When it comes to fat loss the first place most people naturally head to is the gym or the fruit and veg aisle of the supermarket. This is a great shout of course, however, there’s an essential, often overlooked step that you MUST implement daily to succeed with your healthy changes. So what is it?
A topic that often causes a lot of confusion is snacking. Is it even good to snack and if so, which are the best options? Here's a quick low down to help you out!
Today we want to give a huge shout out to our Fitter 365 member Vicki Agnew. If you picked up the latest copy of Women's Running mag you may have seen her smiling face beaming back at you from the front cover, we want to share a bit about her pretty inspirational journey as we know others will relate to her story. Congratulations Vicki, you're a real inspiration and we're delighted to have you as a member. Over to Vicki..
In my last blog I wrote about the highs and lows of running a half marathon (check it out here). As much as I had a fantastic time and feel proud of what I achieved, I also made some big blunders by not sleeping enough, not eating properly and ignoring some niggling injuries. I firmly believe I'd never have made it to the starting line had I not implemented some really cool stuff prior to the race that made me a stronger runner. Here I share five things that supported my running goals.
In my last blog I discussed how men tend to approach nutrition and whilst they have their “commandments” and attachments to condiments they’re generally speaking a little more laid back about the role nutrition plays in their health. Us ladies on the other hand are pro’s at making this a full time business alongside other demanding roles in our lives, like having a career, being a mother, sister, friend, etc. I’ve been totally guilty of this myself in the past, if you bring on the detail I will over analyse, overwhelm, over Google and overthink all of it!
I've had the opportunity to work with several blokes and I'm currently living with a rather large eating machine of a man (Matt!) so I’ve been afforded a great insight into how guys approach nutrition. One of the key things I'm always keen to coach guys about is how to recognise the signs their nutrition and lifestyle is working against their efforts in the gym and therefore hindering progress towards their performance or body composition goals. Here are the 5 signs your man food needs a makeover...
One of the most common trends that seem to be driving a number of health issues and fat loss fails today is the fact that many people are creating a debt crisis with regard to their body. In life we need a healthy bank balance in order to pay for our living costs and do the things we enjoy like going on holiday or eating in a nice restaurant. Similarly, our body has a limited reserve of funds available for essential physiological processes and tasks – we’re referring to vitamins, minerals, hormones and all the vital nutrients that keep us alive and kicking. It has some spare resources stored away just in case we need to occasionally go above and beyond.
Nutrition and health information is constantly evolving; once vilified saturated fats like coconut oil and butter are now considered superfoods, cardio was the solution to fat loss then HIIT made an appearance and we're now just waiting for the tables to turn on peanut M&M's. Despite the fads and fashions that come and go there are some fundamental aspects of health that have continually stood the test of time and advanced in scientific research. Despite many of them being obvious components of health I wish someone had emphasised their importance to me a few years ago, healthy living would have been much easier and enjoyable for a start.
I’m a member of a group on Facebook called Did You Run Today? (DYRT) As the name suggests it’s full of enthusiastic runners who share their running stories, log their routes and ‘got soaked in the rain’ photos. It’s nice to see the support given to beginners just starting out confused about footwear or tracking devices as the old timers dive in with lots of helpful tips and advice. There’s families running together and even the dogs are getting involved. The group has a fantastic energy and super friendly atmosphere that serves to motivate and support it’s members on their running journey, but what if you didn’t run today?
I posted on Facebook a while back that perhaps there's a little too much effort going on when it comes to fat loss and people might be missing some quick wins which could be achieved by kicking back a little and simplifying things. When an individual decides they want to change their body composition and focus on getting healthy it often starts off all guns blazing. There are plans to eat boat loads of steamed kale, smash HIIT sessions daily and answer to no one but the weighing scales.
When working with clients who’s primary goal is to lose body fat we often discover that its not through lack of trying but more so because they become confused with the vast amount of information that is available out there. This says that and that says this. Well it can all get a bit mind boggling but I want to share 3 common reasons I feel most people are not achieving the fat loss results they desire and what you can do to change that shizzle.
A topic we discuss regularly is hormone health, particularly in Fitter 365 our membership group. Some of the latest content has provoked some interesting discussions about hormone supplementation with many members asking about the health implications, side effects and how they could support themselves more nutritionally. This blog series will get you up to speed on female hormone therapy, kicking off with the contraceptive pill.