Happy New Year everyone!

With the start of a new year always comes new years resolutions and new goals. Whilst I don’t personally believe in new years resolutions, as they always seem to be things that are unrealistic and don’t last, I do believe it is a great time to sit down and nut out some real goals for the year ahead.

I am only give advice about your health and fitness goals and I am going to keep this brief, as what I want to say is simple.

If you want to reach new levels of fitness, I provide all the classes you will need. You do not need to find the motivation to exercise alone. You do however need to find the motivation to turn up to class! Whether you work out in the CrossFit gym or out in the park, I am there for you atleast 5 days per week. I expect you to see me atleast 3 days. I would love to see you 5 days a week, but I know life can get in the way. But, be realistic about your goals and train in a way to achieve them.

Remember that training not only affects you physically, it also helps mentally. Think of how great you feel on days when you get a good hard session in.

One of the most important things this year is to stop avoiding the workouts you don’t like the look of, because generally they are the workouts you need as it is something you personally lack skill, strength or fitness in. Do this for me in 2012, come to class no matter what the workout.

If you want to improve your health and lose weight, you have 2 options, “paleo” or “zone”. Both of these eating plans reduce insulin which in turn reduces inflammation.

Loren Cordain – the founder of the paleo diet has just released a new book, which sounds great, so my suggestion is for you to get a copy of it and start reading now. Don’t put it off, start the year off in a way that will really kick start your health and weight loss.

Here is a link to the book, but I am sure you could pick it up in many locations as it appears to be sold out in this store http://thepaleodiet.com/store/the-paleo-answer

If you would prefer an e-book version, it is a lot cheaper and never out of stock, here it is for only $12.99 http://www.amazon.com/Paleo-Answer-Weight-Great-ebook

If for some bizarre reason you don’t go and buy the book, firstly reduce your overall calorie intake. After this, reduce all breads, pastas, dairy products and all refined carbohydrates. Try to get all of your carbs from fresh fruits, salads and vegetables. Increase your intake of lean meats and good fats.

I am sure everyone needs a good detoxing, so take the month of January to be as strict as you can. Call it an unofficial Paleo detoxing challenge.

Use the next couple of days to get in all the fresh food you need and then start 30 days of clean eating. No bread, pasta, rice, cereal, grains, dairy. Your stomach (internally) and your bodyfat/weight will thank you for it. During this time, you can purchase your new Paleo book and  you can understand why you feel so much better without these foods in your body.

So there it is, if one of your goals in 2012 is to get fit and lose weight, then turn up to training and cut the grains & dairy  out of your diet. It really is simple!

This blog is brought about by 4 people I spoke to before 8 am this morning and I think all of the questions/statements are related.

Person 1) Asked if I recommend eating fruits and veg as my only source of carbs long term?

Person 2) Asked if grains contain antinutrients?

Person 3) Made a comment about long term trainees and injuries

Person 4) Said they didn’t feel satisfied unless they had rice on their plate.

So, yes, I recommend getting all of your carbs from fruit and veg for the rest of your life as much as is possible in your particular lifestyle/diet.

Grains do contain antinutrients and a whole bunch of other bad things which makes me think we should not be eating them.

Now, some people can train every day, some with multiple sessions per day and still remain injury free. Yes, others can train 3 days a week and report a range of injuries. Why? Well, do you think nutrition may have something to do with it?

What you put into your mouth becomes your body and although it pains me to say it, a lot of my clients don’t follow my advice. They go out and follow fad diets, they punish their bodies with alochol, grains, sugars, no carbs, no fat, you name it, they do it.

So what effect will this have on your body?

Well, do you think a body made up of toxins, antinutrients, not enough amino acids, not enough good fat, over restricted calories, too many grains and dairy will perform as it should?

I don’t think so. I am sure that cells will not repair themselves as they should. I am sure injuries will occur and not get better. I am sure energy levels are not what they should be. I am sure illnesses and diseases will present themselves. And last but not least, I am sure bodyfat levels will be much higher then they should be.

