Do You Have A Microwave Mindset?

Too many microwave mindsets get in the way of what is really a crockpot journey.

www.joannaderry.com

If you’re trying to lose fat, especially that new belly fat, during perimenopause, menopause or after years of off-and-on dieting, yo-yo’ing with your weight etc, there are metabolic/hormonal implications at play that require you to be pretty committed to it and in the right mental/emotional place to be successful.

Let’s just clear the air here – it’s likely going to take longer than you want. 

But doing it right allows you to do it permanently. Besides, how much progress are you making right now?

Crockpots cook food slowly over a longer period of time. In the same way, true metabolic healing and effective fat loss often require time, patience, and consistency. A patient and systematic approach to improving metabolic function aims to address the root causes of metabolic slowdown, ensuring that the entire system is functioning optimally. This allows a focus on overall health, ensuring that muscle mass is gained/retained, metabolic stress is reduced, and metabolism improves.

Think of your body like a high-performance race car. If you fall into this demographic, you might as well also think of your car having been in some degree of car accident to conceptualise this properly [severity dependent on the person] that now requires your car to be in the garage, worked on, TLC’d, repaired etc, before it can return to the track [diet/program/fat-loss effort]… even a new track [new diet/program/fat-loss effort].

Doesn’t matter if you want to go out on a new track NOW or not. Car is not ready until it’s ready. Repairs take time.

And that’s what my most successful clients have done. They’ve accepted the recovery process, have been really consistent and are now back in the fat-loss game and making progress with improved metabolic function again.

www.joannaderry.com

The Amount You Sweat Isn’t An Indicator Of A Good Workout

There’s a common misconception that sweating equals calories burned. However, the reason some people sweat more than others has more to do with their biology and less to do with the quality of the exercise they’re doing.

Simply put, some people are just sweatier than others! The amount you sweat doesn’t equate to the number of calories you burn.

Sweating is your body’s way of cooling itself down. When your body temperature goes up (from things like hot weather, exercise, or situations that make you nervous) your sweat glands produce perspiration. The amount you sweat depends on the number of sweat glands you have. It also has to do with your age, general fitness level and body fat levels.

It also has to do with hydration levels – you might notice if you’ve had a large, salty meal you sweat a little more (if I’ve eaten a Domino’s pizza you can pretty much guarantee iI’ll be a sweaty b*tch in the gym the next day 😂 but it’s not because I’m working any harder).

Sometimes when I write a client a new programme, they’re amazed that they’re not getting as hot and bothered as they used to, yet they see better changes in their body shape. Especially clients that have come from a bootcamp, HIIT or group exercise background.

The key to a firm, toned body is a well structured training programme coupled with decent nutrition (and by ‘decent nutrition’ I don’t just mean rabbit food or chicken and rice 🥱)

So, even though I encourage you to train hard, don’t make the mistake of thinking more sweat = better results. It doesn’t.

If you’re unsure why you’re not seeing your shape change despite training hard, get in touch! I can give you the roadmap to start getting the results you want to see – minimal deodorant required 😉

Visit my website for more information on my training and nutrition packages, or send a message straight to my inbox 💪

www.joannaderry.com

The Tight Jeans Test

The more you focus on the scale or chase a number, the less likely you are to keep your weight off and ever be free from ‘diet prison’.

The scale is a data point. It tells you nothing about fat loss.. it needs context, and is one of the reasons my clients take measurements and monitor how their clothes fit.

🎶 TokyoSleep – Look At Me!

I say this so often, but I know it never gets old – the scale shouldn’t be your primary way of tracking progress and a number is not what you should be chasing. 

While it should be ONE of the ways INCLUDED in tracking progress, you should also track key measurements, track your overall consistency/compliance, and do a fitted clothing test as well. 

Using the same pair of jeans, or the same dress, every time are great ways to gauge progress. After all, who cares what the number on the scale says if those jeans don’t fit or the dress doesn’t zip up.

