If you believe a personal trainer is what you need to get fat-loss results, read this first – and then decide!

Hi beauties, I hope you’re all keeping well and happy – and thank you all so much for all your wishes of wellness for my lovely husband’s recovery! He’s doing pretty well and we’re due a follow up appointment at Southampton General next week. So hopefully the cast will be traded for a trendy boot!

Today, I wanted to talk about one of the most easily overlooked and forgotten aspects of weight loss/fat loss/ inch loss/however you choose to refer to it. It is often lacking when people first contact me looking for a personal trainer to help them. It is the emphasis (or misunderstanding) of personal responsibility.

I believe the vast amount of diet books/programs/gadgets available can serve as a distraction from the real source of how/why the problem occurred in the first place.

Southampton personal trainer Gen Preece Boot camp

Rather than addressing the source of the problem, it’s easier to place all hopes on whatever the book/program promises you. And backed up with a clever marketing campaign and a fair few testimonials from ‘real people’ whom it supposedly worked for, what could possibly go wrong?!

Even hiring a personal trainer; often many people’s last resort rather than first step, can be a distraction from actually addressing the problem. I’ve met a fair few individuals in the past, who believed paying me would get them where they wanted to be. I think the idea of parting with money for a lot of people can create the mindset that they’ve already “done it.”

Of course this is a far easier and more comfortable concept than actually addressing which aspects of one’s lifestyle need to be adjusted. And again this comes down to taking responsibility for choices, whether they have been healthy or not so healthy.

I used to believe there was something seriously wrong with my body. After all, I ate healthily and exercised yet couldn’t seem to shift the layer of fat that stopped my jeans from fitting me properly. I constantly felt tired, struggled to concentrate and couldn’t ever get enough sleep regardless of how much I had.

So I blamed everything around me: my working hours, my husband (then fiancé) my friends, the time of day and the time of year. It might sound crazy but the one thing I didn’t address were my lifestyle choices: what I was eating and the exercise I was doing – both of which were not serving me!

It wasn’t until I accepted that it was down to ME and me alone to change these, that I started to see results and cultivated the life I live (and enjoy) today.

REMEMBER: it is our lifestyle choices that get us where we are and these therefore need to be adjusted, in order for a better outcome. We are fortunate enough to have freedom in life that gives us choices, so start by making sure your next one (no matter how small it is) works for you.

I wish you luck, health and happiness! Gen x

Southampton personal trainer Gen Preece Boot camp