Fit Body Babes — Take Your Body Seriously

Learn to be Lean Workshop Wrap Up

by Loretta on July 13, 2010

What a great day we had at the Learn to be Lean Workshop on Sunday! A great bunch of girls with a variety of fitness backgrounds came together to learn and share knowledge about creating the body of our dreams.

We talked about weight training, nutrition, fat-burning cardio, and strategies that help to lose body fat and keep our bodies toned and lean. We learned new information, trained, drank protein shakes, sweated on the cardio machines, laughed, cried (when told a bag of nuts may have to be reduced to 6 nuts for a snack option) and had a few eye-opening moments about different ways to approach fat loss.

Thanks to Harper’s for the great training venue and all who attended. It was great meeting you all and make sure you keep us posted on your progress.

Keep an eye out for upcoming workshops later this year

{ 2 comments }

CONSISTENCY – Learn to be Lean Workshop 11/7/10 Topic

by Loretta on June 8, 2010

Here’s another snapshot of a topic to be covered in the Learn to be Lean workshop on 11^th July 2010 (5 weeks away).

LEARN TO BE LEAN WORKSHOP TOPIC SUMMARY

Consistency

Consistency…and not just on weekdays..

Most of you will probably have regular routines on week days that allow sticking to a regime of exercise and nutrition easier than on the weekends when schedules relax somewhat. If this is the case for you, you may need to revisit your mind set and consider that weekends are just days to your body – it does not know whether it is Tuesday or Sunday. It is much more beneficial to consistently apply the structure you have put in place for yourself every day of the week, rather than relax your standards for 2 full days. You can undo a lot of good work in 48 hours.

For maximum results, you need to string together consistent days to form consistent weeks, consistent weeks to form consistent months, and consistent months to form consistent years.

When I refer to consistency, I am not talking about eating the same things every day and doing the same training every day – your body does need variety in this respect. I am referring to consistent effort.

When you structure your training and nutrition carefully, you will have factored in rest days, and a corresponding reduction in caloric intake. If you have no structure or accountability, then the danger period is often on weekends. When all you want to do is relax and unwind from a busy week, you may find that your activity level drastically decreases (you’ve earned a rest) and your caloric intake drastically increases (you go out for dinner, have a few drinks, indulge in some treats for working hard all week). This is obviously not ideal for changing your body composition.

Raising your awareness of the importance of staying focused on your efforts consistently will help you achieve your ideal body sooner.

LEARN TO BE LEAN SEMINAR & WORKSHOP 11^th July 2010

You can learn more about this topic and many others at the workshop in 5 weeks time. Click here for further information, or to book a place.

{ 0 comments }

BE ACCOUNTABLE TO YOURSELF FOR YOUR RESULTS – Learn to be Lean Workshop 11/7/10 Topic

by Loretta on June 8, 2010

Here’s another snapshot of a topic to be covered in the Learn to be Lean workshop on 11^th July 2010 (5 weeks away).

LEARN TO BE LEAN WORKSHOP TOPIC SUMMARY

Be accountable to yourself for results

While it is great having a trainer for guidance, support, and accountability, it is also important to stay accountable to yourself. After all, the time spent with your trainer (if you have one) is usually a maximum of 1-2% of your time per week. And if you’re only ‘good’ for 2% of your life, then your body will never change. You are probably wasting your money and it is likely that you are using a trainer just to make yourself feel better that you’re actually putting in some effort to exercise. It just won’t work. Sorry .

So how do you stay accountable to yourself?

