Are We There Yet ?

Its customary to waffle on about setting goals in January so I thought I would do something a little different. I do think setting goals are a good thing and having been a project manager – what else would I say !

However, when it comes to health and fitness I think the journey is just as important as the destination. Too many good intentions start off well and then drift as the journey becomes too hard or unrealistic with all the other claims on out time. If the journey isn’t very enjoyable – then our aspirations become harder and its all too easy to loose motivation and choose to do something else.

I think the key to making long term life changes to our health and fitness is more about finding healthy options we enjoy, or can learn to enjoy, and can stay with; rather than thinking of a ‘goal’ in isolation to everything else we do, or try to bolt on more things to our already busy lives.

For example, its possible to think of being on a diet, which may bring to mind negative connotations about what you can and cant eat. Alternatively, decide to make healthier choices, and bring to mind positive thoughts about freshly prepared food which is rich in vitamins, proteins and minerals. (Making my mouth water just at the thought).

Some people go jogging for exercise. That’s not everyone’s favourite. Maybe the thoughts of being outside on the fresh air, feeling the wind, looking for the first signs of spring over the next few weeks might be a more encouraging way of thinking about it. Or how about a racquet game with a friend ?

So rather than slogging your way to a goal wondering ‘if you are there yet’ – try thinking about ways to enjoy the journey and make longer term changes.

You may get ‘there’ faster than you think.

I wish you success in whatever plans you have made for 2012 and an exciting journey to get there.

Regards, Simon

Pumpkins and Pomegranates – how do you eat Yours ?

Loads of inexpensive pumpkins in the shops at the moment.
We just bought a massive one, about the size of a beach ball, for £2.50.

They are really good nutritious food too. Full of anti-oxidants and vitamins, high in fibre.

Water soluble vitamins need to be re-stocked daily by the body. This is good news as pumpkins can supply B1, B2, B3, B6, B9 and C. They also supply a number of fat soluble vitamins A, E and K. The seeds are also a good source of mono-unsaturated fats.

Pumpkin can be used in a variety of great recipes. I had a quick look on the BBC good food guide and found a great range of ideas from baked whole, Pumpkin and Chickpea Curry, soups, omelette. Be careful what you mix it with. It can even blended up to make an after-workout shake. Now that’s a great alternative to something out of a plastic tub.

If you have any recipes you would like to share, please feel free to add them as blog comments.

Ok – now what do you do with these ?

These are another great source of anti-oxidants, vitamins, potassium and iron.

However, I must admit, I was always at a loss with how to deal with Pomegranates, with all those pips, until I had a flat mate who showed me one way.

His technique was to scrunch the fruit whole so that the juice was released inside the fruit. Pierce the fruit and then quickly suck all the juice out, before it sprayed everywhere, leaving a dry husk.

This didn’t always go to plan and left a streak of red juice in an unintended direction!
Now I just use a lemon squeezer to extract the juice.

I think I’ve just had a great idea for a winter shake: how about a Pomegranate and Pumpkin smoothie ? Let me know what you think.

handfull of Pumpkin
1/2 glass skimmed milk
juice of 1 pomegranate
(pinch of cinnamon optional)
blend it all up

Regards, Simon

www.Live-NoLimits.com
…get Fitter … get Faster …get Results

Simon Kidd       0775 774 4795
Simon@Live-NoLimits.com

Training to go long and fast

How can you train to go long and fast ?

The key to this is to understand ow your body makes use of its different energy stores.
Training for an event is not just about muscles !
You can train your bodies energy system to make more use of body fat, rather than its limited supply of sugars.

Read how in the atachment :   Fat vs glycogen flyer 6a

Tips for Weight Loss

Have you ever counted how many adverts on the TV are trying to tempt us to eat more ? The top supermarket chains in the UK have a combined marketing budget totalling £282 million – that’s a lot of money being spent on trying to persuade us to eat more. Yet a lot of us are looking for ways to lose weight. So if you are one of those, here are some tips you might like to try.

• Be as active as possible throughout the day. Walk to the shops, climb the stairs, go for walks etc. Lots of low to medium intensity exercise will help you burn off the fat. High intensity exercise may, however, leave you craving for food, burn stored glucose rather than fat, and possibly stress your body more than its ready for.
• Eat regularly through the day. Eating helps fuel your metabolism, and not-eating slows it down.
• Keep nicely hydrated. It only take a 2% level of dehydration for the bodies systems to degrade by as much as 20%. 2 litres a day is a good amount (add extra for exercise).
• Look at the composition of what you eat. Its  easy to have a diet over-rich in carbohydrates which are easily absorbed  and result in excess blood sugars that are then stored as excess body fat. If you include proteins, fats and fibre, this reduces the desire to snack  and will help reduce peaks in blood sugar.
• Maybe its time to revisit the gym or look at  joining an outside exercise class – or set aside a regular time to go for a jog / brisk walk with a friend.
• Set a realistic weight loss goal, 1-2lb per week  is a sustainable level of weight loss and will not upset your bodies systems. As the bodies weight fluctuates from day to day, its best to check every week, rather than every day.
• Try cutting down the TV – a lot of TV might tempt you to snack, and all those adverts will encourage you to eat more than you would like. As the weather’s been so great recently, how about going for a walk, bike ride, swim or try some tennis, squash or badminton. Try going with a friend for some mutual support and encouragement.Do something today…. you will feel a lot better about it.

