Dare to bare... or NOT...?!

So we have had the warmest Easter/April for I think nearly 60 years....(although I could have this wrong!) Anyway, did you get out your shorts.... put on that vest top....skirt.... or did you stay in your long trousers and sweat terribly in sleeves convincing yourself you were protecting yourself from the harmful suns rays....(which by the way is total rubbish but more on that later :o))


No?


Did you also indulge in a little chocolate heaven too? And then kick yourself mentally in the butt for caving?!


Yes?


How about you draw a line under this then and make a fresh start now?


One little step towards the body you would dare to bare?


Ready...?


Cut out beige / white food. This is pretty much all of the rubbish food that is basically sugar and in no way good for you. So OUT go the breads (ok, so brown is brown (ish) but for now its beige, ok?), pasta, rice, spuds, cakes, white flour, sugar, milk, biscuits, pitta breads... you get the picture.


BTW - cauliflower/onions and garlic are GOOD to eat and not included.


Add to this drinking more water... many still DO NOT drink enough and to be honest, this includes me... what I do now is have the timer on my phone go off every hour and grab a glass of water :o) this does not include the drinks you already have. 


Why is this good? Well simply put these foods contain simple carbohydrates (sugars) that increase insulin production and create cravings for more of the same! The body does not know what to do with this excess insulin so it stores it in fat cells... this process leads to increased body fat. 


Hydration, most people are de-hydrated so this measure will simply move you to more optimal hydration levels which will help with digestion, concentration and can suppress your appetite. It also plays a larger impact on improving the health of your kidneys and liver and plays a big part in the fat loss battle.


Simple steps, really they are!


So, see how you get on.


This is the first little step... step two later this week :o)

Michelle x


Sample meal plan for one day:


B:Omelette with spinach
L:Chk stir fry or salad
T:Fish with roasted veg
Snacks if wanted - either a few almonds (5) with apple or pear / carrots sticks with a tblp of hummus

Fit2be ACTIVE

OMG!! Its nearly Christmas....

You suddenly realise that you need to tone up a bit here, tweak a bit there...And what's worse, you never really did stick with this years 'NEW YEAR' Resolutions and next years is almost here now!!



What are you going to do??

Pick something loose and flowing to wear at the work/family/friends Xmas party, plaster a smile on your face and 'get though' it?

Kid yourself that you'll cut back a bit here and there and walk some more, that will do it... yeah right... how's that been working for you so far?

Or are you going to ACTUALLY do something that WILL get you results and have you feeling FITTER, STRONGER, SLIMMER and the biggy - have you LOVEing who you see in the mirror!!

If you want to be an ACTION taker then this is what you need to do...

DON'T think about it... where's that got you so far?

JUST DO IT!

Come along to the FREE trial Fit2be ACTIVE sessions running Monday 18, Wednesday 20 & Friday 22 October.

VENUE: St Augustines Sports Centre, Heathcote Street, Radford

TIME: 6.30-7.15 AM

You will do the 3 sessions over the trial week and you will get a full 7 day eating plan to go along with it - follow this and watch the pounds start to drop off!

After this we have the REAL DEAL starting on the Monday 1 November and running till Friday 26th November.

Come on this block and by 1 December you could be a complete dress size smaller!!

How would that make you feel??! Not a bad present to yourself for Xmas is it...?

It gets better.... how affordable is this going to be?

Well, I want to help as MANY women as possible feel GREAT for their 2010 celebrations.

So as a Xmas present to you this camp is ONLY £69

What you will get is:

• 3 training sessions per week 6.30-7.15 am - fat blasting and designed to WORK!!
  
• Home workouts
• Full nutrition support - you will NOT go hungry!
• Daily email support
• Access to the members only forum
• and the FULL support of the other women on ACTIVE camp
  

All this for £69 and if you don't drop the dress size , well I don't want your money so a full refund is *guaranteed.

What the ACTIVATORS say... (this is what my current and past ladies have named themselves!! :o))

...I am pleased with my results. I am eating a lot lot better than before the camp. I have reclaimed some of my old clothes that I have really missed. I feel more confident and feel like I am walking more upright and with a spring in my step...HJ

Thankyou soo much for motivating me dare I day it but I am actually enjoying the stupidly early mornings... HT

I'm very pleased with my results - I've lost a few pounds but more pleasingly I've decreased the inches by approx 10 - so am well chuffed. Onwards and upwards - being at camp has really given me back my resolve to stay on track, and without your support I would never have had the confidence to swing a KB in the park with a group of blokes! You should take pride in how you support and inspire all us girls, you really are first class!!! ...RD

There are No excuses - as the very wise Yoda said - 'Do, or Do Not, there is no TRY'

So lets DO IT girls!! email me to add your name to the I want to look FAB for XMAS - list!





