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Day 61

I was particularly struck by a speech by president Obama today on health care in Amercia, or the lack of it for the poorest people, and even some middle class people had to now go without it due to the spiralling costs.

This he said, was totally unacceptable to the american people, the land of the free as he said, and that had paid taxes to get enough health care for them and their family. They pay directly for health care out there of course, and it is very much a case of the have’s and the have not’s.

The part that struck me the most was when he stuck to his principle of getting this bill through congress. He said that many, many presidents since Roosevelt had tried to get this bill through, and the idea of it through of health care for all, but had failed miserably each time.

You have the seemingly “evil” health insurance companies slamming up their premiums so that many cannot afford health care, and the “lobbyists” who are trying to “coax” the senator’s not to vote for it. The whole thing has become corrupt of course and a case of big business winning every time. It’s time for chance and i SINCERELY hope the american public get a health service that works for EVERYBODY. Obama is sitcking bravely to his principles, and you have to admire and love that!

We don’t have such issues over here in the UK of course, and we often take the NHS for granted too much for my liking. However, we do have big business trying to hurt us in a different kind of way over here and it’s sugar addiction!

From previous posts on here, you know i have banged on about how much sugar is in everyday foods, and how it is destroying a lot of people’s lives over a period of years! Diabetes, certain cancer’s, heart disease, obesity etc, the list is pretty long!!

Before you think i am over-reacting, ask your doctor next time how many of his patients come in every day due to improper diet and excess sugar consumption. Ask him then how many end up with long term problems that requite our NHS to help them for many years. The answer will stagger you!!

I have banged on here about how cardiovascular disease didn’t even exist until 1912, which coincided with sugar being added to everyday foods in a big way. Big business carried this one in a big way over the last century, particularly the last 40 years WHEN THEY realised sugar was REALLY addictive! Over 40g of refined sugar each day can lead to serious health problems over a longer period of time, let’s cut it back now please for your own good, and hope i didn’t sound too patronising there, i didn’t try i promise you.

There are also studies coming out saying that fast food outlets make your food with less meat these days because they want you to chew less. Chewing less as we all know by now causing us NOT to recognise when we are full, therefore making us eat even MORE food. A clever tactic by them that makes you spend more with them each year.

The fast food people also know that the more sugar they put in your food, the more you are likely to come back due to its addictive nature. An awful lot of money has gone into researching this, and the report appeared in this week’s Guardian under the heading, “HOW THE FAST FOOD COMPANIES ARE GETTING YOU ADDICTED”!

The choices are yours, its a free country after all, but we also have the right to know what choices are out there, and you should be well aware by now that excess refined sugar will ultimately have a seriously negative effect on your health! So what are you going to do about it?!! Or are you going to let all those soulless big companies ruin yours and your family’s health?!!!

Let’s make the right choice and don’t up with all their lies!!

Twitt
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Day 59

Choosing which workout is right for you is one thing, but always looking for the “magic fix” is another.

 I frequently have questions on which exercise equipment or exercise dvd is best, and the answer i usually give is that you’re lucky to find something that works in this world of gimmicks and workouts with “celebs”, which often have little or no foundation to them, as often these same “celebs” are seen weeks or months later having piled back on all the weight and more!

One such question this week was on the power plate, or standing on a “vibration machine” would be the plainest way on describing it. You can pay a lot of money to use one of these machines in some gyms or “health clubs”, and you will undoubtedly be peddled the same old marketing information on them, hearing that old favourite “madonna uses it”, that famous football club uses it and so does that famous film star!

 The reality is that madonna is on her 6th trainer, and she goes with some kind of “new” training routine all the time, but her weight training and cardio work (running etc) never changes, she likes re-inventing herself so much that she has to mention another revolutionary way of training, once a year usually that maybe forgotten about next year!

This is all great and the marketing campaigns get that little bit more elaborate each year, but here’s get down to some facts before some of these “establishments” take even more of your hard earned money out of your pocket.

The official university studies on most of these products (and there are many different ones) conclude that there is NO MORE BENEFIT of working on these machines than regular, conventional methods. I repeat this again, not one percentage more than doing your normal workouts!

