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Keep your goals, change your approach

The goals you talked about at the start of the year should remain intact. If they have gone astray, then you need to change the way you approach your goals.

For instance, if your goal at the start of the year was to lose say 2 stone, and drop a couple of dress sizes, then how did you approach it? Did you really train a minimum 4-5 times per week? Did you eat well 6 days per week? Did you get to bed at a decent time every night in the week so you could keep your energy levels high for your workouts?

Also, when you did all of this, did you see real progress with your training? Did you get faster and stronger? Did things you found really hard at the start of the year suddenly become a lot easier as you got lighter and fitter? Did you get more energetic, did you become more positive in your outlook?

Did your self-confidence rise up to new levels, and what about your self-esteem, did you regain it even though at one time you may have thought you had lost it for good?

So 2010 could very well have been a stellar year for you? Or did it not really happen for you?!!

If it didnt work out the way you thought, then you can still keep optimistic goals, all you have to do is give yourself a reality check and get back to the basics that took you so far in the first place. If things come apart from the seams sometimes, don’t panic, re-evaluate what you’re doing and let’s get back to training with purpose, eating sensibly in healthy amounts, lets make sure your water comes in every day, throughout the day in small amounts, and you be back on the road to success in no time at all!!!

So whatever you chose to achieve way back in january, its not a lost cause at all, lets just re-focus and get back to the tried and tested things that really work for you!!

Twitt
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Friday night is blow your diet night……………

Or not?

What time exactly do your good intentions go down the pan?

Is it straight after work, lunch time in the pub today, are you going to have a massive takeaway tonight?, are you going to a restaurant tonight and have pudding for the first time this week (dont you hate it when the waitress says “have you any roon for dessert in a sickening voice”?) Can’t they come up with an original line? or are you simply going to go down the pub tonight and have your fill of beer and wine? Or is it the petrol station on the way home with the bottle of wine and all the chocolate and ice cream you can handle?

Whatever it is you decide, you have to think about exactly when your good intentions disappear and how much weight you will put on the weekend. Then some may blame their workouts not working when they weigh in next, not the weekend’s avalanche of calories!!! You simply cant get away with a whole weekend of excess eating and expect to be somehow in shape on the monday morning.

I always recommend having a bit of what you fancy definitely, it keeps us sane and it stops us from totally giving up our favourite treats. The danger becomes when you start off on the friday with a cheat of your choice and then it becomes EVERY meal until sunday night! Somehow justifying it by saying you have worked hard in the week!! This is the easiest way to spoil all that hard work in the week and put on the weight you worked so hard to get rid of all week long.

This is why its always better to pick your cheat day, when you have treats that you don’t normally have.

When the subject of cheat day came up, a LOT of people took it as you could get up as early as possible and then force feed yourself ice cream, chips, chocolate ALL day long and night, and then you were totally justified in doing this. Nothing was off limits and it was compulsory to have lots of spare chocolate in the glove department when you were driving. Eating until you are sick is never acceptable AND THIS IS NOT cheat day i can assure you as it was meant to be in terms of helping your diet!!!!

Cheat day is a day of having a bit of what you fancy in MODERATION and not an eating competition like many believe!!

This also assumes you EAT VERY CLEAN in the week. If this is not the case and you have treats most days, then cheat days are really not recommended for fat loss.

Enjoy your friday and all weekend, and try to work out whether you’re training for an eating competition, or you’re really just having a well-deserved break from eating very healthy all the time!

Twitt
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Tuesday, 9th November

We go over the ways to get into shape and how to stay there all the time on this blog. We develop plans and discuss when things go wrong as well as things go right. It doesn’t matter how many times we go over the correct way to do things, it still seems as if many of you “get lost” on your quest to get active, stay active and create long lasting good health and fitness.

When we do most things from DIY to fitness, we tend to do things “our own way” or our own version of the right way to do things.

Cyril this week has commented he needs to get back to eating properly, or finally settle into a sustainable healthy eating plan because he knows the great value of this. He says he needs to be drinking more water, something he knows that has clear benefits but is not as consistent as he should be.

He also knows that he should be doing his resistance work at least a couple of times a week, and is eager to get it back in to his schedule. Riding the bike is no problem for him, and long may that continue!!

