Is the fitness industry a judgement free zone?

Is the fitness industry a judgement free zone?




I think not.




Recently, I’ve seen quite a few things on social media that has got me thinking, is the fitness industry too judgemental?




In my opinion, the answer is yes.




Some fitness individuals behave like they know it all, because they have what is perceived as the ideal body and workout- but that’s not good enough. It’s some of these individuals that will tell a person that they are training for the wrong reasons and knock what that person is seeing as motivation.




Side note: if I have told you your training for the wrong reasons in the past (which I doubt I have) I do apologise.

For example, a female says she wants to get a bigger bum and smaller waist. Some fitness individuals will class her as a fitness ‘foney’ and say that she is training for the wrong reasons. Why are they the wrong reasons? Because they don’t meet your standards? I don’t think she is training for the reasons... I mean at least she is training.












Another example is where a celebrity announces that they have adopted a fitness related lifestyle. Some that follow that celebrity will see it and may even find it motivating enough to start doing the same. 




Then you have the fitness critics who come along and tell them they’re jumping on the bandwagon. But if they’re jumping on the bandwagon SO WHAT? Is it not a good bandwagon to jump on? Some people might want to jump on the bandwagon to feel as though they are part of something and I don’t think there is anything wrong with that.




It annoys me when people say they do not train for aesthetics (looks) and knock down people that do. A person, who has always been active and has the “ideal body”, is not in a position to rain on someone’s parade, who is training to improve their appearance. Of course they can say that they don’t train for aesthetics, if they have never really had to.












When I first started training, I didn’t like my appearance and I needed something to keep me occupied. I began training in the hopes of achieving my goals physically and realised that it was not that simple. I then understood the level of hard work I needed to put in practice before achieving my desired results and then adopted a different approach to my lifestyle. 




Training to achieve a physical goal changed me mentally and put me in a better place. Imagine if I was told in the beginning that I was training for the wrong reasons and I was just ‘jumping on the bandwagon’, I probably wouldn’t be where I am today. I train for both aesthetics and ability and that does not make me any less of a person.




I think as individuals (myself included) we need to motivate and encourage without judging and mocking, despite what peoples' goals are. EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT and what motivates you might not motivate others. If you are trying to educate and inspire, you can’t judge or mock in the process because then your message lacks substance.




Anyway, that’s my rant over! This is just my opinion on the matter and if you don’t agree lets discuss or alternatively you can talk to FRANK.









P.s Fitness is not a competition 

G

How to avoid weight gain over Christmas

Christmas is only a few days away ecccckkkkk! Which can only mean one thing…CALORIES!!!

Personally, nothing sucks more than additional inches to your waist line after a Christmas binge. I mean, you didn’t work hard all year round, just to have to start all over again in the New Year, did you? Well I know I didn’t, that’s for sure, so I’ve come up with a few things to try and do over the festive period, to avoid unnecessary weight gain.

1. Have a weight maintenance goal

Let’s be honest, trying to lose weight over Christmas is just torture, so why not set your goals over the next 2 weeks to maintain your current weight. That way, you won’t be bothered if you don’t lose any weight and if you do, that will be a bonus.

2. The 80/20 rule

Aim to eat clean 80% of the time. The extra 20% will allow you enough room to enjoy yourself, without there being any harsh consequences.

3. Exercise more

Why not counteract the extra calories with more exercise.

4. Plan your eating habits for the week ahead

This is basically like planning your cheat day or cheat meal. For example, if you know that you are going to have to go out one evening and it’s likely that you are going to misbehave with your eating, plan ahead so you make the right food choices for breakfast and lunch or days leading up to that day

5. Set a date to get back on track

Aim to get back on track with your usual diet and exercise habits by January otherwise, you may find yourself leading up to spring still holding onto the extra Christmas weight.

6. One handful rule

When it comes to snacks, only have one handful.

