Lifestyle Improvers

Practice Eating Less Every Day

2011-03-29T18:59:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine is about to embark on an ambitious plan to have a ‘six pack’ by the time he turns 40. Although I say ambitious, it is by no means unachievable if he has the discipline to alter some of his existing habits. In order to achieve his goal a number of factors will need to be addressed including ;

A structured eating plan
Regular exercise with intensity
Resistance training to build lean muscle tissue
Core strengthening program

Now I know this friend pretty well and of the above points, the structured eating plan is most definitely going to be the most challenging for him. He loves his food and lots of it! As with almost anything ‘practice makes perfect’, and there is no exception to the rule here.

For most people, going ‘cold turkey’ on something rarely works. This can apply to smoking, drinking, exercise, drugs and also eating. It would be very difficult for a 30 cigarette per day smoker to wake up one day and just stop smoking. They need a plan to gradually reduce their intake over time until they are ready to stop completely. This type of plan is much more likely to result in a successful long term outcome, rather than a short term fix and then falling back into old habits.

So relating this back to eating, it is imperative to practice eating less every day. We, as humans, are conditioned to eat (and drink) certain amounts, for example, finishing all the food on your plate, having 2 slices of toast for breakfast, drinking a whole can of soft drink, eating a whole packet of chips. When was the last time you consciously left some food on your plate? Do you need 2 slices of toast in the morning? Could you have a small glass of soft drink if you ‘must’ have soft drink at all? Do you order a large coffee every morning? Try changing to a small coffee and do you HAVE to finish it all?

The mind and body are very powerful pieces of machinery. Gradually reducing the amount you eat at each meal will become easier over time as your body adjusts to the changes. This will allow you to ‘get in touch’ with your hunger, and question your hunger. Am I really hungry? We often eat because we are bored or because we are dehydrated or in some cases because we are stressed. So get to know your hunger signals and don’t be afraid to question them before you go to the fridge or the shop and who knows you may get that ‘six pack’ you always dreamed about!

Will A Food Diary Help Keep You On Track?

2011-03-29T18:49:00.000-07:00

Most people, at some stage of their lives, will try a new diet or eating plan in an attempt to lose weight. There are numerous different diets doing the rounds these days and all of them have varying success rates depending on the discipline of the participant. One method that may assist your weight loss endeavours is to keep a food diary.

Again, with food diaries, there are many variations available but I find that the simpler they are the more likely they are to be completed. Some food diaries are far too complex making you measure everything that goes into your mouth

and counting each and every calorie as well as recording specific exercise details. These diaries are great for someone who is highly motivated and prepared to spend a lot of time monitoring their energy in versus energy out quantities. Most people however will find these too complex and won’t have the time to dedicate to them.

A simple food diary is often enough to identify some key areas of improvement in your diet whether it is in relation to;

what you’re eating,
when you’re eating
or how much you’re eating (or drinking).

Making the commitment to write down everything that goes into your mouth can often be motivation in itself to cut out those junk food snacks that so often let us down and lead to unnecessary weight gain.

Of course you need someone to be accountable to, wheth

er it be your Personal Trainer, Partner, Best Friend, Dietician or Doctor. Accountability helps with self discipline and if you can combine these two traits then you are on the right path toward reaching your goals. If you don’t have someone else to be accountable to, you are more likely to’ fall off the wagon’, so to speak, or allow yourself some ‘cheat’ foods.

Here at Lifestyle Improvers we have developed our own F

ood Diary which is available to any of our members and we will also provide coaching tips to help guide you through the process. For more information go to our website http://www.lifestyleimprovers.com/contact.html or contact us on 1300339685.

Is Diabetes ‘Stalking’ You?

2011-03-29T18:42:00.000-07:00

Most people are blissfully unaware if diabetes is sneaking up on them. The facts are that almost 900,000 Australians have been diagnosed with diabetes and scarily the most recent national data indicates one undiagnosed case for every diagnosed case according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s ‘Diabetes : Australian Facts 2008’ report.

The same report notes that the proportion of people diagnosed with diabetes between 1989-90 and 2004-05 more than doubled from 1.3 per cent to 3.3 per cent, largely driven by an increase in type 2 diabetes.

If you’ve got the condition, you’re three times as likely to have a stroke and twice as likely to have a heart attack, cataracts or glaucoma, yet up to 60 percent of cases could be delayed or prevented by maintaining a healthy weight and exercising.

So do you think you’re at risk?

Your chances of developing diabetes are higher if you;

have high blood pressure
have heart disease
have a family history of diabetes
are overweight
are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and over 35
are over 55
are diagnosed with impaired glucose tolerance or impaired fasting glucose
are of Chinese, Indian or Pacific Islander heritage and over 35

If you have any concerns regarding diabetes or even if you just want to get checked for peace of mind, please consult your registered Health Practitioner or comple

te one of our Lifestyle Improvers Health Diagnostics and let us assess the risk for you and work with you to develop a long term sustainable solution that w

ill keep diabetes from ‘stalking’ you. To complete a Diagnostic please go to our newly developed website www.lifestyleimprovers.com.au or phone us on 1300339685 and we’ll send one to you.

How Your Blood Sugar Works

2011-03-29T18:33:00.000-07:00

Your body has a finely tuned system for controlling blood sugar. One of the key players is insulin,a powerful hormone that’s essential for helping move sugar from your blood into your cells. Below is a brief outline of how the process works – and how it can go wrong.

The basics – When you eat food that contains carbohydrates, most is absorbed as glucose into your bloodstream. As your blood-glucose level increases, your pancreas reacts by secreting the hormone insulin. Insulin then travels to the capillaries that deliver blood and nutrients to your muscles and brain. Once it’s in the capillaries, insulin is attracted to the receptors that reside on the outer membrane of your muscle and brain cells. It then binds to these receptors, like an electrical cord being plugged into a socket.
Healthy Response – In a person with normal blood sugar responses, the connection of insulin to its receptor sends a signal to a pool of glucose transporters – called GLUT -4 proteins – inside the cell. When the signal is received, these GLUT -4 proteins move out of their vesicle towards the surface of the cell, where they help glucose move across the cell membrane. This causes blood glucose to decrease and provides your muscle cells with sugar for fuel.
When the System Goes Bad – In a person with insulin resistance, the insulin receptor sends out a garbled signal. This is tantamount to a disconnected mobile phone call. Some or all of the GLUT -4 proteins never receive the message to move to the surface of the cell. As a result, glucose has no way in. The fewer GLUT -4 proteins on the surface of the cell, the higher your blood sugar remains. Ultimately, much of this excess blood sugar is diverted to the liver, where it’s converted to fat and can lead to increased insulin resistance – and higher blood sugar.

Often people with insulin resistance will struggle to lose weight despite making a concerted effort to exercise more and eat less. The damage is already done as per point 3 above. Only a committed approach to exercise and dietary change (under the supervision of a health professional) over an extended period of time will see the effects of insulin resistance nullified.

If you need assistance with developing an exercise program, Lifestyle Improvers would be more than happy to help you out. In fact go to our webpage www.lifestyleimprovers.com.au and claim your FREE Personal Training Starter Pack. Don’t procrastinate get started right now and take control of your health and your future.

Are You Braking or Accelerating?

2011-03-22T20:25:00.000-07:00

After a few years in the fitness industry I have met a variety of people who want to achieve certain results by attending a gym. They are wide and varied as follows ;

• weight loss
• weight gain
• managing stress
• improving health
• having time to themselves
• wanting social interaction

just to name a few.

Everyone has extreme motivation when they first arrive and join a gym. Their foot is well and truly on the accelerator in the car of life.

But then something changes and they appear to slow. Why all of a sudden does the other foot slide onto the brake?

Why are they now sabotaging their goals?

I had no idea until reading a recent article about people taking pharmaceutical drugs for medical reasons.

Patients who take medicine for recovery from major operations have low adherence after 12 weeks – some pharmaceutical companies say as much as 80% of patients stop medication! And here is an example why . . .

A patient was told he needed to lose weight for maximum benefit from his medication. He was very successful initially – foot on the accelerator! But then he got worried that his fellow workers (who were overweight) would start to dislike him and that would make for an unhappy workplace, adding stress to his life. Stress he did not want! So he stopped losing weight and returned to his initial weight.

These people to him were unconsciously ‘enabling’ or ‘empowering’ him to remain overweight – at the risk of his own good health. This meant while one foot was on the accelerator, the other was on the brake.

The brake was his protection mechanism.

Whether you are trying to lose weight, reduce your stress, start an exercise program or create better balance in your life your foot must be on the accelerator – this allows you to create change.

What you do with the other foot is your choice but putting on the brake will either slow your progress or stop your progress, thus testing your resolve.

The key is to surround yourself with support. Whatever your goal in life or work, have the right people surrounding you to achieve your goals . . . make sure your enablers – conscious and subconscious – are positive ones, as you accelerate your way along a new healthier and happier superhighway!

Is Cortisol Harming Your Health?

2011-03-22T20:18:00.000-07:00

Cortisol and Adrenalin are both hormones which are triggered in the body during times of stress. Whilst constantly high levels of cortisol can be detrimental to your health (and your waistline) it is actually an important hormone which is involved in a number of important functions including:

• Proper glucose metabolism
• Immune function
• Regulation of blood pressure
• Inflammatory response
• Insulin release for blood sugar maintenance

As you can see from the above list, stress isn’t the only reason that cortisol is secreted into the bloodstream, but it has been named ‘the stress hormone’ because it’s secreted in higher levels during the body’s ‘fight or flight’ response to stress, and is responsible for several stress-related changes in the body.

