Monday, 13th September 2010

Those who finish off strong in the next couple of weeks deserve all the rewards this year. The classic put weight on before christmas is here right now, and its entirely your choice whether you want to fall for that one again this year or not!

Its no excuse to say that there’s too many temptations around this year either. One party on saturday is not going to do too much harm. Having a bit of whatyou fancy in terms of chocolate, cakes etc is not going to pile on too much weight. What will put on the weight is the having a lot of what you fancy every day or certainly most days.

 The excuse “all i have to do is look at chocolate and i put on weight” is not really going to cut too much mustard here i’m afraid!! I have heard many people say such things, yet drop 4-5 dress sizes when they have put their minds to it!! Chocolate must have been in the room at times then, yet somehow it didnt come piling on then! Most people have their excuses already prepared, and if you’re on of those, its time to get real and get out of that horrible rut you’ve got yourself in!!!

Once you take the excuses out of your life, you will stop right then looking for excuses and get on with the hard work for a change. Indeed, the effort of looking for excuses would be much better spent starting your workout,making a decent meal for yourself or drinking some water instead of opening yet another bottom of wine!! If you judge your efforts simply on looking to feel better, then this attitude will take you a long, long way, thats the way i work anyway and its a great start for most of you to look at things again.

12 days to go, hopefully you remember me saying there was only 12 weeks to go and it would fly, well it certainly has now! Those 12 weeks were also an opportunity for you to get in shape too. If you havent done so, then theres always another 12 weeks so lets start by finishing off 2010 strong, to enable you to make a much better start in 2011!!!

Thursday, 2nd December 2010

Eating seems to be continually over-complicated by many of you or not even implemented at all at times.

The basic recommended plan goes like this

Breakfast

Weetabix/shredded wheat or porridge

 or scrambled eggs on toast on dry wholemeal bread

 (egg whites are better but can take some getting used to)

Mid-morning

 would be one or two pieces of any fruit

Lunch

Would be chicken/turkey/any fish with wholemeal bread/pitta bread even better and vegetables included if possible, this would  be an ideal choice if working

or if you are not working and have time to make a meal, the same principles apply and you still need your protein source which is the chicken/turkey/fish or even cottage cheese (with pineapple or onion and chives often liven the taste up), again with vegetables you like if possible. You can also put some healthy carbs with this such as wholegrain/wholewheat pasta and brown rice which are excellent choices.

The reason why some people think carbs put weight on is simply because the average person eats too much at any one sitting. Think pasta and we think of a big plate full, in fact the portion size should really be the size of your fist, quite a culture shock for some but will stop you putting any unwanted body fat and give you  the energy you need to continue your day.

The simple rules are size of your fist when it comes to portion sizes for carbs AND protein, and vegetables can be the rest of the    plate and the more varied they are the better.

Have to slip it in here about water intake by this time of the day? Have you relied on coffee’s and tea’s, or have you done the right thing and drunk a steady supply of water since you got up from bed.

Most people don’t realise that water intake burns fat too and makes your body work far more efficiently, and importantly makes you feel fuller than if you just relied on caffeinated drinks such as the tea and coffee.

We move on to now snacks in the afternoon and we think of fruit again and a handful of nuts this time for essential fats, which are vital for just about everything in the body. Nuts may be calorific but it’s important to consume them and really try to keep them in very small handful’s. Brazil’s, cashew’s, almond’s, hazlenut’s are all great examples of essential fatty acids your body needs.

Evening meal’s should follow the same simple formula as lunch. We are talking once again the importance of protein to fill you up, the good carbs to give you energy but not put fat on, and the vegetables to make everything in your body work well and be healthy from the inside out.

So we’ll go over it again, we’re talking chicken/turkey/fish for protein, wholegrain pasta or brown rice for carbs, also new potatoes are very good, sweet potatoes are amazing because of their slow sugar release in the body too. Your vegetables coming into your body at this time of day will give a massive boost to your immune system and really repair the damage that has come and gone from the trials of your busy day.

Hopefully, you wouldnt have forgotten about drinking water throughout the day, it really will make the massive difference you may be missing in your life. It just makes things go a lot smoother with your day both internally and the way you look and feel full stop. Don’t wait until your thirsty either, this means you’re dehydrated already so you need small amounts from dawn till dusk, and beyond this time of year due to the dark nights of course!!

Another familiar problem as you know is eating late at night or after dinner, you really dont need it at this time of day and you will be consuming extra calories at the wrond time of day, ironically when you’re burning the LEAST amount of calories!

How’s that for a day or eating and drinking? If you stick to that, then you will be in serious shape and feeling as energetic as you’re ever going to feel. The long term effects of eating like this cannot be overstated so let’s try and get in to it gradually and watch the amazing results flood in every single week!

Wednesday, 1st December 2010

We are finally here!! 1st December 2010 is a sign that we are nearly at the end of the year and most people seem to be happier and emptying their bank accounts!!

Christmas lunches or evening meals are being served across the land and from a health perpective, its a good chance to see how much you’ve changed in the past year. For example, if you go out and have your first christmas meal and you feel great after it, then you’re probably used to eating all that rich food, which is a sign that you’re not really physically at your best unfortunately.

