Putting the FORCE back into your LIFE through group fitness programs

Archive for the ‘Nutrition & Recipes’ Category

• Prepare ¼ cup each of lentils, mungbeans & split peas,

• Coat 1 kilo of diced chicken (or any other meat) in plain flour (optional),

• Fry;

2 brown diced onions,

2 cloves of garlic,

Teaspoon of ginger,

Diced chicken,

• Then add the;

Lentils, mungbeans & split peas,

2 tins of diced tomatoes,

2 cups of stock,

¼ teaspoon of chilli,

1 teaspoon of cumin,

1 teaspoon of coriander,

1 teaspoon of tumeric,

1 teaspoon of mustard or curry powder,

• Simmer to cook through.

A survey in 2007-08, revealed that 61.4% of the Australian population are either overweight or obese  www.health.gov.au

So it’s fair to say then that the vast majority of you reading this would like to lose weight. Or even if you are currently within the healthy weight range, it’s still likely that you probably struggle to maintain that level. And when the average person decides to lose weight, they generally start a heavy running &/or weights regime whilst putting themselves on the strictest diet they can find. Unfortunately this is just another popular myth in the community for losing weight, for the long term.

In order to lose body fat initially, you’re better off eating approximately 2000kj fewer than you burn per day. However in order to keep that weight off, you need to maintain your activity levels. Combining the two is then even better!

So if you have decided to change your eating habits, how do you know what changes are required? Well, before you know how to get to where you want to go, you first need to know where you are. This is where a ‘Food Diary’ can be the most valuable tool for you. Is it so simple yet highly effective.

All you have to do is simply write down anything & everything that you swallow in a week. However there are a few guidelines that will help you to get the most out of this process.

1. Be honest. Don’t change anything that you normally do.

The idea is to see where you can make improvements; if you aren’t honest with yourself it makes it so much more difficult to know what needs change.

2. Be as specific as possible.

Without going overboard, the more detail you put in, the more information you will see after.

3. Put in other relevant information.

Your metabolism is affected by sleep, work & exercise. Putting in these factors may show a pattern develop in conjunction with your eating.

Once you have done this, look through & see if you can find a pattern of things like;

• Large gaps between meals followed by ‘binge eating’
• Times of the day that trigger ‘bad eating habits’
• Is there a particular food group not included
• Is there a particular food group included too much
• Is there a physical activity that is triggering ‘bad eating habits’

Until you look at your weekly eating at a glance like this, you are not likely to see patters that may span days. They have most likely been developed over years & you probably didn’t even realise they occurred. But now that you are aware of what you are doing, you are so much more likely to be able to do something about it.

To download &/or Print your Free Food Diary Table, click here

Good luck!

Food Diary Table

To calculate your resting metabolic rate:

Women:

[655.1+(9.56 x weight in kg)+(1.85 x height in cm)-(4.68 x age in years)] x 4.2

Men:

[66.47+(13.75 x weight in kg)+(5 x height in cm)-(6.76 x age in years)] x 4.2

Once you know your resting metabolic rate you will need to multiply it by your activity factor number to know your total daily energy output needs.

Example:

Amanda is 30 years old, 170 cm tall & weighs 70 kg. Her resting metabolic rate is

[655.1+(9.56 x 70)+(1.85 x 170)-(4.68 x 30)] x 4.2

=[655.1+669.2+314.5-140.4] x 4.2

=6293 kj per day

If Amanda is relatively inactive, her total kj output would be 6293 x 1.2=7552 kj per day.

However if she was training for a marathon, her output would be 6293x1.9=11,957 kj per day.

The safest & most effective way to reduce kilojoule intake for weight loss is to consume

2000 to 4000 kj fewer than your body uses per day. This produces a minimum weight loss of 0.5 to 1 kg per week.

This may sound like a slow process, however you may need to ask yourself how long it took for your body to gain its weight & ask yourself if it’s realistic to expect your body to lose the same amount of weight in a much quicker time frame.

Don’t forget losing weight, even if it’s a slow process, is better than keeping the weight on or continuing to gain more.

For anyone wanting to lose weight it must be said that modifying your diet is the best way to initially lose the weight (Personal Trainers who make their living out of the physical side of the equation don’t generally admit this. If I say this to you, please believe me), physical activity is the ONLY way to KEEP it off & combining the two is obviously getting the best of both worlds.

Therefore, I encourage everyone to go on a ‘weight loss diet’. “But hang on, isn’t there a lot of contradictions within the weight loss industry of whether a diet is good for you or not?” I hear you say. Yes & No. First, understand that you are already on a diet, a diet is “the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group”. So you need to also understand that the current diet (& activity level) is 100% responsible for your current weight (& Strength/Fitness level). If you are to change your weight (& Strength/Fitness), you must change your habits.

Read the rest of this entry »

So you are doing your work outs well, and making a great effort, excellent!

You are starting to feel fitter and better as time goes by? You are starting to feel some of those endorphins kick in after training, but your weight may not be changing and your energy is not always as good as it could be?

This is where your Nutrition comes in to play. Unless your nutrition is good, you will not see great results!

Read the rest of this entry »

Why is the word “Diet” such a dirty word? When somebody mentions losing weight, the first thought is always “oh no, I don’t want to go on a boring diet! I love my food & drink too much” & the second thought is usually “& then I have to run 10 painful kilometers every day!”. But why is the word ‘Diet’ only mentioned with weight loss, when the dictionary definition is

the foods eaten, as by a particular person or group. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/diet.

So if you eat 20 hamburgers for breakfast, that is your diet! Not a particularly good one, but that is your dietary intake diet never-the-less.

What if I was to tell you that you can still eat amazing foods, drink world class wine & lose weight. It’s true, you just Read the rest of this entry »

Don’t know where to start when planning a healthy eating plan?

Below is an example of someones daily meals that easily covers all the bases when considering;

• What to eat & when
• How to include all of the 5 foods groups
• Tasty suggestions
• Increasing metabolism for high energy & weight loss &
• http://lifeforcetraining.com.au/shopping-list-for-food-diary/ for the shopping list for every meal.

Example-1 of Food Diary

Shopping List for Food Diary 1

Adequate hydration ‘prior’ to each session is of utmost importance, not only for safety, but also for the body systems to be able to perform at their peak.

You will only have one opportunity to train in the class you are doing, once it finishes you cannot do thatclass ever again. You want to be ready to perform at your peak, don’t waste the opportunity to achieve your goals because you weren’t hydrated beforehand.

Caution

Don’t guzzle water in the hour before the session.

Instead, you need to hydrate yourself gradually, throughout the entire day (or during the day before for early morning sessions) in order to allow the body to absorb the fluid.

Follow this advice and you have laid the groundwork for a successful session and a healthier life.