The reason cortisol is important in stressful situations is because it provides the following positive effects:

• A quick burst of energy for survival reasons
• A burst of increased immunity
• Heightened memory functions
• Helps maintain homeostasis in the body
• Lower sensitivity to pain

Unfortunately, as I covered in a previous article, today’s modern ‘stresses’ don’t require the same ‘fight or flight’ response as we needed back in our caveman days and so as a result, we tend to remain feeling stressed for longer and don’t go back to feeling relaxed during which cortisol levels would eventually normalise. As a result we could find ourselves in a state of chronic stress which has been shown to have negative effects, such as:

• Impaired cognitive performance
• Blood sugar imbalances such as hyperglycaemia
• Higher blood pressure
• Decreased muscle tissue
• Decreased bone density
• Suppressed thyroid function
• Lowered immunity and inflammatory responses in the body
• Increased abdominal fat
• Increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, the development of metabolic syndrome, higher levels of “bad” cholesterol (LDL) and lower levels of “good” cholesterol (HDL)

To keep cortisol levels healthy and under control you can learn to relax your body with various stress management techniques including guided imagery, journaling, yoga, exercise, self hypnosis, listening to music, breathing exercises, meditation and sex.

Cortisol secretion does vary amongst individuals as people tend to be biologically ‘wired’ to react differently to stress. If you do find that you are more sensitive to stress, it’s especially important for you to learn stress management techniques and maintain a low-stress lifestyle.
Lifestyle Improvers offers all our clients a ‘non-sweat’ coaching program to assist you with managing the day to day stresses of our lives. For more information visit our website http://www.lifestyleimprovers.com/.

Do You Have Self Control?

2011-03-08T20:31:00.000-08:00

One thing that goes a long way to helping you with your eating plans is self control. Do you find yourself sneaking a chocolate biscuit after dinner and then thinking ‘that was good’ and going back for another and then before you know it you’ve knocked off the whole packet? It is a common occurrence in most households, I suspect, particularly if competition is high for the so called ‘yummy’ food in the cupboards.

The problem with this scenario is that most of us have never learnt the art of self control when it comes to ‘treat’ style foods so whenever we have access to them we over do it. If though, we are to learn how to ultimately control our food intake and our weight for life, we also need to learn to self regulate ourselves even as adults.

So how do we do this? Below I have outlined a number of points that may assist you in learning how to implement self control when it comes to eating ‘treats’ ;

The best practice of course is not to have treats in the cupboards or fridge in the first place however this is sometimes easier said than done.

Allocate portions that will spread out the eating of the treat over the whole week rather than demolishing it in one sitting – an example of this would be if you had a small block of dark chocolate in the fridge that had say 14 pieces. Break it up into those 14 pieces and allow yourself 1 or 2 pieces per night as a maximum.

Keep your treat foods in a container that is not readily in sight so that when you go to the fridge or cupboard the treats are not the first thing you see.

Have ready made healthy alternatives such as fruit or vegetables in plain sight so you can easily grab an apple rather than a packet of chips.

When you feel like something sweet, drink two large glasses of water, brush your teeth or chew some sugar free gum instead.

Like anything in life total avoidance is usually not the answer and will often lead to ‘binge’ eating if you have deprived yourself of something totally for a long period of time. Self management is what we ultimately need to master if we are to be in control of our eating and in turn we will be in control of our weight.

Why Am I So Hungry?

2011-03-08T18:58:00.000-08:00

Over the past 4 or 5 weeks I have been following a fairly strict high protein, low carbohydrate eating plan. This called for significant changes to my usual ‘seefood diet’, that is see food and eat it! The eating plan cuts out all sugar, all dairy, all alcohol and limits carbohydrates to fruit and vegetables therefore no pastas, rice or breads.

I have followed this eating plan a few times now and highly recommend it if you are seeking to lose roughly 1-2 kgs per week. It is not a long term solution as we do need foods from all the food groups to make up a balanced diet on an ongoing basis. I also recommend an increase in activity to coincide with the eating plan to really accelerate your results. It is so easy to increase our activity levels and if you think you don’t have time you’re kidding yourself.

As little as half an hour each day can help the energy in versus energy out equation begin to work in your favour. Just think of how many hours we waste each day either in front of the TV or computer, social networking or laying in bed.

Another huge revelation for me while following the eating plan is in regard to portion sizes. Nearly all of us eat far more than we need. Ideally you’ll probably find you can halve the amount of food on your plate at meal times and still survive comfortably. This may seem unreasonable for the big eaters amongst us but trust me, your body will adjust.

It is interesting to notice the changes in your appetite once you begin to lose weight. The first week or two will be the hardest and may find you asking yourself ‘Why am I so hungry’? If you find this is the case this is what your body may in fact be telling you ;

Your meals do not contain enough vegetables – start adding an extra serve or two of vegetables or salad to each meal.

You have been drinking too much diet soft drink or coffee as both caffeine containing drinks are natural stimulants and can disrupt your natural hunger instincts. Try drinking more water in place of these.

You are not eating the right balance of carbohydrates and protein, especially in the morning – if you are hungry all morning then your breakfast is either too small or does not contain enough protein.

You are eating too many carbohydrates – a constant stream of glucose to the body’s cells can cause a relatively high insulin release which can drive appetite.

You are not eating enough in the day – if you have skipped breakfast and only had a small lunch, you may experience rebound hunger in the afternoon and/or evening.

Once you get over the initial changes, figure out what your portion sizes can be reduced to and get your balance of protein versus carbohydrate sorted out, you will discover that the feelings of hunger begin to subside and the weight will begin to start falling off you.

For further information regarding this eating plan please contact Lifestyle Improvers via our website www.lifestyleimprovers.com/contact.html or by calling 1300 339 685.

Is Knee Pain Holding You Back?

2011-02-22T19:14:00.000-08:00

Knee pain is among the most commonly encountered problems among our population. While there are many causes of knee pain, most can be helped with some specific stretching and strengthening exercises. Even if surgery is necessary on the knee, rehabilitation will certainly be a part of your recovery process.

If surgery is necessary, we know that rehab tends to be a smoother process in stronger knees. Patients with stronger muscles around the knee going into surgery have a faster, more successful recovery.

The goal of knee rehab is twofold ;

• One is to prevent weakening of the muscles that surround the knee.
• Second is to diminish the burden on the knee joint.

People who have stronger muscles surrounding the knee often have fewer problems with the joint. Weaker muscles create more work for the knee joint by providing less support. Conversely, strong muscles of the leg better support and control the knee joint.

The first and last part of any exercise program should be a simple stretching routine. A few simple leg stretches can get your rehab exercises started off properly. Try not to neglect this step, even if you're in a hurry.

Before you begin any stretching program, be certain you understand the basic rules of how to stretch properly. Improper stretching technique can be counterproductive and even lead to the development of injuries.

The muscles surrounding the knee include the quadriceps, hamstring, and calf muscles. The focus of most knee rehabilitation is on these muscles. When injuries occur, often these muscles become weaker and less supportive of the knee.

Often neglected, but a common source of knee problems, are the muscles around the hip joint.

Remember when someone once told you the leg bone is connected to the hip bone? Well, new research is revealing that knee problems can often be traced to weakness of the muscles that surround the hip.

A program to develop the hip stabilisers should focus on the hip abductors, hip flexors and gluteal muscles. Most of these exercises can be done without weights, and should emphasise proper form.

Many people rehab their knees by doing a select number of strengthening exercises a few times each day. But the fact is that just as critical as the overall strength, is the endurance of these muscles. Without endurance, these muscles will quickly fatigue.

Increasing endurance is best accomplished with low impact cardio-vascular activities, among the best of which is riding a stationary bicycle. Also excellent are swimming or other pool workouts. Walking is an OK exercise, but higher impact on the knees. If you must walk or do other high impact sports, try to also incorporate some cycling and swimming.

Here at Lifestyle Improvers we have the experience to assist you with any knee problems and will work in conjunction with your registered health professional to get your knees functioning efficiently again.

Do You Have a Back Up Plan?

2011-02-22T19:09:00.000-08:00

Inevitably in life things do not always run to plan. Relationships break up, plans get cancelled, friendships end and appointments are changed. How we respond to these unexpected changes on a daily basis can play a powerful role in determining our happiness and wellbeing. Some of us hate change and are upset and frustrated when things do not go to plan. Others are much better at rolling with the punches and “going with” the changes rather than psychologically fighting and resenting them.

One strategy that can be exceptionally useful if you are a person who does not like change is to always consider a back up plan whether it is for a job, scheduled dinner or even a relationship. Knowing that you have an alternate option, even if you would hope you will not need it can be all you need to relax a little and start to enjoy what life offers you, whether it was what you planned or not.

Knowing that if your dinner plans are cancelled you will catch up with your family instead, or if you miss the train you can get a different bus and walk a little more or even if your husband leaves you will find someone better gives you exceptional freedom and peace of mind, which is all many of us crave on a daily basis and the key factors that will bring us all closer to calmness and free us from the worry about the “what ifs” in life.

