Saturday, May 31, 2008

Saturday 31st May 2008 - Calories also come from your glass, can or bottle

I got a phone call today from a friend whose teenage son was battling weight issues and was really feeling unhappy about his lack of progress. After the initial change there was a growing level of dismay at no further success. They told me that they had been monitoring his food and increased his activity levels but frustration was building and so I offered to come and have a look at their plan.

After the initial discussion I was happy they had sought good advice and it seemed to be pretty close to what I would have suggested. They had been focussing on removing unhealthy calories and increasing calorie expenditure - so far so good.

Then I decided to check on an aspect that a lot of people overlook. I asked the son how much water he had been consuming and he mentioned that he had been drinking 4-5 glasses each day during his workout. I then advised them that for me, this was a step in the right direction but also that this water consumed during the workout accounted for the increased demands placed on it DURING the workout but what about at other times during the day.

He told me that he really didn't like the taste of water, which is a common response to the "sugar laden taste buds" of the younger consumer today. I then asked him if he consumed any other drinks of any kind. His Dad was quick to answer for him that he had converted the son from soft drinks such as sodas (not diet) to sports drinks.

I nodded and waited. Then the son told me that he had cut down his daily intake of 6 cans of drinks (in this case Coke) to less than three but had replaced three of them with sports drinks cause he was exercising. The father was surprized that he was still consuming anything other than sports drinks and the son was feeling good about his new selection which had been suggested by his Dad.

Now my goal here was to help and definitely not seem to put down the "positive levels of achievement" that the son was feeling. However, it is also important in the big picture of losing bodyfat and improving the conditions inside the Human ECO System that anything that goes into the body is addressed for it's impact.

There is an old saying "YOU are what YOU eat". This fails to include that in today's world "YOU are also what YOU drink" as many of the world's population have replaced food calories with empty sugar laden calories from vending machines.

Let me explain how this can impact.
A can of soft drink like most soda's can add up to 80-100 cals per can to your intake. This meant that the son was consuming previously and additional 480-600 calories that weren't considered in the most commonly used method of balancing "calories in vs calories out" equation. Now that he had changed to a popular sports drink, his calories now each time were about 30-50 less which is an improvement but still added about 450 cals to this total daily intake, which was better but still not accounted for in their plan, which will definitely impact on the fat loss result.

NOTE - another important yet equally ineffective strategy is to change soft drinks of any kind for juices which mostly contain more calories due to their high sugar content. I would rather see vegetable juices consumed or better yet real food sources such as fruit or vegetables but in a society struggling to meet any of these changes I will take what I can get but be aware that these calories also count !

With their agreement we now adjusted the son's intake of ALL nutrients both food and drink and then assessed if the workout plan was going to succeed for his goal. In a very simple way everyone realized that it lacked a successful outcome so I went straight into "positive mode" to increase the son's esteem and future plans. We agreed that he had already made significant inroads to a "better path" and together we adjusted his "nutritional and activity compass" to allow for continued success.

I explained how the additional calories could be removed and asked the son if he felt the change was worth it. There was compromise on how many "drinks" I felt he needed and both father and son then said they understood how this new strategy made them feel better. To allow for the additional calories we increased the intensity of the workouts and replaced a sports drink during his workout with water and then after the workout with a protein drink.

The son also wanted to look for alteratives for the additional calories from "soft drinks" and we talked over options that they both wanted to try. We are going to monitor the plan and with this new found awareness, knowledge and commitment both the father and son feel excited. On the weekend I suggested that they go and do a cardio session together for motivation and both are looking forward to the challenge.

So take a look at your plan and see if you are accounting for ALL your calories if your progress has slowed. If it needs adjusting then make the changes.

NOTE - And for those are able to legally consume alcohol, there are very similar calories in wine, champagne or beer as there are in soft drinks like sodas. So a night out drinking with your mates may add up to an additional 1000 calories (and sometimes more) for those that wake up feeling "seedy" and this will definitely affect your weight and fat loss outcomes.

Friday, May 30, 2008

Friday 30th May - the 3R's of Health Education

I was talking with a colleague about the challenges faced by schools as they have to focus on educating children on the 3R's (reading / writing / arithmatic) and how this could be adding to the childhood obesity issues facing the world.

