Posted on

Tuesday, 10th January

I always tell people that when they employ me, i can give you all the correct advice but i won’t be able to do their exercises for them!

You have to exercise yourself if you are to get any value out of this programme.

If i give you the programme, its like giving you a map but you still have to drive the car. I can teach you principles but you’re going to have to apply them. If you decide to put the effort in, then the rewards are going to be well worth it!

You have to realise one thing though, good things come to those who have patience.

You will get times and wonder “why all of this isn’t working faster? Why haven’t i reached all my goals in super-quick time? Why aren’t people telling me how good i look already? When am i going to be at my ideal body fat?”!!!

Success takes time, perserverence, effort and patience as i have previously said.

If you go in the diet section, you will begin to eat better and you WILL reach your ideal levels of body fat.

If you go into the training section, you WILL get fitter, healthier and have more endurance than you ever have.

These statements only come true if you apply them and actually do what you say you’re going to do, no secret in that piece of information!!!

Its normal in any endeavour to come up against obstacles, to hit plateaus regularly. This is perfectly normal and anyone who has ever tried out a new sport, played the piano for example or just about anything, know there will be times when you feel as if you have made no progress at all. This is when  most people give up, drop put or just try something else they think will be easier.

The smart people find out that if they just keep practicing, and thats what exercise is, practicing, you will eventually make a big leap in terms of progress and you will become a much more impressive athlete with an abundance of health.

Its only early in the new year, but you have to realise that you’re going to be into some kind of health and fitness programme for the rest of your life. Don’t give up, ever, this is the true secret of success with health, or just about anything else!!!

The principles on here will ALWAYS work, and its time to get started!!

Twitt
Posted on

Friday, 6th January

Hope you have made a great start to the new year, and things are working out in a very positive way for you!

If things are positive for you, then you have actually taken action and you are a DOER instead of a talker and you are on your way. You have probably realised that the DOING comes before you feel better.

When you do something, you get rid of your fear and you build a good amount of self-confidence, this is the power of it all.

So if its the fact that you are on your way and you have trained well this week, you will soon enjoy this experience and you have overcome all of your initial fears. This feels so good usually that you want to challenge yourself again and move on to the next level.

Then the fear starts all over again, and you have doubts in your mind again! This is a good sign!

You have to realise though that this fear of a new challenge is experienced by EVERYONE ELSE TOO!!!! All those people you may have admired from afar and achieved a lot in their lives were actually scared to death themselves at some stage, plucking up the courage to actually “go for it” and reach their seemingly lofty goals!

Instead of seeing fear as a massive obstacle and retreating at a rate of knots, you should see it as a sign inviting you to improve and change your life for the better!

Instead of settling for what you have now, its going to be far more rewarding for you to be fitter and healthier for the rest of your life, in terms of inner satisfaction and quality of life to name just two massive benefits!

You may ask why you would want to put yourself through the uncomfortable nature of trying to change your life, but that temporary feeling is going to be hundred times better than sticking with a lifetime of being overweight, unfit and unhealthy, and all the negatives that situation brings.

 Its time to make the change to grab the chance with both hands!

Twitt
Posted on

Thursday, 5th January

The term “snacks” can be viewed in two different contexts.

Snacks have been given a bad rap, but this is usually because most people consider snack as mid-morning junk or mid-afternoon treats. If you imagine pasties, cakes, biscuits, sausage rolls, chocolate, bags of crisps as the right sort of choices for snacks, then you are going to be highly destructive to your body.

These types of foods not only pile the weight on, but they will create wild swings in your blood sugar, causing potential diabetes if consumed over a longer period of time, mood swings due to the sugar swings, and low energy levels again due to the sugar swings. A bad idea all round then!!!

I have included some snack ideas at the end of this piece, and all of them will be based on my philosophy of eating natural foods when possible.

After an initial period of a few days, you will appreciate the natural flavours of these foods, and not revert to the saturated fat, high sugar, high salt nature of the foods mentioned in the second paragraph.

I love these snacks also due their ability to sweeten your “plainer” foods. Try dates and figs, chop them up and use them as a sweetener for porridge for example.

Chop fruit up and make natural fruit salads from an assortment of fruit, with natural yoghurt as a topping. Nuts also make great toppings for just about anything, and include vital natural fats that will enhance your skin, and just about all your internal workings of your body, making sure you perform and look your best at all times!

