Weight Loss Motivation

By Kat | July 2, 2009

Do you ever feel as though you’re just never quite ‘there’? That no matter what you do you just can’t shed that last layer of belly fat, or tone up your legs in quite the way you’d like? I’ll bet you’ve beat yourself up more than once on the topic of trying harder. Putting more in.

weight-loss-motivation

It’s easy to tell yourself how much you should be doing on the path to fitness and weight loss success, but there’s one rather large problem with that -it’s a pretty negative pattern of thinking, isn’t it? The more you think about all that you could have done or all that you should be doing, the more overwhelmed you become. Often to the point where you’re truly disheartened and start to wonder whether any of your efforts are even worth it.

But if you stop and think about it, you’re already ahead of the curve. How many people out there do you think even care about their health and well-being enough to invest time into even reading a blog like this one? Just being here shows that you care about your body.

And I’d be willing to bet that the efforts you’ve put in so far this year reflect that - more than just a little.

Here’s a task that will truly rejuvenate your weight loss motivation:

Grab a piece of paper and a pen and spend 10 minutes writing a list of everything you’ve done this year that relates to your health and your weight. Include the big things, such as starting a new form of exercise, increasing your workout regularity, or cooking at home more often, but also include the small things. The times you resisted that cookie, or chose the meat and veg over the pizza. Don’t hold anything back. You can even write down the new information you’ve learned through this blog or from other sources, particularly if it’s something that’s changed your mindset and therefore your approach.

I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised when you look at just how far you’ve come. And isn’t it amazing how uplifting it can be to invest time into reviewing your own achievements? Don’t be afraid to give yourself a mental pat on the back at this point. And next time you feel the guilt of the ’shoulds’, pull out that list and remind yourself of just how far ahead of the curve you really are. It’s a much better way to motivate yourself off that chair and into your next workout. Isn’t it?

Life is Now. Press Play.

Kat

What do you do to manage stress? Don’t forget to leave a comment on this post in the ‘post a comment’ section just below. If you’re reading from RSS or email you’ll have to enter the blog to do this. You can do that by clicking on the title of this piece. ‘Post a comment’ is at the article end, right under the ’share this’ and ‘related posts’ options.

If you haven’t yet subscribed to this feed, what are you waiting for? Do it now. You can choose either email or RSS by clicking here. If you enjoyed this article please forward to your friends. Thank-you!

Tweet This Post 

Posted in Staying Motivated | Tagged | Leave a comment

Stress Management Is Easy With These Five Super-Foods

By Kat | June 30, 2009

stress-nutrition-stress-management

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention up to 90 percent of doctor visits may be triggered by a stress-related illness. So it stands to reason that whether or not you’re off to the GP at every sign of illness, chances are pretty good you’re affected by stress. And - for the most part - the effects aren’t pretty. Anxiety, low energy, poor sleep quality, mood swings - these are the things we learn to live with on a daily basis. Telling ourselves it’s normal. That everyone feels this way.

Well common it might be, but normal it’s not. And if you don’t put steps into place to manage your stress right away then you’re setting yourself up for even bigger problems. There may not be an unbroken chain of cause and effect between stress and chronic disease, but the links are there. And that’s enough for me.

So how do you make stress management a stress-free part of your life? Well, you could quit work and take up the life of a government-handout couch-potato. Or head to the jungle with nothing but the clothes on your back. Or you could keep things simple and give your body the nutritional tools it needs to manage the most frantic and frenzied of lifestyle.

Read More »

Tweet This Post 

Posted in Having Exceptional Energy, Lose Weight, Nutrition Made Easy, Staying Motivated | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Are You A Serial Procrastinator?

By Kat | June 26, 2009

How often do you tell yourself you can’t workout today? Because you’re too busy, or you’re too tired, or you just don’t feel 100 percent? Or because you’re convinced you’re cursed with bad genes anyway, so what’s the point?

How about healthy eating? Just how often do those weekend market trips go by the wayside, fresh-food guiltily pushed to the back of your mind as you peruse the take-out menus yet again?

As Leo Babauta from Zen Habits says, we all make excuses. There’s no shame in that. But with just a little determination and the following simple yet powerful tips, today might just be the day to start shooting those excuses down one by one.

What are you waiting for? Read Leo’s post now - How To Kill Your Excuses.

Life is Now. Press Play.

Kat

Don’t forget to leave a comment on this post in the ‘post a comment’ section just below. If you’re reading from RSS or email you’ll have to enter the blog to do this. You can do that by clicking on the title of this piece. ‘Post a comment’ is at the article end, right under the ’share this’ and ‘related posts’ options.

If you haven’t yet subscribed to this feed, what are you waiting for? Do it now. You can choose either email or RSS by clicking here. If you enjoyed this article please forward to your friends. Thank-you!