If you had a car and you put super in the unleaded tank, bubble blowing liquid in the windscreen washers, canola oil in the engine and lemonade in the radiator, what do you think would happen to the car?

Do you think the car may present itself with car injuries, car illnesses, car diseases? In other words, your car wouldn’t work for very long.

The difference here is that we know very clearly what needs to go into a car to make it run and if we put the wrong things in, we wouldn’t blame anyone else or think it is bad luck that the car wouldn’t be running properly.

Not so true with the human body, which I might add is far more complex than a car.

Unfortunately for us, TV commercials, global companies, people who invent bad diets in order to sell books and useless governments are the ones telling us what we should and shouldn’t be eating.

And guess what, too many people listen! And guess what again, too many people are fat, injured and sick.

Here’s a scenario for you;

I know this guy who eats clean 95% of the time. He is lean, healthy and injury free. in fact, he injured himself recently and that injury which was very painful only hung around for 3 – 4 weeks and disappeared without weekly visits to the physio. He also gives great advice on how to be like him. Just to reiterate, he is lean, healthy and injury free.

I also know a book store that sells loads of diet books, they range from one extreme to the other. From low carb to low protein, to low fat, to eat like a french person, to eat like a mediterranean, to eat like a himalayan monk etc, etc, etc.

Wow, which one should I choose first. There are so many, I might just work my way through them alphabetically, I mean they all must work, otherwise the book stores would sell them right?

Actually, which one did that lean, healthy injury free guy write? I can’t seem to find it. He might not have written one yet. Maybe I should just jump onto his blog and read his info for free. It may be possible that his info doesn’t have any underlying intentions other than to help me get lean, healthy and injury free…..

So, don’t come to me with any diet that you may be trying. I don’t care what you read in the paper, I don’t care what your overweight dietician told you, I don’t care what the guy in your office did to lose 20kg in 2 months, I don’t care about any of that because I am telling you what I want you to do to be lean, healthy and injury free long term.

I walk the talk and that is why I am so passionate about helping you.

If you read something that you think is high quality info, then you go for it, but do me a favour and actually do what I suggest for 30 days first and check the results.

Now, to back track to the original subject, I have to address person number 4.

If you don’t feel satisfied by a meal without rice, you need to add more lean protein and veg or salad.

Think of it this way;

Fruit, veg and salad contain loads of vitamins and minerals. They have a lower carbohydrate density which makes them much more suitable for weight loss. The are tasty, natural and provide loads of antioxidants which boost the immune system and aid in disease prevention.

Carbs such as rice, bread, pasta etc don’t contain any vitamins or minerals. They have a very high carbohydrate density which makes them very suitable for weight gain and they have properties that link them to long term health problems.

Now as inteligent human beings, would you choose the food group that provides vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and aids weight loss.

OR

Would you choose the food group that provides nothing except bloating, weight gain and has links to diseases and illness?

What is your food doing for you?

Last week I got sent another awesome article about processed food consumption. Please take a few mins to have a read, it is well worth it and may get you thinking a bit about your own diet.
I am loving these article, it is making my writing job a whole lot easier!

Big Food and You – http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/wellbeing/big-food-and-you-rules-for-a-healthy-life-20100701-zp5p.html

Before I start, I must warn you guys, I am reaching breaking point!

It has been over 2 weeks now since we had our eating for fat loss seminar and almost all of you are not sticking with the plan for various reasons and this frustrates me to no end. I am here for you guys, I want you to ask me any questions you have. There is no such thing as a stupid question, so don’t keep guessing at what is right and wrong. The only thing I ask is that you write it on the forum so that when I answer, everyone can benefit from it.

