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Day 4

Nearly the first week over already and what’s your situation? Have you got a handle on this yet or are you afraid of dropping into a great big hole you may struggle to get out of? The dropping into a big hole is comparable to most people when they eventually come off their new year diets isn’t it? Once you come off these diets, there seems no way back until “next time” and somehow, it going to be okay next time!

I’m going to be pretty predictable most days, we’re going to go over the basics and the fundamentals, the stuff that REALLY makes a difference so you don’t drop into that great big hole. The better you do each day, the more chance you’re going to have of having a great week, the better the week you have, the more motivated you are going to be of having another great week. Once you have great weeks, your results can be phenomenal, so your motivation goes up tenfold!!

The weather has suddenly got drier, the weather is much more favourable for you the next days so you have a great chance to get out there again and do something. Whether it is cycling, whether it is running, whether is is walking, or whatever you want to do, you know it feels better when you get outside and do it!

Don’t worry about the coming days, the coming weeks, take it day by day and do your best on that particular day. If you look too far ahead sometimes, it can be too intimidating and that can put you off and give up hope. Remember if you do have a bad day, and none of us are perfect so you probably will, it’s always vital to get back on track the next day or even later that day. This is a longer term effort and remember as long as you get it right most of the time, the results will be more than worth the effort you are giving right now.

So let’s get out there in the coming days, do your resistance workouts too, get outside, do some good food shopping (many of you shop towards the weekend), and you will have done a whole week by this sunday, you may be surprised by the positive results in just seven days so let’s keep it going and let me know your progress!

Keri

Twitt
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Day 3

So where are we today? All of you are positive on here, and the phone calls and texts i’ve had suggest the same too. There is a real sense that we can all do it this time, and some really positive habits are beginning to take shape. Most of you are changing your shopping lists, things like brown rice, wholewheat pasta, sweet potatoes, chicken, turkey, lean beef, porridge, vegetables of all kinds, fruit of all kinds, etc etc are becoming staples of your weekly shops.

If you work on the thinking that as long as you eat well 80%-85% of the time, you’re going to be treating your body well, giving it enough energy to perform, enough nutrients to boost your immune system, and enough good nutrients to drive your metabolism up to another level, burn more calories, burn more fat and shed the unwanted fat on your body. Try and get these nutrients in on a regular basis, and spread your meals and snacks throughout the day. Have a good breakfast, snack mid-morning, have a healthy but not huge lunch, have an energy filled snack mid-afternoon when your energy may well be flagging, and have a really good evening meal after a hard day and your activity, loaded with lots of veg and try to make your plate as colourful as possible, the more variety of vegetables you have in the week the better.

You should be eating fruit and vegetables for not only the reason you KNOW they are good for you, scientists are always telling us you should be eating them for what you DON”T know. They are finding out new things out all the time about fruit and vegetables and their healing properties, and their abilities to fight off various diseases.

When you are cooking all of this good food, i take it that most of you don’t add salt to your meal, that practice seems to have largely vanished and salt on foods has long been associated with rises in blood pressure of course. I would guess though that some of you still add salt to the cooking process, and do me a favour and get rid of that too? It really makes sense to get rid of all added salt in the cooking process and those of you suffering from blood pressure issues, definitely need to limit or get rid of the salt. It may take a bit of time to get used to, but you will be soon telling me about the benefits you have been getting since getting rid of salt. 

Also, salt is known to lead to water retention. Those of you who feel bloated will find that by drinking more water and getting rid of added salt, and avoiding salt-loaded products (ready meals are prime culprits), your bloated feelings will soon go.

How’s your workouts going today? If you did a resistance based workout monday, i would tend to do another one today such as my home based circuits as i have listed in previous posts. I would like you to keep your same numbers this week, and look to make improvements once a week if possible. We are looking for a steady rise in performance here and if you can make a good rise each week, then you will have accomplished 12 such rises in 12 weeks, and believe me, that will be highly impressive.

A quick note on alcohol, if you want to put on weight, and really hurt your health, carry on drinking every night, but if you don’t, and i know you really don’t, let’s cut out alcohol, particularly in the week and cut it down to once a week max, or if you are looking for amazing results, i would cut it out for a while. Your body is much less likely to burn fat if you drink on a regular basis. Just try it if you don’t believe me, giving up the booze for a while will help you sleep better, give you more energy and burn more fat and get into great shape.

