It's a common question that people ask - "why is my diet not working?"

* You’re following the diet plan* Working out a few times a week* Maybe even taking some supplements that your diet guru has sold you But things aren’t working.  You’re not seeing any results and it’s starting to get you down

The answer is that even though you've got the diet and workout to get results, you are not balancing the internal and external factors that affect your every day life

If you were locked in a big box and given the food to eat and forced to do the exercise then you’d be very likely to see results that your guru promised. Even the most poorly designed diet and workout program will bring fat loss results with more muscle tone if it’s a calorie deficit and stimulates the muscles with resistance training in this situation The trouble is, most of us aren’t locked in a box every day

Our lifestyles seem to get in the way of our diet goals

We have jobs to go to, people to see socially and families to spend time with.  All these situations are our external environment and may have temptations for eating more food or doing less exercise. When we are left to our own devices we will also be facing our internal environment which allows our muncher brain to hijack our behaviour and before you know it your neck deep in a pit of chocolate wondering how that happened.

Our habits are formed in our internal environment and 'bad' or undesirable habits can stop us behaving the way we want to in order to change our bodies and lifestyle.

All these factors are connected in what I call the DIET ecosystem and balancing these elements will lead to you reaching your ideal body at an accelerated speed which feels like it’s no effort at all.  Friction is removed and you are aligned to your goal. If any one of these factors is not aligned then friction is increased which creates stress which slows down your process and flow.  Eventually this leads to the other balanced elements stalling and before long a small niggle has become the straw on the camels back. I have created a free tool to allow you to analyse and assess your DIET ecosystem.  It will pinpoint exactly where you need to improve and where you are strongest. Take the test now and I’ll send you a free report to help you improve Take the DIET Ecosystem test – Find out how good your diet is

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Are you in the right ZONE in the gym?

If you want to build muscle as a priority and not really wanting to get injured in the process then you need to know how much weight to lift without getting injured.

As a gym owner and coach I see a lot of people in the wrong zone for the majority of their workouts

Either lifting too heavy, with crap form and inviting a hernia, or with such super strict form and low weight that their muscle gain is sooooo slow that they hardly see anything of value Of course you want to stay safe from injury when you are working out but there’s a manageable risk factor to take into account

In addition, too many people stay in a safe zone because they have become lazy in their workouts and do the same stuff over and over without ever challenging themselves

Their bodies just become more efficient at doing the same thing.Then you’ve got the guys that want to be the biggest fish in the pond and lift like everyone is watching.They might be but only with a winced look as they wait for something to snap.Ego lifting is a major risk factor and this zone is where I see a lot of guys who ironically are taking the effort OFF the desired muscle and into other areas, risking a tear or tendon injury.The good thing is that you don’t need to risk a lung popping out to make muscle gains.With a good amount of weight for a decent amount of reps you can make progress consistently without injury.I’m not without the scars of injury myself, all my gym related injuries came from doing too much weight and forgetting that my focus is on bodybuilding not powerlifting.If building muscle is your priority then stay within the Progress Zone, back off the max weights and focus on growing rather than showing off.Because no one really cares how strong you are but you.

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Why is your diet plan and training program not working for you?

* You’ve got the diet, * You’ve got the training plan, * But you just are not seeing the changes in your body that you want. You’re asking “What am I doing wrong? What is wrong with my program?”

One of my 6 principles is "Consistency leads to change" and it's this consistency that people lack.

* MOST DIETS WILL WORK – in terms of losing body fat unless they don’t take calories into account and you overeat massively. * MOST TRAINING PLANS WILL WORK – to a degree because it’s a new training plan and you get all fired up to smash it so you train harder.

The issue is that if the diet is too restrictive and the training too boring you'll soon lose interest in both very quickly.

This phenomenon is what I refer to in my book as ‘The Friction’ It’s the unseen force like in Star Wars but without the cool invisible strangle and telekinetic throwing of objects * This force is kind of rubbish because it does strangle you but via your motivation. * It slows down your energy and puts the brakes on your will to take action. The result is you slow down and then stop.

Once you've stopped on your diet or training it's really hard to get going again.

We’ve all been there with the diet we follow for a few weeks then find it’s just too hard to prep all the food and you’re kind of sick of watching everything you eat to check if it’s an approved food or not We’ve also all gotten into a rut in our training where we do the exact same workout every week for the same body part and the gainz just slow to a crawl or are dead in the water. You may also be doing the same stuff and to your horror you’re seeing regression where you are actually going backwards. In this video I talk about ‘The Friction’ – how to avoid it and how to make sure your training plan isn’t a total borefest.

