52 Inspirations

Carolyne McDougall

Fitness, Nutrition and Success Coach

Copyright

Published by Quirky Scribbles

ISBN: 978-1-792930-585-0

Copyright © Carolyne McDougall 2019

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the

publisher.

Quirky Scribbles 19 Waterloo Street

Glasgow G2 6AY

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More information can be found on the author at

carolynemcdougall.com

fitstrongfemales.com

About the Author

Carolyne McDougall is the owner of Fit Strong Females with a Studio in Glasgow and a flourishing online business

The inspiration for the book 52 Inspirations came from her 8 years of blog posts and a follower

suggested making a book out of 52 of them. It was shard to pick the 52 so there may be a second book to come

Tongue in cheek, with a writing style that doesn’t take herself too seriously, the posts are fun and

motivating to read

Contents

52 Inspirations

Copyright

About the Author

Dedication

A body is for life

Addiction

Be Strong

Beware of the vampires

Black Davie, The Cripple and the Psych Ward

Build Your Body Like a House

Colds, flu’s and bugs and exercise

Distractions

Do it Slowly

Do you love to do lists?

Don’t give up

Fear Anger Resentment

Feeling overwhelmed

Grab bags and Supersize

Green fingers and a Sore Butt

How long will it take?

How to get Moving

Hunger Games

I have a perfect heart

If I knew then…

Is it all about weight loss?

Keep it simple

Lessons From LSD

Letting Go

OMG! Where’s your Troosers

Out to lunch

Perfectionism and Robots

Pick Your Body Type

Pick the Right Role Model

Ready Brek Glow

Reasons to breathe

Same problem - change the solution

Set off a chain reaction

Sleep Deprivation

Sometimes You Need Comrades

Stop Hating

Stress is not Exercise

The beauty of nature

The craziest thing I ever heard

The Stool

The tin man became the elastic band

The Young (Old) Ones

Think like a thin person

Warning this is about fat

What will you wish for on your deathbed?

When life gets stale

Women are Complicated Creatures

You can teach an old dog new tricks

You can’t heal a leg with positive thoughts

You can’t out train a bad diet

You need to enjoy it

Your body is more than a pretty object

Dedication Thank to John for giving me the idea to put this book together and for my clients who provided

me with so much inspiration in themselves

A body is for life

Why do so many people lose a lot of weight? Only to put it back on again, plus some? The answer is simple. They treat weight loss as a short term programme and forget their body is for life. ‘Maria’ weighs 14 stone and she wants to be 10 stone, she plans out a diet and exercise regime and gives herself a year to reach the target. Having researched the best diets or using one that worked before, she sets about shopping for ingredients and cutting biscuits, crisps and chocolate out. She knows she can do this as it's only for a year. Signing up to the local gym she gets an induction and feels comfortable walking on the treadmill and using the bike and cross trainer. But avoids the weights and classes as she lack’s confidence. As the weight comes off, people tell her how good she looks and that provides the motivation she needs to get to the 10 stone. 11 months in, she weighs 10 stone 4 pounds and is ecstatic and so she should, it's a great achievement! However, this is where it goes wrong, a few months later she steps on the scales and weighs 11 stone but she's not too bothered, she's still 3 stone lighter than at the beginning. She also knows she skipped some sessions at the gym because she was bored, and she ate the odd biscuit, chocolate and packet of crisps. Fast forward a few more months and Maria is back at 14 stone. She buries it in her mind and continues comfort eating in an effort to make herself feel better. It's only when she reaches 15 stone that she faces up to the fact she has to do something about it again. Sound familiar? What went wrong?

Well, the diet and exercise she chose were only sustainable in the short term. and when she was reaching the 10 stone and the goal was accomplished, she stopped. She no longer had to ‘diet’ or go to the gym and went back to eating and living like she did before. From when she was 14 stone rather than eating and living like she should be at 10 stone. Make sense? Instead of following a ‘diet’ in the beginning, she could have changed her eating habits - for life! Instead of banishing chocolate and a glass of wine but learning how to incorporate ALL foods in her life. With a balance of not eating too much and getting enough of the good foods. You can’t be on a ‘diet’ for life, but you can eat what your body needs for life without excess. If you are 10 stone and eat like you’re 14 stone? As for exercise? If you don't keep it varied and you find yourself loathing the gym like it’s some kind of punishment? Find something you enjoy instead. Switch it around every 6 months, get into the weights and get someone to show you what to do. Join a club or group and get support. Everyone can put one foot in front of the other, put some music on and go for a brisk walk. Dance, lift, walk, run, take up a martial art, boxing, Climbing, skiing, whatever! But live like the weight you want to be. Not the weight you are or were

Addiction

Think of an addict and you probably think of the junkie begging outside your office. Think of alcoholic you will probably think of the junkie’s wee friend, sitting next to him. But in reality, they are the tip of the iceberg. What is an addiction? It's like a habit gone wrong, you've ingrained the act of your addiction right into your brain. It's when a habit takes over your life to the extent you can't live your normal life. It's like when people say they are OCD. Everyone has OCD. It's when it impacts your life - to the point you can't leave the house that you have an illness. Addiction is like that too and you can be addicted to anything; drugs, booze, pills, food, cleaning... And we all have our little addictions But is it taking control of your life? Can you go to work and do a great job? Can you stop? Not just saying you can.. Are you spending every penny on it? Do you put it before everything else? It starts off as enjoyment then before you Know, it's got you gripped. You think about it all the time and as soon as you've had a fix, you're planning the next one. often people say ‘I have an addictive personality' but such a thing doesn't exist. What is likely to happen is that one addiction manifests into another i.e. you replace one habit with another or rather the drug is gone but the behaviour is still there. I'm not speaking as a medical expert. I'm an addict. I thought I was an ex addict but nope I'm

still there. I came clean to my coach the other week that I'd taken up an old addiction and that I had to stop, I was hiding it in the attic, the shed, flower pots. Ryan found it from time to time and threw it in the bin, pouring all kinds of yuck on it, so I couldn't fish it out. But I did. It caused fights and was bad for our relationship, it was consuming me, the lengths I went to go to and hide it. and the crazy part was, I wasn't even enjoying my drug. I’ve been addicted to booze, drugs, both prescription and illegal, cigarettes, anorexia, work… I even had an addiction to writing suicide letters, I wrote pages and pages a day for years, and this time it’s chocolate. Speaking through it with my coach it became clear it wasn't about the drug, it was the behaviour! So, yeah, I've been addicted to all kinds of stuff and I thought I was one of those 'addictive personality' types, when for a long time all I was doing with just repeating the same behaviours planning, scheming, hiding, lying and greedy or the thrill you might get caught I don't know if this speaks to you? This behaviour rears its head when I'm stressed or unhappy - when things get really tough, it’s not just a whim. It can be about control, when life feels out of control or it can be a form of self sabotage i.e. life is going well, I might as well fuck it up now before it gets fucked up anyway…

An addict will have a pattern, the drug may change but the behaviour remains and that’s what needs to change. Awareness is a start but get help if you need it and speak to someone. I was easily eating 2-3kg of chocolate a day and ate no other food. When I fished it out of the bin two days after Ryan binned it, I knew I had a problem and I spoke to my coach.

Be Strong

Strength comes in many forms, here are some I thought of Be strong and enjoy... Physically Carrying 20 plus kg shopping up a steep hill Building that Ikea unit on your own Wrestling your boyfriend (or dog) and winning Operating DIY machinery all on your own Changing a tyre manually without a man Crawling to a phone using your arms when your legs have been broken like off a cliff or something Opening a jar of pickles without spraining your wrist Being able to paint with a roller - properly Running for your bus in heels in the ice and catching it Changing the water cooler bottle at work Age Lifting something heavy without doing your back in Getting out of a chair without using your arms Being able to use your arms to get out of a chair Getting back off the floor after a fall Getting in and out of a bath (without rails) Being able to reach your feet Emotionally Holding it together when you want to fall apart Watching wildlife films without turning away Watching Lassie, Benji or Marley and Me with no tears Asking for help when you need it Talking about it when you don't want to Loving yourself first and more than anyone else Loving again after you have been broken so bad Guts Standing up to your boss when you're sober Ending a bad relationship and walking away Bungee jumping for charity even though you're terrified Following your own initiative instead of the pack Admitting when you are wrong Going for dinner, on holiday or travelling the world solo Forgiving someone who betrayed you Now, I won't ever be able to wrestle Bodhi and win but I can catch the bus in heels, on ice

Beware of the vampires

Vampires are everywhere, in the workplace, hiding among your friends and family. You meet them on the street, at parties the supermarket and the gym. Social Media is full of them... They lie in wait, ready to pounce to suck the energy and life out of your body, mind and soul. I'm talking about energy vampires and you all know at least one of them. At first you may realise they are stealing your energy. But then you notice, that after even a short conversation with them. You feel drained You may feel depressed after listening to them Your good mood deflates And you feel tired, maybe exhausted at being in their company. You might describe them as high maintenance, needy, selfish or self-absorbed. but a vampire is way more powerful than that. A vampire thrives on sucking you dry of every last bit of energy you have. It's how they survive They feed from you Absorbing your positive energy to make themselves feel better Case 1 the poor me vampire Immediately after saying hello, they will launch into how awful everything is in their life. Without ever giving you a chance to speak they can tell you about ailments, work bad relationships, events past and future within seconds. In between sighs and looking for sympathy. Leaving you feeling like a hole has been drilled In your head and the contents sucked out. This vampire is also very difficult to get away from. They like to hold onto your arm while they talk

or pounce when you are seated and cornered. Case 2 the group vampire This vampire thrives in groups of people. Maybe they're greedy or just very good at sucking energy. They need the full attention of the group at all times. It's all about them, no one else. Hence the war cry 'What about me? What about ME?' In less than an hour in the company of this vampire you will want to take out a wooden stake and... Case 3 the jealous vampire Has nothing good to say about you. They will immediately put down others good fortune and success. They can be bitter and snide. You will find them sneering in the corner whispering behind their hand. And face to face they will burst your happy bubble in a heart beat. Case 4 the using vampire You only ever see this vampire when they want something. They use clever guilt tricks making you feel like it's your fault all so you will help them. This could be money, time or favours. And when things go wrong they blame everyone else as they are incapable of taking responsibility. Any sound familiar? and why is this relevant? Vampires are bad for your health. Taking your energy. Putting you down Bullying you Making you feel insignificant If you have a vampire in your life? Cut them off or avoid like the plague.

Black Davie, The Cripple and the Psych Ward

Years ago, I knew a guy called Black Davie, as in the colour black not dirty. There weren't many black men in Glasgow then and he actually introduced himself as Black Davie. Being very proud to be black. And that's what he wanted us to call him No biggie no one was that PC then The problem for Black Davie was that he was black. He didn't have a job, he never had money and blamed everything wrong in his life as 'it's cause I'm black' Sometimes he got a kicking 'it was cause I am black' Nothing to do with the fact that he was a miserable, arrogant, lazy, cocky wee shite Black Davie's downfall had nothing to do with black he used it as an excuse to put his feet up and blame everyone else for his problems ............................................................................. I have had two cripples in my life. Both had minor health issues when they hung up their boots and decided to sit down and call 'cripple.' Years and years of not getting off their backsides, until eventually they really did have problems walking That's what happens when you don't move No need to get up when you can have everything done for you. No need to ever work again. 'I can't get a job - I'm a cripple' Actually, there are plenty of jobs around that involve sitting down... .......................................................................... Every time I'm at the hospital I meet other Patients and they never believe I'm a patient. Because I don't weight more than 20 stone they say, 'you can't be on medication!' After some discussions it's revealed I'm actually on more than they are...

