Posted on

Wednesday, 11th January

“None of us can change our yesterdays, but all of us can change our tomorrows”

Colin Powell, Former secretary of State of the US

Most people who never succeed with the health and fitness plans usually dwell too much on their past experiences.

If you go through life with something heavy weighing you down emotionally, you’re always going to struggle to move at the speed you’re really capable of.

If you hang on to the past too much, negativity and doubt will influence all of your future decisions.

Anger, resentment, hurt, fear, regret are all emotions that will tie you up to the past, instead of letting you achieve great things in the future.

Resentment is a particularly destructive one you often see in people.

Here a great quote from Nelson Mandela

“Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies”

If anyone had reason to resent people, surely it was him?!!

2012 is where we are right now and the best time to let go of your past mistakes and unfortunate experiences, and move forward to all the possibilities that a healthy lifestyle offers.

If you drunk too much alcohol in 2011 and past years, then training sensibly and eating well will encourage you to drink less, get your body on track and energy back in your life. You will be improving yourself and others who had to put up with your drinking in the past.

If you smoke too much now, and promise yourself that you will exercise SOME DAY once you give the fags up, then stop making excuses right now!! Exercising and eating well will give you every incentive to give this destructive habit up once and for all.

If you were really overweight in 2011 and years before maybe, use 2012 as the year you’re going to finally do it, and the great news is that im here to help you the whole way!!!

Whatever your situation, leave the past behind, start with a clean slate and lets see how much you can achieve in 2012!!!

Twitt
Posted on

Tuesday, 10th January

I always tell people that when they employ me, i can give you all the correct advice but i won’t be able to do their exercises for them!

You have to exercise yourself if you are to get any value out of this programme.

If i give you the programme, its like giving you a map but you still have to drive the car. I can teach you principles but you’re going to have to apply them. If you decide to put the effort in, then the rewards are going to be well worth it!

You have to realise one thing though, good things come to those who have patience.

You will get times and wonder “why all of this isn’t working faster? Why haven’t i reached all my goals in super-quick time? Why aren’t people telling me how good i look already? When am i going to be at my ideal body fat?”!!!

Success takes time, perserverence, effort and patience as i have previously said.

If you go in the diet section, you will begin to eat better and you WILL reach your ideal levels of body fat.

If you go into the training section, you WILL get fitter, healthier and have more endurance than you ever have.

These statements only come true if you apply them and actually do what you say you’re going to do, no secret in that piece of information!!!

Its normal in any endeavour to come up against obstacles, to hit plateaus regularly. This is perfectly normal and anyone who has ever tried out a new sport, played the piano for example or just about anything, know there will be times when you feel as if you have made no progress at all. This is when  most people give up, drop put or just try something else they think will be easier.

The smart people find out that if they just keep practicing, and thats what exercise is, practicing, you will eventually make a big leap in terms of progress and you will become a much more impressive athlete with an abundance of health.

Its only early in the new year, but you have to realise that you’re going to be into some kind of health and fitness programme for the rest of your life. Don’t give up, ever, this is the true secret of success with health, or just about anything else!!!

The principles on here will ALWAYS work, and its time to get started!!

Twitt
Posted on

Monday, 9th January

A fresh story out today is the levels of alcohol consumption and what is okay and what is bad for you?

There have been many different guidelines over the last few years, with most of the medical profession recommending around 20 alcohol units a week.

One pint of beer was 2 units along with a glass of wine the same.

Women were advised one to two units a day, men up from two to four units a day.

Now the advice comes out today that people need to STAY OFF alcohol for at least two days a week.

This doesn’t go anywhere near far enough in my book.

We talk about achieving the best physical performance on here every day and unfortunately, alcohol will be the leading factor STOPPING  you get to where you want to be.

When it comes to looking and feeling good, alcohol will trip you up in a big way. The feel good factor is very temporary and usually only lasts for just a couple of hours. Then it can actually depress you.

Alcohol is actually classed as a depressant so I assume you don’t want to feel down and sad, so it doesn’t make sense to drink too much?!

Alcohol will stop you burning body fat to a large degree too the day after you consume it. So not only do you get the excess calories when you initially drink it, you develop a hunger for sugary and fatty foods, which will put weight on.

Then the next day, your ability to burn body fat is cut down by a third. Its hard enough to burn body fat anyway, making the task even harder seems like madness!

