I was talking to a colleague and he was telling me about this original new concept in fitness training that he was impressed with. I listened to his description and thought back to my entry into the fitness industry some 20 years ago and what he had described was at the time known basically as a Circuit.
Now they say that what becomes old will once again become new. This was one of those examples and while I didn't want to discourage his enthusiasm or passion for the "new" fitness regime coming along, I felt that really there aren't many more new modes of training using little to no equipment that can be "invented".
Sure there will always be new equipment but again even some of them are more marketing than fitness based. You see them all the time during the early morning hours of television and promising massive results for minimal effort and all come with payment plans.
There is no doubt that fitness is a hard sell. It requires greater than average effort, applied consistency and personal challenge. You must make lifestyle challenges through nutrition intake that requires reduced calories and increased nutrients to support these fitness efforts and in fact there is proof that just making the change to being active can have limited benefit so don't rely on only making half the necessary steps to fat loss success.
So how does this all affect your Human ECO System?
With today's technology comprising all it's elements from Websites, Blogs, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and any other form of social media you wish to name I believe that we are all now becoming "products" in a new global franchise called LIFE. You can find out about absolutely anything you desire, you can follow all your friends in their daily existence and even communicate without speaking. Most of these "activities" aren't active living at all as they require levels of inactivity and no movement unless you are part of the mobile phone age that never leaves you "friendless or alone".
I just urge you to take as much enjoyment in your own life as we all seem to revel in the lives of our friends and family. There is no substitute for YOU.
Now how can we still focus on our healthy lifestyle goals. Try to make a deliberate effort to ensure that YOU are as important to your daily habits as watching the lives of others seems to be to us all. I am no exception with my Website, Blog, Twitter and Facebook but I do always get up and go for a walk outside, breathe the fresh air and drink some water as this will ensure at my next nutrient intake (refuelling with food), that it will enhance not limit my health goals.
I also teach Spin cycle classes three times a week and do three weight based workouts to support my Mind Fitness with some Body Fitness.
Remember - it's YOUR Body - it's YOUR Life !!
Monday, March 23, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Tuesday 17th March 2009 - The Importance of Self
This blog is designed to be more focussed on YOU and the Importance of SELF.
This is the part of you that we don't often speak about as we have been brought up to believe that being aware of one's self is vain, and it's considered egotistical to care about our looks and appearance.
Let's talk about Self Love VS Self Loathe and Self Belief VS Self Doubt.
We often speak about connecting the Mind with the Body, and then in practice do everything to ensure that never happens. We discourage belief and abilities with criticisms of vanity that do more harm than good and in fact can lead to a loathing of the very "home in which we live - our bodies".
Well I'm going to go on the record and say that this "disconnect" directly contributes to affecting our esteem and confidence levels, which are both normally prefaced with the word "self". These false perceptions then perpetuate and lead to our actions most of which present in and lead to our ill health conditions.
Why do we do this?
How do we change it?
Well there is only one person in that conversation and that is YOU.
This came to me the day when I was teaching a Spin class and noticed that there always seems to be a high level of doubt over an individual's fitness level. Most people have little self belief in their ability to work with intensity as it brings on "higher pain levels".
Examples of negative mindspeak are:
"It will hurt if I work that hard"
"I'm pretty sure I can't do that"
"I have never tried that so it's probably too late for me"
So here is what I do. I talk to the class when we are about to work harder about the voices that they will hear in their head. Not the voices of reason but in fact the exact opposite, the voices of doubt.
I tell them to tune them out and I try to encourage them to focus on "positive affirmations" as we start to climb big hills on the bike such as "power, strength and endurance".
This simple mantra is designed to push through their own self held barriers and get them to do the following. TRY IT and then I work to challenge those barriers again with sayings such as "If you can, You Must" and also "Don't just do it - Do It Well".
This shifting from Self Doubt to Self Belief more often than not, empowers them through the difficult parts of the class and there is then a building of Self Confidence in their ability, to do what they previously wouldn't have tried.
I then try to build on that by allowing them a moment of personal congratulations where they need to express inwardly some Self Pride. This is sometimes the first time that many have actually focussed on Self Love, which I think is paramount to a "healthy mind / healthy body".
To put that in perspective, we often guage or assess ourselves by "the stranger in the mirror" (meaning we don't actually see ourselves clearly) with a personal rating of Self Loathe. We will always notice what we don't like, when it comes to the physical presence that we have with our body. No well intentioned comment from a friend or family member will change what WE see unless WE start to believe and covet Self Love.