Have you only been diagnosed recently they ask Nope been on them 15 years Why aren't you fat? Because I've only put on the amount of weight attributed to the drugs I don't overeat, and I exercise. Then they find out I have a job 'how come you have a job, why do you work when you have a mental illness?' I have a job because I created one and I work the job around my illness ....................................................................... You might have guessed the connection but here is the moral to the story... Never let something about you or your life define you and never use it as an excuse for poor behaviour, your current situation or no hope for the future If you sit around moaning that you are fat then fat you will become If you talk yourself into excuses those excuses will become your reality If you tell yourself you are too weak too unfit or too old then you will never be strong, fit and young Don't let a characteristic become who you are you can overcome anything to be who you want to be If you need help to get there? that's no problem but you have to make the first move and take responsibility for yourself and your actions

Build Your Body Like a House

The Foundations The first part of a house to be built is the foundation. In exercise it is also the first part of your body to be built. Without a solid foundation cracks will appear (injuries) and the house will eventually begin to crumble and fall Your foundation is learning the basic moves like the squat, lunge, press up or overhead press. Technique is crucial at this stage, getting the movements right before advancing on to other exercises. Your foundation is also your legs (anatomically). They support your whole body and should be the strongest part of you. They are also the easiest part of your body to strengthen and lose weight from. The Mid Section or Core Next comes the mid-section or the 'core' which are the walls in your house keeping everything inside protected In your body this is your whole torso. Think about chopping off your head, arms and legs what you have left is the core (not just your tummy) The basic moves now need to be challenged. With changing direction and extra load, without your strong walls, the house will bend, blow over or fall down. Your core holds it all together and without a strong core everything falls down, your press up, your squat, your overhead press. Your back needs protected, your back also needs to be strong. Shoulders should be mobile to rotate, strong to lift, free from stress and tightness.

The Roof Is a little like a decoration at the top but is strong enough to hang things from. This is your arms Nice toned arms to show off in sleeveless tops, nothing blowing in the wind and if you turn upside down, strong like your legs for handstands, down dog and balances The Interior Now let’s think about what you put in the house. The furnishings, decor and cleanliness Have you ever seen the programmes about hoarders? The junk they keep? How filthy, cluttered and unable to move they are? Think about the insides of your house, your body. Do you fill it with junk, is it dirty, cluttered? Or is it clean, healthy and filled with good nutritious foods?

Colds, flu’s and bugs and exercise

A question I get asked is should I exercise or give it a miss... For anyone with a love of exercise (?) Or if you feel like you are finally getting somewhere, be it body shape, weight loss or strength, getting sick feels like a disaster. Panic sets in that you will gain loads of weight lose all your strength. And be right back to the starting point As a runner there was a rule of thumb I followed above the neck = safe to run below the neck = stay at home and while this is good advice for when you are outdoors with plenty of fresh air Being inside a gym or studio is completely different. You breathe directly into the air that someone else is breathing. You sweat and touch things and contaminate each other and once you're better again you catch it back I'm vigilant with sterilising everything at the Studio but flu and bugs and the cold can spread before I get a chance Then there is your recovery to think about if you go and do a hard leg session and your body is fighting a bug you will be taking away body resources from both slowing down your recovery and I doubt you would have the energy to put into that leg session in the first place, so you probably wasted your time and just made things worse Then there are the feelings of guilt and fear Don't be feeling guilty, relax and get better so you can be fighting fit again and let's be realistic 1 week off from exercise is not going to reverse all the good work you have done Yes it will be harder when you come back but

only for the first session or two So, if you aren't well and aren't sure whether to do your workout or session Take my advice Stay at home and look after yourself

Distractions

How many distractions do you have in one day? Are you easily distracted or do you have the kind of focus that would take a bomb to break? I've noticed a shift in the way I think over the past year. As I've worked on introducing good habits, I've been eliminating distractions. Maybe it's because I've set aside time to work on the habits, so I've become more conscious of how I spend my time in general. Or the good habits have had a domino effect on generally improving my life so the distractions have to go - probably a bit of both. Ok so what am I talking about? well we all have different distractions but the big ones usually apply to everyone like - your phone / email / social media? How many times do you check these things a day or even hourly? When was the last time you went 24 hrs without logging in and checking what you are missing? If you see you have an email or a fb message you have to check it, if you don't, you can't focus on what you're doing, so you read it. Of course then you reply, then you forget what you were doing and when you do remember, you've lost your moment... Sound familiar? It doesn't need to be email or social media, It can be anything - chatting to someone or biting your nails or half watching tv while reading or even eating? Give this some thought, you will have one thing that distracts you every day. That one thing that stops you moving forwards and getting what needs done - done! Once you know what your thing is, you can work on managing it, for example let's say it's email... remove it from your laptop so you can only see it on your phone or vice versa

or make it so you have to log in to read your emails and then set times you will check it, at work, when you are doing a report or need to focus on something for an hour, close email down (the world won't end) but your head will be free - try it! If it's social media, you can use an app that bans you from looking at those sites between times that you choose, such as keepmeout.com We are 'switched on' all day, it feels good to switch some of it off. When did you last spend an evening at home with no tv on? Just reading a book or chatting with someone? If it's been a while or you're really addicted to checking things, start off with 30 minutes a day, time with focus, then increase that time until you can give yourself 2 hours a day of freedom.

Do it Slowly

It's time to slow down. Everything is just so fast paced, every day week, month and year is going faster and faster, there is never enough time to get it all done, and we are missing so much! It's great to have things to look forward to but as the old saying goes - don't wish your life away. Enjoy the now. Stress levels, blood pressure, relationships, families, friends and YOU are suffering. Slowing down doesn't mean that you go so slow you barely function or that you don't get things done, in fact you might get more done! Sometimes I get so stressed I know I get nothing done all day and taking a deep breath feels impossible How about we do it slowly? take the time to love and appreciate every day and set a different pace Stop and have a conversation with someone as opposed to emailing or texting Enjoy your food and pay attention to what you are eating, the smell, the flavour and texture Listen to your body, what is it telling you? Are you tired? Aches and pains? are you eating and moving the way you should be? And my favourite Look out the window, what are the plants and animals doing? They are living on this same planet but I bet you never see them Ok, I'm part hippy but it's true Stop wanting everything yesterday and living so fast you don't get to enjoy it

like reading a book so fast, missing the good bits to get to the end or racing through box sets without reflecting on what is happening You get to the end and wish you had taken your time... I do So, are you with me? Do you want to slow down too?

Do you love to do lists?

Ahhhh to do lists... Yes, I'm an addict, I love my lists, they make me feel all organised and busy and important and what am I supposed to be doing again??? To do lists can be great or they can be completely pointless, especially if you dump into it constantly and forget to look at it multiple times a day and god forbid, actually use it! A list is the same as a goal, a dream, an ambition or a plain old plan i.e. writing it down is a great start but it's the execution that really matters Step 1 - keep your list up to date Delete anything you no longer want to keep the things you still want or need to do With exercise you need to update your plan once you've achieved goals, if you get an injury or you change your mind on what you want to achieve With nutrition always look for ways to improve your eating or as you lose weight adjust what you are eating and when Step 2 - categorise and plan Group your lists or items together in a way that makes sense, like tasks that involve sales, writing, food, holidays etc Put all your exercise to do's together and plan what you need to do to get the end result. If you want to squat your body weight, how many weeks will it take you and how many times you increase the weight. Nutrition ones can go together too, like if you want to drink more water aim to drink an extra glass a day and increase the amount each week Step 3 - set the deadlines Sort out the tasks that are the most

important or due first and give them dates. This comes off the back of your planning An exercise or nutrition deadline i.e. 3 months-time will be your big deadline with small ones for each day that add up to that final one for example, if it's weight loss and you want to lose a stone in 3 months, what you will do each day and give each day a list of tasks Day 1 - walk 2 miles and eat breakfast Day 2 - weights workout and healthy snacks Step 4 - Review every day If you're not looking at your daily tasks you probably aren't doing them, it's a great feeling planning it all out but you have to keep checking back Step 5 - Execute It doesn't matter how organised you are or how brilliant your planning is. If you are not doing the actions every day, you won't reach those goals!

Don’t give up

A common scenario at the Studio is a client telling me they can't do something because they are not strong enough 'I can't lift that...' 'I can't bend my arms...' 'I can't get my bum down low enough...' 'I can't keep my legs straight...' Can I do something else instead? If they don't have an injury or are not anatomically exempt from the exercise, my answer is usually no Because I'm a callous, heartless trainer who enjoys watching their clients torturing themselves? Yes, but also because I know if you keep going with the exercise you will soon be able to do it. Think about babies falling over when they start to walk. They can't walk but keep trying then 'hey presto' they are walking It's exactly the same for adults So, if you say 'I can't do xyz because I have no upper body strength, I'm not going to say 'ok off you go and do some squats then I'm going to make you do xyz to the best of your ability and in a safe manner i.e. not pushing you into an injury You might not like it but that's why you come to me, to help you get stronger and do the things you don't like to do For example... Most women don't have great upper body strength and can't do press ups, now I know they won't suddenly be able to do them but with some cheats, alternatives and variations I can get them there without doing them on their knees! (otherwise known as ladies press ups aarrghh) Even without the carefully selected push downs, baby seals and suicide press ups that all help

build that strength Just holding a hand plank and bending your arms then straightening them again, while maintaining a good plank, would be enough and would certainly be better than doing none As long as you went a bit further each time It's all so worth it when they do their first proper press ups and it is as if it happened by magic but it was down to not giving up and some effort It's not that hard and this applies to anything in life, not just exercise, remember that the next you say you 'can't'

Fear Anger Resentment

Talking to one of my clients last night about being consumed in a negative emotion so much it can eat away at you We were chatting about a chain of emotions and couldn't remember the order. So, I had a google when I came home and there are actually a few models Such as the Kubler-Ross model on grief denial - anger - bargaining - depression - acceptance But the one I found more relevant to everyday life was FAR fear - anger - resentment which is used a lot in addiction services The three emotions are linked to each other fear is for the future which we can't control anger is the present where we are now resentment is in the past which we can't change Fear of the future and resentment of the past keeps us angry in the present I also found a really good quote... "Resentment is like swallowing poison and expecting the other person to die" but do you feel angry about anything? Right now? If so, where is it coming from? what is it that you resent? It could be a deep buried resentment or something silly to rid yourself of the present anger you need to deal with that resentment which can be the hard part a classic example is a relationship that went bad you might resent the way you were treated how it ended maybe you feel cheated this makes you feel angry when you think about it. Then you have fear holding you back from developing a future relationship >how can you trust someone again!

