Discover the variation at Lifestyle Improvers in 2010

If you aren't already aware we love change at Lifestyle Improvers. And we are pulling them thick and fast for 2010. So if you are interested follow as we lay them on the table.


Firstly Craig McDonald is stepping up to the plate and becoming the head trainer. After spending too long in the banking system he has seen the light and is going to create a massive impact on peoples physical lives from now on.

Secondly we are moving towards a more varied and flexible training model for you our members. You will now get the choice of a Platinum, Gold or Silver training membership which each has it's own distinct and unique advantage. Involved in these packages are different levels of participation depending on what is best suited to you.


Essentially the training times will be at regular times of the week so you can decide during the week what days and times you want to carry out your training sessions. Plus if you are taking up a Platinum or Gold Package then you also have the options to join in on our outdoor fitcamps at different times of the week. You will not only be getting more flexibility but also the option to join in outdoor options as well. This is very exciting for us as we love adding heaps of value to our services and this was a massive way we found we could offer more for less so to speak.

The times of training in the week will look similar to the following:
Monday - Semi Personal Restriction Removal Training 6.00am till 9.00am, 5.00pm till 8.00pm
Tuesday - Women's Only Fitcamps 6.30 - 7.30am, Mix & Match Fitcamp 5.30pm - 6.30pm
Wednesday - SPRRT 6.00am till 9.00am, 5.00pm till 8.00pm
Thursday - Women's Only Fitcamps 6.30 - 7.30am, SPRRT 5.00pm till 8.00pm
Friday - SPRRT 6.00am till 9.00am
Saturday - SPRRT 6.30am till 8.00am, Mix & Match Fitcamp 8.30am - 9.30am
Calender will be on site soon also with training schedule times.


To read more about the individual membership packages you can go to the membership pages here. If the platinum page isn't there as yet it will be in the next day or two so please come back to read all about it. All brochures for these packages will be on line in the next week also.


We have also bought in a spinal and nerve specialist to assist you to remove restrictions from your life as well as recruiting the highly acclaimed Matt O'Neill - the Channel 7 Sunrise guru nutritionist to get your metabolism jump started and firing. You will still get regular nozzles and members will also still receive monthly Podcasts if you join our Bronze membership package.


If you require any more details, send us a note and we will send out an overview to you immediately.

The 12 better ways of Christmas

With Christmas just around the corner you need to be aware that all the good work you’ve done leading up to Christmas can easily be undone in a few over indulgent and undisciplined days.

This time of year is full of parties, work functions and general social get-togethers however a few small checks put in place now can help you avoid those extra kilograms while still enjoying yourself. I have put together 12 tips to help beat the bulge this festive season. Pick out what works for you and put it into play.

1. Drink plenty of Water – especially with the hot weather in Perth around Christmas time it is vital to keep your water intake up and avoid dehydration. Water will also help suppress your appetite as thirst is often mistaken for hunger.



2. Don’t skip meals – over eating at lunch time and then skipping dinner can actually be counter-productive to your weight loss efforts. Instead try and eat less at main meals and have a small snack between main meal times.



3. Make the activity a priority – although you may have less time on your hands, don’t skip the movement for something less important. Even if you reduce the time from an hour to half an hour that’s better than skipping it altogether. Try a morning bout of activity before you get into your busy day.



4. Exercise with the family – Christmas is a time we generally spend with our family so why not fit some exercise in at the same time. Lots of houses are now embracing the Christmas spirit and decorating their houses with Christmas lights etc so why not take the family for a walk to see the lights.



5. Choose treats wisely – we all enjoy a treat at Christmas time but why not try some healthy treats instead of the sugary processed treats that generally appear. Try a fruit platter instead of lollies or ice cream and popcorn can be a much better alternative to chips and twisties etc.



6. Control your drinking – alcohol is an easy way to pile on empty calories. Avoid mixed and fruity drinks and try having water between drinks or offer to be skipper. Check this out – if you sat on a beer all night around Christmas time and not get caught in a round, no-one would even realise you have only had one beer. There’s the peer pressure argument shot down in flames.



7. Improvise with your exercise – there are many ways to get in some exercise without having to grind it out in the gym. When you’re out doing your Christmas shopping, park at the outside edge of the car park and walk that extra distance to the shops. Take the stairs instead of the lift or elevator, ride your bike to work or take the family for a ride on the weekend.