Tweet This Post 

Posted in Staying Motivated | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

What To Eat: A Peek Into My Food Journal

By Kat | June 24, 2009

It’s all very well reading the articles I put together for you about what you should eat, and how much of it you should scarf down each day but sometimes it just helps to see it all put together. And with that in mind - and given that last week wasn’t the first time I’ve been asked exactly what I eat - I decided to give you a little sneak peek into my food habits for a day.

You’ll know by now that I’m pretty big on a good breaky. In fact, I can’t even remember the last time I ate a non-cooked breaky. It has to have been years ago.

Yesterday I had one of my quick’n'easy favorites - 2 organic eggs scrambled with goats feta, and served with organic mushies, spinach, a half avocado, and 4 slices of free-range organic ham. I cooked it all up (well not the avo) in a little coconut oil, and voila -

img_0188

Breaky kept me going for a good 4 or so hours, but I kept any potential hunger at bay with some fresh seasonal cherries while I worked on my writing. This was a bit of an indulgence actually, I’m not a big fruit eater due to the high sugar levels, but they were just too good to resist.

img_0189

Lunchtime of course, saw me out and about in the gym, but fortunately I’d remembered to bring my food from home (I always prepare lunch from home, but sometimes forget it!), so I was all set. What I did forget to do was take a photo for you - hey, I was hungry! Anyway, here’s a hint -

Mumma duck and kids

Yum yum. Oven cooked duck (I only had one small duck, not the whole family), with baby bocconcini, rocket, a few large green olives, and plenty of oil drizzled on top.

Dinner was a late one. I didn’t get home until 9pm last night, but it wasn’t hard to throw some water on to boil and quick-steam some celery and cauliflower with a little fresh coriander. I pan-fried 3 organic lamb chops in coconut oil, and served with some leftover avocado.

img_0194

Not a bad day’s eating, if I do say so myself! Of course, not every day is quite so ‘clean’, and I did forget to mention that organic decaf coffee in the morning. Hope this gives you some ideas for your own eating plans - and truly, it doesn’t take long to eat this well. It’s more the idea of cooking that seems overwhelming, most of the meals I prepare take 10 minutes or less. It would definitely take longer to go out for take-away.

Life is Now. Press Play.

Kat

Don’t forget to leave a comment on this post in the ‘post a comment’ section just below. If you’re reading from RSS or email you’ll have to enter the blog to do this. You can do that by clicking on the title of this piece. ‘Post a comment’ is at the article end, right under the ’share this’ and ‘related posts’ options.

If you haven’t yet subscribed to this feed, what are you waiting for? Do it now. You can choose either email or RSS by clicking here. If you enjoyed this article please forward to your friends. Thank-you!

Tweet This Post 

Posted in Nutrition Made Easy | Tagged | 1 Comment

57 Quick’n'Easy Ways To Boost Your Energy And Lose Weight

By Kat | June 22, 2009

easy-ways-to-lose-weight-and-boost-energy

Looking and feeling the way you dream of doesn’t have to be the arduous task that it so often seems. When it comes down to it, the people who are most successful - those who look amazing and positively brim with annoying energy - are those who simply live their lives a certain way. They do small things (and occasionally big things) every day that keep them ever-close to their goals. They make fitness and health a habit; part of who they are - and this means it really does get easier every day.

Why not set yourself a challenge to incorporate just one of these tips into your life every day. I guarantee that, over time, the changes you’ll notice both inside and out will be tremendous.

