Tag Archives for " Personal Training "

Insomnia… I can’t get no sleep!

Fit Bit v Reality

Ok before I start bashing the merits of technology let me just make it clear that I love technology and all the luxuries it affords us. But I just want to impose a bit of a reality check when it comes to things like Fit Bits and devices just like it.

A lot of people nowadays have a device on their wrist that gives them lots of data from steps, heart rate, sleep, calories burned, exercise and how many yours you have been standing up for on that particular day. One magical thing this does is it encourages…

MOVEMENT

You want to reach 10,000 steps, you want to burn more calories and you want your watch to tell you that you have reached your goals for the day. All these things are great and I feel provide a great benefit to getting people moving more. Which in turn will make them look and feel better of the long haul.

I do however feel we need to take these results with a pinch of salt.

We can be come to reliant on the data that the watch gives you. These devices only accurate to a certain point. My main gripe is with strength training in the gym. A fit bit will not register anywhere near as many calories for strength training compared to cardio exercise. This is due to the difference in the elevation in your heart rate during the two different types of exercise.

If you are putting in a shift in the gym with resistance training you will be burning a sufficient amount of calories but the watch doesn’t always show this.

There is also the calories burned information that the watch gives you, I am not entirely sure how accurate that is and it definitely doesn’t mean that because you have burned said calories doesn’t mean you should consume said calories as extra food.

I also just did 70 odd steps but moving my hand back and forward sitting at my desk…

So like I said before take the readings with a pinch of salt. Don’t get overly fixated on it but use it to your advantage.

Why I don’t meal prep…

In the fitness industry MEAL PREP is something that is talked about…

A LOT.

As the only way to be able to stay accountable to your diet and calorie requirements. Now don’t get me wrong it can be a very handy tool to help you stay on track with your nutrition. It can save you time, it takes the choice on the day out the equation as you already have the food prepped and ready to go. You also have to be a lot of Tupperware.

But let me tell you a little secret…

I don’t meal prep and here is why.

The reason I don’t meal prep is not because I think it doesn’t work or I have an issue with it. As I mentioned before there are some very valid reasons to have a lot of food prepared 2/3 days in advance. However I prefer to prepare my food on the day or the day before at a push. This is because I like my food fresh and I like cooking so I don’t find it a chore or hassle.

When I get up in the morning I will make my breakfast, usually some for of eggs and my greens smoothie. Then on my lunch break I make and have lunch and generally prepare dinner at the same time unless my Wife is doing it that day. Sometimes I will have left over dinner for lunch the next day as we I don’t like wasting food either.

Obviously this approach requires more time to prepare/cook and if you don’t have that time at your disposal then food prep might be a more appropriate way of keep your eating on point. Just make sure you have plenty of variety in their to stop you from getting bored and reverting back to your old ways. This is when you forget to prep one Sunday night and you eat anything and everything for the next few days.

To meal prep or not?

It comes down to:

Time – Do you have enough time to cook your food fresh on the day

Cooking Skills – Can you cook and do enjoy the process or just want it done

Variety – Are you happy eating the same things all the time or do you like variety

You need to find what works for you, it might be one or the other maybe even a mixture of both.

All we need to know is that controlling your food intake by thinking about things like protein, carbohydrate and fat intake can really help you reach your health and fitness goals.

There is no right or wrong. Just results or none.

5 Tips to get through the weekend…

I know the weekend has just passed us by but if you blink long enough the next one will be here before you know it. Most of us struggle to through the weekend without any for of indulgence, feeling of guilt or that all our health and fitness aspirations are out the window if we continue like this.

I totally feel your pain, the weekend is a tough one to navigate.

I struggle with it myself sometimes and try to justify it by telling myself I have been good all week and deserve to loosen the rains a bit. Which to a certain extend is true but not to the point where I am hoovering up every morsel of find that passes my eyes.

So I come bearing gifts, some tips and tricks to make it out of the weekend alive and not adding pounds to the scales to taking them off your bank balance.

Here goes:

1. Give yourself a head start

You know the weekend is coming so why not get prepared for it? On Thursday and Friday reduce your calorie intake slightly so that you are in credit going into the weekend. Maybe its having 35g of rice with dinner instead of 70g or having 1 slice of toast with your scrambled eggs each day instead of 2. All these small sacrifices add up to extra calories for the weekend.

2. Get a sweat on to start the weekend

Getting a workout done on Saturday morning is a sure fire way to kick start your metabolism for the day so that you can enjoy your night out with friends or family birthday meal guilt free. Not only will you burn calories during your workout but if you work hard enough then your body will be burning more calories for a few hours afterwards. So that’s a double bonus.

3. Have a big breakfast

Having a big breakfast will fill you up and deter your from snacking on needless rubbish throughout the day. Have what you would normally have for breakfast during the week. Some eggs or some porridge to fill you up. Then you can have a lighter lunch if you are going out for a big meal at night or having a takeaway at home.