If you eat the same christmas meal and you feel stodgy and tired afterwards, then thats a good thing believe it or not!! If you eat mince pies and they go through you quickly and you have to go to the toilet sooner than normal, that shows that your body is really not used to rich food, sugary and fatty food and you’re very used to putting very good food into your system normally.

What about your training if you eat rich food throughout december? That will surely go down a couple of levels and your energy levels are likely to be on the floor. You will realise how much good, clean food has on your system and your energy levels, and how really incredible it makes you feel!

You will know this all to be true if you have changed the way you live your life for the better, at least in food and exercise terms anyway!! 2010 SHOULD have been a great year for you, and even if it hasn’t, then you would have started to learn a lot about yourself and how you can improve in 2011 and hopefully reach where you really want to be!

This is me not being a spoilsport either, but i have been through eating all the rubbish all of december in years gone by, and my asthma coming back, putting an extra stone on, feeling as if i don’t want to get up in the morning etc etc are usually at the bottom of my list of priorities these days!! It’s good to eat these foods on occasions throughout christmas, but making the whole month one big excuse is going to make your body into the opposite of what you really want to be.

Most people i train and people i don’t train would/do give a lot to look amazing again, and reclaim their youthful body that they thought was lost forever. The great news AND THE TRUTH IS that you CAN do it if you keep on applying the principles we talk about on here EVERY DAY. There’s heck of a lot of difference between knowing what to do and actually doing it as i keep saying!!

1st december, let’s make it a month when you really enjoy and still feel fantastic all the way through right up until 2011!!

Secrets to burning more fat

The real deal with healthy eating is not often explained properly. Most people are repelled from healthy eating sometimes because they are TOLD what to do! Nobody likes being told what to do like they are little kids, and will rebel often and do the complete opposite of what they are supposed to do.

There are government campaigns on food all the time it seems, but most people i know havent taken much notice about them.

There has to be a reason deep down for that person to change, and it has to be a strong one, or the self-discipline and determination to get a programme started will soon go by the wayside.

When you eventually change to the healthy way of eating, its important to keep your protein in most meals and of a healthy nature, your carbohydrates in limited amounts (about the size of your fist per serving) and of slower release in terms of energy, keep your healthy fats coming in through fish and a small handful of nuts, and keeping a variety of fruit and vegetables coming in is ultra-important in the winter months to come, keeping your immune system strong and your body functioning well.

Another overlooked point when it comes to eating is how many calories you burn simply by digesting your food.

To cut a very long story short, you will burn a lot more calories for instance eating wholemeal bread than white bread. It takes longer for your body to break down the wholemeal and wholegrains than it does the rubbish you often get in white bread.

I always recommend protein in most meals, and there is good reason too. It takes a lot more calories to break down the protein you consumer in meals than just eating carbs. Protein takes longer to go through your system, creating a nice long calorie burn without you working too hard!

The process of eating and the way your stomach breaks down your food is often forgotten, and its heck of a bonus that the healthy way of living is the most calorie and fat burning too.

Next time you do your shopping, make sure you pick the foods that will help your metabolism burn calories at a fierce rate. This is an easy to follow secret to burning fat and you dont have to do any work for it so keep it up and have a great start to the week!!!

10 weeks to go!

So have you had a great weekend of training like cyril has? Or has most of your weekend being spent feeling sorry for yourself in the pub saying you’re “definitely, this time, honestly im going to give it a good go after christmas”!!

This is prime excuse for anyone thats willing to throw in the towel now. Some of my most successful clients have started just before christmas and have been forever glad they did! Nothing feels worse than starting after christmas as your body is at its lowest ebb.

Too much alcohol would have been drunk, too much sugar and fat would gone through your body and there are usually any number of colds going around the area. This is when your immune system is at its year low, and the only way is up surely, the only problem is that it hurts a lot when you’re that out of condition and im advising you now to get going now, to save you the pain of after christmas training.

Starting now will also surprise people. Nothing better than surprising your friends and family by getting into great shape before christmas. You will then start 2011 with a fresh set of goals, and things you previously thought impossible will soon become achievable.

We concentrate a lot on here discouraging people from making excuses. These are the facts unfortunately. Most people work harder on making up far-fetched stories on why they cant be fit and healthy than they would if they suddenly embarked on a simple health and fitness programme, i know this to be true as i’ve heard all the excuses by now. I will now challenge people if they say they cant do things because i know thats not true. Most of us would like to do things the easy way, but im encouraging you all to take the hard road. Ironically, this will make life FAR EASIER in the long term once you have trust and give a minimum 12 weeks commitment to your workouts and proper food.

I say trust because thats what commitment is. I also know that the 12 weeks will be enough to show impressive progress and convince you what is possible.

The spending cuts by the government may be coming but theres no room for doom and gloon on here. There is only one way to go and thats up. No point fretting on all the negatives, lets make the most out of the cards we are dealt and make the end of 2010 a huge one, YES it is possible so lets do it!!!