Turn your training into a system that ensures results
Put checks in place that clearly and quantifiably determine whether what you are doing is going to change your body
Ensure that what you do every day is geared toward improving your body composition

Turning your training into an efficient, effective system

Make sure that your activities and nutrition are right for you and your goals
Match your nutrition to your activity
Put a clear, quality structure in place and make it quantifiable*
Know the rules so you can easily identify slip ups, pinpoint where you are not maximising your efforts, and fix them
Allow a small percentage of mistakes (we are all human) – as long as you get things right about 90% of the time, you will still get results – again, this must be quantified, it can’t just be a ‘gut feeling’

*Quantifiable does not mean counting calories, but ensuring the bigger picture is fully accounted for

Trainers are a very important resource if you use them properly and don’t put all of the responsibility for your results into their hands. 98% of your results are up to you (100% if you don’t work with a trainer).

If you have a clear structure and self-accountability system, you will stop just going through the motions, and start to make some real and lasting progress.

LEARN TO BE LEAN SEMINAR & WORKSHOP 11^th July 2010

You can learn more about this topic and many others at the workshop in 5 weeks time. Click here for further information, or to book a place.

{ 0 comments }

EAT FAT TO LOSE FAT – Learn to be Lean Workshop 11/7/10 Topic

by Loretta on June 7, 2010

Here’s another snapshot of a topic to be covered in the Learn to be Lean workshop on 11th July 2010 (5 weeks away).

LEARN TO BE LEAN WORKSHOP TOPIC SUMMARY

You need to eat fat to lose fat

Don’t be fat-phobic

A common misconception is that if you want to lose body fat, then you should cut out fat from your daily nutrition. I can (sort of) follow this logic. If you want to get rid of something, why put more of it back in?

The fact is, to permanently lose body fat, and to achieve optimal health at the same time, you must include good fats in what you consume, every day. Fats are one of the three macro-nutrients (the others are protein and carbohydrates) that our body needs to function optimally.

Here are some fat-facts that may surprise you, and help you to look at dietary fats in a more favourable light (and be more inclined to cut out the bad ones…).

1. Our body can turn excess sugars into fats

2. During exercise, our muscles consume fat to produce energy (another reason to build lean muscle tissue – more lean tissue = more fat-burning)

3. EFA’s (Essential Fatty Acids) increase our metabolic rate

4. Saturated fats slow down our metabolic rate, deposit more fat and make us feel lazy and lethargic (unenergetic)

5. Good oils help to combat stress

6. Fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) require fat for absorption, which is impaired if fat intake is too low

When eating to change your body composition, it is important to ensure that you include all 3 macro-nutrients (protein, carbohydrate, fat) because not only will the results be long lasting, you will be healthy as well.

When contemplating any of the ‘diets’ you may come across, at the first sign that they suggest you exclude any of these nutrients, warning bells should be going off for you.

For optimal health and weight loss, you must give your body everything it needs. Including good fats .

LEARN TO BE LEAN SEMINAR & WORKSHOP 11th July 2010

You can learn more about this topic and many others at the workshop in 5 weeks time. Click here for further information, or to book a place.

{ 0 comments }

LEARN TO BE LEAN WORKSHOP 11/7/10 TOPIC: MAXIMISE YOUR POST-WORKOUT OPPORTUNITIES

by Loretta on June 3, 2010

Over the next 6 weeks, I will be regularly posting snapshots of information that we will be discussing at the upcoming LEARN TO BE LEAN seminar and workshop on 11^th July 2010. We will be covering a lot of information on the day, so having a heads-up will allow you to take more of it in before and during the workshop. So check in every day to have a read

LEARN TO BE LEAN WORKSHOP TOPIC SUMMARY

Maximise your Post-Workout Window of Opportunity

When you exercise, not only is the exercise itself important, but the hours post-workout are just as important.

Your efforts in the gym (or any training for that matter) create the perfect opportunity to see some serious results, for no additional physical effort, post-workout.

You have created a post-workout window of opportunity. So use it.

Whether your goal is to put on lots of muscle (body building), increase your lean tissue (tone & sculpt, improve body composition, increase capacity to burn fat), or lose body fat, you always have this chance to continue benefiting from your exercise bout long after you have swapped your Nikes for your work shoes. The time you spend exercising is only a small piece of the pie. In the gym, you are actually tearing-down (destroying) muscle tissue. On the cardio machines, you are burning calories, but not a huge amount. If you make your post workout hours just as important as gym time, your efforts will compound, and all for no extra physical exertion. It is the post workout benefits you really want to cash in on, and as long as you have exercised with the appropriate intensity, in a structured, focused session (not just going through the motions), this can make a big difference to your outcome.

