Personal Training in Bahrain

California Bans Restaurant Trans Fats

California Bans Restaurant Trans Fats.

I wonder how long it will take before it reaches Bahrain!!!

Cholesterol Is the Precursor to All Steroid Hormones

For all my clients, friends and family who still aren't convinced that cholesterol is not the bad guy! I know I keep promoting eating natural foods like meat and dairy products but when I explain that your steroidal hormones actually come from cholesterol I get a confused blank look! Read on for more convincing information regarding cholesterol and how it relates to PMS, mood swings and most other hormonal imbalances. ;-)

Cholesterol Is the Precursor to All Steroid Hormones.

Synthesis of Steroid Hormones From Cholesterol

Are your Supplements a Complete Waste of Money?

As part of my nutritional programmes, I usually recommend a course of supplements dosed at a therapeutic level for a 3,6 or 12 month duration (depending on the severity of the health concern). Often I get clients coming in for their first consult with carrier bags worth of store bought Vitamin C, multis, chromium and the like. They show resistance to purchasing my supplements when they can see that their store bought supplements are usually half the price. Whilst it is great to see that my clients have realised the importance of supplementation, I often need to explain that these chosen supplements are a waste of money and could well be a risk to their health.

The Way We Eat Now (May-June 2004)

Link: The Way We Eat Now (May-June 2004).

A great read for what is going on with our fast food nation!

One Woman's Astonishing Experiment With Aspartame - Articles

Link: One Woman's Astonishing Experiment With Aspartame - Articles.

Victoria Inness-Brown’s family was addicted to diet soda. After researching the effects of aspartame, she strongly believed the artificial sweetener might one day lead to their illness or even their early deaths.

Are You Still Feeling Motivated To Continue Your Health Plan?

The middle of January is usually when our efforts of a detox start to fade and we end up suffering from a cold or two. When you think about the demands we put our bodies through, it is no wonder that New Year Resolutions start to fall wayside. So, how can we really start a fresh and make sure our bodies are in top shape to detox. Let's face it as Dr Schwarzbein says; 'you have to be healthy in order to lose weight, not lose weight in order to be healthy! "

The build up to Christmas can be a stressful time and finally when it comes, we overindulge in food and drink. This puts our bodies under immense stress as it tries to cope with the excessive food/alcohol intake. No wonder when we start the New Year it doesn't take long before we feel 'run down' and our resolutions start to get pushed aside.

It is usually our motivation that allows us to 'sike' ourselves up to start the new diet, or new fitness regime. And it is usually the motivation and determined will power that carries us through, but we usually find that this only lasts the first week or so before we start feeling run down, less motivated and 'burnt out'.

If you think about it most people go on a calorie/fat restricted diet and put their bodies through exercise programmes that they just aren't ready for. The body eventually can't cope with the excessive demands and as a result will start craving stimulants to get the energy it needs. Therefore, we end up having 'just one' coffee in the afternoon as a 'pick me up'. Then your sugar cravings come back and you find that your will power starts to fade. Before we know it we are back to our old ways,
living off processed foods, stimulants and don't those exercise programmes become less and less interesting? "Oh I've had such a hard day at work, I haven't got the energy to go to the gym, I need to go home and rest in front of the t.v' (Sound familiar?)

So how can we check and see under what level of stress are bodies are having to cope with?  And how can we assess how 'burnt out' we really are?

Read the rest of this article, which nicely describes in depth, about your Adrenal glands and how we can get them assessed and balanced. How great to think that you could soon actually start to have energy all day ,everyday and have that motivation to stick to your New Year Resolution that will last for the whole year!

The Truth About Saturated Fat - Articles

Link: The Truth About Saturated Fat - Articles.

It’s already been well established that stearic acid (found in cocoa and animal fat) has zero effect on your cholesterol levels, and actually gets converted in your liver into the monounsaturated fat called oleic acid.

