Blog

Personal Trainer Perth   →  Blog
Categories Health Tips, Mental wellness, Uncategorized, Weightloss

Why do you need a new approach to health, fitness and weight management?

Author Angie-Hazell Posted on
We look at all of you, as a whole not as separate systems!

In today’s world we all seem to be suffering from burnout, stress, anxiety and difficulties maintaining a health diet and weight.

It’s seen to be simple, you just eat less, and exercise more bingo a plan to weightless and wellness.

But you need to look at things in a holistic manner, changing your lifestyle is a BIG thing and when you think about it, it’s really daunting, or perhaps exciting in the beginning with lots of high motivation.

When looking at changing a habit, or a whole lifestyle, you need to firstly look at you as a whole person, first of all understanding you and your current habits as well as any current health issues.  From there working out where you are in the change cycle, and if you have considered all the reasons why you need to change or what you would like to change. Working out how these changes match with your current lifestyle or what potential issues might come up when you are trying to make these changes is a really BIG thing.  Consider your family, how practically on a day to day basis will they incorporate into your new found exercise regime or eating plan, will you be cooking three different meals?  Will your partner be onboard with it in reality?  If you don’t nut out these issues early then it’s likely your plan for change isn’t going to be sustainable long term. Sure you could do something like this for a short time and you will see changes, but the likelihood of this being a long term plan is not generally going to stick.

The key to a good health and wellness long term plan, is actually good planning from the beginning.  It usually takes a little while to work out what your current issues are and you might need someone else to help you see them, what you actually need, how it will fit into your life, how will it affect the others in your household and can you incorporate it into their lives also? Goal setting is critical but they also need to be practical, achievable but most of all, consistent and long-term.

Knowing what food to eat and food that is actually practical within your lifestyle, what mindful exercises you need to do, what physical exercises you need to do, what you want to achieve, and just how to make it something long-term that actually fits into your life can be daunting.  It’s not a quick fix.

Things to try now:

  1. Consider your current health issues.
  2. Consider your current lifestyle.
  3. Consider how you think you could make some changes.
  4. What those changes might be.
  5. Look at those changes and select just one then set a short term goal of just a week, to see if you can achieve that goal.  It could be make my lunch each day instead of buying something, taking a walk at lunchtime, or not having that biscuit at 3pm instead, just eating an orange!  Keep it really simple.
  6. Review that week to see how many times you managed to achieve that task, consistently.

By doing this one task will let you see if you are ready to take action or if you are still contemplating change.

 

If you need help:

Create Health and Fitness offers you your own private Holistic Health & Fitness Consultant and Mental Health Coach who will focus on building a bespoke health and fitness strategy for your future health that is sustainable and based on mental wellbeing coaching methods to create consistent habits and motivation.

Categories Health, Holistic health and fitness, Uncategorized, Workplace Wellness for Legal Teams

Improving your legal team’s wellbeing by just listening…..

Author CreateHealthFitness Posted on

I think the answer to this question is, of course, as a first step!

Active listening

Whether you already have a wellness program in place or are thinking of one, listening to your team is the first most important step, how they see their current environment at the office, what do they feel they need personally to make coming to work a really positive part of their life?

You do need to listen to everyone, not only the ones who are already interested in this area.  It’s usually the ones who most need help that remain silent, or hide from any corporate fitness activities for fear of being judged in some way.  Really look for signs of staff members who are struggling with the day to day emotional stress of having to perform, having multiple deadlines to meet, and client expectations to manage.  Not only that, they may also be juggling home and family commitments that’s also causing some stress which is leading to lower quality work output and poor overall general health.

Environment and influenced behaviours 

The environment we live and work in creates certain behaviours, and the people around us influence how we live.  What if we can, through our workplaces, provide more in-depth wellness programs that can then influence how employees live their lives by encouraging healthy habits and reducing stress, individually.  Programs that really get beneath the surface?

Changes one individual makes, can inspire the people around them.

