New Bootcamp Timeslot

Tonight (Tuesday 27th) was to be our last Tuesday night Bootcamp session which I know has disappointed lots of you. (Tuesdays were introduced for the christmas holidays only) But I am going to be able to hold another one next week at my place due to a basketball reschedule, so please reply to this post if you can come. I will not be holding it if I dont get any responses.

The other thing is I am going to trial a Tuesday night 30 minute session for the remainder of February. It will be held behind the YMCA on the oval and will commence at 5.35pm sharp. It will be important to be there on time (hence the strange start time) as being a shorter session, we will be training a bit harder and everyone will need to warm up thoroughly. If you arrive late, you will need to warm up on your own and therefore miss some of the session.

As I said, I am going to trial this session on 10th, 17th and 24th of February and if attendance is good, I will continue to do this session at least until the end of this school term.

Please let me know if you can come next Tuesday and if you think you will be able to attend the trial Tuesdays behind the YMCA. You will be able to bring your kids to watch if you need to as 30 mins will go really fast.

The Supermarket and shopping there

I have published this short article before, but thought it worth doing again for those who missed it. It is so true even though it was written in the USA. The Supermarket people really have us worked out. Apart from some non-food items, you really should be shopping mostly around the edges of the store. Exceptions for me are, canned corn and beetroot, nuts, seeds, tea, coffee. I also purchase olives and gherkins for variety on our salads.

Please read, and then take action. Information is only useful if you use it.

And remember NO EXCUSES JUST RESULTS

Jo


"Look On Aisle 5 was written by Virginia Bola, PsyD from DietWithAnAttitude.com

Have you ever stopped to calculate how much time you spend in each section of the supermarket?

Apart from the non-food areas of drug store supplies, rubber goods, and diapers, most stores have about 10 distinct food areas: produce, dairy, meat, ethnic foods and pasta, canned foods, prepared foods, drinks, frozen foods, snacks, and deli.

The areas where most of our intake should focus, if we are watching our weight and our health, are always on the edges, against the wall: produce, meat, dairy. We can easily navigate through 80 or 90 percent of the store without bumping into them.

Next week, I’ll get vegetables, we promise, as we wade into the packaged and frozen foods that fit so much more neatly into our time-starved, rat-race lives. It is so much less time and trouble to microwave a plate than slow simmer or steam something, plus there’s all that cutting and chopping time we just can’t spare.

The frozen stuff doesn’t taste as good but luckily the manufacturers figured that out and added butter sauce or cheese sauce to give it more flavor, a few nuts or other crispy additions to add some snap – nothing is plain any more.

We stock up on packages loaded with chemicals we can’t even pronounce. We pick up bags of quick snacks with nary a nutrient in the bunch. We throw fluffy breads and crackers into our cart, knowing they are merely edible plates.

Ten years ago, I lived in a Korean neighborhood. I couldn’t read half of the market’s signs and ingredients but shopped there anyway because of the atmosphere, dominated by an enormous variety of produce that took up at least half the store’s space. Trying totally new, strange-looking roots and fruits was exciting: sometimes marvelous, occasionally vile.

We have taken our markets into the age of the superstores where everything is available but nothing is natural. What are we doing to our poor bodies? We feed them junk and then spend a fortune on trying to acquire the "natural" look. Fat chance (pun intentional)!"

There is more info about this at www.fitterfasteronline.com

FITTERFASTER GREATEST LOSER COMPETITION

Announcing the FitterFaster Greatest Loser Competition.

Entries are open to existing clients and new ones. Your entry must be in by 9th February and you must be weighed and measured by 14th February. If you do not enter in time, or organise a weigh in with me before the 14th, your entry will not be counted.

The competition will end on 10th May with all weigh ins being completed between then and 16th May. There will also be weigh ins at approx the 4 and 8 week mark.

Further details will be sent to entrants before the competition starts.

New clients must sign up at www.fitterfasteronline.com The special package is unlimited number of Bootcamp session for the 12 weeks from 14th Feb to 10th May for $250AUD.

Existing clients just need to let me know by email if they would like to participate. Or they can purchase the FitterFaster Greatest Loser Bootcamp package if they wish.