  1. Take a 3-day break from grains. All of ‘em. Yep, that includes corn, rice, millet, even spelt.
  2. Substitute plenty of fresh green vegies instead
  3. Take 10 minutes to perform slow stretches first thing in the morning
  4. Take 5 minutes to lie on your back and breathe slowly through your nose in the evening
  5. Take a lunch break - outside of the office
  6. Sit up straight and smile. Now.
  7. Leave your desk for 5 minutes every hour without fail. Walk around as much as you can. If you think you’ll forget, set an alarm on your computer
  8. Eat less food
  9. Drink more water
  10. Swap the mid-afternoon processed snack for some fresh berries with plain full-fat yogurt
  11. Move more
  12. Move more
  13. Move more
  14. Eat a good breaky (no, that doesn’t mean cereal - make sure it has some protein)
  15. Add a pinch of certified organic sea salt to each bottle of water. The minerals will help to hydrate and energize you.
  16. Eat fat to burn fat
  17. Cut out the lattes and switch to a fat-loss coffee: black with cinnamon and an inch of double cream. Seriously!
  18. Tell someone you love them
  19. Tell someone you love them and really mean it
  20. Go to bed when you’re tired. You don’t really need that extra 30 minutes television
  21. Bite your tongue on the “why do you never” complaints and tell your partner you’re so lucky to have them
  22. Swap the machine gym-program for a blasting functional circuit
  23. Help out a stranger
  24. Spend a week on green tea instead of coffee (give it a week as the first few days might just be hell)
  25. Stop adding sugar
  26. Stop eating sugar
  27. Fast for a day .. or even a meal
  28. Swap the chocolate bar for raw nuts
  29. Eat 70%+ organic dark chocolate
  30. Use stevia instead of artificial sweetener
  31. Get up when the alarm goes off and use the snooze-time to jot down 5 things you’re excited about in your life
  32. Have sex
  33. Have sex like you mean it
  34. Load up on the Omega-3s. They’re one of the smartest fats for health and weight loss
  35. Boost energy, performance and metabolism with another smart fat
  36. Challenge your body in the great outdoors - try frisbee, tossing a ball around, doing some beach or hill sprints, or just going for a walk
  37. Think about what’s really important to you and then put aside time for those things each day - even for just 10 minutes
  38. Take a TV fast for a week. Not only does your metabolism slow down like crazy in front of the box, the radiation isn’t doing you any energy-favors either. Who knows, you might actually find you like your life!
  39. Make time for friends and don’t cancel
  40. Hang out with an energetic and happy person for a day (if you can handle them that long)
  41. Drink your water quota. Multiply your body weight in kilos by 0.033 to find out how many liters you need. Fill a couple bottles with the required amount so you can keep track throughout the day.
  42. Follow-through on the workout you don’t feel like doing
  43. Invest in organic food and notice your satisfaction increase
  44. Shop the outside aisles of the supermarket only
  45. Better yet, shop at your local or farmers market and enjoy the virtuous feeling of real-food purchases
  46. Cut out the cardio - unless you want chunky fat aerobics instructor syndrome
  47. Eat protein at every meal - animal protein. And hold the starch.
  48. Do it now (whatever you’ve been putting off)
  49. Don’t do anything unless it’s really important - the most useless passing of your life is the efficient completion of something that doesn’t matter
  50. Write down your food intake for a week. Be ruthlessly honest
  51. Surround yourself with people, books, websites that inspire and lift you up. Celeb-gossip updates do not fit into this category
  52. Steam your vegies rather than boiling them
  53. Better yet, eat them raw once in a while
  54. Eat slowly - wait till your food is liquid before swallowing
  55. Wait 30 minutes before deciding if you really need seconds/dessert
  56. Make exercise fun - go dancing, chase a child (preferably one you know), take an unusual class, or try something outrageous that you’ve always wanted to do, like white-water rafting
  57. Make up your mind to be energised, motivated, and happy. It really does make a difference. And never forget -

Life is Now. Press Play.

Kat

Don’t forget to leave a comment on this post in the ‘post a comment’ section just below. If you’re reading from RSS or email you’ll have to enter the blog to do this. You can do that by clicking on the title of this piece. ‘Post a comment’ is at the article end, right under the ’share this’ and ‘related posts’ options.

If you haven’t yet subscribed to this feed, what are you waiting for? Do it now. You can choose either email or RSS by clicking here. If you enjoyed this article please forward to your friends. Thank-you!

Tweet This Post 

Posted in Are You Playing Life?, Functional Fitness Workouts, Having Exceptional Energy | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Secret To Getting What You Want Out Of Life

By Kat | June 17, 2009

success-sign

It’s just so easy in day-to-day life to focus on our own interests, isn’t it? On the quest for success at work, at home, in the gym, in our relationships. And the overriding message out there seems to be that getting ahead requires you to keep your mind on your own needs. If you don’t look out for number one, who will? Especially when you’re trying to juggle what is likely at least 3 full days worth of activities and stress in any given 24-hour period.

The influences we have on television and in the media don’t really lead us to think any other way either. Reality TV is all about winning, about knocking out the competitor in order to get to the top. Any cleverly worded sales pitch or advertising campaign will straight away show you the “what’s in it for me element”. We’ve learnt that being able to do it all or have it all requires putting ourselves first at all times. And certainly if we’re going to be able to reach all our goals we need to put constant effort into them, don’t we? Even if it does occasionally mean we have to cancel on a friend, skip some quality time with our family, or - god forbid - listen to someone else’s woes for any length of time.

It seems that the faster our lives become the more we drift away from the concept of community and into the idea that ‘it’s all about me’.

It wasn’t always this way. John Kennedy (certainly one of the 20th century’s greatest success stories) said “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”. These weren’t just empty words, and nor were they a new idea. In the Bible, when Jesus’ disciples asked him the secret to wealth and greatness he told them it is “to serve the many”.

So how does that work?

Read More »

Tweet This Post 

Posted in Are You Playing Life?, Think Your Way To Success | Tagged , , | 3 Comments