Healthy Banana and Protein Muffins!

Here is a cracking recipe for HEALTHY yummy muffins!

Makes 10 muffins

Ingredients

50g Butter

75g Brown Sugar

1 Egg

225g Spelt or Wholemeal Flour

2-3 Mashed Bananas

Pinch Salt

1 tsp Baking Powder

1tsp Vanilla or Almond Essence

5 Tbsp Milk

Optional

100g Chocolate Protein Powder (Add extra liquid if you add the protein)

75+% cocoa Chocolate, few squares crushed

2 handfuls of Oats

- Combine everything in a large bowl

-Spoon into 10 non stick muffin cases

- Bake at 190degs for 20mins

Calories - 165kcals Protein - 4.1g (or 14g with 100g protein powder), Carbs - 27g, Fat - 5g, Fibre 2.2g

Great for mid morning or afternoon snacks, and with the oats and protein powder great for pre-workout. Get on it and feedback!!!

Eat REAL chocolate

With this weekend being Easter, your diet/training is going to be tested with "over the top" amounts of chocolate on offer, and additional wheat and sugar in the form of hot cross buns.

You may well have only just got back on track after the Christmas binge, so don't let this weekend put you back in your goals, aims and targets.

If you're going to eat some chocolate, do me, and yourself a favour, and actually eat CHOCOLATE !! By this, I mean eat some chocolate that contains at least 70% cocoa, where possible aim for 80%. Real cocoa contains antioxidants which will help the body eliminate damaged cells in the body. It will also not give you the bloodsugar crashes which "normal" chocolate will.

Have a look at the ingredients of an 80% cocoa chocolate and you'll maybe see some sugar listed, and if so, it will probably be in the last 2 ingredients. The order of ingredients is from the most used/concentrated, down to the least amount used in the product.

Compare this to a "commercial brand" chocolate and sugar will be one of the first ingredients, meaning it is mostly sugar. Also, don't look just for sugar in the list, anything that ends in xxxxOSE is a sugar, so you may see glucose syrup, glucose etc. These products ARE NOT chocolate, they are just a sugar rush and calories in a packet.

Buy a good quality chocolate, have a piece a day rather than binge, and don't eat excessively - you know what the outcome would be.

Also, it really is no excuse to overload your children with the same rubbish. Do they really need 3-4 eggs? No, you're not helping them, you're rotting their teeth, and if they're consuming high amounts of sugar through juices, crisps, biscuits, cakes etc, you're pushing them further towards obesity and diabetes.

Be responsible, not just for yourself but your children.

Fat Binding tablets

On a forum I was looking at the other day, posters were discussing the benefits, and questions over fat-binding pills. Nobody was getting great results, just a few extra pounds here and there, but still the questions and interest kept coming!

After about 15 replies to the post, I had to interject, with my favourite line of, "If 1 pill worked, everyone would be taking it, and nobody would be obese!"
To which I got the reply, "It does work, it works, by binding to the fat you eat in your diet, and not allowing about 30% to be digested. You then excrete this fat, and so you don't store fat"

At this stage, I was shaking my head, and my fingers just couldn't type fast enough to get my reply in!

"Eating fat, does NOT make you FAT! Excess calories make you fat, be it carbohydrates, protein, fat, whatever! Plus if you're eating excessive amounts of saturated fat, why not just cut back on the fat you're eating, instead of almost eating what you like and then taking a "Fat binding pill"
Plus, what about the fat already in you're body, it's doing nothing for that?!!"

They just couldn't get it!

When I looked at the ingredients, one was talc (yep talcum powder!) and the other was a laxative. OK, maybe we're now getting to where any weightloss may come from! Plus, posters were saying that if you eat something with a reasonably high level of fat while on the pills, you will get an oily, orange seepage from your skin.......how nice!

OK, ENOUGH!

These pills are crap! Full stop!

Be accountable to yourself, don't look for "easy options" or magical cures - they just aren't there.
Pay attention to what you eat.
Think about what you eat. - "Will this danish pastry get me closer to my goals or further away?"
Eat a balanced diet, minimising man-made or processed food, with the majority of your diet coming from natural foods, and drink lots of water.
Combine this with exercise and you will have a lean body, a steady supply of energy, and hopefully won't have any oily seepage!!