So you can see it is so easy not to do the simple things that will get you into shape time after time. People get good at things when they practice a lot. Most of you i should imagine are pretty good at brushing your teeth, simply because you’ve done it a lot (although the dentist will sometimes put you right on the correct way). Most of you will know how to wash your clothes and dry them, because again you’ve done it an awful lot and most of you like smelling good and personal hygiene is important to you and your family.

 Most of you will know how to get up on time for work, because it has become routine and you won’t get paid if you don’t  show up for work!! Getting up on time also gives you a purpose for your day and your life in general, human beings respond well to routines and having targets and challenges in their lives.

The secret really is to make your exercise plan firmly a part of your week without fail. Shopping for good food should be the norm and not something you do in january only to get rid of the excess christmas pounds. With a concerted effort, living a healthy lifestyle will become the norm and the way you live your life.

Those of you who don’t do anything right now, i urge you to try it and i guarantee you will feel SO much better for it almost immediately. Getting on a programme that will increase your health can be started anytime, anywhere without any cost. It’s never too late to start and how about today?!!! Don’t wait for the new year as you can and will make substantial progress right up until christmas as long as you put your mind to it and commit to a healthier life.

The time is now, lets make it happen!!!

Twitt
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Monday, 8th November

There’s no better day than a monday to set your stall out for the week and get a great workout in to blow away all the cobwebs away from the weekend!! I have already been outside a few times today and to say i’m fired up with huge energy raring to go may even be an understatement!!

If you can do this and give your all to your workout today, then you will be giving your body everything it needs when it comes to developing incredible energy for the week ahead. If you don’t have energy, you won’t have the drive to do anything of note this week. You will simply put things off and not get the things done you set out to this week.

I always like to get my lungs filled with fresh air on a monday to help me set the tone for the week. If i don’t, i am likely to be playing catch up for the week and thats the last thing i want to be doing with my schedule. Life is all about keeping on top of things, not letting things slide and your workouts should be the catalyst to allow you to perform at the high level needed to accomplish everything you need to this week and every week right up to christmas!!!

Six weeks to christmas now and hope most of you haven’t fallen in the “i’m giving up for christmas already” camp in november/december. This shows you’re not really into working out and health is not so important to you as it it clearly should be. This blog is all about avoiding pitfalls too, the roadblocks that halt our progress and im trying to help you avoid any of those if posssible. If you keep up every day, you develop momentum and before you know it, your workouts become second nature and of a huge quality!

The time is right now today to really make things happen in your life and get into the mindset you need to make the quantum leap that is indeed possible with your health and fitness. The opportunity is there for you so don’t you dare waste it!!!!

Twitt
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This is when the work is done!

A dull day in november it may be in terms of weather anyway, but days like today are exactly the type of days when you need to be putting all the hard work in if you really want to look fantastic coming up to christmas!!!

The most  important sessions are the ones you never really feel like doing, and once you remember that mantra, you will be much more motivated by days like today. Days like today are also days when you think of summer believe  it or not! It seems way off but the hard work is really put in now for next summer, as there’s no such thing of overnight success in this game, and every bit of progress you get is definitely well-earned!!!!

This time of year is also about finding out how tough you are, and whether you have desire and determination needed to change your body, change your energy levels and change your ambitions so you can be in superior health!!

Another reason to feel a bit smug with yourself this time of year is that finding out you are one of the few who actually exercises outside this time of year. If you are running, walking, cycling etc on a day like this, you are guaranteed not to meet many people out on the way!!! This shows to me and it should show yourself that YOU ARE committed and dedicated to changing your appearance and really focused on looking and feeling good.

This feeling inside alone is enough to brighten up the most dreary of days! You are investing in your future right now, today the 3rd of november if you get out there today and do a workout or stay inside and do a workout. You are really setting yourself apart from the crowd who would have thrown in the towel by now. You are different and you should celebrate that fact!!!

When i said there was 12 weeks to christmas a while ago, some of you probably laughed and thought it was a long time away. Now the facts are that its only SEVEN weeks away and how much close are you to your health and fitness goals!!! If you havent taken it seriously, you STILL have time so lets not waste another minute!!!

Twitt