I’m the last person in the world who wants to put any dampeners on anybody’s New Year, eat drink and be merry that’s my fundamental advise for this time of year.  However there are a few things you can do to minimize your time on the treadmill come January.

1) Simply buy less, if your anything like me you will continue eating long past the point it is enjoyable and long into the point where you feel sick.  If you stock up on less, you will binge less. You might think stocking up mass piles of biscuits and chocolates is essential to ensure a happy New Year. But just remember there is plethora of shops open later on New Year and still plenty of Christmas  bargains to be had, so if you run out you can always pop out.

2) Do something active for at least  20mins each day on the run up to New Year, be this a walk, playing with the kids or having a wee boogie to some classics tunes til midnight. Keeping moving even for short periods of time will make a big difference in the long run.

3) Swap a full glass of wine, beer, gin for a half and really savour it, you can still have fun and join in with the cheer but with half the empty calories. This can also help avoid a too crippling New Years Day  hangover or at least half it.

This is going to come as a little bit of a shock to you because of all the info out there….

Calorie Counting Doesn’t Work!

Science simplifies calorie counting by saying that as long as you burn more than you are taking in you lose weight. And yes this is true. It also says that your body burns food (calories) the same way that water heats a test tube

Confused??

First of all you need to understand that this is a theory. In the dictionary the word Science literally means: Knowledge and is defined as a ‘systematic knowledge base of prescriptive practice that is capable of resulting in a correct prediction or ‘reliably predictable type of outcome’ Which means that if they can’t find an outcome they will predict/guess at what they think the outcome will be…..

The science of calorie burning gains its support from the laws of thermodynamics, the first being that ‘energy is neither created nor lost, it merely changes form’. See sounds really good. So how does this relate to calories. Well first you need to understand what a calorie is (Kcal).

It is the amount of heat required to raise one kg of water by 1 degree Celsius. And how scientists do this is by burning food, lets say Broccoli, in a calorimeter to see how much heat they give off and then the number from that is then assigned to the foods we eat. And we then use this theory to decide how much we should in take compared to how much we burn and that gives us our calories per day.

Which to be honest sounds really good. However, there are 2 fatal flaws in this theory.

1. The food is burnt in a test tube and not in the human body.

They are raising the temperature of water, where do we come in to it

2.The numbers used for each foods are not constant.

For carbohydrates and proteins you divide Kcal by 4 and for fats you divide kcal by 9 to get the amount of grams. With food they will have different make ups meaning that not all all fats will equate to the same so therefore not all fats divided by 9 will give you the right outcome.

Another main flaw with this is that if you did the study in the north pole and the same study in the south pole the results would differ because of the atmosphere and other factors relating to different climates….water has variable boiling temperature at different heights. And the main one is that the ‘maths’ works on an ‘average’ human.

So what is an average human? Is it Posh Spice, Vanessa Feltz,Kelly Brooke, Jordan!…….or maybe David Beckham, David Cameron, Lee who works for me…….you get the idea?

You see there are so many different variables to determine what is the ‘average’ human. You would need to test every body on the planet to decide what the average is. You would need to know their muscle fibre’s, age, sex, physical fitness, injury status, mobility, muscular size, neuro-muscular efficiency, lever lengths……the list goes on and on And also think about this. Lets say you have been training for 6 months. If you did a 1 mile run on your first ever training session and then a 1 mile run on the first session of the 6 months do you think your body will work the same as it did at the start. of course not, you won’t burn anywhere near as many calories as you did when you first started.

I get asked this a lot and people say. What is a balanced diet?

Well my definition of a balanced diet is fresh, clean, unprocessed, non toxic foods. So try and eat organic as much as possible. Stay away from tinned foods (they boil the food in the tins) and just drink plenty of water and eat fresh, fresh and fresh…

Please do not take this article that you can eat as much as you like. It is still the process of if you take in more calories than you burn you will gain weight but the point i need you to understand is that if you focus on eating the right foods. Always eat fresh and keep your water intake high (1 litre per 50lbs of body weight) then the weight will drop off without you having to focus on the scales and weight loss.