The bigger picture strategy

I know this is a big picture, long-term strategy of influence, but in the current health climate of obesity and childhood obesity, mental and emotional health issues, diabetes, and chronic illness, it should be something we need to really consider, how to reach the masses and make a community change.  Can businesses help to change our communities’ beliefs around health by subtly changing work environments?  Our health systems are under so much pressure from diseases that are preventable by a few changes, if we could only reach more people to encourage them to make small changes.   I believe that businesses and companies can definitely help to make an impact on a large scale, with the right programs.  With so many people spending large amounts of time working, it seems like a good place to start.

Look, listen and feel what your teams are in need of, and then craft a plan that can bring about meaningful, lasting change, for both company and team.

The warm and fuzzies

Staff do like to feel like they are integral to the team and appreciated for their efforts.  A one-one initial approach is likely to give your staff the feeling of being appreciated and supported.  They might want to have a health and fitness consultant themselves privately or a personal trainer, nutritionist or health coach on their side at all times, but won’t necessarily seek that service out for themselves because they don’t have time after work, can’t fit it in, or its just not a priority in the budget.  Provide the time during the day for consultation, and it might just help to keep staff accountable to their diet, exercise and emotional support plans.

A bespoke wellness program, or one that complements a current one

If you need help with getting more out of your current program, or in creating a holistic and sustainable strategy that will really bring about changes to your legal teams, see our Create Workplace Wellness Program, specifically designed for Law firms, in-house legal teams and their support staff.  Our Health and Fitness Consultants provide a one-one bespoke service so contact us for chat to see what we can assist your teams with.

Why choose us? Angie Hazell has 20 years experience in the legal industry from administration, HR, marketing and management, in medium sized full service firms, to top-tier national firms, as well as 13 years health and fitness industry knowledge and qualifications.  Combining both passions and having an understanding of the needs of the industry is something that works well together to bring an approach that is more specialised and focussed only on lawyers, in-house legal teams and their support staff.

www.createhealthfitness.com.au

Categories Gluten Free, Health Tips, Holistic health and fitness, Migraine balance, Nutrition

The great grain debate! To eat or not to eat… and then there’s seeds…

Author CreateHealthFitness Posted on

Are you conflicted about whether to eat or not to eat grains for fear of inflammation and weight gain? Are you a ‘new’ gluten sensitive, a celiac or gluten intolerant and don’t know how to deal with grains?  Well a few things about grains that should help you decide.

When you’re thinking grains, you need to think quality first. The better the quality, the better the nutrient value. This is why we eat right? To feed our cells so they make our body work!

So, wholegrains are a great source of iron, fibre, and B vits and help you to stay fuller for longer, help to keep your sugars level and promote good digestion.

But which ones should you choose?

First, of course, stay away from refined grains such as white breads, pasta, white rice, and always choose whole grain – do I even need to say that!   There are lots of great grainy breads and wraps, pasta made with all different types of grains to choose from.

Quinoa is a good protein packed gluten free grain but I find its best when mixed with brown rice. Remember that brown rice contains the highest amount of B vitamins out of all grains, and contains iron, magnesium, amino acids and is high in fibre.

Amaranth is delicious but can be high in calories so use limited amounts. Buckwheat has a taste that you need to get used to but it is a really great staple if you are gluten free. Couscous can be incorporated into a meal, from what I remember (pre-celiac knowledge!) its a nice fluffy grain that you can cook with any protein and veggies!

I do have to say that I use seeds a lot to provide that grainy texture to foods and of course they are super nutritious too. Yes, they have fat, but it is fat that is useful to us! Seeded crackers are a good staple snack for me as a grain substitute if I’m on the road (try the gluten free aisle for these). Coles carries a brand called Olina’s (pictured) but of course you can make your own. More on that in later recipes.

All in all, don’t be afraid of grains, and if you do want to check out grains, choose wisely, and just eat a small portion, fill up your plate with veggies first, then protein and then your grain. You don’t need a lot, but you do need some to keep a balance. But of course, everyone is an individual, so try them all out and see which ones you like!

If you suffer from migraines, like me, then grains at most meals is really key to keeping a sugar and energy balance which helps keep migraines away!