So how do we develop these back up plans? Below are a few options to consider ;

1. As I always recommend it is a best practice to write things down.
2. Record it in your diary.
3. Make a ‘back up plan’ file on your Laptop.
4. Store your plans in your phone.

Go through any of life’s scenarios that may bother you from time to time and write down an alternate plan. An example could be if you got laid off from your job what would you do? Would you go back to study? Would you stay at home and complete the home duties? Would you have another job in mind to apply for? Having a back up plan will give you peace of mind and reduce the amount you worry.

A famous quote says ‘fail to plan, plan to fail’ and this can easily be applied to back up plans as well.

Can You See Yourself Fit and Strong?

2011-02-08T21:31:00.000-08:00

A most important and very under rated technique used in the fitness industry is visualisation. Can you visualise yourself after you’ve lost 10kgs, can you see yourself with six pack abs, can you imagine looking in the mirror and seeing the body you desire?

World class athletes use this technique extensively from an Olympic sprinter seeing him or herself on the winner’s podium to a gymnast mentally rehearsing their routine prior to actually doing it or an AFL footballer going through a goal kicking scenario to win a game after the final siren has sounded.

The same principles can be applied to whatever goals you may be striving to achieve in 2011 and beyond. If it’s improving your diet for example, you can mentally rehearse coming home from work, preparing a nutrient rich meal, seeing the ingredients, imagining the smells of your favourite recipe being prepared and watching yourself sit down at the table and enjoy a healthy, satisfying meal.

If it’s a physical challenge you are striving to achieve such as completing a marathon or triathlon or lifting a personal best in the gym the same principles apply. Find yourself a nice quiet place, it can be dark if that helps you visualise better, and see yourself lining up at the start of the marathon with all the other runners. Make it as realistic as your mind will allow, hear the starters gun, see yourself with an initial adrenalin fuelled surge as your run begins and then settling into your ideal pace. See landmarks on your marathon course as you pass them by, watch yourself passing the distance markers 5, 10, 21, 30 and 40 kms and then see the finishing tape in the distance. Allow yourself a personal celebration as you cross the 42km finish line and imagine the great feeling of achievement and satisfaction that will filter through your mind and body.

Try these 3 easy steps to get you on the path to seeing yourself achieve your goals:

· Write down your goals and/or dreams
· Read them either out loud or to yourself until you can memorise them
· Then close your eyes and see yourself achieving these goals and or dreams

You may currently think being a fit, strong, healthy person is just a fantasy and if that is the way you think then you will be right. If you allow your mind to open up and believe what you visualise and believe the actions and behaviours that will get you there those fantasies of the past can become the realities of the future. See yourself fit and strong in 2011.

There Is No Excuse

2011-02-08T21:24:00.000-08:00

When it comes to fitness, strength training and/or weight loss the list of excuses that you allow yourself to miss training is endless. Is it too hot, too cold or too wet? Or maybe you’re too busy at work, too tired after work or too caught up looking after the kids? We could go on and on but the truth of the matter is, unless it’s an emergency or an injury, there is no excuse for missing training if you want to achieve your goals.

Are you an excuse maker? Do you regularly change your schedule so that eating well and exercising take a back seat? Do you skip crucial diet and exercise appointments? Do you eat rubbish when you could have eaten better with a little extra effort and preparation?

While the year is still relatively young can we all agree to stop with the excuses. It is time to stop thinking of all the reasons why you ate rubbish and instead look for ways not too. To stop explaining why you couldn’t make training and instead plan the time you are going to do it. To stop making excuses for yourself when you have again failed to lose weight even though you claim to want to lose it more than anything.

Successful people do not make excuses. They do what they need to do to make sure things happen no matter what. They schedule training sessions when they know they will get to them; they prepare their food no matter where they are and make time to eat healthily and they work hard as they need to get things done. They make their appointments no matter what and if they do happen to miss one they make it up rather than skip it altogether.

So this week if you only make one promise to yourself, make it NO MORE EXCUSES!

Here at Lifestyle Improvers, we also offer a non-sweat coaching service that can assist you with time management and goal setting etc and assist you to get your life in order and allow you time to invest in yourself. Please see our website at http://www.lifestyleimprovers.com/gold-restrictive-removal-coaching-program.html for further details.

Avoid Over Heating This Summer

2011-01-24T19:38:00.000-08:00

We are in the midst of another beautiful long hot Perth summer and exercising in the heat can present a challenge in itself. As a fitness trainer the last thing I want to occur is for one of my clients to suffer from heat exhaustion.

Heat illness, which can present as either heat exhaustion or heat stroke can occur when a person exercises vigorously in hot conditions. It can also present with prolonged exposure to hot weather, even if the activity is being done at a low intensity. In cooler weather heat illness can still occur if the person is exercising at a high intensity.
Symptoms of heat illness include such things as feeling light headed, dizziness, nausea, loss of coordination, confusion, collapse, cessation of sweating or an obvious change to skin colour (usually pale).

Factors that can increase the risk of heat illness include ;
• Age – junior participants are at a higher risk
• Prior history of heat illness
• Intensity level of exercise
• Exercise environment
• Dehydration
• Prolonged exposure to hot conditions
• Existing or recent illness or medical conditions
• Exposure to radiant heat from surfaces such as black asphalt or concrete

So what can we do to minimise the risk of heat illness? Where possible schedule your exercise sessions in the early morning or evening to avoid the extreme temperatures during the middle of the day. If that’s not possible and the temperature is extreme consider cancelling your session or reducing the length and/or intensity of your session. Ensure adequate hydration prior to and during exercise and seek shade where possible. Participants should be encouraged to wear light, loose clothing, wear a hat and sunglasses and apply sunscreen before and during the session if required.

If despite all your best efforts, a participant still falls victim to heat illness the following steps will aid in recovery. Immediately lie the person down and loosen or remove any excess clothing. Attempt to reduce their body temperature by fanning or applying ice packs (in particular to the groin and armpit areas) and give them cool water to drink. If required seek medical assistance as soon as possible.

Consistently focusing on your lifestyle improving efforts will help keep you out of danger in the hot summer months. To check your lifestyle's health go here.

Do diet soft drinks make us fat?

2011-01-07T22:51:00.000-08:00

No calories, no sugar but lots of bubbles and an amazing sweet taste – too good to be true? Maybe so……….Artificial sweeteners; aspartame, saccharin and sucralose are among some of the varieties that have been used for a number of years to make some of our favourite sweet foods including soft drink, desserts, jelly and yoghurt taste up to 200x sweeter than their sugar based alternative for 0 calories
Regularly I see people who drink numerous “diet” soft drinks each day – hence getting the sweet hit they are looking for without any negative health consequences. Often, these same people struggle with weight loss. You may be interested to know that one of the first changes I suggest they make to their diet in an attempt to get their weight under control once and for all is eliminate all artificially sweetened product. Why?

There is growing evidence to show that it is in fact possible to be “addicted” to sweet foods. Programming the brain to constantly look for exceptionally sweet food whether it is cake, lollies or diet soft drink appears to disrupt the body’s natural hunger and fullness signals for a number a reasons. Here are two major ones.

1. telling the body you are getting glucose(energy) but then telling it is not,
2. programming the brain to seek exceptionally sweet stimulus and finally exposing the body to intensely sweet flavour and taste sensations when we perhaps should not be receiving any stimulus at all, even though we think 0 calories is all that matters.

So, if you constantly consume diet soft drink – start to wean off and replace it with water, green tea or black tea.

Observe how much more in control of your food cravings you are, and the way you begin to feel hunger and fullness again – it may be the best thing you could ever do for your weight, your diet and your taste buds.

Is Shoulder Pain Limiting your Movement?

2011-01-07T22:44:00.000-08:00

Painful shoulder conditions that limit movement are very common and are caused by problems with the shoulder joint and its surrounding structures. The shoulder is more prone to injuries due to its wide range of movement.

There are a number of main reasons for shoulder pain including rotator cuff injuries, arthritis, frozen shoulder and shoulder dislocations or instability. Let’s take a look at these 4 areas in a bit more detail.
Rotator Cuff injuries – the rotator cuff is a group of muscles and tendons that help to move the shoulder and hold the joint in place. Rotator cuff disorders result from inflammation or damage to the rotator cuff muscles or tendons. The inflammation can be caused by general wear and tear that occurs with age, activities that require constant or repetitive shoulder motion (especially above shoulder level), heavy lifting, trauma or poor posture. The pain associated with rotator cuff injuries is normally felt at the front or on the outside of the shoulder, particularly when you raise your arm or lift something above your head. You may also notice the pain more when you are lying in bed.

Frozen Shoulder – is characterised by progressive pain and stiffness in the shoulder. The pain is felt deep in the shoulder joint and may be more pronounced at night. The exact cause of this condition is not known however it normally occurs following a shoulder injury. It is thought that resting an injured or painful shoulder for too long can cause the shoulder muscles and connective tissues to stiffen up.

Arthritis – causes progressive joint pain, tenderness, swelling and stiffness. Both rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis can affect the shoulder joint.

