How we genuinely changed our lives.

About a year ago, my husband asked me what I wanted for my 40th birthday.  I said a buff husband.  After he had finished laughing and he realised I was actually quite serious, he embarked on changing his life.  

After watching him taking more notice of his nutrition, walking a lot and lifting weights in front of the telly of an evening rather than lounging on the sofa, I began walking daily, lifting a few weights and taking more notice of my own nutrition - partly because he made it look quite fun, partly because I was fed up with mood swings and feeling lethargic and partly because some of my clothes were, frankly, beginning to get a little snug. = /

I began by cutting starchy carbohydrates in my evening meal (no potatoes, rice, pasta, bread etc).  The reason for this being that starchy carbohydrates are turned into glucose by your body and stored as glycogen in your muscles and liver.  If you eat these sugars in the evening, there are fewer hours in the day to work them off.

I then began to focus on how much sugar I was consuming and began to eliminate that from my nutrition.

I have always been pretty aware of what I eat and drink, and I think I must make adjustments pretty automatically when I feel I may have consumed more calories than normal.  I would say that my caloric intake varies very little from day to day.  By concentrating even more on my nutrition, I became hyper aware of what I was consuming.  This is not the same as being obsessive; I found it interesting to see how my nutritional habits were changing and how my mind and body reacted to these changes.

For the first few weeks, I was pretty resentful at giving up my evening carbohydrates.  After all, what's a meal without potatoes or rice or pasta?  I found it hard.  I found it made me a little anxious, I worried that I would be hungry and being hungry panicked me a little.

After a few weeks, however, it became perfectly normal not to have starchy carbs with my evening meal.  I didn't miss them at all.  I was still having potatoes or rice or bread with my lunch.

But then I found sometimes I would forget to include starchy carbs with my lunch.  This was not deliberate.  But I wasn't hungry.  I didn't panic.  It was fine.  In fact, if anything, I was less hungry.  In the process of doing more exercise (an hour in the gym two, three or four times a week) and cutting processed food and starchy carbs in the evening, without thinking about it or meaning to, I lost a stone.

I subsequently put on half a stone in muscle from resistance work in the gym, which is why I don't like scales - they don't tell you anything useful.

Then after about 9 months or so, I realised I had pretty much cut all starchy carbohydrates and sugar from my diet without really realising it.  I was no longer eating bread, cakes, pies, pasta, potatoes or rice.  I had cut all flour from my diet and I didn't miss it.  I had probably increased my vegetable and fruit consumption fourfold to compensate, so I was still having a high carbohydrate diet, just without the starch.  I was still having a big bowl of porridge or sugar free Alpen for breakfast and the occasional oat cake or two but no other starchy carbs.

By cutting starchy carbs I was eliminating the risk of overloading my liver with glucose and feeling hungry even though I had just eaten.  A glucose-overloaded liver reduces your release of leptin, which tells you you are full.  By eating fewer starchy carbs, I was less hungry.

And then I noticed I hadn't had a major melt-down at the kids for months. Don't get me wrong, I still lose my temper and shout at my kids but not to the guilt-inducing extent that I used to.

A year down the line and everything has changed.  I have retrained as a personal trainer and fitness instructor and am showing others how they can transform their lives too.

I still have a high carbohydrate diet, I reckon 60% of my nutrition comes from carbs, just not from starchy carbs.  I can't quite imagine life without porridge for breakfast, yet...  I rarely feel hungry but when I do, I don't get the same panicky feeling I used to get; I know I can wait.

Cutting sugar has had quite a dramatic effect in that I can now taste the sugar that has been added to all the savoury things we eat.  Ham and packaged, cooked chicken for example are almost unbearably sweet to me now.  

I have fewer mood swings, I get out of bed each morning feeling ready for the day and I sleep better.  Adding exercise to my improved nutrition has meant all round I just feel pretty great.  Simple tasks are easier and don't wear me out like they used to (I may have been slim but I was really unfit!)

I can honestly say that a year down the line, I feel transformed.
AND I have a buff husband who is 40lb lighter!

