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Recipes, Fitness, Mindset to Making Ordinary People Extra Ordinary

March Newsletter

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Greetings and welcome to the first bi-monthly newsletter for 2010. This year looks to be a fantastic year for Us, with a number of massive changes having already been implemented so far. First and foremost the format for the newsletter has changed. No longer a PDF file attached to an email, you can now view the entire newsletter direct from our website.

At the top of the page you’ll find a contents section with a list of all the great features contained within the newsletter.

Happy reading!!! 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.

Metabolic Typing

I’ve added a new Service to the Bow! Over the Christmas break (among other things) I underwent further training in the field of Metabolic Typing. So what is Metabolic Typing?

Have you ever noticed how two people could go on the same diet, do exactly the same thing and one person achieve excellent results and the other fail miserably.  This is because there is not one diet that is right for everyone, therefore to achieve optimal health you must determine what is right for you.

Metabolic typing is a system that identifies an individual’s genetically-based nutrition and diet requirements.  T

o me this makes so much sense given that we are all so different yet we are supposedly grouped together when it comes to dieting.  We have different hair color, eye color, skin color, body shapes, so it makes such logic sense that our metabolic type would be different for each of us.

Largely determined by the autonomic nervous system dominance & rate of cellular oxidation, your metabolic type is determined by completing an extensive questionnaire and then eating the correct ratio of proteins, carbohydrates and fats, based on your results.

There are three metabolic types, protein, carbohydrate and mixed types and this explains why some people do so well on a particular diet, while others don’t.

Benefits:

  • Reward yourself with the food your body wants you to eat
  • Understand how to make the right food choices
  • Banish guilt around food (yes, and some things you have been “told” are bad for you may be just what you need)
  • End nagging cravings
  • Treat your digestion with the foods that feel comfortable
  • Normalize your metabolism
  • Lift your energy levels
  • Recognize your unique needs
  • AND wake up to the truth about weight loss.

So, if you want to determine your metabolic type and starting eating right for your type, feel free to contact me for your metabolic typing assessment.

What’s the best way to burn body fat?

Disclaimer: Although all of the info contained in this article is geared towards the benefits of and the effectiveness of anaerobic high intensity interval training (HIIT) vs low intensity aerobic training with regards to fat utilisation there is an understanding that some reasons for aerobic training supersede the outcomes.

If your goals, personal lifestyle and enjoyment means that you desire long slow distance (LSD) activities, then so be it.  The goal of this article is not to discount or diminish the value of LSD types of activities, but merely to present data with regards to what is the best way to ACHIEVE overall fat loss.

If you asked four different fitness professionals, what is the best way to lose body fat, I bet that you would receive four different responses and why is this?  We (fitness professionals (FP) that is) are just like our clients.

We are subjected, bombarded even with information overload and it is often difficult to decipher what’s true from mere marketing rubbish design to get you to buy that next wonder drug, magic pill, secret potion.  SO imagine then that if FP’s struggle to decipher the info, how on earth are our clients supposed to?

Answer: EDUCATION!  Its time to start educating yourself on the true facts about your fitness goals and how to achieve them.  To those of you reading this, I bet that you have spent some considerable amount of time and money educating yourself to get to your current employed position today.

Guess what, all that hard work was not achieved by swallowing a quick fix pill.  So why should achieving fat loss be any different?

So here are three facts for you to digest about why long slow distance training (LSD) may be less effective and possibly even counter productive for fat loss when compared to high intensity interval training (HIIT)

Both LSD and HIIT increase fat oxidation (burning), however, it can take up to 2 weeks for LSD to be effective whereas the positive effect of LSD is almost immediate.

And the reason is this; when you exercise you deplete your energy stores (glycogen levels), the faster you deplete them the faster you utilise fat.  LSD depletes energy stores slower than HIIT.

Don’t get caught up in the “fat burning zone” (FBZ). You’ll find this displayed on most pieces of cardio equipment in gyms as a percentage of your heart rate (HR) zone.  While there is truth in the FBZ being at approximately 65% of your maximum heart rate (MHR), you only burn body fat for the period that you are on the machine.

Once you stop, your metabolism quickly slows back to normal.  HIIT increases your metabolism for up to 24 – 48 hours post exercise, thus having a far superior caloric expenditure rate than if you just did LSD alone. Use the analogy of a car idling.

Its still using petrol but if it was idling at a higher RPM (revolutions per minute) it would burn more petrol.

High intensity weight training (HIWT) like its interval counterpart burns larger glycogen stores, however it also builds lean muscle tissue.

Everybody knows that muscle burns fat, however, that’s not quite true, but when compared to fat burning fat, muscle burns around 7-10 calories per kg per day whereas fat (adipose tissue) only burns 2-3 calories per kg per day.

So, there you have it, 3 quick reasons why HIIT may be more beneficial to your goals if fat loss is what you are after.  Remember though, LSD has its place in terms of lifestyle, enjoyment, and building a cardio base for sports specific endurance.

Find Your Reason Why

When you are facing a difficult period in your life, one of the most helpful and motivating things you can do is to identify your ‘Reason Why’.

Most of us don’t enjoy working hard just for the sake of it. Usually we work much better if we have a compelling reason for doing so.

Here’s an example that illustrates the power of finding your ‘Reason Why’.

Cathy (a fictitious name) was working hard to complete her engineering degree. Her final project thesis was due in three weeks and she had several major exams at the end of the month. In the middle of this already stressful time, Cathy learned that her father was ill and had been taken to hospital.

Since Cathy and her father were very close, she found it almost impossible to concentrate on her studies and considered deferring her course so that she could look after her father.

When she spoke to him about this, Cathy’s father told her that more than anything, he wanted her to complete her degree and asked her to do it for him.

Instantly, Cathy discovered a powerful ‘Reason Why’. Drawing on her love for her father, she found the motivation to get up early and work harder than she had ever worked before. When she got tired, she taped a picture of her father above her computer to help her focus on her ‘Reason Why’.

Cathy completed her degree and a few months later, her father was able to attend her graduation and watched proudly as she received her certificate.

Today I’d like to encourage you to find your ‘Reason Why’. Perhaps you’re working at a job you dislike in order to give your children opportunities you never had, or maybe you’re building a business in order to obtain financial freedom for yourself and your partner.

Whatever challenges you’re facing, when you identify and focus on your ‘Reason Why’ you will discover a reservoir of motivation that will help see you through even the most difficult times.

This Week’s Action Steps
(1) If you are currently facing a difficult situation, spend some time in quiet thought to identify your underlying ‘Reason Why’.
(2) Paste a picture of your ‘Reason Why’ in a prominent position.
(3) Whenever you need motivation, focus on your ‘Reason Why’ and use this inspiration to recharge your batteries and do what you need to do.

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