Shoulder dislocations or instability – shoulder dislocation occurs when the ball shaped head of your upper arm bone (humerus) comes out of the shoulder socket. It may be caused by a fall, sporting injury or trauma and is an extremely painful condition. Following a dislocation the shoulder joint sometimes becomes unstable and susceptible to repeated dislocations. This condition is known as shoulder instability, and causes pain and unsteadiness when you raise your arm or move it away from your body.

As with any type of injury a correct diagnosis from your registered health professional is critical to limit the long term effects of a shoulder injury. Following correct diagnosis there are a number of possible outcomes including surgery, pain relievers, hot/cold treatments, steroid injections, rest, massage or appropriate exercise prescription.

Here at Lifestyle Improvers we have specific programs aimed to improve posture and can tailor programs to suit any injury rehabilitation requirements that our clients may require. We are more than happy to liaise with your registered health professional to help you achieve the desired outcome.

Enjoy your Xmas Turkey

2010-12-13T20:46:00.000-08:00

Most Christmas lunches are packed with nutrients thanks to them containing turkey and vegetables. However all the added extras that accompany the xmas lunch can quickly lead to a calorie overload.
Here are a few tips that will allow you to enjoy your meal without breaking the calorie bank.

Turkey is a great option as it is high in protein and lower in fat content than most other cuts of meat.
Don’t smother your turkey with oil, butter, margarine or lard when cooking it. If you must use oil, just brush a light coating over the turkey rather than pouring or spooning it over.
Before tucking into your meal, remove the skin from the turkey. Most of the fat is contained in the skin.
Fill your plate with vegetables of as many different colours as possible and avoid smothering the vegetables in butter.
If you’re going to use the meat juices to make gravy, make sure you drain off the fat first.
Avoid adding butter to the stuffing. Nobody will notice the difference when it is smothered in gravy.
Beware of all the extras such as cranberry sauce and white sauce as they only add calories and little else.
Drink 2 large glasses of water before eating as this will suppress your appetite and help you avoid overeating.

So make sure you enjoy your Christmas lunch or dinner without suffering the calorie overload that will lead to unwanted weight gain.

Is inflammation putting you in danger?

2010-12-13T14:37:00.000-08:00

One of the most common ‘buzz’ words in science these days is inflammation. When most people think of inflammation, they think of your knee swelling up when you cop a knock playing sport however in this case the inflammation we are referring to is a little different.

The correct scientific terminology for what we are discussing today is chronic low grade systemic inflammation. To simplify this further, it is simply swelling on a small scale throughout the entire body within the blood vessels. While we refer to this on a ‘small’ scale, the potential for disease is enormous

In fact for the past decade scientific research is labelling inflammation as the ‘bad boy’ of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and possibly even cancer.

So what exactly is inflammation? Inflammation is the body’s typical response to an abnormal situation. For example if you were to get a splinter embedded in your finger, after a few hours there would be localised swelling and possibly some redness on the skin surface.

Underneath the skin, a hive of activity is taking place. Chances are that the splinter has introduced bacteria into the body that are potentially dangerous. The immune system responds to this quickly and sends a number of different signals, engaging all units to respond to the situation.

The response is swift and ends with the foreign bacteria being attacked from all angles. Once the bacteria is surrounded the immune system sends out an ‘anti-inflammatory’ squad to break down the walls and end the inflammation.

Recent findings suggest that not only do invading micro-organisms like bacteria and viruses set off the immune system inflammation response but even certain foods invoke the same response.

For example, humans have not evolved eating lots of fats and sugars. While small amounts of these every now and then can be overcome, continual intake may result in pro-inflammatory chemicals overwhelming the system.

It is this ongoing inflammation, particularly in the lining of the blood vessels, that is now known to be associated with heart disease, diabetes and a range of other problems. In order to reduce this inflammation of the arteries the following 8 things need to be followed on a daily basis.

Choose high fibre, low glycaemic index carbohydrates such as whole grains, legumes, vegetables and fruit.

Eat lean protein at all 3 meals e.g. egg whites, fish, game meat, skinless chicken breast and low fat dairy

Consume about 1 handful of unsalted nuts on a daily basis. Eat with vegetables, berries or other fruits or grains.

Eat a salad of leafy greens dressed with vinegar and virgin olive oil.

Avoid highly processed foods especially those containing sugar, high fructose corn syrup, white flour or trans fats.

Keep serving sizes modest.

Maintain a healthy body weight.

Complete 30 minutes of physical activity per day that makes your heart rate increase.

If you are looking to reduce inflammation in your body why not let us check your Risk Factors and advise you of what needs to be improved in your lifestyle to help.

As one year ends another year presents new opportunities

2010-11-25T03:22:00.000-08:00

2011 is fast approaching and there is no time like the present to consider your current situation and make some plans for next year or think of a realistic New Year Resolution.

Do you currently wake up each day and dread going to work? Do you feel like you’re in the wrong job? Do you often feel down or sad? Would you rather just stay home and watch DVD’s than get out and engage in social activities with friends, family and work colleagues?
It is a normal part of life to have periods of feeling down however if these feelings go on and on for an extended period, it may be time to make some changes in your life? In fact the final weeks of 2010 are the perfect time to reassess things and start to consider what you need to leave behind in your current life in order to move forward.

Is 2011 the year? If so grab a pen and paper and start making some notes about the areas of your life you want to change or develop. Easier said than done perhaps so how do you start this process? Here are some tips to assist and get the ball rolling.
1. Write down the names of some courses that interest you
2. List some self development topics you need to work on and hunt for books to read.
3. Look for a new job
4. Find a hobby
5. Enrol in a new training course

The simple act of documenting these items is often all you need to stimulate a little inspiration and take the first steps toward change.

Change nearly always brings fear as we move out of our existing comfort zone and enter the realms of the unknown. If you can learn to face these fears and embrace positive change you will grow immensely as an individual.

So why not get started now and make 2011 a year you will never forget. If health is what you want to change in 2011 take your own online health check here and see where you can start.

Plan ahead for the ‘Silly Season’

2010-11-22T03:33:00.000-08:00

There is no better way to approach this time of year than with a definite plan. Unless you want to begin 2011 carrying around an extra 3-5kgs of weight now is the time to set your goals for the festive season.

Christmas after all is just one day however most of us spend the majority of the month of December attending parties and functions and over eating and drinking. This combined with missed workouts, late nights, holidays and closed gyms can leave us extremely vulnerable to weight gain and, as we all know, it is much easier to prevent weight gain than it is to lose once it is there.

My suggestion is to draw a line in the sand as of December 1 and make yourself a commitment to not gain weight over the month of December. Make yourself accountable to this commitment by sharing it with someone close to you such as your partner, best friend, Personal Trainer or family member. Another idea is to print out your weight as of December 1 in large bold print on an A4 piece of paper and stick it to your fridge or bathroom mirror or somewhere you will see it every day and use it as motivation to keep your weight under control.

It is during this time of year that we give ourselves permission to let go and eat badly and skip exercise sessions. Sure we do need to take some time out and spend some quality time with friends and family at this time of year but it shouldn’t be an excuse to over indulge. Portion sizes are crucial as we all tend to fill up our plate because it’s Christmas or continually snack on treats just because they are around. Why not choose December as a month you aim to increase your water intake? I know this sounds a bit weird but drinking water before you eat suppresses your appetite and having more water and less alcohol over the Christmas period is only going to benefit you.

So what if you do over indulge? Compensate immediately by scheduling in an extra training session and eating a meal or two of only salad or vegetables and drink loads of water. Monitor your weight daily if necessary to avoid the weight creeping back on. A lot of people have holidays at this time of year so skipping gym sessions is not acceptable, in fact you should be doing more sessions while you are on holidays.

I urge you to make that commitment now and look forward to seeing you on January 1 at the same weight as December 1 – you can do it!

Give yourself a Lift

2010-11-09T14:25:00.000-08:00

We all do it and pretty much every day but are you lifting correctly? Back problems that arise from incorrect lifting techniques are becoming more and more prevalent in our increasingly sedentary and automated lifestyle. But this doesn’t need to be the case and with just a few correct lifting and bending techniques you can help avoid the unnecessary damage and pain associated with a back injury.

Everyone puts a lot of stress on their backs every day from the process of bending and lifting, even those people who don't have a job that requires frequent heavy lifting. Think of how many times a day you bend down to pick something up whether it be laundry, your pet, a piece of paper, etc. Continued bad form when lifting, even something small, can cause unneeded stress on your back and make it more prone to injury.

There are two common mistakes made in lifting. The first is using the wrong muscles, the back muscles, instead of the leg and buttock muscles. You should always bend your knees when lifting heavy objects so you have a solid foundation for your spine. You should keep your trunk vertical when bending down and lifting something. A horizontal trunk can put pressure on the lower back amounting to hundreds of extra kilograms. This pressure can eventually compromise a disc or sprain or strain a back muscle.

The second common error is lifting an object too far from the body. Get close to what you are lifting. It decreases the pressure on your spine. Try to start with the center of the weight no more than 15 centimetres from your body, then lift the object with a straight back using your leg and buttock muscles. These are simple principles that will help you minimize injury to your back when lifting.

Another important guideline to follow is to limit twisting when lifting. This adds more force to your back. If you must turn when lifting, pivot your feet instead of twisting your back. In addition, always be sure of your footing. A sudden change in footing or a trip can cause enormous amounts of added stress on the back.