Get a free training plan to liven up your own workouts here bkmnutrition.com/vitamint

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What type of cardio should you do if building muscle is a priority?

I’m a big believer in the philosophy of casting votes for the body you want.  Well, casting votes for the life you want really.Cardio is cardiovascular fitness, i.e making the heart healthier.  This is, of course vital for your long term health into old age and to prevent diseases such as heart disease, obesity, hypertension and other silent killers.The advantages of doing cardio are obvious but the problem is that it’s incredibly BORING for a lot of people and so it’s normally a grudging after thought following a workout.Most people who do weights workouts as a main exercise don’t normally do cardio for this reason.I’m definitely in the camp that steady state cardio is boring and so I looked for another way to keep my heart healthy while also making a vote for the leaner, more muscular body that I wanted.

Does cardio make you lose muscle tissue?

If building muscle and losing fat is your goal then you may be worried about burning though muscle tissue with cardio.Over 10+ years of bodybuilding competition meant that I did probably thousands of hours of slow, trudging cardio in an effort to lose body fat.I may have lost some muscle tissue doing that as a result of the very low carbs and calories that I was eating at the time.  This was necessary to get into the shredded condition necessary for the stage.For most people though, losing muscle tissue won’t be an issue if you add cardio as long as these conditions are met* You are eating adequate protein at least 1.6g/kg bodyweight* You don’t do more than 60 minutes cardio at a time* Your calories are not too low – a rule of thumb would be around 20-24 x your body weight but you can work out your calories easily using my Calorie Calculator

How much cardio should you be doing?

In this video I’ll outline my principles for cardio that I employ with my Hybrid Bodies coaching community so you can apply them to your own routine.I am a big believer in only doing exercise you like, this includes cardio.Cardio is one of the most hated exercises that people do, they do it because they think they have to in order to lose fat.Truth is that you don’t need to do cardio to lose fat as if fat burning is your goal then all you need to do is burn off more calories than you eat.I have clients that get in great shape and never do cardio – Check out Andy’s storyIf you want to do cardio for fitness benefits such as better heart health, circulation, blood pressure control and just to be more active then pick an exercise that you like doing but also fits your long term objective for your body.

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Are you looking for Fat Loss Pills that can MELT fat off your body?

I’ve got bad news for you, they don’t exist.

Even the most potent illegal fat burning drugs don’t melt fat but some may cook you alive – which would be bad

People THINK that fat burners will magically correct their body but actually the opposite is true While they may provide a short term kick to your workouts without addressing the root cause of weight gain – overeating and under exercising, you’ll not see any long term changes and possibly doing long term damage.

I’ve noticed 4 types of people who take fat loss supplements I call these the 4 Horsemen of the Fat-Ocalypse * Couch Pill Tato* ACME Rocket Rider* Prisoner* Surfer Which one are you?

Fat Burner Supplement MistakesThe accountability for the results can shifted to the fat burner. If you didn’t get in shape it’s because the fat burners didn’t work, like how steroid users think their gear is bunk because they didn’t gain 20kg in 10 weeks.This can lead to a number of actions by the user.

* Take more fat burners if they saw minor results* Try other fat burners to find one that works* Resort to more extreme diets or exercise routine* Look at more harmful drugs or similar eg DNP, Clen, T3, Speed* Self loathing as they perceive as fat and also unable to change even with the fat burners* Over focus on cardio as a ‘fat burning exercise’ leading to burnout.  This is a false assumption that cardio is better for fat loss.

Are Macros Really Important?

Does if it fits your macros actually work or is it another buzz word for fitpros to use when selling you their £97 tailored shred diet? In its pure form, if it fits your macros is a good idea. It encourages flexible eating patterns and puts the control firmly in the person’s hands as to what they eat.However if it fits your macros is also the new way that guru coaches get out of actually coaching any clients.  It used to be that they gave people very restrictive, bland diets with no cheats.  These worked to a degree but adherence was low.Then they discovered that they can just* direct someone to a calorie calculator* give them a my fitness pal quick tutorial* call that coachingthen mass sell it to the general public, most of whom have no knowledge of what actual coaching is and so accept it as correct.In this video and podcast you will learn how IIFYM can be used as a tool for the positive but also for the negative and how to avoid falling into the trap of a flexible diet that ends up being more restrictive

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Use my Calorie Calculator to work out your calories for fat loss and get a free macro guideFind out more about my coaching program to get you into your best shape ever

If you struggle to get a good night's sleep then this is for you

Simple Techniques for Great Sleep  If you’re a business owner or manager struggling with balancing sleep with your daily life then watch this video.You will learn how to build habits for much better sleep which has helped numerous business owners to improve their health and productivity in the process.Danny Wilson is a coach who specialises in helping people reduce the stress and pressures of their busy jobs in order to get more restful and productive sleep.As a result his clients have become happier, healthier, less stressed and more productive in their lives.

