Eating for Success !

I was recently asked by a few people about what behaviors and foods they might want to utilize to keep weight off. Here are a few quick tips that will help you on your way. 

1. Eat Chocolate

I was terrible at saving money. I would put all of it away and end up blowing the whole amount because i never gave myself anything to live by. The same can be said for sweet foods, have a little deliberately rather than totally restricting yourself! Satisfy your sweet craving with a small portion of dessert after a meal and hopefully it should stop you snacking throughout the day!

2.Calcium 

Consuming 1,800 milligrams of calcium a day could block the absorption of about 336 kJ. High amounts of calcium can be found in Kale and spinach so try and get these leafy veg into your lunch time salad. Flaxseed, sesame seeds, brazil nuts and    Almonds also contain high levels of calcium so snack on these throughout the day. Milk, Cheese and Yogurt all have high levels of calcium but the fat content would make you weak at the knees! So abstain a little...!

3.Heat it up a bit...

Capsaicin is the substance that puts the hot in hot chilli. It can temporarily boosts your metabolism. Put a bit in your lunch or dinner and you’ll be working while you sleep!

4. Find yourself some fibre

Fibre will fill us up and keep our digestion working. Complex fibre is the best and is hard to decompose, so it will not only fill you up but get your jaw working overtime meaning we don’t crave chewing straight after a meal. Oats and weetbix and brown breads have stacks of complex fibre and don’t forget organic is better because it is less processed and try and have these in your first meal of the day.  

5. Buy Pre-cut Vegetables

It is an easy way to cut the leg work out of taking veggies to work ad ensure that you snack on carrots and celery. Make it accessible and inexcusable

6. Water Your Body...

A dry body means we crave sweat things. Every time you reach for the sugar grab a glass of water. Remember that you want to be drinking around 1 L per 25kg of body weight. The sooner you start the more likely you are going to notice those sugar cravings drop off

7. Go Public

Make sure everyone knows that you are trying to loose weight or get healthy. Post photos, status’, send message and enlist the support of your friends. It works as an acknowledgement method and can help battle the early on discouragement that many people face when trying to loose weight by themselves

8.Make your meal colourful

greens, oranges and purples are all great colors to have on your plate. The more the better! Stay away from yellows- i.e pastas, potatoes, starches and general carbohydrates! Filling but also unnecessary in high quantities when trying to loose weight. The more colorful the plate the more veggies you usually have!

9. Detox

It is never a bad thing to juice fast or do a cleanse. You would be surprised at how much weight can be lost from getting rid of all the stored toxins in your body. Make sure you research your detox though and consult a health expert before you start. 

10.Train with me

Or someone! Training is the 50% percent of the weight-loss game. Get your food balance right and you’ll be on the right path. Working with a professional is great because it gives you a direction to follow. I have always been a big believer in a plan. Our training is planned in eight week blocks so that you have less unknowns and more expected results. Call today and we can work on a nutrition plan together as well.

Health and Animals

At a surface level health starts with doing the right things for your body...But for all who have trained we know that it's much more than that. It includes mental health and spiritual wellbeing. For lack of a better term it is a holy trinity. Look for opportunities to evolve, keep your body healthy, your mind clear and you/we should be happy.

When we are happy we achieve a lot more....There is a sense of deliberateness to our actions. Less dragging of feet and more willingness to try. I think this is the key to creating a successful training program and when i set up a training program with a client, the introduction revolves around these principles.

However, this is not the point i wanted to make. For me part of being mentally healthy is feeling like i am progressing or contributing to change for the better, on whatever scale I can. It's like Ralph Emerson once said, "make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you". We can do this in our daily choices and one decision that I make is to not eat meat. Now I am not one tell another that there actions are right or wrong, but for me not eating meat helps me feel like i am keeping my mind healthy (along with other things), it keeps my conscious clear.

I have my own personal reasons not to eat meat, as many of you will have your personal reasons to eat it, and that is fine. However it is important to consider how our food is farmed. The conditions of the animals life and slaughter. Has the pig/cow/chicken/calf/fish been happy in life? Or where they raised in a farm cage the size of your wardrobe for three to four years? Simply put, (for me) as long as we can inflict cruelty on such large scales with such disregard for life to animals we can still do it to each other. To consider this just think back to the Jewish war camps of Nazi Germany. You have to wonder, did that inspire western farming or did western farming inspire the war camps?

So this piece of writing is a bit all over the place. I start of talking about health and then talk about vegetarianism and some how throw in the Nazi's. How does it all relate? To be honest it doesn't. I just want to plug two things that I am passionate about. Health and animal welfare. I ate a bit of pig the other day so I am cleaning my conscious.

Here are some of my resources. Enjoy.

This is the vid that inspired me to finally stop eating meat

A good scientific back ground to protein

http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/articles/get-enough-protein-veg-diet.php

more good resources on education, animal welfare etc

http://www.peta.org/index_landing.asp

http://www.avatarepc.com/

http://ten-pounds-down.fitsugar.com/50-Ways-Stay-Motivated-Weight-Loss-13289463