All entrants will receive a diet plan and full online support as well as optional home workouts to speed up your results. And don't worry, there will be no eliminations in this competition. Of course you will also be attending FitterFaster Bootcamps and training really hard to lose fat, get fitter, increase your energy and basically just feel a whole lot better about yourself.

PRIZES:
1st prize is $100 cash and a 12 session Bootcamp package
2nd prize is a 12 session Bootcamp package

There will also be mini bonus prizes along the way for those who show true dedication to their lifestyle and body transformation. Records of all training sessions will need to be kept by the entrants in the special record folder that will be supplied as part of your entry pack.

REMEMBER YOUR ENTRY MUST BE IN BY 9TH FEBRUARY

Goodluck

Jo

Please share this post with anyone who you think may be interested.

Effects of unhealthy diet

Hi everyone, it's great to be back after a lovely quick break. We have had 3 Bootcamps since my return and everyone has been putting in a fantastic effort especially considering the hot weather we have been having.

Brooke had her measurements taken yesterday and she has lost another 17.5cm in the past 4 weeks, so a huge 'well done' to her. Keep up the great work.

I wanted to write today about non-insulin dependant diabetes, which is a very common condition these days. Even more so than you think and unless you are eating healthy foods almost all the time, you are very likely to develop this condition yourself. It used to be called adult onset diabetes but now it is so common in young people, including children, that the name does not fit the disease anymore.

Insulin resistance is basically when the body becomes resistant to the effects of insulin. Insulin is one of the most powerful and important hormones in the body and it's job is to get energy (in the form of glucose) from your blood into your cells and regulate blood sugar levels. Without it, you would die as your body would not be able to use the energy (glucose) that your diet supplies no matter what or how much you consume. People who cannot produce their own insulin have Insulin Dependent Diabetes and must use insulin injections instead to prevent hyperglycaemia, coma and eventually death.

A diet too high in carbohydrates and a lack of exercise are two of the leading causes of insulin resistance. When you eat carbohydrates, glucose is released into the bloodstream. This signals your body to produce insulin to take some of this energy to the cells for immmediate energy. It also converts some to glycogen which is sent to the liver and muscle tissue for short term storage. This energy can be used when blood sugar levels drop again. This short term storage is limited and so excess glucose is converted to body fat for long term storage.

This system works really well most of the time, but an excess of carbohydrates and certain kinds of carbohydrates are more quickly converted to glucose and cause a flood of glucose into your bloodstream. This causes an equally large surge of insulin which causes your blood sugar to drop very quickly and triggers fatigue and cravings for more carbohydrates. When this happens regularly, your insulin levels remain high and your body struggles to convert all the glucose properly. It then continues to produce insulin in an attempt to overcome this and eventually the receptors in the cell membranes become less and less effective in recognising the hormone insulin. Another side effect of the glucose that remains circulating in your bloodstream is that it begins to effect your heart, kidneys, nerves, eyes and blood vessels. I am sure that you have heard of amputations and blindness being caused by diabetes.

Eventually your pancreas is unable to supply enough insulin to maintain stable blood sugar levels and your blood sugar rises above normal levels. At this stage you may be diagnosed as having Non Insulin Dependent Diabetes. If you do not get this under control (because you don't change your dietary and exercise habits or you haven't been diagnosed and don't know you have it) your pancreas will eventually falter and be unable to keep up with this condition. This may lead to having to take insulin injections as you progress to having Insulin Dependent Diabetes. (The cause is different to people who experience Insulin Dependent Diabetes from childhood)

If detected early, this condition can be managed and full blown diabetes can be prevented. Don't wait till you have been diagnosed, do something about it now. Clean up your diet and exercise regularly.
Some preliminary symptoms include but are not limited to:

Anxiety, fatigue, sleeplessness, head aches, palpitations

Eating in response to emotions

Cravings for high carb foods

Overweight

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome

Frequent hunger or thirst

Dizzy spells

Pins and needles

These are just some of the signs and you may have all or none of them. (these symptoms can also mean other things so check with your doctor if suffer from any of them)

Please note that I am not recommending that you do not eat carbohydrates. What I am recommending (after studying loads of research) is that you change your sources of carbohydrates to fruits, vegetables, some yoghurt and limit your intake of grain based carbohydrate foods like breads, pastas cakes, pastries, biscuits, sweets etc.

