Once you have decided to take action to achieve your goals, you must determine where it is you want to be and realise where it is you are starting from. From there, it is a certain amount of “positive steps” you need to take to achieve that goal.

Everybody has to take a different amount of “steps”, as everybody is different.

The variables that determine the amount of “steps” you need to take may include:

• Your fitness level when starting out
• Your goal at the end
• Age
• Gender
• Your hormones
• Your lifestyle
• Your metabolism

All of these things and many more must be considered when making your action plan for success.

You have to be taking constant steps forward to reach your goals.

The more steps backward you take, the longer it will take to reach your goals.

Examples of “steps” forward are:

• Eating breakfast
• Eating regularly
• Eating healthy nutritious meals with a balance of low GI carbs, protein and salad or vegetables
• Thinking positively
• Training correctly
• Training regularly to your appointed schedule
• Opting for water rather than alcohol or soft drink
• Sleeping 8 hours per night
• Drinking 3 litres of water per day

Examples or “steps” backward;

• Skipping meals
• Eating incorrectly such as high GI carbs and high fat, high sugar meals
• Not incorporating enough protein into your diet
• Drinking alcohol
• Drinking soft drinks
• Skipping workouts
• Training incorrectly
• Thinking negatively
• Not sleeping enough
• Not drinking enough water

Remember that taking a step backward does not leave you level, it leaves you back one step from achieving your goals, because if you had taken that step forward you would have been one step closer, now you are 2 steps further away because you passed up the opportunity to be one step closer.

So every time you take a step backward, remember it takes 2 steps forward to advance you along the way to achieving your goals. Try to think of how many steps forward you took this week and how many steps backward you took. Did you advance, stay level or go backward?

Does this make it a little clearer as to how diligent you have to be to reach your goals?

Fat doesn’t lose itself!

Yours in Fitness

Troy Shipsey

Ok, so in Let’s get fit for summer Part 1, we discussed how many calories you could be burning off if you turn up to all your workouts. 

Now we will look at how what you put into your mouth has just as much if not more affect on your body than exercise.

Let me firsty say that yes, food should be enjoyable! But no, it should not be detrimental to our health!

Food is the fuel that keeps our bodies functioning day to day. We need to be feeding our bodies with healthy food to function properly.

Healthy food is not only good for long term health, but it is great for us in regards to weight loss, because healthy food generally has less calories. We all know that we need to burn more calories than we are consuming in order to lose weight. 

For more information on caloires, please refer to Calories Part 1 & Calories Part 2. You will be able to calculate just how many calories you should be eating.

Now, let’s say you want to lose 1 kg of fat. As mentioned in part 1, this is 7700 calories. I recommend creating a diet defecit of approx 500 calories a day in order to safely and effectively lose weight.

Easy to say, not so easy to do! The fact is, most people eat way more than they should every day. Then they exercise and wonder why they are not losing weight. If you exercise 5 days a week and burn off roughly 3000 caloires in the week, but you eat 600 calories a day more than you need to, you won’t lose any weight! This is not taking into account the weekend where you probably eat more!

So, you decide to eat well… You do this for a week, maybe 2, you start to feel better in yourself. You feel lighter, you feel less bloated, you notice a difference in your waistline. But then the takeaway food sneaks back in. The dessert after dinner sneaks back in. You start to skip breakfast again and before you know it, you are back into your old habits.

Maybe something far worse happens… you decide to go on a diet. I am not sure which one, I don’t really care which one, they are all as bad as each other. The fact is, when eventually you go off the diet, you will gain back all of the weight you lost and then some. I have the proof, hundreds of people I have spoken to who all tell me about the diet they are on or have been on and who all without a doubt, put all of the weight back on, regardless of their training because they haven’t created any good eating habits and when they aren’t on some sort of diet, they just eat badly!

Eating well is a life long habit you need to create. Weight loss should be slow and steady and acheived through a change in diet, exercise and lifestyle habits.

So we’ve looked at exercise and food, what about liquid… Next week we will look at all of those empty calories in alcohol in Let’s get fit for Summer Part 3.

Yours in fitness

Troy Shipsey

Well its that time of year again. Everybody is scrambling to get in shape for their swim suits and those lazy summer days on the beach. Or maybe it’s just for the lack of clothing that we wear as the weather heats up.

Whatever the reason, this is definitely the season to get in shape.

So here are my series of tips to get in shape for summer (life). They may sound like common sense, that is because they are, but I guess everybody just needs a little kick up the butt and a reminder now and then, or we’d all be in great shape all year round. It’s not that hard, just eat sensibly and move regulary.

So my first tip to you: Don’t skip your workouts!

Every person and every workout is different, but as a general rule of thumb, you would burn approximately 600 calories in 1 hour of my training.

