A-List approved Healthy Weight rules (that work for normal people)

Be a slimmer, fitter, happier you with advice from celeb trainer Dan Roberts

Determined to feel great about your body in 2015? Us too, but we’re not committing ourselves to a restrictive juicing diet or daily HIIT at dawn.

From many January’s past, we know there are few feelings worse than the sense of gloom and inadequacy when you fail to meet those self-imposed goals.
Thankfully, getting your body in fighting shape, whilst feeling vital, balanced and default fabulous needn’t be a bore says world-class personal trainer Dan Roberts , a man responsible for honing some of Earth’s glossiest bods.
Mid-way through a decadent vegan chocolate pud (whipped up by teenage ballerina and good-for-you foodie NaturallySassy) we got his top tips for achieving your body goals in 2015. Read, heed, and enjoy: these are healthy weight tips worth listening to.

1. #JustMoveMore

How many minutes of the day have you spent totting up your calorific intake in your head?  ‘There’s a real obsession with food at the moment, and we’re so bogged down on the tiny details,’ explains Roberts. ‘We count every calorie and jump on the latest study about what amino acid will help when, in reality, the biggest problem is that we eat too much crap and don’t move enough.’ Focus on getting active daily, and do-away with the need for those time-consuming mental tug-of-wars over whether you’re ‘allowed’ that latte or not.

2. Play sports

Think back to your school days: were you a stellar goal shooter? Maybe you were a powerful swimmer or a strong ballet dancer? Whatever your thing, we’ll bet you didn’t exit triumphantly off the court or stage and think about how many calories you just burnt.
‘It’s important to mix activity (like walking outside) with exercise,’ Roberts says. ‘Lots of people will work in an office, then go straight to the gym and they go crazy. If you do a team sport you don’t think of it in terms of calories, you just play.’ Prefer to exercise solo? Take up jogging (this brilliant app is a must for beginners) or try something new and outdoorsy, like rock climbing.

3. Chill out

We all love a bit of positive reinforcement, but regularly tracking our weight, body fat percentage, waist circumference and all the rest may actually be distracting us from what’s really important about living well. ‘Check in with yourself every six months: are you living more healthily than you were before? Yes? Then that’s it, cut yourself some slack,’ says Roberts. ‘You should do things for your health like training and eating well, but they should compliment your lifestyle, not be another pressure,’ he adds.
Lose the weekly weigh-in and go by the fit of your trousers or, better still, how confident you feel with nothing on. For top marks, swap it for 10 minutes of mindfulness meditation.

4. Remember: it’s OK to love food

We’re done with all the ‘Food is Fuel’ bores. If you don’t look forward to your meals, you’re not doing it right. ‘When your diet is too restrictive, being healthy stops being enjoyable,’ says Roberts, ‘Food is a thing to enjoy, not just energy – like too many of us are being told.’ But what does he suggest for serial diet-hoppers? ‘It’s about finding the middle path, where you don’t do anything extreme, that’s the best way to live,’ he explains, ‘It’s okay to indulge yourself – it’s actually better because you won’t fall off the wagon.’

5. Lose negative food labels

Those chips you’ve been craving for two days are not inherently ‘bad’, and nor are you if you treat yourself to some. And most ‘good’ ‘diet’ food is nutritionally vapid. Defining our eating habits as virtuous or sinful is adding a whole load of emotional baggage to our mealtimes. ‘Obesity and eating disorders are rising and it’s clear we’re getting more messed up with food,’ says Roberts. ‘I advise everyone to get rid of the word diet. I like ‘feeding’ instead. Feed your body with the stuff that you enjoy.’

6. Don’t be a cheat

Heard of the ‘Cheat Day’ or ‘Cheat Meal’ concept? It’s the idea that sticking to a ‘clean’ eating regime six days a week, is made much easier if you break for one day – or one meal – to eat whatever you want, favoured by many in the social media fitterati. ‘I don’t agree with it because it says the food is ‘bad’,’ says Roberts. ‘It divides the week up into six days of health and one day of enjoyment when actually a balanced lifestyle is a mix of enjoyment and health.’ Couldn’t have put it better ourselves.