Just gotta share a few articles with you cos i love them!!
Right guys I'm going to put this one out there albeit controversial!
I want to know "Are your friends making you FAT?". I want to know this because social factors affecting weight loss are becoming more and more of an excuse for people!
Let me explain...
I asked myself this question earlier and my answer was "No, not at all!" Not because I'm already 'in shape' due to living a 'clean' lifestyle 90% of the time BUT "No" because I'm fortunate that alot of my friends are Fitness Professionals including one of my CLOSEST friends and mentor Chris Brown, the UK's Leading Young Fat Loss Expert!!
I'm fortunate to have a circle of friends who DO NOT hinder, halt or disrupt my nutrition plan and exercise goals.
My friends UNDERSTAND that health and fitness is a big part of my life and ACCEPT my decision to say NO to the simple things like that pizza or chinese takeaway when they come over! They know that If we go for a meal I will order something 'clean' from the menu and 9/10 times they'll join me because they also love the food!
They don't stop me, make fun of me, call me a homosexual for not drinking on a weekend (Paul Mort special but I live local and it's the same here ;-) ) or say things like "go on....just drink man! we'll burn it off in the gym tomorrow!(even though you cant out-train a bad diet, but i'll save that for another rant!)
In the past though, I could of quite easily answered "Yes!! everything me and my friends do involves drinking or eating sh*t!, hence I'm getting FAT!". But WHY? WHY did I join in?Because my friends are doing it?
But then..... what if I didnt train clients for a living? What if i didnt have a group of friends who were ecstatic about nutrition, health and fitness? what if all my closest friends and family had shocking diets and couldnt go a weekend without necking 8 cans of stella? What if I was getting jibed and made fun of JUST BECAUSE I'M LOSING WEIGHT?
I would have alot of OBSTACLES, agree?
I was going to use the word 'excuse' instead of 'obstacle' but I genuinely remember some of the challenges I had to overcome to get where I am today, and ITS NOT EASY!! The UK would be six-pack central if it was easy, but instead nearly 25% (depending where you read) of ALL adults are CLINICALLY OBESE - social factors anyone?
One of the reasons this is happening is because people simply CAN'T say NO during social activities! This two-letter word will become your greatest allie if you seriously want to shift some lard!!
You need to learn how to say NO to things you or friends want to do. For example, why do you HAVE to drink JUST BECAUSE YOUR FRIENDS ARE? Become the designated driver for a while and make sure your friends get home safely every night, make sure they are'nt waiting around on cold winter nights in taxi queues and a hangover doesnt ruin every Sunday! I bet they'll start to respect and thank you for that instead of taking the p**s!
Before you can overcome the obstacles your friends can essentially pose you, you need to UNDERSTAND what they are first!
I recommend you write down now the obstacles you face when socialising, that would DIRECTLY AFFECT your Summer weight loss mission!Once done, rank them from 'most difficult to overcome' to 'least difficult to overcome'. The top being things that you would REALY struggle to stop doing, and the bottom being things that you do, just because everyone else is (even if you think thats not the reason!).
I bet your list includes things like going to the pub, cinema, out for meals, meating up for lunch, pint on a dinner break just because 'Everyone's doin it!', friends coming over etc etc! How many of them things do you and you're friends drink alcohol on or eat sh*t during? WHY do YOU join in, peer pressure?
please read on...
People ask for my help to lose weight all the time, particularly around this time of year. The first thing I say is "Let's start today!" In return I get things like "erm...its sally's birthday night out on saturday so I cant start before then". "I'm at a wedding in 2 weeks so Ill start after that", "We always get an indians before the cinema every Saturday", "This weekend we are away on 'holiday' and we will be eating rubbish!" and so on...
This is CRAZY!! People are actually CREATING social obstacles due to pressure of friends and foes before they have even done the activity!!! They don't want to be 'the only one NOT drinking', 'the only one making their own food before the cinema', 'the only one NOT getting takeway'!
But WHY NOT? Aren't you going to be 'THE ONLY ONE WITH A SEXY BODY ON HOLIDAY'? Why can't you enjoy these activities without drinking, eating junk and saying NO to pressure from your friends?
WHY? BECAUSE ITS HARD!! MADE HARDER BY UNSUPORRTIVE FRIENDS!
I am in NO WAY telling you to DITCH your friends! - in fact you should make more! Make more friends with the same goals as you, get a 'gym partner' or exercise buddy.
Get on forums, websites or blog's where like-minded people share your passion to finally get that SEXY body you desperately want!
Talk about your weight/fat loss constantly making sure your friends UNDERSTAND that you are deadly serious about shifting lard and 100% want to lose your designer muffin top, rule out obstacles during social activities by asking yourself WHY DO I NEED TO DO THIS? AM I ONLY DOING IT NOT TO BE THE 'ONLY ONE'?
Most importantly of all though - LEARN TO SAY NO!
For the next 2 weeks, pick 3 thigs off your list that you would normally drink alcohol, eat rubbish during or do instead of exercising!
Once you have your 3 make sure you stick by them! make your friends aware what you are doing and keep saying NO to these 3 things until your friends know you're serious!
They will stop hassling you! They will stop putting pressure on you and jibing you about losing weight as SOON as they realise you're serious - the more they think you're serious, the LESS OBSTACLES YOU'LL HAVE!
Give it a go today and see how you can stop you're friends making you FAT, and I promise, 1 day they'll join you!
I would love to do the boot camp style exercise but not gonna happen with no childcare, 3 kiddies and skint 