8. Treat yourself in moderation – we’ve all had a long and busy year and look forward to enjoying some of our favourite foods at Christmas time, so rather than trying to stick to a rigid diet plan and depriving yourself of your favourite foods, allow yourself small portions instead of none at all.



9. Keep up the strength training – it is a well known fact that your metabolism is stimulated by strength training and this stimulation continues long after you finish a high intensity strength workout.



10. Eat before you go out – not always possible, but a good option to avoid over-eating or being forced to eat whatever is on offer at your social venue.



11. Set goals – Christmas is a great time to set some goals and writing down these goals and sharing them with someone will help you keep on track and avoid over indulging.



12. Spread out your meals – try having 6 small meals over the course of a day rather than 3 large meals and don’t eat too fast. Give your stomach time to digest the food and realise that you’re no longer hungry.

Most of all have a safe and wonderful Christmas.

Benefits of Regular Sunshine – Craig McDonald

I’ve been reading a lot lately about the Sun and its good and bad effects on the human body so with summer just around the corner I thought it timely to put something out there to give both sides of the spectrum.

We all know that over exposure to the Sun is not recommended and can lead to various problems including cancer, however this shouldn’t mean we all stay inside and avoid the sun at all costs. The sun is the provider for all life on Earth and without it everything would die, so it can’t be all bad for us.

With more and more people working indoors and living in air conditioned houses we are seeing less and less of the sun. The sun, of course, is an excellent natural provider of Vitamin D and regular consistent small amounts of exposure to the sun, without getting burnt, can actually have a protective effect on the skin, can improve moods and help with depression.

It is hard enough to get sufficient Vitamin D from the foods we eat or supplements we take so why not get it free from the sun? Another interesting factor about the sun and its links with cancer, is that rates of skin cancer due to excessive sunburn are typically higher in areas of the body that get irregular sun and occasional burning as opposed to areas of your skin that get regular sun exposure such as the back of the neck and the forearms.

There are of course exceptions to the above, but modern trends show that areas of the body that get irregular exposure to the sun, such as the back and chest, are more likely to develop cancer.

So my recommendation would be to try and get around half an hour of sunshine in the morning every day of the week. Try it and see if it has a positive effect on you. It may be a great way to also get some exercise at the same time? Get up half an hour earlier and take the dog for a walk in the morning sunshine or go for a walk or run by yourself or with a friend or partner.

Please remember these thoughts are my opinions only from many different articles and books that I have read and you would be wise to consult your GP should you have any specific questions regarding your own health and well being.Let the sun be your friend, but always avoid overexposure.

It's not a good look either is it?

Organise your fridge - Craig McDonald

After talking to one of our loyal members recently and she mentioned how well organised her kitchen was. This got me thinking about my own kitchen and more particularly my shopping list and my fridge and its contents. If you’re like me you get the shopping home and just pack it in the fridge anywhere it fits and with little concern for the types of food or what is already in there? Well I’ve started a new system just this week and thought I would share with you my tips.

The first and probably most important thing I do is store my fresh fruits and vegetables on the top shelf so they are the first thing I see and hopefully the first thing I grab when a snack is calling me

Secondly, ensure you have cold filtered water readily available in the door of the fridge so it becomes your first and most convenient option. Vitamin D is most important to our bodies and one of the best sources of vitamin D is Milk so always ensure you have Milk on hand and preferably low fat rather than full cream or skim as low fat milk contains the good fats that help our bodies burn calories more efficiently

Butter is better, as the saying goes, so if you must have it, choose butter instead of margarine as butter contains saturated fats that are a slightly lesser evil than the trans-fat in margarine. While on the subject of dairy products, use the middle of the fridge to store other dairy products such as Yogurt and low fat cheeses which will boost your calcium levels.

Protein is also a very important part of our diet and can be obtained from various sources including meat, eggs and fish so we should always have options in this area when we open the fridge door. With eggs, leave them in the carton on a shelf rather than using the egg craters in the door and they will remain good for a lot longer. Store any meat or fish that you haven’t frozen, on the bottom shelf so there is no chance of it contaminating any other food in the fridge and avoid leaving it for more than 1-2 days without freezing it.