Angie :0)
Holistic Health & Fitness Consultant

Angie Hazell has been a qualified personal trainer and certified nutrition coach, looking after clients since 2007 with real experience of holistic health, fitness and coaching.  Contact us now to arrange your free initial consultation to discuss a bespoke and sustainable holistic strategy for your healthy future!

Categories Advice, Health, Health Tips, Nutrition, Obesity, personal trainer perth, Weightloss

Do you have a “Barrier” stopping you from starting a fitness program?

Author CreateHealthFitness Posted on

If you are constantly thinking about starting an exercise and weight management program but just can’t seem to get there.  Have you asked yourself why that is? Realistically, not just the usual “I just can’t”.  Sometimes you are stuck in the pre-contemplation phase far too long that it just becomes far too hard to actually start.

Think about the following statements if you are stuck in pre-contemplation of looking after yourself, and see if any of them fit with what your current barriers are like:

  1. I feel embarrassed about starting to exercise in front of others and I won’t be able to keep up.
  2. I’ve put on so much weight, where do I start again?
  3. I’m just so tired, when can I even fit in time to look after myself.
  4. I know what I need to do, I just need to start, but I don’t know how to start with all of my commitments.
  5. I can’t mentally deal with exercise, or anything right now, but I know it would make me feel better if I did do something.
  6. With my physical condition, I won’t be able to do any exercise anyway, it’ll be too hard.
  7. I can’t buy healthy foods because they are too expensive.

If you are feeling any of these things, but it’s still consistently on your mind, that you must start something, give these a try:

  1. Find some exercises on YouTube for free that you can do in your jimmy jams at a time that suits you, no-one needs to see you at all, until you are comfortable to work out around other people.
  2. If you’ve put on a lot of weight, but you can’t seem to reduce your intake, start your own food diary, write down everything, I’d suggest getting a book with an inspirational quote on the front (try Typo, they have loads of these) and a glitzy pen (yes the old fashioned way) and just write in it at the end of the day. And write everything.  This is a great way to actually understand what it is that you’ve taken in for the day, by writing it down and focusing on writing it down means you aren’t distracted by a phone, an app, or text messages, and social media.  You’ll be surprised at how by actually looking at that list and thinking, did I really consume all of that food today, focuses you into reducing your food intake.  Don’t count the calories just write down the food and drinks in a list, line by line.  Also write down how you felt afterwards, try to introduce some mindfulness around your eating and identifying links to any food sensitivities.  Once you start to do this consistently, you will be in a better and more focussed mindset to try to look after your diet, then introduce some exercise. Just consistent walking at the very beginning.
  3. Being tired is something that is a constant issue with day to day pressures.  Try to decrease your sugar intake and caffeine slowly, increase your water intake and always have a bottle handy.  Eating citrus can perk you up too, taking in some fresh air and regular breaks at work can help, but the main thing is to try to remind yourself that you are tired only until you start to move your body, as soon as you start to do a little bit of exercise, that tired feeling dissipates and you can muster up some energy with the blood flow increasing around your muscles. Even if its a minimal 15 – 30 minute workout, you’ll feel less tired. Do this consistently, and you’ll feel more perky by the day!
  4. Having commitments every day is everyone’s issue.  But you must prioritise what’s important.  A 3o minute workout is more beneficial in the long run.  You will feel more focussed, more productive, get things done quicker, have a clearer mind, feel stronger and less stressed.  Remember that exercise will reduce stress overall, so the benefits outweigh doing your other task for 30 minutes.  Even if that 30 minutes is a gentle stretch session late in the evening, it’s still more beneficial than not.  Do you sit down and watch TV for 30 mins? Replace that 30 mins with some exercise.
  5. If it’s mentally challenging then I’d suggest talking to family and friends and asking them if they’d meet you for a beach walk so that you have an actual commitment to someone is a good start.  Start slowly, start small, try little 10 minute bursts of exercise just so you can start something, see how it makes you feel and build up from there. You need to have support, so reach out.
  6. If you have a physical ailment stopping you from exercising, check in with your health professionals and ask them what types of exercise is beneficial for you. Then seek it out, make an appointment to go, and go, even when you want to cancel, still go.  See how you like it and how it feels, you’ll probably really like how it makes you feel.
  7. Buying healthy foods is not as expensive as you might think.  Buy produce that is in season as it’s often cheaper, and seek out recipes on the internet, just google the ingredients that you have and I’m sure you will find a recipe. Try to buy healthy foods in bulk, you don’t need fancy ingredients just wholesome real foods that have not been processed and packaged.  Do buy the leanest and highest quality meats, fish and poultry that you can find, and buy in bulk, freeze the portions.  I have to be honest, I don’t like to prepare too many meals in advance and freeze them, I like to cook fresh and have leftovers for lunch the next day, then cook again. But you can do meal prep if you like.

