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21/1/2019

is motivation really what you need?

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"I need more motivation! I need you to motivate me!" She said, clearly frustrated by her struggle.

I would love have loved to respond honestly, but I had an idea of how she was feeling and I never want to come across as one without compassion. I didn't want to be misinterpreted or thought of as nasty. Motivation is frustratingly fleeting, and more people than I have met in my whole life struggle with it. Every single one of us struggles with it, nobody is immune!

If I had responded honestly, I would have asked her:
"Really? Are you sure?"

Let me explain why...

according to google, motivation is defined as:
"a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way."

Most of the time, people don't lose their reason for something. They just forget it. As your Personal Trainer, I do not give you your reason to do something. You do that!

I know how easy it is to lose motivation and lose drive. Life gets in the way - we get tired, and sleep becomes more attractive than working towards achieving a happier, healthier and more confident life (especially come swimsuit season). I understand this because I know how hard it is to get up at 4am in Winter. It’s hard! As I have explained in previous blogs, when it comes to maintaining motivation you just need to remember your “why,” or your reason. This will help keep you from losing momentum, and will keep your goal fresh in your mind.

I’m going to take an educated guess (because I’ve seen it so much before!), and say that what you actually need is more discipline, not more motivation.

You need to ask yourself some serious questions and be honest with yourself. What’s it going to take to stay on track? What needs to be done?

Make a vision / goals board, and place it somewhere that you will see it every day?
Get an accountability partner? (A reliable friend with similar goals for example)
Do you need to put inspiring quotes around your house?
Maybe put health test results in a prominent (but private) place to remind you that you’re actually doing this for the benefit of your life!
Hire someone (a Personal Trainer, Physiotherapist, etc) who has the knowledge and experience to guide you as an individual and will know what to do when progress isn't happening as it needs to?

mistakes...

I think one important point to make, is that while everyone makes mistakes and slips up from time to time, we are adults. People who ideally are able to take responsibility for their actions and choices, and aren’t flakes? (Sorry, was that a bit cheeky?)

I’m reminded of a fitness quote that I’m not a huge fan of, but it’s true anyway:

“Think of your workouts as important meetings you’ve scheduled with yourself. Bosses don’t cancel.”
(I have no idea who said that originally)

I'd like to rephrase that a little. Change the word "bosses" to "adults". Even then, it's still not right in my mind, because there are always appropriate situations when important things need to be cancelled (e.g. when someone dies or you get taken to hospital). That quote leaves no room for compassion and understanding.

But I'm sure you know what I mean, right? We need more discipline!

discipline can be defined as:
"the controlled behaviour resulting from such training."
(thanks again, google)

I, along with many other fitness professionals, like to think of it this way. Discipline is to adhere to or continue doing an idea or concept, regardless of how you are feeling at the present point of time. Why do you go to work when you'd rather be at the beach with family and friends? Because you know that if you don't work, you don't eat, and you don't have a house to live in. You understand the consequences of you actions.

The same applies to your health and fitness. If you don't put in the time and effort, how are you going to feel confident at the beach in Summer? How are you going to feel when you're struggling with preventable health issues due to lifestyle and think to yourself, "if I had stuck with a good lifestyle, this might have been so different?" How are you going to feel when another year goes by and the goal is still just a dream? Folks, we need discipline! Every single positive or negative choice we make has a consequence or flow-on effect. Please understand this, because your long term health and happiness does actually depend on it.

Discipline can be daunting. Holding yourself accountable is hard and sharing your goals with others is scary. But you know what? You can actually do it! You can reach your goals! You’ve just got to take it one day at a time, and keep going, even when you feel like you’re failing. (Fun fact: the hard times are when you learn and grow the most!)

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17/1/2019

The nutrient we love to hate

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“My weight loss has stopped. I don’t understand, I’m eating less than 30 grams of carbs per day!”

... she said to me, as desperate for understanding as she was for progress.
“You need to eat more carbs. If you stay within your daily allowance, you will be fine, I promise!” I responded.
“Okay…” She responded hesitantly.

Thank goodness she trusted me and the advice I gave her! Within the week she had returned to her normal carb count, and was back on track to losing weight. At our next weigh-in session, the relief and happiness that came with her weight loss was more than evident on her face and in her voice.

For our first Macronutrient blog of the series, we’ll be taking a look at carbohydrates! Yes, we will look at everyone’s favourite macro to vilify ;)

So, what is a carbohydrate?

Carbohydrates come in a few different forms. But basically, a carbohydrate is a molecule that your body instantly recognises as fuel. Fuelling your body is the carb’s sole purpose in life.

We're about to get a tiny bit technical, so if you don't like basic chemistry or big words, feel free to scroll down to the next heading called "Why Do People Hate Carbs?"

A carbohydrate is a simple molecule of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. There are “simple” carbs, and “complex” carbs, known as Monosaccharides, Disaccharides, and Polysaccharides, depending on how many carb molecules are joined together.

The simpler carbs (a.k.a Monosaccharide and Disaccharide) are either a single molecule or a small chain of two molecules joined together. A complex carb (a.k.a Polysaccharide) is a longer chain of three or more carb molecules connected together. Simple carbs are very easy to digest and will often give you a quick hit of energy, whereas your complex carbs are responsible for a more sustained release of longer-term energy due to the longer chain of molecules taking longer to digest.

The most common of the simple “Monosaccharide” carbs is called “Glucose.” You’ve heard of that one I’m sure! It’s the name of our blood sugar molecule.

The second form is called “Fructose.” Fructose is the sugar that is found in plants and is what gives fruit it’s lovely sweetness :) Fructose often gets a bad rap, but I’d like to challenge that (more on that later too!).