This is the time right now to convert your very poor choices of snacks to the natural variety we have just talked about. Eating in between meals used to be a big no-no, eating these snacks though will keep you full in between meals (mid-morning and mid-afternoon) and stop you overeating at meal times, and don’t forget the energy they give you too, a win-win situation I think you’ll agree!!

Snacks-calorie breakdown

Snacks are vitally important, to keep energy levels up, and to keep important nutrients coming in throughout the day

Fresh fruit for energy-100g usually

Apple-50

Pear-64

Banana-95

Blueberries-30

Kiwi fruit-29

Plums-34

Grapes-60

Strawberries-27

Satsuma-23

Dried fruit-to cure a sweet tooth and good for you

Sultanas-138

Raisins-136

Figs-43

Apricots-29

Low-fat yoghurts-provide calcium and nice desserts

Natural low-fat-56

Whole milk-79

Low-fat fruit-90

Low fat fromage frais-58

Nuts-50g-for essential fats

Cashews-287

Brazils-341

Almonds-306

Walnuts-344

Pumpkin seeds-57

Sunflower-57

Mixed nuts chopped-304

Hazlenuts-325

Twitt
Posted on

Thursday, 29th December

If you got into your workouts gently yesterday, then today is a day to step up the ante.

You have to face reality that your first “proper” workout will hurt a little bit, and it will be a little uncomfortable, due to the high likelihood of your eating too much and drinking too much maybe. Throw in some lack of sleep and you have the perfect combination for inferior workouts!

The great thing about getting through a good workout today is that you are bound to feel better from it. It may be painful to get through at times, but after you have managed to get your blood flow going, the aches and pains will slowly go and you will leave the scene of your workout in much higher spirits than when you first started!

Another neglected part of Christmas for most people is the lack of water consumed.

Water is the most important part of feeling and looking food. Without it and its not going to happen for you full stop. Your internal workings and your vital organs wont function properly if you don’t hydrate yourself adequately every day. Water is vital to human life, so lets make every effort to get something that is so fundamental to your health 100% right now.

I was guilty of it myself over Christmas, drinking too much tea and coffee, and in a matter of days, realising your energy levels have gone so far south, you don’t have the inclination to exercise, and even if you have, your performance is unlikely to be anywhere near your normal levels.

I guarantee that if you get a good workout in today, and you sip water throughout the day and especially in your workout, you will feel 100% better and as close to your normal self as is humanly possible.

After all, the sooner you feel better, the sooner you are going to perform better and eat well too. A lot of people I know don’t feel they have the incentive to eat well unless they have trained.

It all starts with today’s workout, don’t follow the crowd and wait until the new year, hit it today and lets get the feeling good process moving right now!!!

Twitt
Posted on

Thursday, 22nd December

If you are in the middle of your Christmas days/nights out and parties everywhere, I sincerely hope you have remembered to exercise the next morning!

This is not only the best hangover cure but the best way to keep your body fact in check too. Your energy levels may be on the floor the morning after, that’s why you have to exercise!

Don’t make it hard on yourself by piling on the weight and putting up the white flag! It doesn’t have to be this way, and deep down you know that!

Don’t fall for the old tactic of wearing baggy jumpers over Christmas either, you are fooling nobody! Nothing feels as good as staying fit and healthy before, during and after Christmas!

Surely you’re not going to fall for the slimming clubs false promise of losing all the weight after Christmas? You may lose some weight but its only temporary and a scam to get you to buy their associated weight loss meals/products of all kinds.

Studies show that 97% of people who go on these faddy diets put all the weight back on, PLUS 5% MORE!!! Also, the more times your body goes through this process, the more resilient it becomes next time you try it. Please don’t fall for these weight loss charlatans, unfortunately there is no industry watchdog to regulate these scam merchants!!!

When you go to the supermarket next, avoid all of those ready meals that brag how little calories they have. Instead, go to the fresh counter full of fruit and veg, go to the fresh fruit and white meat counter, and sample the true delights of food while still staying lean!

You can have a great fit and healthy Christmas and an amazing start to 2012, if you do it the natural way. You know this to be true surely!!!

If you want to look and feel good, and be the most optimistic you have ever been going into Christmas and New Year, you know theres only one way to go!!!

p.s. I have lost all my telephone numbers over the last week due to having a new phone and forgot to copy the numbers all over. My number is still 07968 980808 for those who regularly contact me, and wonder whether I haven’t contacted you!

Twitt