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How To Enjoy Fresh Fish Without A Hefty Dose Of Mercury

By Kat | March 9, 2010

You’d have to be living in a junk food bubble not to have heard health concerns about mercury levels in fish. We all know that (in theory) fresh fish is an excellent way to increase your omega 3 intake, vary your protein sources and basically just round out an already healthy diet. I’ve found that many health conscious women in particular aim to include fish at least 2 or 3 times each week, and it’s also an obvious choice if you feel like you don’t do well on red meat.

But regardless of the freshness of your catch or just how perfectly you’ve grilled it, you have to admit that this whole mercury issue is a bit of a downer. If you have indeed just stuck your head out of that bubble, here’s a quick heads up -

Mercury accumulating in your body is a serious health concern recognized by conventional and alternative health practitioners alike

It is fast becoming linked to increased cancer risk

Clinical evidence indicates that mercury ramps down your thyroid – the gland that governs your metabolism. This can cause unexplained weight gain and the inability to lose body fat regardless of exercise or nutrition. I’ve personally witness this situation in several so-called healthy people whose only failing over the years was to routinely eat a tin of tuna with lunch – a very popular food amongst gym junkies and fitness types!

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Posted in Nutrition Made Easy | Tagged fish, mental health, mercury, omega 3 | 6 Comments

Have You Had Your Essential Carbs Today?

By Kat | February 27, 2010

If there’s one thing that tends to upset people who come to see me more than anything it’s the idea of reducing carbohydrate intake. I don’t ask everybody to back off the carbs, but it’s safe to say that a vast majority get (at the very least) a short-term low-carb bootcamp. And while some take it with a sigh that indicates they kinda knew it was coming, and some are so keen and determined to change that they’re prepared to suck it up and do what it takes others look at me as though I’d asked them to slice’n’stirfry their dog (not saying you’d be one of these people of course).

The objections come in all shapes and sizes -

“I’ve tried that before and I just couldn’t do it. I felt too awful” (Detoxification hurts. But then you feel amazing. And you realize that what you thought your body ‘needed’ was actually the worst thing you could eat)

“Last time I gave up starch all my bloating went away, but it’s just not sustainable, is it?” (Um, yes. What would you have done if you lived in an era where processed grains did not abound? And don’t even get me started on the bizarre logic of those who admit it worked for them previously but yet still aren’t quite prepared to do it again)

“But what about fiber?” (Eat green vegetables. The stalky ones in particular are very fibrous, and excellent for detoxifying excess estrogen, otherwise known as butt and hip lard)

“It’s too expensive” (So is illness. Or the myriad of things you flash your cash for in an effort to feel better about yourself when you can’t commit to doing what it takes for optimal health and physique)

“It’s not practical. I work long hours – I don’t even have time for breakfast, let alone to prepare anything for during the day! And I don’t get home until after 7!” (Um, next time you complain about working late, don’t do it to your Personal Trainer – they hardly ever make it home before 9 or 10, and still find time to cook dinner PLUS their food for the next day. Long story short? Real food is for fuel, not fun or convenience. Only if you want results of course.)

“There’s not enough variety” (That’s just a fear-based perception. I’ve heard it said that the average Westerner eats only 18 different foods per year – sure, you might mix’n'match your grains so it looks like more, but grains and sugars – however they appear, and disregarding the fact that they’re actually the same thing – are grains and sugars. There’s only so many ways that cookie crumbles. You want real food; real variety? Beef, lamb, ‘roo, rabbit, pork, venison, duck, any game meat, buffalo, organ meats, eggs, fish, crustaceans, raw cacao, super-foods, green veg of at least 20 different varieties each season, real salt, and pepper, and full-fat dairy, and spices, and herbs, and coconut oil and coconut milk, and olive oil, avocado, beef – okay I said that but it’s just so good, and oh! olives, and so much more I’ve left off. Now that’s variety.

“It just sounds too tough. I don’t know if I can do it” -

And that’s what it comes down to, isn’t it? It’s the same with any great challenge we face in life. Invariably and most particularly with anything that threatens to actually make life better. It’s tough. It takes effort. Sacrifice. Commitment. And you don’t always know if you’ve got what it takes. You’re scared of what might happen if you try and find out. So you rely on vaguely remembered ‘evidence’ that eating low-carb is not healthy. Like that old chestnut about protein causing kidney problems. An idea based on a study in which participants with existing kidney failure were found to improve when they avoided sugar-based and processed proteins. So let me ask you this – and thanks to whoever it was I stole this analogy from, I can’t remember – just because going for a jog with a broken ankle is a terrible idea does it also stand to reason that jogging will cause your ankle to break? Do you see what I’m saying? And if you don’t then there are a myriad of resources just chock full of peer-reviewed studies proving conclusively that at least 75% of us can’t tolerate carbohydrate in any significant amount. Same just can’t be said about proteins and fats.

Essential carbohydrates? There ain’t no such thang.

Chew on that for a while.

Life is Now. Press Play.

