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Monday, 20th December

A weather hit day again for most of us. Had to leave mumbles this morning at 8am to get home, such was the strength of the snow! Managed to get home okay and glad i don’t have to travel much more today thankfully!

So here we are, literally in the last week before christmas and according to statistics, the lowest week for participation in terms of physical activity.

The choice is yours what you end up doing, whether its catching up on shopping and classing that as “exercise”, starting your drinking early every day and writing off the rest of the year, whether its going totally off your diet and literally eating everything in sight, whatever it is, good luck to you, its been a tough year for most so enjoy yourself.

For those of us who still want to get some workouts in and don’t really want to put excess weight on or feel lousy, i think that may be the most important thing, “just getting workouts in” are the key words this week and the key to making us feel better through a time when most people tend to feel bloated and sluggish.

My own workouts include the cemetery hill sprints on the grass, don’t ask me how but your footings are always better uphill on grass so its perfectly safe as long as you have experience in such conditions. Also, i either do an inside workout wether its in the house or at the gym. There is absolutely NO WAY on earth i would/will miss a workout through the snow, no way at all. Getting yourself conditioned to this mindset takes a lot of years and is nearly impossible to get out of. Feeling good is hugely important for me, as well as not wanting to put the weight on. I put on weight faster than most people so i always have to work on it!!!

I also concentrate on eating a lot of protein in meals, to keep me feeling fuller because now the weather is bad, i spend more time in the house, which leads us into big temptation with food!! Eating salmon, turkey, chicken, cottage cheese, eggs etc keeps my appetite in control and means i don’t splurge too often!!!

Have a great day in the snow, unless you’re travelling of course!

Twitt
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Friday 17th December

A huge day for snow today and last night that has kept many off work today. Also, you had the usual suspects out on the road today, the 4×4’s who think they can speed past everyone just because they have a 4×4. A familiar sight this morning unfortunately again was a 4×4 going straight into the wall in front of me, then refusing help and reversing his battered car and going into the wall opposite, when will these people learn that they really are not better than everyone else and have no automatic right to stick to the road in such conditions!!! We even have a guy at the top of our road who acts like a policeman waving traffic along on the main road, just because he has a 4×4 and somehow thinks he is a combination of the AA, the Police and the Ambulance service. The radio was making such a point earlier that such individuals should stay indoors and not be causing chaos!!

 These chelsea tractors should carry a government health warning for idiot drivers in the snow! I hasten to add that not ALL 4×4 drivers are idiots and not all are mad enough to go out on days like this. I used to go out on days like this and £1000 of damage later over the last 2 years has finally pursuaded me not to!!!

Anyway, back to the question of working out and eating right! Today is the perfect day to stay in and put lots of weight on!! Or not?

I find a valid strategy is to concentrate on eating proteins, such a chicken, turkey, lean beef, ham even. The problem with eating bread for most people is that you can eat way too much of it on days like this. You are constantly within a few feet of the kitchen and always tempted, usually eating once an hour!!! Or more for some of us!!

This should be the strategy for christmas week too, concentrating on the proteins will mean you get fuller quicker, stay fuller for longer and be less prone to make some serious errors of judgement or going on a binge even!!!

Also, a perfect time to do inside workouts, as your living room floor is unlikely to have snow or ice on it and the temperature is likely to be very warm!!! No excuses as usual, relax a lot because its nearly christmas but keeping some fundamentals in there can be very valuable!!

Have a fun day in the snow!

Twitt
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Thursday 16th December 2010

The true sign of where you are right now, 9 days before Christmas is are you capable of getting your best workout done right now this week? The best conditioned people are. Im not talking about Olympic records, I’m talking about your fastest or best bike ride, your best run up a mountain maybe, your best weights session, your best indoor home workout that brings you great numbers etc.

If you manage to do this or a standard in the same range, you will know you’re finishing off the year VERY strong and you should be very proud of your achievements. You will know that Christmas will not be a problem for weight gain and because you’re probably the type to do workouts throughout the Christmas period anyway, the likelihood that you start 2011 very strongly is high!

Its not too late for those of you who threw the towel in during December either. There’s still time to turn it around and feel better about yourself again! Its around 3 weeks until you feel sorry for yourself, that you will have put weight on throughout Christmas and may be fearing starting the seemingly impossible task of losing weight in January. Please don’t be a slave to that system that weight loss clubs are waiting rubbing their hands at the prospect of YOUR money coming into their grubby little hands! It cannot be Groundhog day again in January 2011 can it? Surely not!!!

Bottom line is its never too late to turn it around, however old you are or however much you may think you’re a “hopeless case”. Your advancement at the moment is only held back by your mind. The same is true for those who “expect” a good or even great workout every time they train, they have conditioned themselves for success and are willing to repeatedly do what it takes to stay there.

Lets finish the week off strong and aim high.

Twitt
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Wednesday, 15th December

We always talk about avoiding treats and high sugar, high fat foods on here. Christmas is a time when its unrealistic NOT to have something you fancy.

A guy I train yesterday allowed himself sausage, beans and chips for first time in 5 months. He said it was absolutely beautiful and enjoyed it a lot! He knows it wasn’t an every day occurrence or even every week occurrence, so there’s absolutely no problem with that of course, it may actually help his body a bit, and make him yearn for healthier foods for the rest of the week.

It’s the same with people I have who consumed quite a bit of alcohol at the weekend. They said the first couple of drinks were fantastic and they felt great. Then they found their capacity had decreased so much, by the fifth drink they were struggling. Also, the worst part was the hangover the next day!! They had forgotten what a hangover feels like and this had put them off drinking for a while again!

Chocolates are a big part of Christmas for many people. Unless a significant part of the weekly budge is spent on Christmas chocolates for some people, there is a panic to rival the student marches in London!

When you have usually gone without chocolates for a long time though, you will find it impossible to get through that huge amount the next year. Also, if you DO manage to do it, you will usually felt rotten afterwards and regret the indigestion and weight gain to follow!

We are all the same Christmas time, some bigger eaters than others and trick is how many and in what quantity you eat the chocolates, beer/wine, junk in general. Eat a lot and you put weight on and your desire to exercises gets less and less. Eat in moderation and everything’s fun and no damage done!

Your choice.

Twitt
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Tuesday, 14th December

We are what we repeatedly do.

Never has there been a more true statement. That’s what we go on about every day on here. Its getting everyone to repeatedly eat well, train well and rest well, there truly is nothing else! Doing these things repeatedly well really is that hard for most people, until it become routine and second nature. The moment you don’t have to think about healthy eating and training as some kind of achievement, thats the time when you will have finally arrived in your programme.

Healthy eating is not something you have to “get back to” at a later date or next year, its something that should be with you each and every day. Having a blow out now and again should be the one off, and not part of daily life.

Repeatedly doing something good in your life is bound to be a good thing and an excellent habit to develop every day. How many people can say that? If you’re going down the pub everyday and grabbing takeaways for your evening meal, that “repeat” action will put you on course for having a visit to the hospital in the longer term. Most people who embark on this course sooner or later have to change to healthier ways, so it comes to all of us eventually so why not start right now?!!!!!

The boozy and rich food habits are very much the fashionable way to go around this time of year. Its a question of how hard you hit this lifestyle and how quickly you get back on track in 2011. Whether you will do things in moderation or 2011 starts off with one long binge, never really getting going. The resulting binge will undoubtedly make you overweight, lacking in energy and compromise your health.

It’s what we repeatedly do that makes us who we really are. Having some fresh air daily, eating healthy foods daily, and sleeping well will make us close to our bests so up to you!

Twitt