Whilst I aim to be a positive ‘solution driven’ guy on a daily basis, I’m also realistic and honest!!

I’ve had a number of clients, and potential clients, I’ve worked with over the last few years that send me a photo of a world class physique with less than 5% body fat and say ‘I want that body!!’

Whilst I believe anyone, with the correct level of dedication and hard work, can achieve their dreams, I also often find that many people have very limited knowledge of how their lifestyle would have to be to match such extreme goals!

I was asked a superb question the other day on LinkedIn, and I decided I’d write an entire post about it!!

The question was…….

“Hi Ian. What are the daily mistakes you see being made that are preventing people from getting in great shape, even though they are dieting and training consistently at the gym?”

That’s a great question – right!??!

Well, here goes – I hope my answer does it justice!!

Whilst I could write page after page of diet and training mistakes I’ve witnessed, I’ve gone for three that I know if you are making them will be limiting your progress significantly……..

1. You have to many EMPTY calories from drink!!

Drinking your calories is just about the worst thing you can do if your aim is fat-loss!

Whilst you may have macro targets in place, liquid sugar calories in the form of fizzy pop, energy drinks and even fruit juices are a problem!

They don’t just pack in a ton of sugar and calories, they spike your insulin which will have you craving more sugar after consumption!

The blood sugar spike will see you hungrier than ever within an hour of drinking them!

So, if your daily calorie aim is say, 2,200, and you are drinking 500 of these calories, it is going to be super difficult to consistently hit an eating level of 1,700!

You will be extremely hungry. I believe it would be much easier to replace the 500 calories (or the majority) of drinks with water – which has 0 calories!

2. Excessive Salt = Water Retention!

Consuming an excess amount of salt makes your body retain lots of water and will have you looking fat!

This is the last thing you need when your aim is to look toned and your best!
Make sure you are limiting the excess sodium which are plentiful in sauces, seasoning, and different additives!

Processed meats are also crammed full of salt!

Make sure to drink lots of water, and aim to consume only a few grams of natural sea salt per day!

The reason for consuming lots of water is that without it the salt tends to make you really hungry!

This means that you are much more likely to cave in to your cravings!

This is a cycle that must be stopped!

3. You’re missing out the Cardio!

You may be thinking this contradicts much of what I teach!

However, whilst I see weight/resistance training as the ‘main course’ – I think it’s important that you also have a cardio ‘dessert’!

To lose body fat quickly you need to create a caloric deficit!

If your caloric deficit is only occurring by you starving yourself you are making it incredibly difficult for yourself!

By doing just 15 minutes of cardio or HIIT training per day you are burning another 1,000–2,000 extra calories!

Combine this with counting your calories and weight training in the gym and you have a great recipe for effective fat-loss!!

Get out and get active! The truth is that when your goal is fat-loss and a great physique, being lazy is a terrible enemy.

If you are sitting at a computer all day, and only working out for ~1 hour in the gym, 2-3 times per week it’s going to be really hard to create the type of caloric deficit you need from restricting your calories alone!!

As usual, any questions fire them over.

Ian David Worthington
Creator, Owner and Coach at GymWolfPT.com