Krish x

Being bloody-minded.

I'm on the trail of the secret to permanent weight loss through healthy nutrition.

The bad new is, it's an immensely a complex issue, to do with external forces, internal emotions, upbringing, current situation, lifestyle constraints, education to name but a few.

The good news is, according to BBC2's The Men Who Made Us Fat, it's not our fault that we over-consume.  The ad-men and the marketing strategists have had us brainwashed for years into thinking the over-processed, sugar and-salt laden products they persuade us to buy, in ever increasing portion and pack sizes, are what we should be consuming.

We have been persuaded by ad after ad that the time in between meals is exactly the right time for an enormous family-sized bag of crisps or a double portion chocolate bar.  We have been hood-winked into believing that meals needn't be cooked from scratch, that processed convenience foods are just as nutritious as one cooked from wholesome raw ingredients.  So much so that some 5 year-olds don't even recognise an onion! WORSE, we have been fooled into believing that sugar and salt-laden products, crammed full of harmful trans fats are actually part of a healthy and BALANCED diet!  There is even a section on the food pyramid for sweets and cakes and fizzy drinks!

The food industry has been manipulating us for years; persuading and cajoling us into buying more than we intended to, forcing us to walk a certain way around the supermarket, to take advantage of bulk and multi-buy offers we don't even want or need all the while lining their pockets with supersized profits at the cost of our waistlines, hearts and health.  The food industry does not care about our health or well-being.  It is not interested in delivering a quality product made with the best ingredients if that messes with its profit margins.  The food industry is concerned with one thing and one thing only: how to make the maximum profit from the minimum expenditure.  It is only concerned with the flavour, texture and taste of their product because that is what gets you to buy more of it.  That is what gets them their Christmas bonus.

The war between our weight and the food industry is not fought on a level battle ground.  The food industry lures you in and traps in the most unfair of ways.  They have all the ammo in the form of highly addictive substances, persuasive advertising campaigns and subliminal strategies we are completely unaware of responding to, while we are the unwitting victims of their calculated and well-planned guerilla campaigns.


According to the excellent BBC2 documentary - that you can still see on I-player - we are at the mercy of years of all-pervasive, ubiquitous persuasion that these products will make us happy, will fill a gap, will save us time, will save us money, will earn us the love and respect of our friends and families.


The fact of the matter is, these companies are no better than drug dealers.


The amount of sugar added to processed foods - ALL processed foods including savoury products like cooked chicken and table sauces - means we are constantly overloading our livers with glucose.  This, as I have said before inhibits leptin, which is responsible for telling us when we are full.  


So the more of these processed foods you eat, the hungrier you feel!

But why is it that, if these campaigns are so effective over populations of people, that some manage not to be sucked in by the advertising and the constant sensory bombardment that makes us buy more than we wanted or thought we needed?  Why is it some people avoid the fast food and the sugary treats and salty snacks so much more easily than others?

If I knew the answer to to that, I would bottle it and make a fortune... obviously, with such an incentive, I have been giving it a lot of thought!

Personally, I don't walk around the supermarket the way the marketing folk want me to.  I go where I need to go to get the things I came in for.  Sure, I get a little sidetracked sometimes and end up coming out with more than I went in for but never BOGOF deals and rarely naughty food.  And I also get around this by doing my weekly shop online, where I can only buy what I know I need.  But when I do go shopping in the supermarket, I rarely go down the alcohol aisle.  I rarely go down the sweet and biscuit aisle, I rarely go down the crisps and soft-drinks aisles.  Why?

I think a lot of it comes down to sheer bloody-mindedness and stubbornness.  I really do hate to be told what to do!  Perhaps it is that simple.  I will not be swayed by your argument unless you can clearly and sufficiently prove to me, with adequate data that what you are saying makes sense.  And I'm afraid that all the evidence and data points to carrots and celery and broccoli and chicken being better for you and more delicious than pepperoni pizza, crisps and ice cream.

