Time To Get The Ball Rolling.. And Keep it Rolling

Motivation– ‘being emotionally moved to take action,’

Motivation is fuel to the fire when it comes to sticking to your healthy eating and exercise regime.

It’s the key to all success. There are many factors in life that determine the amount of motivation we have at any given time. It is a reflection of how much we desire to have something or some situation. Desire and determination has the ability to spark our motivation into a particular path. How do we spark this motivation to eat healthy and exercise regularly? 

Before I go into that let me just share this quote with you-

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.” – Zig Ziglar.

So today I am going to help you with tips and tricks to help you stay motivated and on track!

1) Pro’s and pro’s

This is a great way to motivate yourself, and you can use this technique for many different excuses!

Today ill give you an example on using it when it comes to exercise adherence. First you will go through the pro’s of NOT exercising then the pro’s of exercise. Still with me ? I’ll explain below...

E.g. 

Pro’s of NOT exercising                                       

Staying warm

Not getting sweaty

Watching TV

Relax on the couch

Pro’s OF exercising

 Increase metabolism

Weight loss

Mood enhancement

Increased confidence

Increased sense of well being

Increased bone strength

Increased fitness level 

Increased joint range of motion or flexibility

Improved sense of well being;

Increased muscular strength;

Improved glucose regulation 

Decreased blood pressure

Improved sleep patterns and levels of anxiety.

Combats chronic diseases 

Feel a sense of accomplishment 

Increased energy

Stress relief

… and I could keep going if you like?

Having those two comparisons in front of you, you can see why getting out and exercising is definitely worth you getting a little sweaty! You can also use this for sticking to your healthy eating regime or anything you find hard to stay motivated to do!

2) Visualize, visualize and more visualizing!

Staying motivated means keeping your goals in visual sight and I mean literally.

So now I’ll use the power of visualization! Bom bom booooom!

So now I want you to think about an event that your looking forward to. An event where you want to be at your goal weight or looking great at.

Now I want you to answer these questions and visualize yourself there.

· How much weight would you like to lose for it?

· Where do you see the weight coming off?

· What will you be wearing?

· How will your outfit look?

· How will you be feeling in this outfit at your goal weight?

· Would you feel proud and accomplished?

· What would people be saying about the new you?

· What emotions are you feeling knowing that people have noticed your transformation?

Now I want you to STOP.

Now I want you to do the same, answer all the questions and visualize yourself but this time you are 3-5 kilos heavier.

You still there? Little scary isn’t it. But it will make you stop and think about it. You have what it takes to start to take action towards your goal right now! Don’t wait until Monday. By Monday you could be that much closer to your goals. So instead of feeling regret at that event that you didn’t start earlier, you will be proud to be in your own skin rocking your outfit and improved confidence!

3) STOP technique

Ok so someone passes you a piece of chocolate cake. You look at it and think ‘awww its only one piece, I know I’m trying to lose weight to feel better and increase my health but I cant resist...I want some cake!”

Ahhh but then the guilt sets in… ‘why did I have that cake! Now I have to do an extra gym session, I feel like crap and guilty!’

Sound familiar! Well I have the perfect solution to help you out when you facing one of these situations.

S– STOP! Before you put it in your mouth!

T– THINK! I have choices here

O– OVERVIEW! Ask yourself-

How will I feel after I eat this? Regret? Guilt?

Am I REALLY that hungry? Or am I bored? Stressed?

How will it affect my weight loss?

Is it really worth it?

P– PICK! Whether to eat the food, not eat the food, or just have a little bit and enjoy!

You can even you it for when you can’t be bothered to exercise!

STOP!– Before you lay on the couch

THINK!– I can persuade myself

OVERVIEW!– Ask yourself-

How will I feel after I exercise?

Do I want to be one step closer to my goal?

What are the pro’s of exercise?

How will I feel 1 kilos lighter by next week?

PICK!– whether to be lazy on the couch or to get up, BE ACTIVE and be one step closer to your goal!

4) GOALLLLLL!!!! and the crowd goes wild!!!

Goal setting is a great technique to keep motivated!

Now I want you to list all the reasons why you want to lose weight and add more reasons to that list as they come to mind. Make it a habit to read this list every time you wake up so you keep your focus on these reasons.

Ok next step is make short term and long term goals to get you there!

Baby steps is the key! Every week right down a few short goals to achieve and how you will feel once you achieve those goals.

E.g. Goals-

1. Exercise 5 times this week -
2. Metobolic Conditioning- Mon, Wed ,Fri 
3. Interval sprints– Tues and Thurs
4. Drink 8 glasses of water
5. Stop drinking coke

Once Achieved- 

• Accomplished
• Proud
• Healthy
• Fit

Mark them off as you go and each week if you accomplish these few goals you will be one step closer to the long term goal.

Steps to goal settings-

Set Specific Goals- Research shows that specific goals are the most motivating.

Set Measurable Goals- Simply saying that you want to get faster is not enough detail. You need to be able to chart and document progress toward your goal.

Set Realistic Goals- Start where you are, and increase your goals accordingly.

Reward Yourself- Give yourself something to look forward to!

Time Frame- Your goal should have a completion date

Have a plan of attack!- Write up or get a professional to write you up a healthy eating plan and exercise regime to stick to.

Each week make sure you have you plan of attack written out for out goals for that week!

E.g. Metobolic Conditioning- Mon, Wed ,Fri

Interval sprints– Tues and Thurs

This is an EXAMPLE. So adjust yours to your goals and ’plan of attack’ !

For help on how to train to achieve results check out this blog-

It's time to say sayonara to hours of BORING cardio!

Okay that’s all for now! Hope this has helped…

I will leave you with this..

"The pain of discipline is 

NOTHING like the pain 

of disappointment!"