Another problem with lifting is fatigue. The more you bend and lift, the more fatigued your muscles become. When muscles are fatigued they are more prone to injury. Frequent breaks when lifting are preferable to help rejuvenate strength.

Always use both hands when lifting and lift slowly and deliberately. The ideal situation is to have someone or something to help you when lifting, but if that's not possible, follow all the above listed guidelines to minimize your risk of injury.

Here at Lifestyle Improvers we pride ourselves on teaching all our clients correct lifting techniques when they are working in the gym. With sufficient practice and reminders, correct lifting technique will become second nature. With any serious or pre-existing back injury we always work with our clients to re-train their habits and re-strengthen the correct muscles to provide that solid base that is required. As always we also recommend the assistance of an allied health professional to assist with the treatment of any back injury and work with us to get our clients back to normal functioning as soon as possible.

Are you out of breath?

2010-11-08T19:55:00.000-08:00

When was the last time you took notice of your breathing? Most of us don’t breathe well. We take short shallow breaths and tend to use our neck and shoulder muscles to help. Have you noticed that when you are slumped in front of the TV or your computer that your shoulders rise and fall with each breath? Or have you noticed that when you are stressed or rushing around that your breath becomes short and sharp? Perhaps you have noticed that you hold your breath when you bend down to lift something up or when you walk up a flight of stairs or that your belly bulges when you run for the bus?

Breathing is a fundamental part of our lives and of our spinal stability and is an automatic process and yet most of us take breathing for granted. Our breath has many important functions and poor breathing has been linked to numerous health issues such as heart disease, muscle tension, stress, chronic pain and weight gain. Breathing well ensures we have enough oxygen in our blood for our brain, organs and muscles to function.

The world is changing so quickly around us and we are all becoming busier and busier therefore learning to relax is becoming more and more important and chronic pain is becoming a large community problem. Often we look for a physical reason for our pain and some days it might just be because we are stressed and rushing around and forgetting to breathe properly.

Our breath is an important part of our spinal stability. Our stabilising corset is like a cylinder with a lid and a base. The walls of the corset are our deep abdominal muscles, the base is our pelvic floor and the lid is our diaphragm. When we breathe well, filling the air all the way to the bases of our lungs and rib cage, we allow our diaphragm to work with our pelvic floor for effective core control.

Several studies have documented the relationship between the lid, base and walls of our corset and how they function when we have pain or are pain free. A recent Canadian study found that up to 60% of people with chronic low back pain have altered breathing patterns when performing certain physical activities. Interestingly they found that the altered breathing was not related to pain severity. So whether you have mild, grumbly pain or intense ‘let me go to bed’ pain, chances are you are not breathing well.

So the next time you catch yourself slumping, rushing around and/or stressing or just wondering what you did to aggravate your pain, tell yourself to STOP, sit or stand up straight and take three long slow breaths. You’ll be amazed at how much better you feel.

Are you sitting down?

2010-10-25T19:48:00.000-07:00

There’s a pretty good chance you are as we all spend so much of our time sitting down in today’s world. We sit down to eat, sit down in our cars on the way to work, sit at our desks most of the day then get home and sit in front of the TV or computer. The implications are far reaching including reduced spinal health, poor general posture, higher blood sugar, higher blood fat levels, higher waist circumference and a general higher risk of the metabolic syndrome.

In fact a recent study by Professor Paul Zimmet from the International Diabetes Institute in Melbourne regarding Television viewing times (seated) provided some alarming results that everybody should consider before slumping into the couch to watch TV most nights and across their weekends or spending hours and hours in front of their computers or computer games.

The most recent study reported on the association between television viewing and risk of early death and showed that 6 year mortality rate from all causes and from cardiovascular disease causes is significantly higher with increased TV viewing time in adults. Each one hour increment in TV viewing time was found to be associated with an 11% and 18% increased risk of all cause and cardiovascular disease mortality, respectively. Further to this and relative to those watching less TV (< 2 hours/day), there was a 46% increased risk of all cause death and an 80% increased risk of cardiovascular disease mortality in those watching four or more hours of TV per day.

For general spinal health, it is crucial to avoid static seated positions especially if at a desk all day. Try eating your lunch while walking or for something different, conduct a meeting while walking. The importance of regular breaks and light stretches cannot be emphasised enough. Likewise if you’re spending extended periods on the couch or in front of your computer it is imperative to get up regularly and take a stretch break. Go and make yourself a tea or coffee or grab a glass of water during ad breaks or stand up and conduct some light stretches every time the clock strikes a new hour.

Of course the best solution would be to reduce your number of seated hours and increase your physical exercise regime which not only reduces your chances of cardiovascular disease but also promotes the release of endorphins (nature’s painkillers) throughout the body and increases the strength and health of your spine and all the associated muscles, tendons and ligaments.

Is your posture limiting your potential?

2010-10-25T19:28:00.000-07:00

For those of you already training with Lifestyle Improvers you will already be aware of some of our postural correction exercise techniques. For others, perhaps you are unaware of the limiting potential of poor posture on your everyday movements?

Whenever we start a new client at Lifestyle Improvers we always like to assess their posture at the earliest possible point in their exercise journey. Regardless of a client’s goals, be they weight loss, improved sporting performance or injury rehabilitation, the intensity of our training programs will progressively challenge them and when a system is challenged it is the weakest link(s) that will falter first. Often that weakest link can be attributed to a basic postural deficiency.

Often with a new client, they come to us all motivated, excited and wanting to get straight into complex weight bearing exercises when they are obviously not quite ready for it yet. This initial phase is the most important and requires some patience! I can compare it to building a house in that clearing the block, levelling the ground and laying the foundation is the most important part. But when it’s your house and you’re waiting for it to be built you just can’t wait to see the bricks go up and the roof go on!

According to Kendall (2005), ‘good posture’ is a composite of the positions of all the joints of the body at any given moment, both statically and dynamically, involving a minimal amount of stress and strain, resulting in maximal efficiency to the body. Of course our bodies are subject to many and varied internal and external forces and it is these forces that often create postural problems and possibly lead to injuries in later life. Genetics also play a part as do past and current work environments particularly those that involve long periods of sitting.

In our role at Lifestyle Improvers, as Fitness Professionals, it is not our position to diagnose injury and with any obvious or seriously debilitating condition we would always seek the advice of an allied Health Professional such as a Doctor, Chiropractor or Physiotherapist before pursuing a corrective exercise pathway. However, having a good understanding of the correlations between posture, function, pathology and pain will help us plan the correct training program for you and ensure you ultimately reach your potential.

As a special offer to our readers, mention this article and receive a free posture and lifestyle check by Lifestyle Improvers.

What are you missing out on in your life because you are too busy?

2010-10-13T14:57:00.000-07:00

In Washington , DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

After about 3 minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.

About 4 minutes later: The violinist received his first dollar then a woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

At 6 minutes: A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

At 10 minutes: A 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.

At 45 minutes: The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

After 1 hour: He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $200 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

This is a true story.

Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made . . . How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?

If you want to see this performance you can go to YouTube and Click on the Link below!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnOPu0_YWhw

High Fructose Corn Syrup

2010-09-27T19:36:00.000-07:00

High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) has already saturated the American food market and is now appearing more readily in the Australian food market. So what exactly is HFCS? Before we define HFCS it is also important to note that some other names are often used to describe HFCS such as maize syrup, corn sugar or glucose/fructose syrup.

HFCS comprises any of a group of corn syrups that has undergone enzymatic processing to convert its glucose to fructose to produce a desired sweetness. It is widely used in the United States as a substitute for sugar and is becoming more and more prevalent in processed foods now available in Australia.

Two recent studies have added more reason for concern that HFCS causes significantly more harm to the body than its mere sugar content would suggest. HFCS contains 55% fructose and 45% glucose which differs from table sugar (or sucrose) which contains a 50/50 split.

In the first study, published in the journal Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behaviour, researchers from Princeton University found that rats consuming HFCS gained more weight and developed more cardiovascular risk factors than rats consuming equivalent amounts of just sucrose. In their experiment EVERY rat on the HFCS diet became obese while the rats in the control group, who were still fed high fat diets but not containing HFCS, did not ALL become obese.

In the second study, conducted by researchers at Duke University, diets considered high in HFCS were found to result in increased chances of liver damage. Previous research has suggested that large amounts of fructose affected the liver in the same way as excessive alcohol consumption. Another study linked high-fructose corn syrup specifically with a form of liver scarring known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

The new study, published in the Journal of Hepatology, found that high-fructose corn syrup worsened the effects of NAFLD.

"We found that increased consumption of HFCS was associated with scarring in the liver among patients with NAFLD," researcher Manal Abdelmalek said.

The researchers analysed the diets and livers of 427 adults with NAFLD, and found that only 19 percent of them never consumed fructose-containing beverages. In contrast, 52 percent of participants had between one and six servings of a fructose-containing beverage per week, while another 29 percent had at least one serving per day. The higher patients' fructose intake, the worse the scarring of their livers.

"We have identified an environmental risk factor that may contribute to the metabolic syndrome of insulin resistance and the complications of the metabolic syndrome, including liver injury," Abdelmalek said.

Abdelmalek noted that NAFLD is a severe problem that cannot be treated and may lead in some cases to liver cancer, liver failure and a need for liver transplant.