I’m a personal trainer and nutritional coach so of course I recommend that everyone has a coach, once per week, just to keep you on track.  There are many studies where groups have started a weight loss program including fitness that succeeded more long term with the help of seeing coaches regularly.  If you are accountable to someone in person, even once a week, you are more likely to keep on track, rather than being accountable to an app or an online program.  Whether that is a gym program, personal training program, weight loss program or general coaching, it’s a great way to keep yourself healthy and manage your weight long term.

Call me if  you need any help, I do have FaceTime Coaching available which is convenient and cost effective, or good old fashioned personal training!

Angie 🙂

 

Categories Kids snacks, Nutrition, Recipes

Muesli Breakfast Bites – Nut Free Dairy Free Gluten Free

Author CreateHealthFitness Posted on

Muesli Breakfast Bites

These are nut, gluten and dairy free but if you don’t have any sensitivities then feel free to make the full nut option! (further below)

For these ones, I wanted to make them look more like truffles than a muesli bite, I was also looking for something speedy but healthy.  This is a good recipe to do with the kids so maybe they might be more inclined to give them a try!

Here’s what I used:

1 x box of gluten free, nut free, dairy free muesli (it had some dried fruit in it) try to make sure it’s one of the healthier options with lower sugar or chemicals.  Whiz this whole box up in the food processor or blender so you get crumbs or there abouts.  This just saves time getting a bunch of ingredients together.

2 x tablespoons of coconut oil – more for consistency if you need

Honey – to taste

Cinnamon – to taste

Vanilla – to taste (I wouldn’t use more than a teaspoon of extract or 1 x vanilla bean)

Add in any other dried fruits or some grated fruit as you think you need.

Roll in sprinkles, glitter, hearts, coconut, raw cacao or anything you’d like. I used sparkle dust on mine, cocoa on the others and coconut on the other 2. Whatever appeals to the kids the most really so they eat them!

If you want to do another nut inclusive version,  use 1 x cup of cashews, 1 x cup of almonds or almond meal, freshly squeezed lemon juice (1 x lemon), coconut (1/4 cup), coconut oil 2 x tablespoons, some craisens, or chopped dried mango, roll in desiccated coconut.

Enjoy 🙂

Angie Hazell, Personal Trainer and Certified Nutrition Coach | Personal Training | Group Fitness | Private Weightloss Challenges | Migraine Balance Coaching | Seniors Fitness

 

Categories Diet, Nutrition, Recipes

Veggie Squishie Bites

Author CreateHealthFitness Posted on

Veggie Squishie Bites

This is a recipe you can make with the kids as a veggie snack alternative for their school lunches or you could have alongside your evening dinner.

You can use any combination of vegetables but this is what I used:

1 x bag of small Sweet potatoes and 2 potatoes, mashed and seasoned as preferred (salt, pepper and some olive oil spread, you could use a little bit of butter). (Leave skins on for extra fibre and texture)

1 x zucchini roughly chopped up in a blender – cook for a few minutes just to take away the rawness of the zucchini, then sieve off the liquid.

1 x apple roughly chopped up in a blender.

Craisens – you’re choice just enough to add a sweetness to the mix.

Parmesan – about a tablespoon but again, to your liking.

Lightly roasted Fava Beans (in the health food section of coles) (blitzed, these are your crumbs)

You could add other veggies, just blitz them in your food processor but I used a nutribullet just for speediness.

Mix it all up together, season as preferred, use herbs and spices.

Take small spoons of the mix and make into balls or small patties and roll in the crumb mix. No eggs required (unless you want to).

