Removing The Guilt From Food

How many times have you eaten your favorite treat food and felt guilty? Or in fact how many times have you been on a "diet" and eaten your favorite treat food and not felt guilty? I am assuming the answer is very rarely...

With the increasing pressure from the media and expectations of society on how we should look nearly everyone has tried a diet at some point in their lives. I would argue that the fashion and fitness industry are the two biggest influencers of how we should look, and unfortunately this is not a good thing.

Women have been dieting for over three decades and with the advent of magazines like men's health men are now expected to have abs and so have been dieting for perhaps a decade. . 

This has led to many types of eating disorders and body dysmorphia. It is particularly apparent at both ends of the spectrum from fitness models to the out of shape average Joe/ Jane. . 

For the fitness fanatics wanting to stay shredded all year round, counting calories and dreaming about their next cheat meal to the average Joe's locking themselves away from their social lives and eating nothing but salad for days and having a big pizza blowout at the weekend and feeling like failures. 

How do we stay healthy and still have a normal life? Its a constant battle of willpower that usually ends with us spinning our wheels and getting nowhere.

Well this answer may surprise you...

If you happen to eat a food that may not be that healthy for you... a tub of ice cream for instance (my favorite)... then please stop wasting your energy and emotion on the feeling of guilt. Enjoy the ice cream. 

One of the first things I do with my clients is to get them to take a food log. If they can do this for a week, then I ask them to continue making no changes. This may be surprising, but the power of the log in itself makes people more aware of what they are eating and actually gives them structure that they were missing before. After analyzing the next food log I may suggest one thing. It could be as simple as choosing a burger rather than a pizza, which may be 200/300 calories less than the pizza . Even that would make a positive change for the client. 

I do not get my beginner clients to squat 200kg and give them shit for failing so why on earth is nutrition any different.

People want a fast result, but sometimes a plan that someone can stick to and get steady results at for 12 months is better than a 4 week push, fall off the wagon and back on again 4 weeks later only to repeat the same process. What is the definition of insanity?... Start small and slow and as the results start to happen you will make better choices without the feeling of restriction. 

If you ask yourself, when can I take a break from this plan? Then the plan is too hard. Make is so easy you can't fail. Small steps are far more powerful that one big step that stalls or goes backwards after a while. And if you do happen to indulge in the odd treat, then please enjoy it....Guilt is a wasted emotion.

Yours in Health

Patrick Fallis

My Top 5 Tips To Get In Shape This Summer 2015

This is the time of year when many people want to get into the best shape they can before holiday. Here are my top 5 tips to help get you there.

1. Make a short term plan and start today

There is no perfect time to get started. We all procrastinate on many things, but when it comes to health and fitness having a good plan and taking action straight away is a sure way to start feeling better and achieving incredible goals. The plan doesn’t have to be perfect but starting and sticking to it for at least 3 weeks are a step further than most get. I would recommend a shorter more intense plan for 6 weeks to get the ball rolling.

2. Hire a coach to get you there

Although I may be making a blatant pitch at those who may be thinking about getting in shape this summer, hiring a coach could be the best choice you make. Exercise and nutrition is hard to get right even without the distraction of a career, family and kids. Outsource the hard work to a good coach who will do all the planning for you. All you need to do is turn up and make a good effort.

Blatant pitch here-  http://www.leaner-uk.com/personal-training/

 
3. Clean up your Diet

If you decide to go it alone then its good for you to know that 80% of your "get into shape plan" will come from nutrition. Eat whole foods consistently (as in a minimum of 2 weeks without a hiccup) and you will start to notice a difference physically and mentally.

Food preparation can be challenging, repetitive and boring. It is absolutely essential to get it right for the best results, so my recommendation would be to outsource it to a professional food catering company. The two I recommend are https://www.freshfitnessfood.com/ or https://detoxkitchen.co.uk/.

4. Sleep like the dead

Most people are hugely sleep deprived. There have been countless scientific studies on sleep and one found that sleeping less than 8 hours a night lead to a sleep debt which drastically affected mental and physical performance, but the patients were unaware in their drop of performance! Get yourself to bed one hour earlier tonight and try scaling it back until you get  a minimum of 8 hours a night. You will thank me later. (You can do this and still have a life, I promise!)

5. Bring friends

As I mention in many newsletters, accountability is a huge influencer on peoples success. Choosing a couple of friends and holding each other accountable will get you further than if you try it on your own. (providing you choose the correct ones). Going to classes together or working in a semi private setting with a trainer can make the training experience much more fun, and if its fun you will likely stick at it a lot longer. 

My last note I would like to add is consistency. Being consistent can be really tough, so make it as easy as possible for yourself to succeed. If you can stay consistent long enough you will reap the rewards of a better summer body and some.

Your in Health

Patrick Fallis

PS I read this blog and would love to share it with you. It takes about 7 minutes to read. http://www.precisionnutrition.com/how-to-do-anything

Counter Balancing Health And Material Success

I would like to share a deep dark secret that 90% of health and fitness professionals have, but would never tell their clients....

