So awhile ago, I did a video clarifying some fitness misconceptions about losing belly fat.
And there're a lot of other fitness myths and misconceptions out there, so I've compiled
a list of questions from online, my clients and from social media to answer them today.
So I totally understand this frustration. You've been exercising so hard, and you don't
see any results.
While exercising is super important, your diet actually plays a much bigger role than you think.
It boils down to a very simple equation of calories in versus calories out.
If you are consuming more calories than you are expending through activity, then you're
not gonna see any results in terms of your weight loss.
And I'm not saying starve yourself.
What I mean is you wanna fill your body with nutrient-dense food. Things that are good
for you like vegetables, foods that are high in fibre, things with vitamins and you don't
want to be filling it with junk food.
So exercise is still really important. Not just to keep you in good shape, but it's important
for your vital organs like your lungs and heart.
And in terms of activity, you wanna exercise at an intensity level that really allows you
to expend the energy that you are taking in.
Sometimes when you start exercising, you tend to even gain weight. And I've seen that with
a lot of my personal clients as well, 'cause when they start working out, they're actually
increasing their muscle mass.
And what a lot of people don't know is that muscles are actually denser than fat cells.
So muscles do take up less space in your body but weigh heavier than fat.
I think when it comes to weight loss, there's a huge obsession with the number on the scale
and I, for one, am so guilty of it because I remember there was a period where I used
to weigh myself every single day and I think that it can become quite an unhealthy obsession.
My personal recommendation is to focus on taking progress photos instead.
I feel that this is a lot healthier for you to track your progress throughout your fitness
journey and even with my clients, the only time I take their weight is maybe at the beginning.
Just seeing the changes in your body every single week is a lot more motivating for you.
A lot of the times, you know, you might look a lot better but you might be 5kg heavier
than what you were previously, and that's completely fine.
'Cause I don't want you to measure fitness in terms of the amount of weight you've lost.
In fact, what I do want you to focus on is not just the way you look, but also the way you feel.
If you're getting stronger, if you feel better, sleeping better, eating better, then that
to me is real progress.
But if you're exercising, eating well, and generally living a healthy lifestyle but not
seeing the results, then I highly recommend that you consult a doctor because this could
be an indication of deeper health issue.
So should you eat before exercising and when's the best time to eat?
It really depends on the individual and the intensity of your workout. I personally like
to eat about 45 minutes before my workout.
I like to have some carbs, some protein, because I feel that when I'm fueled with that energy,
then I perform a lot better in the gym.
But it really depends on your lifestyle and what works for you. For some people, they
wake up and they wanna workout immediately. They haven't eaten anything and they're gonna train fasted.
That's okay, just make sure that after your workout, you have a meal as soon as possible
that's high in carbs and protein.
And if you're someone who likes working out in the evening, then I recommend that you
eat a small snack before your workout. It could be a piece of fruit, yoghurt or something,
especially if your last meal was more than 4 hours prior to your workout.
So growing up, I really, really hated exercising. I never liked running, sweating or doing anything
remotely active.
I was always super skinny, very unhealthy, then when I turned about 18, that was kind
of a turning point for me because I was encountering a lot of health issues and I realised that
I wanted to take on fitness, not just as a way to make myself stronger physically but
also mentally because I was also not in a very good place at that point of time.
I started weight lifting at the gym and I just felt this strength that I never knew
I had. I became stronger, I gained muscle, I put on healthy weight and I just felt a
lot more confident about myself.
So after awhile, I decided to become a certified personal trainer, kind of as a part-time job
while I was studying but at the same time, I just really loved to help more women in the gym.
I think that there was just a lot of intimidation at that point of time because there were not
many women in the gym, there were not a lot of female personal trainers and I just wanted
to be that person to help women feel more confident about themselves.
That's just kind of why I'm so passionate about training, but also making YouTube videos
and fitness content online because I really hope to extend my services to more people out there.
I get this question quite a lot.
I think there's this misconception that because I'm a fitness trainer and a fitness enthusiast,
that I'm motivated 100% of the time, which is so far from the truth.
There're some days where I wake up and the last thing I wanna do is workout.
But that's the thing about motivation - it really comes and goes.
It's like an unreliable feeling almost, because sometimes you might feel super motivated to
do something, and then sometimes when you've achieved it or that motivation kind of fades,
then it's very hard for you to even want to stay on track with your goals.
Honestly sometimes it just boils down to just doing it, even though you don't feel like it.
It's the commitment and discipline to just go there, workout, eat well, and just tell
yourself that this is gonna be better for you in the long run because it's gonna help
you to move closer to your fitness goals.
And it's a lot easier said than done, I can tell you.
I try to motivate people all the time but at the same time, it's also very difficult
to motivate yourself.
For me, what helps actually, personally, is to just feel grateful.
Like...okay this might sound kinda cheesy, but when I feel like I've lost motivation,
I try to remember why I started and how far I've come.
And then I try to almost do some journaling and some reflection and I kinda tell myself
what are some things I'm grateful for accomplishing.
It can be fitness or non-fitness related. Then when you feel really empowered and very
confident of how much you've achieved, then it gives you that added push to wanna achieve a lot more.
So I think that's just a personal exercise that practise for myself.
So it's a common misconception that eating too late at night is gonna cause you to gain weight.
So I've heard this from a lot of people, you know.
