How I set about helping a client drop 48.4Ib in 8 months.

Keeping in practice with providing client privacy I will we refer to the client as B.

I began working with B in mid February, with a goal similar to many of wanting to lose weight and body fat with the added goal of building some muscle.

I write this Mid October, so 8 months have passed and to date B has lost 48.4Ib.

The initial goal was to bring up B's fitness.  This was achieved by focusing primarily on Cardio Vascular work training in two 30 minute sessions each week.

As B's fitness increased and we were seeing weekly weight loss of anywhere from 1-4Ib week we were able to introduce some more strength based work.

At this point a 30 minute session would consist of half the session focusing on compound (whole body) strength lifts, such as;

• Squats
• Military Press
• Deadlifts

The second half of the session would consist of Fitness work with the object of raising the heart rate for increasing periods of time.  Great exercises that worked for this were;

• Step Ups
• Burpees
• Planks

This was serving us well up until the 2 month point but we jointly decided it was time to make further changes to further progress in light of the increased fitness levels.

So the changes we made were firstly add a third 30 minute training session, secondly it was now that we finally decided to make some dietary changes.

Yep, we made no dietary changes until week 9.  Why?  Well beginning an exercise and dietary regime both at once can be too much change for some people.

So what diet changes did we make, well just a couple of simple rules;

1. Add protein to breakfast, in this case B eats a couple of eggs each morning followed by a piece of fruit.
2. Eat 3/4 times per day with Protein at each meal.
3. Reduce starchy and sugary carbs as much as possible.  All veg and fruit was still kept in the diet.

I will add now that whilst this seems a pretty strict strategy, by being tougher now what has happened is that we have primed B's body in such a way that at fairly regular intervals we have been able to add food into B's diet as he simultaneously loses weight.

So after 2 months of increasing strength and fitness B is now in a position to still be losing weight whilst eating more and continuing to increase strength.

There's the nuts and bolts but what does B have to say about this?

I am really enjoying my time working with Darren who has understood my goals from the get go.  I've seen consistent improvements in both my fitness and wellbeing.  

Sessions are always preplanned, challenging and varied.  Very pleased with my current progress and I've received several comments from friends and and colleagues about my weight loss.

So there it is, how I have helped B lose 48Ib + in 8 months.

If you implement anything from this into your own weight loss strategy be sure to let me know how you get on.

Darren.

1 Simple change you can make to Improve your kids school grades.

As a child and teen did your parents put you through the same routine when you got home?

• Shoes and coats away
• Drink
• Upstairs homework?

Every weekday that same routine, sound familiar?

Strangely now as a parent, I do the same with my girls, and I'm betting you do the same with your kids.

In the last academic year spelling became a big focus for my eldest daughter Evie, and so my wife would sit with her for 20 minutes before bed to practice spelling whilst I read to Erin, our youngest.

Well Evie's spelling showed some really rapid improvement, her test results were up and her confidence to sit and write grew as well as her confidence.  in the work she was doing.

Now I decided I would take some credit, the school suggested they practice each word once every day for a week.  I had Evie write each word 5 times, my theory being that with repetition some muscle memory would kick in.

Was I right, or was it the timing of when she was practicing?

In a Boston study 2 groups of learners were compared.

• The first group did a learning early in the day for a few days
• The second group did the learning just before bed.

When they repeated the learning, referred to as a practice session, the first group of early learners saw a slight decay in what they had learnt,

Compared to...

the second group who when they returned to practice the following evening they showed no sign of decay, and furthermore they were able to do further learning!  Boom, yes please!

And its not just Sleep that improves learning ability.

In another study conducted with students at the University of Michigan, 2 groups were compared after completing cognitive tasks designed to fatigue the brain.  

• One group was asked to go for a 50 minute walk around an arboretum
• Group 2 took a 50 minute walk down a busy high street.

As you can probably guess the group that took the walk around the arboretum showed better test results after the walk, and to test fairness the groups were swapped, now group 1 took the busy high street walk, and this time they showed the weaker test results.

Now, please do not think I am telling you how best to parent, by all means tell me to "mind my own business" - I'm just a guy that does exercise.  

Your still reading so thank you.

What I do want to do is present ideas that may help you to help your children.

This is what lead me to get involved in youth exercise (yep, here comes the cheap sell!), I am looking to help kids become happy kids, great kids become awesome teens, become successful/happy adults and I am sure you all want the same for your kids.

Till next time,

Darren.