In his latest column, Olympic coach Nino Severino offers some advice to those looking to get back on track and lose some weight after the Christmas period.
It’s that time of year, the second week into the new year, when so many of the population are obsessed with their weight and their diets.
An incredible 44% of women and 31% of men are unhappy with their body image – and that’s before the Christmas period! I’m not quite sure what it is about Christmas, but it seems to send many of the population into a frenzy of buying, eating and drinking.
I had to pop into one of the supermarket chains on December 23 to buy a few bits and bobs, and to be honest, what I witnessed was absolutely jaw dropping. Some folks were loading their trollies to the point where items were slipping off and landing on the floor – by the end of my shopping experience, I felt quite depressed.
No doubt the total opposite to what the manager of the supermarket must have been feeling once he saw the final turnover for the day!
So here we are again, that part of the year where the diet companies are counting their profits after a massive amount of undisciplined dietary behaviour from a huge percentage of the UK population.
I must admit, it really does upset me when I am walking through town, or through a shopping centre – I am noticing more and more how the younger age groups are showing signs of obesity and even more depressingly, morbid obesity.
Young people with their whole lives ahead of them, struggling to walk properly because of massive bellies and general high body fat percentages.
We are spiralling out of control as a nation, and the Christmas period seems to be a trigger for many to indulge at a higher level than they already do so, only compounding the problem.
This is a deadly serious problem, with a staggering 617,000 obesity-related admissions to NHS hospitals during the 2017/2018 period.
We are sitting at the top of a league table, but it’s not one to proud of – more of our population are dying from being overweight or obese than any other country in Europe, a massively depressing fact.
To put this into perspective, one in every 11 deaths in the UK is linked to obesity, and to demonstrate how poor we perform amongst our fellow European countries, this is more than 50% higher than in France.
Another fact that really worries me is that experts are now warning that the number of fatalities that are caused by smoking, may be very soon taken over by deaths caused by obesity.
As a coach from the professional sporting world who has advised many athletes in terms of eating plans, I would like to offer a bit of advice to anyone who is struggling with weight control or who is trying to get back on track after the festive period of simply over indulging.
Here are some top tips which elite athletes use that may save you some money on diet fads, products, expensive slimming clubs and programmes, and could just make a difference in terms of how you take on the challenge of healthy living and weight control...and the power of your mind is absolutely key!
- Think long and hard about a number of deep and meaningful reasons to lose weight and eat healthily.
- Commit to creating a healthy and strong culture and environment.
- Strengthen your mind by reading ‘The Chimp Paradox’, learning how to control and harness the power of thought.
- Consult a professional dietician/nutritionist for help with education and support.
Create the above combination and you will not only give yourself a chance of eating healthily and losing weight, but it will be sustainable through the power of the mind, supported by solid advice and lifestyle education.
Good luck to all of you who are willing to give this approach a go, and as I say to many who I present to, if the ‘Chimp Paradox’ is attracting the attention of millions of athletes around the world, there must be a very good reason for it!
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