Most people will deal with resentment in their own time and find that anger slowly fade then they are able to move forward without fear Others may need to speak to a counsellor or psychologist to help understand their feelings and let go The reason this is appropriate for addiction is that the drink or drugs get used to suppress feelings instead of dealing with them when you detox these feelings rush back and often it's not giving up the drug that is hard it's the inability to cope with FAR So, what does this have to do with you? I'm pretty sure we all have at least one resentment we are carrying with some degree of anger that is stopping us moving forward What is yours? I thought of one this morning... 6 years ago I was made redundant and every night I dream that I still work there I wake up confused, hurt and angry then I remember I have my Studio and business I have wondered why I keep dreaming this and if I'm honest I haven't really came to terms with the fact that I wasn't wanted anymore my anger is towards a particular person who did everything in their power to get me out that door My fear? oh god I'm scared of everything! :-) I do however think it’s time to let resentment go (I've given myself a counselling session by writing this) Who or what do you resent? It's a rhetorical question however, if you feel the need to share it might help get it off your chest and will probably be one of the steps to recovery and after FAR comes acceptance and calm and peace and happiness

Feeling overwhelmed

Occasionally I feel overwhelmed from running my fitness business online and offline, writing fiction, non-fiction, dealing with clients, agents and publishers. Studying, picking up leaves in the garden, going to the footie, binging box sets and thinking, what will I have for dinner tonight? Feeling overwhelmed and feeling like I'm getting nothing done = anxiety So, I look at my diary, my critical list, my to do list, my plan, my marketing plan and shout 'pick one thing and work on it!' Overwhelm is crippling, it's paralysing and Thankfully, not something I often suffer from Do you get like that? Work, children, husbands, all wanting fed, and your attention, going from one stress to another, never mind trying to look after yourself. What can you do? Here are a few things that I find work... Take a deep breath Breathing deeply calms and releases tension from your body, giving your lungs a good workout and letting that oxygen through to your blood cells. It can have an effect immediately on your body, mind and stress levels Switch off from distractions Shut down your email, switch off your phone and tell everyone to go away, just until you finish at least one task. Listen to music or not depending on your mood and concentrate on that one thing Go for a walk Get away from your desk, the house, your children or whatever. Autumn is a great season for walking and yes, there might be some rain but it's good for your soul Wrap up, take a brolly and get some fresh air, try and think of something else, get in a daydream then get back to your desk feeling fresh

Get a good sleep Tiredness makes feeling overwhelmed like it's been magnified by 100, get to bed early and get up early if you have to work to a deadline, instead of staying up late to finish what you're doing Colour Code I dump every thought and to do into a spreadsheet then colour code so I can see quickly what's first on the list. I know I still have to do the actions but organising them makes me feel a little more in control and a little less scrappy. Red means now! Delegate Have a real good look at what you can delegate to someone else, you won't be able to delegate everything but you'd be surprised at the help you can get - stop trying to do it all yourself, today I know I am! there is far too much information out there media, books, magazines, online, apps etc sometimes it's a great thing What would you say to someone in this situation? You would tell them to take a deep breath and do one thing at a time starting with the most important or the one causing the most stress right? Let’s look at another scenario... you feel fat and unfit the clothes you bought in a larger size are now feeling tight causing pain around the waistband and bra strap you can see the rolls of fat getting bigger but you can't stop yourself eating rubbish you dream of having the figure you had years ago, when you were slim, toned and fit and wish you had appreciated it more then So, you decide that things are going to change tomorrow (or Monday) you will give up smoking and alcohol only eat raw clean food and join a gym or even better - me

now you are hunting for recipes getting a food shopping in slapping on nicotine patches drinking all the alcohol before the big day preparing the food emailing me or the gym to set up a meeting getting in a panic about the meeting buying new gym gear in a size you don't want to be and your normal routine has gone to pot what happens next? you say f*ck this it's not worth it I'd rather just be fat and give up stick your head back in the sand but all that's happened is that you have been overwhelmed! and it's really easy to fix... you just have to take one thing at a time starting with the most important or the one that is stressing you the most I would suggest (obviously) you begin with the exercise, especially if you come to me (there are other good people out there too though :-)) why? initially exercise will lose you some weight change your body shape and boost confidence Radically changing your diet overnight is a fast route to failure a more successful approach is to pick one or two areas you could improve on and only add more on once you are ready as for smoking and alcohol I'm not an expert in this area but I would say cutting down isn't a bad thing but don't do everything at once You know, I do see trainers who promise magical results in as little as a month and they do bombard their clients with so much exercise, strict diets and detox that they can only achieve it for that month (or even less) and yes, they probably do get results ...that don't last

Don't feel overwhelmed small changes, one thing at a time go for the big one first then the others can follow on

Grab bags and Supersize

I’m talking about grab bags but it really includes anything king size or supersize. The most dangerous grab bags around at the moment are the chocolate ones and we've had many discussions about them in the studio recently. You know, the ones with buttons or mini pieces and they sell them on offer for £1? Let’s look at a mini piece as an example. A standard bar is 39g and sells for around 70p but the grab bag has nearly 3 times the amount at 110g and you can get it for £1 So, you're shopping for chocolate and you can spend the 70p OR get more value for money and go for the grab bag, right? Certainly, it makes more sense to go for the grab bag as it's a bargain, however the obvious statement coming here is that you eat more and consume more fat, sugar and calories. Which is exactly what you don't want. But this is really clever, it's not just that you are hard wired to spot a bargain. And it's not because no matter how much you tell yourself you won't eat the lot in one sitting - you will. It's because after eating so many grab bags you will have trained yourself into eating 110g of chocolate and going back to a 39g bar won't feel enough. This is what happened with the likes of fast food with the supersize. Think about it, if you owned a chocolate or fast food company, how can you increase your profits? It's easier to get your existing customers to eat more than it is to attract new ones.

Now, I'm a sucker for the grab bags so I'm with you on this one but seriously they aren't a good deal, go for the 39g bar, your health and waistline will thank you for it. and now that I've put this out there? I'm going to do the same.

Green fingers and a Sore Butt

Most people who garden complain of a sore back that means they are doing it wrong. It should be your butt that is sore. Gardening is like exercise it is a lot like exercise in fact, it is exercise if you do it right Hopefully you have a garden if not, find someone who can't manage their garden and offer to do it for them :-) I LOVE gardening, it's science, nature, physical and mental positivity all rolled into one. here are my top tips of gardening and how to use your garden for a workout... Get stuck in Pottering around doing the bare minimum won't burn the calories, Get your hands dirty Put maximum effort in Work fast and get sweaty Lift Heavy Garden furniture, pots, fencing stones, bricks and equipment all make good weights. Even if you don't have to move them you can randomly squat with a pot, who cares what the neighbours think. Mine are way past wondering... Work your abs Mowing and raking the grass and digging and sweeping are great for your abs and obliques. Stand tall, don't stoop over and suck your tummy in as hard as you can. I promise the next day you will ache more than any abs class Squat, squat and squat This is where the sore butt comes in... A deep squat (bum to heels) is best for weeding and planting.

Keep the heels down and try moving around while staying in a squat position. Squat or deadlift every time you lift and when you need to pick something up guess what – squat. Doing this will protect your lower back and give your butt a great shape. Look around Moving on to the hippy side of the garden, watch the birds and the insects. Yesterday I saw a mummy bird feeding her babies through an air vent in the wall, they had built a nest there! I find a rare 16 spot ladybird every year on my gooseberry tree and I love watching the bees buzzing from flower to flower it's good for your soul! Quick Results Your garden gets quicker results than your body. Cut the grass and admire from the window, plant some seeds and within days you have a plant. Just a few hours spent, gives a lot of satisfaction improving your mood. Happy Gardening!

How long will it take?

I was sitting getting my hair done and my hairdresser commented on how healthy my hair is looking. For 30 years I used to snap and tear out my hair from my head. I would spend hours doing it and sometimes lose a whole day! Trichotollomania it's called and is a known psychological disorder. Anyway, I have a full head of hair now that isn't ragged at the ends but I actually stopped picking it 5 years ago. This made me think... I stopped 5 years ago I've been good to my hair ever since nourished and respected it but only now I'm seeing the results. To be honest, I didn't expect them any quicker But it has taken a long time and with every cut I could see another few inches of destroyed hair cut away. So, what happens when you want to change the habit of a lifetime? Do you expect to see the results overnight? or are you willing to wait? Let’s look at diets... You start a new diet and you are good all week but the scales tell you that you have only lost 1lb and you are devastated. Why? Or maybe you follow a diet for a few months and initially you got weight loss but now it's stopped and you think 'that diet isn't working any more' So, you go looking for another one Why?

Because you are not willing to give your body enough time to reverse the years of poor eating and most diets don't correct your poor eating anyway they just reduce your calorie intake. How about if we look at exercise you go on a crazy regime of classes, boot camps or whatever six or seven days of the week and you do this for a month but don't lose weight you might even have put weight on. Why? Maybe you start running, cycling or hire a personal trainer and after a few months you see little improvement. Why? Because it takes longer than a few months for your body to lose enough fat and build enough muscle to make a significant difference to the way you look. (depending on how much work your body needs) How long does it take to build a good house? How long does it take for a tree to grow? How long did it take my hair to grow? Yes, some people get results quickly but the majority will take longer and there are a lot of individual factors to consider. Like, how long have you been yo-yo dieting? How many years ago since you last exercised? If it's a long time then it's realistic to say it may also take a long time to build that foundation. I'm not suggesting it takes 5 years btw but 6-12 months for decent results is about right. And what will it take other than time? in the case of my hair millions of willpower and

a few relapses. But most of all a dream and determination to have the hair that I wanted So, I guess it’s the same for diet and exercise too...

How to get Moving

Sometimes I don’t feel particularly motivated I get a couple of weeks when everything gets ticked off. Then for the next few weeks I'm dragging myself around I'm pretty sure you get this too... We all have things we keep putting off and the daily tasks that we hate but have to do. The goals we keep resetting to start on Monday or moving to tomorrow. But that just decreases your motivation levels as you start beating yourself up when you never get started So, for today I want you to start a checklist, a small checklist. With around 3 - 5 things you should be doing every day to improve your life. That will help you get the motivation going Here are some ideas Exercise for 30 mins Ok, so you don’t feel motivated so why the hell would you have the motivation to exercise? That’s why I suggest 30 mins and it can be a walk Or a home workout but I bet you this, once you’ve done it, you will have motivation flowing through you. Fresh blood pumps to your brain and serotonin is released (the happy chemical). You will feel more awake, focused and clear headed Eat something nourishing Avoid high carbs like sugars or pasta that will make you slump and eat light foods that feed your brain. Oily fish, dark chocolate, coffee, nuts, pumpkin seeds and blueberries, broccoli and green tea all improve your brain function Hmm, I’d love to see a recipe containing those, I would probably suggest eating one or two of them at a time. Work life What is the biggest bugbear that you fear every day?

Is it a report you have to write? The never ending emails that come in? Or a minimum amounts of calls /sales you have to make? Clear the first hour or two every day in your diary and get this job done first. The rest of the day will be a skoosh. By eliminating the tasks or jobs you hate early on you free your mind from worry and anxiety. It will no longer be a distraction and you’ll feel good it’s ticked off the list = motivation Home life Start with a 10 - 30 min task. The kid’s homework, the garden, the cleaning and do it as soon as you come in or get up. Get in the routine that you don't sit down until X is done BUT only choose the task that is not already getting done and that will make life easier for you Try a rota, when do you clean the oven? Once a month, every other month, once a year? Rota the big jobs and do them 1st of the month for example? You What can you do for you? That doesn't fit into the above categories. Read a book, plan for a holiday, pampering? if you can't do one great thing for yourself each day your motivation will not fly high As I said, start with one new daily task and build up don't try and do 5 straight away cause if you don't manage them all your motivation is likely to dip

Hunger Games

I was working on the online nutrition Programme I run. One subject I was writing about was hunger and how our body signals are totally screwed up thanks to an ever lasting supply of food. We tend to eat all the time so we never really get proper hunger signals. We eat because there is food around, because we get notions or because it is time to eat i.e. breakfast, lunch etc When was the last time you felt hungry? How do you know you were hungry? How long did you go without food before feeling hungry? Your body can go for weeks, even months without food and survive, yet a few hours without food leaves you starving and ready to eat the next thing you see this is the sad bit... I googled hunger to see if I could find any other research or papers I could use to gain more info and guess what came up? Yup... streams of text and pictures of actual starving people in Africa and other places :-( I know it seems obvious, but I wasn't prepared for that So here I was writing about hunger and trying to find a way of not being too dramatic or hard on the reader when I suggested waiting for hunger to pass. God knows when these poor people last ate! I could actually leave this post here and tell you not to eat and when you next feel hungry to look at some of these pictures guilting you into abstaining.