I love the scale when it says what we want it to, but, more often than not, it’s going to be annoying and given way too much attention. Positive or negative, its emotional impact has to be reduced. 

The best measurement or indicator of progress is in the fit of your clothing. Find a go-to clothing item or a too-tight pair of jeans and add that to your biweekly assessment. Pull them out and pull them on. The great thing about a tight pair of jeans is that unlike with the measuring tape where we only measure one particular spot, everything underneath those jeans is being measured at once so you get a much more accurate picture. They’ll pick up every little bit of progress, which a tape measure won’t, and that’s motivating in an area that matters.

I know when we are starting out, we may not be as excited and eager to track these things, but by taking the time to add this way of measuring progress, you end up with a more accurate understanding of how you’re doing and you get comparisons like these!

Try the tight jeans test for the win!

www.joannaderry.com

Does It Matter What Time Of Day, (Or How Often), You Eat?

Someone asked me earlier whether it matters what time of day, (or how often), you eat?

www.joannaderry.com

As per, my response to this question was “it depends”, and here’s why:

📍 From a fat loss perspective, meal frequency (how often you eat) is irrelevant. Provided your daily calories and protein are in check, you will lose fat regardless of your meal frequency.

With that in mind, choose whichever meal frequency works best for you.

📍 From a muscle gain perspective, there is strong evidence pointing to the efficacy of more frequent meals throughout the day. While you can build muscle with less frequent meals, (i.e. intermittent fasting), it’s clear that 3-5 meals throughout the day are superior for muscle growth.

📍 From a hunger perspective, it’s smart to eat on a consistent schedule. By all means choose whichever meal frequency works best for you.. but try to stick to a consistent schedule because your body will get hungry around the same times, and this makes it easier for you to plan and predict.

📍 From a strength and performance perspective, try to sandwich your workouts with carbs and protein.. you don’t need to be overly rigid with this.

Generally speaking, at least 25g of both protein and carbohydrates within 90 minutes before and after working out.

📍 From a healthy relationship with food perspective, if you struggle with binge eating it’s usually not a good idea to do intermittent fasting, as this can often perpetuate binge tendencies.

Otherwise, choose whichever meal frequency is most enjoyable and realistic for you.

www.joannaderry.com

“Ass to Grass” Squats Is Not More Glutes!

When looking at hypertrophy, a full squat is one that maximises the active range of motion for the muscle(s) you are trying to bias, which, for the most part, is either quads or glutes. BUT.. squats are also a great adductor magnus exercise if you decide to squat very deep/below parallel.

www.joannaderry.com

As you sink into a squat and obtain a greater degree of hip flexion, the glute max actually loses leverage and the adductor mag (the posterior fibres) gain leverage.

What this means is that, even glute biased squats, most likely will not be “deep” squats, e.g. squatting past parallel, or definitely anything so deep it causes you to shift into posterior pelvic tilt due to running out of room throughout the kinetic chain.

The glutes aren’t really doing much to move you out of the hole in a really deep squat because, basically, they have no leverage to do that, while the adductor magnus DOES.

Coming out of the hole, (wherever that is in a squat), it won’t be until you hit around mid-range that the glutes will start to gain leverage again when there’s a hand off from the adductor mag to the glute max to finish up hip extension. Then, of course, there’s basically no resistance drop after the usual sticking point, with nothing going on at the top.

What this means is DEEP SQUATS ARE NOT MORE GLUTES.

“But there’s a study that shows glute growth with deeper squats!” Actually, all this means is the glutes got the growth stimulus going through that mid-range area in the squat, and the adductors grew just as much from squatting as the glutes did.

“The adductor magnus appears to play a pivotal role in hip extension during the squat, producing, on average, more than 50% of the net hip extension moment” – Vigotsky (2016)

In addition to this, there’s a mountain of evidence to show that the glute max produces more force going INTO zero degree of extension with a flexed knee (think bridges and hip thrusts rather than squats).