Then and only then, will we start to begin to make the shift to a healthier place in our heads of Self Belief leading to Self Love that hopefully will increase Self Respect.
Try these strategies with yourself or your friends - It's Your Body - It's Your Life !!
This is the part of you that we don't often speak about as we have been brought up to believe that being aware of one's self is vain, and it's considered egotistical to care about our looks and appearance.
Let's talk about Self Love VS Self Loathe and Self Belief VS Self Doubt.
We often speak about connecting the Mind with the Body, and then in practice do everything to ensure that never happens. We discourage belief and abilities with criticisms of vanity that do more harm than good and in fact can lead to a loathing of the very "home in which we live - our bodies".
Well I'm going to go on the record and say that this "disconnect" directly contributes to affecting our esteem and confidence levels, which are both normally prefaced with the word "self". These false perceptions then perpetuate and lead to our actions most of which present in and lead to our ill health conditions.
Why do we do this?
How do we change it?
Well there is only one person in that conversation and that is YOU.
This came to me the day when I was teaching a Spin class and noticed that there always seems to be a high level of doubt over an individual's fitness level. Most people have little self belief in their ability to work with intensity as it brings on "higher pain levels".
Examples of negative mindspeak are:
"It will hurt if I work that hard"
"I'm pretty sure I can't do that"
"I have never tried that so it's probably too late for me"
So here is what I do. I talk to the class when we are about to work harder about the voices that they will hear in their head. Not the voices of reason but in fact the exact opposite, the voices of doubt.
I tell them to tune them out and I try to encourage them to focus on "positive affirmations" as we start to climb big hills on the bike such as "power, strength and endurance".
This simple mantra is designed to push through their own self held barriers and get them to do the following. TRY IT and then I work to challenge those barriers again with sayings such as "If you can, You Must" and also "Don't just do it - Do It Well".
This shifting from Self Doubt to Self Belief more often than not, empowers them through the difficult parts of the class and there is then a building of Self Confidence in their ability, to do what they previously wouldn't have tried.
I then try to build on that by allowing them a moment of personal congratulations where they need to express inwardly some Self Pride. This is sometimes the first time that many have actually focussed on Self Love, which I think is paramount to a "healthy mind / healthy body".
To put that in perspective, we often guage or assess ourselves by "the stranger in the mirror" (meaning we don't actually see ourselves clearly) with a personal rating of Self Loathe. We will always notice what we don't like, when it comes to the physical presence that we have with our body. No well intentioned comment from a friend or family member will change what WE see unless WE start to believe and covet Self Love.
Then and only then, will we start to begin to make the shift to a healthier place in our heads of Self Belief leading to Self Love that hopefully will increase Self Respect.
Try these strategies with yourself or your friends - It's Your Body - It's Your Life !!
Monday, March 9, 2009
Monday 9th March 2009 - Calories Vs Nutrients
Calories Vs Nutrients = An EVOLUTION for the Plan to save our Human E.C.O. System.
To build on from the last post of my new plan for "Calorie Manipulation", there is not always a relationship between calories and nutrients which is where I am going with this.
So I thought it would be important to point out that I have no problem with anyone eating food either whole or otherwise to meet their daily intake demands. I'm also not advocating the reduction or replacement of whole foods over shakes, bars or tablets but if you need to make a change - these may be of benefit in your time-poor lives.
My point is that generally most people are eating too many calories (or total volume of food) to ever meet or improve their health goals. You know that life long goal of losing bodyfat that never goes out of fashion. For years it has been touted as a simple equation of Calories In VS Calories Out but with that concept not working with obesity rates soaring, we need to find a way to reconnect with the mass population.
It's a hard battle to win against the multi-billion dollar food and drink companies that spend more than our health budget on marketing strategies to encourage us to consume their products so I think I need to find a way.
The next part of this evolutionary calorie reducing but nutrient increasing plan is that we once we get this knowledge under control our focus needs to move from "Calories In" to a better more Human E.C.O. System friendly plan of "Nutrients In".
We need to stop counting calories but not get complacent, as we move forward and evolve to look at what our body needs to function at it's optimum. Think of the way a team of mechanics address the various aspects of a finely tuned race car. Let's simply look at food as fuel knowing it has important functions we need to meet with nutrients and that the body works like a machine, but when neglected will not run poorly or equally when maintained well leaves us breathless.
I should also point out that we need to be aware and realize that in a day I can eat the recommended amount of calories on ANY weight loss plan, yet still be deficient in the necessary nutrients to adequately optimize both my fat loss and health goals.
Not a great or sensible strategy.
