I won't be doing these very often folks it is literally just for my own records, so when I have a hard day and feel all fat and frumpy I can come here and reassure myself that I have come a long way.
I hope that it may give you all a little motivation I mean the results below did not come quick so remember slow progress is still progress! Take your own progress pictures I promise they are more rewarding then the number on the scales :).
23rd June 2012
7th October 2012
Bottom was 12th May 2012 and top was 7th October 2012
15th July 2012
7th October 2012
It's nice to see that my hard work has paid off, especially in the leg and bum department as that is still my trouble zones so these few months have been focused on those areas.
Remember everyone train insane or remain the same!!!
There is nothing more frustrating than trying to advise a junk food addict that they need to change their diet to see the effect of all their exercise! Remember..
You just cannot out exercise a bad diet. I'm hoping the next points will open your eyes and make you ditch frozen or ready meals, and junk food.
1) Our bodies cannot break it down
Processed junk food is made out of non-foods and chemicals. Our gut is designed to break down and digest foods, not this "food" that's chock full of anti-caking agents, preservatives, sweeteners, food colourings stabilizers and other scary things that do not come from nature. You can watch this video to see what popular American snacks do to your body. To sum it up; these sorts of popular snacks can stay in your body until the next ice age!! Scary stuff, huh?
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2) Partially Hydrogenated Oil
Also known as Trans Fats, which have actually now been banned in a few states in America because of their dire effect on your health. This ingredient is used to increase shelf life and is usually found in all baked goods; Ritz Crackers, Popcorn, Granola Bars (so called healthy!), brand name Peanut Butters, Cereals and Chocolate Bars. This ingredient has a major link to increased risk in heart attacks and high cholesterol.
3) High Fructose Corn Syrup
This nasty ingredient is a very, very cheap sweetener and you are most likely to find it in a lot of obvious brand foods, but some surprising ones as well! Fizzy Drinks, sweets, cakes, ice cream, cereal, but also tomato sauce, yoghurt, salad dressings, baked beans and bread! HFC's are associated with obesity, heart disease, diabetes and high triglycerides.
4) MSG
Mono Sodium Glutamate is a common food in most popular brands, takeaway food, and even restaurant food. MSG is an additive that increases the flavour of the food its added to and is thought to make these foods addictive.
This nasty ingredient causes a long list of health problems such as heart disease, seizures, fertility issues, diabetes, cancer, brain damage and Alzheimers, to name just a few. You will find MSG is many foods including frozen dinners, ice cream, stock cubes, crisps, condiments, baby food, baby formula, cheese etc, the list goes on and on. Sometimes, the manufacturers will try to hide the fact that they have added this ingredient and will also call it yeast extract, textured protein, protein isolate or calcium caseinate. They can also be found in the vague ingredients "natural flavourings" and "seasonings".
There are plenty more processed ingredients added to our food that I cannot begin to list in this post. Read your food labels, see something you don't recognise? Note it down and research it, 9 times out of 10 it will be a processed dangerous additive.
5) Brain Scarring
A recent study in the Journal of Clinical Investigation found that regularly consumed fatty foods can lead to brain scarring and damage to the hypothalamus, the area of the brain responsible for hunger, thirst, and the body’s natural rhythms and cycles. While the initial study was done on rats, scientists feel the findings are insightful in regards to the human brain.
Inflammation, or neuron injury, developed in rats and mice just three days after consuming fatty foods. When rats maintained this diet long term, the neurons were permanently damaged. The brain’s attempt to heal itself while on a long term diet of high fat resulted in scarring to the central nervous system.
Most interesting, however, was the damage done to the brain’s POMC cells, which regular appetite and prevent excess weight gain. The POMC cells were reduced by over 25%, which explains why dieters who merely lower their calories count and up their exercise fail to keep the weight off and regain it back.
So there you have it: if you’re trying to lose weight, you must eat whole foods, not continue eating as you have been only with smaller portions - it only works temporarily.
So my message to you is to stress the importance of eating these whole foods; that is whole grains, vegetables, eggs, fruit, nuts, and organic meat. Not only are these foods essential for weight loss and fitness but also for the internal health of your body.
Brrr so its cold, wet and windy...yes it's definitely Autumn! So when its cold all I want to do is stuff myself with soups, stews and casseroles, but seeing as the other half is away today I can have something he doesn't like...Cottage Pie :).
Now a standard Cottage Pie with mashed potato, cheese, oil and full fat mince will cut you back a massive 810 calories with 36g of fat and only 30g of protein. Now I promise you this recipe will not only be super super tasty but much much healthier.
(Serves 2)
Ingredients:
- Half a pack of Healthy Living Lean Mince (250g)
- 2 Cups of Broad Beans or Peas
- Carrot
- 3 Medium Sweet Potatoes
- Beef Stock Cube
- Large Onion
- Can of baked beans
- Handful of Grated Cheese
(I highly recommend either a tbsp of marmite or a squirt of HP Guinness sauce when browning your mince as it will make the flavours so much more richer.)
1) Peel and chop your sweet potatoes then put in a saucepan.
2) Chop your carrot and onion and put to one side.
3) In a pan brown your mince with no oil, if you are left with a lot of fat after frying then sieve this off.
4) Add your chopped carrot and onion to the browned mince and cook until the carrot is tender.
5) Boil a kettle and add boiling water to your pan of chopped sweet potato, simmer on medium heat and preheat your oven to 220 degrees.
6) Now add your can of baked beans to your mince, onion and carrot, crumble in your stock cube and pour in about 50-100ml of water.
7) Add your broad beans and peas and set to simmer.
8) Once your sweet potatoes are cooked take everything of the hob, and strain and mash them.
9) Pour your Cottage Pie mixture into an oven proof dish then spoon on your mash and smooth out with a fork.
