Just posting a quick update to let you know our mums bootcamp will be heading indoors for the last 6 weeks of term. We are hiring the brand new facility that has been built at the University of Ballarat. No more “Windy Wednesdays” at the footy oval in Bunny for a while and no more blue lips or frozen little fingers on our” little people”.
Tomorrow’s session will be an awesome Tabata class to get the metabolism firing 
What a shock to the system it has been this week. After last weeks balmy autumn weather we have been pelted by arctic winds and driving rain. We knew it was coming, but that doesn’t make it any easier to tolerate. I had a PT session yesterday morning where the temperature read “feels like” 0.5 degrees! It was coffee time after that one. Just this morning our Mums and preschoolers group endured similar conditions. They worked out in the wet, cold and dirty conditions without complaining once (not that I heard anyway).
We will be in the brand new facility at the Uni from next week girls.
Anyway, with the cold weather upon us I thought I would post a nice winter warmer recipe that is high in protein. Chicken Quinoa Veggie Soup. Perfect for days like today. This can be made ahead and frozen into meal size portions to heat up.
You can use whatever veggies you want. This is my selection;
I added 1 teaspoon of curry powder, 1 cup of red lentils, 1 packet of chicken noodle soup(ommit for gluten free), 1/2 a cup of tri colored quinoa( you could add more) and 1 packet of raw tender loins to 2 and 1/2 litres of water with the veggies, roughly chopped. Cook for 2 hours and just mash the chicken and any large veggies until it becomes stringy. I did it still in the pot. I had some today and felt toasty and warm afterwards!
Sometimes I feel like the wife that nags her husband-”mow the lawn, take out the rubbish, fix that broken chair, change that light bulb, put together that Ikea shelving we bought 4 months ago….nag, nag, nag!” But as a PT my form of nagging is usually related to nutrition or exercise-” swap to wholemeal, include protein in each meal, cut out sugar, drink less alcohol, eat less, eat more, cut out the processed crap, try quinoa, try spinach, cook this recipe, run here, 10 pushups there, change over, pair up…. nag, nag, nag!!!” OH MY GOD, I ask for so much from you. How can you take it all on board and make the decisions that are right for you and get the positive results you are after?
Most of you guys know what is healthy and what is unhealthy, I’m just here to guide you along the right path and give you ideas and information that will encourage you to make the correct choices for a long, healthy life. One in which you will get chance to reduce your risk of disease and obesity. One in which you will be happy and content that you are doing all you can to enjoy an awesome quality of life, after all, life is short, let’s make the most of it.
Now I don’t want to offend anyone here, so please don’t take this as a personal attack but there is a small percentage of people who come to me thinking that their prayers are answered and that they will magically drop that 20 kg they put on over 10 years by paying for 3 months of bootcamp. That is good in theory, but if you don’t actually turn up or put your body outside the comfort zone, the chances of losing that 20 kg are very slim. Add that together with the fact that this small minority continue to eat shitty food because they feel they have the license to EAT WHAT EVER THEY WANT because they just worked out.
I love my job and all of you guys, my biggest reward doesn’t come at the start of term when I get paid, it comes when you guys excitedly tell me about your results. I love hearing that you had to go shopping for new clothes or that you dropped 6 kilos on the scales and that you cooked that new recipe off my blog. I love hearing that you ran your first 4 km without stopping. Or that you took the family down to the oval and did a workout together. That all gets my heart pumping and keeps me motivated and inspired to continue doing what I do. You see, I’m driven by results…..YOUR RESULTS!!
This is why I share all the information with you, this is why I “nag”. I would love to have 100% of my clients reach their fat loss and fitness goals but I’m not there 24/7. I can’t stop you from eating that chocolate bar or drinking that bottle of wine. I’m not there when you’re craving your comfort food after you put the kids to bed. I’m not there when you’re being lured by that birthday cake of a work colleague at morning tea. This is why you need to be driven by results.
Use results as your motivator-”no I won’t eat that birthday cake for morning tea because I want to continue on my fat loss journey. I want to fit into those designer jeans I bought 2 seasons ago. I won’t eat that chocolate bar because I want to feel good when I put Jackie’s tight bootcamp T-shirt on. I won’t drink that whole bottle of wine or finish that bag of lollies because I have low self esteem and I want to feel good about myself. I will resist that temptation for comfort food because I want to feel good in the change room this summer when trying on bathers. I WANT RESULTS”
Here is a before and after of one of my clients who was driven by results. It was so funny she actually sent this to me when I was almost finished writing this, some form of ESP or something going on here. Steph has turned her life around and created an awesome outlook on life. I’m so proud of her and her results.