I am also researching at the moment on the latest info that says it is actually our overconsumption of carbohydrate foods of this type and not our saturated fat intake that is increasing the rate of heart attacks, stroke, high cholesterol etc. I will bring you more on that later.

The above is a simplified, but accurate, version of how your body works in regard to insulin production. If you are interested, I can recommend good books that provide more information on this.

Please also think about this stuff and how it relates not only to yourself, but to your loved ones as well. For instance, don't let your kids get to the stage where they worry about how they are going to lose the excess weight and get their health problems under control. Teach them now about healthy foods and encourage them to eat a variety of real foods rather than filling them up on junk. Just remove the junk from the house and take healthy foods with you when going out. It can be done and they will not starve when they refuse to eat it. Don't give in-this is their health and yours that we are dealing with.

Remember when party food was only eaten at parties?? Now it is a regular addition to peoples' diets several times every day.

Don't forget Bootcamp this evening at 5.30pm (Tuesday-bring plenty to drink!!

Jo

Keep up the great work

As you all know, I am headed away for a few days. I want you all to keep up the great work while I am gone, and not use it as another excuse (like you would have in the past) not to work out and eat properly. You have all been doing such a great job, even turning up in the almost 40degree heat to train. That would also have been the perfect excuse in the past not to do a workout.

Results are happening for everyone. You all look so different. Please do not be discouraged if the scale or tape measure is not moving for you. You will have times when the results vary, but overall over time, you are all getting fitter, improving your health and losing bodyfat. Remember that when you first begin training, your body builds muscle as well, and when I say just beginning, this period can go for months if you are training hard. (which you are) Muscle weighs a lot more than fat and muscles also grow in size, so this can distort the figures and make it look like nothing is happening. Keep on going and your bodyfat will continue to drop resulting in those cm's and kg's moving again. Just be patient. Notice how your clothes are fitting instead. Did you know that I am on the cusp of being overweight according to my BMI or Height/Weight tables which are essentially the same thing.

While I am gone, continue to train as often as you can up to 6 days per week. I may not be able to answer emails, but you can contact me by text if you need to. Go to my website and do some of the workouts on there. I want a full report at Bootcamp on Sunday at 9.30am at the Hockey oval.

See you then

Jo

Free Nutrition Review

Hi guys

Anyone going to get me to have a look at your current nutrition? All current FitterFaster clients have the opportunity to record their food and drink intake for 2-3 days, email it through to me and I will take a look and give suggestions for improvement. Don't miss out on this.

I usually charge for a full nutrition plan, and although I will not be sending through a full menu plan, you will definately be able to use the information to clean up your every day dietary habits and in the process improve you health, reduce risk of many common diseases and conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, allergies (to name a few) and lose bodyfat if that is your goal.

I will give you ideas where you could make improvements and show you healthier alternatives to your current intake if needed. Eating a healthy diet is an every day, for the rest of your life thing. It is not deprivation or being hungry all the time. It is not something you do for a while and then go back to your old habits. If you do that, you will end up right back where you started-after all that is what got you there in the first place. There is room for treats and special occasion foods in everyones nutritional plan. But I think that is one of the major problems with most peoples diets. The occasional treat turns into just a bit of this for morning tea wont hurt. I'll just have this little treat with lunch because I had such a healthy lunch. Just a small serve for afternoon tea wont hurt and goodness knows what is served up for tea as we are bombarded with so many contradicting ideas of what is healthy and what is not.

And it doesn't matter if you have certain likes, dislikes, allergies or food preferences, there is still healthy eating for everyone's needs. In fact everyone needs it. Symptoms may not be showing yet, but an unhealthy diet is killing you.

Make sure that you include everything that you consume. All food, drinks, snacks, tastes, nibbles, supplements, anything that goes in your mouth. Also include times that you eat the foods and quantities if you can. At least guestimate quantities if you haven't measured stuff. Measurements like about 1 cup or 100g are good, saying a small serve is not helpful as small to you and me may be very different. Brand names are helpful too.

Come on, I will not be sharing this info with anyone. I've been there. It has taken me a long time to clean up my diet. I know how hard it is. I am living this every day. I have good and bad days and good and bad weeks, but I know what works and it isn't hard. I will also be able to use you examples as examples for everyone else in future newsletters etc. But don't worry I will not name anyone or anything like that.