The third form of simple carbs we will discuss today is “Galactose.” This is the sugar found in milk! Who would have thought that milk had natural sugars in it, right? #FunFact: “Lactose” is actually a Disaccharide, made of one glucose and one galactose molecule joined together.

I won’t go into the more complex forms of carbs, because I’m pretty sure you don’t care that much about the technicalities of it all. If you do care, feel free to google it :)

Why do people hate carbs?

Generally, people hate carbs because of what they see in magazines and on social media. There isn't much real education in these sources, and the information is often biased or unbalanced.

People hear of their friends and family members successes with low carb diets and come to the conclusion that it must all be carb’s fault, otherwise, why would you cut right back on them? But carbs are our misunderstood friends, who only want good things for us and will give us everything we need if we learn how to use them correctly.

“Everything in moderation.”

You’ve heard of that, right? The thing is, as a society, we actually do a really, really bad job at doing moderation correctly! No offence, because I’m sure you do your absolute best (and I commend you for that, because it is hard!), but we just are!

Our society has become so focused on rich, delicious meals that are phenomenal experiences for the lips but the worst experiences for the hips. Our meals serve our senses but not necessarily our bodies. With the rise in reality TV shows such as MasterChef, The Great British Bake Off, and so on, we are being subconsciously programmed to give ourselves and our families meals that are simply, excessive. I don’t want to sound like a kill-joy, but it’s true.

Simple facts.

As a rule, a good amount of carbs per day is to eat enough fruits, vegetables and salads to give you somewhere between 100-200 grams of carbs per day. This amount will vary per person, depending on your activity levels, body type, and of course your goals too!

Remember that some people can naturally stay leaner despite eating loads of carbs, and other people’s bodies have a tendency to gain when they eat too many carbs. It’s something that you need to take time with and see what your body works best with. Let me say it again: you will need to take time. Be patient. Unfortunately our bodies don’t do things as instantly as we want it to! A little bit of patience now will pay off in the long run.

What are the best carbs to eat?

I normally say “if it comes from a plant, you’re good”, but all carbs come from plants! So let’s rephrase that to: “if your carbs come from a packet, proceed with caution.” Generally speaking, processed foods will be higher in carbs (and therefore higher in calories too), which will make it way too easy to go over your daily carb “budget.”

When you have your dinner plate in front of you, imagine it is divided into quarters. Load up one quarter of your plate with vegetables. Peas, green beans, asparagus, broccoli, capsicum, carrots… the list goes on! Eat those rainbow foods! Yes they have carbs, but the carb count is lower than you’d expect and you’re getting sooo many vitamins at the same time, so munch away!

In another quarter of the dinner plate, you’re going to have salad. All kinds of lettuce varieties, tomatoes, cucumber, etc. Once again, high in nutrients, lower in carbs. Load ‘em up! Just don’t go too crazy on the dressing ;)

In another quarter of your dinner plate, you’ll have your starchy carbs. Depending on your body type, and depending on your goals, you may have to skip these at dinner time. But for information’s sake, let’s include them. Starchy carbs are foods such as potatoes, pumpkin, turnips, sweet corn etc. It also includes rice and pasta, but proceed with caution when it comes to rice and pasta, because they are definitely higher in carbs and are more likely to put you over your daily quota. If you are going to include the starchy vegetables, you really only need one small potato (and I mean small), and maybe a few small pieces of pumpkin to make up your serving size. Remember, starchy foods may be higher in carbs, but they still have nutrients and fibre. They are okay to eat in moderation.

What about fruit?

I like to call fruit “nature’s candy.” Because, it is! While I love treats such as ice cream and chocolate, having fruit instead gives us more bang for our carbohydrate buck. We get the sweet taste we crave, without the guilt that comes with eating ice cream and chocolate. Plus, we get a whole host of vitamins and phytonutrients too! Oh, and of course fibre :)

Once again, depending on your goals, it may not be wise to eat loads of fruit at certain times of the day, but we should definitely not exclude fruit from our diet. I love to get my fruit in at breakfast time in the form of a smoothie. It gives me energy and nutrients to start the day, and because of the water content in my smoothie I get a good hit of hydration too! Try a smoothie that includes bananas, berries, and mangoes, you’ll love it! (Handy hint: if your smoothie includes milk and ice cream, it's not a smoothie. That's a milk shake, sorry!)

In summary, we absolutely should not be scared to eat carbs. Not all carbs are the enemy! Fruits, vegetables and salads will help you become healthier, with the energy you need to make the most of your daily life :)

Enjoy!

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is motivation really what you need?

"I need more motivation! I need you to motivate me!" She said, clearly frustrated by her struggle.

according to google, motivation is defined as:
"a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way."

mistakes...

“Think of your workouts as important meetings you’ve scheduled with yourself. Bosses don’t cancel.”
(I have no idea who said that originally)

discipline can be defined as:
"the controlled behaviour resulting from such training."
(thanks again, google)

The nutrient we love to hate

“My weight loss has stopped. I don’t understand, I’m eating less than 30 grams of carbs per day!”

Author

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Support

is motivation really what you need?

"I need more motivation! I need you to motivate me!" She said, clearly frustrated by her struggle.

according to google, motivation is defined as:"a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way."

mistakes...

“Think of your workouts as important meetings you’ve scheduled with yourself. Bosses don’t cancel.”(I have no idea who said that originally)

discipline can be defined as:"the controlled behaviour resulting from such training."(thanks again, google)

The nutrient we love to hate

“My weight loss has stopped. I don’t understand, I’m eating less than 30 grams of carbs per day!”

Author

Archives

Categories

Support

according to google, motivation is defined as:
"a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way."

“Think of your workouts as important meetings you’ve scheduled with yourself. Bosses don’t cancel.”
(I have no idea who said that originally)

discipline can be defined as:
"the controlled behaviour resulting from such training."
(thanks again, google)