Small consistent steps to win the game

How do you win the game of health?

 

You can only choose one:

 

1. Doing something that feels easy but never gets you anywhere

 

Or

 

1. Doing something that feels hard but gets you the results you’ve dreamed of

 

That sounds ridiculous, of course you would choose B 

 

Another way of putting this:

 

1. Try cutting carbs and training 6 days a week 

 

Or

 

1. Portion control and exercise between 2 and 4 times a week

 

Option A works while life is going well, work is quiet, the kids are killing it at school, and you’re in a great routine with life 

 

B works all the time, it’s the minimum you can commit to when things are tough, and it still gets you closer to your goals, it even feels like you could more when life is flying

 

And that’s the trap

 

It feels too good to be true, how could you give something less time and get better results? 

 

Because small consistent steps forward creates momentum, what starts as a small snowball eventually gathers enough speed to become an avalanche 

 

You make huge gains. 

 

As opposed to stopping and starting every few months, not getting any better, just doing the same thing over and over again

 

So why would you?

 

Well, it seems silly but there’s actually method to your madness

 

The first option is a lot safer, it makes sense when you fail, deep down you always knew you were going to fail

 

“I was going great and then work got busy, and there was so much going on with the kids sport and school, it just got too much” 

 

Who could blame you for not following your diet 100% and spending 4 hours a week in the gym?

 

In fact, over 90% of challenges don’t work, so you’re not alone and you’re not silly 

How do you actually win the game?

Option B actually flips the likelihood you will succeed, which in a sense is risky

 

What if you’re one of the 5-10% it doesn’t work for? 

 

Well, with the right plan, and accountability you can stack the odds in your favour even more than that

 

Will you smash every goal you ever set? I hope not

 

How boring. Your goals are probably too small

 

But at least to start with, find the right plan, that will survive your life at its busiest and do the hard work of achieving early wins and building momentum to the huge gains that will follow

 

For more posts on improving your life outside of the gym follow our instagram at https://www.instagram.com/blinco_built/

If you’re ready to take the first step in your fitness and health journey then contact us at:  http://blincobuilt.com.au/

The First Steps

How do you take the first steps?

“I haven’t exercised in years”  or “I eat okay but have still put on 10 kilos”, and “I have no confidence in myself and every time I look in the mirror or try on clothes I don’t like what I see”

 

This is the kind of story I hear almost daily 

 

People say these things, good people, people who are kind, caring, otherwise great people that deserve better

 

Yet they have this, almost darkness inside them, eating away at them and it’s horrible to hear and to see

 

When people are in this kind of state, getting back to feeling great is a mountain that looks impossible to even comprehend, let alone climb

 

But each journey starts with a single footstep and that’s not glamorous, or exciting, it just is the truth

 

Don’t try to conquer the world 

 

Just take that first step

 

What does that actually look like? 

 

 think it’s these two things, and just these two:

 

1) Add some movement to your day 

 

Something that will make you sweat, walk, run, gym, dance, whatever

 

2) Plan your meals in advance

 

Don’t wake up not knowing what you’ll have for breakfast or lunch, or dinner that day 

 

You don’t have to meal prep just think about what you will eat

 

That’s it, just start

 

By starting a movement practice, you’ll start waking up earlier, organising yourself better, getting on top of your washing so you have something to wear, the list goes on

 

Take the first two steps and see where the path leads, you deserve better for yourself

 

For more posts on improving your life outside of the gym follow our instagram at https://www.instagram.com/blinco_built/

If you’re ready to take the first step in your fitness and health journey then contact us at:  http://blincobuilt.com.au/

Your first stop is to plan your week

 

Don’t @ me, you can’t make improve your health without planning your food for the week

 

Not meal prepping for 152 hours on a Sunday

 

I mean spending 5-15 minutes writing out what you’ll have for lunch and dinner for the next 7 days

 

Ideally with the involvement of those you live with

 

If you’re all on the same page, you have accountability partners that otherwise might have derailed you

 

Now they’re helping you on your journey 

 

Make your plan simple

 

As simple as possible, it’s going to be an impactful change, you want it to stick

 

Why bother? 