Get Sensible - Get Real!

Burn off the FAT -

"With this great Abs workout!"
Well, that was a headline on the front of Runner's World last month, and is often a headline you'll see on most "fitness or celebrity" magazines, every month.

Will it do as the headline says?

Largely, No.

Yes ab and core exercises will help strengthen those muscles and improve posture, but they're not going to burn fat alone. Just how many calories would a set of ab exercises burn? 30, 40, 50 at most if you're going for a while!

Ab and core work should be built into your workouts, along with big full body exercises like Squats, Lunges, Pressups, pullups, Kettlebell or dumbell swings, Rotational work etc, and again using freeweights and not machines, unless you're using assisted pullup work.

Add in some interval training, be it on CV equipment or with resistance exercises, and cut back on sugar, wheat and processed foods, whilst eating more protein and natural foods, and you'll be on your way to really burning off the fat!

If you want more information on Interval Training, signup to the box on the right and you'll receive my report on how to integrate Intervals into your workouts for maximum results!

1 BIG Fat Loss Tip for a flat stomach

I've been reading posts on other forums recently, where people are trying "slimming" pills, "appetite suppressant" pills, cutting out fat from their diet, even dropping below 1200kcals a day. All of these are damaging to your body and health - all in search of quick fix. Surely it's better to do something sustainable? Well here is 1 BIG tip that will allow you to drop fat, and flatten your stomach!

WHEAT! Yep, don't add it to your diet, REMOVE it!

Wheat is a cheap bulking agent that is used in many food products nowadays, meaning that we consume far too much of it, knowingly, or unknowingly.

A typical day could be;

Wheat based cereal for breakfast

Sandwich for lunch

Pasta for evening meal.

That's a lot of wheat.

Wheat is listed in the top 8 food allergens along with peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, shellfish, fish and soy.

Most people eat wheat so often their bodies adapt and cope, and so they experience mild forms of the symptoms (known as wheat intolerance) without ever really being aware of where the problem lies. These symptoms can be anything from diarrhoea, lethargy, bloating to skin rashes and mood swings.

Withdrawing wheat from the diet and therefore ridding the body of wheat can lead to immense improvements in health and wellbeing, along with a drop in excess water, toxins and bodyfat.

Alternatives would be Oats, or eggs and rye bread for breakfast, a lean protein and salad lunch, or sweet jacket potato, and a great alternative to wheat past is SPELT, which is so much lighter and easier to digest than wheat, you'll wonder why you didn't change before!

Go on, break your routine and give it a try. I guarantee after 4 weeks you'll be thanking me, and loving your new flatter stomach and increased energy levels!

A tree is only as strong as it's roots!

While PT'ing at the gym today, the freeweights area was unfortunately full of men, and boys, performing set after set of bicep curls and tricep work! All with tracksuit bottoms on.

Yes, the weather is getting warmer, and T-shirts are starting to make an appearance, but soon, it will be Summer weather (hopefully!) and the shorts and skirts will have to come out!

If you're not training your legs, and this applies to women too, how are you going to feel when the legs are on show?! Yes guys, you might have a nice set of guns, but it looks a bit comical when there are a set of chicken legs further down! Or ladies, are you fed up with shapeless, round legs, and no bum to speak of?

Then get working on the lower body! Stretch your hip flexors and start performing Squats, Lunges, Straight Leg deadlifts, Deadlifts, Good mornings, weighted steups, Sumo squats, and you will soon start shaping that bottom and building definition in those legs!

Add in 2-3 interval workouts a week, be it on the bike, running, or circuit-format weights, and you will start to see your results!

Combine your exercise with some clean eating, more water, nuts, lean meat, fruit and vegetables, cutting back on sugar, wheat and processed foods and you'll be bringing out the shorts and skirts before the majority!

Interview with Craig Ballantyne - Turbulence Training

Craig was kind enough to supply me with the following interview recently.

If you haven't checked out any of his workouts before, they are definitely worth investing in, as have thousands of people throughout the world!

1) Hi Craig, thanks for taking the time to talk to me and my readers!
Give us a quick biog of yourself and how TT started?

