THE RULES
KNOWN FOR HIS STRAIGHT-TALKING FITNESS ADVICE,
PERSONAL TRAINER JAMES SMITH TELLS ERIN FISHER
WHY WE SHOULD FOCUS ON WHAT WE EAT, INSTEAD OF
THINKING WE SHOULD GO TO THE GYM EVERY DAY
T
ough love is defined as the act
of deliberately not showing too
much kindness to someone
who has a problem so that the person
will start to solve their own problem;
of treating another person harshly or
sternly with the intent to help them in
the long run.
Dubbed the ‘Gordon Ramsay of
the fitness world’, tough love is what
personal trainer James Smith is
all about.
“People say things to me like, ‘James,
I’ve lost so much weight from just
drinking celery juice! Yeah, I’m not
surprised – you stopped eating food, you
idiot. You gave up the one thing that
was making you overweight in the first
place!” he laughs.
But this controversial sense of humourand no-nonsense approach is what has
built him a cult-like following of people
who hang on his every word, made him
one of the world’s most successful online
personal trainers, and has seen his debut
book skyrocket to an instant Sunday
Times bestseller.
And he’s only just getting started.A new message
The world of health and fitness
is currently a multi-billion dollar
industry, rife with people getting on the
bandwagon to make a quick buck, who
unfortunately don’t always have the
education, experience or qualifications
to be dishing out health advice.
When James made a career shift away
from a soul-crushing corporate job and
into the fitness arena at 24 to becomea personal trainer, he quickly realised
how widespread the confusion and
misinformation was. He vowed to make
it his mission to help people by cutting
through the staggering number of
wellness myths.
Now 30, James has made a name for
himself as the Calorie F*****g Deficit
guy. The message behind the moniker is
clear, concise, and has helped thousands.
If you want to lose body fat, you need
to eat less and move more. If someone
has lost weight, it probably wasn’t
because of some miracle diet, but a
calorie deficit. If you’re bigger than
you would like to be, it’s almost always
because you’re eating more than your
body needs, and counting calories can
be a helpful method to understanding
food better. »CHANGING
James on the ’gram