Yes, squats can create glute growth, but, for ‘more’ glute growth, prioritise hip thrusts, deadlifts (particularly Romanians), single leg leg presses and cable kickbacks with external rotation and sprinkle in the other exercises to create a well rounded program. 

www.joannaderry.com

Moaning Myrtle

I caught myself complaining about the weather this morning.. we’ve gone from Indian summer to autumnal overnight in the UK!

🎶 Lenny Kravitz – Believe

Then, after catching myself.. I stopped in my tracks.

“Do I want to carry on thinking like this for the rest of the day?”

My energy is off.. it’s negative!

Do I want to bring this mood home to my family?

FUCK NO.

I consciously focused on something positive – I’d woken up this morning in a warm bed with a roof over my head and good health.. I instantly felt better.

I’ll be honest with you, I’m an open book, I have worries, doubts, and negative thoughts all the time, BUT one thing that’s helped me.. getting good at catching them when they appear, and I’m getting much better at it.

It’s like a game now, a negative thought appears.. catch it, SQUASH it and focus on something positive.

I can’t control all my thoughts, but I can choose how I respond to them..

❌ I can focus on how tough it is being a parent

✅ or on how lucky I am to have children

❌ I can focus on how far away I am from achieving all of my goals

✅ or how far I’ve come.. and enjoy the journey I’m on.

It’s all about perspective. It’s all about how I choose to respond.

I’m the captain of my ship.. and so are you 👊🏻

www.joannaderry.com

What You Really Need For Fat Loss

We lead very busy lives.. there’s no doubt about it.

Because of this, it can be tempting to think we need to be constantly excited by new diets, new superfoods or 10 different glute exercises.

It can be all too easy to fall into the trap of wanting a quick fix, a “kickstart” or some fast solution to our weight gain.

Stop. Breathe. Re-focus.

🎶 Cold 187um, Ice Cube – Until The Wheels Fall Off

Instead, manage your time in a way that gym work, meal prep and mind-body care become priority.

Get used to meals that are easily repeatable. By all means experiment with different recipes, spices and foods, but avoid the temptation of jumping on food and diet bandwagons.

Fall in love with the basics.. or at least embrace/accept them.

Because what you think you need:

📍 More time
📍 More food variety
📍 More workout options
📍 A new diet
📍 More motivation

Couldn’t be further away from what you actually need:

📍 Better time management
📍 More consistency with healthy staples
📍 More consistency with basic lifts
📍 A better relationship with food
📍 Improved environment management

www.joannaderry.com

The 321 Method

The 321 method that has really helped a lot of my clients to not only improve their sleep quality, but also helped them to reach, and sustain, their health and fitness goals:

3 hours before bed – STOP EATING

2 hours before bed – STOP DRINKING

1 hour before bed – STOP LOOKING AT YOUR PHONE

🎶 Björk – It’s Oh So Quiet

Try this method every night for the next couple of weeks and let me know what differences you notice with your health, lifestyle and training.

www.joannaderry.com

My Biggest Diet Tip For People Who Love To Eat!

I’ve never been able to relate to those people who say they “forget to eat”. I’m like how??? See, I’m that person who thinks about lunch whilst eating breakfast. I just love FOOD.. And eating. (Does chewing count as a hobby? 😂)

www.joannaderry.com

But sometimes that can be problematic as I also like looking a certain way. (And I enjoy being able to fit into my jeans without having to brace myself, lie down on the floor and do a weird dance..)

A lot of the people I coach would describe themselves as foodies who want to lose weight too. If you also fall into that category, here is the biggest tip I can give you to help you manage your weight WITHOUT having to live on salad and sadness..

**Drumroll**

Instead of doing a drastic overhaul of your diet, think calorie swaps instead!

Now that might sound obvious, but for some reason when people decide to lose weight they jump straight from eating whatever they want to some strict meal plan or really plain food.. and then wonder why they get bored?!

