Posted on

Friday, 8th February

A funny thing happens when you start exercising.

For example, if you went for a bike ride, a run, a weights session or just a tough hilly walk, then a funny thing happens just as you end your exercise session.

You should know by now that you feel better straight away after exercise. You have a feeling of wellbeing like never before, and this is one of the reasons why you exercise in the first place.

The funny thing that happens is when you eat or drink after exercise.

You may well feel like a big plate of fish and chips afterwards, or alcoholic drink afterwards. Have you actually tried doing this in practice?

Most people i speak to feel like absolute rubbish afterwards, due to the stodge, fat and chemicals in those products i just mentioned.

So you have just done something REALLY GOOD for you in the exercise session, and your body will soon notice that the chips or alcohol, or both rally do not agree with it! Your body is really craving GOOD food, in order to repair itself from all of your hard work!!!

You must realise by now that all of that hot and sweaty work done in your workout deserves good food afterwards, or a lot of that hard work WILL be wasted. Most of us want a good reward for our efforts so try listening to your body, don’t fight your natural instincts and really look after your body interally.

The time for having any alcohol is usually once a week and usually the weekend.

The time for having the fish and chips is a one off and again, most people choose to do it as a treat at the weekend.

This is not a piece about telling you what to do, its about allowing you to make the best choices to complement your workouts, and enable you ultimately to get your best results!!!

Twitt
Posted on

Thursday, 7th February

Thinking about your programme in a healthy way is not only important, it will unburden you of unnecessary pressure.

If you just look around you, how many of your friends, work colleagues, family, people you sort of know etc are trying different ways to lose weight/get into shape?

Most of you can probably list 5 ways that people use or have used to lose weight. Most of them will be classed as unsuccessful or not sustainable.

This will often be classed as a waste of time and money.

Then there are all sorts of so called celebrities that people want to look like. This will involve using unhealthy methods to get there such as starving yourself, using a liquid shake diet, and generally putting a “particular look” much further ahead than one’s health!

If you use short term and often dangerous thinking to get into shape, then you need to re-think that strategy right now, and change it right now. Use HEALTH as your number one goal, and the rest of the way you WANT to look will happen in its own natural way.

How can you go wrong if you mostly eat good natural food every day?

How can you go wrong if you drink 1.5-2 litres of water a day, and drink alcohol just once a week?

How can you go wrong if you exercise a minimum of 3 times a week, and improve on a regular basis, however small?

These changes will lead to your clothes feeling better, you will have far more energy in your life, AND YOUR HEALTH will be in terrific shape!!!

Forget all the faddy things you often read in the papers and magazines, they are trying to sensationalise your most important subject-your health!!! If you’re sensible and use your common sense, you will always remain on the right track and achieve the big results you always wanted!!!

Twitt
Posted on

Tuesday, 5th February

The power of exercise can never be understated.

I hear strong anecdotal evidence of this all the time.

I was with one lady this morning who has been ill for a couple of weeks, yet today after her first session, she felt so inspired that she has already plannned the rest of the week’s workouts, and she feels fantastic purely because she feels energy coming back in her life for the first time since christmas!

Exercise clearly means a lot to her.

Without seeming like a sexist comment, how many of you have felt like doing the housework after exercising because of the abundance of energy you felt come through your body? I have met a ton of people who felt exactly like this.

How many of you have been a student of some sort, and done markedly better in exams and your studies in general after you discover exercise for the first time. There is more than anecdotal evidence on this, there is scientific evidence on this matter in schools and colleges up and down the country!

How many of you feel low in energy if YOU DO NOT do your workout?!!! I know i do for one!!!

How many of you feel a huge sense of accomplishment if you run up a hill for the first time, especially if you consider most of you probably couldnt even run 30 yards when you first started?!!! These signs and evidence of progress are huge for your self confidence and self esteem, and spur you on to go and achieve even more!!!

How many have you experienced the exercise “high” during your workout? This is very common especially when you are having a great session, and is very much part of why we train. Anything that tends to make us feel better we tend to do more of, this is why workouts should be a normal and regular part of our lives!!!

Twitt
Posted on

Monday, 4th February

Two big sporting losses for me at the weekend, Wales of course lost against ireland with such a poor first half performance,it was scarcely credible! This left wales too much to do in the second half and so it proved.

You cannot continue to make such serious mistakes at such a high level so often and expect to get away with it!

Then the san francisco 49ers lost againt the baltimore ravens last night in the superbowl!

The 49ers didn’t really perform to anything like what they could normally do, and left the first half so far down,it seemed impossible to get back in front.

They nearly pulled it off though and finally lot 31-34 in a classic superbowl!!

This is the magic of sports,and the theatre is creates. This is why a lot of us watch it in such big numbers!!!

If wales and the 49ers were more consistent, and play like they could play, the result could have been much different.

This is exactly the same with your training and eating.

If you lack consistency with either,you are going to be struggling to perform well, lose body fat and feel as good as you know you could.

If you do not start the week off today by being consistent with a good training session and solid nutrition, then you are likely to struggle the rest of the week.

You should be concentrating on getting a lot of good food in during your supermarket shop. You will need the nutrients to power your workouts, recover from your workouts, and keep your immune system strong, especially in the cold and wet winter we are having.

Consistency will always be your best friend, and the more you practice it, the more it will seem like totally the most natural thing to do!!

Twitt
Posted on

Friday, 1st February

Cereals and breakfasts in general can be a difficult subject for most, ranging from people who miss breakfasts to those who fall for the cereals to the masses that often come in pretty boxes.

Let’s get the first one out of the way, if you miss breakfast you WILL NOT BE successful in your fat loss and performance targets FULL STOP!

If you think that by missing breakfast, you will lose weight because you’re not eating any food, then that’s totally wrong. You need to eat breakfast to get your metabolism going, the rate at which your body burns calories 24 hours a day. If you miss breakfast, you are giving your metabolism every reason NOT to get going, every reason TO hold on to body fat stores, and you’re creating no incentive for your bodily functions to get going in a normal and healthy way.

Missing breakfast is the VERY worst start to your day.

Then when you go down the supermarket aisles and come to the breakfast choices, you are often faced with seemingly hundreds of cereal boxes! They hve catchy names, some have actually the words “fitness” or playson that word in the title!!

It’s a shame then that this particular one and all of the ones with catchy names or have cool characters on the front, are the ones that are loaded wth sugar and often salt. At least 80% of the cereals on offer are exactly the sugary options you do not want to take up for breakfast.

The ones you want to take notice of and buy are still the all natural ones, the weetabix, the shredded wheat, porridge in particular is wonderful, and free range eggs are fine products too, full of goodness, full of nutrients and full of energy.

Wholemeal toast is fine, just avoid the spread and try chopping a banana and using that as a spread.

You get some people who say do not eat bread, but most people are unlikely to be off it longer term. The trick is to be sensible and have a couple of slices a day, avoid the butter and margarine and eating bread in moderation will be fine.

Eating right matters so keep up the good efforts!!

Twitt