4. Go All in ONCE

The word cheat meal gets thrown around like an empty tracksuit and people focus on it far too much when it comes to ‘Dieting’ but I am all for having an indulgent meal once or twice a week to satisfy any cravings and to get it our your system till next week. If we limit it to once a week then we are not going to go too far over our calorie intake for the day. Especially if we have followed all the other steps mentioned.

5. Down it, Down it

Make sure you keep drinking plenty of water over the weekend. People seem to get to the weekend and forget they need water to live. Sometimes when you think you are hungry you are actually thirsty. So please make sure you drink plenty and that will stop you snacking as much thinking you hungry when you are not.

Ok there it is. 5 Tips to get you through the weekend. It’s fool proof or bullet proof for that matter but it will definitely help if you can implement these.

Good Luck.

Is It Value For money?

We all want it but I imagine we all have different ideas when it comes to what is value for money…

I am here to argue the case for the gym membership. At a very reasonable £35 per month (depends which gym you go to) I think you would be much better off spending your hard earned pennies on this rather than some of the other commodities on over these days.

A night out can cost you over £100 and that includes feeling terrible the next day and not getting much done. That’s 3 months at the gym, well nearly. Then there is things like watching TV, I know some people who pay between £70 and £100 per month for the privilege to watch the TV. (My advice is get a Fire stick and Netflix, much cheaper)

Most of us like food and we really like it when someone else makes our food. Like the man from your favourite takeaway shop making it. If you have 3 – 4 takeaway’s a month that could be £50 – £70, which seems like a lot for 3 or 4 meals but that’s the reality. I am not against any of the things I have previously mentioned. I like a night out, a decent TV show and a good meal as much as the next person.

However I am just highlighting the amount of money we spend on various things, not to mention all the other nonsense we spend our money on. Some people don’t have a gym membership because they feel they can’t afford it. Which when you compare it to all these other outgoings seems bonkers. You can drastically change your health and fitness for just over £1 per day.

£1 PER DAY….

I am just asking you to consider what you think is a priority when it comes to how you spend your money. Things that make you feel and look better or things that make you feel and look worse. Surely that’s a no brainer?

Life is to be enjoyed so splashing the cash on things you enjoy is certainly not a bad thing. But I would also say it can be enjoyed so much more in full health, bags of energy and some motivation to see the world, do fun things and live life the way it was meant to be.

To the fullest.

Are you killing yourself?

The world of business can be a frantic affair. Especially when you are in business for yourself or hold an important position within the company you work for. The pressures that come with your job are taking their toll on you whether you realise it or not. People are still working 60 – 80 hours a week just to the job done.

This doesn’t always leave room for much else in your life in terms of social life, family time, sleep, exercise and good daily habits when it comes to your nutrition. These are the things that take a back seat and you start to let things slip just to ensure the latest project gets done.

Is that trade off worth it?

Over time your work rate, level of performance and energy levels will all start drop and then the quality of your work will start to suffer. This is when you need to consider is it worth pushing and pushing with no let up before something bigger than fatigue stops you in your tracks like severe illness. It’s not guaranteed that you will fall ill but there is more chance if you aren’t looking after yourself.

I am all for hard work and being a business owner myself makes me appreciate the fact that we have to put the hours in otherwise our ship will sink. I do also know the difference of when I am firing on all cylinders through a balanced approach to my work/life balance rather than just keep going until something has to give.

Your way of doing things will be different to the next person as they have to work for you but the principles will be the same for most of us. Don’t burn out trying to be the hero. The real hero’s know when to push and when to rest.

Ultimately in the long run you will be better off and get more SHIT done.

This is so simple even YOU could do it…

Only kidding!

But it is pretty simple and it was just a simple change that I made to a daily habit that made it so much easier. Normally I consume water from 2L bottle from Aldi, so I just carry it about with me and drink it over the course of the day. I normally get through between 1.5 – 2 bottles per day. Therefore I normally consume between 3 – 4L of water per day.

But I was finding that I knew roughly how much I was drinking but not exactly. As I would drink most of one bottle in the morning and then take a fresh one to work in the afternoon and not quite finish that either. Meaning I some bottle left over with different amounts of water in them. So I decided to go back to using a proper water bottle.

This bottle is 1L, which is pretty handy. So we fill them up at night for the next day and have them stacked in the fridge. I just get up in the morning and grab one. The bonus is it’s nice and cold, which might not be too handy in the winter but it works just now. Now I know this is not rocket science or anything new but it works and I have really noticed a difference.

I am definitely drinking more water as a result of the change. I am not sure if the fact it’s only 1L instead of 2L makes it seem easier to drink. But I am drinking more in the mornings when I get up and know I am getting 4L in most days. The only down side is the increase in trips to the toilet, which I am used to by now so not the worst problem to have.

