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Got your week covered?

Bit of a sleepless night myself but thats what comes from having kids 2 and under i suppose!!

The positive news is that i didn’t have a drink last night and you know by now that the lack of alcohol makes me feel so much more alert on sunday mornings. We talk about it all the time and a few of you have mentioned how alcohol can ruin the following day for you, and that sunday seems a write off for many of you.

Having a fresh feeling sunday means the world to me.

I get to plan my week better and the chances of me starting monday morning with a bang are very high, and i’m quite excited about that too so hope you’re going to join me in having a big week!

What i mean regarding having your week covered is hopefully, you have most of your workouts planned, and a substitute if you can’t get it done.

Cyril has already posed how positive he feels, after having an awful few weeks of real pain, stopping him doing most things. His spirit has comes through at 100 miles an hour and he is looking to get out there this week, whatever the weather!

Whether you’re about to embark on an exercise programme today or you’re an advanced athlete, you need to be ready to execute a plan this week.

For me its always about doing at least two all over weight training programmes, and the normal runs and cycles i get to do with clients. The efforts range on a personal level from comfortable to totally out of my comfort zone. The range of individuals and businesses i train is vast, so i have to have enough experience to accommodate every body.

The support system i have around my week is always proper eating, sound nutritional choices and a wide variety of nutrients. If its man made, i don’t usually want it!

Then there’s my sleep needs, if i don’t get enough sleep, my body doesn’t repair itself and i don’t replenish the energy needed for my next day, which usually starts at 4am.

I don’t feel sorry for myself getting up at that time of day because people are paying me a reasonable amount of money to be there, so the least i can do is show up alert and full of energy ready to make a difference for them!

Enjoy the rest off your sunday and prepare for another big week!!!

Twitt
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Warm weather-getting it done

Getting in your sessions despite the sudden temperature increase has never been more important.

The strategy should always be to do your training first thing in the morning, or last thing in the evening. First thing in the morning though tends to work better, as working out last thing at night is not great for sleep, as you will still have adrenalin in your system and you will find it very difficult to relax.

Every time you see either ultra-warm weather, see it as an opportunity to increase your health and fitness, when most likely everyone else is not bothering to move too much.

The same with the snow and ice. This is a no brainer for some people, they will simply use it as an excuse not to train and add another period of inactivity into their lives.

Whatever the weather, you will always have great opportunities to train. Most likely they will be inside when its snowing and icy outside, and you will be working out first thing in the morning when there’s a lot of warm weather around.

With the warm weather thats here right now, use it as a challenge. The one thing you have to remember about working out in this weather is consuming enough water, its very easy to get dehydrated in times like these so prepare well before, during and after your workout.

Another benefit to training in the warmer temperatures is that when it gets cooler again (and it wont be long), your training will seem a lot easier because your body internally wont get so warm. Your body’s core temperature dictates how hard you can train so having an experience of colder and warmer temperatures is always invaluable.

The whole point of this is to tell you that you should still train, but use some caution and try to use the coolest times of the day to schedule in your workout. Drink enough water, don’t go mad on hotter days and simply getting decent workouts in will not only be an achievement, but very valuable too in terms of results and keeping them coming in at regular intervals.

Enjoy yourself and have a big weekend outside and inside whatever you decide to do!!

Twitt
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Different approaches

Using different approaches in getting into shape is to be applauded, because there is always more than one way to get things done.

I do lose a bit of patience though when we hear all about the latest celebrity diets, the latest “cleansing” diets, the latest diet maple syrup diet for example for 14 days and you lose lots of weight promises, etc etc.

We all hear them all the time but the reality is that these diets will only take you further from your overall goal. Losing 14 pounds in two weeks makes your body all the more INEFFICIENT because you tend to lose valuable lean muscle tissue. This makes the longer term process of losing body fat very difficult as your metabolism will be undoubtedly slowed down.

The more lean muscle tissue you have on your body, the more calories your body burns 24 hours a day. Any time you lose some of the muscle tissue, you burn less calories and quite often, much of the shape you set out to get in the first place.

Most of us lose weight first in the areas we don’t really want to. I know many people who lose it first in the shoulders, so you get to look thin and shapeless straight away. The problem is that society puts so much emphasis on the weighing scale, and not enough on actual body fat loss and how you look in clothes, plus how your actual energy levels really are.

