Posted on

Tuesday, 15th May

Another myth of weight loss is that the more calories you cut, the better and the more weight you will end up losing.

One pound of fat equals 3500 calories, so a good idea would be just to get your daily intake by 500 calories, and over seven days, then you will have your magic 3500 calories (7×500).

The problem though with cutting more than that is that your body ends up in “starvation mode”. This is exactly what you do not want to do, as your body will go totally on the defensive.

This process evolved from the early days of man, when food wasnt so plentiful, and it doesnt take long  for your body to start holding on to body fat in any way it can.

When starvation mode starts, then your gets desperate for calories and will take it out of food and drink in all sorts of ways.

In order to keep functioning, your body will also unfortunaltely start to take calories from your hard-earned ultra-efficient lean muscle tissue, this is bad news because it will slow your metabolism down when lean muscle is reduced.

Muscle loss means a slower metabolic rate, which means slowing or completely stalling weight loss, exactly what you do not want to do!

Losing weight TOO QUICKLY is totally the wrong thing to do for a whole host of reasons, and this is why cutting calories too quick and by too many can help you lose more over the first couple of weeks, but will definitely lead to you piling it pack on and more when you begin to eat properly again.

This is the same old story maybe, but it  doesnt make it any less sad, and the more times i see it, the more angry and determined to get people doing their weight loss plan in the correct manner, and not falling for the totally unhealthy way of slimming clubs etc.

Twitt
Posted on

Monday, 14th May

There are a lot of myths being exploded all the time by latest science in terms of losing body fat, and we should keep mentioning them on here.

We all know that drinking pop will put weight on us, especially the full sugar versions. In fact, studies have shown that they can contain up to 40% of total calories in some people!

Then we move on to diet pop such as diet coke or pepsi, or diet just about anything!

These WILL NOT help you lose weight and here’s why.

The problem is not with the one calorie but with the artificial sweetener.

The sweetener has been linked to weight gain because it stimulates your taste receptor than senses sweetness in the stomach, Once the stomach expects energy, it stimulates insulin production from the pancreas, which is a very important hormone for increasing body fat.

At the same time, chemicals are sent to the brain and it becomes confused whether it is having calories or not.

As your body gets tricked into whether it is receiving food or not, then your body tends to want to overeat to make sure you are having the required calories!

You will feel hungrier and less full, so the urge to overeat will always be strong.

Artificial sweeteners are 100 times more sweet than normal table sugar. This is very concerning since this makes natural sugars such as fruit quite bitter to some people who slam back sweeteners and products that contain lots of sweeteners.

The more natural you eat, the better. The same with drink. If you have a glass of water, then slice some lemon in it to give it a natural flavouring.

If you had the diet lemonade, you are conditioning your body to all sorts of negative eating emotions, which can be highly damaging to your long term weight control and performance.

Twitt
Posted on

Thursday, 10th May

Adjusting your eating in the first place to become a healthier, fitter person is one of the hardest, most uncomfortable processes we go through.

Although most of us show great enthusiasm when we say we will and want to change our lifestyle, the actual knuckling down to it all can be much harder than we thought.

Most people who are overweight and unhealthy exist on a diet of high refined sugars and high in saturated fat. This is the ultimate double whammy in becoming the most unhealthy version of yourself, and the bad news is that this way of eating can take a lo of getting used to.

Not only that but those of you who eat a lot of “bad” and “empty” calories (in terms of nutritional value), will usually be prone to drinking a lot of these worthless calories in too.

If you see someone carrying a big bottle of coke or pepsi down the road for instance, then its fairly reasonable to expect them to be overweight.

If you see someone who “calls for a pint” every night or every other night in the pub, then is usually guaranteed they will be overweight, and if not, certainly unhealthy inside which can be even worse.

Since most people who live this lifestyle have been on it most of their lives, then of course it is going to be very difficult indeed to get off this path.

The great news is though that once you leave the path of making yourself extremely unhealthy over the long term, the changes can start happening fairly quickly, and happen much quicker again when you start exercising properly, or just even moving around more.

As I said, the hardest decision is often to change your diet in the first place and get on the right road. I don’t consider the right road to be slimming clubs either, they are the quick path to yo-yo dieting and ultimate failure and self-confidence destruction (scientific studies say that 97% of dieters put the weight back on and 5% more).

Im talking about eating healthy, eating fresh when possible and eating foods as much in their natural state as possible. This is the right road that will eventually take you to ultimate health and a strong standard of fitness.

Twitt
Posted on

Wednesday, 9th May

Are you one of those who is feeling very tired after the long bank holiday weekend? If so, then you are not alone!!

Most people who have not exercised at the weekend will automatically feel more tired yesterday in particular, and maybe today too.

This shows that if you do not move around on a regular basis, then you are not helping your energy levels one bit. Some people think that if they sit around all day, somehow they will have more energy and that exercise is somehow “counter-productive” to their day. This is the ultimate in negative thinking and does by those who are usually way out of shape!

If you listen to the anecdotal evidence from those who exercise on a regular basis, then you will have heard energy only comes from exercising and eating fresh natural food. Most people who exercise regularly are more positive than their sedentary counterparts.

So if you have been one of the more inactive individuals at the weekend, then you should know what i am talking about.

Hopefully, you have got a great workout in over the last two days or even got two workouts in, chances are by now you feel 200% better by now!

Energy is earned by your body and not a god-given right!

Your body will look after itself if you look after it, this is always something to remember the next time you think you should “retire” from exercise. This lack of ambition will get you nowhere, and its time to make that  “SOMEDAY” happen today in terms of getting into shape, and dumping all that rubbish refined sugar loaded food straight into the black bags and head them straight over to the rubbish dump!!!

Actions speak louder than words so lets make sure you make it happen!!

Twitt
Posted on

Tuesday, May 8th

The revolution in training goes on and some remarkable changes have happened the last few years in particular.

The return of bodyweight training, and the rise and rise of functional training (exercises that have real life meaning) has been fantastic for me, because it what i have done for many, many years and its great to see a lot of people embracing this style of training!

I spoke to an equipment supplier last week and he told me what i already thought-that steppers, cross trainers, treadmills even were on the way out, and that steppers were totally out, and on the way to joining the dinosaurs!!! A lot of companies dont even make steppers anymore!!

I have been banging on for years that these machines should not form the foundation of your training. Steppers in particular don’t offer much value in terms of results, and are an example of a machine doing a lot of the work for you, plus wasting a lot of money.

Treadmills have their place if you are forced to exercise inside, but there are a million other options thats for sure!

If you’re fed up about me talking about  medicine balls, bosu balls, swiss balls etc, then tough! This is the way you should be training for all kinds of amazing results. If you want a strong back, then this is for you. If you want a strong tight stomach, then this way of training is for you, if you want great balance, then this way will work big time for you.

Bottom line is that if you want to be fitter, stronger, better balanced and healthier in every single way, then you have to learn how to handle your own bodyweight and really “find” your body again and its true source of power. This isnt some kind of mystical thing either, its entirely possible and its about time you made it happen!!!

Twitt