Answer:
Turbulence Training is the combined result of over 6 years of University study (including a Master's Degree in Exercise Physiology), 16 years of hands-on, in the trenches gym experience, over 5,318 personal training sessions, and careful scrutiny of over 723 medical research papers.
It started in 1999, when I was a struggling grad student at McMaster University in Hamilton , Ontario , Canada . We had just finished one of my graduate research studies and I was spending up to 16 hours a day in the lab analyzing my research data.
As a former athlete, I knew that I had to find a way to stay lean and muscular and avoid the fat gain that comes from working long hours in a lab and at a desk as a researcher.
The workouts were a combination of my experience and the research I was going over at that time.
Now we use even more bodyweight exercises and the workers are sometimes even shorter, but it's all based on that original TT philosophy.

2) With so many diets, programmes, ideas out there, what do you think are the top 3 things that people do wrong when starting a fat loss/fitness programme? A few months back, I made a post on my blog saying people had to "buy-in" to the whole package (exercise, nutrition, and think about it
daily, integrating it into their lives, rather than just at workout times, if they are to achieve successful results.)

Answer:
i) They cheat too much on weekends and snack mindlessly. Diet is the biggest factor in fat loss, and most folks cheat a lot more than they like to think.
ii) They do too much long, low-intensity exercise (i.e. low intensity cardio). You don't need to do that much exercise to lose fat. Just focus on your diet and quick workouts instead.
iii) They neglect resistance training. If you really want to change your body, you need to do some resistance training twice per week. But again, most fat loss comes from diet, not exercise.


3) You talk a lot about the ‘social support’ aspect when setting out your fat loss goals. Can you tell us more why this is an important key towards your success?

Answer:
It's difficult for most folks to lose fat on their own. Worse, a lot of folks live in environments that are unfriendly to fat loss (friends, spouse, significant others, etc., want to eat bad foods and sit around).
So you must get support outside of your normal social circle. This can be online or at the gym, or maybe you could even find a nutrition buddy at work.
But it's too hard to do it when you are the only one who wants to see you succeed.

4) What would your top 5 bodyweight and ‘gym’ based exercises be?

Answer:
My big 5 fat loss movements are...
i) A squat-type movement (squatting, kettlebell swings, jumps, etc)
ii) A pushing exercise (pushups, dumbbell chest press, kettlebell press)
iii) A pulling exercise (pullups, dumbbell rows, bodyweight rows)
iv) A single-leg exercise (split squats, 1-leg lying hip extensions)
v) A total body ab exercise (Knee ups, planks, side planks)
That's a well rounded total body, fat burning, body sculpting routine right there.

5) What are your top 5 foods that people should and shouldn’t be eating?

Answer:
Should be eating...
- more fruits
- more vegetables
- more raw nuts
- more protein (to a point...but the average person doesn't eat enough...but you don't need to eat more than 1 gram per pound of lean body weight) Nothing specific...just a wide variety of whole, natural foods.
Should NOT be eating...
- liquid calories
- anything with added sugar
- anything with trans-fats
- processed carbohydrates


6) Can you give us a quick breakdown of what you ate today/yesterday?

Answer:
A typical day goes like this:
6:30am - water and vitamin C before dog walk
8:30am - breakfast bowl of blueberries, pecans, a banana, a tbspn natural
peanut butter, coconut flakes. Green Tea.
11am - 4-egg omelet (omega-3 enriched eggs) with green & red peppers,
asparagus, broccoli, onion, mushrooms, spinach and a bit of cheese. topped
with salsa. Green Tea. Greens plus drink.
2pm - After a workout, I drink 2 cups of chocolate milk.
3pm - Lunch of salad and chicken and an apple and raw almonds.
7pm - Dinner of either:
chicken breast plus broccoli, asparagus, spinach and soup.
or
Amy's Organic Chili plus added vegetables
10pm - raw nuts and apple or pear

7) If you’re aiming to put on muscle, how you should eat differently to a fat loss specific programme?

Answer:
Eat more carbohydrates at all meals. Pretty simple.

8) Do/should you train women differently to men for fat loss? Are they
any exercises women/men benefit from more, or should perform more often?

Answer:
Not really. Sometimes we just do fewer sets.