Be driven by results not by the temptation of salt, fat and sugar. It may make you feel good when you eat it, but geez getting results feels soooo much better. If you’re not seeing the positive change you hoped for when starting bootcamp with me, take a snapshot of your lifestyle and find out what’s holding you back from getting the results you truly deserve.
Breathing….we all do it, there is no other option (apart from death). It’s something that comes naturally to us, an innate behaviour. Or is it? As I was out running through the Canadian Forrest on the weekend, I was struggling for breath on one of the many hills through there. I started to think about my breathing and how it would help me get to the top. I don’t know about you but as I was growing up and before I was educated on the matter, I thought the important part of the breathing process was breathing in. You know, sucking in all that good oxygen deeply to keep us going. Well, as it turns out, scientifically its the breathing out part that is most crucial.
When we breath in we take in oxygen through our lungs and heart which then goes into our blood stream (through arteries) to give our body oxygen, when it is used up it travels back as de-oxygenated blood through our veins back into our heart and lungs and we breath it out as carbon dioxide (there is more to it than that but I won’t bore you with all the anatomical detail). Now the interesting thing about this is we still breath out oxygen, there is still about 20% oxygen coming out of our mouths when we exhale (this is why we can give mouth to mouth in CPR). Its not the lack of oxygen that makes us puffed, its the build up of carbon dioxide that makes us gasp for air.
So the most important phase in our breathing is to actually make sure we are forcing out the carbon dioxide on exhalation. If we are taking a big deep breathe and only shallow exhalations there will be a build up of carbon dioxide and we will fatigue a lot quicker.
I also notice that a lot of people hold their breath while exercising, this has a special name called the valsalva manoeuvre (not sure of the spelling). As you can imagine this will cause fatigue at an alarming rate. Get noisy with it people, puff and pant as much as you like, your body will thank you for it.
Breathing also helps us on our strength exercises. I’m always banging on about forcing your breath out on the “work phase” of the exercise. I’m sure your sick of me blurting it out mid workout!! It’s the force that helps us to lift, push or pull our body weight or equipment so that we can work harder and lift more. Examples of this are breathing out as you sit up on a sit-up, breath out as you push up on a pushup, breath out when you pull up on a rowing movement, breath out when you drive your legs up on a squat…etc.
So remember to always exhale deeply if you are feeling fatigued during a workout or on your next run. It works for me and it takes your mind of the pain!!
Just a couple of quick tips to finish for some protein to add to your breaky. If your like me and are a creature of habit you may be struggling to sacrifice your morning toast (wholemeal of course). Below are some images of things you can add to your toast. Paul also showed me a quick and less messy way to have eggs on toast of a morning. Feel free to add vegies to this one as well. This was a photo of one he made for the kids for breaky on the weekend;
The items photographed below could be a great protein rich addition to your morning toast. And pre-prepared hard boiled eggs are a convenient way to get your protein in on the run, probably not ideal if you’re on public transport and break open an egg for that mid morning snack. I’m sure you will get the seat to yourself!!
The nuts and seeds won’t go so well on toast so try adding them to your cereal.
I know we are concentrating on protein this term but I felt the need to share this story on sugar, which you may hear or have heard at bootcamp today. A PT client of mine, who is happy for me to share his story, came to me about 8 weeks ago wanting to get fitter and lose a bit of body fat. I counselled him on nutrition and he was smashing his workouts to the point of vomitting (he was putting everything into it).
He reassured me his nutrition was going well and he had cut down on all the bad stuff. Eight weeks down the track he says he’s worried he’s not meeting his fat loss goals. “maybe we need to look at changing something with your nutrition” I said. Then out with it he came. “I haven’t been honest about my sugar intake” he said. He then informed me he was still having 3 sugars in his coffee (1 coffee a day) and drinking about a litre of made up cordial when he got home from work. CORDIAL!!!! One of the first things I tell people to quit when they start with me. Wasted calories!!!! I wasn’t happy. I added up the amount of sugar he had consumed since he started 8 weeks prior. Wait for it-3 kilograms of sugar in 8 weeks, and that was just in what he was drinking!!! It was hindering his proggress. Let me share with you an email I recieved from some PT authors (Sharny and Julius) to explain the “nasty” behind sugar and why it was hindering his fat loss.