My first recommendation is that food that comes from the earth will be laden with nutrients and also normally be less calorific. Great start as we reset and restore balance to our Human ECO System.
Tomorrow's blog is about .... Fibre vs Nutrient Carbs
To build on from the last post of my new plan for "Calorie Manipulation", there is not always a relationship between calories and nutrients which is where I am going with this.
So I thought it would be important to point out that I have no problem with anyone eating food either whole or otherwise to meet their daily intake demands. I'm also not advocating the reduction or replacement of whole foods over shakes, bars or tablets but if you need to make a change - these may be of benefit in your time-poor lives.
My point is that generally most people are eating too many calories (or total volume of food) to ever meet or improve their health goals. You know that life long goal of losing bodyfat that never goes out of fashion. For years it has been touted as a simple equation of Calories In VS Calories Out but with that concept not working with obesity rates soaring, we need to find a way to reconnect with the mass population.
It's a hard battle to win against the multi-billion dollar food and drink companies that spend more than our health budget on marketing strategies to encourage us to consume their products so I think I need to find a way.
The next part of this evolutionary calorie reducing but nutrient increasing plan is that we once we get this knowledge under control our focus needs to move from "Calories In" to a better more Human E.C.O. System friendly plan of "Nutrients In".
We need to stop counting calories but not get complacent, as we move forward and evolve to look at what our body needs to function at it's optimum. Think of the way a team of mechanics address the various aspects of a finely tuned race car. Let's simply look at food as fuel knowing it has important functions we need to meet with nutrients and that the body works like a machine, but when neglected will not run poorly or equally when maintained well leaves us breathless.
I should also point out that we need to be aware and realize that in a day I can eat the recommended amount of calories on ANY weight loss plan, yet still be deficient in the necessary nutrients to adequately optimize both my fat loss and health goals.
Not a great or sensible strategy.
My first recommendation is that food that comes from the earth will be laden with nutrients and also normally be less calorific. Great start as we reset and restore balance to our Human ECO System.
Tomorrow's blog is about .... Fibre vs Nutrient Carbs
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Sunday 8th March 2009 - Calories Out Vs Calories In = Calorie Manipulation to Lose Fat
I have been doing a lot of research lately, nothing new there, but lately it seems to all focus around one thing - what is the amount of calories we "actually" need to consume each day to succeed at fat loss? And also how we seem to be constantly over-eating way past the recommended amount of calories and getting unhealthier.
So let's take a look at how and why a lot of this happened.
What started out nearly a decade ago with the Body For Life program by E.A.S. to promote the education of non-bodybuilders in how nutrition supplements can assist limiting excess calories and increase nutrients continues to sweep the world today.
I even developed my own program that I ran within my Private Training Studio for my clients back in 1997/98 and the following year I designed a larger scale version that I offered to the fitness industry called "Mission Possible - It's all about RESULTS" but only a few clubs adopted it which led to them having renewed success with client retention. Of course any program that has a limited time frame for fat loss success instead of just offering improved fitness will attract the masses.
In the beginning of these "lifestyle programs" it used to be just supplement companies who ran these programs for large amounts of prize money for the "most successful" person who used their products (with the obligatory sad life story). Then there were a number of online programs and companies who after seeing the numbers of people who wanted to do this, which for E.A.S. was in the millions, adopted similar methods. So it has now become a mainstream phenomenum.
To compete and maintain their market share, even the major weight loss companies had trainer educators and nutritionists develop their own versions, to now even the Shopping Channels have versions that you can buy on monthly installments and from there it exploded to the present day where even the corner Chemist shops are promoting these programs that are based around a number of weeks, such as either 6/8/10/ or 12 weeks with a protein supplement.
But with so many of this type of "programs" now on the market today I am consistently challenged and question the people who are putting these programs together. They seem to be targeting the masses and encourage individuals to eat the same amount of calories each day. Why, as I believe this is contributing to the "growth" in the obesity statistics.
Now don't be confused. I will be the biggest advocate that we should be consuming more protein but put simply if you eat the same amount of calories everyday and do not exercise everyday then you may be contributing to your own ill-health. It doesn't make logical sense from a health perspective if we know most people are eating too much for me not to explore this further.
Let's try some basic mathematics.
If a program asks you to try to eat 2000-2400 calories everyday that means you consume between 14,000 and 16,800 calories a week. Is it me or does that seem a lot to then have to balance out with your personal "energy requirements" of daily living and then be supported by your levels of exercise.