I know a few of you are busy recording everything, so I will give you till the end of next week to get it through to me seeing as I am going to be away later next week anyway.

What have you got to lose? (parden the pun)

Jo

You CANT out-train a Bad Diet!

Well it's a new year and time for a fresh start. Have you set up your calendar yet? (refer previous blogpost) This one idea will really help you to stay on track if you don't cheat and get started.

A big congrats goes to all the FitterFaster Bootcampers who have been putting in a fantastic effort over the past months. We have had several new Bootcampers start up in the last week or so as well which is great to see. Word is spreading. Results are coming. Everyone is getting fitter, stronger, leaner, they have better balance, more flexibility, more endurance and are feeling more energetic. They have begun to lose many cm's with the average loss so far being around 30cm in 8 weeks.

Another very important piece of the health and fat loss puzzle is your nutrition. You cannot out-train a bad diet. Too much sugar and alcohol cannot be overcome by exercising. Cruel I know, but best results will come to those who change the way they think about what they are consuming on a daily basis. Here are my basic tips for improving your nutrition. These are the first and vital steps you must take to get results. I will expand the list in future blogs, but get these things under control first.

1. Cut down on breads, pastas, pastries, cakes, biscuits, wraps, rice, cereals, museli or breakfast/health bars, etc. This includes multi grain and wholemeal varieties. These foods are processed!!! Since when did a loaf of bread grow on a tree? Try to limit these foods to one serve of wholemeal or multigrain per day. Once serve is a slice of bread or 1 cup of cooked pasta. Remember Grains are not my friends.

2. Eat protein everytime that you eat. This will stabilise the blood sugar/insulin response and also supply quality nutrients that you body needs for complete health. Protein is found in meats, fish, eggs, whey powder and also yoghurt. Nuts and seeds also contain small amounts of protein. Limit yoghurt to 1 serve a day of full cream (do not choose diet or low fat)

3. Eat fruits and/or vegetables at every meal or snack. Most of every meal and snack should be made up of fruits and vegetables. There is no limit to the amount of these that you can eat except limit yourself to 1 small potato each day. Remember rule 2 and combine with protein.

4. Drink only water or tea or coffee. This includes cutting down on alcohol. There are a million reasons to stop drinking every or nearly every day. Even one drink begins a cascade of bad reactions in your body. Many of which also slow or reverse your fat loss efforts as well as effecting your health. Limit yourself to 2 days per week where you consume alcohol. By the way, cut out soft drinks, cordials and fruit juices as well. And skip those lattes and flat whites from the cafe. They are both almost all milk-refer no. 5

5. Cut out milk and if you can cheese too. Limit milk to a tiny amount in coffee or tea. It is for baby cows, not humans. We are the only animal that drinks milk beyond infancy and look at our state of health compared to other species. They may be onto something.

6. Eat every 2-3 hours. Yes don't go more than 3 hours without eating.

7. Include small serves of nuts and seeds in your diet every day.

8. Stop having take away. Cooking a meal from scratch really doesn't take long.

9. If it came in a packet, or has a list of ingredients, stop eating it!!

10. Once per week, eat something you love and disregard all the rules.

11. Exercise every day. You can find plenty of info about this in past blog posts and at www.fitterfasteronline.com

Sticking to these rules will get you well on the way to a healthy and lean body. Every rule is important and although sticking to one or two of them will help, you will never reach your full potential without improving your whole diet.

Until you follow these rules every day, you do not need to worry about serving sizes or quantities of carbs or protein etc. Stick to eating real, non-processed foods and it will make a huge difference. Stop worrying about calories and carbs and get healthy food into you. Don't worry about the latest supplement of weight loss pill or drink. These basic rules will increase your fat loss much more than any of these ever will despite the advertising promises

FitterFaster clients have the opportunity to have their diets analysed and critiqued by me before January 10th. Simply record everything you eat, drink or inhale for 2-3 days and send it through to me either by commenting below or by emailing me at joanne@fitterfasteronline.com

I will have a close look at it and provide ideas, changes and advice for you completely free of charge and with no obligations attached. I really want you all to be able to achieve all of your goals so I want to give you all the help I can.

