Posted on

Friday, 3rd December

We are all learning or we get passed by and no longer become relevant it is said.

That is why its so important to keep on learning and re-tuning our bodies and minds.

For example, how many of us on here have found we have either forgotten how to eat properly or never knew in the first place how to eat properly. The need to school ourselves in the fundamentals of proper nutrition have never been more important.

It’s funny how people are willing always to go on courses to improve their work situation, or enhance the way they do their job. Yet when it comes to taking some advice on how to eat properly, there is often nodding of heads but there seems to be a complete lack of action. People will often worry too late about their health, instead of taking preventative action in their early years. I’m going to change that actually, its never really too late so i stand corrected there and i have encountered many, many so called lost causes with deep problems in health terms, but they can and have been fixed in the past!!

If someone tells you that all day every day they eat porridge and chicken salads, and then they end up 2 stone overweight, they may be a little economical with the truth! We all bend the truth slightly from time to time to suit ourselves but owning up to going wrong is the best thing you will ever do. Its at that exact point that you move forward in the right direction and that means you’re ten times closer to your original goal. The old saying that an inch in the right direction is better than a mile in wrong direction has never been more right! Let’s focus on hitting the right trail and forgetting about past mistakes, its time to be flexible and forget about being stubborn because of your ego!

So instead of bragging up all those one day courses on how to become a better worker, let’s start re-schooling yourself on food and training properly. Don’t over-complicate things and lets try and get the fundamentals right from yesterday’s post. I have really tried to simplify it all and im not expecting you to be perfect, but i am certainly expecting you to give it a good go, thats for sure!!!

There are many things i, and many others have realised are perhaps the wrong way to do things over the years. The best response to that is to accumulate all that information and make it so valuable so that we never make the same mistake again. I am proud to say i am a life-long learner because i know i won’t develop if i don’t, and i simly get left behind.

Commit to learning and realise there is a right and wrond way to doing things, and its never too late to change. From eating right to doing exercises the right way, its never too late to make the kind of progress you always imagined!!

Twitt
Posted on

Thursday, 2nd December 2010

Eating seems to be continually over-complicated by many of you or not even implemented at all at times.

The basic recommended plan goes like this

Breakfast

Weetabix/shredded wheat or porridge

 or scrambled eggs on toast on dry wholemeal bread

 (egg whites are better but can take some getting used to)

Mid-morning

 would be one or two pieces of any fruit

Lunch

Would be chicken/turkey/any fish with wholemeal bread/pitta bread even better and vegetables included if possible, this would  be an ideal choice if working

or if you are not working and have time to make a meal, the same principles apply and you still need your protein source which is the chicken/turkey/fish or even cottage cheese (with pineapple or onion and chives often liven the taste up), again with vegetables you like if possible. You can also put some healthy carbs with this such as wholegrain/wholewheat pasta and brown rice which are excellent choices.

The reason why some people think carbs put weight on is simply because the average person eats too much at any one sitting. Think pasta and we think of a big plate full, in fact the portion size should really be the size of your fist, quite a culture shock for some but will stop you putting any unwanted body fat and give you  the energy you need to continue your day.

The simple rules are size of your fist when it comes to portion sizes for carbs AND protein, and vegetables can be the rest of the    plate and the more varied they are the better.

Have to slip it in here about water intake by this time of the day? Have you relied on coffee’s and tea’s, or have you done the right thing and drunk a steady supply of water since you got up from bed.

Most people don’t realise that water intake burns fat too and makes your body work far more efficiently, and importantly makes you feel fuller than if you just relied on caffeinated drinks such as the tea and coffee.

We move on to now snacks in the afternoon and we think of fruit again and a handful of nuts this time for essential fats, which are vital for just about everything in the body. Nuts may be calorific but it’s important to consume them and really try to keep them in very small handful’s. Brazil’s, cashew’s, almond’s, hazlenut’s are all great examples of essential fatty acids your body needs.

Evening meal’s should follow the same simple formula as lunch. We are talking once again the importance of protein to fill you up, the good carbs to give you energy but not put fat on, and the vegetables to make everything in your body work well and be healthy from the inside out.

So we’ll go over it again, we’re talking chicken/turkey/fish for protein, wholegrain pasta or brown rice for carbs, also new potatoes are very good, sweet potatoes are amazing because of their slow sugar release in the body too. Your vegetables coming into your body at this time of day will give a massive boost to your immune system and really repair the damage that has come and gone from the trials of your busy day.

Hopefully, you wouldnt have forgotten about drinking water throughout the day, it really will make the massive difference you may be missing in your life. It just makes things go a lot smoother with your day both internally and the way you look and feel full stop. Don’t wait until your thirsty either, this means you’re dehydrated already so you need small amounts from dawn till dusk, and beyond this time of year due to the dark nights of course!!

Another familiar problem as you know is eating late at night or after dinner, you really dont need it at this time of day and you will be consuming extra calories at the wrond time of day, ironically when you’re burning the LEAST amount of calories!

