Change your environment, change your life

 

When was the last time you did an audit of your environment? Probably never?

 

Have you ever looked around at the spaces you inhabit and thought, 

 

“How could I make it easier to do the things that will take me towards my goals AND make it harder to do the things that take me away from my goals?”

 

This, more than habits, will make you more likely to achieve your weight loss goals and live the life you want to live

 

One of the top priorities with our Personal Training clients is to have them audit their environment to make it easier to make the right choices when it comes to their weight loss goals

 

Things like:

 

Taking processed food out of the cupboard

 

Putting a fruit bowl on the kitchen bench

 

Laying out your gym clothes the night before

 

Filling up your water bottle and leaving it next to the coffee machine

 

Having meals in the freezer

 

Parking further away from the shops….

 

All of these things take away the need for decisions

 

They take away the fluff between will I or won’t I, they make it much easier to just do!

 

How to do this? 

 

Walk around the house, the office, wherever you spend a lot of your time  

List off the things that take you away from your goals and towards your weight loss goals

 

Think about how you can turn it more towards the positive and away from the negative

 

Pro tip: adding is just as good as subtracting i.e. adding a fruit bowl etc

 

How to get a good nights sleep

 

Your day doesn’t start when you wake up, it starts before you go to bed and (hopefully) get a good nights sleep

 

How you sleep is the biggest factor that will determine the outcome of your day

 

So if you’re having a bad nights sleep it’s incredibly hard to do the things you know you need to do

 

This compounds the problem, and makes you feel worse because you feel like you need more discipline or more willpower

 

When really, what you need, is more sleep!

 

Good news is it doesn’t have to be complicated, a big problem that might have an easy fix

 

We’re big on getting the foundations right when our Personal Training clients first start with us

 

That way, you reap the benefits of all the hard work you’re doing

 

Sleep is no exception

 

Start with these 4 things as the foundation for a good nights sleep

 

1) get 20-30 minutes of sunlight into your eyes a day (obviously not looking directly at the sun, just outside without windows or glasses blocking the light)

 

2) completely blackout your room at night (no phone light, little tv red light, no light coming in the windows)

 

3) turn off all devices an hour before bed

 

4) cool room, it should be a cold enough to need a blanket (not an issue at the moment)

 

Try at least 1 of these 4 things for a week and if you aren’t sleeping better I’ll eat this sled

 

THE BEST ROAST YOU’LL EVER HAVE

First time I’ve ever made roast, and I kid you not, best one I’ve ever had (sorry mum)!

Used Lamb shoulder for this, don’t be afraid to go all out and get a grass fed lamb shoulder from your local butcher

It’s worth it!

You get the best results when you go for quality, whether that’s quality reps in the gym or quality meat in the oven

Ingredients
1.6kg lamb shoulder
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 onion, quartered (no need to peel)
1 head garlic , cut in half horizontally
4 garlic cloves , cut into slivers
8 sprigs rosemary
1 cup (250ml) water

Instructions

Preheat oven to 220°C fan forced

Rub the lamb with the olive oil, salt and pepper.

Use a sharp knife to make 12 cuts into the lamb, deep as you can without going all the way through
Stuff bits of rosemary and garlic into the holes

Place the onion, halved garlic bulb and rosemary in the base of a roasting pan. Place the lamb on top. Pour water around

Cover with a double layer of foil. Place in the oven, and turn the oven down to 180°C

Roast for 3 hours then remove the foil and turn up the oven to 220°C and roast for another 30 minutes, until the skin is crisp

Remove lamb from the roasting tray and chuck it onto a chopping board and cover with foil then a couple of tea towels and let it rest for at least 30 minutes

Serve with roast potatoes, veggies and gravy 😋

What The Hell effect

 

You know when you set yourself a goal, like not to eat choccie’s at work, then you eat choccie’s, then instead of not eating more choccie’s, you’re like, “Well, I’ve already eaten some choccie’s I might as well eat ALL the choccies?”  

 

That’s called the “What the Hell” effect (or counterregulatory behaviour for the nerds) 

 

You know like, “ah what the hell, I’ve already broken my promise a little, why not go the whole way”

 

It’s not a great strategy

 

Which you probably realise, so why do you do it? 