Make sure that you do not change anything that you normally do for the next 2 days while you record your intake. It is important to get real life examples so that we can work out ways around what you really do. If you try to make it look good, you will not learn ways to improve your daily habits properly so be honest and record everything including the times that you eat it. Best results will be recorded if you carry a pen and paper with you and write it down as you consume it rather that trying to remember it all later in the day.

Take advantage of this whether you are a new client or have been coming for a while. Clients who have purchased nutrition plans in the past should also do this to get you back on track and make sure you are still headed in the right direction. And don't just think that this is for weight loss only. Health improvements are not possible without a healthy diet.

And don't forget that the 30 session package will come off the website on Monday evening. This is your last chance to purchase this package. Results are guaranteed too, so if you don't lose cm's you get your money back

Jo

How Can I stick to my exercise program?

I have a great idea to help you stick with your new workout program. Get a calendar, any kind will do and hang it in a prominent place at home or your workplace. It has to be where you and others will see it all the time.

Every day that you workout, mark a huge coloured X right across that day. Don't break the X chain. Do something every day. Of course you know that an intense workout is best , but mark any training that you do. Now don't cheat. It has to be at least 15 solid minutes-so a walk (or run) a FitterFaster Bootcamp or home workout or any other workout that gets you huffing and puffing and sweating.

You can find 15 minutes in your day you know. I went out last night on the veranda, after putting tea in the oven, and did a quick circuit of 100 skips with a rope and 10 burpees. I repeated it till tea was cooked. What about getting out of bed 15-20 minutes earlier?? What about as soon as you get home from work, before you start anything else. How about while the kids do their training after school. What about while you watch TV of an evening. Almost all the workouts on www.fitterfasteronline.com can be done in front of the TV.

Have a go at the calendar X chain. You will be surprised how you will not want to break the chain after you get going. You will just need to nick out and do a quick workout before bed if you missed it today. Working out every day, even briefly will help keep your metabolism boosted all the time. Especially if you go hard. Give it a try and let me know how you go.

And don't forget to come to Bootcamp on New Years Day at 5pm. Come and give it a go and see what everyone is talking about. Start off the New Year on a high note and make this the one where you really do get lean and fit for good. Make this the year of no excuses. My new motto is NO EXCUSES-JUST RESULTS

Jo

How do you reward yourself if you do your workouts or exercise for the day or week? Do you have a treat to eat, or have a can or two (or more?) This rewarding yourself for something that is so essential for your health is really backward thinking.

Fitting exercise into your daily life should really be non-negotiable. It is not a special achievement that deserves a special reward. Do you reward yourself everytime you wash the dishes or clean your teeth? No, these are seen as essential parts of your daily life as exercise should be too.

The reward for exercising regularly is how it makes you feel and also how it makes you look. Raise your expectations of yourself and if you must reward yourself occasionaly, make it in a less damaging way and for a bigger achievement such as a massage for 4 weeks worth of daily workouts. Or a trip to the movies or some new perfume for accomplishing a performance goal in your workouts like being able to do 10 pushups on your toes. What about some new clothes that fit on your fitter, leaner body after you have lost 30cm.

You need to change your mindset about exercise and healthy eating. Over 30% of Australians are obese. This figure includes many of you. Almost 60% are overweight. Are you one of them? The figures are scarily similar for our children too. Look around. Can you see your own hip bones or your kids? Can you just about see their ribs? You should be able to.

Over accumulation of fat is just another symptom of bad health. Many common illnesses and diseases are caused by unhealthy eating, being overweight and by not exercising with intensity often. Some are:

Health Risks to Children:

Type 2 diabetes, Hypertension, Sleep apnea, Asthma, Breathing problems, High blood cholesterol, Psychological disorders, such as depression, due to social stigmatization. Which then leads to the following, as overweight children are unlikely to become non-overweight adults.

Health Risks to Adults:


Type 2 diabetes , Heart disease, Stroke, Hypertension, Gallbladder disease, Osteoarthritis, Sleep apnea, Asthma, Breathing problems, Certain cancers (colon, endometrial, kidney, esophageal, and postmenopausal breast), High blood cholesterol, Complications of pregnancy, Psychological disorders, such as depression, due to social stigmatization, Premature death and many many more.