I’m not saying they are bad, but its time to stop looking for that “missing link” in your training, that “sliver bullet” that will sort everything out once and for all, IT DOES NOT EXIST.

The missing link is actually, and this is actually true,  you taking control of your programme, knuckling down to some hard work, forgetting about all those “fancy gadgets”, not falling for the sales person’s talks in these “health clubs” and spending that money on something that will actually do you some good! I say health clubs in inverted commas because they are usually little more than money making machines designed to get you on longer term contracts, and using latest national statistics, they really bet on the fact you won’t turn up most of the time.

We have touched on this before, why do they try and get 6000 members, if they are lucky to get 100 people in that gym at any one time!! If you work out the numbers, they are betting that 1% of their membership turns up at any one time, that is scandalous!!

I love the way these sales people say the latest mircale machine will increase your metabolism, your heart rate, your muscle tone, Gosh I HAVE NEVER HEARD THAT BEFORE! Isn’t this what ALL exercise does anyway and aren’t they using every technique in the book to get you to sign on the dotted line!! To sign that contract that you have paid for so many sessions or even a year or two, once they have your money they have done their job, its time to get wise to all of this and see through all of these “cowboy” salespeople, because that’s what they are, most have never set one foot in the actual gym……ever, or least they don’t look as if they have ever trained, with no knowledge thrown in, this can be a very worrying situation for the newcomer to exercise!!

All the information you need to get into great shape is on here, its based on improving your programme most weeks, its about eating sensibly, little and often, sleep well and keeping a very positive approach in everything you do, in short, its about results and being the best you can be! It’s not about ripping you off in money terms, its about staying with a programme that will stand the test of time, and will be as good in 20 years time  as it is now, long after all these dreaded gym sales people are in their “other career’s”, whatever that may be but it probably will have nothing to do with improving your health, unless they get a lot more education and actual experience! They ought to try that sometime?!!

You can see i’m steamed about it, but i try to put people right and protect you from the con artists of this world, and believe me there’s a lot of “fly by nights” in the health and fitness world.

Please do the right thing, and follow common sense when trying to get fitter, healthier and more positive in your attitude to your life and those around you.

Hope day 59 is flying for you and your workout has been a huge one today! You’re doing it through hard work and doing it through tried and tested ways can be much more satisfying, plus you will keep getting amazing results, long after all the faddy machines have come and gone!

Twitt
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Day 56 End of week 8!

End of week 8 would you believe! 8 weeks at the start probably didn’t sound that long, but now you know it can be quite a long time to get your eating right, your training going well, and the most important part probably, get your mind right in order to give the effort required.

Had my first sunday morning run for a while today, as the demands of two small children over the last few weeks have taken over. Back to normal now that the first 6 weeks of a new baby are over, and this was the best sunday morning in some time, and the temperature was good enough to run in a t-shirt and shorts, the first time since last summer! The run felt great, and once you get a run in for the first time in a while, you realise how much you missed it!

The temperatures in january and february just gone will have actually done us good, however icy and snowy they may have been! If we can find a way to get our workouts in during the coldest time of the year, and the coldest temperatures in the last 30 odd years, then the current weather will only allow more activities, and it should be a breeze from now on to get more workouts in exactly when you want to.

This challenge started during the most demanding time of year, and working in the toughest times gives us more skills and discipline that we ever thought. Most businesses i know have had the toughest times since the Great Depression, but most of them are coming out of this recession leaner and meaner, and better equipped to handle a change world and economic environment.

The same should happen with you, we have a lot of ups and downs from most of you in the past 8 weeks, and from that you will have developed your very own strategies on how to overcome the challenges that life always throws at you. Once you develop these skills, you won’t miss so many workouts, you won’t use the same old excuses to eat sugary/fatty food, and you won’t write whole week’s off anymore, you will tend to recognise bad habits beginning sooner than you did before, and you rectify your habits before they become destructive.

Sunday is always a great time to get out and about, and a means of making sure you start off your new week with a bang. We talked about hangovers yesterday, and now’s a great time to get rid of it, eat some decent food, drink plenty of water today and get back to feeling your old self. I never see sunday as a “let’s break some records day”, i see it more as a relaxing, and gather your thoughts kind of day, and a morning run is a key element in that process for me.

