercise program to your goals and what you enjoy doing. Also, rather than focusing on exercise for weight loss as such, reframe your goal in a positive way so that you feel inspired to achieve it – for instance, exercise will help you feel energised and upbeat during winter, keep you on your a-game at work and improve your sleep quality.
Tackle small goals
You may be working towards a big goal, like fitting into last year’s bikini or summer shorts, but it’s much more motivating if you break it down into achievable and measurable smaller goals. These act as checkpoints you can complete along the way to help you stay on the right track. “Ticking off these smaller goals help to keep you motivated and on track and get you one step closer to achieving your overarching resolution,” says Lauren Hannaford, IsoWhey® Sports athlete, former elite gymnast turned health and fitness professional and national gymnastics coach. For example, if your aim is to fit back into your bikini, your specific goals may be to get to three exercise classes each week, have at least four alcohol-free days and eat home-cooked meals six days a week.
Tend to your gut health
You can be eating the cleanest, healthiest diet in the world, but if you’re unable to digest your food or utilise the nutrients during its breakdown, it will be impossible to lose weight or body fat, or to build lean muscle. “I always recommend food intolerance testing before committing to any nutrition plan, and then I tend to start my clients on white meats, seafood and green vegetables initially, as I find these the easiest on the digestive system,” notes Towersey. She also advises investing in a good quality probiotic and broad spectrum digestive enzyme, and including probiotic-rich fermented foods in your diet such as sauerkraut, kombucha and kefir.
Optimise your training program
You can achieve fat loss using both low, slow steady state cardio (think a 45 power walk or jog) and high-intensity forms of training, but it can be helpful to tailor your exercise to your specific objective. “I tell my clients that if their major aim is to “lose weight” (which could be fat and muscle) they should do more long, slow cardio, but if their primary objective is to maintain lean muscle mass and “lose body fat”, then a weight training program combined with high intensity intervals would be the best option,” advises Towersey. “For the record, cardio may make you a smaller version of yourself, but only weight training has the power to truly change the shape of your body.”