10) Top with your grated cheese and pop in the oven for 20 mins.
Et Voila! A wonderful cockle warming Autumn Cottage pie which clocks in at....
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492 Calories
44g Protein
19g Fat
(per serving)
Yum yum the boyfriend needs to go away more often :). Try this at home everyone and let me know what you think.
1) Kick starts your metabolism!
When you wake up in the morning drinking 16oz (about a pint glass) of water will boost your metabolism by 24% for the next 90 minutes. Great news for all you early bird workout people as you will be getting so much more from your workout as you will be burning more calories. Also drinking super cold water improves your metabolism by about 8 calories per 8oz of water consumed, neat huh? Drinking water also helps your body burn stored fat. If you’re not drinking enough water, your liver will be forced to help your kidneys detoxify your body. When you drink plenty of water, your kidneys don’t need any extra help, so your liver will be able to metabolize stored fat more efficiently.
2) When hunger strikes
Drink a glass of water! Our bodies like to trick us into feeling hungry when we are actually thirsty, so feeling those hunger pangs mid morning? Ditch the coffee and choccie bar and drink some water, then wait 20 minutes. If you are no longer hungry then perfect you were just thirsty, still peckish? Grab a piece of fruit, another great source of water.
3) Builds muscle
And the more muscle you have = higher your metabolism = more fat you burn. Drinking plenty of water makes your muscles much stronger by enabling your muscles to work harder for longer. Water carries oxygen to the cells in your body, including those in your muscles. If your dehydrated when you work out you will feel tired and lethargic and will not be getting the most out of it.
4) Bye bye bloat
Water retention is a big cause of working really hard and not seeing that scale budge. This is caused by not getting enough water and high sodium in your diet. So cut out the salt and get guzzling down that water and I promise your skinny jeans will feel looser before you know it!
5) Good for your joints
Attention all runners! You especially need to really take care you your joints - knees in particular. Drinking water helps keep your joints strong, healthy and lubricated. Your joints need moisture in order to remain strong and flexible, so that your movements are smooth and pain free.
Find water just too plain for your taste buds? Then squeeze a lemon into your bottle of water, not only is this super tasty but it helps with your digestion, freshens your breath, cleanses your skin, and boosts your immune system (perfect as winter is just around the corner).
Personal Tip: Invest in a funky water bottle, I personally love this one and set reminders on your phone throughout the day for you to drink. There are also some free apps out there that do this
How to lose weight?: Ditch Dieting!
So what do we do then to lose weight? Well its so simple you could kick yourself....
1) Calculate how many calories you need in a day and create a calorie deficit
Calculating the number of calories you need in a day is actually really simple and I will show you how to do so. The golden rule to losing weight is to eat less than you extend, this creates a calorie deficit.
Firstly, we will need to work out your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). This is how many calories your body burns just by keeping you alive, this is the amount you would burn even if you were in a coma. Now here comes the math! To work out your BMR use this formula:
Women: 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) – ( 4.7 x age in years )
Men: 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) – ( 6.8 x age in year )
So for example I weigh 105 lbs, I'm 5ft 5 and I'm 24 years old, so my BMR equals 1304 calories.
Now you have your BMR you can workout how many calories you need to maintain your current weight by using the Harris Benedict Formula, all you need to do is multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor:
If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : BMR x 1.375
If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : BMR x 1.55
If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : BMR x 1.725
If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : BMR x 1.9
So for example my BMR is 1304 and I workout 3-5 days a week so to maintain my weight I need a total of 2021 calories.
We are almost there folks! Now, a healthy weight loss is 1lb per week, 1lb is 3500 calories so to lose that in a week you want to create a 500 calorie deficit every day.
So as we worked out I need 2021 calories to maintain my weight, now if I want to lose 1lb a week I need to cut that down by 500 calories a day. *Drum roll* so my calorie goal per day is 1521 calories!
Personal Tip: I split my 500 calorie deficit 50/50 with diet and exercise so I would eat 250 calories less and burn 250 calories with exercise.
2) Eat clean!
I will go into this more in future posts but quite simply you want to be eating as many natural foods as you possibly can; fruit, veg, fish, white meat, nuts, wholegrains, and healthy fats. Completely cut out unhealthy fats, fried food, freezer convenience food, fizzy drinks, white carbs (potatoes, white rice, white pasta) and as much sugar as possible from your diet. Now that's not to say these foods are forbidden...remember this is not a diet, you want that cake? Ok go for it you probably deserve it but remember that piece of cake was 400 calories and you worked really hard today to burn your extra 500 calories...was that piece of cake really worth it?
3) Get off your butt!
Join the gym, go swimming, take the dogs for a walk, start jogging, yoga, pilates, zumba...the sky is the limit! Do what you enjoy most, that way you are most likely to stick to it. You should aim for an hour of exercise 5 days a week.
4) Be honest with yourself
Keep a food diary for at least 7 days so you can start to see where your calories come from. I really love myfitnesspal which is a free app on android and iPhone, it tracks not just your food intake but your exercise as well. Be honest! You cannot lie to your body, you may not track that sneaky late night choccie bar or the second biscuit with your tea but your body sure did! You will not lose weight until you follow this most important step.
5) Motivation
Start your own fitness blog to track your progress, weigh and measure yourself weekly so you can physically see your progress. Remember the biggest fitness stars and athletes fall off the wagon, its ok for you to as well. The true test of your strength is dusting yourself off and get back on it! I am always here for anyone who needs some motivation, just remember why you started your fitness journey in the first place you can do it!
So those are my 5 simple steps to losing weight, follow these and I promise you it will be more effective than any diet out there and the best thing is its a lifestyle change so you won't be coming off it, you will be fit and healthy for life.