Changes to blog

Hi everyone

Just a short post today to let you know that I am swapping my blog from 'blogger' which is here to 'wordpress'

Please head over to my new blog called fitterfaster.wordpress.com and sign up to receive all my posts via email. There is a box on the right hand side that makes this an easy one step process.

I will not be posting here at fitterfasteronline.blogspot.com in the future, all my posts will be made at fitterfaster.wordpress.com

I am making this change to take advantage of the many options that wordpress offers that are not available at blogger.

Please head over there now to resubscribe so you don't miss out on any information. You will see I have already written a couple of posts-"omega-3's" and another post about the importance of putting into action your plans to improve your health and weight and ways to do that.

Other posts that I have planned for the next few weeks, include 'more easy ways to increase your metabolism,'how to make your walking workouts more effective,'recipes,'meal planning and preparation, and many more. Of course the wordpress blog will also keep FitterFaster Bootcampers and Greatest Loser Challengers up to date with everything they need to know about FitterFaster.

Go here now to subscribe

Jo

Walking as exercise

Hi Bootcampers

Many of you have enjoyed walking for fitness in the past. Dedicated to your daily routine, you have spent 40 minutes, maybe an hour or walked a steady 5 or 8 kms each day. Day in day out you have been doing the miles. What results did you see?

Has the fat melted off your body? Has your strength and endurance improved? Hmmmm.....

Many of you have asked if walking is part of the Greatest Loser or FitterFaster program. Yes and no. As a tool to improve your fitness levels and increase your metabolism-no not really. Walking may be a great way to fill in time or to catch up with a friend, keep you pet happy or to get from A to B. But as a part of your fitness routine, you could find much better ways to spend your time.

I am not going to tell you to stop walking altogether. If you enjoy it and if it helps you to destress, by all means keep it up. If you enjoy catching up with a friend or friends, please continue to do so. We all need down time. I am going to give you some ideas of ways to improve your walking time though. Why not turn your walks into productive metabolism boosting time?

And remember, if you are a FitterFaster Greatest Loser, walks (even modified as below) do not count towards you 5 weekly sessions for bonus points. Only FitterFaster Home Workouts and FitterFaster Bootcamps count.

ZOOPED UP WALK ONE

Walk for 5-10 minutes to warm up
Sprint-yes sprint for about 30 seconds (or 60-80 steps)
Walk again for 3-5 minutes
Sprint again as above.
Walk again for 3-5 minutes
REPEAT for the duration of your walk or for about 10 sprints.
Make sure that the final 5 minutes or so is walking only.

You may like to time the 30 seconds or just count steps, or run from one corner to the next. Whichever you choose, you should be huffing and puffing at the end of each sprint segment for this to work. Start off with walks of 5 minutes and reduce them to 3 minutes in steps as your fitness improves.

Try this. Don't worry about who is watching. Most people are wishing they could do it too. Believe me! Think about what you thought when you saw someone working out hard before you joined FitterFaster. Did you think they looked silly, or did you wish you could do it?

Revisting the stretching debate

The stretching issue has been raised again by a few new members, so I thought I would republish this post as a bit of an explanation. Please feel free to ask for more info at Bootcamp or on the forum.


Sometimes I am asked if stretching during warm up or after a workout is necessary. All the research tells us that is DOES NOT PREVENT INJURY OR DECREASE MUSCLE SORENESS. Yes it feels good at the time. But it does not prevent injuries. Some injuries are actually worsened by stretching.


Static stretching before a workout or as part of a warm up is an outdated tradition that has been proven to actually decrease strength and co-ordination during the subsequent training session, which may even contribute to an injury. Static stretching is not used anymore in elite sports as part of a warm up. These people know their stuff. They know the research.

What about stretching afterwards? Well as previously stated, it has never been proven to lessen or decrease the risk of injury. Stretching has been proven to increase flexibility if undertaken regularly however. But on all questionaires and surveys that have been completed by my clients, not one has stated increased flexibility as a goal for their training.

If you have time to stretch after a workout, it will not do any harm, unless you further aggravate any pre-existing injuries. It even feels really good to stretch after a workout. So I repeat, if you have time, do it if it makes you feel good.

I prefer to spend an extra 5-10 minutes on productive tasks that get me and my clients closer to their goals-namely improving fitness, losing body fat, increasing strength and adding muscle mass. I usually include some kind of dynamic stretching in my warm ups eg. wide side stepping, easy squats (yes you are stretching those muscles,) windmills, twists etc. I feel that these serve to 'wake up' the body especially if the training session is held shortly after getting out of bed. I never do static stretching in a warm up.