RECLAIM YOUR HEALTH – Do this and i can guarantee you will achieve your goal.

FOCUS ON WEIGHT LOSS – Do this and it will become a chore and you will continue to yo-yo

Have a fantastic day and good luck to my ‘lucky’ 15 who are taking part in my bikini boot camp 24 day program.

Matt Ibbs

www.mattibbs.com

Its that time of the year again when we start smiling knowing its HOLIDAY TIME

We all live busy life’s and it’s the only time you really get a chance to let your hair down and RELAXXXXX well I don’t have no hair so I just chill :)

BUT before we get that chance to relax we need to look good for our holiday right??

So we are running out of time we still need to do holiday shopping as well as our day to day stuff work, kids etc…

So I am going to make this nice and simple for you.

1. WATER YOUR BODY

Drinking water daily and filling your system with the right amount of water is essential for weight loss. Our body is about %70 water so for our body to function well and a key role in burning fat we need to be at optimal hydration.

2. EAT GREEN TO BE LEAN

We are always being told to eat our greens from the days of a child to now things have not changed, eat your greens people. A major plus is that our vegetables are high in water too so this will help with keeping you hydrated as well as give you the nutrients we require.

3. CARBS VS PROTEIN

You need to know your portion sizes and when to eat what, I believe in every meal we should have FAT, PROTEIN AND CARBS but which one to have more or less of.

I use the fist rule so if I want to lean up I will use 2 fist size of protein 1 fist size of carbs and 3-4 fist size of veg or salad. I snack on a small handful of nuts and seeds twice a day. Training days I will add an extra fist size of carbs after my workout to help replenish the energy I have lost during training.

4. GET IN GET OUT

You want to sit on the bike for 2hours in the gym then please do so but don’t say “hey that guy/girl has just been training for 20-40mins and is looking in better shape then me” THE KEY is quality over quantity, keep the intensity high and really work hard and not with 2kg dumbbells pick up them weights and do not stop training.

5. GET THE BALANCE RIGHT

We all work hard at work, work hard at home and we need to work hard in the gym too but we need to rest and chill too, so make sure you give yourself good rest days and make sure you do REST the body, its very important for the development of body transformation.

6. SLEEP FOR ENGLAND

When it hits 10-10:30pm its time to start heading to bed don’t care what’s on tv you need your rest, your up early going to work. Mentally and physically you may feel fine but you need the rest, sleep till your alarm goes off and no thinking about work or any other issues or problems you may have SWITCH COMPLETELY OFF

Follow these simple rules and see how you feel.

For more information or to book Taykin as your personal trainer please contact:

Tel. 07815755963
Email. Taykinpt1@hotmail.com
Web. t-attackfitness.co.uk

Article by Lauren Whitby

This week I’m talking about the middle age spread or that area across our tummy that always gains the weight.

We all look back at pictures of ourselves and say I wish I looked like that now.

Well there are a few reasons you don’t. The most obvious being the age you are but also the way the body changes as we get older.

Everything slows down. Metabolism, the way we utilise energy & store energy, the resting heart rate changes, blood pressure changes, it’s always changing.

One of the most startling changes is the fact that as we approach our 30’s we in fact gain 1.5lb’s of fat every year and lose 1lb of muscle.

You might not see it on the scales much but you will definitely feel the difference as your arms feel less toned, your bum jiggles a lot more and your belly does its own dance when you walk down the stairs.

The only way to combat these issues is to stay active and to stick to an exercise regime that is constantly changing so that your body doesn’t get used to it.

How many of you do exercise classes week in and week out? The same one, where you know everybody’s names, you know all the routines off by heart and you feel comfortable doing the class because you’re good at it?

This isn’t helping your body to adapt or “overload” so that it can then build more strength or build more stamina. You’re simply just keeping your body in its same state with no progression.

Here are my top tips for combating middle age spread!