Don’t ignore this window of opportunity – once you leave the gym, or head off to work, don’t forget about your nutrition and recovery efforts.

I can’t stress enough that losing body fat, improving your body composition, and making your body look and feel like you want it to, DOES NOT MERELY COME DOWN TO WHAT YOU DO IN THE GYM. What you do afterwards is just as important. Why not take advantage of all of your possible opportunities to get sustainable and permanent results?

LEARN TO BE LEAN SEMINAR & WORKSHOP 11^th July 2010

You can learn more about this topic and many others at the workshop in 6 weeks time. Click here for further information, or to book a place.

{ 2 comments }

LEARN TO BE LEAN WORKSHOP 11/7/10 TOPIC: GRADUAL CHANGES FOR PERMANENT RESULTS

by Loretta on June 2, 2010

LEARN TO BE LEAN WORKSHOP TOPIC SUMMARY

Gradual Changes will Ensure you get Permanent Results

Here’s another very important concept we will be covering.

When setting out to improve your body composition in order to lose weight or change your body shape, there is no “quick fix” that will ever work on a healthy or permanent basis.

The way to ensure you get results is to make gradual, progressive changes. Trying to make too many changes all at once, hoping for quick results, won’t work for many reasons. Here are two.

First, the changes will not be sustainable. Most of us launch into programs that are unrealistic, too physically demanding, and nutritionally deficient. They make you sacrifice the things you love (socialising, eating foods that you like, you feel tired, lethargic and disillusioned, and are unable to perform your daily roles). You will end up hating it, resenting it, and avoiding it at all costs.

Second, your body will not respond in the ways you want it to. It will sense lots of rapid changes and it is likely that it will panic, and go into survival mode. It will usually do the opposite of what you want it to – hold fat, store water, get run down.

What type of changes should you make, and when?

The types of changes you make from week to week are completely individual. It depends mainly on your starting point (what you currently do and eat). This is where a journal is invaluable.

Changes come in the form of gradual introduction of incremental exercise (weight training, cardio, incidental exercise) and a gradual, sensible reduction in calories each week.

This way, your body stays calm, and will let go of excess body fat consistently and methodically, you are still able to lead a ‘normal’ existence, you will see permanent changes in your body shape from week to week, and you will create the momentum to continue.

LEARN TO BE LEAN SEMINAR & WORKSHOP 11^th July 2010

You can learn more about this topic and many others at the workshop in 6 weeks time. Click here for further information, or to book a place.

{ 0 comments }

LEARN TO BE LEAN WORKSHOP 11/7/10 TOPIC: BODY COMPOSITION AND METABOLISM

by Loretta on June 1, 2010

LEARN TO BE LEAN WORKSHOP TOPIC SUMMARY

Body Composition and Metabolism

Here’s one of the most fundamental things we will be covering.

To change your body, there are two very important concepts that you need to understand.

You should know what they are, and how you can manipulate them to create the physique and health that you want. One is body composition. The other is metabolism.

Lack of understanding about how they work might explain why sometimes just eating “healthily” and “exercising” regularly does not change your body shape.

BODY COMPOSITION

Losing body fat and changing your shape is largely determined by your body composition (in broad terms, and for the purpose of today’s discussion, your ratio of lean tissue (muscle) : body fat).

More lean tissue will help you burn more energy and reduce body fat.

To improve your body composition, you need to improve your metabolism.

METABOLISM

What it is and what it does

Your metabolism is, very simply put, the many chemical reactions in your body that result in the transfer of energy – from breaking down the food you eat to the processes that allow you to function every day. You are really just a big cocktail of chemical reactions .

