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Sarah Smith won the silver medal at The National Kettlebell Championships last Sunday
Meet the international pro athlete in Kettlebell Sara Smith who has been competing for 6 years and went through all the level lef from 8kg to professional level at 24 kg. She holds an IUKL (International Union of Kettlebell Lifting) judges qualification. Sarah sat on the AIKLF ( All Ireland Kettlebell Lifting Federation Irish Team) official committee as Connaught representative for 3 years and helped organise the world championships in Dublin in 2015.
She came second last week end at the National Championship last week end. It was a brilliant performance of hers.
She has set up The Boss Lady Club and Galway kettlebell Club so that she can help more women offline and online
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How to live a healthy lifestyle and lose weight in 10 tips.
Anyone who has ever tried to lose weight, keep it off, and achieve a body transformation knows how difficult a feat it truly is. Even more so if you are a working professional, where time doesn’t seem to be in sufficient supply for preparing and cooking healthy meals, and let’s not mention finding the time to do some exercise. For moms, this is even more challenging because you put your kids first.
It is so easy to be tempted by “magic” pills that promise to burn extra fat, reduce your appetite, and boost your metabolism. Fad diets are another thing to be aware of; these diets are usually so hard to stick to and may not be healthy (especially in the long-term). A lack of time management, no motivation, and unrealistic expectations further impedes your ability to see your goal of losing weight through.
I would like to share my 3-year weight loss journey with you, together with 10 tips for losing weight, and keeping it off in the long-term.
The picture on the left was taken during my trip to France with my ex boyfriend in February 2014. I went to visit family and we had a big family reunion. My family was chocked by how big I wad and how much I was eating. My excuse was that I needed to gain strength to compete in powerlifing. This was my second year competing and had already won a world champion title. But my family was concerned about my health and gave me couple of warnings during my stay I was not willing to listen to them. I felt upset and frustrated, I thought they didn’t acknowledge the hard work I was putting in the gym but just focus on my physical appearance. I was convinced that I was healthy although I was overweight I couldn’t accept the truth. I am grateful that they warned me and told me the truth, I am much happier right now. We decided with my ex to do a stop at the Eiffel Tower before heading back to Dublin. I hadn’t seen it in nearly 30 years. Although I was in one of the most beautiful city in the world, you can see the pain on my face. I had checked my weight secretly before heading to the airport. I found out that I was up to 114 kg / 250 lbs/ 18 stones. I knew I had to so something but didn’t have the motivation at the time to do it. The right picture is the new me during a photo shoot done 2 weeks ago with my talented friend @chachougrensonphotography
1. Importance of Social Media
In this day and age, social media is a powerful tool that can be utilized in positive ways to aid you in your weight loss journey. Social media has provided me with a community of people who not only supports me, but also holds me for my results. They have followed my weight loss journey from the start, has seen my progress, and given me compliments as well as encouragement to keep on going.
At times, it was frustrating when it seemed that there were no results, no matter how healthy I was eating or how hard I was training. It didn’t help that the scale didn’t seem to be on my side either. I realized with the help of my social media friends that sometimes you need to take a step back and appreciate how far you have come. Even something small as not binge-eating or being able to exercise an extra 15 minutes without feeling as if you are not going to make it is something to be proud of. Since I built up a loyal and supportive online community, I am confident that I am able to help others achieve their dreams and change their lifestyle for the better. (Follow me on Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.)
My first social media success. I received so many good comments and feedback from friends and people I had never met before. I got over 500 likes across my social media accounts. This is when my followers started to pay attention and take me a bit more seriously. I realised how getting support through social media and creating a new community during my journey was important. I don’t have the opportunity to see my family very often so I feel like I have created a new family and friends through social media. I have had such a positive impact in the all process.
- Baby Steps
When people ask me to give them advice on losing weight, I first try to understand where they are coming from and what triggers them to eat food that isn’t good for them. The reason for this is because I first needed to understand my relationship with food before I was able to change my eating habits. What goes on in your mind is key, and everything starts with how we feel about ourselves.
A main problem is that people eat too little during the day and then eat bigger portions at dinner. Most often, dinner is made up of food that is high in sugar and/or is processed. This leads to more cravings for unhealthy foods (a vicious circle that is continues and continues).
My advice is to eat at least 2 healthy, balanced meals during working hours and plan for 1 to 2 snacks to avoid being super hungry at dinnertime. This should ideally be done in a step-by-step basis; eating habits cannot be changed immediately.
- Planning and Preparing Meals
If you know that you are going to be busy during the week and don’t have time to cook your meals, planning and preparing your food for the week will help you out so much.
For the first two years of my journey, I used to train about 4 to 5 times a week. This year, I have been exercising twice a day, 6 days a week. You can see that I don’t have the time in the week to prepare and cook meals, so I take Sundays to do this. Having my meals planned and prepared before I start my week is a weight off my shoulders.
