Mark Anthony, also known as the “Body Genius”, is not only one of London’s most prestigious fitness gurus, but also one of the UK’s leading celebrity personal trainers.
Here are Mark’s top tips to getting in shape and making 2011 a year you look and feel fantastic.
1. EAT ENOUGH
If you are hungry a couple of hours after a meal, you haven’t eaten enough
Space out meals evenly
Evening is the most frequent binge time and is often a result of restricting calorie intake during the day
Do not eat late at night
Eat protein and fat at lunch, carbohydrates in the evening
2. DRINK ENOUGH WATER
Water is the best appetite suppressant
Drink water before reaching for food, often we mistake thirst for hunger
3. CHOOSE FOODS THAT HOLD YOUR BLOOD SUGAR STEADY
Some foods cause a blood sugar spike leading to more snacking
Low GI foods (most fruits, vegetables, grains and pulses) act as a constant source of energy and prevent snacking later in the day
Cut down on fats to improve insulin sensitivity
4. BE GENEROUS WITH FIBRE
Fibre is found in fruits, vegetables, pulses and whole grains
Provides bulk, making foods fillings without being fattening
Allows food to be digested slowly, avoiding the rapid changes in blood sugar and giving you natural resistance to snacking
Stimulates your body to release natural appetite-suppression hormones
Helps your body transport fat and calories through the digestive system
High-carbohydrate foods cause the brain to produce serotonin, which boosts moon and makes you feel better
Eat more raw foods
5. BOOST APPETITE-TAMING LEPTIN
Hormone that helps control appetite and cravings
Increase metabolism
Low-fat plant-based diet keeps leptin levels up, while fatty foods suppress leptin
Low-calorie diet will make body misinterpret diet as starvation and fat cells will quickly slow down leptin production so that appetite can increase again
Skipping meals or eating less than your body needs will reduce the amount of leptin in your blood and will impair your leptin system for the long haul
6. START WITH A HEALTHY BREAKFAST
Sets tone for entire day
Skipping breakfast will make you overcompensate at lunch and snacks and overall calorie intake will be higher than if you had eaten breakfast
7. BEAT CRAVINGS
Cravings are often a symptom of mineral deficiency, if you have a persistent craving for particular food, chances are that your body is craving a specific mineral or even several minerals
Don’t keep foods you want to avoid at home
Change places/ people/ schedule that ten to trigger binges
Go to bed earlier, fatigue fuels cravings
Cut down on alcohol, it dissolves will power
Taste buds have a memory of about three weeks. Commit to changing your diet for three weeks to help break craving cycles and eliminate undesirable foods
Beat premenstrual cravings by keeping fat intake low, this allows oestrogen to stay at more modest levels throughout the month, so it will never climb too high or drop too low in the week before your period
8. REDUCE OR ELIMINATE ADDICTIVE FOODS
Dairy, gluten, sugar and chocolate are highly addictive
Like recreational drugs, they work on your brain’s pleasure centre and trigger a greatly exaggerated dopamine response
They stimulate opiate receptors in the brain
9. EAT IMMEDIATELY AFTER A WORKOUT
Most important meal of the day for fitness
Eat fruit immediately following fitness
To recover quickly from a workout with minimal soreness eat a simple carbohydrate source as soon as possible after finishing training
Avoid fat after a workout, it slows down digestion time and impedes absorption of protein and carbohydrate
10. INCLUDE SUPERFOODS IN YOUR DIET
Have a super food smoothie for breakfast and a super food protein shake before or after a workout
For more information on Mark go to http://markanthonysuk.com/