1.     Exercise! Exercise and exercise! This is most important. You should be doing at least 30 minutes X3 times a week of exercise in order to tick over. I recommend X3 hours of exercise a week to keep fat build up to a minimum and increase weight loss and improve muscle tone.

2.     Diversify your workouts. Don’t stick to the same old classes week in and week out. Mix it up. Increase your weights, Ask the instructor for more advancing moves. Try to mix up a gym work out with your normal work out. You will never progress or see your body adapt if you do not force it to!

3.     Try boxing! Pad work with a friend can be great fun and stress busting. Not only that, but is a high calorie burner and also a great way to tone the arms and back.

4.     Running is a great way to keep the stomach nice and flat and toned. It is a great way to burn fat from all over the body. But it takes time and patience to build it up. Don’t go mad when you first start, build it up slowly 10 minutes, then 15minutes and then start looking at distance. Your love handles and abs will soon show through.

5.     Keep the diet in check. You will have to make diet changes as you grow older as your body’s metabolism can’t use the sugar foods as quick as it used to! That chocolate cake no longer just burns off, it will stay! Lodging a permanent place around your tummy!!!

6.     Stay away from adding sugar to foods and try and stick to natural sugars for your sweet tooth needs. Fruits and juices in place of sugary cakes and sweets.

7.     Doing endless sit ups is not going to get you a 6 pack if you have fat mass lying over the top of it. It will strengthen your abdominals but not show them through. You need to strip the fat first by doing cardio work, running, boxing and changing your diet before you fine tune those abdominals.

Exercise Plan for full body workout!

This exercise plan is to help you try different exercises you may not have done in a gym and to add a constant work rate throughout the plan. No rests. Just constantly working, forcing your body to adapt.

If there is anything you are unsure about please do not hesitate to contact me.

Equipment needed:

Skipping rope

Mat

Dumbbells – 2kg, 3kg (or heavier if you are more advanced)

1.     Skipping.  – 2 minutes

Make sure the rope is the right length for you by putting your foot underneath it and holding the handles up to your body. They should be at your chest height.

Try not to stop, keep the work rate going. Try different skipping patterns moving from one foot to the other.

2.      Push ups – X20

Depending on your ability you may want to use the mat to protect your knees. If you are advanced you won’t need the mat. Take your hands wider than your shoulders. Bring your chest down to the floor making sure your head stays over your hands, your elbows bend to 90 degrees and your chest is in line with your hands. Your back is straight with no bums in the air! The push your body back up to the start position. Abdominals stay tight and strong. Exhale on the push back up.

3.     Squat jumps – X20

Great plyometric exercise. Start with your arms in front of your body folded at chest height. Feet should be hip width apart. Bend your knees to a squat position, pushing your bum back and down, keeping your chest lifted and your body weight travelling through your heels. From the low point, spring up into a jump straightening the knees and then back down to the start position of the squat.

4.     Shoulder Punch pyramid.

Grab your 2kg dumbbells and stand with one foot forward and one foot back. Tuck in your elbows and hold dumbbells to your chin (like you’re about to start boxing). Punch the weights out at your shoulder height rotating your arm so your knuckles face the ceiling when you do. Bring the hands back to the shoulders. Make the punches quick and breathe out on the punches!

Start with X2 punches, then X4, X6, X8, X10, X8, X6, X4, X2.  = 1 pyramid.

Complete X3 pyramids!

5.     Sit Ups – X20

Full sit ups can be difficult if you have just started out so you may need to tuck your feet under something or ask someone to hold them for you!

Lay on your mat with your knees bent and your arms outstretched in front of you.

Breathe in and as you breathe out, pull your torso up until your wrists go up and over your knees.  Lower your body back down vertebra by vertebra until your shoulders touch the floor.

6.     Lateral (Delt) raises – X20 reps

Standing up hold your 3kg dumbbells or heavier and bend your elbows into a 90 degree angle, bringing the weight up to chest height. From this position, leading with your elbow, elevate the weights out to the side of the body. Raising them to shoulder height but maintaining the 90 degree angle.

