John Lark

What is with our obsession with the scales?

Our obsessions with what the scales read are now a firm imprint on our daily lives. The medical community thrust the BMI scale upon us and tell us what degree of obesity we are.

Discussions around the dinner table, at work, with relatives and now even with child revolve around ‘how much you weigh / have lost / put on’ etc.

Our subconscious is primed with images of slim celebrities who ‘look fabulous’ and ultimately as a culture we now model ourselves on these body types and images.

Time to take check and propose that all is not what it seems. In fact I would argue that what the scales demonstrate is very little in terms of what state of health, fitness and ‘looks’ you are in.

For example you can be fit but not necessarily very healthy. What do I mean by this? Well, as Barry Sears author of Toxic Fat argues, skinny people may not possess a genetic disposition to store body fat in visible areas (bums, legs and tums). They do however, possess the not-so-good ability to convert fatty acids into excess free radicals that wreak havoc upon us causing us to age early, fall ill, cannibalise muscle to be used as fuel and weaken our bones.

So ‘no’ the skinny bitch can’t eat anything she likes and not put on a pinch. It doesn’t work like that. I mean think of it like this? Do you honestly think that you can-not be effected by a diet of cigarettes, coffee, skipped meals and special K for breakfast? Delusional. Mad. Call it what you want.

So, what do the scales tell us? Ultimately they tell us our weight. But weight of what? We are made up of muscle, fat, water, a connective frame that includes bone, tendons ligaments etc etc.

And what about the skinny work collegue? How much inflammation is she dealing with on a deeper level? ( If you would like to know how then I suggest you take a live blood analysis consultation. You will see first hand how ‘clean’ your blood is and ultimately how healthy you are)

It is disheartening to see so many of us become hung up on our weight and what the scales say. Your weight can fluctuate throughout the day. No one knows the exact why this happens. Some scientists propose that it could be to do with your fluid levels. But imagine hopping on the scales after a gym session and seeing you lost 2lbs. Great. Later on in the day, the scales creep back up 2lbs. Disappointment sets in. You may even think about quitting.

Celebrities lose weight at an astronomical weight. 7lbs in 2 weeks. 4lbs in a day with the new ‘wraps’. 40lbs in 6 weeks was the best one I heard. What is actually happening?

Lean bodies with good levels of health determined by blood tests will possess 10% of their body weight as fat in males and between 14-16% in females. Visible muscle definition will be evident.

Who would you put in this class? Models? Fitness Professionals? Celebrities? The cast of Desperate Housewives?

Well, think again. Models possess very high levels of body fat, up in around the 20% range. How can this be? Their diets that force them to eat skinny i.e. below what they would need in terms of their daily calorific amount to maintain their weight coupled with a diet rich in cigarettes, alcohol, stress and zero exercise will force them to burn fat AND muscle.

They are sick and tired. The scales say one thing, their vicious mood swings, aging skin and lack of muscle tone says another.

What about the BMI and all these Liquid ‘Get Slim Quick Formulas? An Olympic rower around 16 stone and 6 foot 4 is categorised as ‘Obese’ by the BMI. It neglects to look at body a fat level which in all cases is below 10%. Try telling 4 time Olympic Gold Medallist, Steve Redgrave he is obese!

Equally the liquid get slim quick diets are a complete joke. How can sipping away for 2-3 meals a day on a cocktail of artificial colourings, sweeteners devoid of ALL nutrients be good for you?

Fat stores are depleted from our muscles and liver. But our muscles are also depleted as our bodies, like hunger starved dogs, search for their next source of energy – your muscles and the protein that is contained within.

Try and embrace how much body fat you are carrying over what the scales tell you. A skilled exercise physiologist will be able to measure your body fat levels. Better still, just aim to get healthier. Have you ever seen a healthy fat person?

Is it as easy as drinking your food? No. Is it as easy as relying solely on the scales? No. Keep focused on your body fat levels. Have them accurately taken and then set about meeting the challenge. The bikini body is about to be unravelled and the age of the ‘skinny fat’ will be long gone.

John Lark is a personal trainer in maynooth. Visit his web site www.spherefitnessstudio.com to claim your free report and one euro trial

As a personal trainer in maynooth, I have found that it is widely accepted in the fitness and fat loss community that the more a food product places on marketing, hype, colourful packaging and ‘in your-face’ labelling the worse it is for your waistline.

