Posted on

March 10th

Making a big difference to your physique involves changing your programme every 6 weeks and certainly 12 weeks.

The same can happen with your food. Just because you change your food around, it doesn’t have to mean you change your diet from one faddy diet to another either, it just means exploring different foods, different recipes and a willingness to test your taste buds in different ways.

For example, I was talking to somebody yesterday who was on a very well known diet some of you have mentioned before.

She said that she wasn’t allowed two weetabix and milk on one particular day, as well she wasn’t allowed beans on wholemeal toast another day, what RUBBISH!!!!!!!! This is madness of the highest order and please don’t tell me that you have paid for all of this rubbish?

The lady in question quickly went back to her tried and tested way of eating of if its healthy, then its going to be good for you. You cannot go wrong this way.

You also cannot go wrong if you have followed this healthy way of eating all week, and if you want to sample an occasional treat the weekend, then there’s no problem at all? You have worked hard and well at your food all week and you deserve a treat here and there, as long as its not a whole gateau for example!!!

There was another good sign yesterday, a 12 year old I have been training with some weight to lose and was addicted to sugary/fatty foods has now made great strides with his eating and training, and is looking now like a much healthier version of himself, and hes much happier for it too.

The test yesterday came with his pancakes, for the first time yesterday he had NO SUGAR on his pancakes, because he didn’t feel the need to. Another positive was that he said the pancakes didn’t taste half as good as they used to, because his taste buds have changed and sugar is not a major part of his life anymore!!!

I had some pancakes too, made with wholemeal and stonegrain flour, 2 eggs, nearly a pint of milk and they were delicious. NO SUGAR, NO BUTTER AND NO SALT. If you think that is horrible, perhaps you are still addicted to sugar and not getting the results you want?

Time to change!

Twitt
Posted on

March 9th

A lot of people are confused when they burn body fat, and a common question is are you burning fat every time you sweat?

Sweating is your body’s own cooling system and a lot of people in good shape will sweat regularly, and their bodies will be used to regulating heat in the body, if someone for example trainins 5-6 a week, then their body is used to working out and their body’s internal system will sweat to cool it down, and regulate its internal temperature. So this is sweating in a good way and with someone very fit, it can take a lot of work to get this happening. When you think about it though, that individual is only very fit in the first place BECAUSE they exercise  with real intensity all the time, so they will be used to tougher, more intense workouts.

On the other hand then, you may have someone who is totally not conditioned very well, and will sweat at the slightest physical efforts. It may not take much to get someone out of shape sweating but it doesn’t then mean that they are suddenly burning lots of body fat straight away. There are other factors at play, and if that person has consumed a lot of food that day before training, they will be busy burning the excess calories before they even touch their body fat.

The bottom line never changes, whatever stage you are at, you should build your training up in terms of intensity and take some time to do it. As long as you are making small even subtle changes each week, then you will be on course for ultimate success.

So the sweating thing as a measure of burning fat is not always accurate and there are too many variables to take into consideration. However, if you have at least a couple of months training under your belt, you will sweat normally every time you train intensely and even more so when you have made progress from the week before, a harder workout will always test you,  make you sweat and always improve you in terms of reducing body fat, heart rate and making your body overall leaner and harder.

Twitt
Posted on

Tuesday 8th March 2011

You will get periods of ups and downs in your week when perhaps you could do with constant motivation to get you through slumps in your life.

Whatever your circumstances, life is going to happen for you, good or not so good. How you react to these bumps  on the road will mean a lot more than you think.

What happens if you have a new job and you have new demands put on you and overtime becomes normal, what happens to your training?

What happens if you have just had a baby and then a couple of months later, its no longer crowds of people visiting and offering support, and life becomes very hard 24 hours a day? The reality of bringing up a child is very tough and how does your training and eating fit into all of this, is it as important anymore?

You may have to move away to find a job in this harsh economic environment, and whats it like living in a small room every night and the only option is the pub every night, what happens to your fat loss aspirations then?

These challenges are every day realities for a lot of people I know, and the one thing I can say with certainty is that good nutritious food will give you energy to get through a very tough day.

Doing your workout early in the morning before everything “kicks off” will make sure you are fit and strong, and will be able to perform much, much better in your job or specific role in life, such as being a mother.