I also do a cool down after a session by walking till the breath has returned to normal and sweating has ceased-usually about 3-5 minutes depending on the last activity performed. Also, some exercises such as lunges and deep squats serve to stretch the leg muscles in a much more productive way than static stretching. I often include them towards or at the end of a workout. You will rarely stretch your muscles with static stretching as efficiently as you will in a deep squat or lunge exercise or while carrying a weigh overhead or doing full pushups chest to the ground (think shoulder flexibility)

I hope this has helped to clear up some of the confusion out there and to explain why I do not usually include static stretching in most of my Bootcamp workouts. Most participants have improved their flexibility by an amazing amount since they started, just by going further and further into the different exercises. It is one of the first things I see improving in all of you.

I carefully plan each workout to include a good mix of upper and lower body strength work and cardio work depending on my goals for the session. I aim to promote fat burning and metabolism enhancing activities depending on the individuals needs while gradually and progressively improving the fitness, strength, endurance and balance of everyone. Workouts are often changed on the spur of the moment too, to accomodate different levels and abilities. All of this is done using a variety of activities and tools to keep you all interested and prevent boredom as we all know that consistency and committment together with the correct training methods are what will help us all get to where we want to be.

My workouts are challenging, but achievable. If you are looking for a quick fix and are not willing to put in the effort, please look elsewhere. Now who wants to get rid of that spare tyre?

If you have any comments about this or any other matter regarding my Bootcamp workouts, please comment below or send me an email joanne@fitterfasteronline.com
I will be only too willing to answer your questions.

Jo

Sugar Can Damage Your Genes

Human genes remember a sugar hit for two weeks. What’s more, prolonged poor eating habits could be capable of permanently altering your DNA.

A team studying the impact of diet on heart tissue found that cells showed the effects of a single sugar hit for 14 days. The cells switched off genetic controls designed to protect the body against diabetes and heart disease.

Regular poor eating could amplify the effect, with genetic damage lasting months or years, and potentially passing through bloodlines.




Sources:

Journal of Experimental Medicine September 2008, 29;205(10):2409-17

Tehran Times January 18, 2009

the above article was taken from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/02/12/Your-Genes-Remember-a-Sugar-Hit.aspx

Remember that to our bodies all carbohydrates are sugar. So this includes so many things that we eat-bread, pasta, lollies, cakes, biscuits, wraps, potatoes, etc. But no, I am not telling you to avoid sugar, after all fruits and vegies are also fairly high in carbohydrates, but these foods have less of an impact due to the other things they contain, such as fibre. Note in the article above, it says 'sugar hit' Some foods provide more of a 'hit' than others.

Continuous poor eating can actually change the way your genes behave and this can be passed down through generations. Healthy eating is not a '12 week' thing. It must be permanent. It's not something you do just to get to your ideal weight. You have to change your thinking. If you go back to the things you were doing, you will go right back to where you were. After all, that is how you got there in the first place. And now we are finding out about all the other ways that unhealthy eating is affecting us that we can't even see.

It's time to do something about it-No Excuses, Just Results

Jo

We have Men!!

There are only a few hours left to get your entry into the FitterFaster Greatest Loser Competition. We have 28 entrants including some men, so if you know any fellas that have been thinking about it but thought it was only for ladies, let them know that they will have company. After all, it's not just us ladies who need to be thinking about improving our health now is it?

After several questions about artificial sweeteners I have also included this link which goes to an article about artificial sweeteners and how they actually cause weight gain. I will write about this and the other bad side effects of artificial sweeteners very soon, in the meantime, go here to find out more

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/02/26/artificial-sweeteners-once-again-linked-to-weight-gain.aspx

Jo

Want to know what your bodyfat percentage is?

Hi again everyone

Just letting you all know that I have purchased a Maltron Body Fat Unit. This state of the art device will accurately measure your body fat and hydration levels among other things. The Unit should arrive this week, so if you have entered the Greatest Loser Challenge, you will automatically get your body fat measured.

Otherwise, the cost will be $30 for a full bodyfat analysis or you can get it done for free with any Bootcamp Package of at least 12 sessions purchased from now on.

I am so excited about this. For those who have been disappointed by movements or lack there of on the scales even though they have achieved great cm losses, this will show you how you are losing body fat.

And by the way, we have 22 entrants in the Greatest Loser Challenge. I have extended the entry closing date to Wednesday 11th Feb, so make sure you don't miss out.

Jo

FitterFaster Biggest Loser Competition Update

Hi everyone,

sorry its been so long, but I have been so busy getting the FitterFaster Greatest Loser Packs together.

We also had a great weekend in Geelong, but I think Greg was getting sick of my writing everytime we had some 'down' time. I was busy dreaming up challenges, bonuses and temptations as well as working out teams and thinking of more prizes. Greg has even decided to donate $100 to the winner of the final challenge to be held on final weigh in day. I will give you more details closer to the date. In the meantime, keep Sunday 15th free from about 2.30-3pm onwards. That is when I will be getting you all together for your initial weigh in and to give out you Greatest Loser Packs.

