4 EASY Weight Loss Tips for Golfers (part 1)
I have always been a bag-carrier. I like to be able to walk wherever I want and clean my clubs post-shot as I walk. I had a brief relationship with a buggy when I was 15 but soon sold it and went back to bag carrying.
Nice story, but how does this relate to losing weight? And where are my 4 easy tips?
Well, as you know my goal is to help YOU shoot lower scores. And I have been thinking a lot over the last few months about the potential negative impact of carrying my clubs on my score. It causes me no pain, and I enjoy the workout. But I am pretty fatigued by the time the 14th tee roles around.
So, I got the scales out and my clubs and bag weigh 11kg without the 2 litres of water and bag of food I normally carry. Now I am certain that carrying 13.5kgs on my back while I walk around a golf course is affecting my score on the back nine. And not in a good way…
(Needless to say I am in the market for a buggy again…)
Anyway, by now you have guessed the connection. If you are carrying extra body weight with you while you play golf it is affecting your score on the back nine. And not in a good way…
(If weight loss is not one of your goals, that’s awesome! You can scroll straight down to the 4 TIPS and use these as a HEALTHY way to maintain your current weight…)
Back to carrying extra weight…how exactly is this a problem? Well, carrying extra body weight while walking 8km around a golf course is going to cause early FATIGUE.
EARLY Physical FATIGUE will result in a loss of strength and power (less DISTANCE!). It will decrease fine motor skills meaning reduced accuracy and consistency. Basically, fewer FAIRWAYS, less GREENS, a second-rate SHORT GAME and more 3 PUTTS.
Bad right?
Enough with the negative stuff. How do we fix this?
For the purpose of today’s article lets focus on losing some weight to improve your ability to endure 18 holes without score-ruining fatigue on the back-nine.
OK, so we’re going to reduce YOUR handicap by dropping a few kilos. That’s a massive benefit and hopefully motivation enough! But what are some of the other HEALTH benefits?
Reduced risk of THE BIG 3: Cancer, diabetes and heart disease:
"Being overweight or obese is associated with an increased risk for the development of a multitude of diseases, including cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and more,'' says David Katz, MD, MPH, director of Yale University's Prevention Research Center and of the Yale Preventive Medicine Center.
According to Katz, 90% of all diabetes, 80% of heart disease, and 60% of cancers are preventable with healthier lifestyles and normal body weights."
Hopefully that adds a bit more motivation to the equation…
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, what is the EASIEST, most SUSTAINABLE way to start losing some weight?
Forget the commercial CR*P. I will never try to sell you this stuff! Forget the shakes, magic diet pills or supplements. Forget the grain and rabbit-food diets. You need to build a series of SUSTAINABLE nutrition and lifestyle changes…
An introduction by way of Golf Digest:
“The sobering reality of weight loss is that you can exercise twice a day, seven days a week and you'll still only have marginal success shedding pounds unless you change your eating habits. Even more sobering is that not all foods and drinks are created equal, so simply eating less of the junk/processed foods you love won't yield the same results as will changing your diet to healthier foods."
Well put. Now to the good stuff…
The 4 tips below are a starting point. They form a solid WEIGHT LOSS BASELINE with significant flow-on effects to other important weight loss factors that I will cover in later articles on this topic. They are practical and can be implemented today!!
The 4 BASIC TIPS:
1. ALWAYS eat a high PROTEIN breakfast that includes some good FAT
Why? Blood sugar control is the key to losing body fat! When we eat a high CARBOHYDRATE meal such as cereal or toast, glucose levels go up. Excess glucose is toxic so insulin rapidly goes up in order to get the glucose out of the bloodstream and into the cells. When insulin levels are chronically elevated, much of the energy in our bloodstream gets selectively deposited in the FAT cells and STORED. When this happens, the body has a hard time accessing the stored FAT and the brain starts to think that it is HUNGRY. Then we EAT MORE and struggle to lose weight. Avoid FAT storage as well as CARBOHYDRATE & SUGAR cravings throughout the day by eating PROTEIN and FAT for breakfast.
2. MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!
Aim to walk (or - insert exercise of choice here) for at least 45 minutes EVERY DAY particularly if your job is sedentary. In the gym focus on RESISTANCE TRAINING with short rest periods and/or 'interval' based cardio work 2 to 3 times per week.
3. ALL DRINKS SHOULD BE 0 CALORIES
Take out the Coke, Juice, Power-ade and tall milky coffees. Replace with boring old WATER, black coffee and green tea.
4. VEGETABLES - 5+ servings per day
Vegies make great snacks - low in sugar, nutrient dense, high in fiber and lower in calories than other potential snack foods (not to mention reducing your risk of THE BIG 3 heart disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes!). Feel free to use some healthy dips and good fats to make the vegies more palatable to snack on...
And, here is my BONUS TIP (I couldn't help myself!):
5. LIMIT alcohol to 1 or 2 drinks on the weekend IF ANY
Blood sugar again! Alcohol consumption causes a rapid rise in insulin to manage sky rocketing blood sugar levels. As insulin brings blood sugar down, the body goes through a state of high blood sugar to low blood sugar and the energy in our bloodstream from the ALCOHOL gets deposited in the FAT cells and STORED. Be true to yourself about what you are trying to achieve!
Once you have these 5 things locked down you can move on to the more advanced tips in part 2...
If you need clarification on anything or would like some assistance with how to structure your nutrition, lifestyle and golf specific exercise program to for maximum results please get in CONTACT HERE. Your success is my success!!