You can eat these as is as everything is already cooked or you can lightly pan fry for a crispy outer crust!

Let me know if you make any tasty variations that we should know about!

Enjoy 🙂

 

Angie Hazell, Personal Trainer and Certified Nutrition Coach | Personal Training | Group Fitness | Private Weightloss Challenges | Migraine Balance Coaching | Seniors Fitness

 

 

Categories Fitness, Health, Health Tips, personal trainer perth, Personal Training, Uncategorized, Womens personal training

Jindalee Beach Event Saturday 10 November 2018

Author CreateHealthFitness Posted on

Come along and say hi at our free event this Saturday at Jindalee Beach, contact us to book in or for more information.

The timetable for this event is below or just drop in and say hi and get a quick personal training session for free!

  • 10am to 11am – come along to our stretch and strength session, ideal for beginners and seniors looking to see what exercise is all about, or if you’ve trained all week and are looking to lengthen out those muscles.
  • 11 to 11.15 – free for chats and personal training
  • 11.15 to 12.15pm – If you are looking for some advice on weight loss and how to eat more healthily then this is a good time to come along.  Feel free to share your stories and ask questions.  You’ll receive a free mealtime options sheet.
  • 12.30 to 1.20pm – Parents & Kids time together making healthy snacks, making them on the day and taking some home, we will also have a chat about lunch box snacks and dinner time meals.
  • 1.45 to 3.00pm – Parents & Kids partnered fun exercises you can do together to keep you and you’re family active and healthy.  Let the kids know that daily exercise is part of your lives, just like brushing your teeth! but funner!

If you’d like to do a PT session, just come along between 10am and 3pm and say hi! It’s all free!

The location is Jindalee Beach, to the left of the Jindalee Beach Shack.  I’m the one in the tent!

Hope to see you there, call or text on 0439 523 619 or send an email to angie@createhealthfitness.com.au, send me an email via the https://www.createhealthfitness.com.au/contact-us/ page, or via Facebook CreateHF, insta create_health_fitness.

Categories Diet, Health Tips, Nutrition, Personal Training, Recipes

Gluten Free Mint, Ginger, Dark Choc and Lemon Curd Mini Cheesecakes

Author CreateHealthFitness Posted on

These little treats are made with my own personal dietary requirements in mind and I like to have a sweet treat that doesn’t give me some kind of reaction. My diet is very unique to me but everyone seems to like these!

I made them with the ingredients, all without any nasties, but it was actually hard to find even Ricotta that didn’t have some kind of thickener or artificial ingredient in there. Others that are non-artificial I have trouble with even come down to rice malt, agave, stevia, maple syrup, coconut cream, certain fruits, but this is all down to years and years of careful monitoring and mindful eating, being a food detective! Dairy I can tolerate a limited amount on a daily basis, and is one of my faves, but not the lite versions weirdly, but happily for me!

OK, so, what I sourced for these is the following:

– Totally delicious all natural lemon curd from Barkers New Zealand

– Ricotta cheese by Perfect Italiano, had the least amount of nasties in it

– Light sour cream Coles version

– Gluten free Ginger Snaps – but you can make your own, I just didn’t do that this time

– A fresh lemonade (lemon/orange), the rind and juice or you could use a lime

– 80% dark chocolate, find a good quality one

– Fresh mint leaves, 24 to coat with chocolate and 24 leave fresh

Mini cupcake tray – 24 total or just mini cup cake papers

Method

Melt enough chocolate to make 1/2 cup of melted chocolate, say half a large bar.

When it’s melted, add a very tiny dash of olive oil to keep it in a smooth consistency

Grab a clean little paintbrush or a pastry brush and paint about 24 leaves with a thick layer of chocolate, then put them in the fridge or freezer.

Take the large container of Ricotta cheese and add to a bowl with 3 tablespoons of sour cream, and the zest of one or two of the lemons/lime then quickly pour in the rest of the melted chocolate. This will then create some shards of chocolate in the mix, giving it a bit of texture. Add in the the juice of a lemonade (or lime/lemon), mix. It doesn’t need any sugar or sweeter.

