Posted on

Wednesday, 10th October

Being optimistic about your progress is one of the most important habits you need to get into, or you will forever be like the economy, you will be going through “boom and bust” for the rest of your life, in health and fitness terms.

For example, you can do really well in your training, and be really pleased with your progress.

Then all of a sudden it may take one thing to doubt your progress.

You could have an illness, an injury or just go through a period of training when you’re not able to reach your previous highs in terms of performance in your training.

During all of these times, you still could be losing inches off your waist, losing body fat, and your heart rate may still be getting stronger all the time.

Despite all of this, you will doubt your progress somehow!!!

I have encountered many individuals like this, and I think it’s a human trait to doubt ourselves even when evidence suggests we should never doubt for one second!

This is when hard numbers have to take over!

If your waist measurement is coming down or already in healthy range, then you are DOING VERY WELL!!!

If your body fat is coming down or in a healthy range already, then you should be very pleased at your level of conditioning.

If you have a healthy strong heart rate 72 beats per minute or less, then you are doing everything right, and you are performing and recovering well from exercise.

Like I said, despite all of this overwhelming evidence, people sometimes still doubt themselves. This is exactly the time to change your mindset and start celebrating where you are, and be optimistic that not only can you sustain this progress, but you can actually improve it each month!!

Justified optimism is the one big thing that will take you forward, and keep doing so. Doubt is the only thing that can hold you back!!

Reinforcing your optimism on a daily basis is vital so get practicing right now!!!

Twitt
Posted on

Thursday, 4th October

It’s metabolism all the way this week, and here’s some more ways to get it fired up!!

If you eat 5-6 times a day, then you are raising your metabolism nicely, as the act of eating alone will make you burn more calories.

Its vital these meals though are not over-sized, and are smaller in general as you will be eating every 3-4 hours. The idea is to eat breakfast, lunch and evening meal, with mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks keeping you full and energised in between.

So if you eat three meals a day, you will be raising your metabolism 3 times a day, instead of 5-6 times a day with the smaller meals and snacking method.

Another benefit of eating multiple times a day is that you never get hungry, your body will expect food regularly and this will make sure you are not tempted to binge!

Another great way to raise your metabolism is to eat real foods. That may sound strange but eating real vegetabls, real fruit and most importantly, AVOIDING PROCESSED FOOD whenever you can.

Most of the processed food you get in the supermarket these days doesn’t take much digestion, therefore burning less calories and also playing havoc with your digestive system.

If you eat fruit, real vegetables, real oatmeal for example, your body’s whole digestive system is working at its full capacity to break down the food, then use it as an energy source.

This process will not go on when you eat processed rubbish, that seems to fill most of the aisles in supermarkets!! Ready meals are the most guilty example, but anything that takes a minute or so to heat up and eat is usually going to be very poor for your internal digestive system.

Eating natural isn’t always possible, so try to use processed foods before your training session. This way you can at least use the food as energy and get it out of your system as soon as possible!!

Twitt
Posted on

Wednesday, 3rd October

We talked about the value of trying to raise your metabolism yesterday, here are some key ways on how to do it!

Number one is to lift weights. If you just do normal cardio that most people do (treadmill, bike etc), then your metabolism will be raised but only for the duration of your workout.

The difference with weights/resistance training is the effect will last a lot longer!

Scientific studies show the elevated metabolism you will experience can last up to 39 hours!!! This is why weight training is so important! Weight training breaks down muscle tissue and usually needs that amount of time to recover.

We have always talked on here about the benefits of weight training, and obviously this another big reason to lift!!

Number two is to train intensely. Whatever workout you do, make sure you train with purpose and if you put a good intensity into it, your metabolism will be raised that much more again, meaning you burn more calories and burn more fat.

Number three is embracing the process of building lean muscle tissue. Experts suggest that for every pound of muscle gained, your body will burn an extra 35-50 calories a day!! Compare that with just 2 pounds for every pound of fat. This is why people who are lean and muscular find it easier to stay like that, whilst people who carry a lot of fat struggle more to get it off.

Number four is eating more  protein, not too much but a sensible amount. With all of this good training, you should also a healthy amount of protein such as the size of your fist in each meal. Not only does it fill you up that much longer than carbs and fat, it also takes 25% more calories for the body to break down protein.  These 25% of the calories in protein are broken down through the digestion process, compare this to 5% of carbs and just 2% effort to burn fat when ingested!!

More tomorrow!!

