Fitness Basics – a step by step guide to bodyweight exercises – Part One
04 Jun 2012 Leave a Comment
in Exercise and Fitness, Information Tags: fitness, Health, Push Up, gym, Mark’s Daily Apple, Mark Sisson, The Primal Blueprint: Reprogram your genes for effortless weight loss vibrant health and boundless energy, Daily Apple, Bodyweight exercise
So, I’ve talked a lot lately about food and nutrition but what about exercise? Everyone assumes that EVERYONE knows how to do all the main exercises but it’s so important to get the techniques right; I thought I would share some short demonstrations including the basic movements plus some variations which will take you in easy steps through to the harder version!
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Fab Foods for Fertility and Pregnancy
04 Jun 2012 Leave a Comment
in My Training Updates Tags: nutrition, Health, Physical fitness, Mark’s Daily Apple, Low-carbohydrate diet, Mark Sisson, The Primal Blueprint: Reprogram your genes for effortless weight loss vibrant health and boundless energy, pregnancy, fertility, Cod liver oil, Omega-3 fatty acid, Diet (nutrition)
Pregnant? Hoping to get pregnant?
Amongst the millions of other things to worry/obsess/fret about are the masses of contradictory information available on-line, in books, parenting classes, from your families, your friends and even total strangers about what you should and shouldn’t eat, what constitutes a healthy diet; this is usually followed by their opinion of what you are currently consuming and why they know best! As if we don’t all have enough to think about!
Top tips to lose weight
02 Jun 2012 Leave a Comment
in Blogs from other people, Exercise and Fitness, Information Tags: Charles Poliquin, diet, Eating, fitness, Health, High-protein diet, strength training, weight loss
We all want to lose weight, and a large number of my clients want to lose it from one place in particular – their waists, stomach, midsection, abs, stomach – call it what you will it amounts to the same thing. It’s the area that weight always seems to settle and the older you get the harder it seems to shift!
So reading Charles Poliquin’s Blog yesterday he was focussing on the best ways to reduce or eliminate fat from this area in particular but, lets face it, if you are eating well and moving more the benefits are going to be felt (and seen) all over your body. With all of that in mind what then are the top tips to shape up?
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The 10 Things Fitness Magazines Don’t Tell You
01 Jun 2012 Leave a Comment
in Blogs from other people, Exercise and Fitness, Information Tags: diet, Eating, Health, Livestrong, weight loss
I love having the time and space to be able to catch up on some reading and being able to read some of the great articles and websites 
people have sent me. Here is one such interesting article from the team over at Livestrong.
I love this bit which is something that those of us who want to lose weight would all do well to remember “You need to find a plan that you can sustain. One that keeps you happy, works for your schedule and life, and is sustainable”
“….too many people are either looking for a quick 4-week fix (doesn’t exist), or the one solution that will solve everyone’s problems. Not going to happen…..”
All in all an interesting article, let me know what you think?
Five-year-olds treated for depression
31 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in Blogs from other people, NLP Tags: childhood depression, Depression, Disorders, Fluoxetine, Health, Mental health
I understand the complexities of this issue but why oh why are we handing out anti-depressants like smarties and not addressing the issues behind the symptoms. Five-year-olds treated for depression and anxiety.
There are so many other, better ways to treat anxiety and depression but we should get a grip of what is happening in our society that makes parents and doctors think that Prozac is the answer!
Instant Gratification
31 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in Information Tags: diet, Health, weight loss
Why as a Society are we so obsessed with finding instant gratification? Take aways, microwave meals, drive through burger 
restaurants, lose weight overnight diets, get fit in 20 minutes, find the man/woman of your dreams online, look like a celebrity by buying this moisturiser?
Why is it so hard for us all to accept that anything good takes more than a few minutes and that all of the quick fixes and instant solutions are never going to be permanent? Most of us already know that nothing beats the flavours of a home cooked meal, made from scratch and with love so why is the ready meal market worth 
billions of pounds per year and why have fast food joints materialised on every High Street across the UK?
We all know that we don’t put weight on overnight, it creeps up on us gradually, month on month, year on year so why, oh why, do we get sucked in by the “lose pounds in 7 days” diet plans, usually back by a Z-list celebrity or reality TV “star”?
As a fitness professional (I love saying that!) the thing I get asked the most is “how can I lose xx pounds by the summer/my holiday / Christmas / my wedding?” And without exception everyone wants it to be easy, they want me to give them the magic recipe that they have been searching for their whole life; they want the pill that will mean the weight falls off overnight, they don’t have to put any effort in but miraculously get fit and for most women, get toned
.