Take for instance Breakfast Cereals. Advertising budget of millions. Characters to sell the product to kids and so on. If you left it outside for a night rest assured even wild animals would leave it alone.

Compare this to Organic Wild Salmon. It doesn’t even get a mention in Reader’s Digest.

If you are looking to shrink your waistline and reduce your level of body fat then keep things simple and prevent falling victim to the marketing hype.

For example, the ‘low fat’ label that is attached to most, if not all, ‘healthy’ products is misleading and just scandalous.

How can a cereal bar packed full of sugar in its flimsy 100 calorie frame be anything more than a recipe for waistline disaster?

First of all, products like this that are ‘low in fat’ are also low in nutrients. They are devoid of vitamins and minerals that provide with life, vitality and energy.

Compare the Jaffa Cake to the humble Orange.  Both are low in calories. Yet one has more nutrients – can you tell which one?

Yoghurt is healthy enough without an added 2 teaspoons of sugar, masked with all the health benefits of healthy bacteria that is good for your gut.

If you want healthy bacteria then take a supplement. A quick swig on a pot that wouldn’t feed a toddler isn’t going to do it.

The problem with the ‘low fat’ staples is that they are just that – low in fat.

Food manufacturers remove key nutrients from the food to make it taste better. Ever wondered why you just can’t stop at one biscuit?

Biscuits, cakes and other processed ‘low fat items’ are also rich in things like inverted sugar syrup, glucose-fructose syrup and such like. These are as bad, if not worse, than consuming sugar. Take sugar, distort its chemical make-up and bingo you have the main part of what is your cereal bar.

We need fat. Good fats. The fats you find in nuts, seeds, oils such as avocado, walnut, hemp, olive and fish oil.

We even need saturated fat. The fat that comes with good old coconut oil and raw butter.

If you can imagine your body being nothing more than a complex network of cells that make up  our organs, skin, hair and body parts then you will see why.

Each one of these cells has an outer wall called a membrane. This membrane is made up of fat. All sorts of bodily reactions are dependant on this membrane doing its job. It must allow hormones in to allow a reaction to occur inside the cell. It must allow substances out too, like the release  of body fat from adipose tissue.

A diet that has a sensible mix of fat will ensure that this membrane does its job. Stuff comes in, stuff comes out.

Can you imagine if it didn’t? Hormones, nutrients and fluids would not be allowed in (or find it very tough) and other substances would find it hard to get in too.

Becoming a fat-phobic will do nothing for your waistline or your health.

However, the devil is always in the detail.

If you are on a calorie controlled nutrition plan then you would be wise to ensure that you don’t use this to splurge on your favourite double cream.

Instead work it into your calorie budget. If you know that you can maintain your weight on 1800 calories then think before you use these up in one feast of steak and raw butter.

Rest assured you will get fat if you eat over your calorie allowance, even if it is considered ‘healthy’.

It is, however, not surprising that once you remove all the processed and packaged foods from your calorie budget how much you have room for the foods that provide you with all the tools necessary to reach your health and fitness goals.

Fish, good quality meats, vegetables and good old-fashioned healthy fats.

John Lark is a personal trainer based in Maynooth, Kildare. Visit The Sphere Fitness Studio and claim your complimentary assessment and trial session now!

There was a time when breakfast used to be the time when most of the family were together.
Papa Smurf popped off to work after reading the paper, Mamma Smurf cooked up the eggs and cereals, whilst the kids lamented over their day at school.

Fast-forward 50 years.

Most people are on their way to work before the sun rises. Kids are hurried off one arm in jumper with the other grabbing a bit of toast. Mum in the meantime is grabbing a bit of lippy and providing a gentle but firm kick up the backside to get out of the door.

Yet we all know and rightly so – breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

Skipping it altogether will tee you up nicely for fat gain. Particularly around the mid-rift. Through years of looking at eating habits and body fat distribution patterns I can firmly say that whose who skip breakfast consistently end up looking like a pear.

In same light using a cereal box as your method of starting the day has also had a large part to play in keeping people erring towards the muffin top shape.

Most of us are familiar with the food pyramid?

Well try the reverse food pyramid in the sense that make your breakfast the largest meal of the day and taper off your calorific intake as the day progresses.

Assuming that we all know that 5-6 ‘feedings’ are better than 3 ‘fill-your-boots- type’ meals then your calorific intake at each meal would look like this if you were shooting for 1500 kcal a day:

Breakfast – 400 kcal, Meal 2 – 200 kcal, Meal 3 – 300 kcal Meal 4 – 200 kcal Meal 5 – 200 Meal 6 – 200 kcal

Better blood sugar management, leaner physique, no hunger, better moods, more food to eat (!!) and so on. What is there not to like about this?