But I know that approach doesn't work (if it does then go ahead) From a brain perspective it makes sense, that when you haven't eaten for a while and the stomach is empty it will signal for you to eat. This comes from the animal part of your brain, the part that is only interested in keeping you alive. With no concern whatsoever of your weight, what you look like or whether what you are about to stuff in your face is healthy. So, not only do you have an endless supply of food but the instant you feel remotely hungry, a part of your brain kicks in telling you eat! Understanding this alone might help you If you wait for hunger before you eat or you let hunger pass for a short while you won't die or collapse or melt. But you could begin to eat when you decide to eat, instead of food having control over you and overeating? Intermittent fasting is a great method for getting hunger cues under control. Try a 24 hour fast once a week, a 16:8 or a 5:2. There are loads of resources online

I have a perfect heart

I was in hospital for some tests on my heart, I've had six different tests so far and it all started with a defect being diagnosed. The medications I take can damage your heart along with thyroid, liver and kidneys, so it was more precautionary. My thyroid was damaged a long time ago and I take tablets for it and my liver and kidneys have their moments. But the news about my heart was a wee bit scarier, especially as I have a history of drink and drug abuse, my mum and dad have had heart attacks, bypasses and stents and the really big one... I've been smoking for 30 years! So, when the doctor came to see me after my tests yesterday and said 'you have a perfect heart' I was dumbfounded. I had prepared myself for a lecture and that the smoking had to go blah blah blah I asked what he meant by perfect and he said there were no traces of any clogging in my arteries, that the arteries were clean, my heart was the perfect shape and size and another couple of things I can't remember. Yes, the heart beat is too fast and irregular but I had that diagnosed twenty years ago! I couldn't remember that either but when he told me the medication I was to now take, I do remember taking it before! I asked him if he had the right person as I'm a smoker and I don't perceive myself to be that healthy and it was his turn to be shocked. He showed me lots of bits of paper with photos of my heart and graphs and so on and said this is a picture of the perfect heart of a 45-year old woman.

Now, I know this bit from my job but all the bad stuff we eat gets stuck on the walls of your arteries and smoking constricts your arteries leading to heart disease and other problems. But exercise increases the blood flow through the arteries, forcing it through, so the blood sweeps up the bad stuff that stuck to the walls and it enlarges the arteries keeping them elastic So, the theory then points to exercise as counteracting poor lifestyle choices and I asked him what he thought. And he said. 'Absolutely, out of all the patients I see every day, the ones that don't have real problems are the ones that exercise Not only are they less likely to be over weight but their hearts and arteries are clean and in perfect working order' So, there you have it, exercise and a good diet can undo damage from poor lifestyle choices, including smoking. Oh, and I gave up the ciggies not long after

If I knew then…

Looking back at my younger years as a committed anorexic that fought food for sixteen years. If I knew then, what I know now When I was a teenager and fretted over every pinch of fat on my body and starved myself to get rid of that fat until I was skin and bone and less than 7 stone If I had known what I know now that my body was supposed to have fat and I could have changed how my body looked with some weight training to tighten and slim my appearance then I would have done that instead ……………………………………………………………. When I was 28 and started eating for the first time and saw my body change from children’s clothes to a size 8 and panic set in. If I had known what I know now I would have realised that my muscle had wasted away and I was gaining body fat, I would have started weight training to build that muscle back up …………………………………………………………….. When I saw wobble on the inside of my thighs or tops of my arms that added to my hatred of my body and covering it up with baggy clothes If I had known what I know now I would have weight trained to firm those ugly bits, changing them to favourite bits ……………………………………………………………… When I looked at my flat chest and bum and was desperate for curves If I had known what I know now

I would have eaten all the foods I enjoyed, put on some weight, filled out the boobs and bum and weight trained to trim the rest of me ……………………………………………………………… When I was too weak to hold a mug of tea, getting dressed was exhausting and walking to the bus stop was a marathon If I had known what I know now I would have weight trained to keep up my strength, my appetite and ability to do normal things in life ……………………………………………………………. When I was hungry and refused to eat when I was scared of food and could not let anyone see me when I did eat. If I had known what I know now I would have eaten without fear or consequence, I would understand the foods my body needed and the ones I could still eat within reason ………………………………………………………….. When I had no self-esteem or confidence, when I avoided looking in any mirrors and my bones were sticking out through my clothes If I had know what I know now I would have loved myself a whole lot more if I had eaten plenty and worked out instead ………………………………………………………….. When I tried to join gyms and the trainer would say 'you don't need to exercise!' and 'I wish I was as thin as you' followed by can you really not lift that?

If I had known what I know now Well, let's just say I had to study for me to know what I know now and I fixed myself in the end ………………………………………………………………… but you don't have to, weight training solves a lot of body issue problems, yet the majority of women shy away from them. If you want to lose fat, build shape and strength Or you had to choose only one exercise method? I’d say weights every time Try swapping out my statements above with words of your own. What have you learned and what lessons can you teach yourself today?

Is it all about weight loss?

The fitness industry is dominated by weight loss and promoting before and after pictures. Social media is all about weight loss and people in bikinis. I don't feel it truly represents what I do or why clients seek me out. There is a percentage that mention they are looking for weight loss but the largest percentage don't Yes, they tell me if they could lose a few pounds, but there are many reasons why they want a personal trainer or coach and many more ways in which I hope to help them Even the ones that have laser focus on losing weight find that coming to the Studio gives them so much more... Inch Loss Measurements are more effective than the scales and it's possible to lose inches and not weight. This means your body shape is changing. I regularly train clients who drop dress sizes without losing weight and some even put weight on! However, if you're not losing inches either, you may have to change your exercise or diet, or give it more time and focus on the others below. Improved Fitness, Strength and Ability In some people weight loss through exercise alone can take a few months to show. But gains in fitness, strength and ability come quick. I don't let anyone stay in the one place for long and I'm always pushing to go up a weight or to do more. We record progress in their client packs, So, they can see how fast they improve Sense of achievement Most nights I watch my clients leave with big smiles. The opposite expression from when they walked in I watch them attempt challenges out with their

comfort zone and the relief with a big cheesy grin spreads across their face because they did it! the self-satisfaction of doing what they thought was impossible is hard to beat. lucky for me I feel the same way, for them. It's a buzz. Mood Changes Yes, this really does happen Sleeping better Less grumpy more energy Sense of belonging My clients describe the Studio as a wee family I couldn't be prouder It's not just about knowing each other’s names but knowing their strengths and weaknesses. Providing support and friendship to each other, sharing the personal pain, they might be going through and being genuinely happy for each other It's a community outside work and home and a very important part of a person’s social life The Journey I'm more aware of a client’s journey in the beginning than they are. I get into the nitty gritty at the consultation I learn the history, the emotional pain they have and I watch as they let it go A lot of clients have experienced tragedies in the time they have been training with me Sometimes the only way I can help them is to free their mind for an hour help them escape they go through a healing process and slowly they mend again As you can see, it's not just about weight loss It's so much more and sometimes it takes a holiday or missing s few weeks for you to

realise just how much it’s doing for you

Keep it simple

I don't know about you, but I've been feeling the weight of all the different ways to do things these days More and more social media platforms are sprouting up, new diets, new ways to exercise and for me, new ways to run my business Sometimes it can be a good thing but most of the time it slows you down and distracts you from doing the real work I've had enough A couple of weeks ago I had a good look at all the 3rd party software that was clogging up my life and business I've gone back to using spreadsheets and not only do I prefer using them, I don't have the 3rd party owning all my information - I feel free! I've even gone so far as disconnecting the internet connection in my office and I'm realising I'm so much more productive without it I can always go for a coffee for a half hour if I need to get online and I work from home a couple of days a week so I've made that my time to work online uninterrupted This all kinda began when looking at my nutrition and exercise programmes WeightLess is based on simplicity (and science) it's all about eating properly, eating well, no fads, nothing complicated and at Fit Strong Females the most popular workouts recently have been ladders involving just 2 exercises at a time... Initially I thought they might have been boring for the guys but they love them and it made me rethink all the workouts

See, they love the simplicity of them, they don't have to think too much about what they are doing after a long day at work and they can better at doing them, faster, the weight drops off and the sense of achievement is greater all from making it simpler I'm keeping my payments system, my websites and email software but that's it and I bet I get the same results as I'm seeing at the Studio What do you waste time doing? Are there areas of your life you could make simpler?

Lessons From LSD

Stay with me on this one :-) In the 60's LSD experimentation was common as both a recreational drug and a psychiatric drug the most famous experimenter was Timothy Leary who ran clinical trials at Harvard University and published over 20 books (I read one or two, years ago) LSD works by altering the brain giving you euphoria, hallucinations opening doorways in the mind you wouldn't otherwise see or experience and an overall very pleasant experience Leary compared the drug to Buddhists who are able to astral project and visit real physical places when they meditate (The Tibetan Book of the Dead) His work was very controversial and he was branded both a demon and brilliant. One of the theories he had about taking acid was when you had a 'bad trip.' I'm sure a lot of people when you say LSD will automatically associate it with the words 'bad trip' So, what is a bad trip? It's when you have the opposite experience to the one you had set out to have so instead of euphoria it could be fear. Hallucinations would be disturbing rather than pleasant. And once the drug wore off, there would be flashbacks where for a few minutes you would be right back in that moment reliving the feelings again. So strong, you could see, taste, smell and feel exactly what your bad experience had been Now, you don't need to take LSD to have experienced a 'bad trip.' And to then relive that moment over and over

in your head again. (stay with me) Leary said a bad trip usually occurred when you weren't in a safe environment with the right people and being in the right mindset to begin with. He also said that the best way to get over a bad trip was to do it again and replace the memory of the bad one with a good one Now, don't laugh at me here but years ago when I did the Moonwalk for the first time, I had a 'bad trip' and I said I would never do it again. I have been haunted for all those years from the experience that night. I could never understand others who said they had a great time. And for me, it wasn't about the actual walking but yes, it was tough but I had been with the wrong people who had put me in the wrong mindset and had made my walk that night hell Signing up for the event again Years later I told myself that this time would be different I was with the right people I thought about Leary and his work and how I could overwrite the bad memory with a good one. (obviously without the LSD) And he was right I have at last put those demons to bed and now have some great memories making me smile. I think there are a lot of situations in life where this could be applied and I don't mean some fluffy statement

like turn a negative into a positive. I mean rewriting your brain sensors by repeating a situation over by doing the same thing again and this time replacing your bad memories with the good memories What do you think? Leary used a controversial method but he unlocked potential in the brain that could be used in real life. Do you have a situation you play over and over in your mind? is it something you could perhaps change? My job every day is to create an 'experience' for my clients I am very aware of that pushing someone too soon creates a bad one then it is so much harder to correct it as they have the fear to do it again While at the same time it's important to create as many pleasurable experiences as I can I might even do the Moonwalk again, all 26 miles starting at midnight, dressed in some crazy costume.