7. Drink Smart

I think this is the most important one of them all. Christmas time comes with lots of alcohol and we often find that we drink more than we usually would. What people don’t really realise is the amount of calories they are drinking per glass. Alcohol tends to increase your appetite and interrupts your blood sugar levels, which is why people tend to crave sweet things when recovering from a hangover. Personally, I would rather eat my calories than drink them, but if you are going to drink:

- Eat a nutritious meal or snack with some protein before you have a drink as the protein should help stabilize any swings in your blood sugar level and should prevent you from craving sweet things.

-If you’re a wine drinker, opt for red wine over white. Red wine is better because it has higher amounts of the powerful antioxidants resveratrol, which is found in red grape skins.

- Choose sugar free or low calorie mixers for cocktails or stick to spirits.

-Drink water or low calorie soft drinks between alcoholic drinks. This will help reduce your calorie intake and will help reduce the amount of units you’re drinking.

So why not try these over the next two weeks and resume your normal routine in the New Year.

G

How to stay motivated to exercise during the winter

The clocks have been pushed back, the days are shorter, the temperatures are colder and motivation is hard to find. This can only mean one thing- winter is officially upon us *welcomes with open arms*.

Unfortunately, winter can even discourage the most motivated exercisers and it can become really easy to pack away your lycra leggings and dri-fit clothing for some extra moments with your hot water bottle and duvet. Most people dread winter training but strangely enough, I really enjoy it.

I actually prefer winter training to summer training. Why? Well “hot bodies are made in cold conditions”, that’s why.

From past experience, I've found that my body responds to exercise much faster during the winter than in the summer. I haven’t figured out why this is, but knowing that this is the case, I’m making sure that my winter training doesn't go in vain.

I’ll be completely honest though, I do have the odd occasional days where I can’t be bothered and would rather stay at home, but there are certain things I do to stop this from happening which I will list below:

1.    Going to work out straight from work

If you’re like me, then you know that once you get into your house and it’s warm, you’re not going to leave again. So, plan to workout straight after work. This should allow you to avoid the temptation of staying at home. Plus, I always see it as; I didn’t carry my heavy gym bag around me all day to not make use of it.

2.    Dressing appropriately

When you think about it, once you start working out, you actually can’t feel the cold, so the weather shouldn’t really be an excuse. However, you should invest in some thermal clothing, socks and gloves to keep those key areas warm. Also, wear layers that can easily be removed once you start to sweat. You don’t want that chilly feeling once you’re dry and your clothes are still wet because that way you’ll catch a cold.

3.    Home workouts

Why not exercise in the comfort of your own home. If you don’t own any fitness DVD’s YouTube is your best friend. There are tons of fitness workouts online that you could try, which don’t require any equipment. Im currently doing the ‘500 Core Ab Circuit’ at home, which I will upload in a separate post.

4.    Revisiting goals

I use this time to reflect on my progress over the last few months and decide what I want to accomplish before the seasons over. For example, one of my new short term goals, before the end of the year, is to be able to do full chin ups from a dead hang position, because I currently can only do them from a 90 degree angle. By re-evaluating your goals you can analyse how far away from them you are. It may be the case that you realise your short term goals have changed and you want to accomplish something new within the next few months. This should keep you on your toes and see the new season as a new challenge.

5.    Rewards

So once I’ve reached my goal, I plan to treat myself. I haven’t decided on the treat yet but I know the treat will not undermine my efforts. So no, I will not be treating myself to a trip to Hagen Daz lol but you get the idea...

6.    Try something new

I want to take my training to another level so I’m going to join a CrossFit gym and I’ve also started pole. Trying something new doesn’t have to be life changing; it can be as little as changing your fitness regime or trying a new piece of gym equipment. Either way, adding something new might be another way to stay motivated to exercise in winter.

7.    Buddy up

I currently work out with different people. For example, I work out with specific people when I’m doing legs, when I’m doing arms, and when I’m doing cardio. Just make sure whoever you’re working out with, has the same goals as you. Working out with someone else will give you a reason to keep going and to stay motivated as you won’t want to let them down as well as yourself.