Let's go further. If you work out three times a week, which is more than most people workout on average, and I will be generous here with your intensity expenditure, you "could be burning up to 500 calories" a workout, which is rare but means you ONLY account for 1,500 (output) calories of your 14,000 (intake) calories. Not really that many is it ....... which means you need to adjust or manipulate your calorie intake to meet your output.
Now to my latest "evolutionary" plan.
It's termed "Calorie Manipulation".
Remember we should constantly challenge what we are doing for our fat loss goal so that we continue to get better results (and healthier) and forms part of the ongoing education that I think we all need to learn about our Human ECO System. It encourages you to look at the way you adjust your daily intake of calories based upon your needs AND your fat loss goal. Simply if you don't exercise everyday then there seems to be no basis for consuming the same amount of calories or nutrients that would be required to cope with your daily demands on days you DO exercise.
Here is what I do.
My eating plan is simple yet effective.
Knowing that we are all time poor (and I am no exception) I try to look for easy, fast ways to get maximum nutrients. For me this means EVERY morning I do an "energy shake" focussing on 40-45g or protein mixed with water, some form of "Green foods powder" like barley and wheat grass, and I also take a multi-vitamin / multi-mineral tablet.
Mid morning snack can be either handful of almonds or green apple. Lunch is either salad with some form of leftover protein from previous evening meal or tin of tuna. Mid afternoon snack needs to be easy, so I always do another shake. Dinner is mostly salmon and salad or chicken or lean steak and depending on exercise I may have it with brown rice or cous cous.
Mandatory is regular glasses of water which can be anywhere from 8 to 12 depending on heat of day and yes it is normal to have regular toilet breaks (pee) regularly so stop telling me that you can't do it.
I do some form of activity five (5) days a week, so I manipulate my eating plan on exercise days to slightly increase consumption of carbohydrate intake with either brown rice (1 cup during the day and mostly eaten at lunchtime) or small amounts of cous cous.
Which ever I choose to consume it is still supported by my protein intake at EVERY meal as well as a source of good fats (like avocado or nuts or organic coconut oil in shakes) but not exceeding 30g a day. Those days that I don't exercise I maintain my protein and good fats intake with my sources of carbodydrate coming from salads and vegetables but NOT any other source.
Why focus on intensity?
Over the 20+ years I have been involved in changing the lives of others with training and education it is more often than not "those voices in our head" that limit our success by limiting our belief. These voices are very loud when we exercise with intensity - "it hurts", "this is hard", "I can't do it" are all limiting beliefs that can be "tuned out".
Intensity will ensure that no matter how long you exercise for whether it is 30 mins or 60 mins, you will be achieving your best effort every time which will further influence your metabolic results.
This slight reduction in total daily calories is then also supported by the days that I do train where I aim to be consistent with the intensity of my activities. For example on two of the days I teach an hour Spin (cycle) class and I encourage the class to focus on challenging their personal beliefs of what we are capable of doing. I know that personally I am working to the best of my ability to "use or burn" as many calories as I can which is both good for improving fitness levels and also for changing bodyshape.
I also do three days of lean muscle conditioning and this could either be a class (like PUMP or Bodybar) or it could be and all body free weight workout. This increases caloric expenditure both when working out and at all other times when lean muscle influences your metabolism.
Try this plan for one week. Write down what you eat and what exercise you do and see if you are achieving the best outcome for your health goals.
Remember - it's YOUR Body and it's YOUR Life !
So let's take a look at how and why a lot of this happened.
What started out nearly a decade ago with the Body For Life program by E.A.S. to promote the education of non-bodybuilders in how nutrition supplements can assist limiting excess calories and increase nutrients continues to sweep the world today.
I even developed my own program that I ran within my Private Training Studio for my clients back in 1997/98 and the following year I designed a larger scale version that I offered to the fitness industry called "Mission Possible - It's all about RESULTS" but only a few clubs adopted it which led to them having renewed success with client retention. Of course any program that has a limited time frame for fat loss success instead of just offering improved fitness will attract the masses.
In the beginning of these "lifestyle programs" it used to be just supplement companies who ran these programs for large amounts of prize money for the "most successful" person who used their products (with the obligatory sad life story). Then there were a number of online programs and companies who after seeing the numbers of people who wanted to do this, which for E.A.S. was in the millions, adopted similar methods. So it has now become a mainstream phenomenum.
To compete and maintain their market share, even the major weight loss companies had trainer educators and nutritionists develop their own versions, to now even the Shopping Channels have versions that you can buy on monthly installments and from there it exploded to the present day where even the corner Chemist shops are promoting these programs that are based around a number of weeks, such as either 6/8/10/ or 12 weeks with a protein supplement.