Kristy :)

Low Calorie Chocolate Mousse? Get out of town!

Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients

1/4 cup boiling water

1/4 tsp gelatin

1 scoop BSC protein powder or cocoa powder (nutrition info will be different)

2 egg whites

2 tsp Splenda

Directions

   1.      Combine water and gelatine in a jug. Whisk with a fork until gelatine has completely dissolved. Stir in scoop of protein powder. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

   2.      Using an electric mixer, beat eggwhites in a large bowl until soft peaks form. Add splenda 1 tsps at a time, beating until meringue is thick and glossy.

   3.      Slowly pour gelatine mixture into egg mixture (make sure mixtures are both at the same temperature before you combine them), beating constantly until well combined. Spoon mixture into  serving cup. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until set and chilled. Serve.

Nutritional Info for whole recipe

Calories-110 cal

Protein-25.5g

Carbs-negligible

1 Tequila, 2 Tequila, 3 kilos and more

You wake up, head pounding, mouth dry, stomach grumbling , you've forgotten about what actually happened the night before and you wonder why you have a dirty half eaten kebab sitting on your floor.. Sound familiar?

Well I'm here to tell you the bad news and explain to you what actually happens, in terms of weight loss and weight gain, when you drink your body weight in booze!

Here is some good news about alcohol and fat calories: A very small percentage of the alcohol calories you drink are turned into fat. It's in the single digits. But the bad news is with alcohol and it's calories, reduces the amount of fat that your body can burn off for energy. Anddddd  the problem lies in that fact that if you drink and eat over your calories allowance for that day (which usually is the case) the excess calories get stored straight into your fat cells.

Here is a super quick lesson about the body and burning body fat. Your body wants to burn body fat for energy. Especially when at rest. When you train it wants to use carbohydrates and glycogen (stored carbohydrates) for energy to fuel it through those workouts. But when your just chilling on the lounge your body wants to burn fat.  Though, the amount of fat being burned at rest changes from person to person but that is how the body works.

Things that can detour the body from burning fat as energy are skipping breakfast, low-calorie diets, not enough sleep or rest, skipping meals, and drinking too much alcohol.

Back to alcohol. Alcohol stops this fat burning process from happening. Why?

Well it comes down to a substance called acetate. Acetate levels rise sharply after alcohol is consumed. This substance pretty much tells the body to STOP burning body fat ASAP. Thinks of it as drinking methylated spirits. Your liver and organs yell “OMG WHAT IS THIS STUFF! GET IT OUT, GET IT OUT! So your body stops burning fat and the food you have consumed and starts using the alcohol as energy instead. So your food you have consumed actually gets stored in your fat cells while your body uses up all the energy in the alcohol! Then the body starts making another substance called acetyl CoA. This causes the body to actually start making more body fat.

For example, if you drank 5 beers your body would not be able to burn fat for up to 6 hours. The more you drink the longer you delay the body's regular fat burning mechanism. So if you drinks loads of calories ridden drinks PLUS loads of greasy foods and dirty maccas all of the food and calories in the drinks your consuming is getting stored as your body cant handle doing both, burning food and getting rid of the toxic alcohol.

So the idea that alcohol just automatically turns into fat or gives you a beer belly is mistaken. It’s true that alcohol suppresses fat oxidation, but mainly, alcohol adds calories into your diet, messes with your hormones and can stimulate appetite, leading to even more calories consumed via dirty, greasy, after-a-big-night-out food, also the fact that food gets stored in your fat cells as you drink alcohol. That’s where the fat gain comes from.

Also remember when you drink alcohol that it is empty calories. You get no nutritional benefit from it. No vitamins, minerals, fiber, protein, omega-3's, nothing! It also effects our judgment, after a few drinks, that healthy diet you've been following so diligently suddenly doesn't seem all that important anymore. It also doesn't help that alcohol stimulate the appetite so turning down that kebab becomes much harder.

If you drink in moderation, if you’re aware of the calories in the alcohol, if you're aware of the calories from additional food intake consumed during or after drinking, you won’t get fat.

Everyone has a “calorie budget”, or an amount of calories their body burns each day, so you need to give some careful thought to how those calories should be “spent.” For example, if a female is on a 1500 calorie per day diet, does she really want to "spend" 500 of those calories – one third of her intake - for a few alcoholic drinks, and leave only 1000 for health-promoting food, fiber and lean muscle building protein?   Hmmm something to think about!

Watch this Video to see just how many calories are in YOU favourite alcohol drinks!

TIPS TO HELP YOU DEAL WITH ALCOHOL AND AVOID GAINING WEIGHT!

· Be aware of what and how much you're drinking and avoid high calorie drinks: Find the calorie content of your favorite drinks. Keep in your healthy eating while drinking, e.g. eat a meals with high protein, good complex carbs (brown rice, pumpkin, oats), loads of veges and fruit and low fat yoghurt!

· Drink water between drinks: Having a full glass of water between alcoholic drinks can both help you avoid drinking too much and keep you hydrated. That may help avoid a hangover the next day.

· Know your weak spots: If you’ve come to the conclusion that you  drink too much and overeat at parties, be prepared! Eat a healthy meal or snack before you go to ensure you're not drinking on an empty stomach and might help you from snacking on those chips and m&ms… oh and by the way m&ms have 10 calories EACH… just quietly…

· Don't drink daily.

· Watch the fatty foods post night out and next day

· Watch your appetite. Before you lose all judgment have a nice, healthy meal

· Think about your goals: Turning down that refill may be hard in the moment, but you'll be glad you did when you wake up the next day refreshed and not hungover!

· Have diet jelly ready in the fridge for when you walk through the door, drunk and ready to attack the fridge and pantry! Trust me you will wake up a lot less guilty then if you eat a toasted cheese sandwich and chocolate bar.