Real Fitness

06/11/2026

There are no medals for having the most restrictive diet possible. 🏅

If you’re trying to lose weight, it’s fat loss you’re after - not seeing how many foods you can ban from your life.

You don’t have to cut out chocolate, bread or your favourite pudding to lose fat. You need a calorie deficit over time.

you could lose weight by eating only chocolate as long as you were in a calorie deficit. But obviously you’d be missing essential nutrients, getting very little protein or fibre, and probably be feeling pretty hungry. So obviously im not recommending that :)

So while calories matter for weight loss, where those calories come from matters for your health, hunger, energy and recovery.

That’s why I recommend building most of your meals around protein, fibre-rich foods, fruit and veg, carbohydrates and healthy fats—with room for foods you enjoy.

One thing I often do with my clients is agree a little calorie budget for “fun foods”. It gives them freedom to choose, with those foods already accounted for.

For example, if someone’s target was 1,800 calories a day, we might agree that 200 or so of those calories could go towards their favourite fun foods.
(That’s within their budget, rather than extra on top.)

An 80/20 approach—or even 70/30—can be a useful rough guide, provided you’re still meeting your nutritional needs. It doesn’t need to become another rule to get perfect.

Maybe you want chocolate every day. Maybe it’s a takeaway you’ve accounted for at the weekend, or a couple of extra puddings during the week.

Another option is to spread your calories differently across the week. If your fat-loss target averaged 1,800 calories a day, you could have:

• 1,600 a day Monday–Friday
• 2,300 a day Saturday–Sunday

That still averages 1,800 a day. But those lower weekdays need to leave you adequately fuelled - not arriving at Friday ravenous.

And you still need to keep track. More weekend flexibility can easily become enough extra food to wipe out your weekly deficit.

Personally, a regular takeaway isn’t something I’m particularly bothered about. But I do like some chocolate every day. I eat fairly similarly throughout the week, so that works for me.

Someone else might prefer more flexibility at the weekend.

There’s no point copying somebody else’s diet structure if it doesn’t suit your life.

What do you enjoy?
What do you want to keep?
Where are you happy to make compromises?

That’s how you build a realistic diet that supports your goal and still leaves room for enjoying your food.

06/11/2026

There are no medals for having the most restrictive diet possible. 🏅

If you’re trying to lose weight, it’s fat loss you’re after - not seeing how many foods you can ban from your life.

You don’t have to cut out chocolate, bread or your favourite pudding to lose fat. You need a calorie deficit over time.

you could lose weight by eating only chocolate as long as you were in a calorie deficit. But obviously you’d be missing essential nutrients, getting very little protein or fibre, and probably be feeling pretty hungry. So obviously im not recommending that :)

So while calories matter for weight loss, where those calories come from matters for your health, hunger, energy and recovery.

That’s why I recommend building most of your meals around protein, fibre-rich foods, fruit and veg, carbohydrates and healthy fats—with room for foods you enjoy.

One thing I often do with my clients is agree a little calorie budget for “fun foods”. It gives them freedom to choose, with those foods already accounted for.

For example, if someone’s target was 1,800 calories a day, we might agree that 200 or so of those calories could go towards their favourite fun foods.
(That’s within their budget, rather than extra on top.)

An 80/20 approach—or even 70/30—can be a useful rough guide, provided you’re still meeting your nutritional needs. It doesn’t need to become another rule to get perfect.

Maybe you want chocolate every day. Maybe it’s a takeaway you’ve accounted for at the weekend, or a couple of extra puddings during the week.

Another option is to spread your calories differently across the week. If your fat-loss target averaged 1,800 calories a day, you could have:

• 1,600 a day Monday–Friday
• 2,300 a day Saturday–Sunday

That still averages 1,800 a day. But those lower weekdays need to leave you adequately fuelled - not arriving at Friday ravenous.

And you still need to keep track. More weekend flexibility can easily become enough extra food to wipe out your weekly deficit.

Personally, a regular takeaway isn’t something I’m particularly bothered about. But I do like some chocolate every day. I eat fairly similarly th

06/11/2026

STOP CATASTROPHISING 🤯

Maybe you ate more than you planned? or missed a couple of workouts?....

YOU HAVEN'T RUINED EVERYTHING!

But the thoughts start…

“I’ve blown it now.”
“I’ve got no willpower.”
“I might as well carry on and start again Monday.”

One meal becomes the rest of the day. One missed workout becomes “there’s no point this week”. And Monday becomes next Monday.

That’s catastrophising: taking a setback and making it mean something much bigger about your progress, your ability or yourself.

It can keep you stuck in that exhausting cycle of stopping, starting again, trying to get everything perfect, then stopping when life inevitably gets in the way.

Eating more than you intended or missing a workout doesn’t erase the work you’ve already done. Your next choice still counts.