*Subject to sticking to the plan of course! No cheats here!

Posture Pointers

The quality of your posture can make a big difference in your life. Good posture can make you look and feel younger, stronger and more confident; and can help improve your breathing, advance your sports performance, decrease your risk of injury and improve your biomechanical efficiency. And, over the course of your life, good posture can prevent painful physical strain in your joints.

How can you tell if your posture needs improving

• an elevated hip or shoulder
• one side of the body rotated forward or back
• pelvis and hips tilted to the front, back or side
• rounded back
• drooping chest and shoulders
• head jutting forward

These are indications that your body has gotten locked into poor movement patterns for any of a number of reasons, including muscle imbalance, compensation for injuries, ergonomic problems or poor alignment during fitness and sports activities.

Changing Habits
It is possible to change poor postural habits. Developing proactive postural habits builds a foundation for a fit body that functions effectively. Try the following 10 tips for improving your posture:

1. Find Neutral. This is the position in which the spine is best equipped to deal with external stress and strain. You should be able to move into neutral alignment while sitting, standing and moving. It should feel natural.

2. Remind Yourself Frequently. Create ways to remind yourself to do posture checks throughout the day, such as setting a sports watch to alert you hourly. I recommend posting printed reminders on your desk or bulletin board.

3. Vary Your Position. Counter the damaging effects of constant sitting by standing as much as possible. Standing in correct alignment requires much less muscular effort than sitting with proper form does. Try using a drafting table so you can work standing; stand up or lie down frequently when you are watching television or talking on the phone.

4. Develop Your Hip Muscles. Weakness or inflexibility of the hip muscles that attach to the pelvis may impact the alignment of your pelvis and lower back. Seek an exercise program that includes flexibility training for the hip flexors, extensors, abductors, adductors and rotators.

5. Perform the Right Abdominal Exercises. Work with your trainer to learn exercises that train the abdominals to hold the pelvis in neutral alignment. Do more active stabilization training, rather than just traditional torso curls and sit-ups which are not nearly as effective.

6. Extend Your Back. Learn how to correctly perform back extension exercises--while standing, on hands and knees, prone on elbows or prone with arms extended. Research has shown that these exercises often improve or eliminate back pain.

7. Don't Ignore Your Upper Body. Seek exercises that help reintegrate the natural coordination and rhythm between the shoulder and shoulder girdle, and strengthen the scapular and arm muscles.

8. Consider Alternative Exercise Formats. Yoga and exercises based on the work of Joseph Pilates emphasize alignment and controlled movement of the spine, which can greatly improve your posture habits.

9. Visualize. Imagine growing taller as you stretch your arms above your head. While you walk, concentrate on your posture and imagine yourself moving in perfect alignment.

10. Check With Specialists. Postural problems can have a serious negative impact on your health and quality of life. In addition to your personal trainer, you may want to consult with a podiatrist, an orthopaedic specialist, a physiotherapist or a chiropractor.

So give these tips a go and see if you can improve your posture!

Progression not Perfection!

I came across this article by Rowena Cherry that I think sums up how many people feel about their exercise and training when they first start out and supports my views on being realistic with your goals. I also think Rowena explains the use of the 80/20 rule very well. Enjoy the read... :o)

Getting Started: Perhaps you are successful with your healthy eating and exercise program but this time of year is a challenge for you? Or perhaps you’ve not quite got there yet making the changes you need to achieve your goals. Either way, you need a strategy that will work; something that enables and supports you in making your dream happen.

Can your expectations actually affect your performance? Absolutely. You really have to believe you CAN do something, before you can make it happen!

Goal Setting: Setting realistic and short-term goals is important. Knowing that health and fitness is about progression, not perfection is another. Most of us are not magicians and cannot change the patterns of a lifetime over night. It’s just too much all at once and is just too hard to maintain. It sets you up for failure not for success.

Sometimes the requirements of eating healthily (the selection, the planning, the shopping, the preparing, the pre-packaging etc) can seem overwhelming and deep down you might think you just can’t do it. Or perhaps your 50lb+ weight loss goal just seems such a huge task. Success strategies here would include taking a larger weight loss goal and breaking it down into smaller chunks – a 10 lbs weight loss at a time for example or changing just one thing about your eating habits per week to make the changes more gradual and more manageable.