 

It’s easy. You’re reading this, so you clearly care about improving your health, this is a 15 minute exercise to do that effectively 

 

Sorting out your eating, even without exercise will improve your health (and waist line) 

 

And this is the best way to do that, it takes out mindless eating

 

It gives you an easy to follow shopping list

 

And stops you from making bad choices at the end of long days

 

Your plan must include your nights out and social engagements

They aren’t ‘cheat’ meals, every meal counts

 

That does NOT mean every meal has to be perfect

 

It means you don’t have to pretend like you need to gorge yourself every week (or every few days) in order to enjoy yourself or relax

 

You can eat like an adult, with company, for the sake of catching up and enjoying the company 

 

Same goes for alcohol

 

Hiding your alcohol intake from your plan isn’t fooling anyone, least of all yourself 

 

You want to drink? Include it, lots of healthy, lean, fit people drink alcohol

 

Imagine that, eating out, drinking with friends, all while losing body fat and feeling healthier and fitter

 

It’s not a pipe dream

 

A plan, it starts with a very simple plan 

 

Your first stop is to plan your week

 

For more posts on improving your life outside of the gym follow our instagram at https://www.instagram.com/blinco_built/

If you’re ready to take the first step in your fitness and health journey then contact us at:  http://blincobuilt.com.au/

“I knew exercise was good for your mental health, but I was still surprised at how much it helped”

“How much clearer I feel”

Clarity.

There are thousands of physiological benefits to exercise that positively impact your mental health

This post isn’t about that

If you suffer from stress, anxiety, or even just a general mental fogginess

Exercise isn’t the only answer, but it’s probably the best place to start

I know that when I’ve been at my worst, when everything has seemed to be going wrong, training was the one place that I could guarantee progress

You can always find a way to get better from one week to the next, one day to the next, even one set to the next

And, if you’re progressing, even just in that small area, at least you’re progressing somewhere in life

It gives life a bright spot when all else seems cloudy

That’s a benefit that rarely gets the space it should

It’s a beautiful thing to be able to find something positive when you’re in the middle of a tough spot

You’ve been through those before, and you will again

It’s life

Find something you can enjoy doing, ideally surrounded by supportive people that care about you, and start reaping the rewards of the hard work

You might be pleasantly surprised

 

For more posts on improving your life outside of the gym follow our instagram at https://www.instagram.com/blinco_built/

If you’re ready to take the first step in your fitness and health journey then contact us at:  http://blincobuilt.com.au/

Find yourself sick of eggs for breakfast? Try this smoothie recipe instead!

Absolutely disgusted that there’s no blueberry emoji, never mind though this little smoothie recipe is still an amazing way to start your day

Smoothies are a great option, there’s an endless amount of combinations, you can include all the nutrients of a normal meal

And it’s quick to make and easy to have on the go

Really rate smoothies as a change up to your normal breakfast routine, or as a staple when you’re too busy to cook

Try this recipe, it’s an absolute favourite of mine

INGREDIENTS

240ml almond milk

50g protein powder

55g frozen blueberries

1 banana

1 tbsp honey

INSTRUCTIONS (real simple!) 

 

Blend

 

And drink

 

For more posts on improving your life outside of the gym follow our instagram at https://www.instagram.com/blinco_built/

If you’re ready to take the first step in your fitness and health journey then contact us at:  http://blincobuilt.com.au/

Consistency wins

 

How would you feel if you: 

 

1. Lost 12 kgs (and kept it off)
2. Dropped your body fat level by 10% 
3. Got your first pull up (or 14)
4. Increased your squat strength by 400% 
5. And finally bulletproofed the lower back that’s been bothering you for as long as you can remember

 

Probably be pretty happy with yourself, I imagine

 

That’s exactly what Pas has done over the last 3 years

 

When Pas first started he was in constant pain, his lower back hurt all the time, and it was difficult to get through a workout without a tweak 

 

It took time, and patience, but most of all, it took consistency

 

Pas has been showing up 3 times a week for 3 years

 

His body looks, and moves completely differently to how it did when he first started

 

Pas is now the kind of person that trains, for whom healthy eating has become a way of life, while still enjoying a busy social life (maybe not quite as busy as it once was 😉

 

Performance has become the new goal, increasing his upper body strength, particularly over head is the next target

 

And you better believe he’ll nail it! 

