Doesn’t that sound enticing? Take this shake, swallow those fat burner pills, or follow a very rigid and very low calorie diet and fat will magically melt off you. Does it work? But more importantly, do the results last?

At this time of year a lot of people are looking to drop a few (or more) kilos of fat and of course everyone would like it to happen fast and preferably without having to put too much effort into the process.

I have to tell you though, that generally the result you get is pretty much commensurate with the amount of effort you put in. There is no magic, no fairy dust, no quick fix that lasts. I suspect that most of us have been there and tried that, achieved short term success and then regained lost weight. I did it so many times in the past, until l learned what to eat and made it a long term (most of the time) lifestyle. Making, and keeping, the right lifestyle habits will not only keep you in the place you prefer to be, but it takes away the need to constantly go on and off ‘diets’.

My view of success is that you get down to where you want to be, body composition-wise, and then you stay very close to that – forever. This means that you can pull on a pair of jeans you hadn’t worn for a few years and they still fit. How good does that feel? It takes away the need to have fat wardrobes, skinny wardrobes and those in between. I think most women reading this will relate, but also most women reading this don’t really believe it is possible. Of course it is, but you have to maintain the lifestyle habits to be able to do so.

With that in mind, there are still two more weeks in which ex clients can sign up for my ex client 7-week Spring offer.

Obesity and cancer

While on the topic of excess body fat, did you know that there is a strong association between increased body fat and a higher breast cancer incidence in post menopausal women? In fact, obesity has been found to be involved in several cancers, as obesity increases the incidence of inflammatory chemicals in the body; it can also cause insulin resistance (with resultant higher circulating glucose) and as obesity is often the result of unhealthy lifestyle habits (lack of exercise, excessive alcohol, processed foods, lack of vegetables, etc), all of which have all been found to increase the risk of several cancers.

Most people are aware that a poor quality lifestyle is a risk for elevated blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease, but not so many are aware of the risk it poses for cancer. It is never too late to make changes to your lifestyle and, long term, it may improve the quality of your life.

It's still cold out there

While it might now be September, it doesn’t seem as if winter is going to let go of its grip anytime soon. This soup recipe has been so popular with clients that I thought I’d put a link here too. The good thing about soup is that you can use up sad looking veggies from the fridge and very little needs to go to waste.

Just because it is cold, it doesn’t mean you need to hibernate. Exercise is important, wrap up well, grab an umbrella and make it happen! Or join a gym, exercise class, swim in a heated pool or hire a piece of exercise equipment. Just. Do. It.