Letting Go

Yesterday I had to say goodbye to Marley (my cat) He was about 21 years old and his life was deteriorating but ultimately, I made the decision that he couldn't move house with us, he was senile and would get lost. I figured I had given him so many happy years of his life and it would be kinder to let him go. I held him right to the end but right at that last moment I panicked. I doubted my rational thinking and just wanted to keep him for longer. But somehow, I kept it together and let him go and yes it broke my heart. So, this morning I started thinking of all the times in life we find it difficult to let go when we should Like a job, a friendship, a relationship... We've all heard the saying we are more humane to animals when ending their suffering but what about the continued suffering we endure for ourselves? fear holding you back in case you make the wrong decision? Your rational brain fighting with your emotional brain? Scared you will be hurt in the short term even though you will be happier in the long term? There are always bumps in the road but deep down in your heart you will know if something has reached the end of that road and that it's time to move on I've been with my clients through break ups redundancy, house moves, job changes and sadly, for many deaths of friends, family members and of course pets.

But I've also been with them through new relationships, marriages, new babies, new kittens and puppies and jobs that they love. Knowing the future is going to be better doesn't help when you are at the letting go part does it? And removing emotion from your decisions is the most difficult but critical. Let go of the past or the present when you know it’s the right thing to do. Be brave

OMG! Where’s your Troosers

One of my best memories from the studio, was when one of my clients forgot her trousers and instead of giving up and going home she did the full workout in her knickers! Seriously It was the last session of the night we were all girls (4 in total including me) and it wasn't like we cared We were more gobsmacked with her dedication! I'm not mentioning her by name to give her some privacy but I can say she is a bit of a crazy chick. I know that won't narrow it down for anyone. She obviously places a workout higher than wearing trousers. I have to say this had never happened to me before or since and not only has she won my complete admiration, she has set the bar high for anyone else who forgets their kit. I usually do have spare clothes though and trainers but had no trousers last night. I did think about taking off my trousers to give her but was worried that someone new might 'pop in.' Can you imagine? So, what does this say about my mystery client? That she has a great mindset. Does not easily give up. Is confident with her body. Is comfortable with the studio, me and the others All good traits to have!

Out to lunch

Out to lunch can mean two things 1) you have gone to get something to eat 2) you're not in touch with the real world Today I'm going to tell you about an event this week where I did both at the same time :-) My sister took me for a birthday lunch the other day (Gourmet Burger FYI) and I had let her know beforehand that my meds had been increased so she might have to play 'guess the conversation' (which is where I start saying something but immediately forget what I'm saying and she has to piece together the names, the whats and the whole conversation basically) she was totally fine with that as she has had plenty of experience and knows me pretty well So, you can see now how I was out to lunch both ways :-) I told her I had been really struggling with some things, like my daily emails my head is drowsy, it can be hard to put words together and I don't feel very inspiring her response really surprised me (she reads my emails) she said 'why don't you just send an email to everyone and let them know you're having a hard time just now and that your meds will take a few weeks to level out. Now why didn't I think of that... Have you ever tried to text someone when you are drunk? Did it make sense? that's kinda how I feel, I have great things to talk to you about (and I'v made notes) but I just can't get the words right Honestly, you should see how many drafts I have and that's why I've been quiet on the emails I have tried to get back on the horse the old nag keeps bucking me off again

but I'll keep trying until I'm back to daily

Perfectionism and Robots

Two things held me up at the weekend, perfectionism and robots. The robots are fake email addresses that sign up to the mailing list, for whatever reason and I had nearly 200 of them last week alone. It took ages to clear them out and I've now changed the process of signing up so they can't get back in. moral to this story... Don't be a robot, don't be fake, don't pretend to be something that you're not cause you'll get caught eventually and be excluded from all the nice things in life. The second one is perfectionism and I do this one to myself, all the time and I really wish I could be happy with 'good enough' After what must be months, I've decided to build a new membership site. I didn't like the domain I had and instead of moving the site to the new domain I opted to build it new from scratch Why? over time bugs appear, pages don't work or links are broken, and I didn't like some of the individual URL’s There are over 300 pages on there and the same amount of members, if I do 10 pages a day, the whole thing will take a month or so... It's already begun but I spent the weekend asking myself if I had crossed the line between providing better quality and trying to be perfect However, I said I would wait until my exams were over and I've been wanting to do it for long enough. Weighing that up I decided to go for it moral of the story...

Being perfect is an illusion that doesn't exist, as soon as you think it's perfect you start to see mistakes and start again. This can waste time and energy and you will always feel that you are not good enough Have a good think about the extra time and effort you have to put in to make something that little bit better. Is it worth it? Will it get you closer to your goal? Do you have the time to get things the way that you truly want them? In this case I feel I learned a lot from building the first site and have a better idea of what I want this time. Changing the old site might take longer than doing it from scratch. Since then, I’ve learned to be good enough and my productivity has gone through the roof. Writing 10 books in one year, then publishing 12 the next year, I had to go for it or they would never happened. So! Don't be a robot or someone else, just be you. And question if you are aiming for perfect, is where you are now good enough?

Pick Your Body Type

Every now and then I do a presentation on the white board during client’s sessions this usually comes about after a topic comes up and I need to explain some 'science' for them to understand how the body works the last one I did was on body types so that Elaine would know why she will always struggle with weights and why Erin will always hate cardio It's a simplistic model and only makes up a part of who you are but it can be useful when understanding what you are naturally good at or why you find it harder to lose weight than others there are 3 body types: Ectomorphs are skinny with long limbs flat chests and bums with no curves resembling a pencil they find it hard to gain fat or muscle have a high metabolism and can eat what they want but if they do put on weight they have an apple shape body i.e. the fat collects around the tummy they are naturally very good at endurance events and enjoy cardio but find it difficult to lift weights due to their long limbs and lack of muscle However they should lift heavy and stick to high intensity interval cardio to add muscle and shape to their bodies (Mo Farrah, Bruce Lee and Angelina Jolie) Mesomorphs are athletic and robust with well defined muscles and are strong females will have a curvy shape (hourglass) with calf muscles that can touch each other when feet are together they gain and lose weight and muscle easily so have to watch their calorie intake natural born athletes they are naturally good at weights and short distance training like sprinting but can struggle with endurance

(Usain Bolt, Halle Berry, Jennifer Garner) Endomorphs have soft, fleshy, round bodies with an abundance of curves they gain fat and muscle easily but find it difficult to lose weight due to a slow metabolism their muscle tone is difficult to see and have pear shaped bodies i.e. fat collects around the bum and thighs Endomorphs have to work much harder than the other body types if they are looking to lose weight they should do lots of fat burning type workouts and follow a stricter diet than the others However, once fit and toned they make the sexiest of all (Russell Crowe, Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez) Think you may be a combination of 2 of the body types? you could be an ecto-mesomorph or endo-mesomorph especially if your top half fits one type and the bottom half the other

Pick the Right Role Model

This one follows on from the body types These body types (somatotypes) can help you establish realistic goals of what you want your end result to be Once you realise your natural body type, one without excess weight, is a metamorph (broad and muscular) you will understand that you can never be an ectomorph (long and skinny) no matter how hard you try It's a bit like having curly hair and wanting straight hair or pale skin wishing for a deep tan and while you can mess around with fake tan and straighteners the end result is not quite what you hoped for, The frizz and the orange hue ruins it The grass is always greener and we always want what we can't have but should we be looking elsewhere for ways to look better When we can work on being the best version of ourselves that we can be instead? We talk about changing body shape and while you can't change your somatotype you can become a smaller, shapelier and more toned version For example, I'm an ectomorph with little shape, when I am carrying extra weight I get a little curve in my bum and boobs but end up with a fat tummy To get my tummy flat I need to lose some weight but when I do that my boobs and bum disappear I need to accept that I will never have a booty and a six pack is never gonna happen BUT I can work on my bum by doing heavy weights and packing it out a little with muscle, eyes could be drawn away from my flat chest with some shape around my shoulders and arms and instead of dreaming of looking like Beyonce I could focus on some beautiful ectomorphs like

Nicole Kidman or Julia Roberts This is an exercise I used to do with clients and there is discussion of me bringing it back! At consultation I would get them to choose a famous person they thought looked great, I would steer them towards the right body type and we would build a plan around this When I met Caroline I could see she was a metamorph we talked about some athletes and she picked a tennis player It works for guys too Craig was on the skinny side which for guys, is not a compliment he chose Brad Pitt in Fight Club lean and muscular Arnie was too far a stretch although Ryan could do Arnie So, you can see what I'm doing with this choosing the right role model in the beginning not only gives you something realistic to work towards but saves you disappointment when your arms don't grow longer or you lose weight and don't resemble a skelf Which person will you choose?

Ready Brek Glow

I'm hoping you all remember the ready brek adverts but in case not I'll explain... Ready brek was a kind of porridge we ate in the 70's and the advert showed kids leaving for school with a glow around them (if they had eaten it). Can you try and picture this? I'm going to use this mental picture as a way of describing a woman's body fat compared to a man. Let's start with the man, he has a thin glow around his body and the glow represents the necessary fat required to keep him in optimum condition. The glow is pretty even all around his legs, torso and arms just like he's had 1 ready brek breakfast. The woman on the other hand has a much thicker glow and it gets even thicker when it reaches the hips and thighs, boobs and tummy - this is her necessary fat required. Why does the woman have so much more fat required on the body than the man? It's because women are baby making Machines. Still, why the extra fat? Let's say a woman gets pregnant and then there is some kind of apocalyptic event meaning she can't eat any food. Her body must then feed the baby for the 9 months with the fat stores that are closest to the womb i.e. tummy, hips and thighs (fat sources on the arms and boobs required for breastfeeding). This is all theoretical of course but also explains why a women's periods stop when body fat % is compromised - to stop the woman getting pregnant if there is not enough body fat to feed the baby. Generally, this explains why women carry

so much more body fat than a man it's nature, it's natural and something to celebrate rather than hate. If you are wondering why starving women in Africa can still have babies? Their environment has changed the way the body works, it's all about survival and after a long spell of famine, instinct kicks in and the human race must continue. But for you - next time you look in the mirror and see those hips, bum, tummy and feel unsexy and unattractive? Remember that your body is worth so much more, it can create and grow another human being Even if having children isn't for you, It wasn't for me but when I think about it, I am blown away. It can explain why your body feels like it's fighting you at times when trying to lose weight.

Reasons to breathe

Ok, if you're not breathing, you're likely to be dead! but that type of breathing is involuntary i.e. your body does it automatically without any thought Why do we breathe? When you breathe in, oxygen is transported to all the cells in your body When you breathe out, carbon dioxide is expelled from all the cells along with some water Without these two reactions, the cells wouldn't be able to function and or they would become toxic and die (this is a very simple explanation) Yesterday at yoga I introduced a little breathing at the end, this time I'm talking about controlled breathing where you are focused on your inhale and exhale So, 3 reasons why you need to 'breathe' Relaxation / Stress Management If you are feeling stressed the best thing you can do is slow down your breathing which will also bring your heart rate and your thoughts down too Lie on the floor on your back (or stay seated), close your eyes if you can and begin to breathe in and out through your nose place your fingertips on your diaphragm and aim to breathe from there and not from your shoulders breath in for a count of 5 and out for a count of 5, after a minute or two increase this to 8 and higher as you progress Exercise

So many people hold their breath when exercising and then get dizzy or feel weak and need to sit down or go out for air the main culprits are... holding an exercise for a length of time like the plank Lifting a heavy weight like squatting with a barbell Getting out of breath while doing some cardio Your muscles need the oxygen to keep working! For plank - try the relaxation breathing but maybe aim for a count of 3 to start Lifting weights - breath in on the easy part and out on the exertion, for a squat this would be in on the way down and out on the way up Cardio - if your breathing is very ragged ease off for a minute or two, get your breath under control and start again and try to keep the breath in the diaphragm and slower throughout Digestive System All of your body functions will benefit from focused and deep breathing as the oxygen is increased, and stress reduced the parasympathetic nervous system is activated by slow deep breaths allowing the body to digest food properly and can help with IBS, bloating and constipation I have to admit, I used to find it a bit boring thinking about breathing, I think cause my mind travels so fast it seemed impossible but I've been playing around with it more and more recently and it is amazing how something so simple can have such an effect

Now I just have to teach it to Bodhi and Get him to stop panting!