This has markedly impacted on teachers all over the world as they are being held accountable for cirriculums loaded with expectation but limited in resources and time. This leads to the school work turning into home work and even more limiting of children's "play time" so no wonder they seek release and down time with movies and games.

With this additional school work burden and focus on the 3R's, it seems more and more often the "optional lessons" like creative arts and physical education are being reduced or eliminated from the "school menu". This is contrary to the Government's instructions to increase the activity of children during the school week, teachers are still nevertheless the "coalface" of this issue. The easy solution for Government's is to mandate this policy but maybe they should spend a little time actually in the classroom's in their respective countries to see how ineffective this strategy is.

When I speak with these disgruntled teacher's they consistently are being judged on the performace reflected in children's knowledge scores and in some parts of the world there has even been suggestions of this reflecting in their pay scales. This is unfair.

Once you spend time in a classroom with the massive numbers of children leading to over-crowding and limited teacher / child time you see how much the additional expectation of time away from the classroom is challenging. It is never an easy task to get a large classroom of children changed into workout clothes, undertake a physical activity session, then shower and get changed and back into the mental activities of learning all in one hour or less.

I do feel for these hard working child mentors. They get paid way too little and get very little credit for this and there are no holiday breaks that could address their efforts as a reward. We wonder why there are less and less university students actually choosing to become trained as teachers but once you spend time with them you get a sense of what they are up against.

I often try to think up ways to enhance learning for children with things that they are already familiar with and this worked well with the Body Mechanics as most children enjoy all facets of entertainment stories. With the Human ECO System it again takes common issues being explored in schools for the Planet ECO Systems and assimulates them to human conditions and illnesses.

For example my overview for the 3R's of Health Education are :

- "R"efuel the Systems
- "R"ehydrate the Body
- "R"elax the Mind

Possibly if more consultation were given to teachers in this area and plans built with them instead of well meaning but ill informed experts who overload the "backpack" of learning already being worn by teachers they might actually be interested.

I will blog about how the 3R's of Health Education actually work in the coming days.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Thursday 29th May 2008 - FOOD MATTERS Documentary




The ongoing battle for nutritional health is a constant uphill fight. With every piece of startling factual evidence that the media covers it seems followed by an advert for the very products that seem to be causing the problems with preventable illnesses.

Well finally two Australian film-makers have shed some "eye opening" light on the issue of Food as Medicine and the implications of nutritional ill health.

We are a worldwide community living mostly unhealthy lives with little regard for the implications until it's often too late. I blog on issues that matter because I find that unless we start to make some "noise" that is not "marketing spin" then we are doomed !


It was my priviledge to be at the movie premiere last night for the brand new Documentary of "FOOD MATTERS" which is an incredibly powerful and moving look at the role of nutrition in health prevention.

This is a MUST SEE Movie.
It will have as much impact as any other movie you have ever seen including those from Al Gore and Michael Moore.

Please click on the link and take a look at the trailer and then cut and paste or forward this link to everyone you know. Send it to your friends, your family and even people you work with.
The many of us working together can make a significant impact on the health of humanity.

http://www.foodmatters.tv/cmd.php?Clk=2423224


Please watch and take action TODAY.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Tuesday 27th May 2008 - Are YOU eating too many calories ?

I was emailed a question from a lady that had plateaued on her quest to lose bodyfat. When we actually spoke I found out that she was a set calorie per day intake plan. It was suggested by a major "weight loss" program and she explained that at first she got great results and we then discussed how and why this happened to see if we could help her again achieve success.

She had put on a substantial amount of weight after her second baby and decided that enough was enough and she wanted to lose the weight. Her motivation soon disappeared as the numbers coming off got smaller until they stopped. I explained that initially she had created a deficit in removing her "unhealthy and excess calories" and had increased her activity levels to three to four days per week which combined will cause a massive shift.

Due to her workload of being a mother and part time worker there were NO more spare hours for exercise and so she was feeling frustrated. I asked her why she ate the same amount of calories on days she wasn't exercising ?

I then explained that on days that I don't find time to exercise I am even more cautious to only consume quality calories to meet my needs and look for deficits in this. I then sent her my blog post below from earlier this year and she was amazed that no one had pointed this out to her before. I told her that this is a very common question for motivational challenge that many people face on a "weight loss" program.

