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April 2010 Newsletter

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Greetings and welcome to the April newsletter for 2010. I can’t believe March has come and gone and already we are into the heart of the footy season (NRL, AFL & Super 14). Some of you may have already become footy widows and not are likely to see your partners until around the end of September when the cricket season starts.

As always, your feedback is cherished, so please keep up all the comments. I certainly take them on board. If there’s something that you want to know about, then drop me an email. If I can’t give you an answer straight away, i’ll research it and come back to you. All questions which end up as an article entitle the suggestor a complimentary service voucher valued at $100.00 enabling you to spend it with me however you wish.

Using your Hormones to lose weight

I was at the doctor’s surgery the other day with the kids; you know how they are always catching bugs at school.  Anyway, I picked up an old “Men’s Health” magazine and it had an article in it which I want to share some of its contents.  While those types of magazines are full of marketing advertisements bombarding you with all the latest hype over supplements etc, this time, one of the articles actually made a lot of sense.  While the content of this article is generally targeting blokes, ladies, don’t feel like you are missing out.  At least now, you will have an idea why blokes behave a certain way at different times of the day.  It’s their hormones.

6.00am: What you see as a good nights sleep, your body interprets as starvation and in an attempt to conserve energy there’s a dramatic drop in leptin and insulin, two hormones that determine how fast you turn food into fuel.  This process comes on automatically at night, but it’s up to you to shut it down in the morning, otherwise you’ll start the day in zombie mode.

By eating within an hour of waking up, you’ll trigger an increase in leptin, which will in turn tell your body that the recent fast you’ve just subjected your body to (that 8 hrs of sleep) was NOT a famine.  When leptin levels rise, you increase your energy levels and you feel less hungry.  But if you want that energy to last, make sure your first meal includes some protein and fibre rich carbs to ensure a slow and steady increase of insulin and not a massive spike.

By skipping breakfast, you will re-enforce the body’s thinking that the fast you just had was in fact a famine, which is a sure fire way of storing anything you eat for the rest of the day as BODY FAT!

7.30am: While you have no gauges bolted anywhere on your body telling you as much, it’s pretty much a given that you aren’t yet operating at full fat burning capacity just yet because the gland that controls your metabolism (thyroid) is still snoozing.  One suggestion is to fire up your metabolism with some form of weights or cardio exercise.  The intense exercise early in the day will set off a whole number of hormonal responses, all of which will activate your metabolism into overdrive.  Serotonin levels (A hormone designed to wake you up) and Dopamine (Associated with motivation) rise after exercise causing an increase in awareness, happiness and enthusiasm.  Just remember to fuel up afterwards to ensure that fired up metabolism continues to rage for the rest of the day.  You have about 90 mins after exercise to replenish those spent glycogen stores before your glycogen storage capacity slows to a trickle.

12.00pm: For you guys, around about now two things are starting to happen, your testosterone levels are starting to dip and your ghrelin levels are starting rise.  Both hormone changes are leading to the same thing; hunger.  Try and combine your lunch time meal with a meeting.  You see, while your testosterone levels were high in the morning (remember that 5.30am erection?) your brain was primed for independent focussed work like writing or generating ideas.  On the other hand, your lunch time lowering testosterone levels are ideal for acing meetings.  You still have that mental edge, just minus the aggressiveness. Make sure that the lunch time meal contains slow digesting proteins and fats as well as some energy containing carbs to ensure a steady release of energy thus avoiding that 3.30pm dead spot.

3.00pm: Does this sound familiar to you, 3.30itis!  That disease you get where you are struggling to stay awake, perhaps you are struggling to focus or your brain feels like its running on empty?  As your testosterone levels continue to fall, your memory fades.  A steady flow of testosterone during the day is vital for the neurons in the brain to properly communicate with each other.  Give that coffee and cake a miss and take a short competition break instead.  Just make sure that whatever you choose it will challenge you.  (The old waste paper basket basketball shoot out is a great one for office workers) or a 10 minute crossword or Sudoku puzzle might be more your thing.

7.00pm: As night time falls, your body starts to wind down after a hectic day and solidifying everything that you’ve learned into the subconscious mind.  Melatonin levels are starting to rise, which is the hormone that sends you off to la la land.  Avoiding alcohol, caffeine and nicotine are sure fire ways of achieving a smooth transition to sleep.  Time for one last meal for the day.  Make this meal one for the brain, so you can avoid any calorie dense carbohydrates (sugary drinks, pastas, rice, breads, potatoes etc) and feast out on lean protein sources, good fats, plenty of vitamin rich vegetables of all colours and maybe a small glass of wine to wash it down with.  (Not those buckets you drink out of on weekends)  Your brain will need plenty of energy if it is to rejuvenate your weary old body while you sleep.

So there you have it, a quick lesson on using hormones to lose weight, by firing up the metabolism when you need it, and slowly dampening it down when you don’t.

April Partners PT Special

Many of you have husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends and significant other halves, who, while you head off for your workout, sit around at home waiting for you to come home.Why is this so? It doesn’t have to be that way? If you get them into the club then I’ll sweeten the pot so to speak.

