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Thursday, 8th March

Following on with the family food advice, you need to keep considering why you are doing this whole thing, and this will keep you strong in your times of doubt and uncertainty.

  • Eating often is fun and good for you!

–     This day’s eating is all about eating every 3 hours or so, raising the rate our bodies burn calories so we burn more fat, feeling full throughout the day so we don’t feel the need to binge at certain time, and actually feel about hundred times better than we have before.

Positive trade off’s

–     You CAN keep this way of eating up if you really try and all it takes sometimes is  5 minutes preparation the night before making a packed lunch.

–     Plus, all that money you will have spent on junk food can go on something worthwhile, like a new dvd or some new clothes!

  • Summing up

–     changing your lifestyle to a rewarding healthy one starts with what you put into your body. Make it a priority when you go to a supermarket to influence your parents on what you want to eat. As a parent, you can inspire your kids to eat well too. They will listen if you tell then you want good food (and vice-versa) and soon it will become second nature.

–     Make sure you try and work up to 5 servings of fruit and veg a day

–     Try and get 2 servings of protein such as fish, chicken, eggs, lean beef, nuts, lentils etc per day.

–     Choose 2 portions of milk, yoghurt, cheese etc for calcium and extra protein

–     Use whole meal/wholegrain versions of pasta, bread, rice, cereals, potatoes to give you lots of energy every day.

–     Try to limit these in your diet using them more as a treat-Crisps, cakes, biscuits, pastries, chips, mayo,  salad cream, margarine, cooking oil, pop/fizzy drinks

You have had a pretty good overview on how you should be making your healthy lifestyle count, and its benefits.

If you adopt all or most of these guidelines, then you and your family’s quality of life in terms of health will be enhanced out of all recognition.

Once you do it this way, you won’t fall for the next “big” diet, those slimming classes that never ever worked long term (scientific studies back all of this up), or any of the faddy ways to lose weight.

Trust in your own instincts of what is right, is sensible and likely to work for you over a lifetime!

Twitt
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Wednesday, 7th March

We were working on having a good morning yesterday in terms of ideas for you and your kids meals, so its time to concentrate on having a good afternoon, to really maximise your progress. Eating well is vital if you’re interested in being the best you AND YOUR FAMILY can be!

Lunch

–     Because you’ve eaten twice before lunch time, you should feel less hungry  than you normally do. If you’re starving eating lunch, then you’re likely to pick the wrong foods and have a real binge.

–     Packed lunches are often the choice for most children and with a little planning, they can make a successful day for you.

  • Sandwiches are often king and although wholemeal bread is king, white bread kids love and with some wholemeal flour can be better than just plain white, also you could combine white and wholemeal slices in a sandwich?
  • Whole meal pitta bread is also a great choice and is lower in calories and can make a great change. Also, when making a sandwich, try and pack it with veggies as well as the meat,  fish,chicken etc, it may be a toughie to start with but you’ll soon get used to it.
  • Fish is a great food for the brain as well as rest of body which can be mixed with things like pesto and veggies, and can go great in a sandwich. Chicken also works well and seems to be universally liked, providing a high protein source and goes well with any combo of veg and salad. Lean beef is also good as it’s tasty and much lower in fat than i used to be .

–      Remember to keep the spread small too, don’t slap it on, merely a smearing will do

  •   If you want to use mayo, use a small amount and the lowest in fat please.
  •  I used to have yoghurts in my sandwich box but most seem full of sugar these days. Natural yoghurt sounds horrible but with some berries, chopped apples, dried fruit, nuts in a re-usable sealed pot can be very tasty and hugely energising.
  •  Rather than put cheese in a sandwich, use it as a snack. There a lot of cheese snacks these days but most are full of additives, a simple piece or two of tasty cheese will do the trick. Low fat versions for parents or cottage cheese versions much better again!
  •  However good your lunch box, don’t serve the same stuff every day or kids get bored, mix it up with different fruit, different bread for sandwiches, different yoghurts etc and interest will be maintained. Same with parents, we all get bored if you don’t change it!
  • Using dips works too with things like hummus and a cool box for the lunch box will keep all of these healthy ingredients cool and much more appetising after being in a school bag all morning. Same with parents food boxes, we all want nice food and cool to taste.

–     You’re never going to completely ban treats so just trying scaling them down to very other day to start. Most of us  adapt quickly to this and soon get used to having treats sometimes just once a week. A good idea sometimes is to make your own cakes perhaps using a little less sugar than normal. And if you put mostly natural ingredients in, at least they are going  to be much better than what we can get in shops!

  •  Mid-afternoon

–     This is a typical time when all of our energy levels are tested.

  •  A small handful of nuts (almonds, brazils, cashews etc) would be a great choice and give you some of the healthy fats your body needs.
  • A piece of fruit such as an apple, banana or orange would be great too for some added energy.
  • Remember to keep a variety of food every day so you’re not eating the same old stuff all the time or you will rebel and grab something that’s high in fat and sugars and normally off limits for you.
  • Evening meal

–     How many of us have got home and felt starving even before we’ve got through the door. We pick something sometimes like a cheese sandwich to tide us over before the bit meal comes along. There’s nothing we can do about it either unless we have followed the typical day’s eating we have just talked about which will sort out those feelings.