Since we have made the necessary changes she has again started to see the weight start to come off again and told me to repost this. So Michelle I am following your advice and suggestion.

Read this and see if YOUR plan is in need of a tune up.

I was presenting at a Nutrition Conference late last year and in preparing for my session I realized that there exists a major disparity in the amount of calories (fuel for your body) that most "experts" recommend in comparison to the amount of calories most people are using (through activity) and how this didn't make sense to me.

Now I am not a nutritionist nor do I profess to be but I have prided myself on learning as much as I can about the human body to assist others achieve their goal to lose bodyfat for improved health.

This has been a long process of education, awareness and then implementing various regimes of eating (nutrition) to see if they work. Some have worked better than others and some are a waste of time but ALL added to my knowledge and helped me to form the basis of the current eating regime (diet or whatever you want to call it), that I follow.

It's not rocket science but it works and I have titled it the Rainbow Nutrient Refuelling Plan. It is based upon consuming "green" plant based foods combined with three other coloured vegetables or salads with a lean source of protein and good fats. This supplies me with a nutrient dense intake of calories that are focussed on anti-oxidants, vitamins and minerals. These are required to assist any other health / fitness / weight loss goal that I could have !

Of course when I developed the Rainbow Nutrient Refuelling Plan it was then checked and assessed by my team of nutritionists and dieticians (nothing like ticking all the boxes to make sure that it works and is safe).

Then what I also did was to develop an activity regime to compliment this nutrient plan which is my AfterBurner Workout Programs that I have since released on my Blog. I will be filming this in the coming weeks.

Again after 20+ years of being a trainer it's not based on anything other than increased calorie burning "work" to get the desired result - sorry it's that simple - success is based upon using more calories than you consume. So back to my issues with consuming the same amount of calories every day.

Let's assume you are a fitter than average individual and are consuming a lot less calories than most of you actually are. My reason for this is to show just how our current recommended or suggested eating intake from "experts" will likely FAIL to get the chosen outcome for even the fitter people that try it.

NOTE - To do this we will have to make a few general observations so read and digest this fully before you dismiss what is below. There will of course be some slight variations for gender / genetics / body status / fitness / no existing health conditions etc.

If you are consuming (eating etc) an average of 2000 calories per day (this is recommended by many eating plans and I have found most people are nearly eating twice this), then this will be enlightening for your fat loss (weight) goals.

What amazes me is that a lot of people watch the calories that they eat BUT forget about the calories that they drink (from any source) which is crazy because they all add up and count, but they then go workout and try to match this "number eaten" which is destined for failure.

Suggested Calorie Intake - 2000 calories (now this is used as a guide)
- Sustain normal body functioning - 1000 to 1300 calories to sustain life on a daily basis depending upon muscle levels (again I am going to over-estimate what the average person will burn daily; and the higher the lean muscle and fitness levels the higher this number will be in total)
- Activity / Working Out - 500 calories (this is probably way higher than most people achieve but giving the benefit of the doubt for our scenario)

That leaves a deficit (in the RED) of about 200-500 additional calories PER DAY.
That means in a week, IF you are working out to this level of difficulty every day and most aren't doing it daily, and struggle to make it three times per week, that you have consumed at least 1400 additional calories if you are at the higher end of the workout number.

Then at best scenario this person is adding 5,600 calories each four weeks / month.

FACT - 3,500 calories is a kilogram of fat calories.

And we wonder why we have an obesity plague sweeping the masses.
Again these numbers are put together for a possible observation that may or may not be the reason that we have a problem but at least I want to generate some discussion and debate to start the problem being addressed.

I personally have adjusted my fuel intake (calories from food and drink) to be a strategic option to increasing my health and it is working really well.

This is NOT however a push for a low caloric intake but rather a high quality fuel intake that gives my body what it needs and allows me to get leaner and healthier.

You decide what is best for you !

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Sunday 25th May 2008 - Childhood Obesity Solutions

For those that know me you will not be surprized to find that when I discover someone doing exciting work in the childhood obesity area, I feel compelled to share that information.

There are way too many issues and health problems coming out of this crisis to be concerned about there ever being enough solutions for families.
This is one that I am very excited to share and let me tell you why.