So lets use this average figure of 600 calories per workout for my calculations.

I recommend training 5 days per week. This = 3000 calories burned per week.

If you want to burn 1 kg of fat, you have to burn approximately 7700 calories.

So without looking at nutrition in this tip, it would take 2 1/2 weeks to burn off 1 kg of fat without skipping any workouts.

Lets say you train 3 days per week, it will now take you 1 month to lose that kilo of fat.

Train 2 days per week and we are now looking at 6 weeks to lose that 1 kilo of fat.

This may sound silly, but some people only train once a week. They are looking at 3 months to lose 1 kg of fat.

So here’s your first tip to getting that body you want; Train regularly and don’t skip your workouts!

Now this tip is taking into consideration movement only, but I think we all know that it is what goes into our mouths that is critical to weight loss, so we will look at this in next week’s tip: Let’s get fit for summer Part 2.

Your in Fitness

Troy Shipsey

To join our group training classes, simply visit Group Training

To join our group training classes, simply visit Group Training

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

When undertaking an exercise plan, the first step is to establish your goals. The next step is to assess the most sensible way to reach those goals.

I see so many typical weight loss gym goers training in the same manner as a body builder. Now this is fine if your goal is to look like a body builder, but is that your goal?

If the guy over in the corner is performing seated bicep curls to make his arms look bigger, does that mean you too should perform seated bicep curls? Is your goal to have big biceps? Do you want big arms? Or is there something more effective that you could be doing?

If your goal is to lose weight, there is no doubting how important resistance training is, but you should be trying to use as much muscle mass at the one time as you can handle.

The least effective exercises to lose weight would be machine weights. These machines tell your whole body to switch off apart from the muscle group that is moving the weight. Besides that, why do you need to sit down at the gym? Didn’t you sit down to eat breakfast, to get to work, at work, at lunch, to get home from work, whilst you had dinner and after dinner? I think you can see that you sit down enough, so when you get to the gym to carry out your weight loss training, please don’t sit down!

Here a few examples of simple exercise combinations to get the calories burning more effectively:

* Lunge bicep curl

* Squat cable row

* Step up side raise

* Deadlift bicep curl

* Kettlebell swing

* Squat press

* Dumbell chest press on a ball instead of a bench with a bar

There are so many combinations to choose from, so get creative with your training!

Troy Shipsey

Fitta Bodies Personal Training

Group Fitness Training Centennial Park, Sydney

Yesterday I listened to a radio interview with one of our favourite ex-Olympic swimmers who has gained a lot of excess weight since he stopped competing internationally.

The question was put to him how he had lost his weight recently, as he has lost approximately 5kg’s in as many weeks.

He said that he started to eat healthy, no more takeaway, very little alcohol and lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. He also said he has been exercising regularly.

So of course the radio DJ’s make some jokes, “what do you mean you are just eating well and working hard, but we don’t want to hear that, we want the majic pill we can take to lose weight”. 

Quite clearly they were joking on the surface, but the problem is, most people are still looking for that majic pill, in the form of a fad diet or funky new exercise program that will set the world on fire.

But, our swimmer said “no, honestly guys, you just have to eat healthy and find some form of exercise you enjoy doing and do it regularly. Consistency is the key!”

Wow, my favourite word in regards to reaching your goals, is “consistency” and here it was being spoken by the guy who is losing weight by doing it the real way.

It was awesome to hear and I hope everyone who was listening took notice and made some kind of decision to change their ways. 

Stop looking for the quick fix.

* Exercise the way you enjoy regularly. Try to do some form of exercise 5 - 6 days per week.

* Eat healthy. This means salad, vegetables, fruit, protein. Limit junk food and alcohol.

It really is that simple, health works from the inside out!

Troy Shipsey

Fitta Bodies Personal Training

Group Fitness Centennial Park, Sydney

Below is a whole bunch of FAQ’s that I was asked about how to get the most out of walking. The bulk of the answers were published in Good Health and Medicine magazine earlier this year.

How far?    You should be aiming to walk for a minimum 1 hour to really make a difference

How often?  5 – 7 days per week. Walking is not too stressful on the body, so it can be done everyday if time permits. Let’s face it, we spend the majority of our time sitting down, the least we can ask is to walk for an hour a day, everyday.

How fast? Everybody is different, the fitter you are, or the longer your legs, the quicker you will go, but a good rule of thumb is approximately 6km per hour. Obviously if you are starting out very unfit, you would be slower than this. If you walk at this pace, you will burn roughly 4 calories per kg of you bodyweight in an hour. The slower you walk, the less you burn, for example, if you walk at 3km per hour, you would burn roughly 2 calories per kg of your bodyweight. The upside to this is that if you are quite unfit, you are probably also overweight, so you will burn more calories as it is measured as a percentage of your bodyweight.