They have a fear of of ending up like their clients

For example;

Super high stress levels, lack of sleep, pain in the body, chronic fatigue, stiffness, moodiness, being out of shape, depressed.... the list goes on.

FYI this is certainly not a rule that to be successful your health takes a dive to gain material success, but you will see my point shortly.

A fitness professional will do anything to keep as far away from this extreme as they can. This is usually a result of something or someone close in their lives being affected in a negative way by being unhealthy.

So the fitness professional goes to the other extreme and obsesses over health, routine, nutrition and training. They get so far in that they lose sight of what their client's world and what it is like to be them.

"Why can't my client just do what I tell them? Why won't they go to bed at 9am and get 9-10 hours sleep a night? Why can't they prepare their meals the night before like I do? Why don't they push themselves hard enough in sessions? Why are my clients so stressed? Why aren't my clients .... me?

The trouble is, that the clients world is completely different. Its about business, connections, growth, getting to the next level. In order for this to happen, they have to connect and build great relationships with the right people. This means taking people out to dinner, going to events, negotiating, working longer and harder to exceed expectations and get that deal! They have to keep doing this no matter the cost! Work hard and play harder!

I would argue that the trainers view is almost naive and selfish. DO you seriously think that you can build a wildly successful business/ businesses by living the perfect healthy lifestyle?

9 hours sleep a night, training 2x a day in 2 hour sessions, chicken and broccoli in tupperware 6x a day, 7 days a week, researching supplement protocols to give you that extra 1% in the gym, watching youtube videos about how to get bigger and leaner with the latest secret formula, stay on Facebook for 5 hours everyday liking and sharing fitness related things and pretending you are busy?

For the client, do they seriously think that they will get into shape and iron out the lifetime of habits by running once a week and ignoring everything that comes with it?

Sleeping on average 4 hours a night, 4/5 parties a week, 16 hour days at work, overloaded with emails, meetings, eating fast food 1-2 times a day and surviving on coffee to get them through the day?

Both of these extremes are dead wrong and yield very little in terms of long term, sustainable results for both parties. The reality is that to be successful, we must master the act of "counter balancing"

For instance;

In order to get anywhere in life we have to focus our energy on our business and work to move closer to the hopes and dreams that we have. However, it will get to a point where we have lots of money, material wealth, but feel like we have no life and are on the edge of burn out. 

On the other side of the scale, we socialize with family and friends, go to the gym, stay healthy and in balance, but after doing just this for prolonged periods, we also feel like we have no life as we are around people all the time.

If we live the perfect balance of just working enough, socializing enough, going to the gym and getting our food right etc, then we have balance but will never move forward in our lives. We remain stagnant, which will eventually make us depressed too.

So what is the solution? If we work too much we get depressed, if we socialize too much we feel exhausted and depressed, if we stay in the perfect balance we feel stagnant and depressed... its sounding all a bit shit now isn't it?

Having had the opportunity to train and rub shoulders with some of the most successful business people and fitness professionals in the world I have learnt a few lessons from them both along the way.

In order to move forward we need to get our heads down, work longer hours, burn the candle a little bit, deal with slightly higher stress levels and lose a bit of sleep. The key is to know when to back off, and counter balance this by working less, catching up with friends, looking after after your diet and get a little bit more sleep 

Without staying too comfortable, we then need to head back into battle and get back into work mode until we start to feel a little bit burnt out again... counterbalance, rinse and repeat...The art of getting it right is knowing when to counter balance and that comes with experience. 

Counter balancing allows us to achieve more sustainable progress granting us great material wealth, but not at the cost of our health. So whatever it is you aspire to, get your head down, work hard, but know when to back off and have a plan for that.

Your in Health

Patrick Fallis

PS- For more about this please read the "One Thing" by Gary Keller who speaks about this in more detail. It was  a real eye opener for yours truly, who used to make the disgruntled trainer noises like the ones written earlier. Thankfully things have changed considerably

Embracing Imperfection

As humans our nature is always to improve on what we do today. Finding new ways of doing things more efficiently and generally making lifer easier for ourselves. This never ending search for perfection is one of our greatest strengths, but it is also a huge weakness too.

When it comes to our health and fitness we tend to go through peaks and troughs of being healthy and less healthy. We have cycles of hard core dieting, intense workout programs and taking a break for a while from both. (Usually because our perfect plan is far too tough to stick with). 

I absolutely love being fit and healthy, I like eating well and the energy that gives me. I love going to the gym and lifting weights. With friends its even better. However I recently became very aware of how limiting my routine was and that whatever style of training you pursue you pay a price. 

By Hitting the weights hard I have improved my strength and physique, but at the cost of mobility and becoming less flexible. If I was not lifting weights I felt like I was off plan, losing all the hard earned muscle I had built and getting weaker. I wanted to be shredded (sub 6% body fat), but wanted to be very strong at the same time (they do not come hand in hand). My current routine was not allowing this to happen as it was to regimented towards one goal. The trouble is that to excel at something requires single minded focus on one goal and a strict regime that needs to be followed to the letter. 