  • Good examples of an evening meal would be some chicken/fish, with vegetables in whatever way you want as long as they’re not drowned in rich sauces, from a stir fry with a little olive oil to any healthy cooking method you want, and some brown rice, whole wheat pasta or some new potatoes and more examples to follow.
  • You can get buy or make your own tomato sauce/pesto to add to these meals. 
  • Always look to add veg to whatever meal you’re having in the evening, extra veg on some pasta and top of a pizza, use hummus as a dip,
  • use fruit salad a gorgeous dessert, or some natural yoghurt with fruit chopped in, with some nuts and maybe dried fruit also, a bit of imagination can go a long way in making the most important family meal of the day a roaring success! 
  • Take these ideas and make them work for you!!!
Twitt
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Monday, February 26th

To maximise your gains in fitness, i cannot stress enough how vital your eating is, and what eating CLEAN really means.
To me, eating clean means eating food as much as possible in its natural state, and keeping refined sugars to an absolute minimum.
 
All the foods we always talk about will always bear fruit for you if you pardon the pun!
 
Porridge is a natural food that gives you long term energy, and stops you snacking.
 
Any oat based products or porridge with added “apple pie” type flavourings, WILL NOT DO YOU ANY GOOD.
 
Wholemeal bread in moderation is a sign of good clean eating, White bread is the equivalent of a disaster zone, full of refined sugar, bleaching agents and lots of chemicals and rubbish designed to put weight on you, it will be really unhealthy on all sorts of level for your body, and you have to avoid this rubbish if you are to be successful in weight/fat loss.
 
The margarine and butter on top should be avoided, this is saturated fat and can never be any good. Saying that, butter is the natural product and helps your body more than margarine, which can be horrid for your body and contains needless calories.
 
White meats are very welcome, fish is fantastic (no batter or any fatty sauce on it), cottage cheese is great, lean cuts of red meat are fine once a week.
 
White pasta is not acceptable when you can eat “clean” and have wholegrain and wholewheat pasta.
 
New potatoes and sweet potatoes are great examples of potatoes with a nice low sugar release, and offer a lot of nutrition.
 
White potatoes wont work as well, more refined sugar.
 
Fruit is fine in moderation, although classed as refined sugar, is a food in its natural state and offers far more than any negatives.
 
Fruit juice should be dilluted, and this will will give you far less refined sugar per glass.
 
All vegetables are classed as eating clean, and offer an abundance of nutrients and is nature’s way of making you healthy and helping your body to function properly.
 
Eating clean means trying to be as natural as possible in your food choices, this will automatically cut down on your refined sugars, and give you dramatic changes in bringing your body fat down!!
Twitt
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Thursday, 23rd February

We talked about injuries yesterday, but the main aspect that needs considering the most is injury prevention. If you don’t develop and care for all of your supporting muscles, your tendons and ligaments, then something or other will catch up with you in time, and this is if you exercise or not.

Indeed those who do not exercise are likely to have worse circulation, more joints aching, bad backs and more colds, flu etc. Also not exercising is one of the major risk factors when assessing one’s health.

People go on about all the time about alcohol, smoking, various diseases, but inactivity is a real risk to everyone in terms of future health expectations.

We talked about running and walking injuries yesterday, but the one legged squat is an excellent exercise to fit into your health and fitness twice to three times a week.

The sooner you learn the importance of proper balance the better. I try to take it several steps further by using various pieces of cutting edge balance equipment that are purposely created to make you more balanced, help you develop very strong core strength, and in general help you prevent the normal wear and tear injuries that most people are likely to get.

There is a thing called gait analysis, which videos you the way you run, and in particular the way you land on the surface as you run or even walk. This can help you decide which training shoes would be best for you.

The facts are that most people over-pronate, which means you tilt over ever so slightly when you hit the floor. Over time, this will create minor niggles to bigger more worrying injuries.

Again this is exactly why I try to concentrate on you AVOIDING and PREVENTING injuries by strengthening your fundamental strength in your body.

If you research more into it yourself as well as reading here, it will confirm the steps you need to take to fulfil your physical potential and avoid the nuisance of needless injury!!!

Twitt
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Wednesday, 22nd February

We go on all the time about doing the right things, at the right times in order to be successful, and that will always remain the most important factor in your success. Hopefully, i try to break it down in an easy to understand way, taking the mystery out of it all.

Another big factor that affects everyone during the training lives, and especially if you don’t even train, is INJURY.

Injuries come in all different forms, and can happen to any area of your body as we all know. I think back injuries come out on top, and are likely to affect 87% of the working population at some time in their lives.

Another topical injury at the moment for many with the London marathon not so far away, various triathlons, 10k’s and 5k’s, is running injuries.

Also, i have individuals doing the Moonwalk up in London, which is basically a walking marathon for Ladies done overnight,

Anyway, i come across running and walking injuries quite often in the general population, fortunately though not many people i train as i like to do a lot of core stability and injury prevention work.

One simple exercise i recommend to people who are having any such injuries is first to try and balance on one leg. If your leg flares out to one side quickly and you struggle to balance, then you need to address these issues as soon as possible.

For example, if you have a foot problem, then the way you walk or run could be the problem.

Good footwear is always vital, change your trainers every 500 miles or 6 months in general.

There are those who recommend barefoot running, stating the natural benefits. According to worldwide authorities, running barefoot is only recommended if you gait is perfect, this means you land perfectly, and your hips and knees are all in alignment, in most people’s experience, this DOES NOT HAPPEN, so run barefoot with GREAT CAUTION, personally i wouldnt bother and science DOES NOT back it up!

A very good test is to do one legged squats, try and keep your knee and hips in alignment, your hip should not flare out, and your knee shouldnt come in too much, this is a sign you need to do more balance work and correct these issues, or longer term injury may come your way.

More on this tomorrow!

Twitt