Finally we come to leftovers which should always be stored in clear plastic single serve containers that are in plain sight when the fridge is opened. Avoid wrapping leftovers in aluminium foil and shoving them towards the back of the fridge where they can be forgotten about and left to go bad and possibly spoil fresh food in other areas of the fridge.

So go to it, clean out and organise that fridge, think about your shopping list and enjoy the benefits that come from a healthier, more organised system.

Are sports drinks any good for you? – Craig McDonald

Today I want to talk a bit about sports drinks. You’ve all seen them heavily advertised on TV and in magazines and whenever you go into a lunch bar or supermarket the fridges are filled with various forms of sports drinks. But are they in fact any good for you?

In my opinion, unless you have been exercising in extreme conditions and are severely dehydrated, the answer is no. These drinks are overloaded with sugar and some people drink 2 or 3 of them per day thinking they are a ‘healthy’ alternative thanks to aggressive marketing campaigns that show high profile athletes, who are in peak condition, drinking them.

Most of these sports drinks contain approximately 30 grams of sugar per serving, so if you had 3 of them in a day that’s an extra 90 grams of pure sugar in your system. Some brands try to lure you in by advertising the addition of artificial vitamins however these ‘vitamins’ add no benefit either as they don’t come from real foods which are the main source of our bodies vitamin requirements.

Another ploy they often use is advertising ‘light’ or ‘sugar free’ drinks however these versions are simply loaded up with artificial sweeteners and other chemicals that can cause even more hormonal imbalances in your body.

As an example, if you were to drink 3 ‘sports’ drinks per day for a whole year that would add, approximately, an additional 130,000 calories to your diet. This could equate to an extra 10-15kgs of body weight per year that is either being added to your existing weight or that you are exercising to keep off.

The alternatives to ‘sports’ drinks are simple. Water or unsweetened teas would be my recommendation. If you have trouble making the change, try making small changes and working up to replacing those ‘sports’ drinks with a better alternative.

Start spot reducing body fat and lose that muffin top

We are so excited here to let the fat out of the bag so to speak because we feel we have found a way to spot reduce belly fat almost instantly. I know this sounds too good to be true but we have tested it and got the scientific proof. So ladies you can start saying goodbye to that muffin top and guys you can get rid of that extra six pack that has been accumulating.

The basis of the program was started from scientific research that proves the only spot reducing of body fat can occur at the stomach, after all the years of us telling you it can't be done; sorry this research proved the fitness industry wrong.

The Half Hour Rock n Ride program was also put together to help mums and dads with kids who had limited time and just wanted to get in and out quickly. So taking all of these factors into consideration we came up with 30 minute sessions of riding to adrenalin pumping music and the results have been fantastic and the interest is now building.

To read more hop over to the Half Hour Rock-n-Ride page and see what all the noise is about. There is even comments from two of the participants and how they are finding the program. Mixed with Matt O'Neill's wonderful Metabolic Jumpstart program there is no reason why you can't be fitting into jeans and bikinis from yester year. Imagine being 10 kilos lighter by Christmas!!!!

Investigate these top ten tips for fat loss - Craig McDonald

Probably the most common reason people join a gym or enlist the services of a Personal Trainer is for fat loss . So today I’m going to provide you with my top 10 tips for fat loss.

1. Goal Setting – if you’re embarking on the fat loss journey, you need to set yourself some realistic and achievable goals. ‘I want to lose body fat’ is not what we’re looking for here but something like ‘I want to lose 5kgs over a 12 week period’.


2. Plan ahead – if you don’t have chocolate in the cupboard, chances are you won’t eat it! Write your shopping list before you go and fill it full of healthy options with plenty of fruit and vegetables and as many natural products as possible. Try to eliminate the sugary, processed foods as much as possible.


3. Review your water intake levels throughout each day and make sure you are getting enough water to keep you hydrated and healthy. Drinking more water will also fill your stomach and not make you feel as hungry.
4. Eliminate all liquid calories and replace them with Water or Green Tea.


5. Make sure you are eating 6 small meals per day rather than 2 or 3 big meals. This will spread out your intake of Protein, Fibre, Fruits and Vegetables throughout the day and reduce your appetite while keeping your energy levels up.