I know a lot of people struggle to drink enough water so just implementing a small change like this will definitely help you consume more water of the course of the day. It will also mean you can keep track of it easier too. I am not saying you need to drink 4L of water per day but I am guessing you could do with drinking more like the rest of us.

Small changes make the biggest difference.

Is living in Britain making us unhealthy?

Now there are a lot of things that I love about Britain and is has so much to offer. Therefore I am not hating on this great Island. But if we are honest the weather here isn’t the best, we have our moments but in the main it’s no Spain. My point is that if we had better weather year round would it lead us to live healthier and fitter lifestyles?

There are a few reasons for this theory…

If the weather is warmer we generally tend to wear less clothes and obviously when doing so we would like to look as good as possible. In winter here we tend to hide underneath big hoodies and comfy clothes with no need to expose ourselves due to the climate. This is an easy option and ensures we don’t have to think about wearing a nice dress or swimsuit.

Then there are the darker times, after June 21^st we are en route to the darker nights and mornings. This does nothing to encourage getting outdoors or to the gym to exercise. We want to stay inside cuddled up on the couch all warm and cosy. This leads to us burning less calories over the course of the day and potentially binge eating while watching TV.

Lastly the climate also leads us to comfort eat. When it’s cold, wet and miserable we want something warm and stodgy. This mainly comes in the form of carbs and lots of them. If we had warmer weather would you be more inclined to eat more salads or fruits? This would potentially mean we wouldn’t over eat on our daily calories and therefore not gain excess weight.

Now what does all of this mean for those of us that live in Britain?

Well that is entirely up to you. Only you can decide if you want to make the right choices with your diet and exercise habits. The weather, the place you live and the choices your make are all about mindset. If you make the right choices consistently you will get the results you desire.

Until then you will be on the couch in your baggy clothes eating whatever source of carbs you can get your hands on.

Are you obsessed?

As people we tend to get OBSESSED about certain things whether it’s cars, clothes, sports, other people etc. It must be something in our DNA that we become so attached to these things. We think about them all the time when we aren’t directly involved with whatever our obsession is.

Currently it seems that as a nation we are obsessed with LOVE ISLAND.

It’s on the TV every night and it’s basically people watching people try and find LOVE. I use the word love lightly it’s more like try and find £50,000 prize money. Things like this take over people’s lives. They watch it religiously and talk about it at work and with their friends.

Now that isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it does start to create an imbalance. We focus so much on one thing that we forget about everyone else. So whether it’s a TV program or sports or clothes or anything else we need to remember the other important things in life.

Does anyone get obsessed about their health and fitness?

Of course they do. They are maybe a bit harder to find than the Love Island addicts but they are out there. You probably expect me to say that’s a great thing and we should have more people like that. Don’t get me wrong I wish more people cared about their health and fitness as much as they cared about their favourite TV show. But it’s still an obsession so finding balance in all aspects of life is definitely the goal.

That is easier said than done but by focusing on the right things then we can allow ourselves time to indulge when we can on the things we really enjoy. Sometimes we need to be obsessed with something to achieve great things but I am referring more to everyday life and the things we put a lot of importance onto in terms of our time and thoughts. This will ultimately take away from the things that NEED to be done rather than just the stuff we want to do.

Don’t worry you will maybe still have time to watch LOVE ISLAND.

You are wasting your time…

People always use the excuse of not having enough time to get stuff done.

Especially exercise, it’s most people’s favourite get out clause as to why they haven’t been to the gym or a class or done anything at all. Now I am fully aware that life gets in the way of the things we would like to do or at least feel we need to do.

That’s ok.

In those times you need to write it off to focus on what’s important or you need to push back and CREATE time to do the things we need/want to do. But that isn’t really the point I am trying to make. What I am trying to say is that people use the excuse of not having time but blatantly waste time doing things that in all seriousness could be done some other time or not at all.

I am guessing you want me to give you some examples?

My pleasure.

TV is a big one and always has been. I’d like to see how many hours people actually watch TV per week. I am sure the number would surprise you. Then we have the ever-present mobile phone. Now I am first to admit that for my business I couldn’t live without my phone but I try as much as possible to restrict my time on it and especially out of working hours. Social media is along side TV the BIGGEST time stealer we have. You can get lost in your phone for a long time.

Before you know it you have spent 30 minutes going from video to video or scrolling through your news feed.

Time is precious. You don’t get it back. Don’t waste it.

I would suggest blocking out a specific amount of time to get the important things done. Now it’s obviously my job to tell you to use that time to exercise or food prep. If getting a better body and feeling good about yourself is your goal then you should but it can also be used to get other important tasks done.

Set aside some time and don’t let anything get in the way of what you are doing.

Turn off your phone, record your favourite program and get to work.