Lower back to the sides of the body.

Keep abdominals tight through out and do not lean back.

Time yourself on one circuit and then complete it again X3 times!!!

I would like to see times from those that complete the whole X3 sets please!

Good luck!!!

Working as a personal trainer for the last 8 years or so one of the most common questions I am asked by my female clients is ‘What is the quickest way to tone up and lose fat - fast‘

I know what it takes for women to achieve a lean, toned look. I also know how to get these results in the quickest, safest time possible and the most effective way for women to achieve this is through a personalised balanced nutritional plan, along with lifting weights and full body exercises.

The response I get is usually very similar to, ‘I am not lifting weights because I don’t want to get big’.

What you see in the magazines where there is a women that is bigger then me and has more muscle then hulk are because they are on some serious about of testosterone and hormone growth injections and god knows what else.

It is not possible for you to achieve that look with naturally lifting weights and having a balanced nutrition plan.

These are the pictures that tend to put a lot of women off lifting heavy weights. It pains me to see women in gyms on the machines lifting the first or second plate or 2kg dumbbells for fear of ‘bulking up’. Yet in essence all they are doing is restricting their results gained in the gym.

Another is for women to spend hour+ on cardiovascular machines in the hope of burning tons of calories and toning up fast, when the facts are; You will not tone up from the cardiovascular machines because you are not conditioning and building the muscle shape.

The only time you should be doing serious distance or time on a cardio mechanic is when training for a sports event that requires that amount of endurance like a marathon.

The final dilemma is seeing women do 100’s of crunches on Ab Rollers etc in the hope of achieving the flat stomach; the sad thing is it is not their fault.

In magazine you only see pictures of celebrities showing of their figures. Concerts are like circus acts now. These women could not physically perform the routines without spending time in the gyms conditioning and building muscle strength.

They will be performing exercises that involve their whole body working as a functional unit, pushing/pulling the weight. With the exercises used they will be burning a far greater amount of calories than in a ‘comfortable’ jog.

One of the biggest calorie burners in the gym is spinning; the reason for this is how the workouts are planned and are based around interval training, hill climbing and recovery.

By lifting weights using the same principles of sprints or short bursts of work, resistance (Hills) and recover you will burn an even greater amount than from spinning.


So What Are The Benefits To Women Lifting Weights?

1. INCREASED METABOLISM – faster fat loss
2. INCREASED MUSCLE TONE – You will develop toned, balanced physique
3. FLATTER STOMACH – pushing weights forces you core to work as a unit developing your abdominal muscles
4. INCREASED MUSCLE FUNCTION – Less susceptible to injuries and you will gain greater flexibility and movement
5. MORE ENERGY – increased fitness and recovery levels
6. GREATER BODY SHAPE –Weight tone the muscles giving you the ’sexy’ sleek look
7. IMPROVED CORE STRENGTH – Your abdominals work against a resistance stabilising your body developing your core

There are tons of other health benefits to lifting weights such as, decreasing your risk of heart disease and osteoporosis and back pain.

However when it comes to EFFECTIVE fat loss and tone and conditioning, weight training is PARAMOUNT to your success.

This doesn’t mean that you are expected to walk in to your local gym and hit the free weight area bench pressing 100 kilo’s…… this is not the case. Exercises like swings, windmill’s with kettlebells or squat and presses, deadlifts, walking lunge and press…….. with dumbbells or barbells are full body movements. The calorie expenditure from these forms of exercise is far higher and superior than any other form of traditional exercise.

Add this form of training to a well balanced nutritional plan (please do not skip carbohydrates!) then you are well on your way to achieving that lean, toned look that you set out for.

Below is a sample workout that I use with my female clients when they are trying to strip body fat and tone up in the quickest time possible. You will see when completing the workout that ALL major muscle groups in the body are covered and along with the muscles working you will also feel how aerobic the workouts are too.

You want to use a weight that will allow you to complete 12 repetitions. I would recommend between 6 kg – 8 kg but if you are stronger then please feel free to lift more.