Perhaps that's part of it too.  I actually prefer a big bowl of salad to a big bowl of crisps or ice cream.  Why is that?  Perhaps it's because I was brought up on home cooked meals that were created from scratch.  Perhaps it's the fact that these meals (sorry mum) though they didn't taste bad, were rarely cordon bleu cooking - perhaps I have always seen food as fuel rather than something indulgent to be delighted over.

And yet I do love food.  I am adventurous, I'll try anything, I'm not at all fussy, I'll pretty much eat anything.  But fast food, convenience food, junk food and processed food makes me feel uncomfortable.  It makes me feel a little nervous.  I don't see it as real.  Is this what helps me steer clear of unhealthy choices?  Maybe.  Is it behaviour that could be learned?  I'm sure of it!

I wonder if the next time you are in the high street and feel the urge to nip into a fast-food establishment, or you are in the supermarket and feeling the lure of the multi-buy crisps or BOGOF biscuits, you will think of these:

1     Do you really want to sacrifice your health to line the pockets of people who care nothing for your well-being?  Do you want them lying on some tropical beach, gleefully rubbing their hands together at the profits they made last year on the backs of your waistline and your cholesterol levels?


2     Are you really going to let the ad-men determine your patterns of behaviour?  Are you going to allow over-paid executives in an anonymous office decide what you feed yourself and your family?  They don't do buy one get one free for your convenience or pocket.  They do it because it makes them more money!


3     Are you going to allow these anonymous businessmen to keep you addicted to sugar, to keep you hungry, to keep you beholden to them and their fake-food products?  Or are you going to take control and make the decision to break free?


4     Try not to forget that it is sugar that is making us fat.  Sugar is in virtually EVERY processed food we buy, in the form of fructose, corn syrup, glucose and all sort sof other names that hide its true identity to us.  The more of these products we consume, drinks included, the more hungry we will be. 

Perhaps the secret to healthy nutrition is a bit more stubborn bloody-mindedness!

Krish x

Move your goal posts!

There are two sorts of women at my gym: those who are more than happy to parade themselves naked to the shower, regardless of age, size, weight or colour (faked or genuine) and those who are not.

The women who are happy to strip and bare all have one thing in common.  A positive body-image.

Where does one get one of these?

I wonder if one can be developed?

On closer inspection (not close enough to be rude or weird, I hasten to add) I notice there are not many of the types of women at the gym who are not happy to jingle their bits cheerfully in the breeze as they chat and get changed.

I wonder if this is because of the positive buzz these women get from working out, the feeling of achievement and that they are taking control and making a difference.  I wonder if these women have such a positive body-image because they have a positive self-image - because they are proud of themselves.

It seems to me that it doesn't actually matter what you look like; the most beautiful women on earth still hanker after a smaller nose or slimmer thighs.  Why?

In the grand scheme of things, does it really matter?  of course not.  When, in however many billions of years, the sun goes supernova and all life on this wonderful planet is extinguished, is it going to matter that Jan had a bit if cellulite and Jean never managed to shift those last few pounds?  Of course not!

How many women, on their death bed, say, 'Do you know, I wish I'd worried about my dimply thighs more.'?  How many do you think say, 'Do you know, I wish I'd worried about my stretch-marked tummy more?'

How many women do you think regret all the things they didn't do or didn't wear because they felt fat or old or too tall or too short?

How many women do you think, on their death bed, say, 'I wish I'd been less fit and healthy?'

It seems to me that as women, we need to change our goal posts.  Our lives should be about the ride, we should be spending our money on experiences rather than things, we should worry less about what we look like and more about how we behave.  We should worry less about being thin and more about being healthy.  We should be less concerned with our flaws and more proud of our achievements!

We need perspective. There are more important things to worry about than the size of our thighs.

If our goals are to lead a fit and healthy life, for life, then size becomes irrelevant.

A positive body-image must stem from a positive self-image and to achieve that we must have a sense of achievement, a sense of pride at a job well-done.  By taking control of our lives and feeling like we have the power to change what we aren't happy with, we build self-esteem and self-worth.

