Lose Forty (40%) More Fat This way!

That got you here didn't it? I bet in a little while this post is going to be the most visited on this blog...even more than the weight loss supplement post (the supplements which I'm against?)

I have met a few cardio queens in my day, but one impressed me most. She ran on an incline on the treadmill, left that and took up the skipping rope, left that and cooled off on the bike. Her shirt was dripping, she had a smile on her face, that was a terrific workout. Why dear lady don't you pick up some iron...I don't want to grow masculine she said...I told her, they have been lying to you. (this actually happened...not as romanticized as this but yeah, I do approach sweaty people at the gym. It's a hobby :-) )

So, you want to look like this...

Then you're going to have to do a lot of this

Both are one and the same woman. Nicole Wilkins (the lady with a banging body above) is a figure competitor.

Not convinced?

Let's go back to the fat burning issue. Research has shown that those who exercise using resistance exercise lost 40% more fat than those who did pure cardio or diet only. Who doesn't want less fat? Less fat means you look better with your clothes off. Who doesn't want that?

So, dear dieter and cardio believer. Cardio is great when you want to build endurance and when you have a lot of weight to lose. But, you lose muscle also, which makes you jump up and down when you step on a scale BUT you will burn less calories overall when you're lazing around at home, because muscle burns more at rest. Your clothes will not fit better, because one pound of fat occupies around 18% more space than muscle.

We're walking on water already, do you still have doubt? Take my hand....

You will get fitter, faster, with weights.

Yes, you can get the same endurance training with weights as you do running a marathon. Try circuit training. It elevates your heart rate much the same as running does. Try HIIT training using your own body weight. Don't believe this can be difficult? Do the insanity fitness test, your own body weight will give you a butt whopping. Don't know what the insanity fitness test is? Google Shaun T.

Forget the light weight high repetitions you have been fed through out the years. The light weight used is usually too light to challenge your body.

Lift something heavy today, you will feel powerful. That, you can take to the bank.

Sometimes besting yourself is not the best thing

Only the best doctor will do when one is feeling unwell. Our loved ones insist on it for our sake when we are incapacitated, we are willing to impoverish ourselves looking to get well even when there is seemingly no hope. It is human nature, we desire to live, we desire to thrive.

It is also in our nature to look for the best deal possible. To come out on top when dealing with another, to get the best out of everything, especially when it means gaining an advantage over someone else. We always want to pay less to get more, to save some to have more...it is in our nature too. We do not want to give too much of what we have to get what we don't have. We want it all.

This same human nature will reason its way into a double portion of food, because it is cheat day and I have worked so hard during the week. I deserve this.

It will move your lips, and the sound will come out, the sound that is definitely not your own, and it will say, I will do ten push ups, instead of fifteen, that will be enough. After all, doing even one makes me a hero...who are you bargaining with? Who do you best?

We forget that we cannot best ourselves by giving ourselves a bad deal. We do not realise what that bad deal is because the results are not immediate. The "here and now" gratification sounds much better than a delayed prize that is not for sure anyway.....sound familiar? Personal finance works the same way. Too much here and now, and the future might not be so bright.

So, quit the daily bargaining, run the full 10 K if that's what you set out to do, if you can do it. It's worth the future gratification. Lift and lift heavy, huff and puff away, look stupid while doing it. You won't look so stupid in your six pack on the beach this summer.

Go and dance. Fall over yourself. Fall over others. Laugh about it. Get up, and dance again. Nobody's going to be laughing when you are a knock out at the high school reunion.

This week on BBC I heard a scary statistic. In the next 10 years, 60 percent of adults will be over weight or obese.

Think about it.

What you do today will put you in the enviable 40 percent 10 years to come.


Stay active

The week of affirmation

It's Friday, and I'm glad to be alive. I'm grateful for family, I am grateful for health, I appreciate my friends...it has been a week of affirmation.

I have been unwell.

I have been at this long enough to know that when the body demands rest, you give it rest otherwise you do more harm.

So reluctantly, I slowed down. The body likes being comfortable, I was and did not put it through any stress, aahhhh Njahira, now you know how to treat me, how about slowing down even more, doesn't that feel good? Don't you deserve it? You have been working so hard to build your new career, to build your body, and keep everything in balance. This feels good...

And slowly, I ground to a halt.

Laziness be gone!

But you're unwell my love, lie here, rest....you will recover.

Laziness be gone!

My body does not purge itself of illness, instead the threads that hold me together begin to unravel

Laziness be gone!

My spirit suffers. I am irritable. I am angry. I am weak.

Laziness be gone!

You cannot beat me, I am stronger than you.

And slowly I begun to get back to myself. It is more a battle of will than of body.

I wake up, coughing and spitting the spiritual fatigue out of me...

As I reactivate myself, balance begins to be restored. The fibre that is my being repairs itself.

I begin to feel whole.

This has been a week of affirmation. Had I any doubt what effect my choices had on my well being, that doubt is removed.

Be active people. Have a terrific weekend!