Everywhere I look these days, there is information about a “diet”. Any diet and every diet. This diet and that diet. Have you heard of this diet? Have you tried that diet? What do you think of this diet? I think I’m going to try that diet. So and so has got a great diet out. That other guy has got a new diet out. Thingy has come up with an entirely new diet. There is back log of getting product for that diet, so it must be awesome!

Give me a break! If each diet worked long term, then we wouldn’t have a million and one diet books on the shelf.

On the cover of a popular magazine I once saw Kirsty Alley and Oprah Winfrey and the headline was “The great diet showdown”. Is this how we should be thinking? Taking advice from two women who yo-yo with their weight more than anyone in the public eye!

We need to stop the diet mentality!

We need to realise that health is more about eating healthy food, not about being thin regardless of the path taken to get there!

In order to live a healthy life, you should eat a diet rich in fruit and vegetables (preferably organic if possible, but not essential). I also believe in eating fish, lean organic chicken & eggs and a little organic red meat.

If you want to eat junk food, save it for the weekend and eat it in moderation. Limit yourself to 2 junk food meals per weekend.

Remember that fruit and vegetables are carbohydrates, so this is not a carb free diet! It is a natural eating diet. No gimmicks here, just eating food in it’s natural form.

Try it, you will feel so much better, your energy levels will be higher, you will lose weight and you won’t feel bloated hours after a meal.

If we all just stopped looking for the quick fix or giving these stupid diets the time of day, we could all focus on eating for good long term health.

The only people who benefit long term from these diets are the guys who came up with the diets and sold a whole bunch of books and supplements to ingnorant people who want the quick fix.

I urge you to take control and think about the information you are being fed. Block out the con artists who want to take advantage and get rich from your desire to create “a healthy body”.

Try to eat as close to the natural form a food comes as possible and exercise regularly.

Yours in Health and Fitness

Troy Shipsey

As I have mentioned earlier, food is of the utmost importance in our lives.

Food is our fuel and without the correct fuel, we cannot expect to live long, fullfilling and diease free lives.

Food and water are the essence for survival, so the next time you think you don’t have time to prepare a healthy meal because other things are more important, remember this, food supplies the fuel to power your body, with the wrong fuel, you will get sick. Be it obesity, diabetes, A.D.D, irritable bowel syndrome, heart disease, cancer or something else, a weakened immune system through poor nutrition will result in something bad. Oh and on that note, let’s just remember that cancer is not caused through bad luck, contrary to popular belief.

But, despite all the information out there about how important food is, it just doesn’t sink in for the majority of people. In actual fact, most people take better care of their car than their body. So I have prepared a couple of little analogies which I use on my clients.

“Would you set out on a road trip up the coast without any fuel, oil or water in your car? NO?
Then why do you set out to take on the day’s challenges without putting the correct fuel and water into your body?”

“Perfume smells great, but put it in your petrol tank instead of petrol and your car won’t run properly.
Junk food tastes great, but put it in your mouth and your body won’t run properly!”
When you wake up feeling crap, thank about what you ate yesterday.

“Would you take your car to the mechanic for regular servicing and then pour methylated spirits into the fuel tank? NO?
Then why do you visit the gym regularly or even see your personal trainer but then put crappy food in your mouth?”

I think you get the message, please be aware of what goes in your mouth. I am not saying to eat alfalfa sprouts all day long, but it is really so easy to make healthy, tasty, nutritious food and just limit your junk food to weekends and takeaway dinners to once a week.

Troy Shispey

Fitta Bodies Personal Training

Group Training Centennial Park, Sydney

I am sure you are all aware of the impact that food has on our long term health. We are all made up of living cells. Those cells renew themselves from the food that we eat. Without the correct nourishment, our immune system will suffer and disease will set in. Think about the food you eat and what it is made from. Then think that those ingredients are what is making up your living cells. 

Now that you can think of food as a fuel for your body, not just something you eat every few hours, you might make a few changes to what goes in your mouth.

I believe a diet rich in vegetables and protein will help to promote a healthy body, in a healthy weight range without feeling bloated and tired.

Here are a few tips to incorporating more vegetables into your diet. When I refer to vegggies, this incorporates salad as well.

* When shopping, choose your favourite vegetables. It is quite often easier to buy carrots and brocoli because they are cheap and miss out on the more exotic veggies you really like because they cost a bit more, only to get out of the fruit shop and go and spend $4 on a coffee.

* Variety!

* Have a plate of cut veggie sticks on the fridge ready to snack on daily.

* Don’t overcook your veggies. Steam or stir fry them, they will have better flavour, colour and texture.

* Try a new veggie along side a familiar one.

* If you find something you don’t like, don’t eat it. Try something different next time.

* Don’t think of veggies as just an evening meal ingredient, tomato, mushroom and spinach are all great breakfast veggies. Mixed salad is easy to prepare in the morning to take to work. Veggie sticks are great as snacks.

Here are few tips to incorporate more protein into your diet

* Firstly make a list of all the protein foods you like to eat.

* Secondly write down beside the protein all the foods you like to accompany it.

* Thirdly write down what time of day you would prefer to eat that food.

