If there’s ever a time to lose your unwanted flab, the lead-up to Christmas is it. To prepare for all the turkey, chocolates and general Christmas foods, you need to get your wellness in shape and celebrity trainer James Duigan is the man to help you do it. His Clean & Lean diet plan asks you to cut out the ‘toxic’ foods that threaten your wellbeing and encourage the body to store fat. This means saying bye-bye to alcohol, sugar and processed foods and bringing on the fish, lean meat – including turkey and chicken – and fresh, preferably organic vegetables.
Duigan explains, ‘My diet works on the principle that your body’s natural state is lean and fit, not sluggish and fat. But processed foods and drinks and excess sugar pollute the body, causing fat to cling to the hips, thighs, bum and tummy. However, as soon as you stop doing the wrong thing, your body responds very quickly, and you’ll get lean fast. But you have to believe you can do it. It doesn’t matter how often you have failed in the past. What matters now is focusing on what you want and taking action.’ So, which changes do you mean to make to your diet in order to get a flat tummy in time for Christmas?
1. Cut out the CRAP: An appropriate acronym if ever there was one, the CRAP – i.e. caffeine, refined sugar, alcohol and processed foods – is what you need to avoid on the Clean & Lean diet. According to Duigan, these foods are so crappy because they encourage fat to cling to your body.
2. Let yourself have a weekly cheat meal: Although the CRAP foods should be avoided, as part of the Clean & Lean diet you’re allowed – nay, required – to have an indulgent meal of whatever you fancy on a weekly basis. As long as you’re eating clean the rest of the time, you can choose a day every week in which you give in to temptation, be it from creamy pasta or a giant slice of chocolate cake. In fact, apart from helping you to go into craving-mode, an occasional high-fat treat actually speeds up your metabolism, meaning you’ll actually lose more weight.
3. Step up your supplement intake: While supplements are no replacement for good nutrition, one pill you should start popping is a fish oil supplement. These pills help you to burn up fat, as well as providing your body with essential fatty acids.
4. Never skip breakfast: Any dietician or nutritional wellness expert will tell you that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, especially when it comes to weight loss. That doesn’t mean that whatever you eat first in the morning will count as “breakfast” – you need to eat within one hour of waking up for it to count. If you’re not food-inclined first thing in the morning, or you don’t have time to sit down for a proper breakfast, grabbing a piece of fruit and a few nuts will do just fine.
5. Avoid eating late at night: As eating early in the day is good for helping you develop better abs, it logically follows that you should also eat your evening meal as early as possible. Your digestive system works better earlier on in the day, so you should try to avoid eating anything after 8pm. Not only is eating a large meal in the evening when your body is slowing down or sleeping is a bad idea for your weight, but it can also do a certain amount of harm to your digestive system, which can cause uncomfortable bowel troubles.