And you thought I was mad advocating saturated fats!!! Here it is guys, Dr Mercola (the most visited natural health site in the world) again supports the fact that we need healthy fats in our diet and to get away from the Low Fat movement as it causes more harm than good in the long run. Many clients who come and see me are in their 40's & 50's where following a low fat diet over the years has led them to hormonal imbalances, fatigue, weight gain and depression......

Reaching your ideal body weight

This is it folks....... 11 weeks TODAY that I get married!! No panic! surely not! For those of you who are having a traditional wedding, spending a fortune and planning to invite more that 100 guests my thoughts are with you as it must be a very stressful time. I know that with our meager 60 day guests the pressure is on and we are not even having the ceremonial proceedings!

So what do you have in mind for your shape up?
Are you on track?
How long have you left it to get in shape for the big day? (hopefully not 4 weeks before the big day!)
How stressed are you?

I have 11 weeks to shape up and trim down and get to a point where I will feel amazing on my day. If you have been following my progress you will know that at times it has not been easy and what with just having the festive season was a real test to my will power. However, saying that, I made sure that I was never restricted to foods and NEVER restricted my calories as that is the biggest mistake dieters make. Reason being as when the body is restricted of calories it goes into a protection mode and 'holds onto the fat' as opposed to losing it.

Here are my guidelines to get serious about shaping up for your wedding or starting your health kick for the New year.

1. The secret is to reduce your portion sizes and increase your exercise! simple as that!!!
2. Remember that you want to increase the amount of weight training that you do, which is more important than cardio if you want to lose fat! (by having the extra muscle tone will allow you to burn more calories on a daily basis)
3. In order to tone your muscles most efficiently, you need to make sure that you have an adequate amount of protein in your diet on a daily basis.
4. I use the formula taken from Dr Schwartzbein's excellent book; The Schwarzbein Principle, The Program to find out the exact amount of protein I need to be consuming. Have a look at mine below;
5. First you need to find out your first goal weight.
6. Current weight(pounds) ________ + ideal body weight (the book nicely provides this for you)______= ____________ /2 = my first goal weight of__________.

So for me my current weight 75kg(165Ilbs) + ideal body weight (156Ilbs) = 321/2 = (160.5 Ilbs). Therefore, my first goal weight is to reach 160.5 Ilbs which is 4.5 Ilbs to lose. Once I reach this weight I do the formula again until I reach my ideal body weight of (156Ilbs).

The book conveniently lists that I need to eat 10-12.5 ounces (70-87.5 grams) of protein a day in order for me to reach my first goal weight. I recommend that you divide this amount into 5 small portions a day to keep your blood sugar levels stable.

If you would like to find out more about reaching your goal weight or protein requirements then feel free to contact me for more information. Or find out more about your individual programme choices

                                                       

Is Your Plastic Tupperware Causing You Harm?

Xenoestrogens are becoming an increasing concern to our health. In this post I wanted to share with you what they are, where they are found and what you can do to reduce you and your family’s exposure.

We Love Saturated Fats!

An important part of my practice is telling clients to stop eating processed foods that contain hydrogenated fats and commercial polyunsaturated oils. Instead, I recommend that they cook with saturated fats like butter or coconut oil and to not be so afraid of animal fats, eggs and cholesterol!!

Shockingly, Yes I do!

But, look at it this way...... remember when humans thought that the world was flat. Nothing could convince us (I say that as if I was around then!!??) to believe any differently. And now of course we know that the opposite is in fact true.

Well this is the case for the Diet Dictocrats who have been for the last 50 years brain washing us to believe that there is a direct relationship between the amount of saturated fats and cholesterol in the diet and the incidence of coronary heart disease; which was first brought to light by a researcher by the name of Ancel Keys in the late 1950's.

As a result of media and marketing pressure we, for almost the last 60 years, have reduced the amount of fats in our diet. However, isn't it strange that before 1920 coronary heart disease was rare in America
and that today heart disease causes at least 40 per cent of all US deaths!! And I won’t even mention obesity rates!

So! Let us take a closer look at dietary fats to understand the all too familiar terms like saturated, hydrogenated, cold pressed, linolenic acid so that we can make more informed choices about dietary fats...