The Ultimate Body Plan: 75 easy recipes plus workouts for a leaner, fitter you. Gemma Atkinson
I will fit in training (and food prep) like an important meeting
I treat training and food-prepping schedules the same way I would important meetings. I book them in and that’s that. There can be a tendency to think of training as something lower down the priority scale than everything else. We often de-prioritise things we’re doing for ourselves, which is silly because training is partly what gets me through the day – it’s what gives me the energy to do everything else. Without it I’m sluggish, angsty and not at my best. I wouldn’t be on form for the radio show first thing if I hadn’t worked out or eaten well the day before.
If Becca, my agent, messages, ‘When are you free for a chat?’ I’ll say, ‘I’m training until 2pm, but after that I’m free’. Same with my friends. If we’re organising a lunch, I’ll say I can come after training, and it’s never an issue. This is something I do that’s important to me – and you need to make it important to you too. It should never be, ‘Oh, it’s only the gym’, or ‘it’s only food prep’ – things easily cancelled for anything else. It’s essential you change your mindset about exercise, eating and looking after yourself, otherwise they’ll become a drag and you’ll give up. This plan shouldn’t be a drag! How you prioritise it will determine what you get out of it.
Looking after yourself should be at the top of your list. We often put other people’s time, comfort and schedules above our own. This is your time. This is something you’re doing for you. What is more important than that? So book it in – people will get used to it, respect it and it’ll save a lot of stress and guilt.
It’ll be your mind that wants to quit first, long before your body. That whiny little voice in your head will say, ‘You’re done. You’re exhausted. You’re not fit enough. This was a mistake. You need to stop’, and so on.
I did a bungee jump once and all the way up in the cable car I was thinking, ‘This is ridiculous. I won’t be able to do this. I don’t want to do this!’ and so before I’d even got to the top I’d already talked myself out of it. Luckily someone talked me into it again, because I did do it – and bloody loved it! So much so that I went and did it again straight after because I’d enjoyed it so much.
We always doubt ourselves before we try anything new. It’s a protection mechanism. But you must push past it. You CAN do this! The first three weeks are going to be the hardest. You will ache and hurt and want to gorge on chocolate, because that’s safe and comforting, but I promise that if you give this your absolute all for just three weeks, you then won’t want to quit. Fitting the plan into your life will have got easier (scheduling in workouts, prepping food, giving up some ‘bad’ habits, and letting friends and family know you’re serious), plus, by that stage, you’ll start seeing and believing the results. You’ll already be getting leaner, fitter and healthier. You’ll also feel incredibly proud of yourself for having kept at it. Your thoughts will have changed from, ‘Oh God, I’ve got to do this workout today’ to, ‘Oh good, I get to do this workout today’.
We’ve become experts at ignoring what our bodies are telling us, dismissing uncomfortable physical symptoms as ‘normal’ and just things we have to put up with. For example, feeling so bloated after lunch you have to undo the button on your jeans, or your heart racing so hard after your fifth mug of coffee that you have to sit down clutching your chest. These things aren’t normal and you don’t have to just ‘accept’ them.
We can get into habits of doing things because we ‘always have’. I used to have chippy tea night every Friday. Doesn’t mean I have to do that for the rest of my life – especially if I don’t feel like it. Just like you don’t have to drink a bottle of wine when you’re with that certain mate. This plan is about becoming accountable to yourself.
What is your body telling you? Is it full? Bloated? Hungry? Thirsty? Heavy? Sluggish? What does it actually need? Is it truly craving junk or is that in your head? Start taking notice. Accept that your body will change at different stages of your cycle (there are apps that monitor mood and physicality during your period). Trust what it’s telling you. If you do need to stop, don’t be a hero – have a rest day. Look after yourself. If that happens once in eight or nine sessions, fine, but if it’s happening once in every two or three sessions, address the reasons why. Might you be eating too much or too little? Eating the wrong things? Pushing yourself too hard? Or might it actually be your mind giving up rather than your body…?
Taking this step to improve yourself is a great thing and should only ever be commended. However – and I hate that I have to say this – those close to you, and perhaps even strangers, might be negative about it. I’ve had: ‘Your body’s fine, it doesn’t need to change’, or ‘You looked better before’ directed at me. People can get really annoyed when it comes to you giving up booze, feeling it somehow reflects badly on them. Fuelled by their own insecurities, they get defensive. Brush it off and stay strong.
If you’re committed to this plan and to feeling your best, surround yourself with people who’ll support you – and distance yourself from those who don’t. Tell those closest to you what you’re doing; their support will be invaluable. Even better if they’ll do it with you! However, just having someone who understands that this is important to you, whether a friend or partner, will make things easier. When I was doing the 12-week programme, I’d tell my friends I’d drive because I couldn’t drink, and they didn’t once say, ‘You’re so boring! Come on!’ They said, ‘Great! A free taxi home!’ It made all the difference.
We women need to stick together. We all know how awful it is to be brought down or made to feel like we don’t measure up. The other day I saw so many women in the gym’s weights section and wanted to go over and high-five them all, saying, ‘It’s a Sunday, you could be hung-over and lying in bed, but you look incredible!’ So I did! That’s what this is all about, supporting each other to be the best we can be, until eventually we change the ‘Why are you doing that?’ questions to ‘How are you doing that?’
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