If you’ve been reading this since last October and you still try out faddy diets on a regular basis, either im not communicating with you at all or it could be a waste of time you reading this. If you like doing short term fixes, then great, go and do them.

The chances are though that you will be doing quite a lot of short term fixes over the rest of your life. If you want to relieve the stress of all of this, then you need to face facts and start eating food that was actually meant for your body. All those chemicals were not meant for consumption you see in lots of foods.

The way you live your life 24 hours a day in terms of food and drink will always reward you or come back to haunt you.

What you put into your fitness programme is always what you get out. If you eat in public all healthy and then behind closed doors, you eat rubbish, then its time to come clean and EAT CLEAN for a change.

The facts are all on here how to do it, the tick is clocking so the quicker you get on with it, the quicker you’re looking and feeling like the way you want to be!

Twitt
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Acceptance of the new you

There is the old story about the one of the most infamous bandits in mexico changing his life around to become one of the most famous priests and negotiators in mexicos’s history and its lesson to us all.

To cut a long story short, this bandit became one of mexico’s most important men by acts of courage and his ability to communicate with the rivalling gangs and mafia’s, and somehow sorting out insurmountable problems out time after time.

This took massive personal change and it was very uncomfortable for others to accept this one time bandit as a good man of the cloth for many people.

The first time he was at a loss for words and not able to settle a difference between rival gangs was when he was negotiating and one of the leaders told him he would always remember him as “el bandito” and not a man of the cloth. Needless to say he was speechless and lost for words, and for a short period of time, lost all his powers of negotiation because he went back to his old ways when he was a bandit, losing his sense of fair play and trying to force through a solution.

This was pointed out to him the next day by an elder and was told to focus on the person he had become, rather than the person he was. He never looked back after that because the first time in his life, he felt officically “accepted”, the new version of himsel had finally arrived and was established.

This is is the same as many of you who have lost weight, got very fit and gained lots and lots of energy.

To get there, you told many of your friends that you were eating well and exercising regularly, and you wanted to change things in your life.

You have to accept though if you want to remain lean and fit, and still retain lots of energy, you have to live a healthy lifestyle.

The people who remember the old you have to accept the “new you” and all that it entails.

You still have the same personality, you are the same person inside, you probably just look heck of a lot better than before, and feel a hundred times better. People have to accept that if you want to live a life thats better for everybody.

Most of all, you have accept the new you YOURSELF, and look forward and not back. This is a key step in becoming successful for the rest of your life.

Twitt
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Version of reality

Most of us have our own versions of reality, some more ambitious than others.

For example, getting into shape requires us to train a minimum of 3-4 days per week.

It also requires us to eat very healthily most of the time.

Then we need to hit the sack reasonably early every night, so we can recover and get ready for another workout the day after sometimes.

This is the version of reality i try to adhere to, and i know its pretty truthful when expecting results.

Some people’s version of reality is eating what you want, slamming in a couple of light hearted session in the week and hoping for the best. When the desired results don’t come in, the common response is either to feel sorry for yourself type of attitude, or not really be truthful with yourself type of attitude.

The sooner you realise that two walks a week will not get you in amazing shape the better.

The sooner you realise the gardening for 30 minutes a day will not get you in great shape.

The sooner you realise that 30 minutes of housework will not get you in shape the better.

These are all daily mail types of claims, or claims from the government, and im here to tell you that they are BALONEY AND FALSE.

Im not saying that housework and gardening are not good for you, but you DO need to do some structured workout regularly if you want to change your shape, lower your body fat, strengthen your heart and flat out get yourself in shape full stop!

Enough of this namby pamby daily mail attitude to exercise, its not going to do much. It will improve your health but not make real life-changing effects on the way you look and feel.

Lets make sure you do your workouts with purpose and still do the household tasks anyway, whats wrong with that? Then you can have the best of both worlds!

The facts are if i gave you every bit of advice they give in the newspaper or some government leaflet, i would be out of a job because nobody would be getting into the shape they really want.

Let me also say that ANY activity is good and i encourage ALL OF IT. This site is all about getting into shape in a reasonable amount of time, its not the ramblers walking club, although they do some fantastic work and long walks are good for you.

This is all about grabbing the bull by the horns and getting it done, which reminds me, lets do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Twitt