How?   I’ll offer my fantastic services at the new Partners Deal. Currently 1:1 PT costs $80 and 2:1 PT costs $65. Only for you and your partner, if both of you join me in experiencing how Personal Training can help you achieve your goals smarter, you’ll both be eligible for 1:1 PT at the 2:1 price. (A savings of $15 per session EACH)

You won’t have to train together (unless you want to of course).

How great is that?

So all you have to do is get me your significant other person their name, email and type in “PARTNER DEAL” into the “Nature of Inquiry” field and click on the submit button and I will take care of the rest. EASY!!

Introducing BEYOND SUCCESS

Some of you may be aware and others may not, but since April 2009, I have been on a very special journey. You see, just under 12 months ago, I was introduced to Paul & Mary Blackburn at a 3 day seminar in Sydney titled, “Mouthing Off For Big Money” where he demonstrated how to make big $$$ selling from stage.

At the end of the three day event, I was completely blown away by this man, his generosity, his genuiness, his talent at holding a crowd and of course, his methods. So much so, that I invested considerable time and money to spend more time with him on a more intimate scale.

Over the past 12 months, myself and 20 other individuals from all over Australia have been flying to Canberra every 3 months to spend 2 intense days at Pauls house (250 acres of beautiful farm land on the outskirts of Canberra) learning the craft of speaking. I must say that it has been one hell of a journey. I have learned so much more than I ever expected.

Paul and Mary’s main message is in the field of Personal Development and his seminar “The Mental Tool Box” is where its at. I highly recommend that everyone who is anyone, get along to this event. He runs them all over Australia on a regular basis so book yourself a seat by clicking on “The Mental Tool Box” (Use PR1567 as your Promotional code). He’s running some intro nights, so maybe if you are unsure, you can get a bit of a taste of him at an intro night.

Some of you sceptics are probably wondering why I am promoting Paul. I must be getting some sort of kick back. Well here’s the truth. I get NOTHING for recommending Paul. So why am I talking him up? Here’s why. Paul has changed my life. Venecia and I are so grateful that he and Mary came into our life when they did and I believe that everyone should be given an opportunity to experience Paul and Mary for themselves.

These two are kind, loving and genuine people living the life of their dreams, all the while remaining happily married for the past 32 years, while raising two beautiful daughters who are also heavily involved in their family business.

So, what are you waiting for, go and meet Paul and Mary for yourselves and change your life, for the better.

Anger Management

Making sure that you are not ruled by your emotions can be difficult, especially in today’s busy world. Set aside some time as often as you can to express your anger purely and openly. In the meantime, here are some quick techniques you can use to make sure you keep your anger in check:

•    Deal quickly and assertively with minor threats so that there is no build up of feeling and you have plenty of opportunity to practice handling this feeling in safe situations.

•    Maintain a clear and up to date idea about what, by your own standards and for your own needs, is worth getting angry about and what is not.

•    Develop a sound knowledge of your own pre-programmed patterns and make a plan to counteract them.

•    Keep your self-esteem boosted so you are not as vulnerable to wounded pride (probably the most common cause of everyday uncontrolled anger responses).

•    Give yourself a balanced lifestyle and nurturing relationships so that you have only tolerable amounts of pressure with which to cope.

•    Have a constructive channel into which you can direct your anger, especially when it has been stimulated by issues that you are powerless to do anything about.

•    Each time an old habit surfaces, take time out to reflect and get feedback on what went wrong, then rehearse (if only in your mind) how you can behave differently next time.

•    Play a sport or get enough physical exercise to release any pent up tension.

•    Regularly check the state of your key relationships and resolve conflicts and re-negotiate expectations and ground rules as soon as possible.

How To Handle Rejection

On the way to reaching any worthwhile goal, chances are you will be faced with rejection. How you deal with this rejection is often the deciding factor that will determine whether or not you reach your goal.
Many people unfortunately take rejection very personally and view it as a reflection of their self worth. For example, when you apply for a job and are not successful, it is easy to start thinking things like, “I guess I’m just not good enough…”
In order to overcome the ‘rejection barrier’ and reach your most important goals, you must learn to dismiss these negative thoughts.
But of course that is easier said than done!
In this article, I’d like to share with you a simple idea that can help you eliminate the negative feelings often associated with rejection.
Imagine for a moment that you are facing a very large wall. In front of you are a number of bright red doors.

Behind one of these doors lies your goal. This could be your perfect job, your ideal partner etc. Your job is simply to keep opening doors until you find the right one.
Now let me ask you a question…If you were single and you knew that your perfect partner was waiting for you behind one of these doors, how much sense would it make to open one door and then say, “I’m not good enough to find someone special so I’m not going to open any more doors…”
In this simple example it’s quite clear that the act of opening doors should have absolutely no bearing on your personal self image. It is simply something you have to go through in order to find what you are looking for.
If you can adopt a similar approach to dealing with rejection in the real world, you will become unstoppable!
Achieving your dreams is a numbers game. If you have the courage and determination to knock on enough doors, you will find the right one.
Action Steps:
The next time you are faced with rejection, instead of taking it personally and criticizing yourself, think of the red doors and say out loud, “This was just a wrong door” and move on to try the next door.