Researchers are still unsure why high-fructose corn syrup appears to damage the body more than its extra 5 percent fructose content would suggest. Some have hypothesized that the negative effects come from the massive quantities in which it is consumed -- high-fructose corn syrup is found in nearly all processed foods.

Other researchers have observed that beverages made with high-fructose corn syrup contain high levels of reactive carbonyls, which can damage cells. Still others have noted that the fructose in high-fructose corn syrup is chemically unbonded and thus spreads through the body more freely than the fructose in table sugar.

Of course with all research studies there are two sides to the story and some researchers do not agree with the above information so it is up to each one of us to make an informed decision for ourselves. Personally I would avoid HFCS as much as possible and if you need to consume sugar in any form, the more natural (for example in fruit) the better.

Fast Food Frightening Facts

2010-09-27T19:29:00.000-07:00

Do you know the makeup of a standard fast food meal? In this case a standard fast food meal consists of a burger, fries and a coke.

Did you realise that when you eat the above mentioned typical fast food meal you are actually eating almost entirely genetically modified corn! Pretty scary stuff and certainly not good for your overall health.

Let’s analyse the meal a bit further and start with the coke (or other flavoured soft drink). The coke obtains 100% of its calories from a corn derivative being high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

The burger contains beef generally from farm fed cows with controlled diets that usually consist of mainly corn. The cheese which is in most burgers is also produced from these same cows therefore making the burger almost entirely derived from corn.

The bun on the burger contains corn derivatives including HFCS with the remainder of the calories in the bun coming from refined wheat flour and possibly a small amount of soybean oil

Finally the fries and most of the calories that come from these are from the oil that’s soaked into them during the deep frying process. This oil more often than not is either corn oil or soybean oil.

So it’s surprising that we even contemplate eating these meals on a regular basis and perhaps if we really knew how and what they were made from we wouldn’t stop at the nearest drive through next time we are hungry and can’t be bothered cooking.

Clint's Weight Loss Challenge

2010-09-15T04:48:00.000-07:00

Don’t become Diet obsessed

2010-09-13T19:18:00.000-07:00

As you will see in today’s newsletter, one of our valued clients, Clint from Mulberries Cafe in Morley, is embarking upon a ‘Spring Challenge’ to lose 10 kilos in 3 months. With help and guidance from Lifestyle Improvers we wish Clint all the best in his challenge which will involve a well managed eating plan along with a structured exercise regime.

One piece of advice we can offer Clint during this challenge is not to become obsessed with his diet or eating plan. Obviously Clint wants to do everything possible to get the 10kgs off and while our natural instinct is to focus very closely on our food intake, perhaps maintaining a food diary, counting calories and fat and measuring and weighing every piece of food that crosses our path, it is vitally important that Clint does not focus obsessively on this area.

While being more aware of your food choices, balancing protein and carbohydrates and making sure that you are eating mindfully is important, becoming obsessed with every morsel that goes into your mouth may actually be doing you more harm than good. When we are focusing on one small aspect of life, it actually results in the brain becoming limited in its ability to see the bigger picture. A good example of this is when you buy a new car you suddenly notice more of that type of car on the road as the brain has been focussed on an important decision and has limited your ability to notice other types of cars.

If you have been trying to make dietary changes and find that the more you concentrate on your food intake, the worse it gets it may be time to ensure you are also balancing your dietary changes with other lifestyle shifts that will help support your new eating regime.

Are you dedicating enough time to your exercise and relationships? Are you keeping yourself busy at times when you’re more likely to overeat? Are you putting your dietary changes in the context of your life? Surprisingly enough, in more cases than not, weight loss comes into place once we work towards being happy in all areas of our life.

So if you are avoiding social and family eating situations, cutting back more and more and still not getting results, it may be time to relax a little, evaluate the bigger picture, let go of your need to control every situation and live a little. As long as you keep the basic diet and exercise principles in place things tend to fall in line pretty quickly.

Learning from ‘The Best’

2010-08-16T19:43:00.000-07:00

I was having a ‘flashback’ moment recently to the time when I was a fit young cricketer trying to break into the Western Warriors team and I was regularly in contact with some of my sporting idols such as Dennis Lillee, Terry Alderman and Geoff Marsh. Further to this, I was also mixing with the likes of Justin Langer, Damien Martyn, Mike Hussey and briefly Adam Gilchrist.

Anyway enough of the name dropping! I must admit at the time I was probably guilty of ‘star gazing’ and didn’t make the most of my opportunities of learning from these elite level cricketers and the other coaches etc that surrounded me.

I thought just being in their presence would automatically elevate me to their level of achievement. This brings me to the point of today’s article which can be translated into any part of our lives including sport, fitness, family, academic pursuits, work, love and relationships.

I think we all have a tendency to romanticize or idealize certain people or achievements. We don’t realise that those individuals that we put on pedestals aren’t any different than we are. What we need to realise is that these people generally possess a wealth of experience, knowledge and habits, in their chosen field, and that if we aspire to reach their level then we need to learn from them.

Now don’t get me wrong, these people are not perfect! Nobody is – we all have our flaws – for example you may seek out Tiger Woods for some golf advice, but you probably would want to discuss your relationship issues with somebody more appropriate!

So have a good look at the areas of your life that you want to improve, and seek out a role model or mentor who is successful in that area and soak up their habits and methods instead of placing them on a pedestal. You may only get one small piece of advice that assists you, but that one piece of advice may be the piece that completes your puzzle.

Early to Bed, Early to Rise

2010-06-28T19:38:00.000-07:00

You all know the old saying that Early to Bed, Early to Rise makes a person healthy, wealthy and wise - but how true is it? - and it’s so warm in bed at this time of year who would want to get up early?

Well for any of you that have read any self development literature from Business and/or Life Coach gurus you will have noticed one thing that most of them have in common. They ALL get up early!

There are numerous benefits to getting up early including, missing the traffic, making time to exercise, avoiding crowded gyms in peak workout times, getting work done with less interruptions and your powers of concentration are generally stronger first thing in the morning. All these things add up to a much more efficient and productive usage of your valuable time.

Metabolically it can also assist with weight control to get up early and kick start your metabolism with an early healthy breakfast followed by smaller more regular meals throughout the day.

There is no magic solution to getting up early, you just have to DO IT! Program your body clock so it’s used to going to bed a little earlier and waking up earlier. It’s still vitally important to get your 6-8 hours of rest so if you currently go to bed around 11pm and get up at 7am, why not try going to bed at 9-30pm and getting up at 5-30am instead? You really won’t miss that hour and a half each evening that is probably spent on the couch in front of mindless TV shows. If you MUST watch your favourite program(s), tape them and watch them on the weekend during your leisure time.

If you need help getting out of bed, a couple of tips would include – placing your alarm clock away from the bed so you actually have to get up to switch it off, avoiding the snooze button at all costs or switching the light on straight away when the alarm goes off.

How many times when you ask someone to do something or help you with something is their response ‘I don’t have time?’ Just think if you had an extra hour and a half each day how much more you could achieve?

To see how a few simple adjustments to your lifestyle could help you find those extra hours a week you seem to be short of why not go and fill out your very own lifestyle check .

Rediscover How Time Out can help you

2010-06-21T19:31:00.000-07:00

If we were to turn the clock back twenty years, generally, Dad would finish work at 5pm, Mum would have spent the day cooking, looking after the kids and cleaning the house and families would be home together by 5-30pm. The evening would be spent eating a home cooked meal together at the table, then relaxing in front of the television or spending time on some other personal interest or family pursuit. Weekends would be filled with 1-2 social engagements, playing with the kids, watching them play sport and enjoying plenty of down time.

Fast forward to 2010 – families are lucky to be home together by 8pm, Mum and Dad generally both work, fast food in front of the TV becomes a regular habit and the kids are either in their room or detached from society with their i-Pod headphones on! Many people also do more work on their computers when they get home and also work at least some of the weekend. Social engagements are crammed in wherever possible and as long as everyone’s schedules allow for it!

In order to optimally balance such an intense existence, allowing you time to switch off regularly and have the opportunity to escape an often harsh reality is absolutely crucial. Whether this translates into a night or two each week reserved only to sacred self or family time, some time for exercise or regular trips away we all need time to think, reflect and relax. When was the last time you had such sacred time for both you and your family? If you had to think about it, perhaps it is worth scheduling some into your frantic life on a more regular basis. Not only will your mood benefit, but your stress hormone levels will reduce and your health will benefit as a result.

How to avoid post-workout tiredness

2010-06-14T20:04:00.000-07:00

Do you ever finish a workout feeling great and then a couple of hours later feel like you’ve hit a wall and could fall asleep straight away?

In order to maintain peak energy levels throughout the day, you need to re-fuel with the right food immediately after you train. That means eating snacks containing carbohydrates to replenish lost glycogen stores and protein to aid in muscle repair and recovery. Ideally aim for 200-300 calories for every hour of exercise and a two to one ratio of carbs to protein. These snacks should be easily digestible as your body will still be working on repair and recovery of your muscles and not so much on digestion.

Some easy suggestions are as follows ;

Sliced Turkey, Cheese and Apple or Banana slices – the turkey provides your protein and the fruit provides your carbohydrates.

Natural Juice and Nuts – the nuts provide an excellent source of protein (but you should only need a handful) and the natural fruit juice will provide the carbs.

