A common misconception is that you’ve got to give up all the foods you love when you’re trying to lose weight. It’s easy to see where this has come from: it probably doesn’t seem possible that you can still enjoy your favourite takeaways and still lose weight, for example.

But the best way to lose weight and not completely lose your mind while doing so is to keep a little of what you love, using simple swaps to cut calories and make things healthier. Here’s how you can do that in the kitchen, so you don’t have to give up your favourite dishes.

Swap refined grains for whole grains

Replace white flour with whole wheat flour, white rice with brown rice, and white bread with whole grain bread. Whole grains are rich in fibre which helps to keep you fuller for longer.

Make it veggie

An easy way to increase the number of vegetables you eat is to make your recipe vegetarian or vegan. Take your usual chilli and swap the mince for kidney beans or black, or bulk up your favourite recipe by adding chopped courgette, peppers or aubergine. Vegetables are low in calories, so you’ll be boosting the volume of your meal (good for feeling fuller) without adding unnecessary extra calories.

Use healthier fats

When cooking, use healthier oils like olive oil, avocado oil or sesame oil. These oils are better for you because they contain monounsaturated fatty acids, which can help to increase levels of ‘good’ cholesterol (HDL) and lower ‘bad’ cholesterol (LDL) levels.

Oil is high in calories, so be sure to measure how much you’re using. For example, 1 tbsp of olive oil is 119 calories, so don’t pour freely from the bottle! Get a set of cheap measuring spoons so you know exactly how much you’re using.

To further cut calories, consider using spray oil like Frylight cooking spray. You can get different varieties, so keep an eye out for olive or coconut spray oil options. One spray of Frylight is 1 calorie, and a short spray of oil is going to very drastically cut down on calories.

Choose lean proteins

Lean proteins like chicken, turkey, and fish, are lower in fat and calories than red meat like beef, pork, and lamb. Try switching beef mince for turkey mince or even chicken mince (which you can find in Aldi) when making burgers, and switch steak tacos for pulled chicken, turkey mince, or even prawns.

Beans, lentils, tofu, and eggs are also examples of lean protein. Try swapping red and processed meats when making things like chilli, spaghetti dishes, and stir-fries.

Losing weight can be tough, we all know that. It’s so twee when people call it a weight loss ‘journey’, but that’s what it is, a long road filled with ups and downs.

It’s easy to get discouraged when things aren’t going your way, like when progress feels slow, or when setbacks happen. But keeping your motivation high is key to moving on and achieving your goals, so here’s how to keep your spirits high.

Why motivation matters

Motivation can be a fleeting thing, but it’s true that it’s a main driving force behind your weight loss. When you’re motivated, you’re much more likely to make healthy choices, stick to your workout routine, and overcome obstacles. Instead of waiting for motivation to strike, you’ve got to constantly stoke the flames if you want to get anywhere with your weight loss.

Dealing with setbacks

Everyone experiences setbacks, it’s a totally normal part of life. Whether it’s down to medical problems, family emergencies, holidays, or even simply feeling too tired to workout, it happens. But it’s important to remember that setbacks are temporary, and they don’t define you.

Bouncing back from a period of low motivation can feel difficult, but there are some things that can help:

• Think about why you started. Yes, it’s a cliché, but thinking about what initially made you want to lose weight can help you focus again. Make a list of all the reasons you’re trying to improve your health and look at it regularly.
• Seek support. It’s hard to do things alone, so get out of your head and talk to friends, family, and your MAN v FAT Rugby teammates.
• Reevaluate your goals. Sometimes low motivation happens because you feel overwhelmed by your goals. If that sounds familiar, break your goals into smaller, more manageable chunks and focus on ticking them off before you think about the bigger picture.

Keeping your motivation going

It’s only natural that your motivation flags, as after all, it’s hard to maintain interest in something over a long period, especially when it involves hard work. Here are some ways you can keep giving yourself reasons to keep going:

• Reward yourself. Weight loss can be hard, so be sure to celebrate your progress, no matter how small you think your successes are.
• Find an accountability buddy. Having someone you can exercise with can be a huge motivator, making it more enjoyable to exercise, as well as making it less likely you’ll cancel.
• Visualise your success. Imagine how good it’s going to feel when you achieve your weight loss goals!

Be kind to yourself

Honestly, the most important thing is that you don’t beat yourself up for finding things tough. Losing weight takes time and effort, so try not to get discouraged if you’re finding it tough. Talk to your MAN v FAT Rugby coach and teammates to get some pointers for easy wins and remember that every small change is a step in the right direction. Don’t give up.

There’s nothing more frustrating than stepping on the scales only to find that you haven’t lost anything – or worse, that you’ve gained a few pounds. It’s especially disheartening when you feel like you’ve had a good week. So what’s going on?