This ‘cocktail’ of reactions (your metabolism) is an environment that ultimately determines:

Your APPEARANCE (body shape, body composition)

How your body FUNCTIONS (energy production and use)

How you FEEL (are you healthy, do you feel energetic or tired).

How does it relate to achieving the body you want?

Permanent changes in your body shape and reduction of body fat to healthy, manageable levels can be achieved by constructing the correct metabolism. To construct the right metabolism, you first need to know what influences it.

What influences it?

The main sources of energy metabolism are:

66% = lean tissue (muscle)

17% = physical activity

12% = nutrition

5% = body temperature regulation

These numbers should make you re-think your current:

Exercise habits: If exercise accounts for only 17% of calories burnt, then why waste hours and hours doing it? Your exercise should be structured, the right type and the right intensity, if you are to efficiently burn body fat in minimal time.

Nutrition: This is kind of like burning calories ‘for free’ (without any physical effort) – that is, you can make your body work for you if you eat properly – why not maximise your calorie-burning opportunities by eating the right things at the right times? Why waste this opportunity by eating rubbish?

Body composition: Do you have sufficient lean muscle to maximise your daily energy expenditure and make your body work for you? Like nutrition, lean tissue is an opportunity to burn calories ‘for free’ because it happens whether you are moving, resting, or even sleeping!….Remember, it’s the chemical reactions that are occurring in your body, constantly, to keep you alive.

MUSCLE IS THE MOST METABOLICALLY ACTIVE TISSUE YOU OWN!

For effective, efficient and permanent weight management, you need to ensure, first and foremost, that you are gaining and maintaining lean muscle mass. Not so that you become a huge body builder, but to have a healthy mass of lean tissue so your body burns fat as efficiently as possible.

Re-read the percentages above – lean tissue plays the biggest part in burning calories. Over half of your daily calories are burned by your lean tissue – 66% in fact.

Building muscle will get you to your lean body faster.

Creating the optimal metabolic condition to have the body you want means that you should

(A) TRAIN to build or maintain lean tissue (muscle)

(B) Do the right type of CARDIO activity (not just lots of it)

Remember, you can’t trick your metabolism, but you can’t ignore it either.

LEARN TO BE LEAN SEMINAR & WORKSHOP 11^th July 2010

You can learn more about this topic and many others at the workshop in 6 weeks time. Click here for further information, or to book a place.

{ 2 comments }

NEW WORKSHOP “LEARN TO BE LEAN” 11 JULY

by Loretta on May 11, 2010

I am very excited to be presenting this workshop because the most common thing I get asked, on a daily basis, is

“HOW DO I LOSE FAT AND TONE UP?”

In this informational and practical 1-day workshop, you will learn nutrition, exercise and motivation strategies to help efficiently burn body fat while retaining valuable lean muscle mass – which equates to a lean, toned body.

Download Learn to be Lean July 2010 Brochure

More information

Book your place here

{ 0 comments }

INSPIRING PEOPLE, INSPIRING RESULTS

by Loretta on May 11, 2010

UPDATES AND NEW ADDITIONS TO OUR SUCCESS STORIES

Looking for some inspiration and some real life successes to help motivate you? Have another look at the Articles page – you’ll see some new stories from real people who have committed themselves to being healthier.

If you’ve been following Jen’s inspirational weight loss story, have another look because she’s given us an update as to where she is at now, physically and emotionally, and as always has shared with brutal honesty all that has come with her incredible results.

See how super couple Jacqui and Greg trained together to drop the kilo’s and look amazing for their wedding day.

And Paula shows that, with guidance, it is possible to safely train while pregnant, as well as that being a busy mum does not mean you have to put your own weight loss goals on hold. It can be done with good time management, and a commitment to being the best you can be.

