The personal trainer credited with keeping TV stars and models in shape has shared her top tips for Brits looking to smash their fitness goals in 2023.
Sarah Lindsay counts singer Pixie Lott and reality star couple Millie Mackintosh and Hugo Taylor as regulars at her London gyms.
The ex-Olympian is urging people not to fall into the fad diet trap, or try to undo a month of overindulging by throwing themselves into extreme and potentially damaging routines.
Here, Lindsay reveals her ultimate plan for getting fit and healthy and losing fat in 2023 – and how to keep the pounds off.
Singer and The Voice star Pixie Lott (left, with Sarah Lindsay) returned to Roar Fitness in December
Evie Nagy (left before weight loss and right after) tipped the scales at around 18st 2lb, or 116kg and in 15 months lost more than 6st, or 42kg at Roar Fitness
As we step in the New Year, a new YouGov survey has revealed that one in five Brits (21%) want to make a New Year’s resolution for 2023, compared to just one in seven (14%) who made a resolution for 2022.
Doing more exercise or improving their fitness tops the list for more than half (53%) who intend to make a resolution for 2023.
Health dominates the top three plans that Brits have for the new year with 43% saying they plan to lose weight and the same proportion resolving to improve their diet.
Health-based resolutions are more popular among women with 57% of those intending to make resolutions planning to do more exercise or improve their fitness compared to 47% of men.
But for many, knowing where to start, what exercise to do and what to eat, is the hard part.
Sarah Lindsay tells her clients to keep it simple; lifting heavy weights three times a week, and sticking to a largely protein-based diet.
While various diets over the years have promised fat loss – from cabbage soup and juicing to keto and the Atkins, she says variety and consistency is key.
Sarah said: ‘No food in particular is ever going to make you lose weight.
‘But having a plan and sticking to it is what will do the job.’
She adds: ‘I don’t think that juicing or keto is necessarily bad – but what’s the reason for it?
‘Normally it’s a knee jerk reaction to people gaining weight or feeling terrible, so they try and do something really drastic and then they can’t stick to it so they rebound, because they’re starving or malnourished in some way.
‘So generally those things don’t work, for that reason.’
Working up a sweat? TV presenter and ex-Radio One star Nick Grimshaw with Lindsay
Putting Grimmers through his paces: Roar gyms boast a number of celebrity devotees
Instead, she suggests eating in a calorie deficit if fat loss is the goal, with a healthy balance of fats, protein and vegetables, with carbs – best eaten at lunch if you plan on hitting the gym after work.
She said: ‘I prefer a lower carb, high fat breakfast like bacon and eggs or salmon and avocado – but that is based on my exercise routine; I eat to perform.
‘So if I’m training in the morning I want to eat a certain way so that I’ve got loads of energy.
‘But obviously if you’re doing an endurance session, you might want to fuel up so that you can help your recovery when you finish.’
And enjoying what you eat is key.
‘It shouldn’t be this torturous process of restriction and punishing yourself.
‘It is an enjoyable process and you will feel good. It then becomes a way of life, not a chore and you enjoy it. It won’t feel like sacrifice or hard work.
‘I enjoy eating healthy food. If I eat something awful, then I feel awful afterwards. As soon as you start to feel the benefits, then you actually want to work harder to achieve your goal.’
According to a survey of 2,000 British adults by Optimum Nutrition, just a quarter (25%) are satisfied with their current fitness levels, with half (51%) of Brits saying they would be out of breath if they ran for bus or train.
On what exercise we should do to get in shape for summer, Sarah says: ‘Weight training, weight training, weight training.
‘It’s obviously not an overnight thing but wherever you are in your fitness journey then either learning to weight train, continuing to weight train or learning to, is a longer term solution for fat loss.’
‘You can really start to feel the benefits of a healthy regime properly after three weeks,’ she adds.
‘Obviously it depends on your starting point, but for people that is when you start to feel the body change – once you get to that point, then you’re ‘in’.
‘As soon as that starts to happen, then you want to do more. By 12 weeks, I believe that you achieve almost anything. By then you can see life changing results.
‘It’s consistency, doing it every day, ticking off each day. Then you feel it much quicker.’