9) Should workouts for fat loss be a set followed programme, with weight increases each session, for say 4 weeks, or does a challenging, varied workout each time have the same effect?

Answer:
It depends. There's nothing wrong with sticking to the same program for 4 weeks straight (each program consisting of 2-3 workouts of course). But you can change the workout each time and still lose a lot of fat.

Thanks to Craig for his time during his busy schedule! Checkout his work at http://www.turbulencetraining.com/ or his blog at http://www.turbulencetraining.blogspot.com/

Do we help or hinder our childrens nutrition?

I took my youngest daughter to our local softplay this afternoon (An inside play area with ball pit, padded climbing area, etc for toddlers).

The first thing that hits you when you go in is the smell of grease and fried food! I cannot believe the amount of cr*p food available to buy there! Sweets, crisps, chocolates, pizza, fizzy drink. The healthiest thing was a box of raisins! No wonder kids get hyper and obese if these sort of foods are on offer.

And how ironic is it that this sort of rubbish is sold at a place for kids to burn off energy, and get some exercise?!! A bit ironic really!

I feel like doing a Jamie Oliver, going in, giving them an overhaul and trying to get some healthy options in there!

At the weekend I went supermarket shopping - I love trolley watching when at the supermarket!

Especially when you see someone who is clearly overweight, and then at their trolley contents and you can see how they got like this!

Multiple bags of crisps, bottles of 2litre coke, frozen meals and pizzas, biscuits, cakes, sweets, white breads and pasta. Nothing natural, just loads of additives, stimulants, artificial food, which does nothing for the body, and just piles on the calories.

It shocks me even further when you see their children with them, who may well be overweight, and you just feel sorry for them, they have no chance really.

It is just laziness when it comes to this type of shopping. OK, not everyone has the money to buy organic, but it only takes a few cook books, a browse of the internet to see how to make a dish with some chicken, mince and vegetables etc.

I've seen TV programs where the parents have said, "But they don't like that stuff, I'm not gonna waste my money on stuff they won't eat!"More cr*p! They don't like it because they don't eat it enough! They are used to high salt, high sugar foods, and their taste buds are ruined!

As my Dad used to say when we were at home, "It's not a cafe!, Eat it or go hungry!"

Come on, give your kids a chance, even if you don't give a cra*p about yourself!

Don't Fear the Fat!

Do you think eating fat makes you fat?

I was scanning some posts on a "weight loss" forum the other day and this one post was all about cutting out fat from your diet, or eating low-fat this and that, as THE way to lose weight.
Suffice to say this thread had several pages, and not many people with results!

If I told you that eating fat DOES NOT make you fat, would you believe me?!

Well, the simple fact is, excess calories, above the amount your need to maintain your current bodyweight, is what makes you overweight.
Not carbohydrates, not fat, not protein, not, not eating after 6pm in the evening, not missing a few workouts in a week.

Sure, saturated fat is not good for you in large amounts, but monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fats have some great health and fitness benefits for you, and will certainly not make you overweight! In fact they could actually help you lose weight!
Our body needs fat to function properly. Besides being an energy source, fat is a nutrient used in the production of cell membranes, as well as in several hormone-like compounds called eicosanoids. These compounds help regulate blood pressure, heart rate, blood vessel constriction, blood clotting and the nervous system.

Worry more about excess calories and packaged, man made foods - these could make you fat!

Sorry Skippy!

Earlier this week, our last week in Perth, we went to a restaurant for lunch, and I had.......some kangaroo! Yep, sorry skip, I ordered some.....and it tasted great. If you've not had it before, it tastes like a great fillet steak, very tender, meaty, and a great flavour!

The best sources of protein, will be from those animals which are active. They will be leaner, more tender, and a better flavour, than from those animals which move less. Other protein sources, like fish, has little fat.
Why? Well, do you ever see a fat fish that doesn't move much?! Exactly!

Do yourself and your body a favour, eat less manufactured carbs, more leaner protein, workout 2-4 times a week, and you could look leaner, and trimmer, and maybe good enough to eat?!!

I've found the Fat Loss Secret!

YES! I've finally found the secret formula for Fat Loss and Fitness whilst holidaying in Malaysia!!


Seriously though, whilst walking through the shops in Langkawi, I came across the above in the tea section. Maybe this is why there are no gyms here on Langkawi?!!