Firstly I want to clarify things and tell you what I am and am not not on a few subjects;

The am not’s

• My desire to help you: I am not Bored and just write these blogs because I have nothing better to do believe me!
• My Motives: I am not making money off my blog or forum, they are simply there as tools to help you and they took me a lot of work to create.
• Protein supplements: I am not affiliated with any protein powder company. When you go online to buy the powder it has nothing to do with me, I have simply found the cheap websites to save you money.
• Junk food: I am not some sort a freak of nature who only desires to eat healthy food, I love junk food just as much as the next person, but I know it is a sometimes food.

The am’s

• My desire to help you: I am very busy and have a lot going on in my life, just like all of you, but I truly care about you and whether you lose weight. In fact, I think I care more than you do yourself. Just ask my wife Hannah, she is the one who has to listen to me whinge bout you all the time.
• My motives: I write these blogs and create these forums so that you can learn and be motivated and hopefully hear what other people are also experiencing which may help to motivate you on your journey.
• Protein supplements: I have tried to find you the most natural protein supplements at the cheapest prices, but If you would prefer to not use the links to the natural protein powders I have supplied, then please feel free to go to the shop, pay more and buy an inferior product. I have found a protein bar that is all natural and tastes great and I am supplying them to my clients at a price cheaper than you can get anywhere else, but once again, if you would prefer to pay more and get an inferior product, please feel free to go to the shop.
• Junk food: I am just like you, I love naughty food too, but I understand it has to be in moderation. so please don’t look at me when I tell you not to eat something like I am just talking for the sake of talking and I don’t understand how it feels to go without. Far from it.

Now that you understand I have only your best intentions at heart, please listen to me and heed my advice, you will succeed if you follow my guidance, but if you keep making it up in your own little world, according to what you think is right, then don’t expect the results you could otherwise get.

Now as the title suggests, you are all making it too hard. Keep it simple!

Don’t waste hours on planning menus, planning meals, searching the internet for more advice. It is unnecessary, time consuming and downright confusing!

This is not a diet, it is changing the way you eat for life. “If you cannot stick to a simple way of eating for life, then it is a diet and when you go off the diet, you will fail”

Think about what you want to eat for dinner. I will give you an example for an average female. I would like chicken stir fry – ok then, cut up 90g chicken, add as much good veggies as you like, add a dash of soy or oyster sauce and sesame oil. Done! Was that hard? Did I need to search the internet for that? Would you normally search the internet for what you are going to eat for dinner?

Please write to me on the forum and tell me what you want for lunch or dinner and I will simplify it for you.

How about a lunch for an average male. I think I will have ham and salad sandwich – ok then, buy 150g ham, spread avocado onto two slices of multigrain bread, throw on the ham, put in some salad from the good list and you’re done. Was that hard! Did that require hours of thinking?

Go and buy some digital kitchen scales. Please guys go and buy them, please. They cost about $30 and you leave them on your kitchen counter. Can you tell me how you know the weight of your meat if you are not weighing it? Can you please tell me how long it takes to weight a piece of meat? If it is an individual serve of meat, put a plate on the scales and before you cook it, put it on the plate on the scales to get it to the correct weight. If it is a roast or taco meat etc, as you are serving, put your plate on the scales then put the meat on the plate, get the correct amount then sit down and eat. A very easy way to do it with chicken breast etc is to cut it into the correct weighted portions then freeze it in those portions. After a while, you will be able to eye fairly well what your portion size should look like. If not, no harm in weighing when you are at home.

Don’t bash the protein supplements! I am so over hearing you all tell me what you had for morning tea or afternoon tea. Can you guess the most common thing? Nothing, yes, that’s right, nothing. No time apparently. No time to unwrap a protein bar  eat on it’s own or mix up a shake and put it with an apple and nuts. No time and then when asked why they don’t have a shake, I get 2 answers. Firstly, I don’t like the taste of them. Well, suck it up and make a sacrifice so you can lose some weight for once. Not only that, I am sure you haven’t tried either of the 2 that I have recommended. Secondly, I don’t want a processed product. Well, stop eating bread, stop eating yogurt, stop eating half the shit you eat. Whey protein is the protein removed from dairy, yogurt is also a product made from dairy, believe it or not, cows don’t squeeze out yogurt, especially strawberry yogurt. Milk itself does not come out pastuerised, homogenised and bastardized either, it too is processed. Don’t even worry about the bread, if you eat bread and not protein powder for this non-processed reason, then…