Crush up your ginger snaps by putting them in a bag and smashing them with a rolling pin, but keep them rough, not a totally smooth mixture.

Grease your mini cupcake tin with either a bit of oil or butter, add your ginger biscuit mix to the bottom of each tin.

Lemon Curd Centres

Add 1/4 teaspoon of lemon curd to each mini cheesecake.

Pour in the cheesecake mix so it’s full. Top with zest.

Take the leaves out of the freezer and carefully remove the mint leaf. This process needs to be done quickly because your hands will melt the chocolate fairly quickly.

Use the fresh mint leaves to decorate next to the chocolate ones.

Put the finished cheesecakes in the freezer to set.

When you take them out they will keep their shape, just pop them into the fridge.

You may have some leftover cheesecake mixture, you can make additional ones or try a different flavour.

Keep them in the freezer as treats for when you need one later.

Enjoy!

Angie 🙂

Categories Health Tips, Nutrition, Personal Training, Recipes

Gluten Free Pasty – Egg and Veggie Winter Pie & Salad

Author CreateHealthFitness Posted on

If you are anything like me and just can’t find any decent pre-made gluten free pastry, you will like this one for quiche or pie bases. This is a relatively easy little pie to make and nice on a rainy and windy night!

Gluten Free Pastry

1 x cup of self raising GF flour

2x tbs of canola spread

salt and pepper and herbs of choice

Rub the canola spread and dry ingredients together, then add a tsp of water to mix into a dough. If it’s still too dry add another teaspoon, just don’t add too much.

Roll into a ball and wrap in glad wrap to chill in the fridge for about 20-30 mins

Meanwhile start making your pie filling: you can choose anything but for if you use the base of:

1x leek, garlic and add salt and pepper or your favourite seasonings.

Saute in some olive oil

I then added in red and yellow capsicum, mushrooms and about one slice of ham, but just for extra taste really. You could add in any type of low fat protein you like. I wanted keep this simple.

Just lightly cook in the pan to release all the flavours. Then set aside to cool.

Take your pastry out of the fridge and start to place in a pan with a removable bottom (I used a cake tin) make sure you grease this with oil first. Because its gluten free pastry you will need to press this into the tray.

Cover lightly with foil and oven bake about 180 for 20 mins, blind bake.

Go back to your filling, break 4 eggs into a bowl and mix with about 4 tablespoons of light sour cream. Season, add in some parmesan if you like.

When your pastry is baked, take it out and place the foil on a separate baking sheet, under the cake tin because your egg filling might spill during cooking.

Pour in your egg and sour cream mix, add the leeks and veggies and your protein, take 4 eggs and break directly into the mix so they cook whole. Definitely do this, it makes the pie yum! Add a sprinkling of parmesan over the top if you like cheese.

Bake in the oven, I’d put some foil over the top for the first 20 mins to save burning (i.e. don’t do what I did first and didn’t put the foil over hence the slightly charred top!) You’ll need to cook for about 40 mins in total at about 180 to cook through, but just keep checking it with a skewer to save over cooking.

The salad is pear, tomato, snow pea, avocado, salt and lots of pepper then a drizzle of lemon infused olive oil to keep it nice and fresh.

Enjoy!

Send me a message if you need any help! http://Contact Me! Keep checking insta @create_health_fitness for more recipes and tips…

Angie 🙂

Categories Diet, Exercise tips, Health Tips, Personal Training, Weightloss

Are you just soooo over your belly fat? Yes, read on..

Author CreateHealthFitness Posted on

So, unfortunately as we age, our metabolism starts to slow down, our muscle mass loss is quicker and we lose our waists. For women, our waistlines thicken and lose our shape and for the boys, that cuddly beer belly starts to shine through.

Can we do something about this. Yes of course, but again, as we age, our exercise and activity needs change. It’s not all about diet, there’s a lot of activity that needs to take place. We can’t just diet and think that’s going to fix it. Yes it will to a degree, but for the plus 35s (yes sorry it does start then! unless you are genetically blessed, and we all know at least one of those friends!), you need to work at it and change some habits.

