Breakfast Recipe - Sounds Fun & Healthy

Searching around the internet is always enjoyable, but finding something that is truly useful and what I want to try out, that's another thing altogether!!

I've been looking for ways to shake up breakfast a bit lately. I always ensure I use protein in my breakfasts these days, long gone are the days of cereal for breakfast - so not sustaining!

Well, for the last week or so, I've been getting messages about flourless banana pancakes, so I thought I'd share a recipe for you all too.  Happy Weekend Breakfast!

1 egg
1/2 banana (ripe, mashed)
Mix together

Pour onto your pan, cook over a medium-low heat until the bottom sets, about 1 - 2 minutes. Flip and cook for another minute.

Serve with fresh fruit.

Now, you can also shake this up a little by adding:

1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

You can also add a scoop of protein powder to the mix for added protein!

Enjoy

Want To Annoy Your Fellow Gym Goers?

As it's still January, many people are still going to the gym.  They are still flush in their efforts to 'work off' the extra pounds or kilos they ate onto their hips over the holiday season!!

Most of these people are labelled January Joiners - a great label, as they sign up in January, usually fade away by February and are never seen nor heard from again, until January next year, when the cycle is on "rinse and repeat"!!

As a regular gym goer in the past, one of the things that used to get to me with these 'newbies' was their lack of ettiquette in the gym!  Do you notice this?

Things such as:

• not putting the weights away after they have finished, imagine having to lift that 200lbs off the machine
• not wiping down the machine they have just melted over, with the antibacterial solution provided
• jumping onto equipment you have been patiently waiting for, i.e., queue jumping
• not bring a sweat towel to the gym with them
• not wearing deodorant
• not looking around to make sure they are not in your way before they start their exercise
• wearing your gym gear from yesterday

I recently read an article that also outlined the health hazards in the gym - I'm not going there, as it was by far too scary to read about, let alone write about. Let's just say, keeping your own hands clean before and after using equipment is a must!

I'm sure there are plenty more you can tell me about - what's your pet hate with the January Joiners?

Cut Out the Fluff Exercises And Get More Results, Faster

I love learning about new equipment to try out at the gym though sometimes you need to make sure it is giving you and effective training, check out this article by Craig Ballantyne, CTT Certified Turbulence Trainer
www.TurbulenceTraining.com

You’ve probably used or at least seen a Bosu Ball in your gym before (those blue half balls with one flat side), but what you might not know is that they’re really just fluff exercises.


What do I mean by that?

Well, let me share a personal story with you…

Tony, a personal trainer and former client of mine, came to me one day asking for help. You see, Tony’s a pretty fit guy, but his personal training business had started to pick up, leaving him with less time to workout.

So we reviewed his program together and I immediately noticed it contained too many fluff exercises.
Tony needed maximum results in minimum time and Bosu Ball training wasn’t going to cut it.  So what I ended up doing was designing him two workouts that essentially included only the most effective exercises for gaining muscle and losing fat.

In fact, the first superset of 1-leg squats paired with dumbbell chest presses alone was more effective than an entire Bosu Ball workout.  And the second workout challenged him to one of the hardest upper body workouts he had ever done. So you can just imagine how happy Tony was with his new workout program.

And this is just Tony’s story.

I realize working out is often a huge struggle for many of you, either because you don’t have the time, or you’re growing frustrated with the lack of results.

But with the two workouts I’ve designed in Turbulence Training 2K5, one total body and one upper body, combined with newer, advanced interval training programs, you’ll discover a workout program perfectly suited for today’s busy lifestyle.

So, if it’s maximum results you want in the minimum amount of time possible, then this is a program tailored just for you.


About the Author

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Secrets To Keeping Weight Off!

There is a lot of discussion on the internet and within the media about the obesity epidemic and consequently ways to lose that weight.  In fact, at this time of the year, about every second advert is for a weight loss company.

Did you know though, that it is estimated that only 20% of overweight and obese Americans that lose weight MAINTAIN that loss? 


I'm sure you've heard of the title "Yo-Yo Dieter" and this is the option for the majority of people who lose their weight through a fad diet, something that doesn't become their lifestyle.  How can you possibly keep up the grapefruit or lemon diet for longer than a week or two? It doesn't become your lifestyle, merely a fad that you can maintain for a couple of weeks before you lapse back into your old habits.