When I work with a new client, the first thing I do is get them to give me a food diary and there are a couple of reasons for this:

📍 I can see how many calories their current diet contains.

📍 I can see how they actually LIKE to eat.

I then write example meal plans and make suggestions based on that. Small changes that eventually add up to a big one (without them realising it’s happening!). For example, let’s say this was a day of eating for you..

Breakfast – skinny iced latte and 2 pieces of toast with butter and jam.

Instead of staring into a tupperware of oats (that you don’t really enjoy) you could start by switching the toast to one piece, a bagel thin, or a lower kcal bread option, going super light on the butter, and switching to a reduced sugar jam. I’d also pop a yoghurt or protein shake on the side, to make sure you’re losing body fat, not muscle mass and help keep you fuller for longer!

Lunch – Tesco Meal Deal.

Instead of getting you to prep lunch from scratch (that you don’t have time to do or goes gross in your bag whilst you’re sat at your desk) you could just make smarter choices to bring the kcals down – plug your regular meal deal choice into MyFitnessPal and then see if you can choose something that brings the protein up to 25g, contains a serving of fruit or veg and has 100-200 fewer calories in it.

Dinner – Spaghetti Bolognese

Instead of having to forgo one of your weekly favourites (and/or have to cook something separate for you and the kids), you could switch the mince for 5% fat, reduce (or even remove) the amount of pasta and cheese and bulk out with a tonne of veg instead.

PM Snack – Bar of chocolate/bag of sweets.

Those after-dinner sweet cravings hit and you’re off rummaging through the cupboards (or popping down the shop). Instead of telling yourself TV snacks are off the menu, treat yourself to big bowls of berries, sugar-free jellies, low-calorie ice creams/lollies, skinny popcorn, or even just buy a smaller bag of the sweets you’d normally get!

If you were to put these tweaks in place, you could easily save up to 500kcal across the course of the day without really changing too much and if you could save 500 calories a day from what you’re currently eating you’ll lose half a kilo of body fat a week. Meaning in 12 weeks you’ll have lost nearly a stone! (And I haven’t even told you how you can increase this with exercise yet).

Honestly, I can’t stress this enough, dieting does not have to be a big long painful slog. Yes, it takes effort, but most people (and coaches) make it harder than it needs to be.

wwe.joannaderry.com

Gym Progress Checklist – They All Count!

Progress does not purely have to be focused on what you see in the mirror. Losing body fat or building muscle do not always have to be your only focus.

www.joannaderry.com

Often we feel like we’re not improving with our training.. especially when all we measure progress on is the mirror.

But, if you take a step back and look at your training from a different angle, you’ll likely realise you’re doing a lot better than you think.

If you’re struggling to see your progress, ask yourself:

📍 Am I getting stronger? Doing more reps with the same weight; more weight for the same reps.. that’s improvement.

📍 Am I recovering faster? Doing a set of split squats and not feeling like your heart is going to fall out of your chest if you don’t rest for 5 minutes.. that’s progress.

📍 Is my capacity improving? Tolerate more quality working sets.. again, progress.

📍 Am I in less pain? Training pain free in the gym; less pain in everyday life.. amazing.

📍 Is my technique improving? Weight on the bar staying the same but technique noticeably improving.. yep, that’s also progress.

📍 Has my mobility improved? Able to squat deeper.. that’s improvement.

As well as the physical aspects of your training, don’t forget about the mental affects:

📍 Am I feeling more confident? Walk in with a purpose; know what to do; excited to be in the gym.. confidence has improved.

📍 Has my mood improved? Feeling more positive; better connection with family and friends; renewed zest for life.. mood has improved.

These things ALL matter.

These things are ALL progress.

Chances are, you’re progressing more than you realise! It’s just not always the kind of progress you look for enough!

Cut yourself some slack and enjoy your journey 💪

www.joannaderry.com