Movement Matters

I’ve noticed over the Summer a significant rise in the number of people going out for a jog in the morning.

As a fitness coach, I thought it was great that people were taking some time out of their day to look after themselves. After the holidays, a lot of us will be returning to a daily routine that involves mainly sitting: at breakfast, in the car, on the train, at a desk, back on the train and then for dinner and TV. We are not really designed well for that and over a period of time we lose our ability to move well through a whole range.

The human body is amazing at moving, and if you’ve ever watched a toddler or child move, they explore their ability to move as much as possible.

To retain our ability to move well, try to move around on a regular basis – preferably more than once a day. It’s not that difficult, but you’ll beat stress, improve your health, and look better as well. There are psychological benefits too. You’ll improve self-efficacy, confidence, and it helps clear the mind.

Exercise is best when you do moving around, pushing, pulling, turning and bending. Try going outside and enjoy a break in the fresh air. You’ll feel better, you’ll look better, and you’ll make a difference to your physical and mental health.

If you are concerned about previous injury or illness, or are not sure where to start, ask a health or fitness professional.

Walk the dog. Play at the beach. Push your kids on a swing. Kick a ball. Throw a Frisbee, Try tennis or badminton. Go for a swim.
Don’t consider it exercise. Consider it living. It feels good to be alive, doesn’t it? Take advantage of it, make it better, and have as much fun as you can.

Have a great day.

The Fatty Truth about Low Fat Food

Trawling along the supermarket shelves, you can probably find a ‘low-fat’ version of practically anything – even cheese. But are these low fat alternatives all they are made out to be ?

Beware that most fat free products replace fat with extra sugar. For example, a major high street chain produces two versions of its Blueberry muffin:

• Low Fat version = 430 calories = (98g carbs, 6g protein, 2.5g fat, 1g fibre)
• Normal version = 360 calories = (64g carbs, 6g protein, 10g fat, 2g fibre)

The ‘low fat’ version has replaced fats with sugars which will go quickly into the bloodstream and has even more calories !

Fat contains twice as many calories as carbohydrates (starches and sugars). However, the low-fat versions have usually replaced a proportion of the fatty content with additional sugar and starches.

Calorie-counting tells us how much energy there is in food.
This  doesn’t distinguish between the effect those foods will have on our insulin response and how we store fat in the body.

When we eat a sugary or starchy food the body takes this in as glucose. Blood sugar rises and the body releases the hormone insulin in response. This conveys the glucose to our natural storage in the muscles and liver. When these are full, it gets converted into fat.

Unlike protein, and foods mixed with fibre which turns to energy slowly and requires energy to break it down, sugars and starches turn to energy quickly and efficiently. This is fantastic if you intend to run a marathon, but how many of us are doing that ?

Over time, repeated intake of high concentrations of sugars and starches can actually result in putting on additional fat as the surplus is stored. In the worst case overproduction of insulin causes insulin resistance and eventually Type 2 diabetes.

Cutting out fat can also make the body reduce its fat burning rate and so it takes longer to loose it !

The key to a healthy diet is making sure that the energy is released at a lower rate, by having a healthy mix of protein, fats, fibre and slow release carbohydrates.

The Garden Workout

As I sat outside the other day enjoying this great weather listening to the buzz of activity in the local gardens it occurred to me what a great exercise gardening is. Its out in the fresh air and involves a lange of movements that activate all the muscle groups.

If you came to me at the gym I would take you though a balanced routine involving pushes, pulls, lifts, core and some cardio vascular activies. This would use several muscles and avoid over-working any particular group. It’s also a good idea to include a variety of activity in the ‘garden workout’. If I asked you to spend three hours doing
‘squats’ in the gym, you would probably be quite sore the next day and wouldn’t
thank me at all! Just like the gym, doing 30-45 minutes of activity three time
per week will help get better results that an occasional ‘warrior’ session
lasting several hours leaving you painful and regarding the activity as a
chore.

I’ll leave you to work out your own routine, and here are some thoughts you might like to try:

• Do warm up before getting the spades and hoes out: this prepares the body for action. Take each joint gently through its range of motion.
• Alternate low level activities like planting and weeding with high level activities like pruning every few minutes and try to change position frequently.
• Mow the lawn using a pushing and pulling pattern first with left foot forward and then right foot forward or mow the lawn in stripes, so that you turn left at one end and right at the other.
• Make sure you engage the core muscles (think about squeezing the navel to the spine) each time you lift, push or pull.
• Use the powerful leg muscles to lift and stand from kneeling, rather than bend over from the waist.
• Separate rubbish into smaller bags and do several smaller lifts rather than a single maximal weight lift of a heavy bag which might cause injury.
• When doing low level work, try a lunge position and support the upper body using one arm on the front leg if necessary and then swap sides.
• Do cool down and gently stretch after the session to let the muscles relax.

Do enjoy your garden.