So if you are a little in awe of the women who can bare all, regardless of their inability to act as Cameron Diaz's bottom double, then take control, make a change and do something you feel proud of and jiggle those pasty or dimply thighs, proudly, for all to see!
Krish x

Where in the World do you come from?

I am a little obsessed with the stats analysis on Blogger.  I love seeing all the different countries that my readers come from.  It's so exciting to me that the words I write are read by people I've never met, thousands of miles away!

So if you are reading this from Trinidad and Tobago, or Bangladesh or Belarus or the Phillipines or anywhere else that isn't my little corner of the UK, 'HELLO!'

I'd love to see how many different countries are reading my blog - please leave me a message right here and say, 'Hello!'  Perhaps even join the blog as a member!

Thanks for reading!

Krish x

Fat REALLY is not your enemy.

I'm saying this again because it needs to sink in.


How's that low fat diet working out for you?
Is it miserably unsatisfying?  Is it even making a difference?  Are you always hungry but still not losing the pounds?  Do you lose a bit of weight and then pile it back on again - and some?

A LOW FAT DIET WILL NOT HELP YOU TO LOSE WEIGHT!

If you want to avoid putting on weight or you want to lose weight you MUST

STOP EATING SUGAR!

Glucose is stored in your muscles and liver.  (By the way, the more muscle you have the more glucose storage you have and the more glucose you use, just saying...) Once your liver is overloaded with glucose, a vital hormone called leptin ceases to be released.

Leptin tells you when you are full.

If your liver is overloaded with glucose (sugar) your body stops releasing leptin and you think you are still hungry!

So you consume yet more calories.  This is what makes us pile on the pounds!  SUGAR. Not fat.

SUGAR IS MAKING US FAT.
NOT FAT.

The best thing you can do is forget the low fat nonsense, ignore the brainwashing that comes from every quarter and cut the sugar!

Try it.  What have you got to lose...?

Top Ten Tips for a healthier life.

Leading a fit and healthy life is easier to achieve if you make a whole series of small changes.  Take them one at a time until you have made a raft changes that have transformed your life!

1. Get used to checking food labels for added sugar rather than fat.  Sugar is much more responsible for weight gain than fat!

2. Focus on what you are drinking, soft drinks as well as alcohol - even fruit juice has loads of hidden sugar with little of the nutritional value of the whole fruit.

3. Move more. Stand more. Sit less. Walk further. Use the stairs. Move faster.

 4. Use your time wisely. When you are a captive audience - 1/2 an hour in front of the TV can be put to such great use. Lift some weights. Do some squats.  What else would you be doing?

 5. Learn to Listen to your body. When are you actually comfortably full?  Push away from your food then, even if it isn't finished.  Take less food initially and have seconds if you're still hungry.

6.  Eat more slowly.  It takes time for your brain to acknowledge you are full; it's no good overeating before your brain has had time to catch up.

7. Eat regularly.  Even if it feels like you don't want to.  Eating regularly means every 2-3 hours. Something nutritious. Not sugary.  It is genuinely one of the best ways to cut your daily calorie intake.

8. Sleep properly. Go to bed at a reasonable hour and don't sleep in too long. Alcohol will disrupt your sleep patterns. You don't need a drink to be able to sleep.

 9. Go outside! So long as you don't burn, sunshine is good for you! Get outside and go for a walk. Find some green. Walk among trees. Even if it's raining.

10. Value yourself enough to treat your body with kindness. Nourish it with unprocessed food. Lubricate your joints, stretch your muscles, nourish your soul and kickstart your metabolism by exercising or at least going for a walk outside and immersing yourself in some nature. Give your body and mind a chance to recharge by sleeping well.

Krish x

My kids' food diary

My children are 10, 9 and 7.  


I'm not quite as nutritionally strict with my kids as I am with myself but I do limit their flour intake, they very rarely eat bread, they very rarely eat cakes made with flour - they do love the non-flour, non-sugar cakes I make.  I also limit their sugar intake.  They have honey as a sweetener in porridge and I never buy them cereals that have added sugar.  They do have sweets occasionally.