I used to own a private fitness training studio in Sydney back in the late 90's which I sold to a guy who seemed equally focussed on helping others improve their lives, so I left my very first business in capable hands which was important to me. I then went on to create the childrens TV show and then write a book which led me to the creating the childhood obesity project of The Body Mechanics (www.bodymechanics.tv)

Fast forward seven years and I bump into Richard and his wife Joey and we are catching up on what each other has been doing and low and behold, again our lives have been on a similar path.

While I was writing, producing and directing media projects of the animated movie and interactive DVD game with a focus for launching in the United States, Rich was working with his wife Joey to develop a book and subsequent programs to help families in Australia cope with the childhood obesity issue here.

They were featured last week on the TV networks here in Australia after working with two families for 12 weeks and achieving great results.


Please Mum Don't Supersize Me Hard Cover Book




‘PLEASE MUM DON'T SUPERSIZE ME!’ WILL BE LATEST WEAPON IN THE BATTLE OF CHILDHOOD OBESITY

With the federal government recently announcing plans to see children as young as four put on the scales before starting kindergarten, one of Australia’s leading health and wellness leaders, Richard and Joey Marc, have released their debut book ‘Please Mum, Don’t Supersize Me!’

Aimed at parents and families who are unsure about how to create a healthier lifestyle for their children, ‘Please Mum, Don’t Supersize Me!’, provides the essential building blocks to maintaining a happy family unit and preventing childhood obesity.

‘Please Mum, Don’t Supersize Me!’ will provide children with an increased self esteem, a healthy approach to living and the motivation to set goals – while also allowing parents to open at any page and discover a new healthier habit for their child.

Co-founders of Marc Wellness International, Richard and Joey have extensive international backgrounds in both the health and wellness, and children’s entertainment industries.

Richard Marc said, “I realized that many parents I spoke to at seminars were very interested in ensuring their child and family were healthy, but many were in need of the essential straight-forward steps to ensure success.

To check out this book click here http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=786300

Their next program which is a 7 CD Audio program I was invited to be involved in is now about to be released in the coming two weeks. They selected 7 people they thought were doing great work in this area and were interviewed as "subject matter experts".





This will be available in the next few weeks but what I am after is 15 people to listen to this and give us their feedback. You will get to hear what we believe is not only the latest information but also very interesting family strategies - THAT WORK.

Send me an email and only the first 15 will get to be part of this.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Thursday 22nd May 2008, The 7 Day Human ECO Cleanse

With the popularity of cleanses I have always been challenged by how unhealthy they are and wanted to develop this version with Nutritionists.

I created this element as week (5) five of the 56 Day Plan as there is a need for a period where most people have their old habits tested so they don't reappear and for their new habits to become the focus. It is also not a bad way to show how you can feel differently when YOU do things correctly for your Human E.C.O. System.

This challenge is designed with my nutrition team taking into account how this will work and then by supplying you a far healthier option than most other programs with nutrient intake. It is spread over a week and not just a weekend or three days as many popular versions are, so that you aren’t just focussed for one weekend and then go back to your unhealthy habits come Monday.

What is the Human ECO-Cleanse Challenge ?

For the IT orientated people - It is the section of the Action Plan where we “reboot your hard drive” and increase your RAM (memory).

For the CAR orientated people – It is the section of the Action Plan where we “tune up” your systems and replace your spark plugs.

For everyone else it is part of your change process.

With an important health benefit of restoration and replenishment, I want you to rest your body’s digestive system by removing the “toxic chemicals” we add on a daily basis. To achieve this I have modified with “expert nutritional input a "challenge” which has a focus for one week of the eight (8) week plan.

The goal is that you should try this new lifestyle of eating well and being active to see how your life could be if you make the necessary changes. Will it test you ? I think so having completed it myself.

The main focus or the eliminating phase is achieved by reducing total excess energy intake for this 7 day period. This removal phase will mostly consist of removing a lot of the “white foods” you over-consume and the replacing phase has an ECO Friendly plan of vegetables, salads and fruit in the middle three days out of our seven day ECO Cleanse week.

Guidelines that you need to follow are included and I explain what you are doing - and more importantly why.