Same problem - change the solution

Thinking of the hamster on the wheel doesn't even do this one justice! Think of one problem you have in your life, one that has been there for a long time and no matter how hard you try you never can solve the problem Do you know why? cause you keep trying to solve the problem with the same solution pretty straightforward? So, this is how it goes, you have been trying to lose weight for a long time, years, maybe your whole life All this time you've been following the same type of diet, on and off, year in, year out. You might even have followed the exact same diet This could be combined with either doing no exercise at all or by starting and stopping the same exercise over and over. Would it be safe to say that you are that hamster at times, in any situation, not just diet and exercise, maybe relationships or in your work life? Does it not make sense to change your strategy by changing the solution? If you start the same diet again, you are going to get the same results. If you start the same exercise routine you are going to get the same results. and if those are not the desired results, you will keep going around and around getting no where. Or your results will be short lived until you eventually get started again. Sound like you? then it's time to try something new

something proven by science a formula that works If you want to change the outcome of that problem then you need to change the solution... Think about this, if you keep painting a fence with red paint, each time hoping it will turn out black, you need to change the paint got it?

Set off a chain reaction

I was chatting with one of my clients a few weeks ago, she had fallen off the wagon a little and I told her that after all the years she has been with me, she didn't need me to tell her how to get back on track She nodded and agreed that she did indeed know why she was off track, she knew the old ways had sneaked back in (although not as much) and she knew what was needed to get back on track But then, of course everyone knows this about themselves, don't they? You know when you've been drinking too much, eating more crap than vegetables, not drinking enough water and skipping your exercise sessions and just like my client, you know it's the reason why you feel depressed, fat, tired and stuck which leads to you knowing that if you did the reverse of all that, you would feel the opposite of the above Yes, that was real rocket science :-) So, how do you get yourself from being off track and destructive to being on track and buzzing? Start somewhere small and simple and focus on one thing only, then before you know it, it will set off a chain reaction For example... My client referred back to a time when she was getting up a half hour early This meant she could fit in 20-30 minutes of yoga practice each morning and if she as doing yoga, she made sure that 1) she ate breakfast and 2) breakfast was healthy This made her feel happy, healthy, that she was doing something positive for

herself, it gave her energy! By the time she was at her desk, she felt ready to face the day, by lunchtime she was more likely to choose a healthy lunch and this kept rolling through the day Let's look back at the first action, the focus being getting up that half hour early Everything that followed from there was a chain reaction Instead of thinking of all the things you should be doing, pick one and the others will follow naturally Choose to take up an exercise, then you will feel more inclined to eat healthier? Then you lose a little weight and your confidence goes up? With more confidence you decide to change career, that leads to more money and you use it to get more out of your life? I'm making this up now, but you get the Idea. What is one small, simple step that you could focus on? What do you think the chain reaction could look like? I like exercise as that one focus, then the chain reaction can be anything

Sleep Deprivation

My new mums know all about this subject with the baba’s refusing to sleep all night and I guess that's what prompted me to write this as you may not be aware of just how important a good night’s sleep is. A couple of things you may not know about sleep deprivation... It is used as a form of torture in some countries and is used widely as an interrogation technique. Tests on rats have shown that it hinders the healing Process and some animals have actually died through lack of sleep 1 in 5 car crashes in the US are a result of driver fatigue especially between the hours of midnight and 6am Prolonged lack of sleep can trigger depression and in people with mental health illnesses it can trigger and worsen their disorder On that subject, one of the questions I am asked first when seeing my psychiatrist is how many hours I am sleeping. All of my medications have a drowsy effect to make me sleep and in fact it is recommended I get 10 hours sleep in every 24-hour period (which I have to do - with naps during the day) Without that amount of sleep and naps I can become ill quite quickly. The one that will get your attention though is that sleep deprivation can cause weight gain! The rise of obesity has been linked with lack of sleep as hormone levels rise, increasing appetite and the signals that you are full are disturbed leading to overeating So, it's not just a case of having poor attention and memory span from not sleeping there can be serious side effects... What can you do about it? the top three answers are:

Go to bed earlier Try going 15 minutes earlier each night until you reach the time that you want aim for around 8 hours sleep There are lots of good apps that monitor your Sleep and tell you when to get to bed. Get more exercise Exercise gives you more energy but it also helps you sleep and anyone who has done a challenging workout will testify that you fall in to bed and sleep because your body is tired and needs recovery Eat a healthier diet Cutting out caffeine, alcohol and sugar for a start will help you sleep better but an overall healthier diet will mean that your internal systems will be working efficiently such as the digestive and endocrine systems with minimal disruption to hormones and body functions that may keep you awake Ok, so it's time for my morning nap now... but I have been up since 5am :-)

Sometimes You Need Comrades

We have a workout at the studio which involves running up and down 5 flights of stairs 6 times 1 set with single steps then 1 set double steps repeated 3 times It's tough, it's horrible there are times you feel like you are dying or chucking it but... It's great for strengthening your legs with practice your fitness levels soar it burns way more calories than boring cardio it's over with quite quickly there IS a sense of achievement and weirdly we kinda enjoy it The session is timed, and the idea is to try and beat your time which gets recorded on the league table up on the noticeboard Beginners that are out of shape can walk instead of run or start with 3 sets rather than 6 and build up from there as and when they are ready Think about it everyone should be able to walk up and down stairs Right? If you are runner you may be familiar with hill sprints as a way to improve your performance stairs are the same, although much harder and a lot of the clients I've trained over the years have credited the stairs to their marathon success Just so you know... a complete beginner walks them in about 30 mins a marathon runner at their peak runs them in about 8 mins So, back to last night, 8 of them set off and I left them to it they go at 5 second intervals so they don't fall over each other and they came back about 20 mins later

I took their times and marked them on the table (most of them got a PB) I was listening to them chat and they were talking about doing extra sets I have never heard of anyone doing extra sets The stairs are the kind of exercise that when you finish - you are done! no one does extra In fact, no one voluntarily does the stairs in the first place you need pushed into doing it and I'm happy to oblige :-) So, I asked the girls why they were doing extra and their response blew me away They kept going until the last one finished so she wasn't left doing them on her own. To me, that summed up the guys at the Studio and the success of the group training programme. While most people work out alone humans crave interaction with each other it's an instinct built into us they feed off each other motivation, inspiration and determination is much higher in a small group You gain more confidence in doing something when you see others succeed and nothing beats that solidarity of team work and true comradeship from your friends who won't let you give up and will keep going beside you until you finish, even though they are 'done' I doubt the last person would have given up but how great must it feel to have comrades like these?

Stop Hating

Hate is probably the most powerful word and emotion in existence I get to experience it a lot yes people get so wound up by my writing that they feel the need to send me poison to put me in my place Sometimes it happens from reading my writing for 3 years, one day they just snap and the hate comes out I used to get really upset, one time I was on holiday and this woman said she had came across my blog and gave me six paragraphs of abuse She said I had an unhealthy obsession with people’s bodies and what they eat At the time I was too upset to see just how ridiculous her statement was, and although tempted to answer her or write anything about it I suffered in silence (apart from letting my clients read it) I talk in general terms and my opinions won't always be shared, however I would never attack a specific person with some of the stuff that I've been sent Celebrities must either cut themselves off from the world or have very thick skin to cope with the hateful things said about them I also get lovely, heart-warming emails too so I can't complain but it's funny how I can get 108 emails saying great things I can only remember the 5 that were nasty Word for word I bet that happens to you too? all the praise in the world won't take away the memory of something horrible that was said to you - even from Primary School This is what I want you to do... Next time you find yourself saying

something shitty to someone, about someone or even thinking it Remember what it feels like when it happens to you and don't do it! You don't get pleasure from hating you might think you do but you don't It's bad and it drains your soul Holding onto hate and not forgiving, that's worse - let it go and if someone is hating on you my heart is with you, I let that woman ruin 3 days of my holiday, actually I ruined it cause I couldn't let it go, it took time to digest and eventually I let Ryan read it When he laughed at it, I relaxed a bit Don't hate and don't let the haters get you

Stress is not Exercise

I was talking to a friend yesterday who runs a very busy restaurant and deli she told me that her doctor had told her to start exercising She told the doctor that she is so busy every day at work always running around constantly on her feet lifting things that she doesn't need to do any exercise I told her that's not exercise, it's stress! and that was exactly what her doctor told her too Now, I don't know why her GP told her to exercise and I don't know what her health is like but I do know her husband who runs the business with her had a heart attack a few years ago He got a fright, as did she and he started Personal Training at his local gym 2-3 times a week then gave it up about 6 months later as it was getting in his way of the business My friend (let's just call her Jane) spoke to me at the time about coming and training with me but she has hummed and hawed about it for the past 2 years (maybe longer) Their business is successful they work very hard they have a beautiful house, 2 jeeps a young family and a dog they aren't short of a bob or two BUT They may not be here to enjoy it for much longer he had lost a lot of weight but now it's all back and then some Jane always looks like she could do with an extended holiday (baggy eyes) and just from looking at them

I can see they are in trouble with health So, I had yet another chat with Jane about coming to me I know I can help her but she had excuse after excuse as to why she was so busy and couldn't fit it in The kids, the dog, the business... Look, I get it I find it difficult to make time for myself I work over 70 hours a week I spend 35 hours training clients and the other 35 working on the business I have a dog and a boyfriend and dvd box sets to watch No one appreciates the time issue more than I It is just so sad to see people who can't free up 2-3 hours a week to work out and extend their life I've said this before but we all have the same hours in the day even the 'President of the United States' it's how we choose to use them that counts Delegate 2-3 hours of your week to someone else and give those hours to YOU I'm worried for Jane I hope she realises how important this is before it's too late She has to stop being there for everyone all of the time her business will thrive even when she takes a few hours off What about you? What will it take for you to realise? How can you make better use of your time? Think about it and do it! Stop wearing 'how hard you work' as some kind of medal or achievement

stop seeing exercise as a luxury item when it's an absolute necessity and don't wait too long...