This diary is from a good week, when I haven't been too busy at work and I've been pretty organised.  If I am rushing then they tend to have frozen fish cakes or jacket sweet potatoes with tinned tuna mayo and cheese with salad, which are quick and easy to make - it is not unknown for me to buy thin-crust pizzas for them when I really can't be bothered.

I'm not a big fan of cooking but I do generally cook all their meals from scratch.  They are not fussy eaters because I have never given them a choice.  They get what they are given and they are thankful.  or they go hungry. = )

I also make them cook the dinner occasionally.  They're pretty good!

Monday

7.45 am Breakfast:     Bircher muesli.  Porridge oats soaked in orange juice and Greek yoghurt.  Cooked cherries and blueberries with a squirt of honey and toasted almonds and hazelnuts.

12.15 pm Lunch:        Packed lunch - oatcakes with butter and marmite.  1/2 matchbox sized piece of cheddar cheese.  Apple juice.  Greek yoghurt with Ella's Kitchen baby fruit puree.  Organix sugar-free, flour free strawberry bar.   Raisins.  Banana.

4.15 pm Snack:           Sugar-free, flour-free coconut cake.

6.00 pm Dinner:          Jerk chicken, brown rice with peas, broccoli.  Home-made 1 minute ice cream made with Greek yoghurt, frozen berries, fresh mint and honey whizzed in the food processor.

Tuesday

7.45 am Breakfast:     Sugar-free Alpen and semi skimmed milk

12.15 pm Lunch:        Packed Lunch - left over jerk chicken with brown rice salad (added chopped yellow pepper, chopped cucumber and chopped spring onions).  Cherries and berries juice.  Organix sugar-free cocoa oaty fruity bar.  Apple.

3.30 pm Snack:           raw veggies and humous

4.15 pm Snack:           Piece of fruit

6.00 pm Dinner:          baked salmon, un-peeled boiled potatoes, salad.

Wednesday

7.45 am Breakfast:     grilled pork chop, grilled mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, poached egg.

12.15 pm lunch:         Packed Lunch:  organix cheese crackers, matchbox sized piece of cheese, sandwich pickle.  Cherries and berries juice.  Organix sugar-free carrot cake oaty fruity bar.  Pear.   Raisins.

3.30 pm snack:           Small packet of mini Oreos and a glass of milk.

4.15 pm snack:           slice of watermelon

6.00 pm Dinner:         turkey mince chilli, brown rice and cottage cheese

Thursday

7.45 am Breakfast:     Raisin wheats and semi-skimmed milk

12.15 pm Lunch:        Packed lunch - oat cakes and ham.   1/2 matchbox sized piece of cheddar cheese.  Apple juice.  Chopped veggies (carrots, cucumber, yellow pepper and celery) with humous.  Organix sugar-free aple and raspberry bar.   Dried apricots.  Banana.

4.15 pm Snack:          Slice of sugar-free, flour-free lemon drizzle cake.

6.00 pm Dinner:         Fish fingers, potato wedges (un-peeled potatoes baked in a little olive oil) stir-fried veggies.

Friday

7.45 am Breakfast:     Sugar-free Alpen and semi-skimmed milk

12.15 pm lunch:          School dinner

3.30 pm Snack:          piece of fruit

6.00 pm Dinner:        Toad in the hole - batter made with gram flour (chickpea flour), peas and celeriac mash.

They eat so well the majority of the time that I try not to fret too much when they do have cakes and crisps and sweets but they genuinely are just as happy to choose an exotic piece of fruit as a treat, have home made popcorn with nothing added and a massive box of raw veggies as they are to have a packet of crisps and a bar of chocolate.

Some weeks I feed them better than others but they very, very rarely eat processed food and the only time they get anything to drink other than water fruit juice, tea or milk is when we eat out and they have a coke or a lemonade (never slimline!).

Hope you find this interesting.

Krish x

This post could change your life!