The modified seven day plan has a focus on the middle three days. Having done this myself I think this works better than others as you are able to still function in your current life unlike putting you inside the “test tube” environment of just a weekend as people in the real world don’t exist inside a test tube.

You are lead in gently over the previous four weeks again with my removal and replacement plan. Unlike any other type of detox plan I’ve examined, you get educated on how to change YOUR bad habits instead of just eliminating most nutrients. This is a flawed plan. We will allow YOU to re-introduce foods back into your eating patterns to notice the difference and then begin better eating to form healthy long term nutritional habits.

We also do this to allow your body (mostly your digestive system) to have a rest, get rid of the toxic environment that you have built up, and then provide a recovery period so you’re not just going “cold turkey” which could lead to failure of the plan.

From years of experience training clients, failure is likely if you don’t get an understanding of this knowledge and be able to recognize the “old bad patterns” should they reappear in the future. Fundamentally, most of us are not good at eating what is sensible and healthy for our human eco-system but instead we look for convenient but unfortunately lower quality foods that are cheap in both nutrition and cost. Result = weight gain, lower self esteem, preventable diseases !

The first thing I found talking with nutritionists about obesity issues is that they generally find most people have through their lifestyle limited our intake of vitamins, minerals, and other essential elements such as phyto-nutrients.

Guess where those ALL come from ?
Mostly, plant-based foods that are grown in the ground and part of the planet’s eco-system. It would seem logical that for our human eco-system providing nutrient dense foods would be a benefit.

Guess how many of these life enriching nutrients are found “naturally” in products in packages or fast food options ?
You know that I am going to say – “little to none !”

If you already know these facts WHY would you be willing to “POLLUTE” your human eco-system causing harm ?

We seem to have forgotten that a lot of disease today appears to be through our bad habits of eating too much and moving too little or as I say have termed it and you can quote me on this “we are under-active and over-fed”.

For example; obesity, diabetes type II, certain cancers, are all preventable diseases that seem to impacted upon by our lifestyle choices.

So to make successful changes in the current unsuccessful eating patterns, we need to better understand what implications are occurring, and how these choices impact that inner health world of your own personal “human eco-system” environment.

To survive we need the following :
Breathe – required every minute of every day and the slower and fuller the breathe - the greater the benefit
Water – can last some days without it but with it being such an important element for efficient functioning of your eco-system - why do we put ourselves at risk by creating an "internal drought"
Food – can last much longer than days - but for peak performance by adding a higher level of quality nutrient dense food the greater our result

For your human eco-system it shows how important breathing is and how much we take it for granted. The benefits are incredible as it assists to slow down your heart rate and supplies us with life supporting oxygen whether we are inactive or active.

I’m told that to grow we need to be more in tune with ourselves. My goal is to help YOU get personally “tuned up” and provide you the necessary “tools”. Now don’t throw the book down and scream “I thought this was going to be a good way to learn about my body but it’s just another self help plan”.

I promise you it’s not self help but more "self health". The purpose in writing this section was to show that everyone can make changes for better health.

Back to the plan and why I changed my personal philosophy.
During this research and learning process what I found was that I had become “comfortable” with my eating plans as like many I believed that I was eating with a sensible proportion or percentage of about 80 / 20. This means I ate healthy 80% of the time and 20% less healthy the remaining time. I have always allowed myself certain treats and as I have never really been a bad eater but do like “treats” I felt that it’s fair to reward myself for this 80% consistency.

I am now less focussed on the percentage numbers and more focussed on ensuring that I supply a full spectrum of quality nutrients that will save my Human ECO System. Having lost my father to obesity-related ill health (heart attack), I’m very conscious and aware that what I eat affects what is happening on the inside at a cellular level that is fascinating me the most. Read my earlier blog on the Human Cell - Home or Prison Sentence.

TIP: Healthy eating means better health.

Part of my consistency plan now is to ensure that I find the time to train regularly and continue to accrue the greatest knowledge by understanding that nutrition intake should be modified to suit activity levels. In other words you don't need to consume as much on days you don't train as days you do. This is why people who are on the same daily caloric intake and don't exercise everyday are destined to fail.

