Views, Magic Ingredients and Intention
- Active Living Active Living
- Feb 10
- 5 min read
Welcome back to another edition of my Coach Catchup and Blog here on Active Living 4 All Coaching!I’m excited to have you here for this week’s update! In today’s post, I’ll be covering:
Magic WEIGHTLOSS Ingredient
Personal Development: Power of Intention
2025 HARD Challenge - February Progress
Disa Hike in Vaalkat Ravine
Training Updates
Keep scrolling to dive into all the details!
THE MAGIC INGREDIENT TO WEIGHT LOSS
I get asked all the time—sometimes daily—what the secret is to losing weight and, more importantly, keeping it off. Here's the truth: There’s no magical quick fix. The best long-term strategy is simply watching what you eat. After losing the weight, the key to maintaining it is repairing metabolic damage and transitioning back to a sustainable calorie intake.
Let’s get real: endless cardio sessions to burn more calories will help, but they won’t solve your nutrition. And here's why I say "nutrition" and not "diet." A diet implies something temporary. But what we need is to nourish our bodies, ensuring they function optimally.
Starving yourself by cutting out food groups, skipping meals, or jumping on the latest fad diet isn’t the answer. It only leads to metabolic damage and frustration, and guess what? You’ll often end up back at your starting weight, and more often than not, you'll gain an extra 5-15kg on top of that.
The Essentials of Weight Loss and Muscle Maintenance
To lose weight, you need to be in a caloric deficit. But to maintain muscle, you need to lift weights, do resistance training, and consume enough protein—about 1 to 1.5 grams per kilogram of body weight.
Here’s the most overlooked part: After hitting your goal weight, it's crucial to gradually increase your calories to maintenance levels. This process helps repair your metabolism and ensures you don’t gain the weight back. But this “reverse diet” phase is often neglected in coaching. In fact, it might be even more important than the weight loss phase itself.
Building Muscle: Patience is Key
To build muscle, you need to be in a caloric surplus and consume about 2 to 2.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. But don’t expect to see massive gains overnight! This process is slow and takes time—muscle growth requires hard work, consistency, and patience. You won’t become the next Arnold Schwarzenegger or a bikini model in a few months. That level of muscle definition requires time, grit, and dedication. And let’s be honest: most people just aren’t willing to commit to that level of discipline.
Trust Your Body, But Be Smart
Your body is incredible at compensating and trying to keep you alive and functioning. However, if you deprive it or follow an unbalanced plan, it might work for a while, but eventually, it will catch up with you. So why not take a smarter approach and allow your body to heal from those imbalances along the way?
The Most Important Piece: Patience
Finally, let’s talk about patience. If you want to be healthy, you need to commit to a long-term mindset. Health isn’t something you can achieve in 10 days, 21 days, or even 12 weeks. It’s a lifestyle change that requires consistent effort, day in and day out. This is a journey that will last for the rest of your life.
So, stay the course. Be patient with yourself. Nourish your body, stay disciplined, and make choices that set you up for lifelong success.
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT: POWER OF INTENTION:
A Must-Listen: Wayne Dyer's Wisdom for Your Health and Wellness Journey
This week, I tuned into a fantastic audiobook by Wayne Dyer, and I couldn’t recommend it enough. If you're looking for personal development insights, Spotify has an incredible collection of audiobooks—many of which are included with your subscription or even available for free!
Wayne Dyer’s teachings are not only inspiring but also offer practical tools to support your journey in health, wellness, and nutrition. Whether you’re just starting out or looking for some extra motivation, this audiobook provides valuable wisdom to guide you along the way. It's definitely worth a listen! CLICK HERE for the SPOTIFY VERSION.
TRAINING UPDATE:
This week's training was great, did I get it perfect. By far no, but I was consistent. I did feel a bit of an energy slump. Keep reading to see what I did.
Upcoming Races:
FOR NOW - I am planning to do a Half Marathon in two weeks and then in the middle of March. The rest of the year will develop as we go on. There are a few ear marked but I will keep you all updated!
How I Overcame the Week 5/6 Slump in My Fitness and Weight Loss Journey
This week, I hit that familiar Week 5/6 slump that many of us face during a training routine or weight loss journey. It's a natural part of the process, but it can still feel frustrating when you’re pushing hard and start to hit a wall. I have been in a caloric deficit for the last 6 weeks and my brain and body started saying help.
So, how did I handle it? I decided to dial back the intensity on my cardio while keeping the intensity high in my weight training. I also introduced a 3-day refeed cycle into my routine. This is where you temporarily exit your caloric deficit and eat at maintenance or slightly above your usual calorie intake.
A refeed cycle can be a powerful tool for boosting energy levels and helping with metabolic recovery. But, and this is important, it can be risky if not managed properly. It's crucial to ensure you're doing it right so it doesn’t throw you off course. Balance and mindfulness are key when it comes to strategies like this!
In my case because I kept my protein intake the same but upped my carbohydrate and fat intake it hits a bit different. I have a bit of an auto immune flair sticking out it's head, BUT I realised my body and head needed to get out of deficit and just reset.
After that refeed you just go back to your deficit and your plan. The scale WILL go up on this days, as you consuming more carbs and have more water retention. DONT Worry you wont gain weight, it will go back down and a lot of times after it will probably go down to a new low.
This strategy is not the same for everyone - so make sure you discuss this with your coach first before you do something like this.
DISA's in VAALKAT RAVINE
Every year I try and go see the magnificent orchid on Table Mountain the Cape Disa. This year I switched things a bit and joined the Kirstenbosch Botanical Society on one of their walks. This was the perfect low intensity outing that my body and mind needed. It was an incredible day out! READ MORE HERE Read full Report on the day with all the photo's view and info on these incredible flowers.
HARD CHALLENGE: February - Progress
HARD Challenge Update: Progress and Insights So Far
The HARD Challenge is going strong! This week, I dedicated 80 minutes to learning new skills, which is a big win for me.
For those of you who are new to the blog,
I’ll link the January HARD and February HARD Challenge posts so you can catch up on what I’ve been working on.
As for my January continuation, I’m staying on track with my "once a week" treat—sugar. But here’s the thing: My body doesn't respond well to it. Every time I indulge, my inflammation levels spike, and I end up feeling sluggish and groggy. To be honest, I think I’ll be cutting back even further. Moving forward, I plan to keep those sugary treats for special occasions—far and few between. It's all about listening to your body and making choices that work for your long-term health!
Thank you for joining me for another update and catchup! Have a wonderful week and chat to you next week!
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