You see instead of perpetuating a cycle of sugar cravings by leaving gaps between meals (longer than 2-3 hours) we are actually feeding our bodies regularly.

So what’s the big deal with breakfast?

What you eat first in the day will determine your hormonal and energy levels. Try this practical experiment. For the next five days try meat, salad and nuts breakfast.  Think of it as having dinner for breakfast.

See how your energy levels are for the rest of day. Then go back to your cereal based breakfast and compare.

I will guarantee more energy and certainly less sugar cravings. It is unsurprising that your dopamine levels will increase providing you with extra ‘get-up-and-go’ to face the day.

Some other options for breakfast can be leftover dinner, homemade patties with a side salad or chicken breast with salsa or Guacamole.

Typical comments I have received in the past are ‘I felt like gagging’ and ‘where am I going to find the time?’

All I can say to this is – ‘try it, you won’t be disappointed’

So what then do you have for dinner? Try something light like a salad with cold meats or a Vegetable Omelette.

In fact Eggs are quick and easy to knock up alongside the fact that they are rich in choline, a nutrient geared towards optimal brain health. Not a bad food to have on your side if you are in the middle of a feeding frenzy at the zoo.

Most of my female clients have settled into the swing of cooking up their breakfast whilst knocking up dinners.

For the males this is a bit tougher. For most of them, reading the instructions on a Pot Noodle is as far as it goes.

Although one athlete I used to room with at college was caught emptying the contents of one a pot noodle into a saucepan before transferring it back into the pot to eat.

This is the same guy who assembled a flat pack bed downstairs.

So can you see how important your nutrition is to your brain health?

Start your day with a power breakfast, not some dehydrated excuses of fruit with an empty cereal. Prepare your food the night before whilst you cook your dinner. At worst have left-overs. Your brain, waist line and energy levels will thank you with open arms.

John Lark is a personal trainer and fat loss specialist combining nutrition, training and supplementation for tailored results. Download his free report at www.john-lark.com or call 01-5052131 for more information.

Spot reduction is a myth right? You can’t possibly shift that troublesome spot of cellulite off your thigh or kick the bingo-wings into touch – can you?  Well, yes you can and the answer lies, according to Olympic Strength Coach and founder of the ‘Biosignature‘ System, Charles Poliquin in your hormones.

Your body fat doesn’t just lay down fat in a random fashion to seemingly spite you. There is a pattern that has been unearthed by functional medicine experts and endocrinologists that determines where you possess your body fat is a reflection of your hormonal activity.

The science behind this has been around for years. Take for instance our belly. When we are stressed we release a hormone called cortisol. This is our fight or flight response hormone or a low-grade adrenaline that used to help us get the hell away from lions and other man-eating predators.

The only thing now is that we don’t have any of those around, unless you include the gaggle of women spilling out of our night clubs.

Our bodies are in essence still primal. Our genetic coding has changed 0.01% in 40,000 years. Not much in the grand scheme of things. But yet we still continue to produce cortisol at a rate which we find it hard to live with.

Do we still run away from lions? No.

What has happened, and this has been unearthed by scientists, is that the higher your cortisol levels, the higher your belly fat readings making you more prone to the nasties such as Syndrome X and dislipidemia.

Men can also take note that incidences of male breast cancer and Gynecomastia (‘moobs’) is on the rise.

High levels chest and arm fat can be correlated to your levels of aromatisation or how male or female you are.

Men are not designed to have breasts. Common symptoms include crying at Little House on the Prairie and shopping for bras.

This is not normal and what is increasingly more worrying is that functional medicine experts are in agreement that for males this elevates your risk of prostate cancer

What about your love handles? Your love handles and fat that you carry on your back are reflective of your insulin management.

Genetically a carbohydrate or sugar tolerant individual will carry little fat on their back. However, your love handles may carry a sufficient amount of fat. This is a classic case.

Skipping meals and or consuming too much carbohydrate will elevate your circulating insulin levels making you insulin resistant rather than insulin sensitive. So, as you consume sugar instead of being shuttled to the muscles for energy, you push it into your fat cells.

Bad news. This coupled with a high level of back fat and abdominal fat will significantly increase your risk of dislipidemia and other nasty scourges on society such as cancer.