Another example is athletes who get older, yet continue to eat large amounts of calories (habit), then suddenly realize that they are “unhealthy” as their activity levels have been lowered substantially or stopped all together. We see this a lot nowadays with our sporting heroes.

Here is how I have modified my plan. Previously to allow for my 20% (occasional ice cream, pizza, chocolate etc) I had planned to consistently challenge myself on training days to either do more work (train longer) or push myself harder. History, combined with knowledge and experience has taught me that things often pop up to limit the effectiveness of this strategy.

I was running three different projects which required a lot of time and making my last movie was six months of total commitment and that meant increased stress levels to ensure that it was done on time and done properly. I have now addressed those "control issues" and realize I can't control anything other than my own life.

Firstly, like nearly everyone else on the planet, time constraints with life getting in the way consistently hamper me doing the longer training options meaning that failure is a possibility. So I had to develop a training method that was "time conscious" which I did with the Afterburner Workouts.

Secondly, my body telling me that it hurts; or is just plain tired is another issue that I have faced in the past, and so I have tried to address those to give better advice but again as a result failure or not achieving your desired result is a possibility.

So what can we do ?
Have a plan that you can commit to and make sure it's realistic.

TIP: Making time for yourself is just as important as making time for others in any life changing plan. Know that you and your health are more important than work, friends, family and YOU will find that by improving your personal health you will become a better person, better parent, better friend, and more loving family member and employee.

So here is The 12 Step Plan for Human Eco Cleansing

The Suggested Guidelines and Rules:

What would a NEW eating and lifestyle plan be without parameters ?
Having completed this myself, I am able to give personal experiences that I encountered and from this the Nutritionist and I have made modifications so that we are happy that it can be completed by most people.

We have our plan over 7 days for you to ease into and out of it so that your life isn’t totally put on hold BUT you will experience some discomfort. It’s going to be LIFE CHANGING and it’s your life.


One : Limit Caffeinated Drinks + NO Alcohol
NO coffee or tea, caffeinated soft drinks or soda’s. No alcohol. This doesn’t mean you can have one glass it means NONE.

NOTE: If you are a large coffee or tea drinker you will most likely experience headaches and feel lethargic on the first 2-3 days. This is normal. Try to reduce the amount of caffeinated drinks you consume in the week prior to limit this impact. Herbal Teas such as Ginger, Dandelion, Peppermint etc are okay BUT be aware that Green Tea DOES contain some caffeine.

Two : Focus on Hydration
We know now that water intake is important for many body functions as well as losing body fat. If it is a taste thing then add a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice to water if you need a taste sensation - a minimum of 2-3 litres during this plan. Hydration is a large factor and you probably have been using Coffee and Tea or Soft drink (Soda) as your main source of water. Nothing replaces the benefit of water like pure water – as the Body Mechanics say “go, go, go, with H2O”.

Note – a 2% dehydration means a large decrease in energy levels, it may also cause headaches, constipation etc.

Three : Ensure you don’t just “eliminate” nutrients
Most detox / elimination eating plans ask you to remove many forms of nutrients. We believe that this strategy is flawed and that including the benefit of including E.F.A.'s (or Essential Fatty Acids required for “Omega 3 and 6”) will serve more good than harm. So, have 1/2 avocado each day - divide across at least 2-3 of the meals (or 4 meals would be better).

Note - This is a flaw with other detox style plans. Any "weight loss gain" will be returned when you eat real food next. You only lose water in those plans and not fat.

Four : Increase GOOD sources of Fat
As well as the Avocado, you could also add 6 raw almonds (highest in calcium, slightly lower in fat), or walnuts (higher in Vitamin E + Omega 6) to a low fat and combined with some diet yoghurt as a snack option with up calcium.

Note - By eliminating total intake of fats your body will be resistent to using fat for energy. However don't just add good fats but rather replace the unhealthy sources of fat with good ones.

Five : Reduce all Grains for the challenge
We are advising you in these 7 key days not to eat any type of "white" grain-based foods such as rice, pasta, cereal, bread or any other staple food that fills most people’s eating habits.

Note - Let's fill up on higher levels of nutrient dense foods that are better "plant sources". See below.