Let me know how you get on!

Keri

Twitt
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Day 2

The talking is over and we’re off and away! We are in it now and all those promises you made to yourself need to be carried out. I never said it’s going to be a bed of roses all the way, indeed you are going to make some tough decisions along the way, perhaps some you have always found hard in the past. You will face two choices on certain days, do i do my workout or should i skip it? One missed workout won’t matter will it? You can see how your mind will offer you different choices that each will lead to different outcomes?

It’s in the moments of indecision that your eventual destiny is shaped. You know if you do your workouts, eat well at least 80% of the time, you’re going to look and feel better. Swing it around and if you have haphazard weeks, training only here and there, eating off and on, you will have mediocre results at best!

The second day for you now should be met with enthusiasm, and you should be filled with a deep desire to not only do well, but finally get this thing right once and for all. You don’t need to be settling for second best anymore, or use excuses such as “fitness isn’t for me”! That’s rubbish and you know it, you are capable of what your mind tells you. If you think big and focus on your overall goals the whole way, you’re going to be achieving some pretty things, as long as you have taken action to get there.

Taking action as you know by now, is really name of the game. You can talk a good game every day if you want, but putting things off to another day will not get you anywhere. You know the old saying “the road named someday needs to a town called nowhere”! If you get inot the habit of really doing these workouts i talk about every day, if you get some fresh air at least a couple of days per week, if you eat a lot of healthy produce, and try to eat fresh whenever possible, i’m telling you now without any shadow of a doubt, you’re going to be in great shape full stop, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, if they do, then they don’t want you to succeeed. There are plenty of people who all want the same thing on here, to be healthy, successful and happy, and really achieve something special in the next 12 weeks.

Don’t let anyone put you off this road, you’re going to learn that being consistent is the true secret of being fit and healthy, and mentally strong. This is your time, let’s do it!!

Keri

Twitt
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day 1

Day 1 of the 12 week challenge and are you making the most of your efforts to start off on a good footing?

Today in the news, is classed as “blue monday”, apparently today we are more depressed than ever, and the realities of christmas and early january are hitting us. Christmas is a long way off, summer is a long way off and things are supposed to be, well, depressing!

The perfect time then to get going and do your best over the next 12 weeks. For starters today, i would look to do a resistance based workout, for example an inside circuit would be a first class start today, wednesday and friday. Then i would look to do a cardiovascular workout tuesday and thursday, have saturday off to do what you want, and maybe do an activity you really enjoy on sunday. This schedule will depend on your fitness levels of course, and many of you won’t be able to train hard 6 times per week of course. Doing 3 inside workouts may be enough for you, but nothing stopping you doing 3 walks too on the other days?

Remember this is about changing your lifestyle, and if you’re already at a certain standard, it’s about raising that bar several more levels. It’s about paying more attention to your eating, it’s paying more attention to your workouts and actually doing them without fail, and really setting a higher standard for yourself so you can’t have the best quality of life possible, you have the power to do that.

From today, start writing down your workouts, and promise yourself that you’re going to try and beat this week’s levels next week. It’s all about making improvements from week to week, that means you are capable of making 12 big improvements by april as long as you’re consistent, and are motivated to bring huge benefits to your health and beyond.

There has been a lot of posts over the last few weeks, most of them are information you can use every day to get fitter, healthier and stronger mentally. It’s all here for you and feel free to ask questions along the way!

Keri

Twitt
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Don’t look back!

Tomorrow is your chance to get in the 12 week challenge, the chance to change your life around, and make things happen for yourself in a very good way, and others when you consider how much energy that can come into your life!

Here’s a way to think about it on whether you should take part of not. Do the “rocking chair test”!

Imagine yourself 80 years of age, on a rocking chair on some porch somewhere, reflecting on your life. You look back to this time on january 17th, 2010 and wonder should you really have gone for this challenge, to turn everything around, get fit and healthy, and stronger mentally than you have been for some time?! Chances are that you would have, as really you have nothing to lose, and everything to gain!!

It’s time not to be part of the crowd and follow like sheep, its time to take charge and do something very positive indeed with your life. Life will look very different indeed by mid-april if you really apply yourself and challenge yourself on how far you can go.

You are all invited, let’s do it and see you tomorrow for day one!

Keri

Twitt