 

And, more importantly, how can you stop doing it? Or, at least stop doing it so badly

 

Firstly, you need to understand what’s going on

 

When you do something that makes you feel bad, you try to make yourself feel better

 

This leads to a cycle, because it’s actually the feeling of guilt and shame of that error that in turn makes you look for something quick and easy to achieve that

 

That often means reaching for the food that made you feel bad in the first place 

 

 

What the hell to do instead

 

 

And, the fix for this is found in the problem itself

 

It’s really important to make note of the way you talk to yourself during this process

 

Once you make a bad decision, do you tell yourself off, and talk down to yourself?

 

“You’ve failed again, like you always do, why do you even try, this never works, you have no discipline and no self control” 

 

Or, do you talk to yourself with compassion? 

 

“It happened, but it doesn’t make you a bad person, you’re still learning and the more you try the better you will get, this is a journey and this is part of the experience that will make you better in time” 

 

This isn’t an airy fairy difference

 

It’s critical to your long term success

 

Being more compassionate about your mistakes leads to better outcomes the next time around

 

Because you will make mistakes! You will, many of them

 

Like everyone else does

 

And good! The mistakes you make now are the lessons that will guide you in the future

 

Follow this up with, what can I control that might help me the next time this situation pops up? 

 

So you’re hitting it from two angles, firstly responding with compassion and then with a beginners mind, how can you improve from this

 

Try it next time you stuff up, because you will, and it won’t be the last time

 

But it doesn’t have to be the awful experience it is at the moment

 

Be kind to yourself, and be curious about yourself

The road to your first pull up

 

Have you dreamed of achieving your first pull up? 

 

For most, and maybe you, that’s all it’s ever been

 

After helping 100s of people achieve their first pull up, I can tell you there is definitely a better way to achieve it

 

And it doesn’t involve bands, at least not in the traditional wrapped around the bar way 

 

It also doesn’t have to include a ‘kip’, in fact I’d suggest you achieve a strict pull up before throwing in an explosive movement to get you up

 

Which makes sense, throwing yourself into a movement you can’t achieve with control just sounds like a bad idea

 

So, if you aren’t using bands, and you aren’t swinging yourself into a pull up, where do you start? 

 

Leg assisted

 

Setting the bar at a height your can get your chin over without creaking your neck while also being able to hang from the bar without your knees touching the floor

 

Start the movement at the top of the bar, so you focus on creating tension from the top to the bottom of the movement

 

It’s much easier to start with tension than it is to try and create it mid way through the movement 

 

A good cue is “elbows forward” which will engage the lats more and create a more stable shoulder position 

 

If you need a rest during this movement do it at the top of the movement, release the bar, shake the arms out and go again 

 

The benefit of this set up it: 

 

• It mimics a pull up movement
• You can focus on the eccentric (downward portion) without absolutely destroying yourself
• It’s infinitely scalable, because you decide how much assistance you give yourself by using your legs

 

There is a downside, of course, you won’t use as much core as you’d need in a full pull up

 

You can counteract this by practising a hollow hold position in between sets

 

A good beginning protocol to achieve your first pull up: 

1st week: 3 x 5 

2nd week: 3 x 6

3rd week: 4 x 5

4th week: 4 x 6 

Increase the volume each week while keeping the same tempo will overload the muscles and ensure progress until you’re able to hit a pull up without assistance

Coconut Protein Yoghurt

 

Love yoghurt? Need more protein? Protein yoghurt is your solution 

 

I generally have a scoop of protein powder a day, mostly weekdays when I have less time to eat and prepare food, it’s just convenient and yum, especially when mixed in with coconut yoghurt

 

You can make this with Greek yoghurt if you like

 

INGREDIENTS

 

150g Yoghurt of your choice

 

30g vanilla vegan protein powder

 

½ tsp cinnamon

 

Splash of water as required

 

INSTRUCTIONS

 

Mix together the yoghurt with the protein powder and cinnamon and test the consistency 

 

It will depend on the brand of protein and your personal preference

 

If you like it more like a mousse you might not need water, but if you want it to remain a yoghurt consistency, splash in a little water and stir until you get the Goldilocks effect

 

Enjoy!

Once you kick the log, the river will start flowing

 

Do you need to add something to your routine to get your health kick started? 

 

Maybe. 