A Tuna and Salad Wholegrain Sandwich – the tuna provides the protein and the bread provides the carbohydrates.

Yoghurt and Muesli – grab your favourite yoghurt and add half a cup of muesli to cover your protein and carb requirements.

On the flip side, there are some foods to definitely avoid post workout such as Chocolate Bars, Processed Muesli Bars, Protein Bars, Chips, Pretzels, Muffins, Pastries, Lollies, Ice Cream, Hamburgers, Cappuccino’s and Latte’s.

These foods tend to be laden with sugar and/or fat and are sure to sap your energy in no time and destroy all the good work you achieved during your workout.

If you want to have your lifestyle checked out all online why not fill out one of our Health Check’s. Here at Lifestyle Improvers we recommend the Metabolic Jumpstart eating plan which would back up the above information and provide excellent nutrition solutions to cover your entire day.

Happy snacking!

How to make your workouts more effective without increasing effort

2010-06-14T19:43:00.000-07:00

Sounds crazy right?! But I can assure you this is proven and can be backed up by researchers from Harvard University.

During a recent study, on Hotel room cleaning attendants, the Harvard University researchers studied over 80 Hotel cleaning staff from 7 different Hotels. It was agreed that Hotel cleaning staff are physically active in their daily jobs and on average clean 15 rooms a day at an average time of 25 minutes per room. The cleaning involves changing bedding, vacuuming, scrubbing and lifting things.

Now this particular study questioned whether most of the cleaning staff actually realised that the work they were doing was in fact good for their health? So the researchers split the workers into two groups with the first group being informed about the benefits of exercise and how many calories they were burning while doing their cleaning work each day, and the second group were simply told the benefits of exercise but were not told how many calories they were burning or that their work constituted a good form of exercise.

The researchers ensured they studied the existing lifestyles of the workers as well as giving them various health tests including weigh-ins. The study was conducted over 4 weeks and the researchers ensured none of the workers had changed their lifestyle habits during the study (such as commenced an exercise program, become a smoker or given up smoking etc etc). In addition to this the Hotel managers ensured each worker received similar workloads over the 4 week period.

The results were very interesting with the group that had been informed daily, about the benefits of the exercise they were doing in their daily work routines and how many calories they were burning, showing a significant reduction in body weight, Body Mass Index, Waist to Hip ratio and Blood Pressure. The other group that were not told of the calories they were burning or the benefits of the exercise they were doing in their normal day to day jobs, showed none of these improvements.

This is a classic case of the Placebo Effect and reinforces the power of our brains in relation to the results we get from our exercise, diets etc. There is a great lesson to be learned here that if you strongly believe in your own mind that the exercise you are doing is going to improve your body, chances are it will!! This can be applied to other aspects of your life as well – the power of visualisation and the brain should NOT be underestimated.

To see if you have enough activity in your daily routine already why not fill out your own online health and lifestyle check

Who’s number 1 in your life?

2010-05-24T19:35:00.000-07:00

This is a question we all need to ask ourselves from time to time and hopefully in most cases the answer is you? Now this may sound a little selfish, particularly if you have small children, but in order to achieve a healthy and happy balance in your life you must make time for yourself. An excellent analogy for this is to imagine on a table in front of you are a small glass jar, a number of small stones and one large stone. Now if you pile all the small stones into the jar first, there will not be enough room for the large stone to fit in at the end. However if you place the large stone in first, all the small stones will fit in around it. Of course in this analogy you are the large stone and all the other priorities in your life are the smaller stones.

Some people are already very good at achieving this balance and can easily put their own needs ahead of others and these people tend to be happier and better functioning people as a result. On the other hand, there are people (especially mothers) who put everyone else’s needs before their own and these people tend to often feel exhausted, drained, resentful or just plain cranky.

The irony of this situation is, while you may be perceived as selfish by putting yourself first, failing to place your basic needs such as health, self care, exercise and time alone before the needs of others actually tends to make people function at a level that is far below their best. As a result of this, the people closest to us or of most importance, whether that be family, friends, clients or associates do not get to interact with us when we are at our best, so at the end of the day nobody wins.

Generally people can be put into two categories either ‘me for me’ people or ‘me for you’ people. Those in the first category tend to self care first as they know they will then be at their best for others. Unfortunately those in the second category tend to be forever chasing their tails. So in concluding I urge you all to place that ‘big rock’ into your jar first and let everything else fall into place around it.

To find out exactly what part of your life you need to focus on to make sure you are at your best for others why not fill out a Lifestyle Health Check. This will show you what you can work on today to make sure number 1 in your life is looked after first.

Diets are not for Everyone

2010-05-10T19:56:00.000-07:00

For most people starting out on an exercise program the issue of diet, and or dieting, will be discussed early on in the piece. Here at Lifestyle Improvers, we highly recommend Matt O’Neil’s Metabolic Jumpstart program to all of our new clients. No doubt you have heard through various media outlets about numerous other types of diet whether that be high Protein, low Carbohydrate, low sugar or various detox types of diet. So which one should you choose?

Recent research shows that 90-95% of people who lose weight through dieting regain 115% of the weight lost within 5 years. These are pretty damning figures. Perhaps a better approach to weight loss is to introduce lasting changes to our eating habits rather than follow the latest fad diet?

So to help kick start your new lasting healthy eating habits I have included my 5 top tips as follows ;

1) Eat Breakfast – a good healthy natural breakfast not only helps get your metabolism firing first thing in the morning, but also significantly decreases the chances of overeating later in the day.

2) Focus on Nutrient rich, energy sparse food – this could actually mean you need to eat more rather than less? If you’re confused by this what I mean is adding nutrient rich foods such as vegetables or various forms of protein instead of cutting out things from your diet. The exception here is highly processed foods which should be replaced by natural nutrient rich alternatives.

3) Reward rather than deprive – if you must have some treats, use them as a reward rather than trying to cut them out completely. So if you’ve stuck to your eating plan all week allow yourself a small reward at the end of the week. Research has shown that total deprivation of treat foods can lead to increased consumption at a later date.

4) Think before you eat – make sure you pay attention to what and how much you’re eating. Try eating at the table and away from the TV, chew each mouthful of food to completion before reaching for your next mouthful, put your knife and fork down between mouthfuls and finally, drink a large glass of water before eating your main meals.

5) Don’t let the scales rule your life – if you dread your weekly or daily weigh in then do away with it. Seeing a good or bad number on the scales will influence your mood and quite possibly your eating habits. Your clothes will tell you how you’re going.

Good luck to you all as you embark on a new long lasting healthy eating lifestyle.

The Importance of Carbohydrates

2010-05-10T19:52:00.000-07:00

After attending a very busy and informative weekend at the Australia wide Fitness industry convention in Sydney, it is only fair that I share some of the knowledge I have obtained with our loyal members at Lifestyle Improvers.

One of the lectures I attended was presented by well known Nutritionist Susie Burrell who has a very high profile in Australia and regularly appears on commercial TV to share her knowledge on Nutrition.

With so many different diets available to the general public, it sometimes becomes difficult to determine what we should and should not be eating, and when we should and should not be eating. One common perception particularly in the fitness/weight loss industry is to limit or eliminate carbohydrate intake in the evenings.

As Susie explained, many people who exercise first thing in the morning will starve themselves of carbohydrates the evening before thinking that if the body has little or no carbohydrates available then it will burn fat instead. This perception is in fact incorrect and in fact the metabolic pathway that sees fat being broken down and utilized as a fuel source, actually works better if some glucose (carbohydrates) are still available within the body.

This not only means that when you train you will more likely burn fat, but also be able to train harder and longer as a result. This also does not mean you should be demolishing massive bowls of pasta the night before your workout, but a small amount of carbohydrates (10-20g) which can be as simple as a half a glass of low fat milk or a couple of crackers.

So why not give it a try and see if it works for you?

How are you behaving?

2010-05-03T00:47:00.000-07:00

We have just returned from a Rippa weekend of learning and personal development in Sydney at the FILEX convention (Fitness Industry Expo). So we thought it only fitting we shared what great information we learnt that can make a huge impact on your lives.

Our first one comes from the opening keynote address and boy did this one hit us right between the eyes. Titled, "Building Rippa Relationships" and delivered by Bruce Sullivan. He was funny, engaging and all the right ingredients for a keynote speaker but he delivered an absolute knockout message that floored us and the rest of the people in the room. Believe me there was some big fellas and gals in the room and I even saw a few tears coming from them.

He initially put to us that everyone means well. However our intentions don't match out behaviours. We are all out of alignment so to speak. Fair point and taken on the chin.

He then moved on to point out we need to be

Conscious and live in the moment more. Be present with partners, workmates, kids and family

Make your behaviour match your intentions and let them show. If you think your wife/husband/partner looks beautiful, tell them. Not good enough to intend to!!!

Don't be neutral, meaning you are either adding or taking away from a relationship

Stop using busy, lazy or stupid as an excuse. Not now, wait till I finish .......

Bruce's underlying message was don't try and change all and sundry - change yourself first. Can you see how you changing your mindset, attitude or behaviours may impact positively on your relationships? Rippa now stop making excuses and do it.

I will leave you with two gold nuggets he passed on and if you get this, I believe our stress levels will nose dive markedly.