No carbs after dark, and supper is just the worst thing you can do for yourself.
But the truth is, it really depends on what you put into your body.
So my recommendation is to eat slow-digesting carbohydrates or protein, because that's gonna
keep you satiated.
And plus it doesn't give you those insulin spikes that having carby, sugary foods might do.
The thing is that when you're sleeping, your metabolism is pretty low.
So you have all these sugars in your body that are not used through exercise, or through
walking and therefore when your sugars are not used, they are stored as fat.
And when you spike your insulin levels, there's a higher tendency for your sugars to be converted
into fat.
And if you're gonna eat before you sleep, just watch your portion size. Remember the
simple rule of calories in versus calories out. So just make sure you don't overeat.
So I personally think that the best kind of weight-loss strategy is one that incorporates
both weight training as well as cardio.
Weight lifting is an important in your weight-loss routine because it does 2 things.
One, it increases the lean muscle mass in your body, in turn increasing your metabolic
rate, and hence increasing your rate of fat burn.
Secondly, strength training also results in EPOC, which stand for Excessive Post-Exercise
Oxygen Consumption.
EPOC is what a lot of people call the "Afterburn Effect".
Which means after a strength training workout, your body is actually in a state where it
needs to repair its muscles.
And because of that, your body continues to burn calories even though you're at rest.
Cardio is important as well because it's important for you to improve your heart health.
But a combination of both weight training and cardio is gonna make for a well-rounded
fitness programme.
So I get this question a lot. When is the best time of the day to workout? The morning,
the afternoon or at night?
And my answer to that is simply whatever time suits you. If you workout in the morning,
there are great benefits because you start your day right with a positive frame of mind.
You get focused, and also it kickstarts your metabolism.
But at the same time, not everyone's a morning person and some people only have their evenings
to workout after work.
Ultimately, it's whatever fits your schedule the best because consistency is key.
So find a time that works best for you and stick to it.
So the big egg white versus egg yolk debate. I think there's just so much controversy and
debate surrounding whether egg yolks are bad for you, how much egg yolks you should eat
and the truth is...
I have no idea because I'm not a scientist, a doctor or a dietician.
Personally, a general rule of thumb for me is to just eat 1 yolk for every 4 egg whites
that I have because there is a higher amount of protein in the whites as compared to the yolks.
And yolks just also contain a higher amount of fats. Yes, good fats, but I also wanna
watch the amount of fats that I am ingesting every day and I just prefer in general, just
really like the taste of whites as compared to yolks, so that's why I eat more whites than yolks.
It's nothing to do with the cholesterol or because there's research that says that yolk's
not good for you.
It's just a personal preference.
So I hear this a lot, lifting weights is gonna make me bulky, I don't wanna lift heavy because
I don't wanna look like a man, essentially.
But my answer to that is as women, we don't produce the same amount of testosterone as
men do. So we can't really build muscles like they do.
I would say that you do run the risk of becoming bulky if you do build muscle, but also gain
a lot of fat and that could be through your style of training or the amount of food that you're eating.
So lift weights, and lift as heavy as you want. As long as you're pairing it with a
clean diet, you're gonna build those lean muscles that's gonna give you that toned,
feminine physique.
So a lot of people might not wanna have that bodybuilder's body because that might be a
bit intimidating for girls. It might look too masculine, and for some guys they might
be like, "Ew I don't wanna date a girl who looks like a guy."
But for me, why I was so passionate about bodybuilding, it wasn't just the physical
changes that I was seeing, but it was also the mental discipline that I achieved from
bodybuilding for 3 years.
It was the discipline of waking up, getting your cardio in, working out twice a day, eating
5 to 6 meals a day, really saying no to all your distractions and to all the temptations
out there.
And I feel that it was that kind of mental training that I gained through bodybuilding
that has kind of impacted the rest of my life.
So I have zero regrets about taking that path and for doing it for so long. In fact, I do
have a bit of a competitive streak in me so I was quite happy that I got to exercise it
through the sport.
So of course I'm proud of that body because I worked so hard for it. I really liked the
lines I was seeing, the six-pack, but that body, honestly, was not a sustainable one.
At that point of time, I was working out twice a day, eating 6 meals and it was a very restrictive
diet, so I pretty much had no social life.
It's been more than a year since I last competed and I wouldn't say that I like my body any less.
Sure, I am less defined but there's a lot more flexibility to my lifestyle.
In fact I get to go out more, eat more, enjoy, I'm less restrictive, I don't workout as intensely,
but that's completely fine.
I still embrace the body that I have because to me, this is healthy, sustainable and as
long as I am feeling strong and good about myself, then that's pretty much all that matters to me.
So that's all I have for you today, I hope I clarified a couple of myths and misconceptions
that you might be having and if you have any other questions please leave it in the comment
section down below, I'd love to get a conversation going.
And for anybody who's looking to kickstart their fitness journey or really get that extra
push, we've recently launched a new line of No Sweat merchandise that is now available
on our store, so go and check out the link in the description.
Please support us, try our products and let us know what you think.
And with all our other videos, please remember to give it a thumbs up, click the subscribe
button and hit the little bell so you'll always get a notification every single time we post
a new video. Or you can download the Clicknetwork app to get early access to our videos before
they hit YouTube.
So I'll see you guys in the next one, take care. Bye!