Posted on

Wednesday, 8th January

I have already got through an awful lot of measurements with individuals in 2014, and the range of emotions has been dramatic.

My easiest measurements were the ones who trained all the way through Christmas, some even hit personal bests through the holiday period, and to actually improve substantially during Christmas is staggering!

My toughest measurements were the ones who stopped training perhaps 3-4 weeks before Christmas, and ate much more than usual, didn’t train, and some drank too much alcohol a few times a week.

When you are measuring someone all year long and they get used to dramatic results every four weeks, then to undo a chunk of that progress can floor someone who has become to regular victories in their training challenges.

The psychological let down usually makes people go one of two ways.

Either they stand up and fight, and really promise themselves that they are going to eat well again, get right back into regular training, cut right down on alcohol, and although there is a tough month to get through, that they are going to stick with it and make big inroads on the excess body fat they have gained.

Most people can’t stand feeling all the extra weight on them again anyway, especially after feeling so fit and well at their peak only weeks before Christmas, so its usually a matter of simply wanting to feel their best again anyway!

However, some people take it really badly, and a lot of the hard won confidence levels they developed through successive positive physical improvement can be damaged.

This is when the individual concerned needs a mixture of big emotional support from friends and family, from myself and regular exercise to get their body remembering how good it felt to be at their best.

The support system for the individual is all important, and will make the difference between long term sustainable success, or becoming someone who once did well, but loses self-esteem and hits a long slippery slope when body fat gain becomes the norm, and one’s self-worth hitting an all time low.

This is exactly the time of year to stand up and fight, really accept you do not want to feel overweight, unfit and lacking in ambition.

Really, whatever your situation, this is exactly the time to stop talking about it and get on and change yourself right now, because all of you have the resources and power to change and reach your absolute potential once again!

Twitt
Posted on

Monday, 6th January

Introduction to fat loss:-

The five simple rules

I’ve put this list together because for a lot of people, fat loss is such a miserable struggle. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There is a way to lose fat simply – without going on some awful diet or detox and losing your mind and enjoyment of life in the process.

Here are the five rules which will guarantee a big reduction in fat loss, alongside a three day a week training programme.

Rule 1 – to lose fat, you have to gradually decrease your calories. This means eating less and we will be giving some easy strategies for doing this in the coming weeks.

Rule 2 – to support muscle tissue, you have to gradually increase protein intake.

This means eating more lean meat, chicken, fish or beans, lentils and other vegetarian sources. These foods help to speed up your metabolism, help you feel full for longer and provide important amino acids.

Rule 3 – to create the right environment for fat loss, you need to gradually
decrease your carb intake. In other words , eat less sugar and starches like cakes, biscuits, pastries, pasties, chips and processed grains such as white bread. Eating too much of these can wreak havoc on your bloodstream, increasing hormones that lead to fat gain.

Rule 4 – to make sure you’re losing fat the healthy way, you need to gradually increase your vegetable intake. A good guide is to start replacing some carbs for greens such as spinach, broccoli, cabbage, salad etc. Your plate should be half covered with vegetables. A quarter carbs and a quarter protein.

Rule 5 – to support your metabolism, you need to gradually replace your bad fats with healthy fats. By adding things like olive oil, avocados, nuts, seeds and fish oils to your diet, you will speed your metabolism and lose more fat than ever before.

Nutritionally that’s it. Calories down, protein up. Replace some carbs with vegetables and replace bad fats with good fats.

Over the coming weeks I’ll be giving examples and recipes of the kind of foods you should be eating to really lose the fat.

Nicola.

Twitt
Posted on

Friday, 3rd January

A recurring question I seem to have all the time would be the one “which diet should I go on?! Especially this time of year!

We talked about lifestyle changes yesterday, and how important it was to exercise regularly, however simple a programme.

YOU ARE NOT changing your lifestyle if you are going on the “faddy diets” that are trying to rip you off at this time of year! You are trying a short term fix that may lose weight initially, but is very likely to cause you long term misery!!

This is not just my opinion, this is the opinion of the vast majority of individuals I have met over the years who have been through it, and come out the other side with all the weight back on and their long term confidence and self-belief in tatters! It is also the opinion of doctors who have studied this scientifically and done numerous in depth studies on these so called diets.

Most people know by now what I think of these so called “wonder diets”!

Studies over the last few years show and confirm that 97 PER CENT, yes 97 per cent of people who embark on these diets put ALL the weight back on, and 5% MORE than when they first started.

Then there’s the powder and bars diets, which seem to cost a fortune, and again promise you the earth, and yes you lose weight to start with, but inevitably the weight comes back on extremely quickly in most cases.

Again, this is not a lifestyle change!!! You are not educating yourself about eating healthy, natural food and you are not caring what’s going on inside your body and the destructive habits you are adopting.

Fortunately, people selling you these destructive diets are not in the health business very long, and often go on to another scam selling more rubbish.

Unfortunately though, there is often a queue of people waiting to take their place and so the process continues!

There is a solution and you need to get back to shopping for healthy, natural food and making that food as attractive as possible so it becomes an everyday event.

More on this to come.

Twitt
Posted on

Monday, 9th December

Milk as a recovery drink post exercise

Milk is a near –perfect recovery drink, in terms of both glycogen and muscle replenishment and rehydration. In research, milk has been proven to produce a more favourable hormonal environment immediately following exercise compared to a carbohydrate sports drink. This they suggest encourages protein anabolism during recovery, in other words encourages muscle growth and repair.

Canadian researchers have found that when male weight trainers who were new to the sport consumed skimmed milk as part of a 12 week resistance programme, it promoted greater hypertrophy (muscle gain) than isoenergetic soy or carb drinks. Another study with females who were on a 12 week resistance exercise course found they reduced body fat levels , increased lean mass and strength after consuming skimmed milk post exercise.

It is thought that milk somehow changes the metabolism of proteins in muscle and so enhances muscle adaptations to exercise.

A post recovery drink should be drunk as soon as possible after exercise. There is a two hour ‘window’ post exercise when glycogen storage is faster than at any other time at a rate of 150% the normal rate. Therefore drinking the milk at this time speeds glycogen (blood sugar levels) and muscle recovery.

For harder, longer training sessions, extra carbs might be needed. Researchers have found that eating a bowl of wholegrain cereal with milk was as effective as sports drinks, but it also promoted greater muscle protein synthesis compared to the sport drink.

Twitt
Posted on

Wednesday, 20th November

Post-workout snacks

Whether you are hungry or not, the quicker you eat food or drink after a workout, the quicker your body will recover. The enzymes responsible for making glycogen are most active immediately after your workout, leaving you with a 2-hour window to reload your muscle glycogen. Carbs are converted into glycogen one and a half times faster than normal during this post-exercise period.

Begin refueling with a high carb snack preferably with a high GI which will pass into your muscles much quicker than a low GI food.

You will have to watch portion sizes as eating too much carbohydrate will be stored as fat and not turned into glycogen. To help with recovery it’s a good idea to combine protein with carbohydrate for the post workout snack.

1. A couple of pieces of fresh fruit eg bananas, with milk.

2. 1 or 2 cartons of fruit yogurt such as Yeo Valley or Rachel’s.

3. A smoothie made with crushed fresh fruit whizzed in the blender with small handful of nuts.

4. A homemade milkshake. Use milk, yogurt and fruit such as bananas and strawberries for an excellent mixture of protein, carbs and antioxidants.

5. Tuna or cottage cheese sandwich. Choose wholemeal rolls, bagels, pitta or wraps.

6. A couple of rice cakes with jam and cottage cheese.

7. A handful of dried fruit and nuts.

Twitt