As posted previously, the diet here comprises of fresh foods and fruit, nothing processed, hardly anything packaged. This must say something?


There are NO secret potions, pills or powders that will give sustainable fat loss or fitness benefits. It will just be hard work on the fitness front, and sensible, fresh, natural eating to give you maintainable weight loss, sustained energy and vitality, and a healthy life.


Oh, and a touch of sunshine always helps!
One more day and then off to Oz for the next update!
A quick pic of our beach! ;-)

Further confirmation that Fat Loss is food!

Well after a long flight, we arrived in Malaysia! The weather is a change from the snow we left in the UK - lovely and hot, a welcome sight!

We are staying on an island called Langkawi, and like many of these islands, there aren't the luxuries of back home, in the form of gyms and the alike.

One thing which is apparent is that there are no obese people here on the island - or none that I have seen!

WHAT?! How can that be? There are no gyms! There is no one out running, I've not seen anyone working out!!

Well, just another confirmation that weight loss, or maintenance is about the calories you consume.

Here there are no coffee shops, bakeries, fast food shops, crisps, burger chains etc.

The food people eat is fresh, and natural. Food your body can do something with.

Everything is based around fruit, meats, fish, rice, noodles, vegetables etc.

The choices we make, are just that, choices. Sure you can treat yourself now and then, but stick to the 'core' foods, outlined above, and you will notice the benefits.

Be in control of your choices, take 100% responsibility for yourself and your actions.

OK, back to the beach, and some fresh fruit!

Heed the warning signs!!

Yesterday, I had to take my car to the garage to have the cam belt changed. I'd been holding off, as to me, a non-mechanical sort of person, it seemed like a waste of money! It was going to cost me over £300, for something that, at the time, didn't seem like I needed.

(Supposedly the cam belt, or timing belt, has a lot to do with the running of the engine, and the valve system?! Who know's I'm just a PT?!)

However, I was already 8,000 miles and a couple of years over the recommended time for changing it, so felt now was as good a time as any!

If the cam belt snaps, I've heard that the damage to the engine can often be beyond repair - so with this in the back of my mind, I collected the car and paid my money.

Driving home, the car felt, and drove no better, and part of me thought, "What a waste of £300!", but looking logically, it was overdue, needed to be done, and if it had snapped, I would be looking at a much larger bill!

If you compare this with your exercise and nutrition regime, there could be comparisons.

Sometimes you may think, "oh it won't matter if I have this cake today, or take-away meal tonight, it won't do that much harm", but if you don't pay attention to your intake on a regular basis, it WILL mount up and eventually YOU WILL pay the price!

Yes, you can get away with things for a short period of time, but keep pushing the risks, or don't pay attention to the warning signs, and the end cost could be a big shock, and something you weren't planning for.

Be it eating too many, or the wrong type of calories, or performing exercises incorrectly, or with bad posture, the bad side of things will catch with you in the end!

Pills and diets - Just an empty void

I've been posting on a forum recently, where some of the main topics have been;

"How do I lose weight fast?"

"Which diet pill is best for fat loss?"

"Which diet should I choose for quick weight loss?"

I decided to post, to try and give a professional, experienced view, and let these people know that the questions above have no VALID answer, or more correctly, are not even valid Questions.

You should not be thinking like that.

The problem is though, people want results, and they want them yesterday.

But what about the damage you are doing to your body, internally, where you can't see it? Damaging organs, your hormones, your metabolism?

To the "Which diet pill?" question, I simply posted, "There isn't one - if there was, every overweight person would be using it, and everyone would look lean, and slim!", to which the reply came, "Actually product X has been shown to inhibit fat absorption by your body from the food you eat!"

NO!

It is not eating fat that makes you fat, it is excess calories! Be this fat, carbohydrates or protein, the basic facts are, if you're eating more calories than your body needs, or is burning off, you will gain weight.....period.

90% of people that "go on a diet" put that weight back on or more, 3 months after finishing it. Plus the phrase, "Going on a diet" means at some point, you will be "coming off of it". Do you really want to be trying this, then that, then this, all your life?

