Posted on

March 11th Supermarket shop

Hope you are having a stronger end to the week and if you are in the majority, you will be doing your weekly shop in the supermarket either today, yesterday or tomorrow.

Are you improving in this area or not? Do u visit only the healthy aisles of the supermarket or are you doing down every aisle such as the chocolate and crisps part, the ready meals part, the alcohol part, and savoury part etc?

The important parts of the supermarket remain the fruit and vegetables to start, depending on how it is laid out.

Here you can get your apples, oranges, blueberries, pears, bananas, broccoli, carrots, sweet potatoes, jacket potatoes, new potatoes, tomatoes, etc etc. These are the foods that need to be in your diet every single day to look after your body inside and out, fight disease and give you plenty of energy.

Next you probably come to the lean meats such as chicken, turkey, lean beef, lean steaks, lean mince etc, its important to make the right choices here. You can have some red meat, but don’t plan on eating it more than once a week, the health dangers have been well documented in the press lately again so a bit mof moderation is called for here. The lean meats though can form an excellent foundation for your diet.

You may next see some fish, im talking tuna, mackerel, haddock, trout, salmon is always a favourite of mine and you can get all of these either fresh or in a tin, nothing wrong with either in my book and depends on how much you have to spend.

How about some carbs? We mentioned potatoes earlier, but next we have brown rice, wild rice, wholegrain and wholewheat pasta, there are all types of spaghetti and variations (keep it to wholegrain if possible). While we are talking about wholegrain and wholewheat, you can and should apply this to everything and you know i mentioned wholewheat pancakes earlier in the week.

Bread is a big subject for many of you so lets keep it wholemeal if possible, the slower release of energy the better and you want to avoid white bread like the plague, full of bleach, sugar and other cooking agents that you really don’t want to be putting in your body.

Then there’s nuts such as brazils, almonds, cashews, walnuts, hazlenuts etc which are excellent along with dried fruit such as dates, apricots, raisins, figs, prunes which can work as excellent snacks or food sweeteners in a natural way!!

Hows that for a start and making your week go along without too many hiccups, more like plenty of energy and making sure you stay lean and energetic!!!

Twitt
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

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 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
Posted on

March 2nd

Your progress doesn’t mean much unless it impacts your life in a positive way.

It also doesn’t matter much if you feel that nobody cares about your progress. Having someone interested in what you do is a very underrated factor in your progress and confidence.

This is why people join diet clubs and gyms, its nice for people to talk about their progress with like minded people.

The weekly weigh in’s with diet clubs are a ritual for some people, and the pat on the backs or lets pull your socks up attitude seems to work for some people.

I’m definitely in that line of work too, a serious part of my job is not only constantly analysing an individuals performance and pushing them onto new highs, its also about motivating the individual and pushing the right buttons, especially when things are not going their way.

You can do it another way. You could ask a friend to help you out and witness your progress. That could be from measuring your waist with a tape measure once a month, to witnessing your weigh in’s every week, or just once a month.

Having a friend you can trust to help you can be very valuable with your training too. If you have someone who will become a training partner of yours, then you can keep pushing each other to new heights. Perhaps on one day, you will not feel great and your training partner will be able to push you to get through the workout, then on another day you will feel top of the world, and you will be able to get the best out of your friend.

This is why its always good to share your progress, it matters heck of a lot more when you share success, unless you are a very private person and like the rewards of purely individual pursuits, and don’t need to share it with anyone else.

Whatever works for you, then use it and keep using it time after time. The only thing that matters is sustainable progress and you being in great health. You always have to think about your health and fitness programme and change your approach from time to time. Life never stays still and you have to change to keep up with it, but as long as you train a minimum of 3 times a week and eat well 80% of the time, you’re going to be doing well!

Twitt