Twitt
Posted on

Thursday, 27th September

These are choices that are going to work for you, these are real foods, no shakes, no bars, no faddy diets, these are real everyday choices that will strip body fat off, make you stronger and leaner, as well as keeping you very healthy on the insides too, which is vital! This is very sustainable and will positively contribute to your healthy lifestyle!!

 

Portion size for protein and carbs should be the size of your fist as a general rule, have as much vegetables as you like. This will make sure you do not overeat.

 

Try and avoid any packet or jar sauces, do not cook with salt or add salt to your meal (encourages blood pressure), and try to keep your ingredients as natural as possible for maximum results!!!

 

You can use these for lunch times, and for your evening meal.

Chicken breast with 100g pitta bread, add a serving of salsa and a serving of salsa-489 calories

Chicken breast, a serving of lettuce, 100g of boiled potatoes, 100g asparagus, plus 2 dates to finish-437 cals

A good piece of salmon, sweet potato, 100g of spinach, 10g of peas and nectarine to finish-423 finish

Piece of turkey,  50g brown rice, 100g broccoli, 100g carrots and an orange afterwards-402 cals

125g lean roast chicken without skin, 225g new potatoes, 100g butternut squash, brushed with tsp olive oil baked, 60g peas, 100g dark leafy greens, 50g home made rice, apricot but stuffing, 5tsp pan juices made into a sauce with a little wine

631 cals, 21g total fat, 4g saturated fat, 45.7g protein, 68g carbs

Thin sliced turkey breast, one tablespoon cranberry sauce warmed in small bowl for 30 secs, pour sauce over turkey. Serve with brown rice and broccoli-455 calories

I medium baked potato or sweet potato with 100g cottage cheese and tomato and cucumber-160 cals

1medium wholemeal roll, 100g tomato, good slice of 100g turkey breast plus some strawberries and low fat natural yoghurt-393 cals

Grill and lean cut of steak how you like it, squeeze the juice from half a lime over the meat and sprinkle pepper and garlic powder. Then slice and serve with brown rice and salsa-393 cals

Grill any fish with a selection of steamed veg-100 cals and that’s a ton of veg!!

100g haddock 81, mackerel 220 canned salmon 153, try with lemon and potato

Smother a grilled, skinless chicken breast with a freshly squeezed lemon, either a jacket potato or boiled potatoes with it-303 cals

Brown rice salad with beans and asparagus-263 cals

In small saucepan, mix one can of chicken broth, a sliced grilled chicken breast, a 50g portion of cooked barley and a handful of your mixed veg. heat for 5 mins.-400g

Tuna salad-drain a can of tuna in brine, place tuna in bowl and mix one tsp of very light mayo if you have to and some juice from a lemon. Pile tuna on top of lettuce and serve with a portion off fruit. This is a light meal with plenty of good stuff throughout the meal.

Pasta and tuna salad-50g of wholemeal pasta, 100g of carrots, 100g of tomatoes, 100g cucumber, a can of tuna in brine and apple to finish-373 cals.

For further information please go to www.kerimckibbin.co.uk

Or telephone 07968 980808

Twitt
Posted on

Wednesday, 19th September

Not falling over in your programme can be the thing that differentiates you from most people who try to get into great shape.

By falling over I mean just keeping on training and eating well, and sometimes when you don’t even feel like it.

How many times have you got home from work, and its been freezing and wet outside, and you haven’t even got out of the chair because the thought of getting out and training in that weather seems so uninviting.

If you had only made that effort, then within 5 minutes of actually exercising, you would have been glad you did.

This is an example of not falling over!

If you are fully intending to eat well, especially in the week, then sometimes you can let a pizza night on a Tuesday throw you off good eating for the rest of the week.

There is no reason to do this, and getting back to good eating immediately on Wednesday morning would be the best thing to do, so many people though fall over and just write off the rest of the week!

A pizza occasionally can be good for you, helps keep your sanity and helps make you feel that you are not on some kind of ultra-strict diet, but you can still have a bit of what you fancy, its just that these days you are a bit more sensible when it comes to overdoing it in terms of portion size!

Another way to “fall over” in terms of progress is letting others put you off. You will always have comments off other people deriding what you are doing, and why don’t you be lazy and overeat/over drink instead?

Not falling over would involve you sticking to your guns, knowing that the path that you are on is the right one, no matter what negative people say, and you are going to see it through no matter what!!

These situations can happen any time and on multiple occasions, staying strong when you have a supposed reason to quit is the difference between successful and failing.

Twitt