There are probably loads more other things you could do, but these are the main ones that have and are currently working for me.

Why not try incorporating a few or all of these into your current regime and see if they help you stay motivated this winter.

G

Can you lose body fat without losing your curves?

This is something I’ve struggled with since the beginning of my fitness journey and I know a lot of females can relate, so I thought to share my experience and explain how the process works.

So can you lose body fat without losing your curves? My answer is yes and no.

The thing is you cannot determine where you lose fat from. If you do cardio, you can’t only burn the fat off your waist area and keep it on your bum and thighs. Trust me I wish you could but it just doesn’t work like that.

Please bare in mind that your body does burn fat all over, it’s just that sometimes it can burn fat more in specific areas. For example, my fat burns quickly around my chest area (hence my lack of boobs lol) and although I still have a bum and thighs, I have still lost body fat in those areas.

Everyone has stubborn fat cells in specific areas. For me, I’d say my stubborn areas are my bum, thighs and waist, which isn't a bad thing except the waist area- but this, is not within my control. The only way I focused on those stubborn fat cells in my waist was to keep up the cardio until it finally responded and disappeared (it still hasn’t gone yet but its slowly getting there), although I did suffer the risk of losing my curves. So what do I do?

Well I know how my body works and I know it’s a lot easier for me to put on weight than it is for me to lose weight. So I took the risk (and still am taking the risk) in order to give my body the best possible chance of stripping down my body fat. I haven’t lost too much mass in the process as my cardio mainly consists of high intensity workouts (refer to previous blogpost) which has in some way retained my muscle.

But inevitably I was bound to lose fat from my bum, thighs and hips so I also weight trained those specific areas on days where I wasn’t doing cardio. I’ve now incorporated more leg days in my fitness regime focusing more on exercises which target my glutes, thighs and hips (squats, lunges, leg raises, glute bridges etc) in order to compensate for the fat burned in those areas.

I still haven’t replaced all the missing fat from those areas YET but just know I won’t stop until I do. Personally, I'm yet to see the gains of my work because I know this process will probably take a year to master effectively and my body doesn’t respond to muscle training as fast as I would like it to. But everyone’s body is different so it might not even take you that long.

There are two ways to do this, you can either lose the fat first then weight train or do both at the same time. I’ve chosen to do both at the same time because when combined with a good balanced diet, adding muscle mass will increase your metabolism and help burn off any excess body fat, so it’s a win win situation.

The only thing is that muscle takes a lot longer to build than fat takes to burn so this process requires the most amount of patience. My advice to anyone embarking on this part of their journey is to be patient and accept that slow progress is better than no progress.

Remember Rome wasn’t built in a day…and neither are your muscles.

G

Traded In My Heart For Muscle

So what's this ‘traded in my heart for muscle’ jazz all about then? Well as you know, I found my love for fitness during a state of depression after breaking up with my ex boyfriend. I've always been a 'guest appearance gymer' and had issues with my weight, so I guess my story’s much deeper than my ex-boyfriend- but that’s another blog post (soon come). Anyway, I got really slim and lost 1.5 stone in one month...I know some of you are thinking that's amazing-but nah, it wasn't cool.



Look at my collar bone -_____-



I started looking ill, my hair fell out, I skipped periods – I was a hot mess. Eventually, I started eating again and with being a food lover; I went a bit overboard lol. As my body had been longing for the food I had been depriving it of, the weight came back on FAST!

One day I was feeling really upset and I needed to get out of my house so I went for a run. I found it so soothing and therapeutic and soon it became a way of channelling any negativity I was feeling. 

Anyone that knows me personally can confirm that I'm a moody cow *makes cow noise*. I used to have serious mood swings, well I still kinda do but I'm working on it lol. But working out has made this a lot better. Whenever I felt upset, annoyed, in a mood - anything negative, I would just go to the gym and work it off.

Soon it became my addiction - an addiction that only I understood. It was from then on I decided to trade in all my emotions in relation to my break up and anything negative for a long term relationship with my health and fitness.