How the workout works:

Using the exercises below you will complete each exercise for 10 repetitions, then moving back to the start you will go through the same circuit for 9 repetitions then 8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1.

If you wanted to time yourself for the workout then please do. This is a good way to see your fitness levels increasing as you will be able to complete the workout faster. PLEASE do not substitute a good time for poor form. If you feel tired, dizzy, sick or can feel you are not completing the exercise right take a breather and either stop or carry on when fully recovered.

Alternating Lunge and Press

Bent-Over Dumbbell Row

Press ups

Kettlebell or Dumbbell Swings

Squat Thrusts

You will be surprised by how quickly your body changes shape towards your goal when choosing lifting weights. For the next 6 weeks just try implementing a few full body exercises into your routine using barbells, kettlebells or dumbbells and enjoy the reward.

Good luck and please feel free to post comments or questions you have relating to the article or your fitness plan.

For more information or to book Taykin as your personal trainer please contact:

Tel. 07815755963
Email. Taykinpt1@hotmail.com
Web. t-attackfitness.co.uk

The latest Health Survey for England (HSE) data shows that in 2008, 61.4% of adults (aged 16 or over), and 27.3% of children (aged 2-10) in England were overweight or obese, of these, 24.5% of adults and 13.9% of children were obese.

The Foresight report, Tackling Obesities: Future Choices project, published in October 2007, predicted that if no action was taken, 60% of men, 50% of women and 25% of children would be obese by 2050.

WOW

I have taken this fact from dh.gov website. Now what’s so shocking in this little bit of information is the obesity in children, I remember being a child I was always playing football and running around all day everyday, come 20 years on and kids these days are sitting at home playing computer games or watching TV!

Ok I understand that the streets are more dangerous and that technology has taken over nearly everything we do.

So how can we help our kids?

(Before I go on I would like to state that as I have no kids I find this a very touchy subject to discuss about as I am in no position to judge how you should bring up your kids.)

I remember as a kid my mum use to say to me if you behave we will go McDonalds, back then I was thinking this is fantastic but in the long run what it taught me was let me treat myself to a McDonalds or a choc bar because I have deserved it. Psychologically a treat was some kind of junk.

Now if mum taught me that fruit was my treat I would not know any different as its what gets drummed in to us from a young age. Same principle with water we never got given water when I was a child it was always coke or some juice. I was very lucky that I was playing sports in school and doing martial arts since the age of 8.

So what can we do as parents to help our kids? We can try and educate them about food and exercise. Like explaining to them what junk food does to our bodies, how sports can help us maintain a healthy body.

We can take our kids shopping by foot rather then taking the car, making the kids carry the shopping

We can get involved in doing sports with them.

I believe that as parents we have a responsibility on educating our kids and we have the authority to say no your coming out with me in to the garden and helping out, Your coming with me to the market rather then letting them sit at home.

Kids eat what we give them so we can make every meal they have, have some vegetables or salad. Make sure they drink 2 glasses of water with there meals rather then a glass of coke.

Give them fruit for dessert, make a fruit salad with a bit of yogurt add a touch of honey and a few seeds and you have a very tasty dessert.

If you have a dog go out for a walk and take your child with you.

Make them hold the dog, run with the dog.

Staying healthy can be very fun.

Go swimming with them. They don’t have to know its sports your doing with them. They will grow up think I remember going for a walk with my parents and we use to have races and climb trees and have a laugh.

Set your kids up for success; don’t let them be apart of the obesity facts.

Once again I am not in a position to say how to bring up your child but this is my outlook on how we can help our kids fight obesity.

Please feel free to message me on any of my newsletters.

Stay strong,

T.
For more information or to book Taykin as your personal trainer please contact:

Tel. 07815755963
Email. Taykinpt1@hotmail.com
Web. t-attackfitness.co.uk

Who ever has put diesel in a petrol car has very quickly realised what they have done. With in minuets of driving out of the petrol station the car starts to misfire and it just breaks down and before you know it, you are going to pay an arm and a leg to get it fix.