We are up to 19 entrants so far in the FitterFaster Greatest Loser Competition. I am so excited. If you have been intending to enter, you had better hurry, because if I haven't received your entry by tomorrow morning (Tuesday 10th) you have missed out.

I did some great workouts while away too. I didn't take any equipment, but still did the best training I have done for a long time. Loads of sprints, walking lunges, stair runs, jump squats, push ups, abs stuff and more. I think my legs may be sore in the morning. Caitlin even joined my one morning for part of my workout, and I even did some running with a certain Geelong football player- well actually he was miles ahead of me and the others, we had no hope of keeping up, but I did talk to him when he finally stopped.

So I will see you at Bootcamp this week

Jo

Greatest Loser Comp Update

Okay guys, we have 8 confirmed entrants in the FitterFaster Greatest Loser Competition. Don't forget to get your entry in before February 9th. Only fully paid up entrants will be eligible to enter the competition and win the prizes.

I am in the process of putting together the FitterFaster Greatest Loser Packs which will include a full nutrition plan, home workouts, supplement recommendations, progress records, workout records and more.

This is going to be the ultimate package to help you achieve your fitness and weight loss goals. Everyone who follows the plan will lose fat and get fitter than you have ever been before.

Make sure that you let me know you want to enter if you are currently a FitterFaster client, or if you haven't signed up yet, please make sure that you do so asap. At least fill out the form at www.fitterfasteronline.com which will enable you to complete my questionaire and waiver form just in case we need any medical clearance before you start.

What are you waiting for. Sign up now and get into the best shape of your life.
REMEMBER IF YOU WANT TO LOOK FIT, YOU HAVE TO BE FIT

Jo

5 Things You Should Do Today for Better Results

Don't eat chips or wedges Pretty simple. Just don't cook them at home. When out, always yes always when ordering ask for no chips or wedges orfries. If you forget, they will come and no amount of will power will stop you from nibbling. Ask for extra vegetables or salad instead. This is something I always do.

Drink more water Try to drink at least 1.5 litres of water each and every day. More if training. I always find that on days when I have not consumed enough water, I get a lot more cravings and find it harder to resist.

Exercise with intensity every day okay this one actually takes some effort, but will also give you the most rewards. Getting and staying fit is crucial if you want to lose fat and more importantly keep it off! IF YOU WANT TO LOOK FIT YOU HAVE TO BE FIT!

Get up half and hour earlier sorry, but this one really helps with number 3. Enough said.

Don't go more than 3 hours without eating I know I've said this a hundred times, but it really works. You will be surprised how quickly 3 hours goes by and you find yourself thinking-'is it time to eat again already?'

There you have it-5 things you can do today that will make a huge difference. Each one on it's own will make a difference, but combined the difference will be amazing. Make a decision now to make all 5 new rules in your life.

Let me know how you go

Jo Butler

PS Did you know you can subscribe to my blog updates by email. Just add your email address to the link at right.

Must do: Food Journals

If you want to improve your eating habits and lose weight, you absolutely must keep a food journal. Why?

Well for one it will keep you accountable to yourself. It is surprising how having to write it down will actually stop you having it in the first place.

Secondly, you can use the entries to target where you are going wrong. Sometimes we just don't realise that we are eating too much or too little, both of which can slow our fat loss down.

Thirdly, you can use your journals with a partner or coach (say me) and review each others' entries each week. Knowing that you have to show someone else, can help a lot too.

You wont need to keep the journal forever either unless you want to. I know some people love to record everything (not thinking of anyone in particular) But keeping the food journal for a few weeks every now and again can help break you out of those habits. Habits like having to have something sweet before bed or for afternoon tea. These really are just habits-you aren't really hungry. And remember, your body doesn't reward you for being 'good' all day and then having rubbish later as a reward. It is all calories to your body no matter when you eat them or how 'good' you have been the rest of the time.

This tactic is going to play a major part of the FitterFaster Greatest Loser Competition. I am going to ask you to record your intake at the Forum at least every second day to make you accountable. Believe me, this really really works. I do it if I start to get off track and it brings me right back into the good habits again.

Start on your journal right now. You don't need heaps of detail like how many grams of carbs or protein or whatever. Just record what it is and the serving size. The time you ate it is also important. Oh and you have to record everything-that one square of choccy, that spoonful of icecream, that couple of tastes of tea as you cooked it!!

Start now in a blank notebook, or go to fitterfaster.ning.com/ and start a new discussion called "Jo's Food Journal" (insert your name instead of mine) then each day, you can add to the discussion. How's that for keeping accountable-it will be there for all to see. This will work for you. Try it even for just one week!

Jo

I'm waiting to see who does this