How’s that for a day or eating and drinking? If you stick to that, then you will be in serious shape and feeling as energetic as you’re ever going to feel. The long term effects of eating like this cannot be overstated so let’s try and get in to it gradually and watch the amazing results flood in every single week!

Twitt
Posted on

Monday 29th November

Belief in what you’re doing is the single most important thing that can happen in your life.

If you ask any multi-millionnaire who has made that money out of nothing, they will say that.

Anyone who has changed people’s lives or even countries lives such as Ghandi would not have achieved so much had the initial belief not existed.

If you don’t believe in what you are doing, you will eventually fail to bring the desired result into your life.

When you have complete belief, anything is possible.

For example, if you wanted to try and drive to london, you would know to travel pretty much on the M4 all the way. You may take the odd wrong turning or get off at the wrong exit maybe, but you will know how to re-position yourself and get on the right track again all the way to london. This is due to the fact that you may have done it a few times and you have total belief in your ability to get there.

Those of you who have been in good shape before, will know the way you need to go to get into great condition. The problem becomes when you take “the wrong turnings” at times and instead of “getting back on track”, you tend to lose heart and lose your direction.

It’s at this exact time that total belief in what you’re doing has to be the number one priority. This will get you through every time as long as you remember a few simple principles. You will know it when you eat right most of the time, you will feel much better and keeping a good water intake coming remains vital to your health and progress. You will know it when you’re having great workouts, fantastic energy levels will become the norm. This all adds up to very good sleep which is hugely important and makes your body recover better than ever.

We maybe only 3 weeks to christmas, but this is the time to really believe in yourself and your abilities. Don’t let ANYONE put you off because you have the ability to do these simple things to be in the best shape you’ve ever been.

Belief starts here, let’s do it!!

Twitt
Posted on

Friday, 26th november

Whether the snow has reached you or not, your workouts should absolutely not be affected!!

Unlike a tennis coach who relies on outside work only (unless he/she is involved with inside courts), i never lose work to the weather. I realise that inside workouts are just as important as outside work. Accept the fact that in this country it rains around 9 months a year and you will be adequately prepared!! Your workouts are only limited by your imagination so let’s take the excuses right out of the equation right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also, you should be adequately prepared to switch workouts when you have to. For example, if you were supposed to cycling today and the cyle path is snowed over, then it doesn’t take a genius to work out that you could skip the cycling and workout tremendously hard inside?!!! There’s a million things to do inside so lets pick up the pace, pick your attitude up off the floor and aggressively attack your strength work just because of the amazing results its capable of bringing you!!

See this situation as a positive too! Have you noticed if you exclusively run or cycle and thats all you do, when you do an inside workout or do any other activity out of the ordinary, sometimes you are stiff for days!!

This will be telling your body that you need to be more diverse in your approach if you are serious about being a well-rounded athlete. Your muscles need to be worked from different angles if you want to feel and look your best. Variety is the spice of life so lets make it your priority and start thinking about the many ways you can be fit and healthy!!

Four weeks tomorrow is christmas day and hopefully you have and are making the big push to a tremendous christmas body. Quitting now before christmas is the easy way out and nobody ever achieved ANYTHING like that. Let’s think and grow your mindset into something very strong thats going to support your physical efforts very well!!!

Twitt
Posted on

Thursday, 25th November 2010

As debbie has just posted, you shouldn’t take for granted good health, and when you’re ill, you obviously have a new appreciation for being fit and healthy. Thanks for posting that debs!

I also hear stories about people who drink every night down the pub, and they suddenly get into a healthy lifestyle of exercising and eating properly. Within a month, the drinking down the pub soon disappears and they soon appreciate what it feels like to have much better health. The pub in the week and good workouts definitely don’t work and anyone who has ever tried will tell you that!

If you went to the supermarket right now and filled your shopping trolley up with doughnuts, white bread, cans of lager, bottles of wine, biscuits, multi-pack bags of crisps, chocolate bars etc etc and then tried to exercise every day, then something would have to give!!! All of these foods are what we call “empty calories” meaning they don’t have much to offer us nutritionally, other than putting more body fat ON us, which is the opposite of what we are trying to do!!!

Add on to the fact that we will get lousy workouts from this fuel (the fatty supermarket trolley) and we will be on a one way course to an expanding waistline and no energy in our lives.

Debbie will take some time to return to her former levels, but she will get there as long as she takes her tried and tested approach of solid workouts inside 3 times a week and any other activity she decides to undertake. She also knows that good food, full of essential nutrients are just as important toget her back to normal, or her progress will be bumpy at best.

Say point A is being ill and feeling terrible, and point B is feeling great and energetic, debbie has been bad for 5 weeks so far and is on her way back. It should take 5-10 weeks to get back to normal based on scientific studies. The exact time it takes will depend on how good she is in her lifestyle and daily habits with food. It will be interesting to see how she gets on so come on debs, keep us updated on your progress!!!

Twitt