 

Well done Pas, incredible achievements so far, and we’re only just getting started

 

For more posts on improving your life outside of the gym follow our instagram at https://www.instagram.com/blinco_built/

If you’re ready to take the first step in your fitness and health journey then contact us at:  http://blincobuilt.com.au/

Getting better should be the goal

 

Except, and it’s a big exception

 

Getting better means you first have to admit you are wrong.

 

Full disclosure: I used to think that going full depth on a push up was bad for your shoulders, period. 

 

There’s a whole bunch of boring stuff about that, I argued my position and I made sense

 

However, it doesn’t really make sense, if the body can do something then why not do it? 

 

You just have to make sure you are preparing the body properly first, yadda yadda yadda 

 

The point is, I was wrong, and to become a better coach, I had to admit that to myself

 

That’s hard work, admitting you are wrong is difficult work, it can emotionally draining

 

Partly because you’re probably wrong about a lot of things

 

Which is scary, UNLESS your focus isn’t on being right, but being better

 

Being right is kind of like the search for perfection, it gets you stuck 

 

In fact, it’s actually a bad thing, if you’re right all the time, then that’s it, you can’t get any better

 

You are what you are and there’s nowhere to go

 

Don’t know about you, but that sounds terrifying to me

 

At least if you can sit back and acknowledge you might be wrong then you have a way to improve

 

If you’re wrong, then of course there is a better way

 

And that’s exciting

 

Have a think about an area of your life you care about, where you are wrong right now

 

Found it? 

 

Awesome, now get better 

 

For more posts on improving your life outside of the gym follow our instagram at https://www.instagram.com/blinco_built/

If you’re ready to take the first step in your fitness and health journey then contact us at:  http://blincobuilt.com.au/

Perfect stops you in your tracks, better gets you started 

 

“I just need to meal prep every Sunday” 

 

“When work settles down, I’ll join a gym” 

 

“If only Mercury was in ascension, while Jupiter eclipses Uranus, then I…”  

 

Astrology is not my thing, but you get the point

 

The search for perfection is a great way to not make progress

 

To not even get started

 

Have you heard the story of the college photography class? 

 

For an assignment, half the class was told to take the perfect shot, and to only submit the perfect shot

 

The other half was told to take as many shots as possible and to submit them all

 

You probably already guessed which half got the better grades

 

Students taking heaps of shots, took terrible shots at first, but learned over time from the misses and adapted and took amazing shots by the time the assignment was due

 

And guess what, they got closer to the perfect shot

 

The half class looking for perfection were paralysed, and got stuck in the beginner phase, never getting better

 

If you find yourself using the search for perfection as a reason not to get started, ask yourself two questions:

 

What is really stopping me? 

 

Write that down

 

And next, and most importantly:

 

What if I just did it anyway? 

 

It’s better to start and fail, then to never get going at all  

 

For more posts on improving your life outside of the gym follow our instagram at https://www.instagram.com/blinco_built/

If you’re ready to take the first step in your fitness and health journey then contact us at:  http://blincobuilt.com.au/

How to make a healthy meal in 10 minutes of work (including washing up)

 

In this article, we’re going to show you it’s not just possible, but easy to make a healthy meal in 10 minutes!

Have you ever followed Jamie Olivers “15 minute meals”?

Yeah right mate, good if you’ve got an executive assistant to just wazz up the dishes once you’re done

Rightio.

You can actually make decent tasting, healthy meals in around 15 minutes of work

Including washing up

Just not the way he’s doing it

A balanced healthy meal includes 4 key components:

Protein (meat or veggie sourced)
Carbohydrates (veggie sourced best, rice or pasta second best)
Fats (animal or olive/avocado oil, try to avoid seed oils like canola)
Flavour (herbs and spices or sauce)

Next, is cooking method, for fast cooking choose:

Oven
One pot stove top
Air fryer

Once you’ve chosen what you’ll be eating and how you’ll be cooking, you prep your food

KEEP IT SIMPLE!