Over time you will get to where you want to be and you’ll also enjoy the process of getting there and feel good about yourself while you are doing it. Think of your health and fitness as a continuous journey – a pleasurable one that you will be on for life.

It can also be useful to think of this journey as traveling along a pathway that meanders. In other words you don’t always go in a straight line to get towards your final destination – there may be detours on the way. And that’s normal and that’s OK as long as you are still moving forwards.

The 80/20 rule! So often clients start off highly motivated and wanting to go all out to achieve their goals; they want to go for 100%. That’s great – except we are looking for a long- term strategy that is going to work. Most of us (and our lives) are not perfect – so hitting 100%, 100% of the time can be very stressful and may not even be achievable. Things happen that ‘eat’ into your healthy eating and exercise time. Work intervenes and you have to travel, your kids get sick, a friend needs your help…….all of a sudden you haven’t prepared your healthy snacks and you’ve missed 3 of your workouts and feel like you are slipping, your motivation takes a dive and its hard to scramble back.

So you need a strategy that is flexible and realistic -one that is do-able and keeps you feeling good about yourself and your achievements. One that keeps you motivated. I encourage my clients to be 100% committed to an 80/20 rule. That is, we agree the goals and they aim to achieve them 100%. If they achieve 100% then that’s wonderful but they can still be proud of themselves and know that they are still moving along their fitness journey pathway in the right direction if they are achieving a minimum of 80%. That leaves a little flexibility for things that happen in life - the birthday party you want to attend, the work lunch that is catered. Of course, that DOES NOT mean you go crazy the other 20% of the time either!!! And you can still make educated and healthy decisions and choices at the party and at the catered work lunch. The goal is to keep you moving in the right direction towards your goal and to keep you positive about your achievements. That way you stay motivated and the results continue to happen. You have to be honest with yourself about keeping on track.

Keeping it up: Let’s consider MINDFULNESS (literally ‘paying attention’) for a moment ……..what other strategies can you use to help you out? If doubt exists in your mind about one of your goals – try putting up a mental ‘STOP’ sign in your mind’s eye. Literally, visualize the big red traffic stop signs that you see every day on your route and make this a signal to yourself that you have to STOP and re-group your thoughts and your actions.

Over time you will learn to replace those doubtful or negative thoughts with positive ones. Mental imagery IS a learned skill so you need to practice it before it becomes more automatic. Once it becomes automatic and you set realistic and reachable goals you absolutely WILL achieve them.

Also think about your PERFORMANCE i.e. what you are actually doing, while you are working out, while you are eating healthily etc, rather than the outcome itself. In other words be PROCESS oriented and focus on the specifics of what needs to be done to get to your goal. Enjoy your time training because you are enjoying moving your body or for the number of calories you are burning, or for the great feeling you have when you’ve “Just done it”!! rather than focusing on the 50lbs you still have to lose. If you are worried about not succeeding, then you’ll surely fail, so you need to re-frame your self-talk and make sure it is positive. If you think you can, YOU CAN, if you think you can’t, then YOUR’RE RIGHT!

Focus on what you ARE doing and imagine yourself how you want to be (stronger, leaner, more energetic, able to get into your jeans comfortably etc)

Remind yourself until you accept it, that health and fitness is an on going journey, the path is not a straight one, its all about progression – not perfection; exercise and food is about quality not quantity; more is not always more and that moderation in terms of healthy eating and exercise habits may in fact get you there faster :o)

Why all woman of all ages must do Weight Training

Over the last decade, researchers have made extremely compelling arguments for the benefits of weight training for women. Still, the number of women who take this recommendation to heart is quite low. Most women who exercise are spending most of there time on cardiovascular exercise. Is that you? Do you go into the gym and head straight for the jogger or cross trainer and once there stay put for 30 mins plus... your aim to reach a certain calorie reading in that little monitor... you do know that they can be as much as 30% out?!

Anyway, whatever your reasons for avoiding the weights, if you are a women, here are ten very good reasons why you should strength train... and you will not look like Popeye!!

And... whenever you feel tempted to down the weights and grab a chocolate biscuit with a cuppa instead just think on these top 10 reason women should strength train... and love every minute of it :o)

1. You will be Physically Stronger
Increasing your strength will make you far less dependent upon others for assistance in daily life. All manner of things will become easier, lifting the kids, shopping, house work. If your strength is improved daily tasks and routine exercise will be far less likely to cause injury. Research concludes that even moderate strength training can increase a woman's strength by 30 to 50%.