The reason that the K-Loss approach works is that fat loss, dress size and weight are NEVER goals or targets.
On K-Loss, your goal is to lead a fit and healthy life.  For life.

By removing and end game, you totally remove the potential for yo-yo dieting.  If your goal is to lead a fit and healthy life, for life, you will lose fat along the way.  You will (if your body needs to) drop dress sizes.


The K-Loss philosophy is that leading a fit and healthy life shouldn't be so difficult or complicated that it is impossible to sustain.  The K-Loss way is simple; it really is.

There's no point or calorie counting, there's no weighing of food, there's no going hungry or dieting.  You are making changes that simply lead you to a fit and healthy life.  For life!


The most important thing you can do to begin leading a fit and healthy life and to therefore lose the excess pounds is by cutting flour and sugar from your diet.


YOU WILL NOT LOSE WEIGHT BY GOING ON A LOW FAT DIET!


By not consuming anything with wheat in it, you are simultaneously cutting all the bad fat from your diet - no deadly trans fats or hydrogenated fats.  All the fat that is left is absolutely fine!  It will not make you fat!

I know this is hard to get your head around because we have been brainwashed by the food industry for so long to believe that the reason we put on weight is due to fat but IT SIMPLY ISN'T TRUE!

Natural fat, even saturated, animal fat is good for you.  It's natural.  it hasn't been messed with!  I'm not suggesting you eat a mountain of pork rind for dinner but chopping it off your chop is not going to help you to lose weight.  Quite the opposite, in fact - by eating the fat, you are going to feel full.  This is going to stop you eating more later.


Seriously, this is REALLY important!  Do not ever choose a low-fat option because you think oh, I might as well.  It is genuinely counter-productive!


Think how many low-fat diets you or people you know have been on.  Have they worked?  Have they been sustainable?  


The fact is that a low fat diet is going to make you consume more calories than a low sugar diet.


The second thing you can do is to avoid anything that says LOW FAT.
LOW FAT PRODUCTS ARE PARTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR WEIGHT GAIN!
They are full of sugar!  They are NOT calorie free.  The fact that they are low in fat means that they are less satisfying, so they are then pumped full of sugar.  Sugar, as I have told you before, is in and out of your system in a flash - LEAVING YOU FEELING HUNGRY AGAIN!

Along with sugar, wheat is your other enemy.  It is so ingrained in our lives that it seems an impossible task to cut it completely.  It means no more bread, it means no more pasta, it means no more traditionally made cakes, no pies and pasties, no doughnuts, no biscuits.

The reason you are shaking your head and saying, right now, that you could never do this is because you are addicted to the sugar rush you get from eating these products.  Not only does your blood sugar spike from the added sugar these products contain but you get double bubble from the wheat, which turns to glucose (sugar) as soon as it is mixed with the saliva in your mouth!

You need to realise you are addicted to these products; these products that make some businessman somewhere very rich!  That businessman has ABSOLUTELY NO INTEREST in your health or well-being.  They simply want to keep you addicted so you keep on paying them!


Think about this.  Don't just dismiss it.


So, I reiterate, if you really want to change your life

1     Dont eat anything with added sugar.  If you want cake, try my sugar-free, flour-free recipes!
2     Don't eat anything with wheat.
3     Don't eat anything that says LOW FAT.

I absolutely, one-hundred percent guarantee, that if you do these three things, you will be the size you want to be.  Guaranteed!

If you do these three things, you WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE FOREVER!

Maximise your time in the gym

I see so many people wasting expensive gym membership and going nowhere.  With a few simple changes to the exercises you do and the way you do them, you can make better use of your time in the gym.

Although these machines and exercises do have their place, the are so often misused or abused that they should just be avoided and replaced with things that use your time better.

1     The cross trainer.

       For the simple reason that people generally don't work hard enough.  Having a little chat with your friend means you are not nearly out of breath.  The by-product of the aerobic energy system is water (sweat) heat and carbon dioxide (breathlessness).  Sweat is the best cardio!  Also people seem to think that cardio is the best way to lose weight.  You will get better results by mixing in a lot more resistance work - lift weights!

