Facts about losing weight, which you need to know! ;)

Today, we bring for you an article by blogger Lucka (Angel-Inspiration).  Lucka has undergone in our Prague studio a special project named „ Are 30 days enough?“ under the supervision of our trainer Dominik. More information about the entire project and what Lucka learned from it and what you can learn too, will follow in the next article. Lucka has interviewed our Dominik about topics such as training, diet and all the questions, the majority of us are dying to know. 🙂 Now back to Lucka: Today’s article is dedicated to Dominik, who has been my support in the project “Are 30 days enough?”.  His gentle „bossing“ (which can be actually considered as a voice of my stronger inner-self) made me to push myself harder and harder towards the best possible result. And even though, I was cursing him a lot and I was imagining myself buying a small voodoo doll after every training, I am very grateful to him for all his patience. Any other trainer would probably give up, pack his things and leave. To be honest, I can be sometimes pretty annoying, but even so I am still kind of a sweet annoying person. I am that kind of girl you want to slap in her face, but she still makes the face like the puss in boots from Shrek. Meow. 🙂 But enough about me, I will talk more about myself in my next article, where we will talk more about lost centimetres, which do not lie. Let´s have a look at the answers to your questions, which Dominik has prepared for you.

1) Why did you become a trainer?

Why did I become a trainer? I have never had anything in my life that would make me feel „complete“. Since the moment, I started training, I have been thinking at school only about training and what to improve in nutrition and how to train more efficiently etc. When I went to bed, I was dreaming only about training, and when I woke up, the first thing I thought about was again training. I finally knew for the first time in my life, what kind of job I wanted to do. I have met so many people, who were complaining about their job, their boss and colleagues. I didn´t want to be like them. I wanted to do, what I like, because I knew that it will never feel like „work“. I knew, that one day, I will do this for living, I just didn´t know, when exactly.

2) How to start excercise, when one has zero stamina?

It is simple, you should just aim for reasonable goals, have firm will and dedication. It is self-explanatory that, if I weight 150 kg, I cannot immediately start to sprint. At first, I can start with speed walking, I can walk 2 km, next time I can try to walk 2,2 km and more and more I will increase the distance . If I live on 4th floor, I will not use the elevator, but I will start to walk the stairs. If I won´t make it at the first time, it is ok, I will take some rest and then start again and again…Of course the goals I am aiming for , have to be reasonable , the kind of goals which can accomplished in really short time. Many people have a goal to lose 5 kg within 1 week. They won’t amount that and than they are demotivated. I cannot expect, that if I didn´t take care of my body for 30 years, it will be ok after one week of healthy food and exercise. Many people do not realize this. This is one of the first things I am explaining to my clients.

3) Which excercises are the best for the hips?

I am assuming that you wish to know, how to lose weight from your hips. Unfortunately I have to disappoint you. The fact, that you will exercises certain part of your body, doesn’t mean that you will lose weight exactly there. The body looses weight when it is in deficit of calories (you use more energy than you consume). And in which body part are we going to lose weight? Ask your genetics. It is very individual. Some people lose fat at first from their ass, some from the belly; unfortunately many women lose it at first from their breasts. You will lose fat from all over your body, but at some body parts you can see it happening faster. But to answer your question, I would choose stabilization training on bosu or knee-bends for the hips.

4) What do you think about the milk in the coffee?

Let´s talk about the milk at first. Milk can cause several problems in an adult body, most of all digestive problems. Many people are allergic to protein included in milk , named casein. Another problem is that most of adult people are not able to digest the lactose and they suffer under gassiness, cramps and diarrhoea.  Another thing is, that the lactose is transforming in your body into carbohydrates (sugar), which get stored in your body in form of fat. Now let´s talk about the coffee. My personal opinion about coffee is very positive, it is a great stimulant, which influences our nervous system and we are able to focus more. It has also very positive influence on our metabolism. Thanks to caffeine, we are able to burn a bit more fat during our physical activity. Well it is one of the main ingredients of all of the pre-training supplements and fat-burners. But when it comes to coffee with milk, I am not so positive about this combination. It tastes great but it has no positive effect on your body. On the contrary, majority of us consumes the coffee in order to wake up, but the milk degrades the caffeine and its effects are small and it can even create mucous in our intestines, cause constipation, abdominal bloating. So yes to coffee, but without milk!

