Why diets don't work!

As Christmas looms the inevitable drinks parties, dinners, mince pie and wine do's (and any other social gathering involving overindulgence) are in full swing! But before you go too mad, concluding that ''you'll start your diet in January'' have a read of the below!

Why diets don't work....
Get thin fast remedies are on every page of every magazine it seems, there are a whole host of “pain free fixes” on the market. On top of this you could add any number of fad diets and the unlimited supply of slimming products, just waiting to take your cash! Slimming products and 'diets' are big business, however sadly they don’t work, and often there’s a hefty price to pay.

“Lose 10 pounds in a week”
Next time you see one of these claims, just ask yourself ‘ten pounds of what?’ It’s only physically possible to lose between 1.5 - 2 pounds of fat in a week, and you don’t want to lose anything else, as it’s your lean tissues that give you a great shape! If you adopt a crash diet, and suddenly cut your food intake dramatically, your body may assume there’s a famine on the way and start saving your fat stores by burning muscle instead.

Avoid muscle loss
The reason that this is bad news is simple: you only want to lose fat! Since your muscles are the most efficient fat burning machine in the body, why would you want to shrink them? During crash dieting you are likely to lose 1lb of muscle for every 1lb of fat.

Metabolism
Your body is smarter than you think and in times of potential famine, it will slow down metabolism in order to avoid starvation. Now that your lean mass is considerably reduced, so is your basal metabolic rate (BMR - the energy required to simply make you tick over) and you can survive on less food than before. Therefore the body has successfully adapted itself to require fewer calories, allowing it to maintain its stores of fat and avoid potential starvation for longer. The more calories that are restricted, the more the body will cling to its fat stores, and metabolism will slow further. As metabolism slows, so does your ability to operate at normal levels. Exercise becomes difficult and general lethargy sets in.

Normal eating
The diet will inevitably come to an end, and you will begin to eat normally once again. But, because you have considerably reduced your BMR, your calorie requirement is less than before. Returning to your previous eating habits will now create a larger energy surplus than before you started the diet. For this reason people pile on the pounds very quickly. It’s the start of the damaging cycle that is symptomatic of crash dieting.

The moral of the story?

Take it easy on the roast potatoes this Christmas,

And get back to your normal dietary and exercise habits ASAP!

For more help with your nutrition find us at www.insideoutraining.co.uk

RACE REPORT... Grim 8 - 2009

Anyone who was up early this Sunday would have seen the torrential rain that hit throughout the morning, a nice top up for the huge pools of water and muddy bog that comprise the Grim 8 race! Lucky for us blue skies and sun broke through to accompany us at the start-line for what was set to be a brilliant Grim 8 race! As my fourth year at this event, I can say with certainty that it was the muddiest and wettest I have ever seen! A brilliant excuse for teams of runners to initiate mud flights, start sumo tackling each other, refine their diving skills and generally do anything that involved getting as muddy as humanly possible!

The first 5 miles was the most fun, for those who made it through without spraining their ankles en-route that is! There were definitely unfortunately a fair few unlucky ones this year! As usual spectators lined the 4 mile point, waiting with baited breath to catch a glimpse of the next victim to fall head first into the orange mud. For the majority of the last three miles, we were spared anymore pools of water, and had to simply make it along with our heavy legs and mud filled trainers in tow.

Personal trainer or not I won't pretend that I wasn't happy to see the finish line! So much so that I barely noticed the last waist deep pit of water which was strategically positioned 100 meters from the end! I'm sure it was just to ensure that we'd all have to drive home absolutely soaked!

The good news however is that we survived and got the t-shirt to prove it! Well done to Anthony Speelman and Ezme Moyse who came along this year, I'm pretty sure that they'll be back next year for more sadistic fun at the Grim 8 event! As usual, I will keep you posted for next years entry, so for those who are keen, keep your eyes open early next year for news!

To join us on up-coming races and events contact us through our website at www.insideouttraining.co.uk

New Year Charity Challenge Anyone?

As ever I'll be encouraging (nagging perhaps) people to put their fitness to the test and get involved in some charity sporting event in the New Year! We already have teams set to go to the following, the more the merrier though so please contact me (sam@insideouttraining.co.uk) if you or someone you know wants to join us:

FOR ANY FITNESS LEVEL....

SPARKS 5K RUN - 24th January 2010

This is a short picturesque fun run that anyone can do, 'plodders' to 'sprinters' are all welcome. Being at the end of January it's also a brilliant time to snap out of 'Christmas mode' and get serious about your fitness again! The race starts at 1.30pm at Eton College Rowing Centre, Dorney Lake, Windsor.
http://www.tri247.com/event_7714.html

FOR THE MORE 'SEASONED' RUNNER....

READING HALF-MARATHON - 21st March 2010

This is a massively popular half marathon event which always gets full quickly. The run is completely flat and finishes in the Madejski stadium to a huge show of support and applause. It's a brilliant race for anyone who wants a big challenge for next year. You will need to train hard for this one, but the good news is you've got plenty of time!
http://www.readinghalfmarathon.com/index.htm

To sponsor:
http://www.justgiving.com/Sammy-Wilson

If you'd like to be added to our race mailing list please contact us through www.insideouttraining.co.uk and we will keep you posted on all our events!