Do this instead:

The rower.  You get a full body workout from this machine.  make sure you do it with good form and that you make enough effort.  You should be out of breath, hot and sweating after 3 minutes, if you aren't, you are just not working hard enough to make any difference.

2     Any machine apart from the pulley machine.

       For the simple reason that you could do the same exercise and get way more benefit with free-weights.  When you use free weights (dumb bells, barbells, kettle bells and medicine balls) you have to use other muscles, including your abs, to assist the muscles you are exercising.  When you use machines, you isolate those muscles and get less benefit.

Do this instead:

Use free weights - bar bell squats and dumb bell lunges for your legs.  Dumb bell or bar bell chest press and standing dumb bell or bar bell bicep curls.  Dumb bell kickbacks.  Press ups.  Dumb bell flys.  Planks.  Dumb bell Dragan presses and shoulder presses.

3     The treadmill

       You really need to do more than an hour's cardio to see much benefit and if you want to go for a run, go outside and get a vitamin D hit too.  I see lots of people holding onto the bar at the front of the treadmill as well, especially when walking or running on an incline.  This doesn't mirror real life and is therefore no longer a functional exercise.

Do this instead:

Go for a long run outside.  Use the treadmill for interval training and make sure you don't hold onto the bar at the front.

4     Pointless weights

       You may have heard that you should do low weights, high reps for weight loss and muscle endurance.  Personally, it's a waste of time on two levels.  One: it takes a lot of time.  Two: you get quicker and better results from low reps high weights.  Men and women.  

Do this instead:

Uplevel your weights!  Push yourself and make sure you are lifting heavy enough.  If you aren't doing more than your muscles are normally used to doing you will see no progression.  If you are looking to increase muscle or tone up, choose a weight you can lift no more than 8 times before muscle failure and do this for three sets with a 30 second rest between sets.  Or, if you are really looking to lose fat, try Tabata style training and do 6 sets of 20 second work, 10 second rest, with lighter weights.

Bear in mind that NONE of this will make any difference if you haven't addressed your nutrition!

Gym membership is expensive, don't waste your time and money on exercises that make little difference - change up and see the benefit within weeks!

Krish x

       

Fat is not the enemy!

Did you watch that program last night about sugar? What have I always said? No good can come from a low-fat diet! Sugar and flour are what you should be avoiding. Sugar and flour! That is all.

Time for a new recipe

Sugar-free, flour-free coconut cupcakes

Ingredients

200g ground almonds
1 cup milk powder
1 cup desiccated coconut
1 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1/4 cup of honey
(milk to loosen to dolloping consistency if necessary)

icing

500g Greek yoghurt - strained through a muslin
1 cup of desiccated coconut
1/4 cup of honey

method

Mix all dry ingredients, add other ingredients and mix until combined.  Dollop into paper cases and bake at around 160 degrees for around 10 minutes or until golden and the top bounces back when pressed lightly.

Meanwhile, strain the water from the Greek yoghurt, add the coconut and honey and ice the cakes when cool.  If the mixture is too sloppy, add a little more coconut.

Krish x

Want toned arms?

Want Sarah Connor-from-terminator toned arms?  Do these exercises 3 times a week and see a noticeable difference within weeks!

These exercise are equally good for men and women so long as you use weights heavy enough for you to do 3 sets of between 6 and 8 reps and no more.  If you can do more, the weights aren't heavy enough!

The reason I am going for high weights and low reps - hypertrophy (muscle gain) is because you get much better, much quicker results than if you go for low weights and high reps - endurance.  

Women - it's virtually impossible to bulk up and get great, big muscly arms unless you are on steroids.  These exercises will tone up your arms, giving you long, lean muscles without those bingo wings!

Men, so long as you are using heavy enough weights, your muscles will bulk up more as the men's muscles are shorter and rounder than women's.

So, these are my top exercise for awesome arms, beginning with body-weight exercises that need no weights, moving onto free weight exercises.