The National Weight Control Registry in the US was established to increase the conversation about maintenance of weight loss. It has monitored the habits of successful dieters over more than 20 years and recently published these tips. 

1. Ensure your diet is similar to your maintenance plan. This means that you are still eating meals, and following a dietary plan that is easy to follow when you have reached your goal weight too. No fad diets can be maintained for a period of time, how can you live on lemons?
2. Keep active. Ensure that the activity you have been doing to lose weight becomes part of your regular routine.  I would suggest you undertake about 3 - 4 hours of activity a week, and make it FUN!!! I include dancing in my fitness routine, as well as walking in nature - they're my fun things to do alongside my gym workouts.
3. Watching less TV.  Keeping active also often means that you reduce the amount of time you spend in front of the TV, as you're spending this time at the gym, or visiting friends to go walking, or going out dancing. The other reason for watching less TV is that this is the time most people snack - it's thoughtless eating, you don't take notice of the food you're eating, so you don't feel full until it's too late. It usually occurs whent the adverts are on, so the trick I use is to record a show, then you skip those 'boring' adverts!! Also, this snacking is happening in the evening, not a great time to be snacking!
4. Keep your meals consistent. Knowing what menu plans are successful for you to lose your weight, also gives you ideas for your maintenance.  Splurging and eating high calorie foods, if they creep back into your routine menu, will soon stop being a treat, and quickly become a common occurrence. Before you know it, the pounds are creeping back on again!  Keep your menus consistent to consistently maintain your weight.
5. Accountability, or a support team.  Keeping your accountability partner in your maintenance plan will ensure you are regularly following your plan. Support from partners, online communities or even your fitness app are great ways to ensure you keep regular in your fitness plans, your meal plans and your mindset. Support for any goals is vital to achieving those goals. In this instance, your goal is maintenance.  I have a workout partner and we catch up for a workout (and a great chat too) once or twice a week, depending on our schedules. We never miss!
6. Positive outlook. Maintain a positive outlook. I use a positive/joyful/gratitude diary to ensure my maintenance. This can include reflections on what you have achieved, what it's like to be able to enjoy your exercise, the types of exercise you can now do, how long you've maintained your weight for. Set yourself little goals, e.g., maintain weight for one month - then celebrate that achievement! Note it in your gratitude diary also, so you have something to reflect upon.
7. Get sleep.  Ensure you have a regular routine for sleep, so that you don't become sleep deprived. Do you know what most people do to fuel themselves when they're sleep deprived? You guessed it, they reach for food that stimulates them, and that is mostly food high in sugar!  Ensure you are not becoming sleep deprived.
8. Regularly measure your weight.  Once a week jump on those scales! This is an easy way to establish if a sneaky pound or two is creeping back on, and you can then quickly do something about it before it becomes a larger problem to deal with. Choose a day, I choose Wednesdays, and stick to weighing yourself every week on that day, at the same time, in the same outfit (okay, I do it before I shower, so it's simple to have the same outfit!). This way, it becomes part of your routine.
9. Never, ever, say negative things about what the scale says. Stick to number 6 above, stay positive. You've lost a lot more weight in the past, so you know how easy it is to lose a pound or two now.  When the scales tip back upwards for a week, get back into your routine of menu plans and exercise that aided you to your goal weight. Generally a week will do it, then back onto your maintenance plan.  Also take a look back at the treats you've been having, and possibly contributed to this creep. Once you know what they are, consider how you can swap them for a different treat that fits into your lifestlye of health!

With these tips, you are more likely to become one of the 20% that maintain their weight successfully. 

Top Tip For Losing Weight

Studies on intermittent fasting have shown that it’s as effective for weight loss as cutting calories. In one study, overweight women who fasted intermittently for six months lost more weight than women who restricted their calories each day.

Top Tip: Supported fasting for one or two days - contact me to find out how!

Best Beginner Weight Loss Workout

A great start to your exercise routines!  I love each one of these routines, you'll be amazed at how this provides you a great workout - you will notice this tomorrow!!