- Cook Meals Yourself
A lot of people struggle to cook their own meals for lunch and/or dinner, so they end up buying meals and/or snacks from a deli or whatever place is most convenient that day. I used to be like that. I would buy my meals every day from the canteen. I have been in the workforce for 21 years, and until 2014, I was too lazy to prepare and bring my own lunch to work. I did, however, admire others who had the discipline to do so.
In September 2014, I started to cook my own lunch every day. I didn’t have a choice, as I was a fulltime student; my tiny budget didn’t allow me to buy food every day. This was the best thing that ever happened to me as I realized that planning meals and making it yourself is a big (much-needed) step to becoming healthy.
One of my favourite dish back in 2014 that I learned from my instructor :home made mince meat pizza. the base is made of mince meat and topped with aubergine cheese onions and tomatoes. It would be so filling that it would last me up to 3 days.
It won’t be smooth sailing at first, and going forward, you learn what food works best for you. Remember that natural ingredients are always best: veggies, fruit, lean and fresh meat, fish, nuts and whole grains. Try to always substitute unhealthy food with healthier versions. That way it doesn’t look like you are trying to restrict yourself too much and you can enjoy the changes you are making in your life. . I would recommend this article on the top 10 health benefits of cooking home.
- The 80/20% Rule
For this rule, you need to eat as healthy as you can during the week, and then you can have a cheat meal or two (no more!) on the weekend. For the first two years of my weight loss journey, I would stick as closely as I could to “eating clean” from Monday to Friday and then have treats on the weekend. This way, it isn’t a diet that you follow, but rather a lifestyle and it is a lot easier to maintain.
There were times that I overindulged on the weekends especially when I was training for marathons, thinking that the exercise would burn it off anyways. I learned the hard way that you can’t work out on a bad diet; you still need to keep some control over your cheat meals.
home made protein healthy muffins used to be for my week ends. Although all the ingredients fit into my program I would have them in the week end so that i had something nice to look forward. made with 2 bananas, protein powder, oats, grated coconut and almonds, dark chocolate, peanut butter, walnuts and eggs
- Work with a Coach/Nutritionist
There is no harm in reaching out for help and working with a professional who will design a personal plan that is adapted to your needs. There isn’t a perfect, one-size-fits-all “diet” or lifestyle out there for everyone. We all have different body types, lifestyles, jobs, etc.
Even though I am a certified personal trainer, I have always worked with a professional for guidance and motivation. Additionally, a coach further makes me accountable, checks on my progress and gives me useful tips when I need them.
with my coaches I have worked with the past 10 years
- Find a Friend
If it is hard to find the motivation to pick up a sport and stick to it by yourself, doing it with someone else will motivate you. There are a million reasons to cancel a training session, but if there is someone else that does the activity with you, then it is a bit more difficult to cancel, as you would let that other person down, too. This is why I love competing, because it gives me a goal to work towards and keeps me further motivated to train every day of the week. There are some days that even I don’t feel like training and knowing that there is some competition coming makes that feeling go away.
- Be Grateful
Be grateful for what you have and where you are at in your life. It helps to remain positive and it starts you off well for the day. It also makes you appreciate what you have already achieved to date. I am a big believer in the laws of attraction; the more positive thoughts we have, the more positive things will happen in your life.
If we are honest, it is impossible to be positive 365 days of the year; we all have our off days. Remember that it is OK to not always be OK; we aren’t and don’t have to be perfect.
- Love Yourself at Any Shape
As women, we are over critical of how we look. I was a size 6-8 in my 20s and thought that I was too fat. I could never be happy because I was constantly chasing smaller numbers on the scale. Now, when I look back at pictures of myself then, I think that I looked gorgeous. I should have appreciated myself. I learned from my mistakes and decided to first love how I look before I considered changing my habits and adopting a new healthier lifestyle.
A sustainable weight loss and body transformation journey takes time; ideally up to a year depending on your starting point and how much weight you have to lose. Don’t wait until you have reached your final goal to start appreciating and loving who you are. You are more likely to succeed if you have a healthy and loving relationship with yourself from the beginning.
- Be Patient
Unfortunately, losing weight is a long process and trying to do it quickly won’t do you any favours. Quick fixes and fad diets are temporary solutions. We have all probably tried a quick fix at least once. I have done many of them, failed, and put all the weight (and some extra) back on again. So, I know from personal experience that it is not the best approach.
Give yourself plenty of time to be consistent. A successful entrepreneur once said, “Simple things done consistently and over time leads to amazing results.” To me, this is the BEST approach, always. You will appreciate it more and feel good during the whole process.
Conclusion
I thought that I could eat peanut butter and bread while training for a marathon; overindulging (even though I was training hard at the time) leads to putting weight back on. It is good to be mindful that it is a long journey and its ups and downs. I have made mistakes, so will you. It is important that you learn from them.
As stated before, working to lose weight and going on a healthy lifestyle journey is a long process Keeping these 10 tips in mind and learning from my mistakes will help you in the long run.
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The Beauty and The Bar 