I’m looking forward to the start of week 9 tomorrow, and a big last month from all of you!

Twitt
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Day 21

End of the 3rd week, and this should be a time to reflect on how well you are doing, how your life is being improved in all areas and what you have in front of you.

What my job usually is on this type of thing is the “why”. You all should pretty much know”how” to do this type of thing, the home workouts, the outside stuff such as cycling, running, walking, swimming etc, its all pretty much out there now and you should be able to make some kind of effort every time.

The “why” though is different. Chris L for example, before he lost his 15 pounds already, felt like throwing in the towel at least once. I know others have felt the same too. The feeling that you want to “chuck it all in” is often overwhelming when times get a bit tougher, and its when you resist to this feeling that you are really winning! Overcoming challenges makes you feel amazing after all.

Remember when i said before that most people’s new year’s resolutions are often all over by valentine’s day, this is very true and in reality, most people’s new year’s resolutions are all over right now. They have caved in at the first sign of pressure or hardship. Their motivation has gone but i tell everyone that motivation doesn’t last forever, but structures do.

None of us every day wake up feeling hugely motivated EVERY single day, life sometimes doesn’t allow that to happen. However, if we have a good structure in place, eat a good breakfast, lunch and evening meal, and snack healthily, drink enough water, sleep well etc, we are likely to be very successful indeed!

If you read some of the posts by the users, there’s never huge problems with the workouts usually, its your state of mind that always plays tricks with you. It’s always the WHY! Some of you will look for excuses to quick and to feel sorry for yourselves, i’m not buying them so i wouldn’t even try if i were you!

Some of you now are falling down one day, but the ultra-important thing is YOU ARE PICKING YOURSELF RIGHT BACK UP!!!! Now that is the exciting thing for me and it should be for you too! You are winning and are learning “why” you fell down in the first place. THAT IS MAJOR PROGRESS and the true secret to ultimate success, now you have it let’s pick yourself up EVERY SINGLE TIME!

You will get knocked down at times, that’s life remember, but i want you getting your behind’s off the floor EVERY TIME. You either want to be successful or not, and this challenge is no time to be a baby or lie on the settee on a sunday, let’s get out there and show the fight that’s really in each and every one of you!

Keri

Twitt
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Day 14

Okay, it’s day 14 and the big question must be “how many of you are still here? How many of you have still got the same enthusiasm as when you first started? How many of you have got even more enthusiasm and finally realise you can actually do this? How many of you have let quitting become part of your life, maybe so much that it’s become a nasty habit that you feel you can’t get out of?

These are the questions that play with our minds from time to time, and it’s day 14, so what’s your decision? Are you getting onboard fully with the programme or are you looking for a trendy quick fix that never works long term? Are you looking down disappointed with yourself that you didn’t reach your potential again and threw in the towel, or do you have that deep glow about you know knowing you are achieving great things in just two weeks, and another 70 days of this will create real life-lasting change in your bodies, your minds and create the best version of you that you could possible imagine!!

The number of unique visitor’s to the site is still climbing well so i’m going to assume that the audience and it’s participant’s are growing, rather than fading way! Fact’s are fact’s and more of you are joining so a big thank you on that!

Weeek three of this programme brings it own challenges, we’re pretty much out of january, and into february and you can tell because the night’s are getting lighter, and in 7-8 weeks time, we are going to be in spring! This is the time when you should really be receiving complements on your efforts, picking clothes you never thought possible again, having a much brighter outlook on your life than ever before, that time is only 7-8 weeks away as long as you buckle down right now and really make this thing happen.

Remember, i keep telling you it’s the journey and not necessarily the destination that’s more valuable. You are learning how to take care of your body, pushing your body to new heights and level of health and fitness, your mind is getting stronger because its constantly being tested because of the difficult decisions you face each day, such as today.

Of course you’re going to get knocked down a few times, that’s life and that may well be happening to you right now in this challenge. The true test of your character though will be if you decide to get up again, or do you lie on the floor giving up? This challenge is all about tests of character, and if you stick it out, not only will you look and feel 100 times better, you will come out a better and stronger person too for the experience!

Let’s have a great week 3!

Keri

Twitt