My goal of being shredded, strong (being able to squat 200kg), super flexible (much looser hips and spinal mobility) and able to move the way my body is designed to (Ido Portal is a super example of that - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0Wr7HsylE0), having a healthy social life with the odd beer here and there.

As you can imagine all of these goals counteract each other to a certain degree and the perfection of all of them is close to unobtainable. 

At this point I had realized that exercise had stop becoming fun! There was too much structure, too much restriction and my "why?" was simply not strong enough to keep me going. I simply was getting bored of hitting the gym on a sunny day, lifting weights, getting a little stronger, but getting tighter, less mobile and having some serious DOMS the days after. What was it for again? Why am I doing this? This is healthy right? I am teaching this to my clients so It must be the way to do things... I had come to the point where I had forgotten what it was like to have fun!

To cut a long story short, I completely relaxed myself and started to try to new things and do things that I enjoy! The goal is simple to be healthy by moving and having fun. 

• I practice 10 minutes of yoga  every couple of mornings
• I go for 30 minute walks in Hyde Park if the weather is nice
• I do very quick 45 minute weight lifting sessions 3x a week instead of 6x
• I allow myself a beer or two during the week if I feel like switching off
• I play dodge-ball with friends once a week in a league to get that competitive release
• I play 6 a side football for a run a around once a week
• I eat pretty well during the week, but will have the odd desert if eating out with friends

As a result of embracing the imperfections of what I want versus what is fun and sustainable I have found a fantastic balance that allows me to have fun and actually enjoying "moving".

I no longer feel off plan if I do not go to the gym, eat a meal that is not the perfect macro nutrient balance, or run as I feel like I am losing muscle. I can actually relax and am i better shape now than I was when I was on a stricter weight training routine. More importantly I am having fun!

I am very blessed to be able to work with some amazing people from all sorts of back grounds. That have some amazing lives and that as important as health and fitness is, there is far more to life than bench press and chicken and broccoli. :-)

Yours in Health

Patrick Fallis

The Best And Worst Breakfast Choices

What constitutes a healthy breakfast has been a hotly debated topic for decades. By the end of this newsletter I am hoping to give you an insight in to what we think is healthy, but is perhaps not and some choices that are extremely healthy that may surprise you.

I will rate each breakfast with a score of 1-5. 1 being the least and the 5 being the most

Taste 1-5
Nutrient Density 1-5
Calorie Density 1-5
Energy it Gives you 1-5
Likelihood of causing a blood sugar crash later 1-5

Cereal with semi skimmed milk and juice

Taste 3
Nutrient Density 1
Calorie Density 3
Energy it Gives you 2
Likelihood of causing a blood sugar crash later 5

A staple for many people and something we have been brought up believing is healthy, full of vitamins and minerals. Unfortunately the cereal itself provides little to no nutrient value with only a touch of fibre.

The skimmed milk can cause stomach upsets to those sensitive to dairy due to the lactose. Also due to the heavy processing to sterilize any potentially harmful bacteria it kills most of the nutrient density contained within. 

The juice is basically sugar water as the nutrients from the oranges were lost 20-30 minutes after the oranges were squeezed. 

Health Rating- 1/5

Grass Fed Steak, Almonds, Blueberries and Black Coffee

Taste 4
Nutrient Density 5
Calorie Density 3
Energy it Gives you 5
Likelihood of causing a blood sugar crash later 1

Grass Fed Steak is very high is Omega 3 (great for the brain,skin and reducing inflammation in the body). It also contains very high levels of B Vitamins which boost energy and carnitine which helps our body use fat for fuel. 

Almonds and Berries are a great source of fuel for the body. The berries are high in antioxidants and they both help our brain produce the neurotransmitters dopamine and acetyl- choline. Our brain produces these to help us to become more motivated, improve memory retention and more alert. Black Coffee enhances the production of dopamine and acetyl-choline effect as well as speeds up our metabolism. 

Health Rating- 5/5

Yogurt and Fruit

Taste 4
Nutrient Density 2
Calorie Density 4
Energy it Gives you 3
Likelihood of causing a blood sugar crash later 5

This is a popular breakfast with many women as it is light and very easy to prepare. The benefits of the fruit (depending on what you choose), will up the nutrient density level significantly. 

Most commercial yogurts have been pasteurized and processed which kills off the remaining nutrient density. Lactose can be a problem for some people too. If you suffer from bloating or gas after eating it then have a break from it for a few weeks.

 Health Rating- 2/5

Salmon, Egg and Vegetable Omelette

Taste 4
Nutrient Density 5
Calorie Density 3
Energy it Gives you 4
Likelihood of causing a blood sugar crash later 2

Salmon is high in Omega 3's, high in protein and combined with nutrient dense eggs, this is a great way to start. We get plenty of healthy fats from the eggs and the extra virgin cooking oil. A mixture of vegetables with a great variety of colours boosts the nutrient density even more. Its quick and easy to make and will give you bundles of energy. 

Health Rating 5/5

There are many more options, but I am keen to keep it short and sweet here. If you are interested in more ideas and probably the best book in healthy recipes available. I would highly recommend you check out http://www.gourmetnutrition.com/ 

Yours In Health

Patrick Fallis