Yes, protein shake is sustainable for life, the healthy ones anyway. There is a massive market of protein shakes out there for a reason, and that is because of convenience. No-one wants to eat that much meat. Go to a gym and spend some time with some fit looking people and ask them if they use a protein supplement. Don’t ask them which one they use as I am sure it is one full of artificial everything. Please don’t come to me and tell me about the powder you got from where ever, I only know of 3 all natural powders on the market and I have told you about 2 of them.

Remember the bad carbs on those lists earned their own reputation but how they rate on the glycemic index, not because I hate them. Also remember that they are on that list and so is their proportions, so if you want to eat them, then eat them, they’re on their for a reason, just stick to the proportion.

So now I would like you all to go away and when I ask you next week about what you ate, I want to hear simple balanced meals, nothing too different from what you used to eat except that it has the correct portion size and proportions.

I would also like you to get on the forum and give feedback and ask questions. I set you all up on their to make it easy for you, not so I could waste an hour of my time.

I can’t help you unless you want to help yourself, but for everyday that you don’t kick into action, their is someone else who is losing weight and heading to their goal and it could just as easily be you!

Post all comments etc etc etc to the forum here.

It was bad enough when McDonalds joined forces with weight watchers about a month ago, but now they are advertising on radio for their special dinner boxes.

This is the quote that their wonderful overpaid marketing department has come up with “We’ll take care of dinner tonight. Grab a value dinner, tuck in and let the stories begin” This is accompanied by the picture of 4 cokes, 4 fries, 2 big macs, 2 cheeseburgers and a pile of chicken nuggets. mmmm nutritious and delicious.

How about they use mine instead “We’ll take care of dinner tonight. Grab a value dinner, tuck in, get really fat and have a coronary heart attack”. Too simple I know, but I should refrain from what I really want to say.

I am still astounded every time I hear the obvious proclaimed as up to the minute news. The latest thing they are shouting about is that there is as much sugar in kids juices as what there is in soft drink. Who didn’t already know this? Is this really news?

We all need to take notice of what is in our foods and especially what is in our kids food because fat kids become fat adults. If you are reading this and you are overweight, I want to ask you, are your kids overweight also?

Childhood obesity is a major major problem for many reasons.

Firstly, overweight children get teased and bullied. It is unfortunate to say because nobody should be teased or bullied, but it does happen. Is that what you want for your child?

Overweight children will most likely develop eating disorders as they get older.

Overweight children will probably become overweight adults.

Do you struggle with your weight? Are you unhappy with your appearance? Are you constantly looking for the quick fix to lose weight? Would you wish this same fate upon your young loved ones? Do them a favour and educate them early how to eat healthily.

It’s Easter time, hip hip hooray! I’m no expert, but I am fairly sure Easter is not entirely about chocolate…

I think Easter eggs and Hot cross buns started making their way into the supermarkets not long after Christmas and the campaign to make us all fat with chocolate really gained momentum in the last month or so.

I will be the first person to say how appealing those beautifully wrapped shiny bunny rabbits and eggs look. It takes a lot of willpower not to buy one and smash into it straight away. It’s just not right, we are a big fat obese nation! You only need to go to a shopping centre to see that for yourself!

Like I said earlier, it is up to us what goes in our mouths, but it is hard to fight temptation all the time. If it is hard for me to resist and I am super conscious about what goes into my mouth, what is is like for someone who is overweight and just cannot resist the sight of those very cleverly designed and marketed Easter goodies.