So you sell them the dream that they can lose the weight, they can get fit, they can look great and to start with they are really keen but somewhere down the line reality sets in and they realise that eating healthily is forever whereas a diet is a temporary fix, they realise that they will have to stop drinking / eating chocolate / chips, they realise that they will have to move, do hard exercise, get hot and sweaty and for most people it all gets a bit too hard and they stop. They go back to their “nothing works” mentality, they tell themselves that they have a slow metabolism, they are just too old, its in their genes and the weight creeps back on until they are heavier than when they started and its time to try yet ANOTHER quick fix, fad diet or exercise plan.
I think we will only really get a grip of the obesity issues we have in the UK and across the western world when we start to learn that instant gratification doesn’t work – quick fixes don’t last, quick food isn’t real food, miracle exercise machines are just a marketing gimmick. And lets be honest, the only people getting anything long lasting out of all of the instant gratification markets are the marketing men and the shareholders – its certainly not devised out of any sense of altruism!
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Get Fit for Summer – Week 1
30 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in Diet and Nutrition, Exercise and Fitness Tags: Creating Chaos, fitness, General fitness training, Get Fit for Summer, Health, Physical exercise, Physical fitness
Hey there everyone and Happy Wednesday!
I know its almost here but the reality is its NEVER too late to get in shape! Why not join our Get Fit for Summer challenge – follow the link for the first video workout and make sure you read The Rules! before you start.
Lets make 2012 a healthy, happy summer to remember!
What do you think? Would love to see your progress…..
Stay healthy!
Goals, plans and the future – part 2!
30 May 2012 4 Comments
in Motivation and Positivity, My Training Updates Tags: Coaching, Goal, Health, Strategic management, Time management
So, I sort of have an idea of what I want to achieve in my personal life in the next year and am beginning to think about what things I 
will need to do in order to get there but what about my professional goals – where do I want to be professionally in a year from now? What does success look and feel like, how will I determine whether I have reached my goals?
When I started this, the goal was to pass all of my exams and I hadn’t really given a great deal of thought to what happens next! So, I took all of my exams, passed everything I needed first time (yay me!) and then……….?
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Onwards and upwards – goals, plans and the future
29 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in Motivation and Positivity, My Training Updates Tags: Barbecue, BFP, Carbohydrate, fitness, Health, High-protein diet, Low-carbohydrate diet, Muscle, Neuro-linguistic programming, protein, training, weight loss
Another lovely sunny day here and there really is nothing like fabulous weather and barbecues to make to me eat LOADS of protein; have managed to eat protein three times a day for the last few days so feeling a bit more virtuous – just need to get my carb intake under control now!
I have been thinking more and more about all the things that really interest me, the things I want to achieve this year and next, the things I want to do and I am trying to be realistic and not set myself ridiculous pressure filled weeks that wipe me out. Reading, researching areas of the fitness and therapy industry, looking into training and finding role models seems such an indulgent pastime that it means I quite often don’t devote enough attention to looking forward and end up 
spending too much time looking inwards and backwards. My other failing (see I am actually admitting that I have them!) is to plan so much in that I (a) overload myself and (b) don’t allow enough space in my life to be able to process all the events and to capitalise on the magnitude of them – meaning I end up like I am now, feeling overwhelmed by the amount of information my brain needs to process!
So, using my amazing NLP timeline techniques I have been trying to visualise the next year and understand what I want to achieve and by when and trying to break it down into professional goals and personal goals – two areas I am guilty of confusing! Given how complicated this is all proving it’s probably best if I focus on one at at time so, today, its personal goals! More
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OMG I am actually human!
27 May 2012 2 Comments
in My Training Updates Tags: diet, dieting, Eating, exhaustion, Health, Mindless Eating, relaxing, stress
Its been a really difficult week and I guess if I am honest, there has been a lot of stuff going on in my head for the last few weeks and I think things have finally got a bit too much for me. So, time to take a bit of time away from some of my self-imposed stresses, time to rest, think, sleep and cry!
Today is the first time I have posted for a week and this is the first time I could even begin to think outwards instead of inwards; I have spent so much time the last few days just resting and trying to understand what I feel and why. I have been, and still am, completely physically and mentally exhausted, it seems that despite my careful planning and all my “I’m fine” the stresses were effecting my body and my mind far more that I realised. I am glad I got all the exams, the studying done, glad I have experienced everything I have but perhaps in hindsight I should have staggered my commitments a little more and allowed myself a little more time to stay on top on family stuff.
But what have I learnt? How has it all affected my body, my health, my mind? What lessons are there I can take from all of this?