The amazing thing about breakups is they change you. Some let the break up break them but I chose to build myself up and focus on being and becoming a better me. By the way I still think love is amazing *gag* (I'm not bitter).

Just to be clear, traded in my heart for muscle doesn't represent being anti-men or love, even though that's the vibe I sometimes give off-trust me it's all banter. It's about turning negative energy into positive results. 

The aim of the movement is to empower others especially females, yes you had a bad day, yes your boyfriend cheated on you, yes you didn’t get the job, yes your heartbroken, yes you've gained weight and have rolls that seem to have appeared from no where. I know you can't fit into that dress you bought last summer and yes yes yes - I know you want to wear that backless dress but you know things ain't looking how they used to be, but it can change.

Just focus on channelling that negative energy into something positive to build a better you. Get your mind right and your body will follow. So whenever you’ve had one of them days, just focus on YOU. Eat right, go for a run or go to the gym - I don't want to hear excuses just do it #NoNike…work that negativity to the ground!

G



Bare With Me ...I'm Just Having A Moment

Have you ever had those moments where you feel down and you don't know why? Well I've been having one of them recently as well as suffering a knee injury.

So I haven't been able to work out as much as I would like because of my knee and it's stressing me out. I've felt de-motivated to even do anything (I’m even struggling to write this post). So what have I turned to for comfort...food! Yes you heard correctly comfort food!

I've found myself comfort eating and doing things so out of character and its doing nothing but making me gain pounds ...ecccckkkkkk! Whatever ab ‘definition’ was forming on my stomach is now non existent :-(

...But not to worry...I know what I need to do :-)

For the next couple of weeks I'm going to shock my body and play with it, (laughs hysterically) that sounded so wrong but Im basically going to put my body through trial and error. I'm looking to eat clean and I mean squeaky clean. For example, no salt, saturated fats, refined sugars etc.

My meals are going to be pretty boring and bland, no dressing or nothing. The only thing I’ll be using to season my food is lemon. This is to try and reduce my body fat and to try and get them abs to come through.

I've been trying to get abs for agggessss now and it's not easy! But I'm not going to give up until I've tried everything there is to try. I’ve figured that it's all about trial and error and finding out what works for your body and to be honest I still have a lot more to learn about my own.

I already know that what works for one person might not work for another and I may not necessarily see any results, but at least I’ll be able to tick this method off my list if it doesn't work and ill continue to try others. 

I decided to post this really just to show that I am human lol. Yes that's right I bleed red not blue just like the rest of you. I know a lot of people think I live, eat, breathe & sleep fitness which is true to an extent, but I do have my moments as well lol.

Anyway...I shall upload progress pictures in four weeks about my trial and error period.

Until then…happy fitness

G

The Perfect Fit For The Perfect Run

After a long day at work I jetted off to 'Somerset house' for a sneak peek at the new Nike trainers - Flyknit Lunar1+.

These trainers are available for both men and women and are great for running.

What makes these trainers so unique is that they provide the perfect fit and feel as though they were made just for you. How have Nike done this? Well, when you go pick up a pair of these trainers you’re taken to Nike’s Steam Lounge. The trainer is placed in a steam machine for several minutes and then you try them on. Whilst the trainer is still warm, gentle pressure in the form of a foot massage is applied to the trainer to mould it to the contours of your foot.

I could physically see the transformation!

I could actually feel the difference and the trainers felt a lot more snug and comfortable.

 

 

Thanks to these beauties there will be no more uncomfortable trainers for your morning runs!

So head down to Nike town and get your pair just in time for spring!

G



MidWeek Motivation

So this week several people have asked me for advice on how I stay motivated on this journey. Firstly you need to ask yourself how bad you want it because being fit and healthy is something you have to commit to long term. All these quick fixes are temporary and so are the results.

Personally, for me short term motivation comes from team work and pushing boundaries. By short term motivation I'm talking about a day when I can't be bothered to train but I know I have to.