6. Try adding 1 new fruit and 1 new vegetable to your meals per week. Pick a day, say Wednesday and make this the day of each week you try a new healthy alternative to your current meals. It might be as simple as replacing chips with steamed broccoli and/or having a piece of fruit instead of ice cream.


7. For Dinner, try a new source of lean protein such as lean beef or salmon.


8. Be accountable to somebody. Whether it’s your Personal Trainer , your partner or a friend, share your goals and progress with someone who can help and encourage you to achieve your goals.

9. Ensure you make time for your workouts, preferably a minimum of 45mins to an hour, 3 times a week. Don’t let anything, except an emergency, get in the way of your workout time. Also ensure your workouts are effective – quality rather than quantity is the key.


10. Monitor your goals and visualise yourself achieving those goals. This will ensure you remain motivated and progress towards your desired outcome.
    
    Go ahead and try some, or all, of these techniques and you’ll see the rewards for yourself.

Now you can Jumpstart your Metabolism to enable better health

Have you tried every diet imaginable to mankind and still can't get a Metabolic Jumpstart. Well whether you have landed here by accident or you were directed to us this is your lucky day!!!
I firmly believe you attract the people into your life with the same passions, values and attitudes just as you remove the wrong people from your lives when you or they change and those values and attitudes differ between you. Enter Matt O'Neill from Smart Shape who is also the Channel 7 Sunrise nutrition guru.

Matt is on a mission to arrest and stop the Obesity Epidemic we currently find ourselves spiralling towards. Hence he wants to help the health of all Aussies, as do we. So when Matt told me he had devised an online program that allows anyone to get a personalised fat loss, weight gaining or even an energy gaining nutrition plan delivered to them weekly; I knew Lifestyle Improvers had to get this out there to our followers. Because Like Matt we are sick of hearing about Protein only, low carb and soup diets that for some reason never seem to work!!!! Sorry for the sarcasm.

So his program called Metabolism Jumpstart is now displayed on the Lifestyle Improver's website so you can then follow the links straight to the program and sign up. If this interests you go there now and have a look. For $30 a month it is one of the best investments in your own health you will ever make. If you do decide you are going to join Matt's great program tell him Lifestyle Improvers sent you and he will keep an extra close eye on you and so will we. Let us know how you get on.

Discover why no time to exercise just doesn't cut it - by Craig McDonald

The most common excuse we come up against when trying to encourage people to exercise is “I don’t have time”. No doubt we all lead busy lives with work, family, sport, social gatherings and sleep all taking up valuable time throughout our days. Our own personal exercise regimes and meal preparation times often get compromised due to our perceived lack of time.

So let’s think about time for a minute. Recalling my days in Primary School Maths, 60 minutes per hour equates to 1,440 minutes in a day. 7 days in a week and we now have 10,080 minutes in a week. Now how much time would we like to spend on exercise per week? – let’s say 3 sessions of 1 hour per week which is 180 minutes per week. Back to my maths skills and this comes to less than 2% of our total time in a week!

Now if I said I only need 2% of your time to help you achieve your health and wellness goals, would you be interested? I’m pretty sure most people would say yes rather than “I don’t have time to exercise?” Personally, I try and get at least 180 minutes per week of exercise, whether it’s resistance training, cardio or sport, however even as little as 100 minutes per week, say 4 sessions of 25 minutes each would be sufficient if you work at the right intensity levels.

When you break things down in these terms, it seems ridiculous to me when somebody says “I don’t have time to exercise”, so next time you hear somebody say it, try this theory on them and see if they can still validate their argument? Or if you use this excuse work it out based on what you have just read.

Craig McDonald is a personal trainer with Lifestyle Improvers, to read more about Craig go here.

How harmful are your lunches?

The humble ham and salad sandwich is something most of us associate with a healthy food choice for lunch or even the kids lunches. But if you look deeper into the hams, polonies and any processed meat that you can get at your local continental deli you may change your mind. In our role as restriction removalists in a bid to make you healthier we felt it our duty to make you aware of a few things so you can make your own mind up.