There are 120 sleep disorders out there, 80 are linked to alcohol, so anyone who tells you to have a glass of wine to help you have a good sleep is talking rubbish!!

Also, if you abstain most of the week, you will naturally feel better when your system is clean and clear.

Your skin will be better and your vital organs will function properly.

You read this to be healthy and get and stay in good physical condition. Alcohol once a week maximum is advised, that’s not harsh, its just my assessment of working with a lot of people for a lot of years, when results have always mattered!

Time to act now and get some real balance in your life!

Twitt
Posted on

Friday, 6th January

Hope you have made a great start to the new year, and things are working out in a very positive way for you!

If things are positive for you, then you have actually taken action and you are a DOER instead of a talker and you are on your way. You have probably realised that the DOING comes before you feel better.

When you do something, you get rid of your fear and you build a good amount of self-confidence, this is the power of it all.

So if its the fact that you are on your way and you have trained well this week, you will soon enjoy this experience and you have overcome all of your initial fears. This feels so good usually that you want to challenge yourself again and move on to the next level.

Then the fear starts all over again, and you have doubts in your mind again! This is a good sign!

You have to realise though that this fear of a new challenge is experienced by EVERYONE ELSE TOO!!!! All those people you may have admired from afar and achieved a lot in their lives were actually scared to death themselves at some stage, plucking up the courage to actually “go for it” and reach their seemingly lofty goals!

Instead of seeing fear as a massive obstacle and retreating at a rate of knots, you should see it as a sign inviting you to improve and change your life for the better!

Instead of settling for what you have now, its going to be far more rewarding for you to be fitter and healthier for the rest of your life, in terms of inner satisfaction and quality of life to name just two massive benefits!

You may ask why you would want to put yourself through the uncomfortable nature of trying to change your life, but that temporary feeling is going to be hundred times better than sticking with a lifetime of being overweight, unfit and unhealthy, and all the negatives that situation brings.

 Its time to make the change to grab the chance with both hands!

Twitt
Posted on

Thursday, 5th January

The term “snacks” can be viewed in two different contexts.

Snacks have been given a bad rap, but this is usually because most people consider snack as mid-morning junk or mid-afternoon treats. If you imagine pasties, cakes, biscuits, sausage rolls, chocolate, bags of crisps as the right sort of choices for snacks, then you are going to be highly destructive to your body.

These types of foods not only pile the weight on, but they will create wild swings in your blood sugar, causing potential diabetes if consumed over a longer period of time, mood swings due to the sugar swings, and low energy levels again due to the sugar swings. A bad idea all round then!!!

I have included some snack ideas at the end of this piece, and all of them will be based on my philosophy of eating natural foods when possible.

After an initial period of a few days, you will appreciate the natural flavours of these foods, and not revert to the saturated fat, high sugar, high salt nature of the foods mentioned in the second paragraph.

I love these snacks also due their ability to sweeten your “plainer” foods. Try dates and figs, chop them up and use them as a sweetener for porridge for example.

Chop fruit up and make natural fruit salads from an assortment of fruit, with natural yoghurt as a topping. Nuts also make great toppings for just about anything, and include vital natural fats that will enhance your skin, and just about all your internal workings of your body, making sure you perform and look your best at all times!

This is the time right now to convert your very poor choices of snacks to the natural variety we have just talked about. Eating in between meals used to be a big no-no, eating these snacks though will keep you full in between meals (mid-morning and mid-afternoon) and stop you overeating at meal times, and don’t forget the energy they give you too, a win-win situation I think you’ll agree!!

Snacks-calorie breakdown

Snacks are vitally important, to keep energy levels up, and to keep important nutrients coming in throughout the day

Fresh fruit for energy-100g usually

Apple-50

Pear-64

Banana-95

Blueberries-30

Kiwi fruit-29

Plums-34

Grapes-60

Strawberries-27

Satsuma-23

Dried fruit-to cure a sweet tooth and good for you

Sultanas-138

Raisins-136

Figs-43

Apricots-29

Low-fat yoghurts-provide calcium and nice desserts

Natural low-fat-56

Whole milk-79

Low-fat fruit-90

Low fat fromage frais-58

Nuts-50g-for essential fats

Cashews-287

Brazils-341

Almonds-306

Walnuts-344

Pumpkin seeds-57

Sunflower-57

Mixed nuts chopped-304

Hazlenuts-325

Twitt