You’re not being entirely honest with yourself

Did you track everything you ate over the week? Or did you fudge the numbers, forget about drinks or have one too many sneaky snacks that didn’t make it into your diary?

It happens to us all at some point, and we usually don’t even realise we’ve done it. Don’t beat yourself up about it, but it can mean that you’re not losing weight because you’re adding hundreds of extra calories to your day without really thinking about it.

The solution:

• Track everything. Everything! Keep a note of what you’re eating as you eat it. If you’re not already using an app like MyFitnessPal or Nutracheck, you should download one and get into the habit of tracking what you eat either in advance or soon after you eat. That’ll cut down on lapses in memory.
• If you’re finding yourself constantly tempted by little treats, like doughnuts or biscuits in the office, your kid’s leftovers, or whipped cream on your Starbucks order, it’s time to be a little stricter. We know, we know, no one likes feeling deprived but at some point, you’ve got to start saying no. That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a doughnut ever again, it’s more about saying no to surprise calories that’ll throw your day off. By all means, plan to have a donut and figure out how you can fit it into your day, but those little extras that you’re eating without thinking? Pay attention and try and limit them.

You’re forgetting about portion sizes

Think about binge eating and you’ll probably picture masses of crisps, chocolate, and junk food. But you can overeat healthier foods too if you’re not keeping an eye on how much you’re eating.

We know it can feel like a hassle to measure what you eat, but until you get familiar with what healthy serving sizes look like, using a kitchen scale to measure out your food is the best way to ensure you don’t take in excess calories.

Check your calorie counting app for how many calories you want to spend on a food before you cook, and then measure things like pasta and rice (either dry or cooked) to make sure you’re not eating too much.

You’re forgetting about drinks

If you’ve got a pop habit, taking the often difficult step of cutting it out (or at least reducing how many cans you drink a day) can lead to a significant calorie saving. A 330ml can of Coca Cola is 139 calories, so you can see how easily the calories stack up if you have more than 1 can a day. A can of Coke Zero is 0 calories, although we admit it can be difficult to get used to the taste.

What about other drinks? Flavoured water, energy drinks, cafe coffees on the way to work? They’re all easy to forget about, especially if you automatically assume drinks aren’t high in calories (some are!)

The solution:

• Read the labels or check nutrition facts online before you order
• Go for sugar-free where you can
• If in doubt, stick to water!

You’re eating out too much

We all love eating at a restaurant (we’re big fans of drive-thru too), but it’s harder to stay in control of your weight loss when you’re eating out regularly. You can find nutritional information for many places online, but most things will tend to be higher in calories than what you’d make at home because they won’t be shy when it comes to cooking with oil, deep frying, and using creamy ingredients.

Try and make more meals at home if you can. You don’t need to spend hours in the kitchen to make delicious, nutritious meals, and making things yourself is the only real way to control exactly what goes into your meals.

Your expectations are too high

Maybe you are losing weight, but it’s not as quick as you’d like. It would be amazing if weight loss was easy and quick, and you were dropping 5 or 6lbs every week. Sometimes that does happen, especially in the early days, but sometimes even shifting 1lb can feel like a battle.

The truth is that the body is a weird thing, and sometimes you can do everything right and still find you’re disappointed when your weigh day comes around.

• If you’re losing half a pound or a pound every week but you feel like you’re not losing weight, you are! It doesn’t sound like much, but half a pound off still makes you lighter than you were last week, and it all adds up.
• It gets harder to hit those big numbers every week as you get closer to your goal weight, so if you’re thinking that the last 10lbs you have to lose are so much harder than the 60lbs you lost before it, you’d be right.
• It’s not impossible to do, but it does take a little more effort than when you were at your heaviest and your body was only too happy to start dropping the weight. Reassess your goals and your calorie allowance and keep going.

The most important thing to do if you feel like you’re not losing weight is to not give up. Every step towards a healthier lifestyle is a step towards achieving your goals, even if you’re not seeing it reflected on the scales. Keep going and you will see results, even if it takes longer than you’d anticipated.

It’s all too easy to fall off the wagon, especially after you’ve had a long break from building your healthier habits. Whether you’ve had a bout of low motivation, have been on holiday, or just had some life stuff going on (it happens), put it all behind you and get back into a routine. Here’s how.

Start small

Don’t try and do everything at once. You know what you need to do to start losing weight again: eat better, watch your portion sizes, and get a bit more active. We’re not talking about killing yourself in the gym or restricting what you eat here. Think about what small, achievable goals you can start doing: take a daily walk or swap a snack for something a little healthier.