* Now plan your week’s food plan and shopping list.

* Be sure to vary your diet. When you write down your accompanying foods, make sure you have several options for each protein.

Healthy eating and happy living go hand in hand, so eat well and enjoy life!

Troy Shipsey

Fitta Bodies Personal Training

Group Fitness Centennial Park, Sydney

There are many opinions on what ratio of carbs to protein to fat you should consume.

My preferred ratio is 50:30:20 of carbs to protein to fat.

So, if you have done your calculation from Calories Part 1 to work out your recommended daily consumption and if for example, you should be consuming 2267 to lose 1 kg body fat per fortnight, then you would work out your ratios as such:

• 2267 x 50% = 1133 Calories from Carbohydrates
• 2267 x 30% = 680 Calories from Protein
• 2267 x 20% = 453 Calories from Fat

Don’t forget to factor in your calories form alcohol as well.

Now it is much easier to work out your consumption based on grams of food rather than calories, so I will show you how to work that out below, it is very easy.

 
• There are 4 calories in 1 gram of Carbohydrate
• There are 4 calories in 1 gram of Protein
• There are 9 calories in 1 gram of Protein

Alcohol has roughly 1/2 to 1 calorie per ml, depending on which alcohol it is. That’s a lot considering a beer has around 375ml’s in it.

So to work out your daily consumption, you would work it out as such:

• 1133 divided by 4 = 283 grams of Carbohydrates per day
• 680 divided by 4 = 170 grams of protein per day
• 453 divided by 9 = 50 grams of fat per day

Remember, that as you lose weight, you will have to do your calculations again, otherwise you will be eating more than required.

Take me to Calories Part 1

Troy Shipsey

Fitta Bodies Personal Training

Group Fitness Centennial Park, Sydney

Most of you are aware of my opinion on the TV show The Biggest Loser and are often puzzled by my views, so I would like to explain why I think this way. I will also show you a video from a well respected trainer who shares a similar view.

I think the show is a disgrace, for many reasons…

* It gives people false hope that this is how quickly you should be able to lose weight, when realistically this is near impossible in the real world.

* People of this size should be aiming to lose this excess weight over years. We are talking about 150kg-200kg individuals.

* It is so unhealthy! They take the most overweight, unhealthy, emotionally unstable specimens from society and punish their bodies and their minds severely;

• They are subjected to hours upon hours of exercise everyday, when they may never have exercised in their life before.
• They are nutritionally deprived.
• They are encouraged to eat junk food in order to win immunity to elimination.
• They send home the ones who don’t lose enough weight that week. Surely the ones who don’t lose enough weight are the ones who need to stay!
• The exercises they give them are so unsuitable for anybody of that weight.
• Their technique during exercise is horrible.
• They are subjected to the bitching, plotting against and ridiculing each other in order to form these “alliances” to stay in the show. Remember how emotionally unstable these individuals were already.

What always astounds me is when you see the contestants pouring their hearts in their audition tapes or on advertisements.

They all say the same thing: “I really want to lose the weight and I feel so bad about the way I look and feel, all I want to do is be healthy”.

But if this was true, they would make an effort to do it outside of a national television show.

What they really need to say is: “I want to be on TV and I want to win lots of money and I don’t care how badly I have to punish my body to get it”.

 Do you think it is healthy to see somebody break down and start crying mid way through an exercise session?

Imagine how you would feel if you were in their place.

So if you love watching the Biggest Loser because it really changes peoples lives. Think again!

 What they need is no different from what we all need:

• A healthy eating plan with plenty of fresh salads, vegetables and fruit. Lean organic protein and lot’s of filtered water
• Daily exercise suited to their weight and ability.
• 8 hours of quality sleep a night.
• No caffeine and limited alcohol.

 So that’s my opinion of Biggest Loser!

 Check out this video, it demonstrates what I am talking about.

“Origin of Energy” video about biggest loser

Troy Shipsey

Fitta Bodies Personal Training

Centennial Park Outdoor Group Training Camp, Sydney

A few weeks ago I was reading a mainstream fitness magazine which stated on the front cover “Revealed! The secrets to massive weight loss”, so I decided to have a read and this is what I found;

Inside the magazine was an article titled “Training Secrets for Massive Weight Loss” written by a famous ironman. I won’t name names, but there was a nice picture of him and a spiel that said he is a former world ironman champion and the winner of Celebrity Survivor.

The article was based around him currently training an overweight Australian singer…

Now wait for it, here are the secrets: 

The singer has given up junk food and soft drinks and replaced them with more protein, lean meats, fish, lots of fresh fruit and veggies and litres of water.

Her training is 2 to 5 kilometres of walking on most days, one resistance training session in the gym, one kick boxing session and one crosstraining session per week.

Well, there you have it, the secrets to massive weight loss!

My point here is, you don’t need the former world ironman champion to tell you there are no quick fixes, I’ve been telling you that for years. A healthy diet and sensible exercise and consistenly sticking to your program are the keys to a healthier body.

Did you consistenly stick to your regimen last week?

Troy Shipsey

Fitta Bodies Personal Training

Centennial Park Outdoor Group Training Camp, Sydney