One thing that has been a feature of my consults is that
people think that by undergoing a month’s worth of regimented training and
nutrition that all their bodily dislikes will suddenly evaporate and they will
emerge in supermodel or bodybuilder shape. Without taking away from what I do
and the results I have gotten with clients one month’s training (just 12 hours)
is only a healthy drop in the ocean amidst what has probably been years of
unhealthy ways. With this in mind and getting to my point it important to note
that health is not a monthly package, it is not determined by the weighing
scales, dress size and sometimes even low body fat. It was once said that “the
absence of disease does not indicate health “. Being healthy is a constant
daily commitment to yourself and your body and for that matter your mind.
Although I am not qualified to comment on the latter I do know that having a
healthy body contributes to an all round healthier state of mind.
If I was to sum up my three most important factors to maintaining
a healthy lifestyle they would be:
Exercise – it is not that hard to dedicate 3-4 hours a week
to exercise, do whatever form of exercise you enjoy best and do it well.
Eat well – before sweets and fizzy drinks were available
people ate almost exclusively vegetables and lean meats. Go back to simple
nutrition, my tip is if it was available to our ancient ancestors years ago
then eat it and plenty of it.
Enjoy – don’t crucify yourself with thoughts of I’d love
this bar or Id love that drink. If you really would then have it and enjoy it but
don’t mix up enjoyment with boredom or lazyness because you couldn’t be
bothered to feed yourself properly. The more enjoyment we experience the less
time we have to be stressed and I recommend doing all you can to remove as much
stress as possible from your life.
Yours in health,
Conor McDonald.
BLOG NO 2
Weight training Vs Steady State Cardio (jogging) for fat
loss for both Males and Females
One of the most common training misconceptions is that in
order to lose fat you must do some form of cardio training. Jogging is the
choice of most people who are trying to shed some pounds while cycling is also
a popular choice. Very few people turn to weight lifting programs for fat loss,
most probably because weight lifting can be daunting or they believe that they
will put on to much muscle (which never happens) but in fact weight lifting
produces better results in shorter time frames than all types of steady state
cardio training! With my own clients this has certainly been the case with most
losing, on average, a stone in one month with no cardio training at all,
literally none. Before I explain why weight training is the better choice let
me just mention that this is not a new train of thought in the world of fat
loss nor is it the latest fad. The idea that weight training is better for fat
loss is decades old and has been proven countless times.
So why is weight training the better choice?
The more muscle a person has the more active their
metabolism will be when at rest. Weight training programs result in muscle
gains while steady state cardio does not. Having a more active metabolism is a
good thing. This means that you burn more calories at rest and who doesn’t want
to be burning calories while watching TV? Combining this with a nutrition plan
based on frequent feedings elevates metabolism even further, turning people
that once had slow metabolisms into fat burning furnaces. The increase in
muscle also means that it is easier to keep the lost fat at bay!
One of the downfalls of cardio based training programs,
combined with calorie restricted diets, is that if you do manage to drop a few
pounds you will most likely regain them again when your food consumption
returns to normal levels. This is because steady state cardio training can have
an adverse effect on muscle, meaning you can actually lose muscle by engaging
in this type of training too often. This loss in muscle will adversely affect
your metabolic rate, thus, slowing down the rate at which you burn calories.
This is not a good thing as once the calorie intake increases so does your body
fat and your weight.
There are numerous other reasons in favour of weight
training that are outside the scope of this article. If you want to see some
real life examples of the role weight training can have in fat loss check out
my facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/ConorMcDonaldPT/419101408104003
CONOR’s Nutrition Tips
Add fresh lemon or lime to your water to
alkalise the body and increase the chances of fat loss.
Most people believe that dietary fat and
body fat are directly linked. There is actually a far stronger link between
sugars and carbohydrates and body fat. Research shows that people who eat diets
higher in good fats are leaner than people with carbohydrate based diets.
Eat six times per day to stay healthy and
lean. For fat loss eat three meals and three mid meal snacks
Be aware of the glycemic load of the foods
you eat. The higher the glycemic load the more likely you are to gain fat.
Check out the glycemic index at glycemicindex.com
Water and sleep are the body’s two primary
detoxifiers – both are free and very accessible so get plenty of both.
CONOR BLOG – how and why we get fat??
There are numerous reasons as to why we get fat, lack of exercise, poor nutrition , stress etc….. however from what I have seen there is one commonality that affects almost everybody these days. When it comes to nutrition SUGAR is the modern day enemy.
Most people I meet are absolutely terrified of consuming dietary fats. This is not surprising as the low fat drive of the nineties has people thinking this way
however I am about to throw a spanner in the works for most of you and say that high sugar intake causes much more of an issue than fat intake when it comes to getting fat.
The science behind this is clear and cannot be argued. Carbohydrate intake stimulates a hormone named insulin. The more insulin that is released into our bloodstream on a daily basis the greater the possibility we store fat that day. So it’s simple….eat no carbohydrates….. Release no insulin ….be lean.. ….Well not really!
This would be the case if carbohydrates were all created equally but they are not! Some carbohydrates such as table sugar, bread, baked potatoes will spike insulin meaning that a lot of insulin will be released into your bloodstream very quickly while others like brown rice and sweet potatoe will cause a more
manageable slow steady insulin release. The slower release is what we want as it means we will store less fat than if we spike insulin with some sugar based treat.
The lesson to be taken from this is to try your best to irradiate sugar from you
diet. Replace high Glycemic Index carbohydrates with low glycemic index
carbohydrate . Sugar is hidden everywhere most breakfast cereals are loaded
with sugar as are cooking sauces and of course fruit juices to name the bare
minimum. I can guarantee that exercise combined with lower sugar intake will yield
results as I have seen it numerous times first hand.
The glycemic index can be found at www.glycemicindex.com.
You can catch me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/ConorMcDonaldPT/419101408104003.
Yours
in health,
Conor
McDonald
