Motivation to lose weight in 2015

So, OBVIOUSLY one of my goals this year is to get fit and have a body like Elle Macpherson (she’s 50, looks amazing – aka fit, healthy and young – I’m hoping to improve with age), and I understand that loads of you also seem to have this goal too. As a result I thought it might be helpful for both of us if I do a sort of round up of resources that cover the things that have worked for me in the past from diet to fitness…plus a few new things I’m going to try! I plan to treat this as my motivation to lose weight and keep popping back for inspiration.

Motivation to lose weight in 2015 – Diet Resources

I’ll start with diet because this is commonly known to have a far greater impact on your body shape than fitness alone. On the induction to my gym (about 5 years ago) I was told by the personal trainer that getting the body of your dreams is 80% diet, 20% exercise. So thinking you can run 30 minutes on a treadmill and then eat a Chinese take-away and/or Ben and Jerry’s Ice cream for tea is not going to work, unfortunately. Boohoo!

I know that loads of people have success with plans such as:

• Diet Chef (my buddy Aby has lost a ton of weight, see her progress here);
• Weight Watchers (I loosely followed this idea back in 2005 and lost 10 kg);
• 5:2 (my best mate and her mum have lost loads with this – I tried without as much success!); and
• Slimming World (my Mum and cousin both did really well with this)

My personal diet style is Clean and Lean and/or Juicing. The majority of what we eat at home is organic because I buy into the whole ethos behind it (not going to preach to you here, just being open) and, with the right planning, I thoroughly enjoy eating my greens and good quality protein. I love to experiment with flavours and to cook so it’s no hardship to me {this may not be your thing, hence mentioning the other diets above with links to their sites!}.

However, while I lost the baby weight by Reuben’s 1st Birthday this way and with juicing, I tend to put on weight really quickly (quicker than pre-baby days!) especially when I eat a lot of carbs, sugary stuff and junk food. I also have no ‘stop’ mechanism, so I can literally keep going until there is nothing left. Christmas has not been kind to my waistline!

Onto the resources, I need motivation to lose weight and quickly!

Juicing

Juicing is by far the hardest to get into mentally but by far the quickest in terms of results (both mentally and physically). So, if I have something coming up, like the awards last year, a holiday, or a photo shoot, I’ll do a some juicing in the days beforehand.

Here’s a few online resources:

• My post on why I love juicing so much – a great introduction with some recipes and how it all works
• Some extra recipes, ideal for these darker months
• The Juicemaster (Jason Vale) is the chap who introduced me to juicing almost 10 years ago (initially via the Jordon workout video – don’t let that put you off!)

Recommended reading:

• 7lbs in 7 Days; or
• Turbo charge your life in 14 Days, both by Jason Vale; and
• Skinny Confidential by Lauren – this is actually a ‘lifestyle’ book but I really like the cleanse in the food section as it’s less sugar loaded (fruit is really sugary!) and involves food to chew!

Clean and Lean

This is my general approach to eating when I’m on the wagon, which I’ve picked up from various places but most notably from Jason Duigan’s books (incidently this is the way Elle Macpherson eats, hence my desire to look like her!); eating good carbs (no white crap), not drinking too much booze (or none if you can) or caffeine, and cutting out all sugary foods including fruit if it’s not with nuts and yoghurt.

Online resources:

• This detox diet is clean and lean!
• Bodyism.com is Jason Duigan’s blog/website with recipes and stuff to give you a taster
• I Quit Sugar is full of ace recipes that are clean, especially useful for the ’normal’ stuff you might crave, like a biscuit, or sweet treats!
• Tim Ferris writes about his slow carb diet (from 4 hour body), which also involves a blowout day!
• Here’s my take on the slow carb diet and how to lose a stone and some more lentil recipes.

Recommended Reading:

• Clean and Lean Diet by Jason Duigan
• The 4-Hour Body (An uncommon guide to rapid fat-loss, incredible sex and becoming superhuman: The Secrets and Science of Rapid Body Transformation), by Tim Ferris
• The Honest Life by Jessica Alba – again a lifestyle book (I wrote about how she made me clean the house here) but I like her take on food and clean eating. Plus she’s also a hot mama!
• I Quit Sugar by Sarah Wilson

Motivation to lose weight in 2015 – Fitness Resources

Outdoors

This year you might be preparing for a challenge, such as a 5 or 10K, or even more. This is not my area of expertise, but my husband, Mike, is preparing for ultra-marathons and all sorts so he has suggested a few resources:

• Irunnerblog – this is helpful for getting started with running and this is an interesting intro to heart-rate training which I tried yesterday and enjoyed!

• Fitness on toast
• PaleOMG

In the Gym/at home

I try to do some weight training 2 or 3 times a week, there are some great free resources and training programs to follow, many of which can also be done at home. I like these:

• Blogilates – I’m doing the 30 day abs challenge!
• Youfitness – A new fitness site where you can browse loads of free Youtube workouts! It was put together in a few hours by my buddy, Lee Simpson, who also runs BlogBranch. Clever chap!
• My 15 minute mummy tummy workout post (which has had 85,000 views!)

Motivation to lose weight – Resources For the Mind

My main form of exercise is actually walking and I use it as a tool to get my head in shape! So I try to walk or do some form of gentle exercise for 30 minutes everyday. I implemented this back in December and I’ve found it really helps me focus on what’s most important to me and then get things done. I’ve also been hearing a lot about the power of meditation, so I’d love to give that a go over then next few weeks. Here’s some resources:

• All of the resources here have been found via Tim Ferris. So my first recommendation would be to start at 1 of Tim Ferris’ podcasts and work through them.
• My post about exercise, changing routine and TV addiction
• Tony Robbins’ Hour of Power: http://tr-training.s3.amazonaws.com/UEDay2HrofPwr.mp3 (via this Tim Ferris show) – this is the most life changing podcast I listened to last year.
• Headspace app and Calm app – for meditation (via this Tim Ferris Show)
• Guided meditations by Tara Brach (via this Tim Ferris Show)

Did you have a resolution to lose weight or get fit? What’s your plan? And, what would you recommend as motivation to lose weight?

I’d love to hear all about your steps to keep in shape and keep motivated well beyond January!