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!

Away but not gone!

Well tomorrow, fingers crossed myself and the family will be jetting off for our annual holiday, stopping at Malaysia for a week, before spending time with my brother in Australia.


The temperature and climate will certainly be different to what we've been experiencing in England recently!


Everyone needs to recharge their batteries at some point during the year, a change of scenery, a change in daily routines and lifestyle. You (hopefully!) come back fresher, invigorated, and ready to take on new challenges, even when travelling with a 4 year old and 14th months old, half way around the world!

Sure, holiday's are now not the relaxing, lay on the beach reading, or doing nothing, that they used to be! Going to bars and restaurants when you have children is now more of a challenge, and often a mission in itself! But like anything, when you have to adapt, you do so, you plan and prepare, and this becomes part of your new 'routine'!


If something new becomes a challenge, or is different to your usual 'routine', but could well benefit you in the long run;
allow yourself to adapt, resolve the obstacles, and accept this into your routine, and you will reap the benefits of it's addition.


Well, it may be quiet postwise on here for the next week, but once we land in Oz, I'll get some updates back on, so keep checking back!

Thanks as always for your continued interest, I really appreciate it :-)

Mark

An unwelcome sight this morning!

We had it forecast, but still waking up this morning, this was the view from the back of our house! OK, to some of my readers in 'snowy' countries it may not look a lot but in England, this is quite severe!

I was supposed to have a busy day today, with 8 PT clients - I now have zero!

Even worse, myself and the family are supposed to be flying to Malaysia and then Australia on Wednesday night, and currently our two main airports are closed, with flight backlogs due to be a problem.......hmmmm we didn't plan for this?!

Sometimes though, things happen which are outside your control. With these issues, you just have to "ride with them" and make the best of a bad situation. Deal with what you can and plan ahead as per usual.
Only when you are creating your own problems by eating too much too often, eating the bad types of food too often, are you making things harder for yourself, and affecting your OWN outcome.

I'll just use today as an extra day to pack, plan my upcoming bootcamps further, and then take the kids out for a bit of sledging.....getting an unexpected workout in at the same time!

Here's to the snow clearing soon......!

Should you workout when ill?

One question I get quite a bit, and often discuss with my PT clients, is whether you should work out when you're ill.
These views are my personal opinions, and I feel it's pretty individual to the person. If you are in doubt, I would say do not workout, until you are back to normal.

With any kind of illness, be it viral or bacterial, you're body will be working overtime to fight this infection, and so "clean" nutrition and water, is essential to help speed the bodies response, and assist your immune system.

** If you have a virus, chest infection, or temperature, definitely DO NOT WORK OUT. These are some pretty severe symptoms, and you will be doing your body more harm than good by working out. **

However, if you just have the sniffles, or a slight sore throat, and you work out regularly, then there should be no harm in doing a light workout. Certainly do not work to failure, or a challenging set of intervals!

Personally, I do not work out when I feel ill. My body tends to ache and I find that resistance work makes my muscles and body feel worse the next day, and I'd rather rest, eat and drink water, and get myself back to near 100% before returning. Also, if I'm ill and can't work, I lose money as I'm self-employed!! I always steer clear of big exercises when ill, as I've performed Squats a few times when slightly ill, and my body has ached big time for a few days afterwards - but that could just be me!!

Just remember, any form of exercise is a stress on the body, and when it is already stressed though illness, you could be doubling the effort the body is going through to rid the illness.
Often a rest from the gym can be as good as a workout in terms of recovery to the body. Plus, if you're goal is weight loss, remember the key is nutrition, so it would be more crucial to watch what, and how, you ate during this period, rather than whether you should be working out or not.


At the first signs of illness, or sore throat, I will dose up with Echinnacea and Olive Leaf extract. If I keep these running, I find the symptoms will dissapear in a few days, or if I caught it late, the symptoms will be a lot less severe than what they would have been without this supplementation. If you choose to take these, just ensure you continue for a few days after symptoms have dissapeared to ensure the virus/bacteria has been erradicated.

What are your views? Do you workout when ill?
NOTE: This is my personal view, and I will not be held responsible for any injury or illness that could be sustained from following my views above. If in doubt do not workout when ill, and contact your GP. (Mark)

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!

Address the underlying issue for long term results

I see Kerry Katona (a very minor 'celebrity' to my readers outside of the UK!) has recently spent a reported £10,000 on liposuction and other weight loss surgery.
Quite amazing really, when she declared herself bankrupt late last year?!

No doubt a few of those shocking TV appearances, or magazine sob-story articles paid for most of it.

However, mark my words, some point this year, she will no doubt be back to the size she was more recently.
Kerry obviously has underlying issues, alcohol has been named as one, and I'll not dare guess at others, but if the underlying issue to her weight gain, unhappiness, and emotional problems are still there, then you are not addressing the root cause. She has just given herself a short-term solution, but with the underlying issues, they will fight themselves to the top, as negative issues do, and take control again.

If you are on a fat loss programme, ensure you address the initial cause first, and prepare for those obstacles.
Do you eat too much junk food or processed food?
Do you exercise?

Do you drink too much?
Do you eat through boredom?
Do you eat badly through lack of preparation?
Do you just make excuses?

Seek professional guidance or help if you genuinely cannot explain YOUR underlying reason, but when you have that reason, do all you can to eliminate it, find solutions, take 100% responsibility for your actions, instill a positive "can-do" mindset and you will benefit from your newly instilled confidence and goal setting.
I hope Kerry can do the same.

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?