Ham, polony, salami or any other processed meat you can get hold of will contain a nitrite or a nitrate. The role of these additives are to preserve the meat and stop bacteria and salmonella being passed onto us. But there is serious concerns of these additives as a cancer causing agent. Especially if the products are eaten daily or more. Not to mention the other additives such as Carrageenan 407, flavour enhancers, excess amounts of salt and even MSG. Cancers of the esophagus, larynx, mouth, liver and stomach seem to be associated with nitrosamines," says Alexander Hall, an assistant professor at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine in Toronto.

Here are other damning reasons we should be looking for better alternatives for lunch meats and sandwiches.

• Meat byproducts such as lips, tripe, heart and intestines are used in processed meats


• Many lunch meats are listed as containing added moisture which is really solutions of sodium, spices and water


• MSG is found in most lunchtime meats

So what's the other alternative to your ham, polony or salami and salad sandwiches for lunch. Well it may require a little bit more effort but we can tell you the health benefits for you and your children are going to be worth the effort. We have put together a few tips you can use to help.

• Instead of processed meats use home cooked roast meats such as chicken, beef, mutton or pork. Cook a roast and use the cold meat for sandwiches. Tuna and salmon is another great healthy replacement.


• Go to your local organic shop or butcher to source an organic low nitrite or nitrate ham or prosciutto and use the meat only once a week not every day.


• Change to eating more natural foods in a salad such as chick peas, kidney beans, avocado and even eggs.

If you need any more info or assistance please get in touch we are here to help, why not even request a Risk Analysis health diagnostic from us. If health is a big priority for you any effort taken now is an investment into your future and your families.

Why you need to make every morning a ‘GOOD MORNING’ – By Craig McDonald

Everybody knows someone, whether it is at work, at home or socially who claims to ‘not be a good morning person’. It might be having trouble getting out of bed or trouble dealing with people in the morning or simply a lack of motivation to get moving and go to work?

All these ‘symptoms’ can be overcome by making a conscious effort to start EVERY day by doing something healthy for yourself . If you start every day with a positive action that is going to benefit you and you only, it will give you a great platform for the rest of the day. It then makes it harder for you to fall back into bad habits during the day and destroy your good work in the morning.

The positive and healthy action in the morning could be as simple as cooking a healthy breakfast or doing a workout or better still doing both. It might entail taking the dog for a walk, having a stretching session or doing Yoga, meditation or Pilates? Whatever the action, it must be positive and it must be for YOU.

I’ve definitely found myself that starting the day with a healthy, positive ritual makes it much easier to follow that pattern for the rest of the day. You owe it to yourself to follow through on your positive start to the day by continuing those behaviours for the rest of the day and the improvements to your health and wellbeing will soon become obvious to you and those that surround you.

If you think you can’t achieve this behaviour pattern then try changing one small thing at a time until that behaviour becomes a ritual then move onto something else and before you know it you’ll be bouncing out of bed in the morning and really annoying all those ‘non-morning’ people!

Busy? You need some EPA in your life

Placing extra and inflexible fitness regimes on already busy people is setting everyone concerned up for failure. In my experience you need to resist a one size fits all approach and try the individualised approach. The only way to do this is empower the busy and often out of balanced individual to look for a way that he can employ into his routine and then offer professional fitness advice from there. It flips the thinking but has massive results in terms of you the busy person’s conformance. Use EPA to get you to this point.

1. Get Emotional. Empower yourself to see why it is you need or want to fit in or keep a fitness regime into your already busy lifestyle. What is most important to you, health, six pack abs, performance in your career, family (if you don’t keep fit and overwork, sickness and disease may take you away from your family). Also find out what it is you enjoy in an activity sense. Again what are your values; do you like adventure, weights, running etc

2. Prioritise fitness. If you are already busy you will perceive there is no time for exercise or activity. Once you feel you want to do it for the right reasons (Point 1) then you would be well advised to book it into your weekly schedule or make a date with yourself. Just like a meeting, book in another meeting only this time it is to invest in yourself. Put it in a diary; tell your Personal assistant that you will be busy for these times in the week.

3. Be Accountable. Now you are emotionally charged and want to keep fit and healthy for all the right reasons and you have booked it in your diary. All that is missing is accountability. It is too easy to say when the time comes I am too busy. So getting accountable means getting a personal trainer, a fellow worker or a mate to meet you and even do the run or the training session with you. You will feel less inclined to let someone else down than yourself. And don’t think paying for a gym membership will solve the problem – you only have to look at the drop out rates for gyms.

