Are you confused/frustrated about which book is best for you? Read this first before you buy any more…

Hi awesome people, I hope your 2017 is going beautifully so far and you’re making the most of every day we are granted 🙂 

Before we continue, this is not a shameless self-promotional post about why you should only listen to me and no other personal trainer in the world. That’s not what I’m about. Use your freedom of choice to do whatever you believe is best, as long as it serves you.

What I am here to do is provide everyone I work with; including personal training clients, boot camp attendees and the wonderful readers of my blog the most helpful and useful information, to the best of my ability. What you do with this information is your choice!

So I’ve written this post with the intention of helping clear up any confusion or frustration you may be feeling, if you’ve read or are aware of multiple diet/health plans that appear to contradict one another.

Perhaps you’ve even bought a couple of different ‘healthy’ cookbooks/life plans that tell you completely different things; yet all seem to have worked for whomever has written them. 

Either way, you’d think the age of easily accessible information that we are currently living in would mean the majority of us are now experiencing a healthier and happier quality of life than ever before.

Sadly, it would appear the opposite is true.

Obesity and obesity-related diseases are the highest they have ever been, the UK being one of the unhealthiest countries in Europe.

But with most of us being just one click away from ordering the latest diet or fitness book/DVD/plan; surely this would mean that we’re a clean-living healthy eating nation of fitness fanatics?!

Or…are we just a nation of consumers?

Each book/plan that is part of the multi-million pound diet and fitness industry, markets itself to us as totally unique. Yet…they all have one thing in common: the shared promise of being ‘the solution’, to what you have been searching for!

The power of social media can now also be harnessed to back up whatever the plan’s promises are. Consumers are encouraged to share their results, often as part of a ‘community’.

It is in our nature to want to ‘belong,’ which makes signing up to something even more attractive – especially when you can see the results others have experienced.

It is therefore all too easy to fall into the trap of signing up in the hope that we too can now live and experience this new life, while being a part of and ‘belonging’ to something special.

Of course, a small percentage of people may well experience a life-changing transformation and believe they truly have found their answer.

These people often become the poster girls/boys of the plan’s success; the creators thus utilising them to spread the message to the rest of the world via Facebook and Instagram.

What better example (or easier PR!) is there than a member of the public who done it for her or himself?

What we need to remember is it is just that: a SMALL PERCENTAGE!

We will not see examples of the remaining percentage of people that didn’t experience the life-changing transformation and results that the program promises. 

It’s therefore understandable why so many people end up feeling confused and frustrated at why this particular plan hasn’t worked for them.

So what happens? They then go back to their previous way of living. Until they come across the next book/plan that sounds a lot better/more do-able and the cycle continues.

I believe this cycle has contributed massively to the current state of the western world’s health and wellness. We have access to so much information, yet remain the unhealthiest and most stressed out we have ever been.

Many of us often end up believing we can only be slim and therefore happy when we are “on the program”.

Of course creating a calorie deficit (which is the crux of most diets) may produce some initial results, but how long do they actually last?

And are any of these diets really a sustainable and realistic way of living, if we are led to believe we cannot be slim without being dependant on them for the rest of our lives?!

I’ve yet to meet anyone who is following a diet/plan or program, and at the same time living a healthy, peaceful and content life.

The ironic thing is when this becomes the priority, the body automatically balances itself. Your health improves and fat-loss becomes a welcome side-effect. I will explain how this can be done later in this post.

If you too have built up a mini library of diet books, yet appear to be stuck in an unhealthy cycle of yoyo-ing between being “on it” and “off it”, don’t worry – my advice is not to never buy another health book again.

Breaking out of this habit to start achieving real results that last, is actually pretty simple.

If something you read/see or hear about on social media sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Our urge to find a quick fix is perfectly natural. It is how our brains are designed, not a sign of weakness! The next time it presents itself to you, start with recognising and observing it, before applying your common sense.

Real results come from being consistent with your hard work. Combined with being patient and adopting a relaxed approach, that takes things one day at a time.

It is important to remember you can’t fail at something if you never give up!

Treating your life or weight-loss/fat-loss aims as an emergency and being stressed out will only have the opposite effect. I spent a good few years living this way and now meet so many people, who believe they have tried everything and are at a loss for what to do next.

In my next post, I’m going to share with you four of the smartest, most empowering and inspiring books, that have had the biggest impact on transforming my own life, as well as many of my personal training clients’. 

I truly believe my lifestyle, mindset and attitude would not be what they are today, had I not read these phenomenal books.

I remain abundantly grateful for the various special people in my life, who recommended them to me.

It is therefore my honour, privilege and what I believe my duty to pass them on to you, in the hope that at least one will have the same results. 

I hope you have found this post useful, thank you so much for reading and you have my word I shall return with my life-changing reading list very shortly!

Gen x