Oh no, he’s done it this time, he’s gone too far…

I wanted to talk about one of the most common reasons women struggle to lose weight, and how to avoid it yourself.

It’s not an obvious one, until you stop and think about it.

I share the GT office with a woman. Her name is Kathryn. She’s our Studio Manager, as well as being a kick-ass trainer.

Our office has a kitchen in it, and we often test out new recipes before we unleash them on our clients.

So the obvious thing to do would be cook, split it down the middle and eat half each.

Right?

There’s only one problem with that.

I’m not Kathryn, and Kathryn’s not me.

I’m currently trying to consume 2900kcals a day.

Kathryn targets nearer 1800kcals.

That’s a big old difference, despite us being virtually the same height (if she’s got her socks on and I’ve just had my hair cut).

So if we eat the same meal for lunch, either I’m gonna be fighting to hit my daily intake target, or Kathryn will be battling to stay under hers.

Not ideal. So we tweak things and adjust accordingly.

Sometimes this is as simple as me snagging two thirds of the grub, other times I’ll scramble up some eggs in the pan of veg for a couple of minutes or add a bagel to my plate.

Not rocket science, in fact really simple, but very very effective.

And despite the fact my lovely wife doesn’t track her food intake

– which by the way is totally fine and I wouldn’t recommend it for most people –

She’s virtually a borrower so obviously needs less food than me.

So we do the same thing at home.

And I’m willing to bet that most of you reading this don’t.

Over time that seemingly small difference potentially adds up to a huge change.

An extra 150 extra calories a day could mean you’d gain 1lb a week, which translates to well over 3 stone in a year.

Bet that got your attention!

And before anyone whines about me being sexist, I’m not.

If you’re a 6’2” woman who’s trying to gain lean muscle and training regularly, but share a kitchen with a Danny DeVito lookalike who is aiming to lose a few pounds before the Christmas party who’s only exercise is running for the bus in the morning, then you can go ahead and reverse the scenario.

But I’m gonna go out on a limb and suggest that’s a fairly unusual scenario.

So next time you’re plating up, stop and think about how much chow you actually need, rather than just giving out even portions.

This sort of easily overlooked, simple yet incredibly effective change is exactly what we focus on with our clients.

We challenge them to make one such change each week, which makes it sustainable and yet over a relatively short time leads to huge changes and amazing results, whatever the goal.

If you want to find out more about what we do, then get in touch with us today and either myself or Kathryn will give you a call.

Just as soon as we’ve finished eating our lunch!

Ian