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Use my Calorie Calculator to work out your calories for fat loss and get a free macro guideFind out more about my coaching program to get you into your best shape ever

A coach shouldn't need to hire another coach - don't they have all the answers?

Even a coach needs another coach for accountability from time to time. When you are a coach to over 30 clients then it’s easy to let your own progress stall.The methods you use with your clients may not be suitable for you.This is why nutrition and training coaches employ a coach themselves to keep them on track.Paul is a highly knowledgeable and successful personal coach with over 30 clients.He came to work with me for his own physique development and we immediately worked on building muscle and ramping up his nutrition to give him more energy to train.Over 12 weeks he developed more fullness and muscle size while keeping his very lean condition.In this interview we discuss the methods used and what the results of the coaching were.

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Use my Calorie Calculator to work out your calories for fat loss and get a free macro guideFind out more about my coaching program to get you into your best shape ever

It's difficult for many new mums to get their former toned body back after giviing birth

Often pregnancy results in less exerciseSo as well as losing the baby weight there’s an additional issue of restarting an exercise routine.For many women, finding the time to exercise is another consideration due to the demands of the new addition to the family. 

It's not just as easy as restarting at the gym

As well as only being able to be away from your baby for maybe an hours or two, there may be complications following birth that mean normal workouts may not be possible in the beginning.Many women resort to cardio workouts to try and lose weight but this hardly ever has the desired results.

Weight training should be part of any post pregnancy training

Resistance training is the best way to regain strength and muscle lost during pregnancy.While the weights don’t need to be epic, lifting weight will help regain muscle tone much faster than traditional cardio.

Regaining a toned body doesn't mean you need to cut out foods you like.

If you are breastfeeding you’ll need approximately 500 kcals more a day than your maintenance.If this is made up of foods that make you unhappy then this will translate into how you interpret the whole experience.  Use my Perfect Diet Builder Walkthrough to build your ideal diet

How Vicky regained her toned body as a new mum

In this video I talk to Vicky who applied a weighted workout routine along with a diet consisting of foods she liked in order to get her body back to her previous great shape.

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Your efforts to lose weight fast with an exercise routine at the gym or home is probably about to backfire on you.

‘Lose weight fast’ has 100,000 to 1 million google searches every month and ‘Fastest way to lose weight’ is between 1-10,000

It’s a hot topic and the reason is that people want results fast, normally because they have a holiday or event to go to and have just realised they need to get into a shirt, dress or swimwear.

‘Lose weight fast’ and ‘the fastest way to lose weight’ sound the same but actually there's a slight difference, at least as far as I interpret them.

* ‘Lose weight fast’ is where you are racing against the clock to get in shape in a limited time period eg a holiday or wedding. * The ‘fastest way to lose weight’ is a planned and thought out process that works with time as a friend to lose weight at a good speed but to continue that process of improvement for the long term.

Fastest is optimised – you’ve looked at all the methods and decided which one will work for you.  Weight loss may not be fast but it will be the fastest way to achieve your goals without suffering a rebound that takes you back to the start.  Remember if you rebound from a ‘lose weight fast’ plan and regain all the weight back, the net weight loss is zero, despite an initial fast result.

It’s not just about eating less either. Many weight loss plans focus entirely on reducing calories with a very small focus on exercise

Exercise will help reinforce and support weight loss efforts and even speed it up. Which brings us to the next issue of weight loss vs fat loss. It’s entirely possible to lose body fat and not lose any weight on the scales.  The reason is body recomposition.  Which means you gain muscle at the same time as you lose body fat. I’ve seen this happen so many times with clients I work with that it’s almost expected now, somewhere along the process.

While weight loss may have stalled, results continue to happen in the mirror.  Therefore it must be of vital importance that you don’t use the scales as the only determinant of succ...