Six : Snack on Salads and Vegetables
Our goal is to eat regularly so you don't feel hungry but if you feel hungry then snack on unlimited cucumber, capsicum / peppers (all colours), cherry or grape tomatoes, celery, baby spinach, lettuce (all types), snow or sugar snap peas, green beans, asparagus, asian greens, broccoli and broccollini.

Note: This will not only add roughage (fibre) to your system but increase nutrients too. Try spreading peanut butter or almond butter on things like celery. You can also use capsicum / peppers or lettuce leaves and fill them with other toppings for a "low carb sandwich".

Seven : Reduce “sweet fruits”
With this plan we are going to focus on low G.I. fruit. Our plan encourages you to eat mainly berries (all sorts), cherries, peaches, nectarines, plums, pears, and apples (green is my suggestion). Also note that we are trying to limit very sweet fruits for the G.I. response but still give you some options in this plan.

Note: (G.I. stands for Glycaemic Index or the Insulin response you get from eating carbs. Our G.I. goal = low). This is how fast or slow your body secretes Insulin (the storage hormone) to do it's job. The lower the score the less insulin response which is good.

Eight : Reduce Dairy Intake
Dairy intake needs to be reduced during the key three days. Now I am not advocating eliminating it from your eating habits unless you have medical advice to do so. If you feel like you need to include some then I would encourage eating low fat cottage cheese or plain low fat or organic yoghurt sparingly.

Note - We want it for calcium but we are also trying to reduce the high levels of fat and total calories most people consume.

Nine : Afterburner Workouts
Now what health / rejuvenation / lifestyle changing plan would be complete without getting you to adjust your intake of nutrients by giving you some suggestions of ways to increase your nutrient burning potential. Having made exercise a regular part of my life what I have tried to do was adjust and provide some options and these are included with the Afterburner Workouts that I have designed.

Note - I have posted these a few weeks ago so take a look.

Ten : Adjust Activity Intensity
If you’re exercising it’s important to remember that you will need to lower your expectation of your personal effort on the “day 4 of your ECO Challenge” and possibly days 3 and 5. You will feel that you have less energy and also it will seem “harder”, this is exactly what we’re hoping to achieve and is normal so don’t be alarmed.

Note - Try to decrease the intensity through either time or effort. It's also part of the "resting phase" of your plan.

Eleven : Nutritional Support
This is always frowned upon by people who just don’t seem to get it. I am not going to mix my words here. If you are living today in a “bubble or a test tube” this doesn’t apply to you. If however you are not, and you are breathing various pollutants very day or have a less then perfect eating regime then YOU have a responsibility to ensure that your body is not only working to it’s optimal but YOU are assisting that process.

Note : You can choose the nutritional support brand but be aware that you get what you pay for when it comes to quality. Two types that I recommend (one of which I use but have tried both), is Juice Plus and Amway Double X. For those that baulk at this price are you NOT worth $2 per day ?

Twelve : Praise for YOUR Efforts
Praise yourself each day – this is your new life and “changing habits - saves lives” because this is the NEW YOU.


This experience will alert you to what foods you normally eat, when you eat them and possibly why. Remember this is YOUR body and YOUR life.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Thursday 15th May 2008 - Fitness Possessed or Fitness Obsessed

Are you wondering what the difference is ?

Well then allow me to give you some insight into the difference between passion and obsession. I have often been described as a fitness freak or a fitness nut and mostly I seem to just ignore the judgement and insult that comes from that perception.

You see being healthy is a life choice I take very seriously. This will come as no shock or surprise to anyone who knows me personally or reads my blog here regularly. I honestly believe we can make a difference in a small way through our words, BUT can make a difference in a large way, through our actions.

The saying "walk your talk" to me literally indicates a belief in not only what you say, but that you apply any knowledge learned and reap the resulting benefit.

In talking and doing presentations on the Human ECO System lifestyle, I am constantly made aware of how hard others find the transition from life boredom to healthy living.

Life boredom is the mantra I made up to describe "too hard", "too busy", "too tired", "no time", "work or family commitments" or any of the other excuses that are applied when we speak of doing things good for us yet there is always time for a coffee shop catch-up, drink and dinner with friends or "time spent sitting on your butt imitating living". I used to say this with clients when they gave me any excuse.