Kat

PS – It’s not all about cutting carbs. If you take something out, you’ve gotta put something back in. Check out this article on low-carb dieting, the right way, or contact me to find out more about having a BioSignature assessment to determine your unique hormonal profile and nutritional needs. But here’s a tip – if love handles are yours no matter how much you love to hate ‘em, then it’s high time to cut that starch and start balancing your insulin. Or you most certainly will pay the price in more ways than you care to imagine. That’s my two cents worth, anyway.

PPS – I’ve just started another 14-day low-carb bootcamp myself. I like to do one at least every 6 weeks. I’m only a few days in and would love some camraderie so drop me a note in the comments if you’re willing to commit to changing your own eating habits for at least the next 2 weeks.

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Posted in Nutrition Made Easy | Tagged carbs | 16 Comments

Why Compression Clothing Should Never Be Worn On It’s Own

By Kat | February 15, 2010

I’m in the Gold Coast this week repeating my BioSignature Modulation course (and man is it AWESOME but more on that another time) so I’m going to skip out on my usual carefully thought out prose.

For now, click play. And be prepared to cringe slash laugh slash be thankful this hasn’t happened to you.

Enough said, wouldn’t you agree?

Life is Now. Press Play.

Kat

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Posted in Watch This | 1 Comment

What Would You Like To Achieve This Week

By Kat | February 11, 2010

If you’re a goal-setting kind of person like I am then you no doubt have a lot of big picture stuff in mind (and hopefully well under way) for 2010. Makes you feel purposeful, doesn’t it?

But when you set big goals for yourself there is an obvious downside – the day to day can seem kinda meaningless on occasion. After all, you don’t write a book, re-gain your pre-pregnancy body, find the house of your dreams to move to or finish a coaching certification (yep those are my big goals) in a month let alone a week or a day. And yes, we all know about breaking goals down into bite-sized chunks, but sometimes there needs to be something a little more conclusive than that, doesn’t there? Which is where spontaneous short-term goals come in. I guess it’s a good thing if they tie in to your big-picture stuff, but who says they have to? The beauty of a spontaneous goal is it’s something to focus on for a day or a couple of days, feel that tasty sense of satisfaction at its completion, and then move back (rejuvenated by your accomplishment) to the normal stuff.

I’m going to set 2 spontaneous goals for the rest of this week (and in case you’re wondering I’m only coming up with them now; I used this post idea as motivation):

1. Finally experiment with some raw-food recipes that I’ve had my eye on and been too lazy to bother with

2. Finish the contents page for my book – which will then mean the entire book is done done done!

How about you? What’s your goal for the rest of this week?

Life is Now. Press Play.

Kat

And you’ll know if I achieve at least one of those goals because you should see the release of that book in the next week or two, once I figure out how best to make it downloadable for you guys.

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Posted in Staying Motivated | 2 Comments

This Morning’s Circuit Workout

By Kat | February 8, 2010

The more I chat to you guys the more it seems there’s a bit of a common theme when it comes to exercise. You want to know more about the best styles for getting lean, you’d like some new ideas, and you’re sick of feeling like you don’t really know what to do in the gym. Fair enough. It might take me a while, but eventually I do get the message, and the message seems to be that even though you love the nutrition, lifestyle and motivational posts I seem to be losing you a bit on the training side of things. I have to admit I started this blog with little intent of including a lot of workout-related stuff, and the reason for that is I feel many people rely too heavily on exercise when (in my opinion) nutrition and mindset have a greater influence over your success.

But I guess there’s no reason we can’t all be happy, so maybe it’s time for a change. I trust you’ll continue to enjoy my regular posts along with the occasional addition in the form of a training program. I’m going to keep it really simple for now, very much a quick’n’ rough overview of what I consider to be a great session. For the most part I’ll just be giving you a sample from my own training. I realize that this doesn’t take into account different fitness levels, and I won’t be offering regressions or progressions, but you’ll find that my style of training is easily adapted simply by lowering or increasing weights and/or rest time.

Most of the workouts require at least basic gym equipment, but they’ll all include exercises that are easily done at home with your own body weight, some dumbells, a swissball and maybe a theraband. It’s fine to leave out one or two exercises if they sound too tricky or you just need to cut back on time. Most of these workouts require you to have basic exercise knowledge, although you will be able to learn from them along the way. I’ll start adding photos in the future, but I forgot to take them this morning. I trust my explanations will suffice in the meantime!

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Posted in Functional Fitness Workouts | 2 Comments

How To Boost Your Metabolism In 3 Minutes 29 Seconds

By Kat | February 2, 2010

If you’re starting to feel like trying to get lean is all hard work then it’s time you looked at fat loss from a new perspective. Laughter is more than just a medicine – it boosts dopamine levels (the feel-good hormone) and helps your body to detoxify excess stress by reducing cortisol. And if there’s one thing cortisol is great at, it’s storing fat. Long story short – if a few minutes of giggles does wonders for your health then this clip should keep you going for days – it had me in nearly falling off my chair and what’s more I’ve gone back for seconds and thirds. Bet you will too!