What a crazy time this is, with no clear guidance on when it will end. It’s a scary, worrying, uncertain time and we’re all at home. It sucks, but there’s nothing we can do about it, so we need to start adapting.
There’s two main reasons you’re gaining weight right now.
You’re moving around less and you’re probably eating more than you’re burning off. Which means what you used to do a few weeks ago to stay in shape, is not working now, as you now need less calories, or you’re eating more than you were, probably for comfort.
If you were fitting great in your clothes a couple of weeks ago, and you haven’t been over-eating, chances are, you’re gaining weight because the amount you currently move around has dropped dramatically. Rushing from work to home, to the shops, to the car, all adds up. Take all this away from your routine, and the amount of steps we’re getting in a day is shockingly low.
What you were used to eating, up until a few weeks ago, is probably too much now. Your metabolism will have slowed, your lean muscle mass decreased, your steps are down, these are the reasons you’re gaining weight.
The good news is that weight loss and gain is a simple science, so I’ve got to get you to move some more, and eat a bit more strategically. If you do what I recommend, you’l start to notice some weight loss within a few days.
The exercise part.
If you want to lose weight now, and you’re currently gaining weight, you’re going to have to get more steps in your day. Yes this is a complete pain, as we’re confined close to our houses, but you’ve got to get more steps in, if you just can’t handle your clothes getting tighter. 10,000 steps per day would be amazing during this Covid-19 time. That’s roughly a 30 minute workout, and 7km’s walked throughout the day. That could be split up between a 5k walk (keeping within 2k of your house) and some gardening, or a second walk, or one big long walk.
If you’re gaining weight from over-eating, that’s quite simple to fix. Once you make a choice and decide the urge to fit into your clothes is stronger than the urge to comfort eat, you will stop. Just make sure to keep lots of fruit in the house so you can snack on it, and not do any damage between meals.
If you’re gaining weight because what used to work for you isn’t working, then let’s fix that too. So if a few weeks ago, what you were eating kept you healthy, and now you’re eating the same stuff and it’s causing you to gain weight, it’a a good idea to write out a list of things that you can’t do anymore.
It may be as simple as cutting out your once a week take-away. It doesn’t sound like much but there can be up to 3,500 calories in a take-away. If you consider that 3,500 calories is the equivalent of one pound of fat, and you’re confined to your house so you won’t burn it off as quick, it’ll make a big difference to cut it out.
Here’s what you may need to do, that you didn’t have to consider before:
Reduce your carb intake (protein only snacks or fruit)
Eat dinner earlier (6pm at the latest)
Eat one less snack per day (Stick to one snack per day)
Reduce portion sizes
Cut our sugar indefinitely
Limit yourself to one treat night per week.
I hope this info helps, don’t hesitate to contact me if you’ve any questions by posting below or emailing me at jessica@inspirefitnesstraining.ie. You can also head over to our free tools section where we’re giving away our 30 Day Fast-Track to #FEELGOOD Program to help you in this time.
Here to help,
Jessica Cooke X