I just wish the authorities would get it and do something good for this nation, other than the 1 ad on TV which is now getting old. We all got inspired by the guy walking along getting fat and then changing his life and getting thin again, it is a great ad, but we’ve seen that one, it made it’s mark, it did it’s job and now we need more. We need more than 1 ad when we are constantly bombarded with junk food everywhere we go.

I walked into the local shopping centre the other day and this is the first thing I see as I walk in. It goes for about 15 metres. What chance do parents have, the kids are just going to be begging for some of the sweet treats and I know I have had this conversation with friends of mine, when we went to school you would be hard pressed to find one overweight kid. Now it is about 1 in 10….

There is something you can do to fight back. Don’t eat any Easter eggs until Easter. There is absolutely no excuse for eating any easters products now! If you wait until Easter, it is very limited as to what you can devour, but if you have already started, I shudder to think how much you will consume unnecessarily!

I feel so strongly about the following subject that I need to break it down into 3 different posts to really convey how bad this problem is.

I am going to start at the local indoor sports centre.

I take my 2 year old daughter to Kinder Gym once a week. It is held at the the local indoor sports centre. They have a gym, personal training, gymnastics, boxing classes, indoor basketball, soccer, table tennis and the list goes on.

I have been going for about 6 weeks now and I normally don’t look at the counter as I walk in but last week Hannah came with me and her first observation was what was on the counter.

There was nothing for sale other than junk food. They had a pretty extensive range too, from dozens of different ice creams, to any chocolate bar you can think of down to lollies like red skins and milkos. Now if you would like something hot, they have a great selection including hot chips, chiko rolls, chicken nuggets etc. Do I need to go on?

This is just crazy. This is meant to be a sports centre! I am not stupid, I know it is up to the individual person to make the decision as to what goes in their mouth, but surely we can help out a bit by providing more nutritious snacks for after exercise other than 100% junk food.

There is no secret as to how tempting junk food is, especially for kids and especially when it is right in their faces all the time!

I don’t know what the answer to this problem is, I just know it is a problem!

What do you think?

So The Biggest Loser is back. I know this because so many people tell me what a fantastic show it is. I respond by telling them what a terrible show it is and then I have to go on to explain my comment, so here it is again for everyone.

Why I have issues with The Biggest Loser;

Take a group of morbidly obese individuals who clearly have emotional issues and throw them into a reality TV show that is sure to get everyone bitching and fighting and hating each other. Now that’s real healthy for their self esteem!

Take a group of morbidly obese individuals who clearly have not exercised for many years and smash them for hours on end day in day out and starve them. Now that’s real healthy for their long term health.

Make sure they all lose ridiculous amounts of weight, far more than any person in the real world could lose and broadcast it on TV every night of the week. Think about the message that is sending out to the person who is struggling to lose a few kilos because they don’t have 5 hours a day to train and have all their food prepared for them. All of a sudden, people all over the world are losing faith in their exercise and eating plans because of these hopped up over inflated results.

What about when they talk about how they can’t lose weight. They have tried everything in the past. Everything? Exercise and eat less? I’m sorry, but what is it that they do on this show other than exercise and eat less? It must be the magic of television that makes them lose the weight, because they’ve already tried exercising and eating less, just not on television and not for a huge amount of prize money.

A couple of weeks ago, my wife was unfortunately watching it when I got home and it was the section where they offer them immunity to eat a ridiculous amount of food. Now this is by far the biggest issue I have with the show. The girl on there had just eaten over 4000 calories of sweets simply so she was guaranteed to be on television for another 7 days. Clearly she didn’t do it because she wanted another week of expert coaching, because she was going to spend the next couple of days just burning off the junk that she ate. Nope, she just wanted to have her face on TV for 7 more days.

What sort education is that giving these people? Eat all this junk and you can stay on the show. I know the following point would not make for good TV, but shouldn’t the ones who don’t lose enough weight stay so they can be helped by the experts for longer? No, because they don’t care about health, they only care about ratings.