Then we have the other side of the transitional phase. The newly found fitness devotee who now spends all their time at the gym because that is their new found obsession. This is not healthy and in fact is just "life transference".

Now it is definitely a far better progression from the sitting on your butt and will get you healthy but if we can find your passion dial and turn it down a few notches so that this obsession comes back under your control, you will alienate far fewer friends - trust me.

I am speaking from personal experience so gain from my lessons.
I am passionate about fitness, health, the human body and sometimes ..... ok maybe often in the past I was that annoying guy. You know him. He seems to want to share all his knowledge and you just want to finish your beer and pizza in peace.

When I look back now I get a greater sense of perspective that there is definitely a time and a place for passing on knowledge. I have also learned how to provide information without it seeming like I was judging them, because I never was, but perception is a personal thing. To my friends I apologize for that perception but note I did it with positive intent. Hey I'm a caring and sharing kind of guy.

We live such short lives that being the best we can be sometimes means harnessing that knowledge and delivery mechanism. Now I proudly tell everyone that I am fitness possessed and NOT fitness obsessed.

It's YOUR life - YOU choose !

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Saturday 10th May - Adjusting your "ATTITOOD" compass

I have been absent from the blog scene for a week while I have been writing another story for a book / screenplay and so have really wanted to remain focussed on that as the character plots developed.

I started with this to explain my absence after getting an email from a "concerned' friend who is keen to get her weekly fix of interesting content (her words) and felt I should do another blog for her. We were chatting and having known her for quite a while we ended up talking about things that were of interest and from that I normally get a spark of an idea of a subject to right about.

With most people nowadays there is a serious concern for not only their own health but also that of family and friends too. This is a more common aspect now with so many people getting lifestyle related diseases. She said she needed a blog cause she had been partying a little to much with her friends. This was my spark.

A report released in the last two weeks was of the concern to your health from "regular" alcohol consumption and how that potential damage is up against the perceived benefits that we have all been hearing for years "red wine is actually good for me as it has anti-oxidants in it".

This "marketing gem" was explained to me from my mother (whom I love dearly) two weekends ago when she said she was having trouble losing weight. Well as she explained her eating habits which I have spent a lot of time adjusting with the loving concern from a son who spends his time educating the masses, we found that she was eating much better. She then added that she had cut down on her "social" drinking and now only had a wine of an evening with dinner (oh and a glass of scotch just so I sleep better). I couldn't help but laugh at her justification and in fact her glass of wine was two glasses and a scotch each night. When we spoke of all the additional calories and a distinct lack of activity we pretty quickly worked out where the weight was coming from and how we could adjust her compass.

So is drinking alcohol a contributing issue to our health issues worldwide?

Bottom line from the report undertaken by the Cancer Institute of New South Wales (in Australia) pointed out that there is little benefit to "regular alcohol consumption" as indicated here :
- The report shows just two standard drinks a day can significantly boost the risk of developing breast, bowel, throat and mouth cancer.

With the increasing number of women suffering from breast cancer and men with bowel cancer it would seem logical that while hereditary factors play a part in this tragedy it also seems logical that you probably wouldn't want to increase that chance through your own wilful actions.

Having had a close friend go through the diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer which were emotionally devastating for her and her family (and friends) I think that the awareness of this research clearly should remain a preventative measure and be made part of the lifestyle campaigns that are being promoted. We now have taken steps to reduce smoking and while these haven't totally been effective in certain demographics (sadly young girls still are not hearing the message) so ANY steps to reduce the incidence of these forms of cancer should be encouraged, promoted and heard.

Now back to adjusting your ATTITOOD compass.
They say that knowledge is power. I think that knowledge that gets understood is powerful, when that knowledge transfers to action. A very good friend who is a U.S. University professor told me that creating change for long term is not easy to do, and if we don't create information that is personable to individuals then it will have a limiting effect. For me it was a friend getting breast cancer and losing a father to obesity that resonated my understanding to rise above the "noise of marketing" and get focussed on the path to a healthier me. Compass adjusted - TICK.

So maybe we need to adjust our compass from "hearing" to "hearing and then doing".

We ALL need to be responsible for our own lives and our own bodies. YOU only get one and when your Human ECO System breaks down it is up to YOU again to work towards a healthier place. Adjust YOUR dial NOW !!