NOW lets look at that as the human body! What happens when we eat and drink processed food/alcohol/junk food/sweets/chocolate etc. Its exactly the same as putting diesel in a petrol car, we start to breakdown we might as well just drink the diesel.

Lets break it down and there’s only one way to say this DIESEL= DISEASES AND ILLNESS.

A poor diet in nutrients provides little protection against viruses, such as the common cold and flu.

To sustain a healthy immune system to help fight back diseases and illnesses we need to eat and drink the correct way for our body we need to feed the body with what its meant to be fed with, processed and man made foods which contain chemicals in them and words that we cant pronounce and the amount of E’s and colourings they add for flavor

It’s Simple;

If it doesn’t grow from the grown DON’T EAT IT

If it doesn’t grow from a tree DON’T EAT IT

If it doesn’t swim DON’T EAT IT

If it doesn’t fly DON’T EAT IT

If it doesn’t walk DON’T EAT IT

Also guys if you can do stick to this then you will have greater success with your ELIMINATION DIET too

Summary;

Putting diesel in to a petrol car we know the consequence of it but if we continue eating processed food there is no way of knowing how extreme the consequences are, could be from a cold/flu or maybe a heart disease to cancer.

It’s a risk I am not willing to take ARE YOU?

For more information or to book Taykin as your personal trainer please contact:

Tel. 07815755963
Email. Taykinpt1@hotmail.com
Web. t-attackfitness.co.uk

Article by Taykin Mehmet.

A cold beer? A slushy margarita? A glass of red wine? At a party, a happy hour or a night by the fireplace, a drink is such a natural accompaniment that sometimes we forget about the calories we’re consuming.

BIG MISTAKE: Calories from alcohol add up quickly.

“The reason you gain weight from alcohol is that you don’t compensate by eating less later. You still eat the same amount, regardless of whether you had the drink.”

There are calories in everything we have

This is how it is broken down…

1 gram of PROTIEN = 4 calories

1 gram of  CARBS = 4 calories

1 gram of ALCOHOL = 7 calories

1 gram of FAT = 9 calories

What is suprising about these facts is the amount of calories per gram in alcohol!!!!

Ok it may not sound a lot for 1 gram but if you had 1 pint of beer which is round about 100- 240 calories (depending on what you have) is a lot of empty calories.

SO if you was to drink 3 times a week having 2-3 drinks each time then you can easily but away 300-700cals on one night, by the end of the week you may be about a days worth of calories up!! NOW THAT’S A LOT.

Now the scary thing is that this is just based on alcohol and nothing else, now think of all the rest of the food we eat, can you imagine how many calories we can be a up by in a week! or at a bigger picture per month/year???

Guinness =210cals

White wine = 160cals

Red wine = 170cals

For more information or to book Taykin as your personal trainer please contact:

Tel. 07815755963
Email. Taykinpt1@hotmail.com
Web. t-attackfitness.co.uk

Hi everyone,

Firstly let me introduce myself.

My name is Lauren Whitby, and I’m a personal trainer and fitness coach with my own fitness company – BodyFit Training Solutions.

I have been running my own company since the beginning of the year after moving back to London after 4 years living in Dubai.

I was a military bootcamp fitness instructor and personal trainer, holding bootcamp & boxing training sessions on the beaches day in day out as well as working across Dubai as a travelling personal trainer.

I’ve trained many different types of people from pre and post natal ladies, to overweight people, to athletic people, and a mixture of both male and female.

All for different fitness goals – “I want Michelle Obama’s arms”, “I Want to learn boxing skills”, “I want my husband to fancy me again!”, “I want to run a half marathon”… “I want to look toned on my wedding day.” “I want my beer gut to go”…. to name a few!

I’ve written fitness articles for various publications in Dubai and love giving people new and interesting ways to work out.

Fitness is a lifestyle and I like trying to get people to enjoy fitness without it feeling like a chore.

So I hope you enjoy all my fitness tips and advice every week.

Lauren x