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Five simple things!

Making health and fitness programmes complicated and hard to follow is the biggest mistake you can make when it comes to getting into seriously good shape.

When most of us entered gyms, fitness centre’s, fitness classes etc, many of us were intimidated by those wearing the fancy training gear, those talking a good game and those who thought they had the divine right to tell us what to do and when to do it.

This situation was and is my pet hate. The great news is that these “know it all’s” don’t really know anything, and can often set you back  a long way because of their lack of credible information.

You don’t have to follow the crowd, there is another way and it works, it’s also every simple, just ask any sensible doctor and ask them if this is faddy or is it truly a tried and tested way to get into very good shape and achieve great health internally!

It just comes to doing around 5 things every day and you will be successful beyond your wildest dreams, you don’t need the trendy workout gear, the trendy (but ultimately useless) diets or the rubbish exercise equipment in all those ads!

First of all, try and do your workouts 3 times per week minimum, and two more walks wouldn’t go amiss too. This would be a total of 5 times a week but is totally achievable, 3 inside workouts, twice outside, not too much to ask!

Second, eat well. 80% of your shopping needs to nutritious and good for you, eat smaller portions ever 3-4 hours maintaining steady blood sugar levels. You wont go wrong.

Thirdly, drink enough water during the day, 1.5-2 litres a day is fantastic and will make you feel amazing, plus help you digest food better and help you lose body fat at a quicker rate.

Fourth, get some sleep in! Getting to bed at a decent time every night, apart from Friday and Saturday maybe, will make you feel refreshed, boost your energy levels unbelievably, help you recover well from your workouts and life’s daily stresses and bottom line make your body function as well as it possibly can!!

Fifth, keep things in moderation! If you want a drink, then have one but try to keep it to once a week and don’t get trashed if you can. Plus you will wake up the following morning a lot better!!! Just like food, if you fancy a bit of what you fancy, have it  but no need to go on an almighty binge, moderation really works and keeps your sanity intact as you’re not denying yourself too much.

Does all of this sound simple and achievable? I hope so and let’s keep putting it into action!!!

Twitt
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Secrets to burning more fat

The real deal with healthy eating is not often explained properly. Most people are repelled from healthy eating sometimes because they are TOLD what to do! Nobody likes being told what to do like they are little kids, and will rebel often and do the complete opposite of what they are supposed to do.

There are government campaigns on food all the time it seems, but most people i know havent taken much notice about them.

There has to be a reason deep down for that person to change, and it has to be a strong one, or the self-discipline and determination to get a programme started will soon go by the wayside.

When you eventually change to the healthy way of eating, its important to keep your protein in most meals and of a healthy nature, your carbohydrates in limited amounts (about the size of your fist per serving) and of slower release in terms of energy, keep your healthy fats coming in through fish and a small handful of nuts, and keeping a variety of fruit and vegetables coming in is ultra-important in the winter months to come, keeping your immune system strong and your body functioning well.

Another overlooked point when it comes to eating is how many calories you burn simply by digesting your food.

To cut a very long story short, you will burn a lot more calories for instance eating wholemeal bread than white bread. It takes longer for your body to break down the wholemeal and wholegrains than it does the rubbish you often get in white bread.

I always recommend protein in most meals, and there is good reason too. It takes a lot more calories to break down the protein you consumer in meals than just eating carbs. Protein takes longer to go through your system, creating a nice long calorie burn without you working too hard!

The process of eating and the way your stomach breaks down your food is often forgotten, and its heck of a bonus that the healthy way of living is the most calorie and fat burning too.

Next time you do your shopping, make sure you pick the foods that will help your metabolism burn calories at a fierce rate. This is an easy to follow secret to burning fat and you dont have to do any work for it so keep it up and have a great start to the week!!!

Twitt
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End of week assessment

How’s your  end of week looking just before halloween?

Is it full of hope and progress or is it full of a lack of action and disappointment?

The great thing about it is  that this ship never leaves the port completely and leaves you stranded. We are always here to help you, even if you have bad week, if you have made a pig of yourself on food and drink, or if you just “down in the dumps” again, thats the way things are sometimes!

So if we plan for no longer than a week, i am going to be encouraging you at the start and end of every week. This is because not only am i an eternal optimist, but literally ANYONE can change their lives around ANY week of ANY year!! It’s that easy to get going, all you need is to make that first vital step. I may have the odd rant in the week sometimes because im frustrated at something, but in the main, everything on here will be positive to get you going again, and to give you that vital leg up when hopelessness takes over sometimes.

