Oh How I’ve Neglected You!

It’s been some months since I’ve made an appearance on this blog, how horrible of me to leave you hanging! (Or more likely, to have abandoned the few who turned up to read.)

Since my last post my life has taken a dramatic change, I’ve even changed time zones and now reside in the UK. 

Living in what I like to call the Capital of the World (London) is much easier for keeping weight off than most people realise. Not only are the anorexic Europeans all around you some kind of motivation; but in a high-fashion world the bigger you are, the less places they are to shop! (Did you know that some places actually only stock up to “Medium”? Ridiculous. 

Between that motivation and adopting a life style dependant on  public transport – seriously, there’s no need for a car in London – I’ve managed to “fight the fat” more effective than ever before. Since I started blogging in May last year I am down some 40 pounds (from 256 to 216), can shop for clothes in “most” stores, and have gone done from a XXL to a L shirt size; and most of it is due to my new life style. 

Between Sainsbury’s, Virgin Active, Transport for London (and a little dedication) I’ll be far closer to my goal weight of 170-180 by the one year anniversary of my diet. I promise to rededicate myself to this blog, to my exercise and healthier eating. In addition, you may find some inspiration in how I was able to maintain a healthy diet using mostly Ready-To-Eat foods available at your local Sainsbury’s! (Ought to be a plus for any UK readers). 

More updates soon!

Champion’s Tuna Salad

As Promised, here is my tip for a healthy snack:

Champions Tuna

• 2 Tins of regular tuna (in water please, pass on the oil)
• 2 – 3 teaspoons of Light mayonnaise. (if you really can’t stand light, then use 1 regular, 1 light. Hellman’s Light i find to be quite good)
• 1 teaspoon of yellow mustard
• Approx 1 Tablespoon of Lime juice (add more as needed for flaver)
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion (optional)

So far we are probably looking like regular tuna, right? Well hear is where the “Champion” comes in: 

• 1/4 cup grated cabbage
• 1/4 cup grated carrots
• 2 Tablespoons grated cheddar (low fat please. This adds protein and calcium, both good)
• a “healthy” pinch of salt
• a couple turns of the blackpepper grinder
• 1/2 teaspoon Hot Sauce (or more if you desire) 

Now to make this tuna there is a very special technique – throw in all the ingredients and mix away with love! 

This dish in itself has plenty protein from the tuna & cheese, plus a good serving of vegetables and can be eaten by itself after a workout. Alternatively, and to keep it a healthy low-carb option for your diet, you can get any kind of “large leaf” lettuce and make mini wraps. This also works with Cabbage and is espescially nice with steamed spinach. 

If you are looking for a pre-workout snack, then try spreading a heaping tablespoon on toasted WHOLE WHEAT or WHOLE GRAIN bread. If you are still hungry, enjoy some more plain or in lettuce wraps. 

The Best iTunes Deal Out

Hey I know I promised you guys some tips on music. Now don’t shoot me, but Carly Simon has some great songs, a couple of them really can be motivational and I see a couple working their ways into this weeks resistance training program tho I am not sure how yet. 

Now I said this is the best deal on iTunes, I wasn’t kidding. iTunes is selling a Carly Simon compilation entitled “Carly Simon: Clouds in my Coffee 1965-1995″ and its 58 of her best songs… for get this… $9.99. 

I just thought it was a fantastic deal from a musical legend and I would share that with you. I promise to put up a playlist this week! 

Cardio is Boring! – Spruce it up.

 

Yes. Cardiovascular exercise can be boring and frightfully monotonous. But if you are serious about your weight-loss then it must be included as a habitual part of your weekly routine. As I have stressed before it is necessary for everyone to start slowly and work up to greater lengths and intensity. It makes no sense to push yourself so hard the first day that you hurt yourself or demotivate yourself. 

Once I worked myself up to a schedule I used the following tips to keep me wanting more: 

1. If you like exercise machines for your cardio, rotate them and it iwll help you to break the monotony. Today you jog on the Treadmill, tomorrow you have some fun on the Stair Climber, and next week you can try your hand at the Elliptical machine or the rower. Not only will it be less repetitive, but it will give you better results working different muscles, an working the body differently in general. 
2. The next thing I add to my workout is great music, again, monotony is important. Don’t go to the gym with the same old stuff loaded on your ipod week after week. It will bore you mentally and will be much less effective at getting you pumped! I change my workout music regularly, for resistance training i used slower calculated music, sometimes just instrumental stuff – but anything with a good steady base beat that I can pace myself to. For sprint training, naturally I use something up-tempo. Use anything that makes you want to keep going. 
3. Once you have your carido in your schedule and you are sticking to it then it’s time to ramp it up! Remember that training is all about pushing yourself. When 40 minutes is no longer giving me that but burn then I crank it up to 50 minutes, or push myself harder. Keep the calorie counter going on your cardio machine and keep trying to burn a little more than you did last time. It gives you a tangible goal and this has helped me significantly. Burning that extra 50 calories gives me a mental boost and I can go home thinking not only that i did well, but have a measure of HOW well, and how much better than last time. 