5) What should we eat, when we are trying to lose weight and what should we avoid?

The losing weight process should be started by setting goals and then thinking about professional support. Nevertheless I would start step by step. First step- I will stop eating sweets and drinking sweet lemonades, second step – I will start eating regularly, step 3- I will start thinking about every single meal, that I will consume. It should be well balanced, there should be all necessary components, vitamins, step four- if I decide to go for strict diet, I have to measure my portions, so I know how many calories I consume. If I won´t be losing weight, I have to eat less, if I am losing weight, but I´m starving, that is also not the right approach and I have to eat more. These easy steps will bring you to results; you just need your own sweet time. 🙂

6) What is the best thing to consume after training except the protein?

It is very individual, you can eat some fruits, but if you are on a diet, I would restrict the consumption of the fruits. You can also take some protein and one hour and half after the training you should eat some proper meal, ideally meat and rice, potatoes or another high quality source of carbohydrates. You can also have some fat in a form of olive oil.

7) Do you prepare also menus?

I do not make menus, but diet plans. Menus are created by restaurants. The price may vary. Usual client pays around 899,- ,but if I am dealing with professional athlete, the price will be higher and depending a lot on their goals and expectations.

8) I need to make my belly more firm, which excercises are the best for me?

In a case of a beginner it can be different variations of sit-ups, but I would be very careful and watch over their technique. Therefore I would go for easier option-for example training on a fit ball.  You can also try stabilization exercises, knee-bends, plank etc. Actually, almost any kind of exercise where we train our core is efficient. I also would not suggest to overdo it with big amount of different exercises and series, it is kind of a small muscle and it doesn’t need such a big focus. Nevertheless, the belly is usually mostly formed in the kitchen. J

9) What should we eat for dinner, so our body would not have to digest too much?

I would not be worried about overwhelming you stomach with digestion. You are going to sleep and you do not have to care, what is happening in your stomach, unless your stomach feels heavy and you not able to sleep well. Therefore I would suggest to go for milk product such as Cottage cheese -you digest it within ca. 6 hours and therefore it slowly gives you protein overtime and no catabolism will occur (which basically means breakdown of muscle fibbers) . If someone is lactose intolerant, he can also eat fat fish such as salmon or meat. If you can add some carbohydrates to your dinner as well, depends on your goals and metabolism.

10) What do you think about 100% vegetable and fruit  juices?

I have quite neutral attitude towards vegetables in general. I like vegetables, they taste great but you should not expect that their consumptiom will give you some extra dose of vitamins and the same goes for fruits. Thanks to the way they are grown, the soil is quite acid and the fruit many times matures in the airplane on its way to the shop. So we cannot expect any miracles, however the vegetables are good source of fibber, which helps to clean the intestine, but in big amount it can cause abdominal bloating. Fruit contains fructose and that is sugar. This one has one advantage, it fills in also the liver glycogen, which is important for our bodies to function right.  But we need only small amount of it.

11) If I will start running, can I notice some changes?

For sure you can, especially in your physical condition. But if you wish to change your body, for example lose some fat, your need to create deficit of calories for your body. Running can also burn more muscles than fat, which is in most of the cases unwanted effect. Therefore we should set our intensity well , so we have our pulse frequency between 130-140 beats per minute. Or we can try intermittent sprints.

12) What do you think about training at home?

Training at home can be good, but honestly, who enjoys it? Are you honestly able to do it for 100%? If you turn on TV and do some sit-ups during watching and then you leave to the kitchen to fry some meat… this kind of training makes no sense nor effect.

13) What are trainers good for?

Well trainer helps his clients amount their goals (helps, he will not do it for them, as many people assume). Trainer should be someone that we trust, listen to and we take his advices seriously. He should also know a bit of your personal life and take over some of your stress or your fear from the results. You only have to trust him and do everything according to his advices. Of course, if trainer orders you to do something, or to follow certain diet, he should know why, so feel free to ask. Lucka