We are all time poor which make us all time poor so the last thing we need to do is force ourselves to do something that is going to make us busier. But if you associate the benefits of an activity to your deep inner core values then you may stand half a chance of making it a priority and factoring it into your weekly routine.

Discover how to stop alcohol wrecking your fat loss efforts - Craig McDonald

A common question we get asked in the fitness industry is do I need to stop or reduce drinking alcohol to assist with weight loss? Well the short answer, in an ideal world, would be yes however not many of us live in an ideal world do we?

The answer I believe lies in balance. We all have social commitments, business commitments and family gatherings that usually involve alcohol. For those of us who already enjoy a drink, it would be a pretty boring world if we stopped drinking altogether. So here are some tips I can recommend, if you’re not prepared to stop drinking alcohol, in your bid to lose weight and improve your health.

1. Alcohol provides the body with ‘empty calories’ in fact Alcohol has 7 calories per gram, compared to 4 calories per gram for carbohydrates and proteins and 9 calories per gram for fats. So on days or nights when you are planning a few drinks, make sure your meals are based around protein and vegetables. Avoid ‘loading up’ on carbohydrates because alcohol and carbohydrates combine as a perfect recipe for belly fat!


2. If you enjoy drinking beer, and let’s face it most of us do, try drinking 1 or 2 dark coloured beers instead of 5 or 6 light coloured beers. Dark coloured beers DO have more calories than light coloured beers, but they also have more antioxidants and more B vitamins and therefore you do actually obtain more nutritional value from a dark coloured beer.


3. Avoid syrupy, fruity drinks that are overloaded with sugar as these provide a ‘double whammy’ with empty alcohol calories plus loads of empty sugar calories. Drinks with clear alcohol mixed with soda water and lime or lemon should be your drink of choice. A word of warning though regarding tonic water as opposed to soda water, tonic water is loaded with calories whereas soda water has no calories at all so make sure you mix with soda water where possible.


4. Wine is also one of the healthier choices when it comes to alcohol as it contains a good dose of antioxidants (red wine in particular).


5. Make it only 1 or 2 drinks per night, if you drink during the week, or only a few more drinks on the weekend but alcohol free days during the week are going to serve you best if fat loss is a goal.


6. Avoid the late night ‘munchies’ after a few drinks. Pizza, Kebabs, Chips and Ice Cream are just loading your body with more and more calories on top of the empty alcohol calories. Something to note that not much happens digestion wise until all the poison (alcohol) has left the building (your system).


7. Try to schedule a full body workout prior to having a drink or two as this will help speed up your metabolism and burn those empty calories faster.

So I hope some of these tips will help you in your day to day health and weight loss challenges without hampering your lifestyle too much and remember to always drink responsibly and of course NEVER drink and drive.

Cheers Craig Mac

Helping to inspire a nation

The creator of Lifestyle Improvers - David Virgo has been included in the newly released ‘Switched On Health Professionals’ book Volume 2 by Andrew May.

The book interviews 14 of the countries most inspirational Fitness Professionals in which David has the honour of being included. The interview touches on his business Lifestyle Improvers plus his own master message of Lifesperity.

It also reveals some interesting pointers on what David calls emotional unintelligence. You can find the book at a reduced price here . Or if you would like to read more about the whole book and the other contributors you can visit the Switched on website.

Meet your restriction removalists - the trainers

Craig has lived in Perth, Western Australia for all of his life. His passions include Sport, Travel, Music, and helping others to meet their goals by improving their lifestyle.

Craig’s love of Sport began around the age of 8 when he started playing cricket and football.Cricket turned out to be his sport of choice and he went on to play 13 years of 1st Grade cricket for Mt Lawley District Cricket Club and represented WA at Under 23 level and was also a member of the Western Warriors squad for 4 years. It was through Sport that he developed a passion for exercise and he has now decided to pursue this passion with a career in the fitness industry.

He loves travel with his favourite destination being Phi Phi Island in Thailand where he spent his honeymoon in 2006 and his dreams include Snow Boarding the slopes of Whistler in Canada. His interests are also in local music and his favourite band is local Perth band, Eskimo Joe and he loves seeing good Australian Bands make it on the international stage.