Fat around the legs is also indicative of your estrogens (the female hormones) and growth hormone activity. High levels on the calf and knee point to recurring sleep issues. Why are men carrying fat on their legs? The answer lies in too much circulating estrogens.

Did you know, for instance, that red wine and dark chocolate are excellent for clearing excess estrogens? 1-2 glasses a day of red wine and 3oz of 70% Coco Organic Chocolate, once or twice a week are excellent for this. The reason being is the high levels of Resveratrol – a nutrient that inhibits the action of estrogens at the cell receptor sites and inhibits aromatising enzymes.

Bad news is – more is not better.

The bottom line is this – it is not your fault. A combination of lifestyle, exercise and supplementation protocols can be used to combat each site resulting in a leaner and more importantly healthier individual.

So each bit of fat on your body tells us a story. It makes sense. Why do individuals carry fat all on their legs and not up the top? What about the individual who just cant shift the fat off the hips.

Spot reduction a myth? Not anymore. Here is a glass of red to a healthier and leaner new you.

John Lark M.A. is a Fat Loss Specialist and Personal Trainer in Dublin Learn more about his methods at www.spherefitnessstudio.com and download your ‘5 Top Tips for Fat Loss’.

Taking responsibility for your health and fitness is often the first and most crucial step on the path to your goals.

It is your fault that you dug into a box of biscuits and equally shovelled down 12 pints of beer at the weekend.  Equally so it is your choice that you watch mind-numbing (and at times rather depressing TV) rather than head out for a brisk walk.

Obesity is rife and climbing. Every day millions are lost through absenteeism and sickness in industry through people not looking after their greatest asset – themselves.

I often laugh as one of my personal training clients drives up in the latest offerings from the local sports car dealership, only to grumble at the prospect of having to buy organic meat.  This is the same person who raises an eyebrow ‘at the cost of food’ nowadays.

“That’s ok then” as I point to the car.

“Perhaps you can drive that car with you into the grave, then?”

Your body is designed for optimum performance – nothing less. How we have come to be devoid of a clean diet and lack of movement is beyond me. We function at well below par.

Our society is riddled with illness, disease, ailments that take an eternity to shift and  metabolic disorders such as high blood pressure and diabetes are all to prevalent.

My Dad won’t mind me saying this but he is a diabetic, type 2. This means he can manage the potentially fatal relationship between glucose (sugars) and the hormone insulin. I often raised an eyebrow at how he settled his sugar fix with a Mars Bar.

“The nurse told me to take onboard some sugars, if I ever felt like this”

“He forgot to mention that Orange Juice would also be a good idea”

Needless to say he is now enjoying managing his diabetes with exercise and herbs (alongside the odd dose of insulin managing drugs). But it was hard at the start. Here was a man ingrained in the ‘quick-fix’ mentality avoiding taking all responsibility for his health until it took control of him.

Here was a man resigned to putting his health in someone else’s hands for life. He was unwilling to see the alternatives. He was unwilling to go back to the basics – diet and exercise.

His ‘why’  however was strong enough to elicit a change. Eventually his sugars were getting hard to manage without taking 9 pills a-day. Alongside this the side-effects were shocking to live with. His grandson was born which drove him to ensure that he was round long enough to enjoy bringing him up.

What is your ‘why’?

I often use the example of an ‘Onion’ with my clients. Asking probing questions that you can do yourself is the first step. At all times you must remain honest to yourself.

Why do people primarily go to the gym? Answer – to look good naked. However, if you keep telling yourself that you want to feel good and just want to ‘tone up’ then you are in for a struggle.

I asked an executive the same question. He answered me with the platitudes of “I want to get rid of my belly”, “I want to tighten up”.

“What’s your real reason?” I asked

“What do you mean?” He replied

“Well, what do you mean by ‘getting rid of my belly’ – why is this important to you?”

A moment passed before a startling dose of honesty set in.

Well I am sick and tired of looking across the table and seeing guys older than me, ten times fitter. It makes me angry. They must think I am weak”

“That’s more like it – hold onto that thought”

Being responsible for your actions means peeling the layers of the onion until you get to your real answer, not some woolly platitude to make life easy.

This is your ‘why’ and something strong enough so that you will be motivated to keep on track whilst others fall away. It will allow you to get out of bed when the wind and rain is pouring. It will allow you to choose a swim over Eastenders. It will allow you to choose nutrient dense foods over packaged rubbish.