Wean yourself off

If you’ve got junk food lying around that’s make it difficult to cut back on high calorie foods, wean yourself off it. As tempting as it is, don’t immediately throw all that junk food in the garbage, because you’ll probably feel very hard done by (also who can afford to be throwing food away in this economy?!)

If sweets, chocolate, or crisps are your weaknesses, portion them out into food bags and enjoy them as a calorie-controlled treat.

Gradually do more to incorporate healthier habits into your life. If you’re ordering a takeaway too often, make a pact with yourself to cook at home twice a week and give yourself a pass on the days when a takeaway feels like the only option. Then add more and more homecooked meals until you feel like you’re back in control.

Find something you enjoy

When you enjoy what you’re doing, it’s much less likely to feel like a chore. This is especially true when it comes exercise, so put the effort into finding something you’ll enjoy, whether it’s dancing, swimming, cycling, or hiking.

Avoid boredom

Boredom is another huge reason why we fall off the wagon, because we need something to hold our interest. Why would we continue to eat the healthy homecooked meals we pour our time and effort into when our head gets turned by a cheesy, easy, fast-food meal?

Mix things up. Try new recipes and recreate your favourite takeaway dishes to add some interest to your meals. The same goes for workouts – try something new!

Plan your meals ahead

Meal prep is a great way to stay on track. Planning what you’ll eat ahead of time can help you make healthier choices and avoid impulse decisions, so it’s worth a try to see if it works for your lifestyle. Prepare a batch of healthy meals or snacks on the weekend to have ready throughout the week.

Don’t beat yourself up

It’s normal to have setbacks when you’re trying to lose weight. Don’t let them derail you, instead try to learn from your mistakes and get back on track. Weight loss takes a lot of effort and time, so try and be patient with yourself. We know it’s frustrating, but if you keep chipping away at your goals you’ll get there.

Lean on your support system

Honestly, there’s no shame in struggling to get back in the swing of things. We’ve all been there, because this stuff’s hard. Talk about how you’re doing with your fellow MAN v FAT Rugby teammates, and you’ll soon find that we all have times when we struggle.

Sharing your experiences can boost your motivation, and the support and accountability you’ll get from your teammates is incredibly helpful for setting you back on the right path.

As the season progresses, it’s important to take a step back and consider how things are going. Are you making good progress towards those goals you set back in week 1? Or do you need to adjust them now that you’ve got a few weeks under your belt?

Reflect on your progress

This is a good time to take stock of what you’ve achieved in the last few weeks. Have you lost weight? Has your fitness improved? Are you enjoying yourself out on the pitch?

These are all important things to think about, and if you’re happy with the progress you’ve made that’s cause for celebration!

• Celebrate your achievements. This isn’t a time to be modest: be proud about what you’ve done.
• Think about what went right. What went into your success? What really helped? Knowing these answers will make it easier to replicate your achievements as you work towards your next goals.
• Set new challenges. Take what you’ve learned in the past few weeks and use your knowledge to challenge yourself further. What will get you even closer to your overall goal? Can you challenge yourself to cook more, or to try a new workout?
• Continue to track your progress. You’ve made a great start, but don’t lose momentum! Keep going, and check in with yourself every few weeks to see how you’re doing.

Adjusting your goals

Things might not have gone exactly as you’d hoped, and that’s ok. Maybe life got in the way, or you had a few false starts with getting to grips with changing your eating habits. Maybe your initial goals were a bit too ambitious. It happens. If this sounds familiar, think about what you can change and how, and make a pledge to work on it.

• Are your goals realistic? We’d all love to lose a huge amount of weight in a short space of time, but that’s not how it works. Make sure your goal is something you’ve got a fair shot at achieving, otherwise you’ll just end up frustrated and demotivated.
• Can you try something new? If you’ve not quite achieved what you’d hoped to, consider a new approach. Switch things up and try something different, whether that’s a new workout, a way to increase your daily activity, or a new approach to eating better.
• Seek support. Confide in friends and family and you might find they’re a treasure trove of support and encouragement. If you’re not comfortable turning to people you know, don’t forget about your MAN v FAT Rugby teammates! They’ll know better than anyone what it’s like to be working towards weight loss goals.
• Speak to your coach. Your coach is also someone you should be leaning on when times get tough, it’s what they’re there for! Arrange to have a chat with them and they’ll be more than happy to help, whether it’s looking over your food diary to spot opportunities for change, or for a pep talk when things feel tough, your coach is there for you.

Check in regularly

It’s important to check in with yourself regularly as you’re working towards your weight loss goals. People who are successful at losing weight (and keeping it off long-term) are the ones who are fully in tune with their body and mind, continually asking themselves if there’s anything they can do to better work towards their goals.

