Portion Control

So my mum always tells me I eat too much. My excuse and response is that I’m active so I need to eat a lot in order to keep me going. However, she might actually be right. I’ve been a serious lover of food from when I was a child and on reflection; I can honestly say that I’m quite greedy.

However, that’s all soon to change, because I’ve bought something that will help me adjust my portions.

Meet the Meal Measure …

This brilliant gadget is a plastic portion control guide that fits right over your plate. You can measure your protein, starch, vegetables and fruit for perfect portions. Each hole of the meal measurer has a 1 cup and 1/2-cup mark so you can adjust portions for your individual dietary needs.

What I really like about the Meal Measure, is the fact that you don't have to use measuring cups or scales to figure out just the right food portions for your meals. All you need is your Meal Measure, which will fit in most standard sized dinner plates. It’s easy to use, easy to clean and a handy alternative to an individual portion plate as you can use it to measure more than one meal at once.

The only thing I would say is that it is a bit over priced. I paid £15 for mine on eBay. Also, the product doesn’t come with any guidelines as to whether you should have half a cup or a full cup, but for me, a full cup is less than what I usually consume anyway, so it’s still been a massive help.
I ordered mine from eBay; however they also sell it on Amazon as well.

Using the Meal Measure has shown me how much I’ve been over eating over the years and although it’s a bit pricey, I think it’s a very good investment.  It definitely gets Just Geen’s stamp of approval.

G

Great hair or great body, which one would you prefer?

 

Have you ever skipped a workout because you didn’t want to sweat out your hair? If so, then this blog post is definitely for you.  Most males probably don’t understand the importance of hair, in this situation, but when you spend on average about £60 (£200+ for you Brazilian babes) for one hairstyle, you want to make sure you get your money’s worth. 

I often get asked how I manage to maintain my hair and workout as much as I do, and seeing as this is something I used to have trouble with, when I first started working out, it just made sense to share my tips.

There are certain things you can do to make it easier to work out and maintain a healthy hair regime.
 
1.       Clean your hair
 
I’m a sweaty Betty and find that my head sweats a lot so my hair ALWAYS looks like someone’s thrown water over me, after my workout session. If you’re like me and you work out more than 4 times a week, washing your hair that often (with shampoo) is not only a lot of effort but it can also cause damage to your hair. 

Why not try rinsing out the sweat from your hair with warm water. If you don’t feel clean without using shampoo, use a diluted shampoo or leave in conditioner. Only use full shampoo or deep condition your hair when your hair has been severely sweated out or soiled, so only on or around the days you do cardio.
 
2.  Plan your workouts around your hair regimen.
 
Do your more intense, sweat-inducing cardio exercises a day or two before your 'hair wash day'. For example, I normally wash and straighten my hair during the weekend. So, Sunday-Tuesday I do my strength training and low impact workouts that don’t leave my hair as soaked. Then during the rest of the week I do my cardio sessions that will sweat my hair out, just in time for my 'hair wash day'.
 
3.  Wrap your hair whilst you work out
 
Wrap your hair when you workout. You don’t have to cover your entire head; you could just wrap the scarf around your hairline, leaving the crown exposed which will preserve the volume without flattening your hair.
 
4.   Keep heat application on relaxed hair to a minimum.
 
I avoid straightening my hair everyday by just making sure I wrap my hair after a workout. If your hair is wrapped properly, this should allow your hair to dry straight. If you need to straighten you hair, I suggest using a heat protecting syrum or oil.
 
I don’t have many tips, but these methods should allow your workout routine to co-exist with your hair without causing damage because no female should feel that she has to choose between improving her health and having healthy hair;  she can do both.
 
G

Sunday Funday

The weather wasn’t too bad on Sunday, so after church I decided to have a little workout in the park with my cousins. It was a short session which consisted of bodyweight exercises.

Bodyweight exercises are so convenient. You don’t need equipment, you can workout literally anywhere and all you need is your body! 

What I like about these types of exercises, is that they require more flexibility and balance in order to perform reps, in comparison to weight training. Because you have to use your bodyweight to adjust the difficulty of exercises, you learn how to make use of your entire body in any given movements.  

It's all about becoming one with your body because you’re literally working with what you've got and your body HAS to tone itself because it’s naturally being conditioned to the same weight all the time. Not only that but, you can workout towards your own strengths and weaknesses, as through doing certain exercises you'll be able to learn what muscles are stronger/weaker.

There is an ongoing discussion about Bodyweight Training vs Weight Training but that’s a different blog post. Personally, I like them both and think when combined together you get good results, but that’s just my opinion. J

But yh ...since the weathers getting better now, I plan to do a lot more training in the park on weekends…so anyone interested let me know and lets do this!

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

Stretch Sundays

So today was supposed to be 'leg day' but when I got to the gym I had a change of heart. I actually couldn't be bothered so I decided to work on my flexibility and stretch out my body instead.

Flexibility is important because it:

• Improves your performance
• Decreases the risk of injury
• Reduces muscle soreness
• Improves your posture 
• Improves muscle coordination
• Improves balance and coordination

I decided to practice some Yoga stretches and although I've never been to a yoga class I would like to thank Instagram- my yoga teacher.

I seem to be quite flexible so I think yoga is something i'm going to take up.

By increasing your flexibility through stretching, your balance and coordination improves during a workout. Whereas the lack of flexibility can cause your movements to become slower and increases the chances of muscle strain and injuries after a workout.

So make sure you include stretching as part of your exercise regime.


G