What are you doing to improve your health? Start right now with your whole family. Teach your husband, wife and/or children to eat fruits and vegetables. Teach them how to cook real food. Stop eating things that come with a label and ingredients list. Start moving-a lot. Get sweaty and out of breath regularly. Go for bike rides and walks. Play footy, or basketball with the kids. Soccer is a great family activity for all ages and abilities.

Stop buying the junk. You are in charge of what you buy and eat. You are in charge of what your kids eat. Don't give in. It doesn't take long to change habits if you stick to your guns. To recap:

Change the lifestyle and eating habits of the whole family.

Make it easy to access good healthy food in small portions. Throw out the bad stuff, and stop buying it.

There is a strong link between television watching and weight problems, so encourage the entire familly to watch less TV and play less computer games

Set aside some more time to be with them persuing activities such as backyard soccer or basketball.

Set a good example yourself. Children will repeat what their parents do, not what they say.


Check my website for some simple healthy recipes. I have added a few new ones, and will add more as I can.

Don't forget to renew or begin your Bootcamp Package now to get the special price of $8 per session. This offer ends on January 1st 2009. Go to website for details.

And congrats to Tania for being my most consistant Bootcamper in 2008. She received a gift voucher for a massage at Ruby V's this morning at Bootcamp. Tania comes to Bootcamp at least 3 times almost every week, sometimes more and puts in 100% effort every time. Well done Tania!!!

Keep up the great work everyone

Jo

New Years Resolutions

Hi everyone

What do you want to achieve in 2009. I must say that I think New Years Resolutions are a bit of a crock. I think putting something off till January 1st is a waste of all the time that you have before then. I think when you want to achieve something no matter how big or small, you should get to work on it right now. But seeing as New Years Day is so close, let's have a think about where you are headed.

Do you want to lose body fat? How much? Do you want to fit into a smaller clothes size? What size? Your goals must be measurable, or how will you know when you get there?

Do you want to be able to run 5kms without stopping? Or do 5 chinups in a row? Do you want to be able to get through every Bootcamp workout with resting?

Do you want to be able to see your abdominal muscles, or be able to wear sleeveless tops again? Do you want to make it habit to exercise 6 times per week? What about avoiding junk food 6 days a week?

Of course there are many other worthwhile goals such as travel, building, work related etc, but I am mainly concerned with health and fitness goals here. More often than not though, once you achieve a goal such as losing weight, you are much more likely to be able to achieve other goals as well. It is very empowering. Physical goals have a way of helping you mentally and spiritually as well.

Many clients have said that attending Bootcamp and working on their physical selves has put them in a much better place mentally as well. Loads of studies have proven the benefits of exercise for depression and other mental illnesses.

So have a think about what you want to achieve and get to work on it right now. Don't wait another minute. Get your sneakers on and go do one of the free workouts on my website www.fitterfasteronline.com

If you are reading this at work, do it as soon as you get home. The 15 minutes it will take will not make any difference to that long list of stuff you have do get done. Don't let yourself come up with a single excuse. That's what they are you know, those reasons, they are just excuses that you could work around if you tried to. If you don't think so, send me your reason and I will help you.

Come and join us at Bootcamp for a real boost to your energy levels. Working in the group really helps with motivation. Remember my offer to try Bootcamp as many times as you like before New Years Day for free.

Times over the christmas period are as follows:

Tuesday 23rd 9.30am
Tuesday 23rd 5.30pm
Wednesday 24th 6am
Friday 26th 9.30am
Saturday 27th 9.30am
Monday 29th 6am
Monday 29th 9.30am
Tuesday 30th 5.30pm
Wednesday 31st 6am
Saturday 3rd 9.30am

All Bootcamps over the school holidays will be held at my place except the Saturday morning ones which will be at Princes Park if cool or in the Lions Park in Park Rd if very hot (to take advantage of the shade)

Please let me know if you would like to attend any of these Bootcamp workouts at no cost and with no obligation to sign up. Go on, get your calendar out right now and decide which ones you can attend. What have you got to lose and what are you waiting for. NO EXCUSES-JUST RESULTS

Have a great christmas. And don't forget that a Fitterfaster Bootcamp package makes a great christmas gift for yourself or a loved one.

Jo