John Lark is a personal trainer combining exercise, nutrition and lifestyle strategies. He is based at The Sphere Fitness Studio, Maynooth Download your ‘5 Top Fat Loss Methods’ report at www.spherefitnesstudio.com

Choosing the right personal trainer can be a daunting task.

How do you know that your investment will be put to the most effective use and that the care of your well-being and nurturing of your goals is met with equal enthusiasm and a relentless pursuit?

Here are my top tips for choosing a personal trainer:

1) Check for relevant personal training qualifications coupled with experience in what you are looking to acheive.

So he has worked with football teams, is an Olympic level strength coach but can he deliver his results to you as a housewife with three screaming kids who just wants to ‘tone up’. There is no reasons why that level of expertise wouldn’t be able to deliver. They often have the experience and ‘know-how’ and in the trenches personal training experience to help you. But check first. As if they have worked with anyone similar to your goals.

2) Ensure that they carry the most up-to-date qualifications out there
Not only does this allow you to see that they are committed to bringing nothing but the best in terms of personal training qualifications, but it is a sign of their professionalism and pursuit of excellence.

3) Do they walk the walk?
Look at your personal trainer? Do they look as of they have been out drinking the night before and feasting on bagels and cream cheese? Your personal trainer should be a shining example of what you hope to acheive. Anything less and you may find it harder to achieve your personal training goals than you think.

4) Try them out
Most successful personal training companies or personal trainers will allow you to sample thier services with no obligation. Ask if they can offer you a guarantee with their services or some form of trial period. If their methods or level of training doesn’t work out then you haven’t lost anything. At the Sphere Fitness Studio we offer a complimentary lifestyle assessment to see of you are ready for the level of personal training we deliver. Our emphasis is on results through hard work and dedication rather than cotton woolling.

Call The Sphere Fitness Studio to arrange your complimentary personal training assessment now

John Lark M.A, CSCS is owner of The Sphere Fitness Studio a personal training company located in Maynooth with personal training in Dubin also available. He can be contacted at 01-5052131

Is there more to the old adage that to lose weight you must simply eat more and do less?

Well, yes and no.

Consume fewer calories than you expend by performing activities and exercise is a great place to start.

In fact if you are embarking on any fat loss project, I strongly recommend that you verify your calorific intake for 4-5 days.

The best way to do this is to grab a pen and paper and write down everything that you drink and eat (and I mean everything) for 4-5 days.

If you are more computer savvy then use a free online resource such as www.fitday.com where you can gain more information and see exactly how many calories you are consuming.

To lose weight effectively and find your ball park figure reduce your daily average that you have found by 10-20 per cent.

Why I am so against counting calories, points, records and stars? Because a calorie is not just a calorie.

There is so much more to take into account once we eat the foods that we do or drink the drink that we do.
Hormonally, some foods will have a vastly different effect on the body than other foods.

Take for instance an orange and a Jaffa cake. Both are low in calories and fat and rich in energy or ‘carbohydrate’. However, one is full of fibre, vitamins and will not spike your insulin levels the other is full of nothing but air, zero fibre and will send your insulin levels through the roof.

For an individual who does not tolerate carbohydrate or sugars very well ( witnessed by the spilling over of fat from our jeans) then they would be best to avoid certain foods that have a negative effect on our sugar hormone – insulin. These include bread, pasta, rice, spuds and cereals.

And what about the thermic effect of foods? Simply put this is what is takes in energy to digest, absorb and assimilate your food.

It explains why those individuals despite consuming the same amount of calories lose more fat on a high protein, high fat diet than those on a carbohydrate diet.

Think about it – how easily do you think that your stomach reacts to digesting a bowl of cereal compared to an eight-ounce rib-eye steak?

One will require much more energy than the other.

Then we take into consideration the whole acid-alkaline load that foods placed on our bodies. Many people in the health and well-being profession are now pointing to the fact that health can be maintained IF we maintain an optimum ‘pH’ within our bodies.

Simply put ‘pH’ is a measure of how acid vs. our alkaline we are. Acidosis prompts a cascade of ailments because our body’s cells are designed to operate within a nice and cosy pH of 7.3. When this drops – trouble occurs.

So what drives us into a state of acidosis? Well aside from the obvious culprits such as stress, lack of sleep, alcohol and smoking, scientists have identified certain foods that create an acid load on our bodies.

These include amongst many grains, diary, sugar and meat. Meanwhile fruits and vegetables are great for driving us into the vibrant and healthy alkaline state.