If you feel you are not meeting your fat-loss goals, take a look at your sugar consumption. It could be holding you back from making progress.
It is great to see a lot of clients take on board all the information I gave out about protein last week, but just let me reasure some of you that may have a preconceived idea that increasing protein intake will make you bulky or fat. Actually, that is one of the biggest misconceptions about protein when you think about fitness and fat loss.
You have to change this mindset if you want to be fit and lose body fat. Therefore, you must understand how protein intake keeps you fit and lose fat.
Proteins are macro nutrients composed of lengthy chains of amino acids that is essential for the proper function and growth of our body. For women, proteins build muscles without bulking up and that helps to burn more fat, quickly.
When you start out on a fat loss journey you will take a decision to limit your food intake and do more exercise. It is not practical as a beginner. You will probably keep this up for a couple of weeks, until it all gets too hard and you are craving your comfort foods.
Proteins help to avoid this situation. Protein intake controls your appetite and you will get a feeling of fullness in your belly. That helps to limit your food intake. One more thing to consider for fat loss is that protein intake alone will not be the magical answer.
You have to consume low GI carbohydrates (veggies and wholegrains), less saturated fats and high intensity exercise needs to be part of the equation. (check the chart from last week for more detail on foods that contain protein). You must include these foods in your diet.
Protein intake without exercise is dangerous. Proteins help to lose fat only if it breaks down well. So a good exercise routine will help you to break down the proteins you took in will help you to burn more fat, quickly.
Understand the value of proteins in the fitness process, keeping up your high intensity bootcamp or PT sessions will give you a fit body, a larger muscle mass and will help you work towards your fat loss goals.
Nic shared this recipe with me last week and I wanted to share it with you. I came across a rice mix that contains quinoa at Safeway which contains 30% more protein than brown rice alone so it was the perfect recipe to try this week. I added the chicken (500g pre cooked tenderloins) and only added the sauce for taste, the quantity seemed a bit excessive to me. And I used spinach instead of basil.
A reminder to Mt Clear that there is no bootcamp because of Anzac day on Thursday. It will be on Friday morning at Emmaus instead. A special WhooHoo to all those who got soaked this morning in the rain. You guys are champions!!
I’m pretty sure we can call our term 1 lifestyle change a success. Boy, did we see some positive results from swapping white to brown.
At first, it was met with fear. “How on earth am I going to get my family to swap from the comfort of the fluffy white carbs to the enemy, brown, fibrous, nutritious carbs?” But do you know what? By the end of term most people had successfully transferred themselves and their families (including reluctant husbands) over to consuming nutritious products like wholemeal bread, wholemeal pasta, quinoa, brown rice and even wholemeal flour.
Many boot campers noticed a difference on the scales and a subtle change in energy levels as well as identifying a cleansing of the digestive system with regular bowel movements (I know, “Gross” I hear you say). All of these results are contributing to an improved quality of life, as well as a reduced risk of disease and illness. It’s really important that we continue on with this lifestyle change for the rest of our lives and keep it part of our “normal”.
So this brings us to our lifestyle change for term 2. I guess the title gives it away, we will be ADDING PROTEIN TO EACH MEAL.
In a previous post (How much protein do we need? November 2012. Please go back through the archives and re-read so I don’t have to repeat myself too much.) I talked about the importance of lean protein in our diets and the crucial role that it plays in repairing cells, helping with muscle growth (another word for toning up, ladies) and keeping us feeling fuller for longer. And we know that by feeling fuller for longer we are less likely to overeat at meal times because we are not “starving hungry”.
What foods contain protein? Never fear I have the answer to your question below. It can be difficult to include protein in each meal if you are living on a high carbohydrate diet, so some may find this more challenging than others. Breakfast is quite often a stumbling block for protein. (there isn’t much protein in vegemite on toast). Who says we need to have toast or cereal for breakfast. Its just a picture painted by Kelloggs, Sanitarium or Sunicrust to sell their product. Just run down to the river and catch a salmon to cook up for brekky. Just kidding, instead you could include some of the foods listed on the tables below. I found these on the internet and they are really informative if you’re not sure how much protein you are consuming. I will put some recipes on the bottom of this post that are easy and packed full of protein.
SCRAMBLED EGGS
Jac
