My 3 Week Weight / Fat Loss Results - I lost 6 lbs in weight & 2.1 % Body Fat

In my last newsletter I attached a word document which had on it what I was eating for breakfast and snacks for three weeks in a row along with a clean diet with no unhealthy snacks to get me ready and in excellent shape for the 8 mile cross country Grim challenge Sunday 2nd December that I'm taking part in.

I achieved the results using Herbalife nutrition products that I take myself and also highly recommend and supply to my friends, family and clients. Please find attached my results on the proper record sheet and also a word doc to illustrate the positive changes.

Bearing in mind that I was in the healthy green zone already the results are excellent and if someone who was in the dangerous high risk red zone would have followed what I had done exercise and diet wise for the last 3 weeks they would be well on the way to / or actually in the orange zone.

Then just 4-8 weeks more of discipline, self belief, commitment and motivation and people following my advise and getting on my super scales regularly to keep check will be feeling and looking in the best shape of their life and in the middle of the green healthy zone.

My scales cost £200 when I bought them from Amazon, now they're on there for £181:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tanita-Segmental-Body-Composition-Scales/dp/B008T4P9ZA/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1353678887&sr=8-2-fkmr0 

They are the most accurate portable scales in the world used by doctors: Tanita BC-545 Segmental Body Composition Analyser

It's coming up to a busy time of the year for me with people getting in shape for Christmas and their New Year's Resolutions so let me know ASAP if you would like to meet for a FREE weigh in and wellness evaluation.

Muscle Is Key

Muscle Is Key

Skeletal muscles are your body's natural fat burners, according to exercise physiologist William McArdle. They constantly use fat and carbohydrates to keep you warm and provide you with energy for movement.

Calories Burned

One pound of muscle burns about 6.5 calories per hour, according to McArdle. Muscles burn 5.5 times more calories than fat tissues, which burn about 1.2 calories per pound per hour.

Strength Training

You can increase your muscle mass by strength training, which stimulates your body to develop thicker muscle fibers. You can use various methods to increase muscle size, such as weight training, calisthenics (circuit training / boot camp), sprinting and jumping.

Basal Metabolic Rate

Basal metabolic rate, or BMR, estimates how much calories you burn when you are at rest, according to dietitian Ellen Coleman. The more muscles you have, the more calories you burn when you exercise and rest. A man with 100 lbs. of muscle would burn about 1,342 calories per day, while a man with 120 lbs. of muscle burn about 1,558 calories a day.

References

• "Exercise Physiology: Energy, Nutrition, and Human Performance"; William McArdle; 2001 + "Ultimate Sports Nutrition"; Ellen Coleman; 2004

Unusual Phone Call Promoting Fat & No Exercise!

Private number came up on my phone and I thought OK I'll see who it is. Most private numbers are people trying to sell me advertising.!

It was a woman whose writing a new book and wanted a quick chat.

I didn't really have time to but thought I would help her out.

She basically said in her opinion and her research that exercise not only loses weight but also breaks down all parts of body composition and that it can actually be bad and cause death.

It's true that their is a condition called sudden death syndrome but that occurs for 1/1 million people that exercise (which is pretty damn low).

I said that it's better to exercise sensibly which the government and all the other health specialists also recommend as it decreases the chance of illness, improves lifestyle and helps people to live longer.

She gave an example of a cheetah chasing it's prey at full speed and if it doesn't succeed it gives up and rests and waits for the next opportunity.

I gave examples of other animals for example wolves that chase there preys at nearly full speed for hours if not days on end until their prey is too fatigued to run any further. But she didn't take that as a valid point.

She said that exercise takes glucose from the brain which is the largest and most important organ.

I said that exercise strengthens brain skills, concentration, helps people to sleep well and helps stop mental illness.

She said that it's been shown that larger, fatter people are actually healthier than people who exercise regularly. (I don't know where she's getting all this 'new' data from!)

I said if people didn't exercise they wouldn't be able to get out bed, walk up stairs, walk to walk or drive their cars etc.

She said that if people were designed to be light and skinny then God would have designed us that way.

I said that we were designed like that and in the old days obesity was very very rare, whereas now it is more prevalent and that is a clear sign that modern day fast food and lack of exercise is increasing obesity which costs the NHS billions of pounds.

In the old days people used to farm, hunter gather, fish, climb mountains to find new pastures, walk to school, work in mines all physically demanding.

This went on until I couldn't waste anymore time and the conversation came to a quiet end.

That's the last time I'll be answering a private number when it's my lunchtime!

Are You Pushing Yourself Hard Enough?

In the Royal Marines the final commando test is the infamous 30 miler across Dartmoor.