So how’s your strength work going and inside workouts? Don’t forget one pound of muscle burns up to 50 calories per day and one pound of fat burns a pathetic 2 pounds a day! The leaner you are carrying a healthy degree of lean muscle tissue, the quicker your metabolism is 24 hours a day, that’s the true secret to fat loss and being in the shape YOU really want!!!

Have you experienced the joys of being outside this week? From the low’s of the freezing conditions at the beginning of the week to the wilder winds of today, this ever-changing climate will often give you four seasons in one day but one thing’s for sure, it’s NEVER boring!! You have every chance to get out there the weekend too, no excuses for saturday and sunday as you should have enough daylight hours to get some quality work in. There are numerous routes to train on all the way throughout the area as previously discussed, all of them different and a lot of fun!! 

NOW is the time to do it, not everyone has the attitude to get out there in all weathers but now is when you really progress and make the big gains. That’s why you don’t see many people training in this weather, and they will never make sustained progress either. If you want to be different and make a tremendous difference to yourself you can be proud of, get your trainers on tomorrow and lets have a big weekend outside!!!

Twitt
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Your list of priorities

How high you put your workouts up your list of priorities will usually be a very good indicator of how good shape you’re in.

Someone who says “I train when I get time”, or “I do my best when I’m not busy” or “I have to be in the mood” or “I’m waiting for my ‘training partner’ to call me” are destined to get zero results and be guilty of being the pub “bore”.

Someone who says “I have to train a few days a week to feel good” or “I have to train a few days a week to be in shape” or “I have to train a few days a week because its so important for my health” or “I have to train a few days a week to create all the energy I need in my life” or “I have to train a few days a week to perform the way I need to in my life” is likely to be in great health and good physical condition full stop.

Attitude is always paramount, you are either going to be putting your head in the sand and hope for the best with your health, or you will always be honest with yourself, care about your health and the way you can help your friends and family out because you will have outstanding health and an abundance of energy to be productive every day.

You don’t have to be perfect either like these airbrushed pictures in media magazines. Carrying a couple of extra pounds is no problem, as long as your lifestyle is health most of the time, then your health across the board should look really good.

I have found if you take the pressure off someone and encourage them to be healthy, you will tend to get amazing results. If you tell people to abstain from everything, then its not realistic at all and they are likely to go the other way and have massive binges from time to time, totally unhealthy behaviour of course.

If you can accept someone can have a couple of drinks, eat a bit of what they fancy from time to time, not always have their best ever workouts, then I think the scene is set for an individual to blossom and show their real talent with all the pressure OFF!

This is when this whole thing becomes a lifestyle choice, your way of life forever in a non-threatening way. This is the best way I’ve found for most people, unless of course they have to be in absolute prime condition for a particular reason (actress landing a role for example or a lady having to lose weight for an operation or that person wanting to be in amazing condition JUST BECAUSE they want to be and it feels fantastic!!).

This is the whole message today and the great thing about is that every single one of you are capable of achieving it!!!

Twitt
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Measure yourself

Depending on what level your fitness is at, the more attention you pay to it says a lot.

The attitude of just doing some exercise and hoping for the best never really works because you will not be really focused on getting fitter or eating well, you will exercise simple “because its supposed to be good for you”!

Getting together a proper plan can and will make all the difference and make your health and fitness far more sustainable.

So as we talk about all the time on here, you need to do a mixture of strength work and your walking/cycling/running/swimming etc. You need to do this every week as well as eat well every week of course.

So ASSUMING you have taken all of this onboard and you are taking part in all of this, its time to raise the bar a bit and take your exercise plan a bit more seriously.

An easy way to do this is to measure your waist regularly, once a month is fine. As we have talked about before, if you are 6 foot tall then you are 60 inches. The equation should be that your waist in inches is half or less than your height in inches. This means that your waist should be a maximum of 35 inches if you  are 6 foot tall. Work on and keep it under 35 if you can, this will lead to you not only looking great but the health benefits will be endless!

The weighing scale is not always the most accurate measurement of progress but keeping a once a month check will be helpful and give you a general guideline on how you’re doing. Women should avoid weighing at their time of the month as this can easily add up to 5 pounds on that is only temporary!

If you have a close friend or family member, try asking them to do a more detailed measurement. Try measuring your neck, shoulders, chest, waist, hips, thighs, calf, upper arm, forearm. You can also buy a cheap blood pressure machine from the chemists these days starting off at just £10. Try and do these measurements once a month to keep regular checks and give you a very good indication on how you are doing.

Your health is your most important thing you can have, without it you can’t really do anything worthwhile in life. These are the options open to you without even having to go to the doctor/nurse all the time. The idea of keeping a close eye on your body has never been more valid!!!

Twitt