So think twice before consuming that low-fat ham and cheese sandwich and look for the veggies to balance your intake out.

It is not anyone fault that our attention is on the calorie.

For years the food pyramid has dominated our thinking in terms of weight loss alongside making sure we don’t eat over our calorie budget.

But there is far more to this than meets the eye. Besides if you want to count your calories and turn into a neurotic lunatic with a eye for crossing every ‘t’ and dotting every ‘I’ then fine.

Instead I urge you to focus on forging good habits one at a time.  Get in the habit of hitting the gym three times a week or shopping twice a week instead of once.

What about upping your intake of lean protein and making sure you balance your dietary acids with some alkaline forming vegetables and fruits?

So toss the archaic  ‘eat less, do more’ advice in the bin and focus on eating clean foods and training hard. There is far more to the fat loss conundrum than just ‘stepping away from the table.

www.spherefitnessstudio.com

“What do you mean you only want a still Water? Are You sick?”

Can you imagine the scene in your local? You are at the bar surrounded by your nearest and dearest and someone offers you a drink.

Suddenly, out of the blue, you decline the cider, with its 8 teaspoons of sugar or the beer with all its man-boob nutrition, and opt for a water.

Your friends look at you as if you are possessed. There must be something wrong. You are feeling ill.

After a while the dust settles. Armoured and padded vehicles are called away. The straight jacket is put back in the closest and the landlord smiles away as he continues to charge 400% for glorified tap water in a nice shapely bottle.

Discrimination against fit people is rife.

So what if you have made the choice to improve yourself or set a mini-goal.

Imagine if you told your friends you wished to raise €1000 for charity by cycling half way round the world on a uni-cycle.

I am sure that the fund-raising committee would be there in a flash. Lads would be dipping into their pockets and emails will be circulating encouraging co-workers to drop money in the biscuit tin on the way out of the door. Pats on the back in abundance.

So what is the difference?

Both are goals. Both are focused around individual effort and acheivement. But there is a crucial difference. One is far more personal based.

Here lies the discrimination factor.
“Look at her out running. She is in awful shape” or
“She hasn’t lost anything” cry the ‘friends’ with the muffin tops and flabby arms.

I always recommend these ‘emotional vampires’ to keep their heads in the latest gossip magazines and stick to their own narrow minded lives.

It is a classic case of reflecting their own insecurities on others. More often than not it is their nearest and dearest .

It has led to gyms becoming a  confession box for the late night munchies and sugary breakfasts. Why not view them as a place to achieve and succeed. It feels good when you achieve something – doesn’t it?
This discrimination doens’t just lie within friends and family. I often ask off the menu. Dressing on the side, no spuds, leave the bread basket, extra veggies rather than chips and so on.

The look I get is priceless. I might aswell have asked for grated glass on a bed of nails as a sandwich.
Please don’t be afraid to ask for what you want in a restaurant. Either that or get ready to unfasten your belt at the end of the meal.

Fair play to one establishment I was visting with my son last week. I asked them to drop the carbohydrate mountain of noodles and replace them with vegetables. And they did. I promptly rewarded her with a Gold Star and an Employee of the Month.

There is discrimination against fit people where-ever you go. Do you know how hard it is to find a nutritious snack when you are out and about? Fruit that looks and has been sat there for weeks, meat that is riddled with hormones and antibiotics and hot-counter food deep fried to within an inch of its life.

Moral of the story – if you find yourself eating alot at service stations then good luck in the fight for health and fitness.

And then it comes to charging ridiculous amounts for glorified tap water. I mean two euros fifty for a bottle of water? You have got to be laughing! Why should fit people or designated drivers be persecuted for taking responsiblity on the odd night out.

Simple action steps we can take to ensure that fit discrimination is stopped in its tracks are to a) be strong with your goals. This is your goal! Not anyone elses b) have the end result of your goal in the back of your mind – if what your friends think of you turns you off your goal then your goal is not strong enough in the first place c) Don’t be afraid! The results are worth it and d) don’t settle for zero nutrition food – bring your own.

As one author writes would you rather peck with the turkeys or soar with eagles?

“Make mine a double. My mate will have a still water too”

John Lark is a personal trainer in Dublin, Ireland who specialises in using advanced fat loss techniques combining exercise, lifestyle and supplementation. Download your free report on fat loss at www.spherefitnessstudio.com or call 01-5052131.