 Do you need to walk to:  
a) Get fit
b) Lose weight
Getting fit and weight loss go hand in hand, if you are walking fast enough to get fit, you are also walking fast enough to lose weight, the only differing factor is good nutrition to aid in weight loss.

Walking will only ever get you so far in regards to fitness and you will reach a level where your little feet can’t carry you any faster, at this point, you might want to consider jogging, cycling, boxercise or some other form of cardiovascular exercise.

Q.Key benefits of a walking program?  
A.  Walking is a great form of exercise that is far less stressful on the body that jogging or other high impact types of exercise. It can be done every day, it can be done anywhere and it can be done at any time of day. You don’t need any fancy equipment and you can do it with friends.

Q.Why do many people fail to achieve their fitness and weight goals through walking?  
A.  Quite often people don’t know how to gauge a good speed to walk at to improve fitness. A good rule of thumb is to make sure you are breaking a sweat and you’re breathing is getting so heavy, it is difficult to carry our a conversation. If you can’t get to this point through walking, you need to find a more difficult route ie. Hills or stairs. Alternatively, you may be fit enough to start jogging, providing you are injury free.

Q.Should you carry hand-weights when walking? Or wear a weighted backpack/ vest? If so, how heavy?
A. Carrying weights can help to burn a few more calories, but the risks may outweigh the benefits. Obviously the heavier you are, the more strain you will place on joints, so if you are a small build, you don’t really want to be adding weight to your frame and risk injuring knees, ankles or spine. If you are a heavier build, the last thing you should be doing is adding more weight to your frame as you are already placing undue stress on your joints with your own body weight. If you insist on adding weight to your body whist walking, the best option is a vest and the weight should be spread evenly front and back of the vest. That way you barely change your centre of gravity.

Q.Best walking technique tips?
A.  You should always walk tall, with good posture. Relax the shoulders, drawing your shoulder blades down and back. Keep your head up and your gaze forward, as looking down will encourage rounded shoulders. It is important not to overstride, the further your foot lands in front of the body, the more likelihood of getting shin splints. Try to focus on fast short steps rather than long strides. Bend the arms at approximately 90 degrees and swing the arms through a natural arc without rotating the torso excessively.

Q.What’s power waking as opposed to brisk walking?
A.  In my opinion, power walking is just a very focussed, fast walk, maintaining a consistent fast pace, pumping the arms more dramatically than a brisk walk.

Q.What difference will walking up hills make?
A. Walking up hills means you have to fight gravity. Your muscles will have to walk harder and your heart rate will increase dramatically due to the increased effort required.

Q.How useful is a pedometer? What difference will this make to fitness and weight loss? How many steps per day for a) fitness and b) weight loss? Do you need to do these incidental steps on top of dedicated walking workouts?
A.  Pedometers are useful if you think you are not walking enough. If you are getting out for a good hour walk everyday and you are living an active lifestyle, the pedometer may not be of much help, but it is very useful for someone who is just getting into exercise or someone who is concerned that there lifestyle is too sedentary. The basic recommendation is a minimum of 10,000 steps per day for good health, this includes incidental steps. But the more steps you do the better, so if you are focussed on weight loss, a 1 hour power walk plus 10,000 incidental steps is fantastic.

Q.Any useful gadgets for maintaining motivation to walk, aside from a pedometer?  
A. A heart rate monitor is a great tool to ensure you are walking at the correct intensity. An ipod is also great for taking your mind off the task at hand. Load on some fast music and it inspires you to walk faster and it makes the time go quicker as well.

Q.Essential walking gear?
A. Sunscreen and a hat are essential walking items, unless you are out at sunrise or sunset. Loose comfortable clothing and good shoes.

Q.What about walking shoes, how important are these? Things to look for in a walking shoe?
A. Walking shoes are extremely important. If you are not wearing the correct shoes for YOU, you are putting your joints at risk. If your feet aren’t striking the ground correctly and you strike the ground thousands of times every walk, you could be putting undue stress on your feet, ankles, knees, hips and spine. The best thing to look for in a shoe is a good shoe retailer. Only a real professional can fit the correct shoe for your foot, not just the shoe that looks the best or is the most expensive.

Q.Does walking with a friend, family or walking group help?
A. Finding a walking partner is a great idea. It is much easier to find motivation when you walk with a friend. The time will pass quicker and you can push each other to walk faster. If you are having trouble sticking to your regimen, walking with a friend will help you to keep your appointed exercise plans, as you won’t want to let your walking partner down.

Q.Anything else you feel is worth mentioning about walking?
A. Just do it, get out there and explore your city, your suburb, the bush, the mountains, the coast. Walking can be great fun and you can discover all sorts of new sights you didn’t know about previously. 

 

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