 

Or do you actually need to get rid of the one thing holding you back? 

 

Often you look for things to chuck into your routine to improve, when really it’s the one thing you actually need to STOP doing that’s really holding you back

 

“Once you kick the log, the river will start flowing” 

 

A great example of this is dopamine destroying habits 

 

Doing things like checking your emails, or social media, or even just your phone first thing in the morning can ruin your dopamine levels

 

This makes it much harder to do the things you need to do, like train 

 

So whilst you might spend your time looking for a new, more motivating workout routine 

 

Or, a better diet that’s going to help you shed the unwanted pounds of fat 

 

Sorry if I just turned into a google ad 

 

When really what you need to do is kick the thing that’s ruining your discipline from the mornings to the afternoons, or at least until after you’ve done the “hard things” 

 

Why am I picking on dopamine? Because so many people say they lack motivation

 

Dopamine is pretty much the key to that, or least the key to desiring to the do good things

 

If you cut off the dopamine to rats (real experiment), they just lay there, doing nothing

 

Not going to food or water, or even cocaine (really weird experiment) 

 

It’s not that they don’t want those things, when researchers give them food or water they eat and drink

 

The problem is, the rats have no desire to CHASE the food or water, to even get up from where they’re laying (sound familiar?) and grab what they want

 

That’s how important dopamine is, and social media has been created to hijack your dopamine 

 

TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Emails! All give you an instant hit of dopamine

 

The tricky thing about dopamine is that it’s difficult to go from high, instant dopamine hits (social media) to low dopamine (exercise/making your lunch) 

 

Much easier to do it in reverse, it also gives you something to look forward to in your day 

 

So what do you do with this information? 

 

1. Identify the key area that throws you off track (email/social media/general phone checking, too much tv, any self sabotaging behaviour that you repeatedly do)

2. Kick that habit, or at least do it after you’ve done whatever it is you find hard to do (checking emails at 10am instead of 7am, it’s an email, it can wait)

3. Get the habit you want to start done first thing in the morning, and create some momentum!

 

Kick the log out of your life and let the river of results start flowing!

How to flavour your meals and still eat for success

 

Has to be one of the trickier parts to get right initially

 

And it’s incredibly underrated, there’s only so many boring meals you can have in a week

 

Better to create meals you’ll love and enjoy sticking to so you can stick to it for good

 

I have recently posted some flavour combos which had great feedback so I thought I’d add some more ideas 

 

There’s are simple and can make your healthy meals pop with flavour

 

Italian: oregano, basil, fennel, capers, anchovies, olives, orange

 

Classic herb combinations are the mainstay of Italian food, oregano, basil, parsley, rosemary, the list goes on

 

If you’re looking to add a bit of bite and saltiness to a dish, capers or anchovies can be a great choice

 

Orange sounds like a strange one, but orange and fennel, with some herbs can be delicious!

 

Mexican: coriander, cumin, chilli, lime

 

Keep it simple with the mexican, coriander and cumin are great, a couple of teaspoons of each in a 500g mince mix is great

 

Coriander goes really well as a garnish (as long as you don’t think it tastes like soap!) 

 

Fresh chilli and lime!

 

Thai: coriander, mint, basil, ginger, lime, chilli, lemongrass

 

Curries and fresh stir frys are the go with Thai food

 

Don’t stress out with your curries as they’re meant to be a little more watery than indian curries!

 

A good quality curry paste doesn’t go astray either

 

Moroccan: cardamon, saffron, cinnamon, anise, cayenne, cumin, lemon

 

My absolute favourite, slow cooked meats, light spices, lemon in everything

 

There’s a lot to like about Moroccan, and although not authentic I always have pre-mixed moroccan spice in the cupboard to add to roasted meats when pushed for time

 

Indian: cumin, coriander, turmeric, curry powder, ginger, curry leaf

 

Make an Indian curry from scratch at least once in your life! 

 

In the slow cooker it’s actually a lot easier than you’d think and it’ll taste amazing

 

Spanish: smoked paprika, parsley, bay leaf, peppers, olives, orange

 

A bit like moroccan, also one of my favourites

 

Spanish food, has a wide range of flavours with influences from Africa and Europe

 

Keep these combos in your arsenal and you’ll never go boring again!