The beauty of nature

Yes it's gardening season and most of us will have some kind of garden and as you know I love being out there pulling the weeds and planting I always remember my Dad saying to me 'grass grows everywhere except were you want it to. It grows on roofs, between the cracks, out of pipes but when you want it to grow on your lawn - nada' It's very true, I see grass growing all over the place, except on the bald patches on my lawn and that's what triggered this post, I felt creative and had to come in and write this! Fat - that stuff that we all hate on our bodies, that's a bit like grass. It grows in places you don't want it and never where you do want it Fat and muscle protect your bones and organs but they also give your body shape. This is where we begin to get problems, it goes everywhere except where we want Example! Boobs are made of fatty tissue and for the flat chested and small boobed brigade, if you gain fat it doesn't go there, it ends up on your tummy or hips instead :-( Example! You are slim, maybe a little too slim, your legs have no shape and you have bones that stick out, the moment you put some weight on, the only shape you get makes you look like humpty dumpty (tummy) Example! You like your top half but you are bottom heavy, you lose weight and reduce your hips and ass but your top half decided to lose even more so you still have the same shape - just smaller It's frustrating isn't it? We can't cheat nature (unless you opt for

surgery) we are who we are and we will never be happy if we keep wishing for something else I'm not a surgeon but I do know a lot about exercise and self esteem Look at the beauty of a well looked after garden, each flower is different, some are missing petals, they don't grow to the same height or bloom at the same time... Nothing more, just that, we are all beautiful like the flowers

The craziest thing I ever heard

I hear a lot of excuses, every day as to why people won't join a programme or a gym but the craziest most insane one ever has to be 'I'm going to lose weight and get fit then join' Now I can kind of understand what they mean They don't want to make a show of themselves They don't want to be the fattest person there They don't want to be struggling to breathe while everyone else is bouncing around They are scared How must that feel? Is this you? Seriously? I get phone calls and emails all the time saying just this From my point of view these are the exact people I'm looking for I'm ready to take them by the hand Slowly introduce them to the alien world of exercise Watch them as the weight drops off Cheer when they can do things they couldn't when they started See the expression on their face when they achieve what they thought they couldn't This is my job and it's why I love it I don't train athletes I don't train Superhero’s I train ordinary people just like you Yes, there are a lot of slim, fit people in my studio but they weren't like that when I met them I've been working on a new website rounding up all the before and after pictures I can't believe what they looked like before! It's been amazing I'm so pleased they trusted me and joined I want you to remember that! the next time you want to do something

a gym, a class, a studio, whatever The people on the other side are waiting for you I once spoke to a woman who was so scared to come along I met her streets away and walked her along the road and into the Studio She laughed once she got in It was all in her head the worst part was over and the workout was easy compared to the fear of coming in In fact, she was better in the workout than she could have imagined and all the other members welcomed her The thing is most people are too busy worrying about how they look Everyone feels unfit or fat So, if you are thinking about doing something but you feel scared It will never be as bad as you think

The Stool

There are two types of stool... One comes out your bum and the other your bum sits on Picture the latter, it has 3 legs and a seat Let’s say you are the seat and one leg is your fitness, 1 is your nutrition and the other is your mental health All three legs have to be the same length for you to balance on your seat If one is shorter than the others you will lose your balance and fall over You might be able to balance on two legs for a while and you may even be able to balance on one leg for a while but eventually you will tire and the stool will collapse Make sense? So, when we talk about having 'balance' in your life, it's not really helpful unless you understand what balance is and are able to recognise if you have it or not The stool can help you measure that (you can also change the analogy to be work life, home life and your life) Let's say that life is extremely busy for you right now and you are juggling lots of balls Try standing on top of the stool while juggling and see how long you last if it's on one leg it's on two legs it's on 3 legs Exactly! How do you know what length the legs on your stool are? You will want to gauge this before the

wobbling starts :-) You could measure it in time i.e. how many hours of the day or week that you invest in each one? You could measure on a score out of ten How do I feel physically out of ten? How do I feel mentally out of ten? How do I feel nutritionally out of ten? Do you have perfect balance or are you about to crash?

The tin man became the elastic band

Most of you probably sit at a desk all day and I would imagine that you have all suffered from back pain at some point whether it's just stress and strain or more severe like sciatica Apart from taking painkillers which don't really take the pain away completely your only option is to put up with it until it goes away or you need to spend a small fortune on chiropractors, physios and massage We also tend to be very reactive in how we treat our bodies, the back in particular i.e. we don't do anything about it until we feel the pain - a bit like visits to the dentist and once that pain sets in we would do anything to take it away - agree? So, what can you do? Well, yoga is one of the best preventers of back pain but it is also good for easing the pain once it has started and if you know what you are doing it can ease even the most severe types of pain - the sciatic nerve My brother suffered from chronic back pain until I eventually got him along to a class, afterwards he said he'd slept for the first time in years and after 6 weeks said he felt 20 years younger. He was sleeping in the floor in the living room as he couldn't get up the stairs, his work as a plasterer was suffering and causing more pain and he felt like an old man that couldn't play with his kids He said yoga was better than any painkiller or massage that he was paying for and he got so into his yoga he started demonstrating for me in class as he was that good. An unlikely candidate for yoga, I was surprised With his enthusiasm but it became his pain relief and now he’s training to be a yoga teacher Also, the most inflexible person I had ever met, but with some hard work and determination, he

ironed out all those creases and got his life back If you suffer from chronic pain, are dependent on pain meds and living like you’re 20 years older, becoming active and trying yoga could give you quality of life back And yes, he was the only man in the class.

The Young (Old) Ones

First thing this morning I'm off to visit a client at home who has broken her ankle it's not going to be a cup of tea and a chat either it will be a full workout minus the ankle of course How dedicated - I hear you all thinking and erm a wee bit mad? After all a broken ankle has got to be the perfect excuse to NOT exercise I agree, but when I got the text asking if there was anything... anything that she could do and would I come over and see her (as she can't walk or drive) I knew telling her to rest was pointless You see Anne belongs to what I call my elite group of young in spirit but older in age clients I don't have many of them (5 in total) but each one, individually can kick ass with all the rest of my clients put together including the guys When I first met May for instance I thought I would start gently and gave her a set of skipping ropes reassuring her that she could stop after 30 sec for a rest if she needed one... she then proceeded to speed skip with the precision of a professional boxer while I removed my jaw from the floor and re jigged the rest of her session in my head Then there is Carole who I was training last night she is recovering from a knee operation and would love to get back to running but is facing the reality she might never be able to however, she is working out as much as possible in the meantime, and not giving up hope Tricia is the mum of one of my clients and lives in Dubai

every time she is in Glasgow, she books up for sessions and has since bought kettlebells and a TRX to use when she is in her other home I have a memory of Tricia we were doing farmers walks in the corridor carrying two 16 kg kettlebells Tricia couldn't lift the two of them but she refused to give up and wouldn't leave until she had completed it What do they have in common? They are between the ages of 55 and 65 So stubborn and determined, (defeat is never an option for these guys) Exercise seems to keep them alive and I mean in spirit but yeah, physically too they appreciate the body they've been given wanting to make it last as long as possible and they set brave and ambitious goals So, back to Anne I'm going to sit her on a chair and she can do upper body kettlebell complexes we can make use of the TRX for some exercises and a ton of core work lying on the floor If you are over the age of 55 and thinking it's too late then I hope that reading this will give you some inspiration

Think like a thin person

The word thin can be replaced with many words; fit, successful, happy - anything! Anyway, if you want to be a thin person you have to think like a thin person You know I don't do calorie counting but let's just pretend for a minute we are Say you should be eating 2,600 calories a day for your existing body weight but for your ideal body weight, you should be eating 2,000 calories Then you would eat 2,000 And if you want to be the kind of person who exercises every day, then you should be exercising every day It is mindset but the first step to becoming the person you want to be is to start thinking like they would Does a thin person think differently to the way you think now? Absolutely Does the thin person have a second helping? Does the thin person prepare food in advance? Does the thin person skip a workout? I could give you loads more examples but I think you get what I'm saying then make your decisions based on what the thin person would do, what they would eat, what their life would be like? Once you start to think and live like a thin person you will adapt the new habits and behaviours, they will become part of your daily routine and you will become that thin person Sounds so easy and straightforward? It's simple but not always easy, give it a

try and see how you get on

Warning this is about fat

Every time I post with the word fat in it I get haters blasting me saying I can't use the word fat that I'm insensitive, cruel, a bully so today I'm dedicating a whole post to fat Let's get some things straight first > Everyone has fat > Everyone eats fat > Without it we would die > It's harmful if your body has too little fat > And harmful if your body has too much fat Fat can be good, and fat can be bad The good things about fat; protects your organs keeps you warm gives shape to your body helps vitamin absorption keeps your insides healthy gives you energy essential for your hair, skin and nails Too much body fat can cause the following; spare tyres and wobble larger clothes sizes heavier body weight strain on your organs risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke and cancers decreased confidence depression I don't train athletes, I train normal human beings they might come to me for fitness and strength but the vast majority come to me for help in reducing their body fat I measure and weigh them every month I monitor their progress My workouts are designed to fight the fat I give nutritional advice when required When they start to lose the body fat I see them switch from the 'dangers of too much fat' to the first group of 'the good things about fat' Your body is made up of muscle, bone, skin and ... fat

Fat is not a bad word it just happens to be the name of that squidgy stuff keeping us alive and it some cases killing us Do you call someone fat? Well, heavy, large, big and obese aren't exactly complimentary either I wouldn't personally call someone fat but I would use it in general statements like 'have you noticed how fat people are getting?' If someone were to ask me 'am I fat?’ professionally - I would look at their body and establish any areas where they may be storing extra fat So, I'm going to let the PC brigade do their thing while I will keep doing mine and that is to talk about things like fat Plus, any other uncomfortable words / topics that I am qualified and experienced in Fat is not the real enemy – sugar is…

What will you wish for on your deathbed?

My inspiration first came from Steve Jobs who allegedly said just before he died that all the wealth and success in his life meant nothing to him at his final moments (I say allegedly as some people online like to argue otherwise and he's not around to confirm his statement) He went on to say that apart from work he didn't have much other joy in his life, he was a self-confessed perfectionist and workaholic He lived a fantastic life but at the moment of death, the one thing he didn't have was his health The same can be said of anyone who dies, if they had their health then they wouldn't be dying So, this week it was David Bowie, which I was personally very sad to hear he was gone His close friends have said that he felt he still had so much to give, so much more he wanted to do and although he also had a fantastic life, it just wasn't long enough We might not all want to live to be 100 years old but living a little bit longer and being well enough to enjoy that little bit longer, has to be desired Especially when you are sick and coming to the end. This isn't a post about 'oh you need to eat right and exercise every day' although that is part of it Another Steve Jobs quote... "Death is the destination we all share, no one has ever escaped it" So, if it's coming for us all, which it is, now might be a good time to reflect on what you want from life.

What are the things you want to do before you die? What will you wish you had done? I guarantee it won't be working late or getting a report in on time or worrying about you are good enough at your job The top answers other than health are: Spending more time with family and friends Travelling the world Experiences - bucket list Realising that work isn't everything Realising that money isn't everything Appreciating the small things in life It's just too sad to think you might get to the end and wish for more time

When life gets stale

I was watching the latest episode of The Walking Dead last night (no spoilers) and this season so far has been... the only word I could think of was stale The show reached its peak closing a couple of years ago, then opening last year with an episode close to the excitement of 'who shot JR?' While it was expected to calm down afterwards (you can't keep that level of excitement going) last season was ok BUT This season has been 3 or 4 episodes so far (it's been that dull I don't even know how many) and this morning I was thinking about how it compares to real life, without the zombies of course We aren't super excited every day and we have times where we have the blues but feeling stale is different, it's the same old thing day in and out and a general feeling of blah Stuck in a rut? Boredom? Too much autopilot? Existing and not living? That sounds stale to me, so what can you do to freshen life back up again? Back to Basics Basics are good, they are your foundation. Often we get caught up chasing excitement we forget how good the basics are Keep food simple, easy to make with good quality ingredients. Take exercise down a notch and focus on the big moves and technique rather than numbers, like the squat, burpees, overhead press Get some pride going, clean the house as if you have guests coming, tidy the garden and at work put the extra effort in and make that report or presentation outstanding

