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Friday, 12th December

The big news is you have the opportunity to get outside again and get out and run, cycle, walk, swim whatever you want to do. Swim may be a joke for most of you but there are people who swim EVERY morning i know in burry port and in langland and caswell. I couldn’t do it myself but some people feel amazing doing it and all credit to them for doing it!!

I have had 3 runs today and feel a lot better for it. The last two weeks have been extremely tough staying inside for workouts so i fully intend to make the most of outdoors from right now. Don’t believe the doom and gloom merchants, its not going to be freezing by sunday at all. Its going to be 7 degrees saturday and 4 degrees on sunday, which is like being in the mediterranean compared to whats been going on with the temperatures lately!! Anything with clear surfaces free of ice is a bonus for me and it allows safe and freedom of movement, which is all important.

Think of all the fresh air going into your lungs too. You’re not living in the middle of the city, you live in areas which are exercise friendly and healthy friendly too. You have amazing views when you’re training, you don’t have to be stuck inside all your life moving from an office or factory, then stuck inside again at home. Your home is a great place to sleep and have food and relax, but the fun should really start when you get outside and do things that involve you being more active.

Don’t be one of those who only goes out for a walk on boxing day with their christmas jumpers and gloves, theres more to fitness than that!! Those people should realise that you need to get out in the fresh air MORE THAN ONCE a year looking trendy!! Thats something i really hate! Let’s get out and there a few times a week and do some meaningful exercise and get a sweat on!!! It will make you feel so much better and get out you of the rut you’ve been in for the last couple of weeks of sub-zero temperatures!!

Exercise is not about being trendy or wearing special jumpers walking on the beach looking the part, its about DOING so lets get out there and do it and feel your best!!!!!!!!!!!

Twitt
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Friday, 3rd December

We are all learning or we get passed by and no longer become relevant it is said.

That is why its so important to keep on learning and re-tuning our bodies and minds.

For example, how many of us on here have found we have either forgotten how to eat properly or never knew in the first place how to eat properly. The need to school ourselves in the fundamentals of proper nutrition have never been more important.

It’s funny how people are willing always to go on courses to improve their work situation, or enhance the way they do their job. Yet when it comes to taking some advice on how to eat properly, there is often nodding of heads but there seems to be a complete lack of action. People will often worry too late about their health, instead of taking preventative action in their early years. I’m going to change that actually, its never really too late so i stand corrected there and i have encountered many, many so called lost causes with deep problems in health terms, but they can and have been fixed in the past!!

If someone tells you that all day every day they eat porridge and chicken salads, and then they end up 2 stone overweight, they may be a little economical with the truth! We all bend the truth slightly from time to time to suit ourselves but owning up to going wrong is the best thing you will ever do. Its at that exact point that you move forward in the right direction and that means you’re ten times closer to your original goal. The old saying that an inch in the right direction is better than a mile in wrong direction has never been more right! Let’s focus on hitting the right trail and forgetting about past mistakes, its time to be flexible and forget about being stubborn because of your ego!

So instead of bragging up all those one day courses on how to become a better worker, let’s start re-schooling yourself on food and training properly. Don’t over-complicate things and lets try and get the fundamentals right from yesterday’s post. I have really tried to simplify it all and im not expecting you to be perfect, but i am certainly expecting you to give it a good go, thats for sure!!!

There are many things i, and many others have realised are perhaps the wrong way to do things over the years. The best response to that is to accumulate all that information and make it so valuable so that we never make the same mistake again. I am proud to say i am a life-long learner because i know i won’t develop if i don’t, and i simly get left behind.

Commit to learning and realise there is a right and wrond way to doing things, and its never too late to change. From eating right to doing exercises the right way, its never too late to make the kind of progress you always imagined!!

Twitt
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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!

Twitt
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Wednesday, 15th November

Use this opportunity to work even harder inside on your strength and resistance work. Some people buy a treadmill for indoors, what a waste of money when you get some cracking workouts inside.

If I want to keep it basic for myself and for everyone I train. I always think of working the whole body in one go to maximise the amount of energy and fat my body uses in the workout. If I wanted the easy option, I would isolate different body parts but I’ve discovered that’s the easy way out on so many different levels.

Right now, I’m all about discovering and proving which workout works best and it turns out those workouts tend to be like eating your greens as a kid. Those exercises that are best for you tend not be the easiest or even the ones you enjoy the most. They may be harder right now because they are very challenging and it may take your body getting to another level before you can do them without too much problem.

Anything that periodically takes you out of your comfort zone and drags you sometimes kicking and screaming to the next level is hugely positive for you. Don’t see it as a hardship though, see it as growth and an exciting time in your life.

If you’re one of these people who thinks your body declines after the age of 30, then im here right now to tell you that you’re wrong.

With a well-structured training and eating plan, you can literally improve each and every year, seriously I’ve seen that happen to everyone who takes their health seriously and takes action every week to look after their body.

The natural evolution for people who have such a great attitude is that so many good things happen when you attain very good health. Some people treat high energy levels, low levels of body fat and good levels of strength as NORMAL now. Most people however haven’t got that luxury so that’s why I’m urging your right now to take action and make health a huge priority in your life once again!!

38 days to Christmas so an excellent time to make it happen in a hurry starting today!!!

Twitt
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End of week assessment

How’s your  end of week looking just before halloween?

Is it full of hope and progress or is it full of a lack of action and disappointment?

The great thing about it is  that this ship never leaves the port completely and leaves you stranded. We are always here to help you, even if you have bad week, if you have made a pig of yourself on food and drink, or if you just “down in the dumps” again, thats the way things are sometimes!

So if we plan for no longer than a week, i am going to be encouraging you at the start and end of every week. This is because not only am i an eternal optimist, but literally ANYONE can change their lives around ANY week of ANY year!! It’s that easy to get going, all you need is to make that first vital step. I may have the odd rant in the week sometimes because im frustrated at something, but in the main, everything on here will be positive to get you going again, and to give you that vital leg up when hopelessness takes over sometimes.

So how’s your strength work going and inside workouts? Don’t forget one pound of muscle burns up to 50 calories per day and one pound of fat burns a pathetic 2 pounds a day! The leaner you are carrying a healthy degree of lean muscle tissue, the quicker your metabolism is 24 hours a day, that’s the true secret to fat loss and being in the shape YOU really want!!!

Have you experienced the joys of being outside this week? From the low’s of the freezing conditions at the beginning of the week to the wilder winds of today, this ever-changing climate will often give you four seasons in one day but one thing’s for sure, it’s NEVER boring!! You have every chance to get out there the weekend too, no excuses for saturday and sunday as you should have enough daylight hours to get some quality work in. There are numerous routes to train on all the way throughout the area as previously discussed, all of them different and a lot of fun!! 

NOW is the time to do it, not everyone has the attitude to get out there in all weathers but now is when you really progress and make the big gains. That’s why you don’t see many people training in this weather, and they will never make sustained progress either. If you want to be different and make a tremendous difference to yourself you can be proud of, get your trainers on tomorrow and lets have a big weekend outside!!!

Twitt