The most dangerous thing you can do is pay no attention to your food because it leads to a slippery slope.

 Grabbing food when you can always means eating ready meals or fast food of some kind, things that cook quickly in the microwave soon become the core of your eating programme, and this long term abuse of your body will possibly lead to blood pressure problems, heart problems, and ill health issues of all kinds. If you constantly put rubbish full of chemicals into your body, then don’t expect good things to happen.

So even if you are in one of the groups I mentioned and your life is stressful, then see HEALTHY EATING AND EXERCISING AS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT FOR YOU.

You can train first thing in the morning, you can have an array of healthy food around you and you can do your best and develop a body and health you can be proud of. Buy the food in, get rid of the rubbish and commit yourself to a training plan.

If circumstances are tough, then chances are a lot of people are relying on you and you being healthy is an absolute must!!

Lets do it.

Twitt
Posted on

March 7th 2011

When you ask someone how many meals they eat a day, their idea of a meal is more of a feast, and sometimes a henry the 8th type feast in some cases!

If you mention to someone when they first start off that they should eat 5-6 times a day, they find that disgusting and how could they possibly eat all of that food in one day!!! Wasn’t the goal to lose weight after all, and just eating more will put weight ON surely?

That myth can be easily smashed!!!

If you eat healthier foods in those 5-6 meals per day, then automatically you are going to consuming less saturated fat and less calories. Also, when you realise that your meals in terms of size will get smaller, this leads to a further reduction in daily calories.

When you actually go through the process of 5-6 meal a day, you will realise that you feel more full than ever on this type of eating plan, and are less likey to go on the henry the 8th type eating binges!!!

The increase in meals and snacks will kickstart your metabolism too, this word is often misunderstood so lets explain it again.

Your metabolism is something that needs to be constantly stoked, to make sure your body burns calories and fat at an accelerated rate. Your metabolism is the rate you burn  calories throughout every day, the more smaller meals and snacks you eat within reason such as 5-6, the faster that metabolism will become and you do become that old cliche, “a lean mean fat burning machine”!!!

If you go back to the days of huge but infrequent meals, your metabolism will slow right down again, and that fire burning deep inside of you will go out, the rate you burn fat will go down and everything will become a struggle for you all over again. This is why 5-6 meals a day works, and you want to be aware of every strategy that can get you into great shape!!!

Lets start the day off right and give yourself a great chance of success!!!

Twitt
Posted on

March 4th 2011

SO how are you finishing off the week?

Is it really hard to keep this thing up as cyril said?

Is it getting easier with the lighter, more steady and sunny weather?

Are you in charge with your food?

Are you in control of your workouts?

Are you managing your time really well, or are you letting your life control you?

Do you give in easy when someone tries to put you off exercise and eating well? Or are you determined to get through this thing very strongly and reach new levels of physical conditioning? Are you your own person or not?

Life is all about decisions because every decision will shape who you are.

For example, if you like to call in the pub every night after work, then you are unlikely to be very active in your life, nobody i know could ever train after alcohol, unless you train first thing in the morning of course, but in general, the habit of drinking straight after work can lead to blood pressure problems, diabetes, coronary disease and all sorts of nasty things that could go on with your body. Everyone needs to give themselves a fighting chance, and the drinks after work thing will destroy any fighting chance you have got!!! It may be trendy for some, but putting yourself at risk of serious disease has never been cool in my book!!!

These may be harsh comments, but its my experience of training and observing many people live their lives over many years. Its best to say it how it is, rather than pander to anyone to be popular!!!

So if you want to be really fit and healthy, please avoid alcohol in the week and keep it to once a week, then theres no reason to get trashed on that once either. We have all done it of course, including me, but having the next day wiped out is not an option for me anymore. I try and treat my body with a lot more respect, and sundays i have to contribute to family life, not sleep on the settee or go to be all day, thats the ultimate selfish way to live your life in my view.

The same goes with eating, has that magical 80% been reached yet in terms of 80% of what you eat being good quality food? If it hasn’t, then you need to stop messing around and get with the programme if you want to be and stay in shape!!!

Have a great weekend and theres no excuses to enjoy the great fresh air and scenery!!!

Twitt