Now on the other hand, I have found something else to keep my cardio up. Muay Thai or Thaiboxing as it is sometimes called. It is a martial art form of Kickboxing practiced in Thailand and is very effective in keeping the heart pumping. Now this is not for everyone, it is a contact (some schools teach semi or light contact) sport and the faint of heart may not adapt well. On the other hand, it is a true living fighting art which will help you in your self defence, plus targeting specific muscle groups (particularly in the legs) will help your definition and toning as well. 

 

 

For those who would like the idea of boxing but would rather something a little less intimidating, Fitness Boxing is offered at many gyms. The best thing with my boxing classes (and classes in general) is that you only need to motivate yourself to GET there. 

Once I am in a class I know I am there for the hour. Even better than that, I don’t have to decide what to do! I get someone to yell at me and tell me what to do and I can feed off of the class energy. People don’t believe in it, but if you’ve never worked out in a class you should try it, it goes along way from an inspirational standpoint. If you are particularly competitive like myself, then you will find that you push yourself harder and when you are feeling weak and can’t go on, you can see the faces all around you feel the same and you understand the common goal. Get in shape! 

I chose Muay Thai style because I wanted to learn a true living art form, it is not technically difficult like Ninjutsu and other forms or Kung-Fu, but it is the most deadly art form in the ring and will aid in your self defense. At most camps you wont have to spar unless you choose to, so it should be safe for more people.

Now you may not be a boxer at all, but you may find another sport which you can enjoy not only because you want to lose weight, but because you love it. This will keep you going after you reach your goal weight and keep you at a good maintenance level, so if you don’t have a sport of choice, consider looking! 

On another note about Machine Cardio do not forget the rowing machine. It is one of the few that work the upper body and balance is important. Gentleman specifically, working hard on this machine will help build stronger shoulder muscles which are necessary for most upper body workouts!

 

Exercise

Exercise is a habit. A good one. Like all habits it is necessary to repeat this till it sticks, and it’s something you will never forget. 

Exercise is important. Apart from weight loss, good cardiovascular fitness will help you in the long run fight a myriad of heart conditions and other diseases. Exercise is crucial to your fitness, it is crucial to your health. Diet enough is not alone! 

I’ve done my own research, and from my own experience I can tell you that people who tell you to go lift weights alone are idiots. Yes, your body does have to work harder to maintain muscle mass and burns more calories doing so. That being said, I lost much more weight doing cardiovascular training ALONE than when I was lifting weights and doing cardio periodically.

Do you know what kickstarted my weightloss? I listened to my trainer and did what he used to tell me from when I used to train with him (and was much fitter and in better condition overall) – I got my cardio up. I went into the gym with one purpose, do my cardio. I spent 3 weeks getting it up to about 40 minutes per day and making it a habit.  Now my exercises wold vary in length from half an hour to 50 minutes, my goal at each session though was to use the calorie counter and burn at least 500-600 calories. Somedays it was hard and fast, others more controlled. The hardest part is getting it done, but once it’s over, there’s nothing like it in the world! 

Post-exercise endorphin releases are actually similar to the feeling experienced after sexual intercourse, particular high in men after orgasm. The ultimate Nirvana. If you like feeling at peace, work your ass off on that cardio machine and work till you are dripping sweat. If you are leaving the gym dry, then go back and try harder.  

Good Carbs Vs Bad Carbs

I don’t believe in no carb diets. No trainers believe in No Carb Diets, or none worth their salt. Invariably in this life you will need to eat carbs since they provide your body with energy. Don’t starve it. 

Maybe you can think of Carbs like fuel, and think your body like a sports car. It will run on anything, but it works much better with recommended premium! 

Basically my rule of thumb is to avoid processed carbs. No white rice, use brown instead. No White Bread, use whole grains only. Whole grain pasta. Some potatoes are good too – Idaho! Eat them with the skin, the roughage will do you well. 

I am not saying don’t indulge every now and then, but when you do need that taste of buttery white rice, then take couple tablespoons on your plate along with the other stuff. Not a couple serving spoons. Enough to satisfy your cravings and move on, we area all human and I find if I don’t allow myself to indulge every so often then when I fall off the bandwagon I go crazy! A couple sinful treats every now and again keep you on the much longer path. 

When to Weigh

They are tons of conventional wisdom surround this, but the most common is weighing in the morning. I usually do it once a week as it helps me keep track without obsessing. Plus, if you have been really good the scale will treat you nicely on that seventh day and you’ll feel progress. Not to mention, early morning is you without your water-weight and you’ll see not only true results, but inspiring ones. A little inspiration never hurt anyone, right? 