What causes the pesky belly fat to hang around? Well stress (cortisol hangs onto the fat) it’s a serious cause of belly fat resistance so we need to reduce that, eating too much for our activity level (if you are sitting down all day, you don’t need to eat so much), lack of sleep or interrupted sleep try to get some good shut eye which could mean changing a few evening rituals, lack of activity, too much alcohol, too many lattes and overindulging in the dairy altogether, eating processed or packaged foods or another serious cause is, “I just can’t be bothered syndrome” which collectively is, I can’t, I don’t feel like it, its too dark, I have a sore toe, I’m too tired and I don’t have time. All of which takes a bit of time to actually change in our mind to allow us to exercise.

The To Do List

Unfortunately we aren’t all made the same way so not all workouts and advice suits everyone, if you can adhere to a book or an app, then great, but if you can’t you need some motivation, like a Personal Trainer at least once a week to knock on your door and get you moving for at least 30 mins, will keep you on track. This way you can at least receive a more personalised program tailored to you.

But, in general, here are some things you could try:

You need to combine muscle growth with cardiovascular exercise to get the best results. Constant moderate exercise and doing the same thing day in and out will not help entirely. So you need to mix it up.

  • At least once a day, at lunchtime if you work in an office, in the morning before work or after work, you need to have a moderate walk for 15-20 mins.
  • Office workers, make sure you get up out of your chair once every 30 mins and have a walk around.
  • Try to not have more than one milk based coffee in one day, if you do make it medium at most and try to stick to tea and water mostly. Add a lemon or a strawberry, or even cucumber is nice in your water bottle if you fancy something a bit more interesting.
  • Try to control stressful periods with taking yourself out of the stressful situation and into something different for at least 10 minutes when you are feeling overwhelmed.
  • Put some thought into what you are grabbing for lunch if you are out ‘n’ about, more clean food protein and salad is the best option, try to stay away from chinese, mexican, roasts with gravies and chips etc, you know the drill. A salad sandwich, home made salad, or leftovers is the best option. If you have to eat out, try Japanese, a salad bar (just avoid too much processed meats), or the roast with the veggies and no chips and gravy. There are plenty of more healthy option cafes around these days so choose one of those if you can.
  • Your workouts need to be frequent and different, if you can’t sign up to a class/gym or a personal trainer, try adding a bit of a jog to your walk, walk for 2 mins, jog for 30 seconds, walk for 1 min, jog for 1 min, then run up a hill, then back to walking. The body fat responds to the random activities well and the change of intensities.
  • Building muscle is soooooo very important to add into your days. Fairly easy to do, there are plenty of resources but try some basics first that don’t need any equipment: squats, lunges, push ups, crunches, tricep dips, burpees, etc. Contact me for a free basics program.
  • I’m a massive advocate for exercising outdoors because it just makes you feel so much better all round, so here are some more things you can do… Get on your bike and ride, go outside for a beach walk, most beaches have stairs or at least some dunes to run up and down, the sand changes the intensity and builds great leg muscles, the local parks have equipment and benches use them to step up on, push ups and tricep dips, go for a hike on the weekend, or more adventurous, try actual hill climbing or join a group to take you out rock climbing.

But seriously, even if you are just sick of the fat for vanities sake and want a hot bod, you really need to consider making some changes if you have belly fat. This visceral fat is dangerous to your health, its stored around your abdominal wall and organs and associated with increased risks of type 2 diabetes, hormonal fluctuations, heart disease, various cancers and Alzheimers disease. It’s a scary health issue not just a vanity issue especially if you are ‘mid-life’ shall we say!

Addressing it as soon as you can see it is the best time to get on top of it. Then you can look super hot and be super healthy too.

If you need help with this, I’m here to help you navigate making changes to your lifestyle, even if it’s just a couple of visits to get you on track or a check-in once a week to get you moving.

I have been personal trainer and nutrition coach since 2007 and I love to help people make the changes needed to be not just body healthy but emotionally happy too, they generally go hand in hand. So wherever you are, if you are reading this and just don’t know where to start, contact me for a chat to see what we can put in place for you! You can also follow me on instagram @create_health_fitness.

Angie

1 2 3 … 12