Draw a line under it. Have your next normal meal. Do your next planned workout. You don’t need to punish yourself, skip meals or squeeze in extra exercise to make up for it.

And if the same thing keeps happening, get curious. Were you hungry, tired, overwhelmed? Does your plan need adjusting?

You can take responsibility without giving yourself a hard time.

You don’t need a fresh Monday. You need a manageable next step.

17/10/2026

15/10/2026

💪 CURIOUS ABOUT LIFTING BUT A LITTLE NERVOUS TO GIVE IT A GO?

Why not come along for a FREE - LIFTING CLUB TASTER SESSION? 💗

We know walking into something new can feel a bit daunting, especially if you've never lifted weights before or you're not sure what to expect!

So we'd love to invite you along to see what we're all about.

💪 Meet the coaches and the other ladies.

💪 Have a chat and ask us any questions.

💪 Get a feel for how our sessions work.

💪 Have a little go at some lifting, with our guidance (if you like)

💪 See if Lifting Club feels like the right fit for you!

No pressure, no commitment and absolutely no experience needed!

This isn't a full personal training session, just a chance to come along, get involved, see what we do and hopefully put a few nerves at ease.

📍 Empire Martial Arts, Newtown

Fancy coming along? Drop us a message and we'll help you find a suitable class to come along to for your free taster! 💪

11/10/2026

We had an awesome day out to Climbing Hut Shrewsbury on Friday afternoon 🧗‍♀️ with some of our Real Fitness lifting club crew.

I think there was about 17 of us in total

pretty much everyone in their 60s btw and up the walls NO MESSING 💪

It has to be mentioned that Mandy was the first one up the highest wall, like a boss.

It was an absolute blast. On the the next outing now 🤔 paintball has been mentioned... we shall see.

04/10/2026

Want to feel stronger and more confident in the gym—but unsure where to start? 💪

You don’t need to be fit yet.
You don’t need gym experience.
You don’t need to know what you’re doing.

That’s our job 🙂

Our next 8-week block of Lifting Club starts Monday 12th October, and we’ve got a few spaces available!

More women than ever are joining us in the gym, getting stronger, building confidence and discovering what they’re capable of. It’s AWESOME to see 👌

Lifting Club is small group personal training in a supportive, no-ego environment. From total beginners to experienced lifters, we’ll help you learn, progress and get more from your training.

✨ Early, mid-morning and evening sessions
✨ Nice, quiet gym environment
✨ Small groups
✨ Coaching to suit your experience
✨ Full support throughout

Over the eight weeks, we’ll help you:
✅ Build strength and muscle
✅ Feel more capable
✅ Improve your lifting technique
✅ Grow your confidence in the gym
✅ Build a routine you can keep going with

Spaces available:

💪 Monday 17:45 — 2 spaces
💪 Tuesday 16:30 — 2 space
💪 Wednesday 09:20 — 2 space
💪 Thursday 06:30 — 1 space
💪 Thursday 10:30 — 2 space
💪 Saturday 09:30 — 1 space

All our other sessions are currently full.

Want to join but can’t see a time that suits you? Drop us a message to chat about options or join our waiting list.

Ready to get started? Message us to book your space!

14/09/2026

Avoiding foods you love just to prove you can be “good” isn’t health. It’s restriction.

I went to McDonald’s with Sam and his friend today. I had a Big Mac and fries because I like McDonald’s, I don’t have it very often, and I had plenty of room for it within my calories.

I’m still in a calorie deficit. One McDonald’s doesn’t change that when it fits within my overall intake.

That’s a balanced approach to weight management.

If I’d gone with them, really wanted a McDonald’s but refused to have one -or chosen something very low-calorie that I didn’t actually want - just so I could say I’d been “good”, what would that achieve?

I might not even feel restricted in that moment. I might feel pleased with myself for resisting it. That sense of virtue can temporarily make the choice feel good.

But restriction doesn’t always show itself straight away.

It shows up a couple of days or a few weeks later when you’re fed up, you’re craving all the foods you’ve been avoiding and you’re starting to feel resistant to your diet.

Eventually, it will become something you can’t wait to finish or don’t want to go back to, rather than a way of eating you could realistically maintain.

“I was really good -I didn’t have it.”

Why does not eating something make you good? And why would eating it make you bad?

Equally, balance doesn’t mean going to McDonald’s, ordering everything and massively overindulging because you’ve decided it’s a “cheat meal”. You order a sensible amount, enjoy it and move on. No guilt and no need to compensate for it afterwards.

Most of the time, I eat nutritious meals that support my health, training and goals. Sometimes, I also eat foods simply because I enjoy them.

There are no prizes for having the most perfect diet or eating the fewest calories possible. Both usually end up making a diet impossible to maintain for any length of time.

The aim is to eat in a way that gets results while still allowing you to enjoy your life.