Team work

I've found working out with someone or in a group is more productive than working out by myself. I find I work a lot harder and push myself out of my comfort zone. I particularly like working out with males or females who are just as crazy as I am and stronger than me because we will never take it easy in the gym.

When I've trained with males I usually find that my body is able to reach targets I never knew it was capable of.  As much as I hate to admit it, let's be honest, guys are stronger than girls, so being able to keep up with a guy in the gym gives me a buzz and should keep him on his toes because I shouldn't be able to do what he's doing.

Pushing boundaries

As you've probably already noticed I like to do random things like squatting humans on my shoulders or upside down sit ups on the train. This is because I actually find them things quite fun!

People who say working out and the gym are boring don’t know how to create their own fun!!!

Obviously doing the same gym routine all the time can become boring and tedious so why not switch it up a bit. I find these random things make my training sessions a lot more exciting and challenging, plus it allows me to put my fitness to the test.

I mean what's the point in being fit and strong if you can’t test how fit and strong you are.

Staying motivated in the long run I guess comes from wanting to encourage people to look after their physical and mental well being.

It's so true that when you look good you feel good. My confidence has increased so much since the beginning of my journey.

Fitness has taught me that there are no boundaries as I've been able to do things I never knew I was physically capable of, especially as I wasn't active as a child or teen.

My journey has allowed me to turn negative thoughts into positive actions and I just hope I can inspire you guys to do the same.

So people why not stay motivated by trying random things like chin ups or pull ups on a tree, handstands on a parked car or squatting your boyfriend or girlfriend !!!

Whatever you do just make sure you have fun whilst doing it.

G

Pancake Day

So today is Pancake Day and JustGeen’s stomach will definitely be getting involved.

Along my journey, I have found that there are many different healthy ways to make pancakes and Protein Pancakes have become my favourite. Not only are they low in carb and low in fat, they are delicious!

The recipe is quite simple:

Ingredients:

• 3 table spoons of wheat flour
• 3 egg whites
• ½ cup of oats
• 2 table spoons of protein powder (optional)
• ½ teaspoon of cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
• pinch of nutmeg
• 3 tablespoons of rice milk
• 1 teaspoon of honey

Instructions

• Whisk all the ingredients into a bowl until it is lump free.
• Your pan should be warmed on a medium heat with just a little bit of olive oil or olive oil cooking spray.
• Pour your mix into the pan and cook on each side for 1-2 minutes.　

Your pancakes dont have to be topping free so why not add some strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, bananas, honey, natural yoghurt or nuts.

Bon appétit!

G



MudNMadness

So over the weekend me and SpartanFam put our training to the test by taking on a 7.5k mud race. Two words frikkin amazing!!!!

Words can't begin to describe how exhilarating the whole experience was.

The race consisted of army style challenges, canoeing, an obstacle course, river crossing, archery, mud alleys, river dips and a beasting session.

Me and my two team mates completed the race in an hour and 28 minutes. Considering the team was suffering from knee and ankle injuries we still managed to make it to the finish line.

The time we finished in was not even what we cared about. We just wanted to finish it together. We didn't see it as a race in the literal sense but rather a challenge. We did not whine or moan and our main goal was exercising our teamwork rather than completing the course in the fastest time.

To be honest the actual race wasn't even that hard besides the canoeing bit. That’s probably where we lost a lot of time because we were scared as hell. Gospel, Bashment, RnB, HipHop I mean we sang them all just to get through that river.

Also, the freezing cold water didn’t help. You'd think your body would get used to it after a while but nope! I lost all feeling in my legs, toes and fingers for the majority of the race.

However, I would definitely do it all over again. It felt so good to actually put my fitness and training to the test. Sure I got mud in my hair, dirty water all over my body and almost lost my trainers but it was all worth it in the end.

Now I know my mental and physical strength has no boundaries I'm going to push myself till I can't push myself no more and you should do the same.

Bring on the next mud race!

G