Well done!!

My last post is my chance to say very well done to all of you. You put everything into the course and I hope you got alot out of it. You all saw the numbers dropping in both the body weight and body fat columns. Please keep up the hard work and limit the damage that we all know can be caused over the Christmas holidays. Anthony

Eating out!!!

Tonight we will be discussing eating out and how not to ruin a good week of training and nutrition plan. I will be bringing in a few menus to look over but if you have a menu of your favourite destination then please bring it along.

Eat to sleep.

http://www.eatingwell.com/nutrition_health/nutrition_news_information/9_foods_to_help_you_sleep So following on from our discussion regarding sleep here is a website that lists foods that help you sleep. If your struggling to get your 8 hours then give a few of these a go and let me know how you get on. 4 days until final weigh in, lets keep up the good work. Anthony

Relax, Do not get stressed

http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/cortisol.htm Above is a link to an informative web based post explaing the pros and cons of cortisol. It is known as the stress hormone as it is released during periods of stress. The obvious side effect is the increase is fat receptors around the abdominal area but cortisol is also heavily involved in blood sugar control. Enjoy the post and I will look forward to seeing you in a few hours. Anthony

The Truth, does muscle weigh more than fat?

Q:Does muscle really weigh more than fat? Muscle does not weigh more than fat, any more than lead weighs more than feathers. A pound is a pound is a pound. Where the misunderstanding often comes in is that muscle is much more dense than fat, so that, by volume, it seems to weigh more. That is, a pound of muscle occupies less space than a pound of fat. In addition, because a pound of muscle burns more calories than a pound of fat, even at rest, by increasing your lean muscle tissue mass, you're helping your body burn more calories. But back to the question. If you only have a small amount of weight to lose, then you may feel like the weight training is not helping you move down on the scale. In fact, the number may even go up, but you will look thinner. This is due to an increase in lean body mass (muscle, bone, blood volume) and a decrease in body fat. In other words, even if the scale doesn't change much, you will probably see a difference in how your clothes fit. On the other hand, if you have a lot of weight to lose, you will also experience an increase in lean body mass and loss of body fat. But the results on the scale will probably be more dramatic. Nice session last night and well done to those who then took part in the santa challenge. I will see you all on Friday at 7pm. Anthony

Apparently Clare was not joking!!

So here it is some fact behind the crazy notion of chilli for breakfast. Thank you Clare. http://foodhospital.channel4.com/The-Truth-About/pixie-investigates/dr-pixie-investigates-series-2/food-hero-chilli/ Anthony

Did someone order Iodine?

So onto week 3. We all had a very successful weigh in on Friday evening which should motivate you all to puch on and get some fantastic results when we finish in 12 days. Tonight we are looking at how we can improve the efficiency of our metabolism to help us lose weight. There are three key elements we need to add into our diet to assist this. Iodine, selenium and magnesium are needed in this process. Selenium and magnesium we will discuss further this evening when I see you but below I have added a table that list sources of Iodine to help you. I use a supplement called sea kelp that contains a high level of Iodine, it also has a side effect of thicker hair growth which I am in desperate need of. Food Approximate Percent RDV* Micrograms (mcg) per serving Seaweed, whole or sheet, 1 g 16 to 2,984 11% to 1,989% Cod, baked, 3 ounces 99 66% Yogurt, plain, low-fat, 1 cup 75 50% Iodized salt,1.5 g (approx. 1/4 teaspoon)71 47% Fish sticks, 3 ounces 54 36% Shrimp, 3 ounces 35 23% Egg, 1 large 24 16% Tuna, canned in oil, drained,3 ounces17 11% Prunes, dried, 5 prunes 13 9% Lima beans, mature, boiled, 1/2 cup 8 5% Apple juice, 1 cup 7 5% Green peas, frozen, boiled, 1/2 cup 3 2% Banana, 1 medium 3 2% I hope you all enjoyed your cheat meal and I look forward to seeing you all this evening. Anthony