Less knife skills required the better

Keep chicken breast whole, or buy pre-cut chicken, mince beef is great for easy, fast cooking, ditto fish

Carbs the same, you can even get pre-cut veggies now, use a cheap food processor or ninja to cut your onion

Flavour combo’s are probably the hardest

My favourite healthy flavours are:

Pre-mixed moroccan spices (goes with everything, just chuck it on)

Passata sauce (whole bottle with every kg of meat), 2 tbsp of tomato paste and 1-2 different herbs (basil and parsley is safe)

Powdered garlic, onion and paprika on meat or veggies

Lemon, dill and butter for fish

Equal parts soy sauce and teriyaki sauce with just a drop of fish sauce for stir fry

 

Cooking time:

General rule of thumb for oven cooking, 180 degrees fan forced for 20-25 minutes for chicken breast, mince patties and hard veggies (think potatoes etc) or 10-15 minutes for soft veggies like mushrooms, broccoli

Use one pot stove top when you’re cooking stir fry or passata mix

Medium-high heat, oil in the pan, then onion till soft and then meat till sealed on the outside, then sauce, then veggies, leave on low for 15 minutes

This isn’t master chef, but it’s a pretty good start

And you’ll only have 4-5 things to wash

Use that spare time to get your gym clothes ready for the morning and you’ll be killing two birds with one stove

 

For more posts on improving your life outside of the gym follow our instagram at https://www.instagram.com/blinco_built/

If you’re ready to take the first step in your fitness and health journey then contact us at:  http://blincobuilt.com.au/

How to increase protein intake on a vegetarian diet

 

There are 3 key components to increasing protein intake on a vegetarian diet

 

Firstly, having a number of go to protein sources that can be the centre of each meal

 

Secondly, finding small ways to add incidental protein

 

Thirdly, making sure you are eating complete protein over the course of the day, meaning you’re mixing sources of protein that will provide most if not all your amino acid (building blocks of protein) requirements

 

We want to aim for around 1-2g per kg bodyweight of protein per day, so for an 80kg man, around 80-160g of protein per day, or for a 60kg female 60-120g, to keep you fuller and promote muscle growth

 

Aim for the higher end when strength training, and lower end when just looking to optimise body composition with lower intensity exercise or a solid walking regime

 

1) You won’t find a lot of protein in veggies and leafs, anything less than 10g protein per 100g isn’t really a great protein source

 

I’ve put together a list of good sources of vegetarian protein, that is by no means exhaustive, however it should provide a good base from which to find suitable options: 

 

Beans/Legumes	Nuts/Seeds	Other
Black beans	Almonds	Pulse pasta
Peas	Cashews	Tempeh
Lentils	Chia seeds	Tofu
Kidney beans	Buckwheat	Eggs (if suitable)
Pinto beans	Quinoa	Protein powder

 

The key here is to have a high protein source as the centre of each meal

 

You can then surround with nutrient dense vegetables and fruits

 

Protein powder can be an awesome way to get protein intake up and is probably the best processed food money can buy (from the right place, stick with Australian brands where possible) 

 

2) Incidental protein? What the hell is that? 

 

I mean adding nuts and seeds to salads, using them as snacks, chucking chia seeds or nut butter in smoothies

 

Anything that can up the protein intake without necessarily becoming the main part of the meal

 

This has the obvious benefits of increasing protein intake, but also gives you a variety of sources of protein to ensure a complete amino acid profile over the course of the day

 

3) Don’t get caught up in the weeds here

 

And just make sure you’re having a variety of sources over the course of the day and the week

 

Relying too much on soy, or protein powder, can lead to imbalances over time

 

Try to change it up and keep it fresh

 

Soy and protein powder (ideally pea and brown rice) are great when rushed for time, but there are HEAPS of other great vegetarian sources out there you can use

 

So experiment and have some fun with it!

 

For more posts on improving your life outside of the gym follow our instagram at https://www.instagram.com/blinco_built/

If you’re ready to take the first step in your fitness and health journey then contact us at:  http://blincobuilt.com.au/