{ 0 comments }

THE LAST 5KG’S TO LOSE

by Loretta on March 23, 2010

When you get to the pointy end of reaching your goal weight, it can often feel like those last few kilo’s will not budge. You hover around that “almost-there” point for what seems like forever. Your body will just not let the weight go. Or your head is scared to.

This is the time to really dig deep, steel yourself for the job at hand, and be prepared for your body to react in unexpected ways. If your body hasn’t been where you want it to go for a long time, it is likely to resist your efforts and stay where it is comfortable.

In my experience with clients who are down to their last (roughly) 5kg (or the last 10-15% of their goal weight loss), this is where things get tricky. At the start, the weight generally comes off reliably and consistently (as long as it’s done following sensible and safe eating and exercise principles). Every kg dropped spurs them on because they can see that what they are doing is working, and the results are there. But when those scales stop going down, it can be very de-motivating. Nothing seems to be working anymore.

What to expect when you are getting close

These are some of the things you might expect to happen when you are hovering so close to your target.

Greater fluctuations on the scales

You’ll probably see much more noticeable fluctuations on the scales. You might feel like a yo-yo. Because you are lighter, your body weight will be more sensitive to smaller and smaller changes, which are influenced by your normal bodily reactions to training, eating, hormones, environment, and head stuff, such as stress or lack of sleep. And getting frustrated at this will only work against you. You’ll lose focus, drop the ball, get angry, and probably lose belief that you can get there. If you feel that the scales are doing your head in, try going by how your clothes fit. Buying a smaller size, or having your training clothes or jeans fit better is also a great motivator.

Becoming complacent

There is also the real danger of becoming complacent because you know you are looking better than you have in a long time, so you relax your previously stringent eating and exercising standards, letting a few more treats slip by, and skipping a training session here or there.

Temptation to over train

When you see the results slowing or stopping, you might be tempted to exercise like a demon to get the last of it off. Be careful here, because overtraining could actually work in reverse, causing your body to become inflamed and unable to recover, retaining fluid and possible holding onto the body fat more determinedly. Just incorporate small changes gradually. If you have been doing the same type of training, and eating the same way to get your results so far, you probably need to mix things up a bit to get your body to change more. If you usually do steady state cardio, try throwing in some interval training. If you do the same weights routine every time you train, do some different exercises, or try mixing up the number of reps or sets you do. If you usually do an hour of exercise, try splitting it into 2 x half hour sessions over the course of the day. Throw in some incidental exercise that you haven’t been doing, such as walking up stairs at work or parking your car further away from the supermarket so you need to walk for longer.

Greater muscle : fat ratio

Because your muscle:fat ratio is probably higher than it was at the start, your muscle weight might cause you some unnecessary concern on the scales. When you train and use your muscles, they fill up with nutrients and hold some fluid, so you’ll appear heavier. But this is ok. In the long term, muscle tissue will enable you to stay leaner.

Nutrition is critical

What you put in your mouth is critical at this time. What you eat, how much, when and what you add to it (e.g. salt), needs to be the major focus at this time. More so now than ever. Your body is now used to eating clean and will usually react negatively to anything that is not clean (bloating, fluid retention, etc). It will probably suck up anything extra you give it like a sponge. If for example, you go out and have a big meal at a restaurant for a treat, expect this to reflect on the scales over the coming three days, peaking at around day 3, and expect your body to hold the excess water for about a week.

Ooooh….so close now

When you are so close, and have come so far, you need to stay focused, diligent, determined, calm, relaxed, aware of how your body is reacting day to day, confident and positive. Keep ticking all of your boxes consistently, while being flexible enough to tweak your training and nutrition slightly if you need to.

This is a really important time because fine tuning your body to get rid of those last couple of kg’s is when you have the privilege of really getting to know your body. Understanding how it reacts to everything you do to it. Having this knowledge will help you treat your body with respect and take good care of it in the future.

As long as your goal weight is realistic for you, you will make it.

Please, please, please stay focused and committed, and finish what you started. If you get stuck, change something. There will always be a way through your plateau. There has to be.