If you are truly inspired by this show and you think it is so good because it helps people and shows what we are all capable of if we put our minds to it, then please do not watch this show because that is not what it does, instead please tune into either “You are what you eat” or “Diet doctors”. These shows take obese unhealthy individuals and give them a whole body assessment, inside and out and they make changes in their diet and lifestyle to improve every aspect of their body and health, not just drop unrealistic amounts of weight. It is almost always quality advice that you could follow at home.

Please feel free to leave me your comments, I would love to hear what you have to say on this issue.

This is an example of what you could eat and still be considerably reducing your sugar intake. You don’t have to follow it to the letter, but it can help if you are stuck for things to eat.

This food plan is totally managable. There is nothing drastic on there, just healthy eating.
What you will notice is the lack of:
*So called healthy breakfast cereals
*Bread several times a day
*Various bread products – only mutligrain types are allowed, soy linseed is the best.
*High calorie no nutrient spread for bread
*Lots of pasta and rice dishes. Any pasta meal should be a large salad with a small pasta. Generally pasta is the main item with a small salad on the side, but not here!
*Biscuits or muffin for morning/afternoon tea.
*Fruit on it’s own. Should be with nuts or protein shake.
*Dessert – it is only a habit. Brush your teeth after dinner.
*High sugar yogurts. If you can find one that has less than 10g sugar per 100g yogurt, then you can eat it. About 100 – 150g is a fair portion size.

Note:
All meats should be lean, I do not want you to increase your saturated fat intake.
Olive oil dressings on salads are best.
Getting good fats from Olive/flaxseed oils, nuts and fish are great.

There is one thing that is common in anyone that has had true success. The power of consistency.

Reaching your goals of better health or weight loss is so easy to do. It is not rocket science, it is purely doing the right things over and over again.

We need to to stop searching for that quick fix to reach your goal, because it will never happen! The only way you can truly reach your goals is to sew, cultivate and harvest. These days all we want to do is harvest.

What do I mean by that?

Sew: Undertake an exercise and healthy eating plan.

Cultivate: Train daily and eat healthy most of the time for an extended period of time, day in day out until you reach your goals, for as long as it takes. Be patient and diligent.

Harvest: Enjoy your new found health and fitness.

Like I said, this is not rocket science but I feel like it must be because the majority of people just don’t get it. I get so excited when somebody does get it, and you know what happens when I meet somebody like that? They reach their goals. They harvest!

Far too often I meet those in search of the quantum leap and you know what happens to them? They don’t reach their goals and they don’t harvest. They just go off in search of the next quantum leap promise. Unfortunately they will do this for the rest of their life unless they come to the realisation of the error of their ways and begin to consistently repeat the correct actions that willl eventually lead them to successfully reaching their goals. You will know this person when you see them, they always have something new they want to tell you about which doesn’t conform to eating a balanced healthy diet and doesn’t involve regular normal exercise.

Everyday you are faced with decisions. From the moment you wake up to the moment you fall asleep, you are faced with decision after decision and your action at the time of that decision will help to shape your future.

The funny thing is that we don’t really acknowledge how important those decisions are. Think about this:

Do you instantly become unfit if you miss your exercise session today? No. But the fact is, you will repeat that action throughout the course of a year. Does that make you stay unfit and not progress? Yes

Do you instantly become fit if you turn up to your exercise session today? No. But if you repeat that action throughout the course of the year, will you become fit? Absolutely!

Not rocket science…

Do you have a heart attack everytime you eat a Big Mac, Fries and Coke? No, but I’m sure if you did, you wouldn’t eat another one any time soon. Does repeating that action throughout the course of the year lead you closer to a heart attack? Most definitely. The actions we make today help to shape our future.

Do you instantly become healthier when you eat a nice plate of meat and veggies and skip dessert? No, but if you make that choice today, you are probably going to make a similar choice tomorrow and the day after. Does that make you healthier? Absolutely!

Making the right choices over and over and over is the only way to reach your goals.

Eat well and exercise regularly