Wearing basic boots, webbing, rucksack and carrying a rifle totalling 45lbs in weight - recruits have to go up and down hills, cross streams, swamps and moors in under 8 hours to earn their coveted green beret.

Blisters! Because it's such hard terrain carrying over 3 stones on your back it's the equivalent to running two normal flat marathons back to back.

Throughout the 32 weeks of the longest and hardest infantry training in the world the furthest that any recruit will run is 12 miles.

The rest is made up of 40 minute intense circuit training sessions that work the whole body and increase your VO2 max / endurance and also some fast short runs (1.5 miles flat out).

It sounds far fetched but it's a tried and tested winning formula designed by sport professors at Loughborough University.

So that goes to show that you don't need to spend hours and hours long slow boring jogging on the roads to increase your fitness, if you work hard and push yourself really hard every now and again at boot camp then that will do the job too!

Detox Is Nearly Over - How Much Have You Lost?

Tuesday 24th January today and one week left of the dreaded New Years detox. I started mine January 1st and will finish Sunday 29th January when I'm in Italy. Mine has been pretty simple. Eat only nutritional food and drink lots of water. I've cut out all crisps, chips, pies, microwave meals, chocolate, ice cream, sweets and alcohol and I've never felt better.

I started off just under 15 stones and now weigh just under 14 stones and have lost about 15lbs. I should have taken some before and after photos to send to some health and fitness magazines. I've lost a bit on my face but mostly on my waist which is where all my treats laid and have lost about 2 inches / 2 notches on my belt.

In the weekdays I normally finish work quite late, then go home for a shower and have a little nutritional snack. Then I made the mistake of having a tasty but calorie deficient snack like chocolate digestive biscuits, doritos, Haagen Dazs, wine gums etc at 9pm or later only an hour or so before going to bed.

It doesn't matter how much exercise you do. If you eat an unhealthy snack or drink alcohol (liquid calories) right before bed you don't have time to break it down / burn it off and it will sit on your stomach all night and increase your fat content. I've got some body fat scales at home and have lost 5% body fat this month.

It's all about self discipline and seeing what works for you. I've cut out all my favourite snacks and don't have any cravings for them at all and in the future I'll have a sensible small portion of treats every now and again and will make sure they're no later than 7.30pm in the evening.

Try what I've done and see how you get on and let me know, good luck.

New Year, New You? Your Body Is For Life, Not Just For Christmas

It's great to have a big kick start to the new year and a healthy detox and a few small changes to your diet to make it have more nutritional value and increase your fitness training but it's also important to keep it going through the whole year so that you can reach your goals quickly then maintain your high level of health and fitness.

When you take any breaks off during the year you soon lose fitness and it's harder to get back into it so it's better and easier to do a steady amount throughout the whole year. Anymore then 2 weeks off exercise is too long. The government recommend training at least 3 times a week every single week. If you go on holiday for 2 weeks still try to do some exercise whilst your away.

'Health is wealth, movement is medicine'.

Holiday season - tips for keeping the weight off!

A few of my one to one personal training clients and boot camp members who have been on holiday lately and have come back saying they've put on 3-7lbs. Here's are a few tips on how to keep the weight off when you go on holiday and how to get rid of it as soon as you come back:

• Try to do at least 20 minutes of exercise a day. Some people go to all inclusive resorts and eat lot more food than they normally do and consume more alcohol than normal and spend all the time by the pool or on the beach laying down sunbathing so all those extra calories are just going to be stored as fat and extra weight :(

• Cycle, brisk walk, hill walk to a view point, rock climb, jog, snorkel, swim, golf, tennis, squash, badminton, use the hotel gym, attend some exercise classes etc to keep your metabolism up and burning calories rather than storing calories. If you're on holiday with your children it's a good example for them too. If your baby is in a pram go out for a brisk walk before it gets too hot and try a few hundred metres of jogging every now again whilst pushing the pram etc.

• Try to eat sensible size portions! For some reason when it's a buffet peoples eyes become larger than their stomachs and people can easily over eat. Try to eat fresh healthy options and not to the point where you have to lay down afterwards. Try a 5-10 minute walk after a main meal.

• Drink lots of water which is important for hydration and helping clean your body out of toxins. When you become dehydrated your body finds it harder to function and your metabolism slows down which increases fat storage. It's also important if it's hot or your drinking more alcohol than normal.

• When you return from holiday get straight back into your regular exercise routine or if anything increase it! Some. people get into a bit of a lazy routine when they're on holiday and put off getting back into the training. The longer you leave it the harder it will be to shift the extra few pounds you have put on. The longer your body is carrying the extra weight it will get more used to it, you need to get right back into it and work hard for a couple of weeks to burn lots of calories and increase your metabolism and your body weight will go back to normal, try a longer half day or 1.5 hour boot camp which will help.