Understand the facts of life. Good things happen, bad things happen and gravity is constant. Point being things happen and sometimes there is no rhyme or reason why, they just happen.

Fix problems and don't complain about them. Whether it is your fault or not; fix it. Then the problem is gone. Simple isn't it.

If this sounds unremarkable and uncomplicated to you - great. Because I am sure this was his aim. KISS (keep it simple st---d) The knockout blow came when he ran us through the birth of his daughter. They were quickly informed there was a heart problem and a chance she had down's syndrome. Between them they decided to go full out and live their intentions out in their behaviours. The slides showed the most remarkable family snaps of them all playing, skiing, horse riding, first days of school and lots more adventures.

Bruce and his wife accepted that this had happened to them and their daughter, they didn't complain they just fixed the problem by accepting it and living every day consciously, showing their intentions loud and clear and never being too busy. Bang; we were floored totally.

Join the resistance movement

2010-04-19T19:52:00.000-07:00

Resistance training is any exercise that causes the muscles to contract against an external resistance with the aim to increase strength, muscle tone, mass, and/or endurance. The external resistance can be dumbbells, rubber exercise tubing, your own body weight, bricks, bottles of water, or any other object that causes the muscles to contract. Even lifting bags of sand and shifting big bulky tires around an oval is a form of resistance training.

Resistance training is based on the principle that muscles of the body will work to overcome a resistance force when they are required to do so. When resistance training is undertaken repeatedly and consistently, muscles become stronger.

There are many physical and mental health benefits that can be achieved through resistance training. Weight management is one of the most valuable as muscle mass naturally diminishes with age. But resistance training can help preserve and enhance muscle mass and reduce body fat. As you build muscle mass, your body burns calories. Even when you are not exercising, these cells still burn up energy making it easier to control your weight. Sounds too good to be true doesn’t it!!! Research shows that physical inactivity is the second leading preventable cause of death and with Australians getting fatter and fatter.

One of the biggest misconceptions is that women will develop large, bulky muscles from lifting weights. The average woman does not produce significant quantities of the male hormone testosterone that cause you to really bulk up. Males are the same. Although there is much more testosterone in the male body the effort and dedication required to get big bulky huge well developed muscle definition takes years. A few sessions a week for 30 minutes will not make you turn into a big, bulky muscle machine but it will dramatically increase your health and wellbeing.

Here are 3 tips to take on board before starting resistance training or if you are involved in resistance training go back and re focus on these factors.

Warm up and cool down properly including stretching.
Balance your training so that you are working muscles on the front and rear of the body. An imbalance in strength between muscle groups can lead to injury
Make sure you train the deep stabilising or core muscles appropriately. These include the rotator cuff in the shoulder and the deep stabilisers of the low back and neck.

So good luck with your resistance training and I hope these tips help. If you are seriously looking to improve the quality of your lifestyle and need any assistance why not request a Risk Analysis Health Check Diagnostic

Should we greet the Easter Bunny with open arms?

2010-04-05T19:14:00.000-07:00

With Easter upon us I thought it a good opportunity to discuss the merits or demerits of those lovely chocolate gifts that are so kindly delivered at this time of year by the Easter Bunny. I have seen a lot of articles recently debating the pros and cons of chocolate and below is my take on the argument.

Believe it or not there are many health benefits to be obtained by eating chocolate, however the chocolate referred to is chocolate in its purest form that is as close to the cocoa bean as you can get. Unfortunately most of the chocolate we see (and eat) is full of added ingredients such as Cocoa Butter, sugar, lecithin, vanilla and milk.

So what can we possibly benefit from eating chocolate then I hear you say? Well the secret is in the cocoa content of the chocolate. The more cocoa, the less of the other ingredients mentioned above. Generally the highest cocoa content is found in dark chocolate and the higher the cocoa content the more antioxidants you will find. These antioxidants help rid the body of free radicals, which are nasty little molecules running amok in your body and causing aging and disease. The antioxidants bond to the free radicals and remove them from your body via digestion and other means.

Some common antioxidants you may have heard of are contained in things such as Red Wine, Green Tea and Blueberries however dark chocolate has even more antioxidants than any of these. Another benefit is that antioxidant rich diets have been scientifically linked to a lowered risk of heart attacks, stroke, cardiovascular disease, cancer, high blood pressure, cholesterol problems, arthritis, asthma and Alzheimer’s disease. So we can say that chocolate is good for you when the above is taken into account.

The main down side to the argument is the fat, sugar and caffeine content of all chocolate. As mentioned before the higher the cocoa content the less cocoa butter and therefore less fat contained in chocolate. As for sugar, a strong dark chocolate bar contains approx 10-15 grams of sugar which compares to 22 grams in a glass of orange juice or 29 grams in a cup of yoghurt. With the caffeine, an average bar contains approx 27 milligrams of caffeine which is about half what you would find in a can of coke and a third of what you would find in a cup of coffee.

So for next Easter a small amount of dark chocolate might just be the perfect gift to satisfy your friends sweet tooth while providing the many benefits to their body

If you want to assess your own lifestyle to see what health risks are present, request we send your very own Risk Analysis Health Check.

Be ready for your nutrition traps when travelling

2010-02-15T19:51:00.000-08:00

A big trap for people who travel often is allowing their nutrition habits to slip while they are away from home. Whether it is interstate or overseas flights, country car trips or daily business trips where most of the day is spent in transit, our diet plans often end up going out the window. Well here are my tips for helping you stick with your good eating habits when your ‘normal environment’ has changed;

1) Pack for the Plane/Car trip – rather than falling into the fast food trap or having to eat less than ideal plane food, take some appropriate snacks with you. Fruit, nuts or healthy sandwiches are a great alternative and only require a small amount of planning prior to your trip.
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2) Avoid the ‘empty’ liquid calories – it’s easy to quickly load up on calories if you allow yourself sugary soft drinks or alcohol that you wouldn’t normally drink at home. Stick to water or black or green tea if possible and if you must indulge in alcohol for business purposes drink slowly and try to space your drinks out with a water in between.

3) Keep a food diary – plan out what you are going to eat prior to leaving and stick to your plan. Recording exactly what goes into your mouth keeps you accountable and less likely to slip up.

4) Study the Menu – if your travel includes business lunches or dinners, make sure you choose wisely from the menu and fill up on sides of vegetables such as broccoli or asparagus rather than chips.

5) Avoid ‘impulse’ eating – if you’re at a function and ‘finger food’ is being passed around, think before you just grab one of those sausage rolls or deep fried treats or better still eat beforehand so you don’t feel hungry and become more likely to succumb to the food on offer.

6) Fruit and Vegetables are your friends – fill up on fruit and vegetables at every opportunity to help avoid ‘snacking’ on chocolates, cakes or lollies.

7) Earn a reward – if you’re away for an extended period and you stick to your healthy eating plan, reward yourself with one ‘treat meal’ at the end of your trip. This doesn’t mean you go crazy and order everything on the menu!!

So good luck with your travels and I hope these tips help you get home in the same shape as you left!

If you are seriously looking to improve the quality of your lifestyle overall why not request a Risk Analysis Health Check Diagnostic

Did you know Tea can lower blood pressure?

2010-02-15T19:36:00.000-08:00

I’ve been doing some reading lately about different sorts of tea and their various benefits so I thought I would share some of my findings with you.

You have probably heard many times over about the benefits of Green Tea so I won’t go into that today, apart from highly recommending it. Instead I’m going to look at a couple of not so well known teas and share some of their benefits.

First looking at Chammomile Tea and research has shown that Chammomile Tea can help to control blood sugar levels, which is great for diabetics and non-diabetics alike. It has also been indicated that controlling blood sugar levels can help you to lose body fat.

Another benefit is that some of the natural compounds in Chammomile Tea assist with counteracting the effect of estrogenic pesticides and other chemicals that our bodies are exposed to from our food sources and environment.

Chammomile Tea is also well known as a relaxant and a cup about an hour before bed can help with preparing you for a good night’s sleep.

The other tea I’m interested in is Hibiscus Tea. A study I was reading recently indicated that drinking Hibiscus Tea daily can lead to a mild but helpful reduction in blood pressure. The study, from an American Heart Association conference, showed that volunteers who drank Hibiscus Tea had a 7.2 point drop in their systolic blood pressure compared to the control group who drank a placebo beverage and recorded only a 1.3 point reduction.

Other studies show that drinking any sort of tea will provide some benefits, which makes sense, as every different kind of tea contains some form of antioxidants in varying levels. So next time you’re thinking of having a hot drink why not try one of the many different forms of tea available.

If you are seriously looking to improve the quality of your lifestyle overall why not request a Risk Analysis Health Check Diagnostic

Discover the variation at Lifestyle Improvers in 2010

2009-12-13T21:12:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-29T18:46:00.000-08:00

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

2009-10-29T17:12:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-29T17:00:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-18T07:16:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-01T18:02:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-28T19:19:00.000-07:00

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.

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’.

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.

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.
Eliminate all liquid calories and replace them with Water or Green Tea.

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.

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.

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

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.
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.

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

2009-09-19T19:49:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-14T19:30:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-09-08T16:59:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-07T19:50:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-31T19:29:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-25T20:42:00.000-07:00

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.

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!

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.

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.

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).

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.

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).

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

2009-08-25T20:17:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-25T17:18:00.000-07:00

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.