But with so many of this type of "programs" now on the market today I am consistently challenged and question the people who are putting these programs together. They seem to be targeting the masses and encourage individuals to eat the same amount of calories each day. Why, as I believe this is contributing to the "growth" in the obesity statistics.
Now don't be confused. I will be the biggest advocate that we should be consuming more protein but put simply if you eat the same amount of calories everyday and do not exercise everyday then you may be contributing to your own ill-health. It doesn't make logical sense from a health perspective if we know most people are eating too much for me not to explore this further.
Let's try some basic mathematics.
If a program asks you to try to eat 2000-2400 calories everyday that means you consume between 14,000 and 16,800 calories a week. Is it me or does that seem a lot to then have to balance out with your personal "energy requirements" of daily living and then be supported by your levels of exercise.
Let's go further. If you work out three times a week, which is more than most people workout on average, and I will be generous here with your intensity expenditure, you "could be burning up to 500 calories" a workout, which is rare but means you ONLY account for 1,500 (output) calories of your 14,000 (intake) calories. Not really that many is it ....... which means you need to adjust or manipulate your calorie intake to meet your output.
Now to my latest "evolutionary" plan.
It's termed "Calorie Manipulation".
Remember we should constantly challenge what we are doing for our fat loss goal so that we continue to get better results (and healthier) and forms part of the ongoing education that I think we all need to learn about our Human ECO System. It encourages you to look at the way you adjust your daily intake of calories based upon your needs AND your fat loss goal. Simply if you don't exercise everyday then there seems to be no basis for consuming the same amount of calories or nutrients that would be required to cope with your daily demands on days you DO exercise.
Here is what I do.
My eating plan is simple yet effective.
Knowing that we are all time poor (and I am no exception) I try to look for easy, fast ways to get maximum nutrients. For me this means EVERY morning I do an "energy shake" focussing on 40-45g or protein mixed with water, some form of "Green foods powder" like barley and wheat grass, and I also take a multi-vitamin / multi-mineral tablet.
Mid morning snack can be either handful of almonds or green apple. Lunch is either salad with some form of leftover protein from previous evening meal or tin of tuna. Mid afternoon snack needs to be easy, so I always do another shake. Dinner is mostly salmon and salad or chicken or lean steak and depending on exercise I may have it with brown rice or cous cous.
Mandatory is regular glasses of water which can be anywhere from 8 to 12 depending on heat of day and yes it is normal to have regular toilet breaks (pee) regularly so stop telling me that you can't do it.
I do some form of activity five (5) days a week, so I manipulate my eating plan on exercise days to slightly increase consumption of carbohydrate intake with either brown rice (1 cup during the day and mostly eaten at lunchtime) or small amounts of cous cous.
Which ever I choose to consume it is still supported by my protein intake at EVERY meal as well as a source of good fats (like avocado or nuts or organic coconut oil in shakes) but not exceeding 30g a day. Those days that I don't exercise I maintain my protein and good fats intake with my sources of carbodydrate coming from salads and vegetables but NOT any other source.
Why focus on intensity?
Over the 20+ years I have been involved in changing the lives of others with training and education it is more often than not "those voices in our head" that limit our success by limiting our belief. These voices are very loud when we exercise with intensity - "it hurts", "this is hard", "I can't do it" are all limiting beliefs that can be "tuned out".
Intensity will ensure that no matter how long you exercise for whether it is 30 mins or 60 mins, you will be achieving your best effort every time which will further influence your metabolic results.
This slight reduction in total daily calories is then also supported by the days that I do train where I aim to be consistent with the intensity of my activities. For example on two of the days I teach an hour Spin (cycle) class and I encourage the class to focus on challenging their personal beliefs of what we are capable of doing. I know that personally I am working to the best of my ability to "use or burn" as many calories as I can which is both good for improving fitness levels and also for changing bodyshape.
I also do three days of lean muscle conditioning and this could either be a class (like PUMP or Bodybar) or it could be and all body free weight workout. This increases caloric expenditure both when working out and at all other times when lean muscle influences your metabolism.
Try this plan for one week. Write down what you eat and what exercise you do and see if you are achieving the best outcome for your health goals.
Remember - it's YOUR Body and it's YOUR Life !
Thursday, March 5, 2009
March 6th 2009 - Calorie Manipulation
I am working on this blog to further educate YOU on how just watching what you eat isn't enough to maximize the results you seek.
I plan to have this posted in the next 24 hours so please come back and be ahead of the game when it comes to fat loss.
I plan to have this posted in the next 24 hours so please come back and be ahead of the game when it comes to fat loss.
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