Rotate your routine Work on the garden in summer and your DIY through the winter, eat seasonal food and not the same foods all year round If you run, take 3 months off each year, I rotate exercises and equipment at the Studio, last quarter we did a lot of barbells, this quarter the focus is on kettlebells and next quarter will be TRX This is all good for your body but your mind will thank you for it too Try something new Try new things, they might not be for you but have fun trying, study a course that has nothing to do with your work, a language, photography or whales and dolphins (yes that is an actual course) I have a client in Botswana just now doing a photography course, sounds amazing! Get some variety Eat a different meat each mealtime through the week fish, pork, beef, chicken, duck, turkey, lamb? Eat a different vegetable each day Do a different style workout each day, prise your hands off the spin bike and wander out to do some weights Change your route to work, change your lunch hour or wear something different to work, maybe change your hair style I was on a walking dead forum yesterday and someone posted 'the best thing they could do with the show now is drop a nuclear bomb and kill everyone off I think they'll pull it back, the show has been too good over the years, it's just gone stale If they go back to basics, rotate some characters, do something new and get some variety, it will all come good again

Women are Complicated Creatures

Hmmm We already know that don't we? For the guys on the list... I'm writing this from a 'training' perspective obviously and I'm 'generalising' I train mainly women but quite a few guys too guys are fairly straightforward lose some fat and build some muscle Maybe some fitness thrown in Women on the other hand are a minefield of complications and it seems like the body fights back when you try to change its shape or size physically and emotionally women get a bum deal Women in their 30's have PMT have periods want to attract men Get engaged Move house Change career Get married want to have babies get pregnant want to get rid of the baby fat get pregnant again Women in their 40's Panic that they are now getting old realise that everything from here really is downhill discover they can't eat like they used to without paying the price boobs and ass start to sag wrinkles appear chin hair appears grey hair appears still get PMT and have periods maybe for not much longer... opt for IVF if late in deciding Women in their 50's Don't panic anymore They know they will never look 16 again Everything starts to sag old age is getting closer

thank god they raised the age for being a pensioner! Periods are going away suddenly that makes them feel sad like they're not a woman anymore Night sweats and hot flushes Will they ever feel attractive again! Is there any point in trying... What is my point here? apart from depressing you all :-) These are all factors I take into consideration when working with women It does help that I'm female of course Well, women with PMT need to throw things Women during her period needs to take exercise down by 20% Women before their period will eat anything in sight Women during their period will weigh more and be 'fat and bloated' Women NEED to look their absolute best on the biggest day of their lives even if it's just for one day the photos will be looked at for years Exercising while pregnant is one of the best things you can do for your body and child Child birth is easier And giving a women her body back after a baby makes her feel like a woman again and not some baby slave Women need confidence They can age and still be beautiful They can be as physically strong and fit than most girls in their 20's Women in menopause also need to throw things They have times where hormones are raging but they have no physical strength and crumple in a heap They think they can't do it They are too old Not at all! Hormones at all ages wreck havoc with the body We can't change the width of our hips but we can change our size or shape to compliment we can't change where our body stores fat but we could store less of it These are just a few of the factors I think about

every day I know my clients I see the signs and try to gently steer them in the right direction Actually I don't… It's more like push them but they need me to do that So, for all the women out there listen to your body It is a wonderful piece of machinery and understand that there are times it won't do what you want it to do and that is ok don't beat yourself up

You can teach an old dog new tricks

Lots of old dogs at the Studio and I teach them new tricks all the time :-) I can say this because I aint a young pup either I'm more of a scraggy mutt but I am the leader of the pack The old dogs come in wary and weary they get nervous at the thought of doing new things their bones and muscles feel neglected and years of stress, hormones and eating out have made their bellies rounder they don't have a lot of confidence and worry about being near the younger dogs for fear of looking stupid and past it but the old dogs are wise and they trust their leader when she says take it slow and don't give up your days of being a show dog aren't over yet you can get fit, lose the belly and feel good again before you know it you will be racing around jumping in the air, performing tricks you have never seen or heard of before, wagging your tail and waiting for the words 'well done girl' although they trust me, as all good dogs do they remain sceptical, especially when they see a young collie bound past, full of energy and excitement, woofing so much that the trainer tells her to be quiet they look around at the other dogs and are amazed at all the different shapes and sizes the chihuahua perched on a bench with such a slight build and delicate features she looks like she could break into pieces with a blow from the wind yet she is stronger and more capable than she looks the whippets than can run the corridor or stairs faster than the others while the bull dogs are not so fast but lift much heavier weights the Doberman standing in the centre of the room sleek, dominant and perfect in every way the St Bernard’s who struggle with their weight

sometimes having to do variations on their tricks but they always finish, even if they are last lots of mongrels who before finding the studio felt lost and unwanted at the other places they had gone to, but here they fit in just as much as the thoroughbreds, they never feel inferior some of the dogs have been badly treated before but now they've gained confidence and friends they hold their head higher and are less tense the old dogs are often surprised to learn that a lot of these dogs are actually old dogs like them So, they take the plunge and say to their leader teach me new tricks! I will give it a try... I teach them, they learn and before they know it they are rolling around, jumping high and the rest they say is doggie history All dogs were based on real characters

You can’t heal a leg with positive thoughts

I was thinking about this last night when I was feeling frustrated with how slow the process can be when recovering from a mental breakdown I want to be better, I want to be back to normal, fully functioning and off the extra tablets I'm on, trying to think positive and not really succeeding So, I tried to imagine I'd broken my leg instead, it's only been 3 weeks, a leg takes at least 6 weeks with some rehab afterwards, maybe looking at another few months before it was 'normal' I also tried to imagine healing my leg by thinking positive thoughts and that made me laugh, it would be impossible Then I thought about the medication I would get for a broken leg, painkillers and anti-inflammatories. I wouldn't think twice about taking them they would help with the healing process by taking away the pain and reducing the swelling and I would continue taking them until the pain had gone I would be on crutches and have to limit my movements, people would see my leg and say 'sit down, take it easy, I'll help you' I would look at my own leg and say 'sit down, take it easy and let it heal' I absolutely wouldn't try to fix it with positive thinking, would you? Yet that's what people often say 'think positive' and I've even been trying to say it to myself - doh! It's only been just over 3 weeks since my mind had a wee break, actually it was quite a bad one Today I got up and thought 'yeah, I need

to sit down, take it easy, take my extra meds until the pain has gone and I'm going to use my crutches until I can walk again' I'm back at work but with reduced hours and I'll write when I feel like it and apart from bandaging my head, I have to tell people that I've been broken but on the mend :-) Luckily I can talk about it easily but not everyone can If someone confides in you, think of the broken leg and take it from there

You can’t out train a bad diet

There is a saying in the world of fitness that you can't out train a bad diet which means no matter how hard you train, if you are eating rubbish you won't get results exercise can give you fitness, muscle and body shape, stronger bones and will burn extra calories that you wouldn't get from sitting on your backside but if your diet consists of too much food, fatty food, high calorie food and sugary food then you will be covered in more body fat when working with clients who are overweight, with a good percentage of their body covered in wobble, I get them to imagine the body they are building underneath that fat kinda like Terminator under the skin and fat is a machine and we need to build the machine first as the machine builds faster than dropping the fat So, as an exercise coach I go to work on making the body stronger, fitter and more flexible I look at the structure and movement of the body and begin to sculpt that machine Now, at this point if the client hasn't changed their diet and is still overeating the wrong things they may not see a visible change as the same amount of body fat clings to the machine Yes, the improved machine is now burning more calories but it probably isn't enough especially if there is a lot of fat to shift Sometimes I see glimpses of the machine before they will as I'm watching the body move in their sessions and when the muscles are active they peek through and I start to see definition This can be a sticking point for the client if they get disheartened they know they are stronger and fitter but they look the same in the mirror (not always) With time though the machine might eventually burn through all the fat, so it is possible to lose

the fat just with exercise but we could be talking more than a year... Changing your body is a two-pronged attack build the machine (exercise) lose the fat (mainly diet) If you choose to lose the fat and not build the machine? Often you end up with a smaller, softer squidgy version of what you had before So, the best way and the quickest way to get results are to do both. It's also the best thing you can do for your body inside and out

You need to enjoy it

If you want drinking water to become a habit, you need to think about why you are drinking it and the benefits you will gain, while drinking This is so the brain can pick up that the water is important and will begin to embed drinking it as a habit You want it to become a habit, so you do it on autopilot, without thinking about it and then by magic - you are a water drinker! But this is the next really important part that you need to know - you must enjoy it! Let's use Brussel sprouts as an example (because most people loathe them) You can eat sprouts 10 times a day, every day for a year, you can tell yourself the wonderful goodness you are getting from them is giving you every benefit under the sun But guess what? It won't become a habit because your brain won't want to embed this horrible thing in your habit zone We are built to enjoy pleasure and we want more of it. We don't enjoy suffering and we want less of it Think about that - forcing yourself to eat or do something you don't enjoy, either won't last long or no matter how hard you try, it won't embed in your brain as a habit Let's think about that some more... You hate running, you are rubbish at running but everyone you know runs, it looks easy and they've lost weight, look great and talk about their running Against your own will and sanity, you decide to get your trainers on and go for a run, you hate it - but then everyone hates in in the beginning so you

persevere 6 months to a year later you are still hating it, you haven't once looked forward to going out, not once have you woken up and said, 'can't wait to go for a run'! Not only is it just not your thing but your brain is rejecting it as a habit, cause deep down you don't want it to be one and you are miserable On the other hand, Let's say you try Something else like a mixture of kettlebells, barbells, yoga, pilates, bodyweight, TRX And you love it! Before you know it, you have the dates marked out in your calendar, nothing will get in your way, you look forward to your session all day and it makes you feel happy What I'm saying is that there are enough choices with food and exercise for you to pick the ones you enjoy - don't suffer anything just because 'it's good for you' Long term, it's a waste of time. It does always seem we get addicted to the bad stuff and not the good stuff, and that's because we enjoy the bad stuff more and we give it greater importance in our brain Find some good stuff you enjoy as much and Embed it into your life and brain

Your body is more than a pretty object

I caught a documentary on Ronda Rousey the other night - wow! Don't know who Ronda Rousey is? She's a Judo Bronze Olympian who took up MMA (mixed martial arts) at a time when women didn't really feature much in the sport she's most famous for recently fighting a Brazilian girl and beating her in seconds 34 to be precise which was a lengthy fight as her previous ones were over in 14 & 16 seconds Clips you usually see of Ronda are in the ring looking scary or dressed up in a tight dress at press conferences, neither appealing to women much (or men) I was already a Ronda fan, you either love her or hate her - marmite, but I love sport I love boxing and I love other fighting so it was easy for me to feel respect for her In this programme though she came across as a very intelligent ambitious young woman and very beautiful - especially when she was natural and laughing. She says she gets criticised for the way she looks, too manly or not ripped enough (ripped means very low body fat so you can see all the muscles) her response is that her body wins fights (the way she looks doesn't) her body is strong, athletic, fit and wins fights (nothing to do with looks) Ronda's point is that her body does exactly what she needs it to do, in her case winning fights She is not using it as a showpiece to please men or other women and just so you know she is 5ft 7 and weighs approx 9.5 stone which is super slim...

She makes a great point We all want to look good, don't we? and there is nothing wrong with that but what can you learn from Ronda? Well, what do you want from your body and exercise routine? Do you want your body to be healthy? Do you want to live longer? Do you want to live a life where your body works and does what it's supposed to? Do you want to be strong enough to do day to day activities plus the gardening or moving furniture? Do you want to be fit enough to walk around, go up and down stairs and run for a bus without feeling like you are going to die? Having a visible six pack for example does not give you any of the above yet it all over social media worn as some kind of medal The only thing a visible six pack gives you is a visible six pack - it's not even a sign of a strong core - it might be strong but it might not... So, my question to you is this... What do you want from your body? Are you achieving it?

Thank You

I hope you enjoying my short posts, for more inspirations from Fit Strong Females please visit the website

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Carolyne