2. You WILL lose Body Fat (you need to eat well too)
Studies performed by Wayne Westcott, PhD, from the South Shore YMCA in Massachusetts, found that the average women who strength train 2 to 3 times a week for 2 months will gain nearly 2 pounds of muscle (don't panic here!!) and will LOSE 3.5 pounds of horrible FAT! as your lean muscle increases so does your resting metabolism, and you will burn more calories all day long.

3. You will Gain Strength WITHOUT Bulk
Research also found that unlike men, women typically don not gain size from strength training (thank goodness, you're thinking...) because compared to men, women have 10 to 30 times less of the hormone that cause muscle hypertrophy. You will however develop muscle 'tone' and definition - Hurrah!

4. Your Bones Will Benefit and Decrease your Risk of Osteoporosis
By the time you leave school, you have established all the bone mineral density you'll ever have - unless you strength train, says Westcott. Research has found that weight training can increase spinal bone mineral density by 13% in 6 months. So strength training is a powerful tool against osteoporosis.

5. You Will Improve Athletic performance
Westcott found that strength training improves athletic ability. Golfers, for example, significantly increase their driving power. Whatever your sport / activity of choice, strength training may not only improve your proficiency but also decrease your risk or injury.

6. You Will Reduce Your Risk of Injury, Back Pain, and Arthritis
Strength training not only builds stronger muscles, but also builds stronger connective tissues and increases joint stability. This acts as reinforcement for the joints and helps prevent injury. A recent 12 year study showed that strengthening low-back muscles had an 80% success rate in eliminating or alleviating low-back pain. Other studies have indicated that wight training can ease the pain of osteoarthritis and strengthen joints.

7. You will Reduce Your Risk of Heart Disease
Strength training will improve your cholesterol profile and blood pressure, according to research. Of course, your exercise programme should also include cardiovascular exercise and flexibility training.

8. You will Reduce Your Risk of Diabetes
Adult-onset (Type 2) diabetes is a growing problem. Research shows that strength training can increase glucose utilisation in the body by 23% in just 4 months. As muscles contract and relax during exercise,they use sugar for energy. To meet this energy need your body uses sugar supplies found in your blood, reducing your blood sugar levels.

9. You're Never Too Old
Women in their 70's and 80's have built up significant strength through weight training and studies show that strength training improvements are possible at any age. Note that a strength training professional should supervise older participants.

10. You WILL Improve Your Attitude and Fight Depression
A Harvard study found that 10 weeks of strength training reduced clinical depression symptoms more successfully than standard counselling did. Women who strength train commonly report feeling more confident and capable as a result of their programme, all important factors in fighting depression.

Building muscle allows you to get more out of life. Everyday activities, such as shopping, house work and playing with your children / grand children are much easier when you're not struggling with the effort. Being in shape also makes you more confident, helps you stand taller and makes you feel great about yourself. And, let's be honest, what's better than that? :o)

Happy New Year!!

Hi, Happy New Year and welcome to my very first blog!!

The first post has to be the hardest.... so just a few words.

I plan to use this blog to provide you with information on fitness and fat loss, the latest up-to-date and cutting edge news and information provided by those in the know and my own valuable training and experience gained over the last 14 years in the industry - 14 years!!!!

My latest joy in the fitness arena is the Kettlebell. It is a truly a superb bit of kit. It allows you to train in every aspect of fitness - cardio, flexibility and weight training. All achieved with one item. You can get a fantastic workout in 30 mins 3 times a week and really see the results. Kettlebells are the perfect tool for creating a lean, sculpted, feminine physique! They also provide the guys with a few rippling muscles too!!!!

If you want results quick, kettlebell training is for you! Kettlebells are solid cast iron balls that look like cannon balls with handles on that work your entire body as you go through dynamic kettlebell exercises. Instead of isolating single muscles or single muscle groups, kettlebell training delivers full-body fitness.

The KB is designed to be swung. The daddy of all exercises is called the Swing and it works your entire body. I was happily impressed with the resulting ache through my butt, hamstrings and thighs from this one move alone. Kettlebell training really reaches the muscles groups that get over looked in many conventional training sessions, your 'behind' muscles - back, butt and hamstrings. If you want a lean, strong, tight physique then Kettlebells are the way to train.

I'm off to do my training now, work off the Christmas excess!!