Stick to something that is sustainable. Please don't endanger your health with diets, pills and potions. Stick to regular exercise, healthy, natural foods, and you will not only lose fat, but you'll get healthier, and fitter at the same time.

Surely this is what you want, especially long term when you want to be playing with your children or grandchildren?

Madonna - good or bad body at 50?

In the paper at the weekend was an article with Tracy Anderson, Personal Trainer to Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow and other celebrities. Some of the quotes pulled from there were, about Madonna, "I want to keep her body looking like it's 20 years old ".

Now, I know a lot of people actually dislike Madonna's body! Fair play to her for exercising regularly, but when veins start popping out of arms, well, I haven't seen that on a 20 year old! Author Fay Weldon put's it as "Madonna does not have the body of a 20 yr old. She has the body of a 50yr old who is well-exercised and half-starved!"

"Using her training system, The Method, Anderson uses low weight (only up to 3 pounds) but high reps - 60 for most people, but 100 for Madonna. She exercises with Madonna for 2 hours per day, 6 times a week".
- COME ON! Up to 3lb weights?! How is that challening? Though the fact she probably eats so little, could make that challenging?! What is 3lb going to do for anyone?! And 2 hours a day?! No wonder, the weights have to be so light!
Do yourself a favaour, lift heavy/challenging weights, keeping reps under 12, keep workouts under 50mins, and 3-4 times a week is more than enough! I have a client who is 51, and I've trained for 5 years now. She has a much better look to her body than Madonna! We will often Deadlift 45kg, DB Press 15kg DB's, 25 full pressups, Bodyweight rows etc. She would have words to say if I handed her a pair of 1kg weights!

"When Anderson first met Paltrow and Madonna, they were horrified by her junk food diet. I had gotten cocky about the fitness programme I designed and I was eating 4 cupcakes a day, cheeseburgers, dunking Oreo's in processed icing. But I had such a serious sweet tooth, and because I got such good results from my fitness regime I could get away with it!"

- No, you probably have a high metabolism from exercising regularly, which generally means you can get away with eating a few extra cheat meals, but come on?! Food and calories are what put weight on. Either you did that junk food diet for about 2 days or you weren't telling us how much weight you gained during that time, because you would have put it on!

The lives of celebreties are there for us to read about! To follow, or emulate their lives would be wrong, and not very practical!

For us 'normal' folk;

Write down your specific goals, and the date you want to achieve them by.

Reduce wheat, dairy, sugar and alcohol in your daily diet.

Eat more fresh meat and fish, nuts, seeds, vegetables and fruit.

Exercise 2-4 times a week, incorporating challenging weights, and short, sharp, interval training.

You will then see good results...I can't promise a 20 year old body, but I can promise a body you will be proud to show off!

What do you think?! Does Madonna have a good body at 50 or not?! Feel free to comment!

Are you a "Can DO!" or a "I Can't Do That?" person?!

Recently I've had a few comments from people finding it hard to stick to the specifics of my MRPT nutrition plan. With the plan, you eliminate wheat, dairy, caffeine for 4 weeks, and eat natural, wholesome foods. In return, you can lose a dress size, drop a considerable amount of fat, have a flatter stomach, and more energy and vitality.

Sounds good doesn't it?! I won't deny it, It is challenging to stick to, because you are breaking your 'usual routine.' Normally you would probably eat cereal and toast for breakfast, a few coffees during the day, a sandwich at lunchtime, then maybe some pasta in the evening. That is a lot of wheat and dairy that you are consuming, which you need to eliminate! Therefore, change will be tough!

But, if it was easy, everyone would look great, there would be no obesity issues, and everyone would have the body they are after! And that, is what separates the;

"Can's" from the "Can'ts"

the "I CAN DO THIS", from the "Oh, I can't do that",

the "Look what I HAVE DONE", from the "I'm NOT happy with how I feel or look".

Look at it as a challenge. Everybody wants to achieve, and everyone feels fantastic when they do conquer, or achieve something. So be strong, be focused, be committed, and DO SOMETHING FOR YOURSELF, STARTING TODAY! You won't regret it.

Celebrity 'Fat Loss' Dvd's? Don't waste your money!

It's that time of year when 'celebrities' bring out their magical 'fat loss' and fitness DVD's, promising you that pounds, even stones of fat will drop off it you just follow their DVD!
They will even have a before and after photo of themselves to make the choice even easier!