Workout 1

1     military press ups (body weight)

2     Triceps dips (body weight)

3     Front shoulder raises 

4     Bicep curls

5     Kickbacks

Workout 2

1     Diamond press ups (body weight)

2     Overhead triceps extension

3     Bent over reverse flys

4     Hammer curls

5     Lateral shoulder raises

Make sure that you mix it up each time you do an arm workout.  So alternate workout one and two so you work the same muscles in a different way each time.

If you have no weights, you can still tone up but the results won't be as noticeable.  Focus on a variety of pressups and triceps dips and if you can find somewhere to do it (a pull up bar at home or monkey bars in the park) do some pull ups and chin ups.  i really recommend investing in a set of weights, you can get them pretty cheaply online.

One last quick bonus exercise - a favourite of mine:

Dragan presses - (curl to press) look online to see how to do them.  Do as many as you can with no rest!  keep count and see if you can beat your score each time.

Krish x

Why do I put on weight?

A lot of people I speak with seem genuinely confused as to why they put on weight.  If I ask them what they eat normally, they'll tell me what a balanced diet they have; generally a healthy breakfast, a salad for lunch and a healthy dinner.  Never any mention of snacks, treats or alcohol.

If you were to survive on the above day-in, day-out, you would lose weight, not gain weight.

The fact of the mater is that we lie to ourselves exceptionally well about a raft of things not least what we consume on a daily basis.

Keeping an honest food diary for a week is a really good way to assess our eating habits. It makes us aware of what we are consuming by having to write it down.  It's unbelievably easy to consume double the amount of calories we think we are consuming without even realising it.

A lot of people with whom I speak about nutrition tell me they really don't snack.  They eat breakfast and then they might or might not have lunch and then they have dinner.  What this tells me more than anything is the lack of planning and the irregularity of their eating.  This is a major cause of overeating or choosing highly calorific foods to eat when you do eat.

Let me explain.

If you eat little and often, your blood glucose levels remain pretty static.  You rarely experience that blood sugar crash which is when you crave highly calorific foods for an instant energy hit.  You need an instant energy hit when your blood glucose levels crash because glucose is the only fuel your brain can use.  So if you are suffering from low blood sugar, your brain is under-fuelled; you know you need food but you can't think straight so you make poor choices (hence my suggestion for not having the poor choices in your house to start with).  And the cycle continues because you choose food that leaves your system quickly leaving you with another sugar crash that needs rectifying with yet more inappropriate calories!

It's a vicious cycle!

If you eat clean, little and often, you avoid this situation.  It means that when meal times come along, you are less tempted to overeat. It takes around 20 minutes for your brain to register that it is full so if you are so hungry that you are eating a larger amount than you need in under 20 minutes, your brain will not stop you!

It is all about eating enough, bizarrely.  If you don't eat enough and regularly, you cannot control your eating.

You gain weight because you eat the wrong things.  You eat the wrong things for two reasons.  1: it's in the house. 2: you let your blood sugar drop low enough for you to panic eat.

You gain weight because you eat too much.  You eat too much because you let your blood sugar drop low enough so you eat large amounts quickly before your brain has time to register you are full.



If you want to stop gaining weight, if you want to lose fat, you HAVE to avoid those blood glucose highs and lows, so do these things:


1     You have to make sure you have a non-sugary breakfast EVERY SINGLE DAY.
2     You have to make sure you have a protein, carbohydrate and healthy fat snack between breakfast and lunch.
3     You have to make sure you have a protein, carbohydrate and healthy fat lunch.
4     You have to make sure you have at least on other healthy snack between lunch and dinner (I have 2)
5     You have to make sure you have a healthy dinner - I like to limit starch carbs for this meal.
6     You have to cut the processed food.
7     You have to be honest with yourself. 
8     Don't have unhealthy choices in the house.
9     Plan your meals carefully.
10   Accept that you are going to have to make changes to how you approach your nutrition.  Some of them are going to take willpower but that is OK!

One last word.  A balanced diet does not mean salad AND cake. And you know it.