Healthy recipes YOU can try
Personal trainers and sibling duo Sarah and Matt Lindsay shares their healthy breakfast, lunches dinner and snacks to keep you going.
DIET PLAN, DAY ONE: TOTAL CALORIES = 1,550
Breakfast: Salmon, eggs, avocado and rocket
Roar trainer Matt Lindsay’s salmon, egg and avocado breakfast
Eggs: Are highly satiating and may reduce calorie intake later in the day. Regularly eating eggs may promote weight loss. Whole eggs are among the most nutritious foods on the planet, containing a little bit of almost every nutrient you need.
Avocado: Numerous studies have shown that eating avocado can improve heart disease risk factors like total, ‘bad’ LDL and ‘good’ HDL cholesterol, as well as blood triglycerides.
Salmon: Salmon is rich in long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown to reduce inflammation, lower blood pressure and decrease risk factors for disease.
Tomato: Tomatoes are the major dietary source of the antioxidant lycopene, which has been linked to many health benefits, including reduced risk of heart disease and cancer. They are also a great source of vitamin C, potassium, folate, and vitamin K.
Rocket: Both these leafy greens are rich in chlorophyll, amino acids and vitamins C, E, B and K. They also contain beta-carotenes, as well as lutein and zeaxanthin (for eye health). But rocket also provides glucosinolates, which help to protect against cancer.
Lunch: Chicken box
1 Grilled chicken breast
100-150g Chopped mushrooms
Tilda Microwave Lime and Coriander Basmati Rice
Large handful of spinach
Method:
1. Season the chicken breast with lemon juice, rosemary, parsley, garlic and paprika and a squeeze of lemon
2. Grill under a high heat for around 10 minutes
3. Dry-fry the mushrooms for around 5 minutes, until lightly browned. Add a garlic powder, Himalayan salt or a little paprika to the mushrooms if you want them to have more flavour
4. To heat the rice, squeeze the pouch and tear the top corner open to 2cm. Heat upright in microwave on full power for 2 minutes (800W). Tear open, tip out and fluff with a fork before serving.
5. Serve the chicken, mushrooms and rice on a bed of fresh spinach leaves – which can be wilted down with the mushrooms, if you prefer
Snack: Oat energy booster
Heat 50g oats with 200ml unsweetened almond milk in a pan on the hob for around five minutes. Top with sweet cinnamon or a teaspoon of protein powder of your favourite flavour
Dinner: Sea bass
2 Sea bass fillets
50g of low fat hummus
2-3 Spring onions
100-150g Mixed peppers
Large handful of mixed leaves
Dinner: Sea bass served with mixed peppers, salad leaves and hummus
Method:
1. Steam the sea bass fillets for around five minutes, adding a squeeze of lemon
2. Wash and chop the onions, peppers, and mixed leaves3. Serve with hummus and enjoy!
SNACK IDEAS
Coconut salted caramel protein bites
Roar trainer Matt Lindsay’s coconut caramel bites
Nutrition: 80kcal each and 2g of sugar per batch
Ingredients (available from any supermarket) – makes eight bites:
- 5g Coconut oil
- 20g Shredded coconut
- 20g Linwoods Milled Flaxseed
- 15g Protein powder (any will work)
- 40g Skinny co caramel chocoholic spread
Method: Mix the ingredients together then separate into eight balls
Pop them in the fridge to harden, then enjoy
Gluten free, low sugar, keto brownies
Nutrition: Each brownie has under 1g of sugar and 193kcal, 2.7g carbs, 16.9g fat
Ingredients – makes six brownies:
- 40g Coconut flour
- 1/3 tsp Baking powder
- 30g Unsweetened cacao powder
- 85g Melted butter
- 60g Stevia
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 40g no added sugar chocolate chips
Method: Mix the coconut flour, baking powder, cacao powder
Melt butter and add to stevia
Mix in the rest of the ingredients
Add in one egg and vanilla extract
Put in the over at 160C for 25 minutes
Leave to cool on a rack, then serve
A new YouGov survey has revealed that one in five Britons (21%) want to make a New Year’s resolution for 2023, compared to just one in seven (14%) who say they made a resolution for 2022
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