Thinking about your goals and evaluating your progress will help to keep you accountable and on track, but it’s also incredibly motivating to see the progress you’re making. Enjoy the process and make sure you take a moment to celebrate your success along the way.

Binge eating is really common among men who are trying to lose weight. It’s likely there’s been a time where you’ve thought, why did I eat all that?! We’ve all been there, and while it can feel disheartening, there are ways to bounce back.

Stop the yo-yo

We overeat, or binge, then say, ‘diet starts Monday’ while feeling guilty or disappointed. Then we radically cut back to try and make up for it.

That can only go so far, and you’re bound to find that you can’t keep the restriction up for long. And when you can’t maintain the restriction, you reach for food for comfort – all the food! And then you’re back at square one.

Break this yo-yo cycle though by accepting when you’ve maybe eaten too much and try your best to simply move on, without placing unsustainable, unrealistic restrictions on yourself.

Get back to normal as soon as possible

It’s true that a new week is a fresh start that’s full of opportunity, and it can be liberating to say ‘the diet starts on Monday’, but instead of waiting, seize the day and don’t let a bad day spiral into several.

Each meal is a new opportunity to flex your healthy eating habits. If you had one flat tire you wouldn’t slash the other three. In the same way, don’t give up on your goal because of one setback.

Drink more water

Most of us are guilty of depriving our bodies of the water it needs to function. Does that ring true? Do you get your eight glasses of fluids in a day? Drinking more water will stop you from getting dehydrated, especially after a high salt binge, and it’ll help with your digestion too.

Get moving

When you’re feeling lethargic and full after binge eating, you’re probably going to want to just lie on the sofa doing nothing except possibly clutching your belly and wailing.

Although it’ll feel like the last thing you want, the best thing you can do is to get active.
Go for a walk and blow off the cobwebs. It doesn’t need to be an especially long walk but getting yourself out of the house will take your mind off that uncomfortable full feeling and will help your body start to process all that excess food.

Cut yourself some slack

We’ve saved the most important for last. Don’t beat yourself up about the odd binge slip up. Changing your unhealthy eating habits is a monumental task and it’s not always going to be smooth sailing. Try to see it as an experience to learn from. Breaking a habit like bingeing takes time and effort to overcome.

See if you can work out if there are any triggers to your binge eating and that should put you in a good place to spot the next potential binge and try and stop it in its tracks.

If you’re keen for success and are eyeing up the top spot, you’ll need to know how the MAN v FAT Rugby scoring system works. Let’s get into it. On the pitch, the rules for MAN v FAT Rugby are pretty similar to the rules for any small-sided touch rugby league, however we will be following a new version of the game called T1 Rugby. The thing that makes MAN v FAT Rugby special? There are opportunities to score bonus tries based on your weight loss and healthy habits. That’s what’s going to help you lose weight, and what’s going to help you and your team sail to the top of the league.

Players can score bonus tries in four ways:

1. Team bonus. Each week we add up the number of players on your team that have either lost weight versus the previous week or maintained their healthy BMI*. We award a bonus try for each pair, up to a maximum of 5 tries per team – so that’s 1 bonus try per every 2 player that loses weight, with half tries rounded up.*All players must have a BMI of at least 27.5 to join MAN v FAT Rugby. Once a player reaches a healthy BMI, we no longer encourage them to keep losing weight, so the rules switch up for them and they get bonuses for maintaining a healthy BMI, whether they gain or lose weight. Players who record a weight that is both heavier than the previous week and heavier than they were at the start of the current season will score an own goal.

2. Hat tricks. Any time an individual player records three losses within their club’s league season, they score 1 full bonus try. These losses don’t need to be consecutive, but they don’t overlap seasons, so one player can get a maximum of 4 hat tricks for his team each season.

3. 5% loss bonuses. When a player reaches an incremental milestone loss of 5% of his body weight, he gets 3 full bonus tries for his team, a maximum of twice per season. This is always based off your weight when you first join us, so you’ll get a bonus for losing 5%, 10%, 15% of that starting weight, and so on, until you reach a healthy BMI for your height.If you manage to lose 15% of your starting weight in just one season, first of all, hats off to you, and second of all, don’t worry about missing out on those sweet, sweet bonuses – they’ll carry over to the first week of the following season so you can hit the ground running.

4. Food diary tracking. Teams will score 1 additional bonus try for every 1-3 players who complete their weekly food diaries. This encourages mindfulness about your eating habits and a supportive team, since you’ll all need to work together and stay accountable to one another if you want to score the maximum number of points.

Losing weight is the key to success with your team in MAN v FAT Rugby, so don’t forget to focus on building your healthy habits as well as your performance on the pitch.