Errr......no. If people could get those results from following a step DVD, or a 30minute dance class that has you shuffling, tripping, and mostly stopping to rewind and re-watch the last moves, Personal Trainers, BootCamps etc would be out of business.

Please don't be fooled by this marketing and 'celebrity' tag, they are just using their profile to sell something that;

May get you a little bit fitter / May get you moving a bit, but WILL NOT help you burn fat!

The one thing you will need to do, that these DVD's often don't advertise is to CHANGE YOUR DIET. It's the food that you have eaten that has made you fat, not the fact that you have been without their DVD for all this time!!

Save your money, lay off the wheat, the dairy, the alcohol, and start eating more natural foods and then you Will start to lose regular weight.

Why not take advantage of my FREE online training offer posted below or at http://www.markspt.co.uk/?

You could also look to buy my combined Nutrition and Exercise ebook coming out in the next 6 weeks!! :-)

OK, Christmas food and drink is OVER!

OK! Enough!! Your "Christmas eating" period should be over! Like the majority of people, I let the food and drink 'go a little' over Christmas, and Boxing day. But that is it NOW! If you're still off work, or even back to work, do just that, and get back to a healthy eating routine. Extra drink and food between now and New Year, could easily total up a further 7lbs in fat, so make your New Year goal easier and get back into it NOW!

I must admit, I feel pretty crap at the moment! Throughout December, I removed wheat and dairy from my diet, and felt great. My stomach was flat, my energy levels were sustained throughout the day, and I felt good. (All ready for my holiday to Australia in Feb!!) But even as I sit here and write this, I feel sluggish, my stomach feels bloated, and throughout the day my energy levels have fluctuated. I'm looking forward to tomorrow when I get back into my 'routine'.

1. Aim to drink 2 litres of fresh water a day
2. Remove wheat from your diary for January
3. Remove dairy from your diary for January
4. Aim to consume at least 3 pieces of fruit a day, and vegetables at 2 separate meals (include raw carrot, peppers etc as a snack)
5. Remove alcohol for January (Come on, don't you think you've had enough by now?!)

Start now, and results will come quicker!

Make yourself stand out in 2009!

So, Chris Hoy deservedly won Sports Personality of the year 2008.

His, and the British cycling teams performance at the Olympics was outstanding, for such a "small country"!

Let's be honest for a moment.......many of you had probably never even heard of Chris before the Olympics?!?

Yet, the British team, and Chris in particular had faith in their training, their regime and more importantly, themselves, that they could win at the Olympics.

If you can do the same in 2009; work hard, have a goal and a vision, and eat sensibly, then you too can stand out from the crowd, and have more people noticing you for your efforts.

You'll feel great for your efforts and sense of achievement, and will know the efforts were worthwhile.

Go on, set yourself a challenge..........!

Don't let go of your target!

The England rugby team are in a bit of a re-building phase!! South Africa have done it, Australia have been through it, New Zealand.....well they always seem to be great!!

Although under heavy pressure to make wholesale changes after heavy defeats in the past few weeks, new England manager, Martin Johnson, has resisted and stuck mostly to his crop of young (mostly!) players. This not only shows faith, and instills confidence in the players, but is a building block for future success. You get nowhere by making changes, and upsetting the balance week-in, week-out. The same can be said for your eating habits.

Occasionally there will be times when you 'fall off track' such as meals out, holiday's etc, but DON'T lose heart. Don't use that occassion as a "Oh, this isn't working (like the current rugby results!), I won't worry about the rest of the week". If you can keep to a sensible eating plan for 80% of the time, your results will come.
Set yourself a target, set a goal, and if "a bad result" occurs, minimise the impact, stick with your initial ideas, and you will get your results.

Fingers crossed for Saturday then!! It can only get better!

You should be eating more of;

- Lean protein (fish, white meat, good quality lean read meats)

- Lots of vegetables and fruit

- Lots of water

- Wholemeal rice, and oats

and grazing every 3 hours or so.

and eating less of;

- Sugary foods

- man made or processed foods

- wheat and pastas

- Alcohol, coffee

Have confidence, have belief, have self-motivation.