Weighing obsessively throughout the week I have found depressing. Your weight tends to fluctuate throughout the day and through the week. By giving myself time between weigh ins I get the most inspirational bang for my buck when I do hit the scales. Apart from that, let your eyes and your clothes be your guide. 

Ohh by the way, how much do I actaully weigh? Bet you are wondering. When i started to follow the tips I’ve known all my life and used to dish out so rapidly, I was 253 pounds. It is the heaviest I have ever been and I really let myself go. Now 4 weeks doing what I know works, I am already down 16 pounds. Today the scale told me 237 and I was happy. Really Happy. 

I don’t mean to get Political

I really don’t mean to. 

But Congratulations go out to Mr. Obama of the democratic party. I am a fan of Hillary and I plan to support him with as much intent as she has so far (not really much at all). I believe he has an uphill battle in front of him and wish him the best of luck. 

Still wish Hillary would break out and run as an independent but I know that’s a fools paradise. 

Sleep More to Curb Your Appetite

Yup, it’s true.

A disproportionately larger numbers of sleep deprived people are obese when compared to those who get 7 or more quality sleep hours per week (some studies have suggested as little as 6 quality hours, but definitely not less). As a matter of fact, those who routinely got less than the 6-7 hours (i.e. the sleep deprived) were more than 73% more more likely to be “obese”. That’s right. Not just overwieght, but “obese”.

You know the feeling: It’s time to get some shut-eye. You toss and turn…fluff up that pillow…count sheep…but you still can’t drift off to sleep.

So, why does sleeping help you burn fat? It’s actually a double-whammy effect. On one hand, those who were sleep deprived exhibited lower levels of leptin – a hormone which both suppresses appetite and aids in the burning of fat – and higher levels of ghrelin which is an appetite stimulating hormone. Together, the two effects help you to gain weight.

Those late night cravings? You’re midnight pangs? Avoid them by being asleep. Other studies have suggested too that poor sleep habits reduce the bodies effectiveness at metabolising glucose – the most common form of sugar. Glucose is a primary contributor to our energy levels and the inability to effectively use it will drive you to desire it more and more. And guess where sugars are most common? All that junk you stuff your face with in the middle of the night. The pop drinks, that one little chocolate bar, and yes, it is prominent too in those processed carbs (white bread etc.).

For many people this alone can drastically reduce the cravings you have throughout the day and keep you on your meal plan. My personal experience as a chronic sleep deprived late night blogger who used to get 4 hours, or 5 on a good night, was that within the first week I was able to stick to my plans. I completely cut out my late night cravings and my hunger was much less erratic. I used to fall asleep on the couch with my laptop next to me (cursor still flashing), Fox News playing in the background (Go Hillary, make ‘em count every vote). When I would wake to make my way to my bed I invariably stopped in the kitchen with a burning desire to wolf down anything sweet, some m&m’s, a snickers bar, a couple sips of coca-cola. Anything. It was horrible, I couldn’t understand when I would wake in the morning but at the wee hours in a sleep-deprived state i’d never have the will or even the thought process to realise what a terrible thing it really was.

…. How many of you can identify with me? ….

Altering my sleep habits and setting a fixed sleep-by time, and a set wake-by time drastically reduced my cravings and the efforts I was making in the gym were rewarded. Also setting a good wake-by time greatly reduced my stress (another high-risk factor leading to obesity) since I had time to work out if I wanted, plan a balanced breakfast, and ease into my day. Too many people rush from the time they open their eyes and it sets a bad tone for the day. Give yourself an extra half an hour to 45 minutes to start your day in an orderly fashion and it will carry through to the rest of your day, plus those good habits and having a balanced breakfast will go a long way to help our weight loss goals. Don’t skip breakfast!

A link here which discusses the links between obesity and lack of sleep is here: http://thyroid.about.com/b/2004/11/18/lack-of-sleep-may-lead-to-excess-weight-study-finds-link-between-hours-of-sleep-and-risk-of-obesity.htm
-Luke
ps> Monday is coming up! Get ready to weigh in!

Start Now, Quit Procrastinating!

The useful quote I can give you from myself is as follows. It’s as true as the sun will rise:

The good news about weight loss is you can start anytime. The bad news is, if you don’t start now, you never will.

Luke

People constantly battle this idea on when is a good time for them to start their workout program. The first and foremost thing to get into your head is that your move to a healthier lifestyle begins today. Tomorrow
is a day that most dieters never get to. If you are serious about becoming a healthier you why delay?

I guess those big dinner plans are on for tonight and you can’t cancel right? Well skip the bread rolls. Instead of a fried & battered starter, or a butter-loaded puff pastry, opt for a salad (if you are feeling really strong, go for something with a vinaigrette or lemon or light olive oil based dressing. Skip the Ceasar and other mayo-loaded toppings). Have plenty of water and a glass of wine and instead of the bottle. For desert try the cheese platter instead of the cheese cake.

Every small step in the right direction counts.

~Luke