The Magic Of Christmas

FESTIVE CHEER

Christmas is a time full of fun and merriment and with such an opportunity to lounge around eating rich food, it can be also a time of over indulgence.

So it pays to move around a bit at Christmas time so we don't feel bloated and sluggish. Get off the couch and take a short walk, even if it's just to the local park. It'll mean there's more energy to enjoy the evening's entertainments all the more and stuff our faces with more festive treats!

Nature is Tough

TOILING IN THE GARDEN

Pottering in the garden is something I would usually associate with a pastime that older people do, or at least those who like to take on milder forms of physical exercise doing their hobbies.

However, when a garden has gone wild, clearing the bramble, creepers and overgrown privets, takes a lot of physically hard work - as I've found out today.

About 15 years ago, when I'd reached a peak of irritation with my job at that time, I decided to take a summer off and do something outdoors that offered a more physical and less mentally taxing role. It turned out that gardening was the best option for me, where someone with no training could carry out the tasks required to make a garden look nice. Through my contacts at the time, it turned out to be relatively easy to find work in and around some of the communal squares and green spaces of west London.

It was a particularly warm and sunny summer that year. And the work, a little back-breaking at times, was actually very rewarding. To be fair, a lot of the work merely involved planting some bulbs or flowers, turning the soil over, mowing the odd lawn or trimming an already well managed hedge. It was easy to maintain these private gardens without much extra effort. I'm now carrying out the same kind of work this summer, and although I haven't really had the sun as often as I'd liked, it's still rewarding. The south Londoners don't seem to keep their gardens quite so quaffed as their west London neighbours, so it's a lot more effort to get these gardens looking good. Hence today's struggle with an out of control rose bush and manic creepers.

I managed to get the rose bush down and I thought I may have killed it by pruning it back so much.....apparently not! They are particularly hardy bushes and the fact I've taken it back by over half was actually the right thing to do. The hardest thing has been breaking some of the half inch thick stems down to get them in the gardening bags before the downpour. All in all though, it was a tough but rewarding job and I'm sure with better management, the bush will be in much better shape come the spring next year.

As to me being in better shape tomorrow for more of the same gardening tasks, not so sure I can take many more lashes from the monster thorns, but it's still great knowing I have another string to the bow. My next week of work is already shaping up nicely with 5 different kinds of jobs lined up. 

Musical Motivation

DON'T STOP BELIEVING

Music is the perfect mood enhancer. Having some uplifting tunes ready at hand is the easiest way to lift a spirit! It's amazing how we can turn a grumpy, negative person into one that's carefree and fun to be with.

Create some playlists of your own, or try some new ones on YouTube, Rdio, Spotify or iTunes. We now have a couple of tunes playing that we do our 3 minute planks to help us get through the challenge in the mornings. Every time I hear the intro for Survivor's Eye of the Tiger, it makes me feel happy and ready to tackle these once-dreaded planks and can lift my spirits for any given challenge. Journey's Don't Stop Believing caries us through to the end of the session and gets us ready for the rest of the day and whatever it may bring!

Fresh Challenges

EVOLUTIONARY CHALLENGES

Whenever we set ourselves a fitness and performance challenge, we need to factor in a time scale to work within. If the challenge has no indicated limit, how can we measure our progress over that time frame properly? And how can we gauge the intensity of the challenge against our progress to set up the next challenge?

We evolve over time. Our bodies adapt and grow stronger with a focussed training schedule. It takes a maximum 4-5 weeks to adjust to a training schedule. By the fourth week, the progress & results over a month will give us a much clearer understanding of what our bodies are capable of and help us set up a new higher level for the challenges to come.

To see this phenomenon in operation, try the 100 press-ups in 6 weeks challenge.

Alcohol And Fitness

ALCOHOL AND WEIGHT GAIN

Alcohol consumption features prominently in the diet within western cultures. Taken at meal times or on it's own in social environments, it regularly forms a percentage of our daily calorie intake. The high calorie content of alcoholic beverages can add up - pushing our daily intake over the recommended daily amount which can contribute to weight gain.

It's a common misconception that drinking alcohol makes us fat. It certainly has contributing factors, but consuming alcohol on it's own, doesn't directly make us fatter. However, according to studies made on the effects from consuming alcohol, Dr Di Pasquale shows us that alcohol does affect our metabolism in ways that can contribute to changes in weight and body fat.

Learning how we process alcohol will help us to understand how these metabolism changes affect us and making a few adjustments to our diet etc. will mean we'll still have fun without experiencing the negative side effects. There's a lot of useful info out there on the internet. I've highlighted a few points from my learnings and included links below with some simple to follow tips at the end...

Rocket Fuel
Alcohol contains sugars that are broken down into acetate that are used for fuel in the body. Alcohol has the second highest energy per gram content (7kcal per gram - second only to pure fat at 9kcal per gram). It's quick for our body to use and this type of fast-access fuel that gets used up first. This is because the energy sources are quickly absorbed but as the body cannot store the energy that we take in from alcoholic drinks, it will exhaust the alcohol energy sources first before taking in fuel from other foods, including quality nutrient-rich sources.

"The bottom line is, the idea that alcohol just automatically turns into fat or gives you a beer belly is mistaken. It’s true that alcohol suppresses fat oxidation, but mainly, alcohol adds calories into your diet, messes with your hormones and can stimulate appetite, leading to even more calories consumed. That’s where the fat gain comes from."

Socialising Versus Fitness
Socialising and drinking is fun. It's boring having to nag and berate ourselves to stick within limits on the drinking but there has to be a clear objective when training for a particular goal. If the goal is to train the body and be trim for the summer, to fit in a wedding dress or if it's just to keep a basic level of maintenance, it's essential that all the hard work in the gym isn't in vein. So, maybe we just need to implement a few basic adjustments to our socialising and drinking habits to help avoid putting extra weight on.

– Eat Well: Simple one this - but how many times have we gone for drinks without eating first - only to grab a dirty burger or some greasy fast food as an after thought? Aim to eat a protein-rich, good fats, fresh veg and healthy fibre laden meal before going out. Something that isn't going to slow us down but will digest slowly, keeping blood sugar levels in check. We should avoid the temptation for eating greasy foods the following day too and opt for a healthy and nutritious breakfast instead.

– Hydrate: Drinking some water between every other alcoholic drink will slow down alcohol intoxication and will help flush the alcohol out at the end of the night, plus it might not leave us with a hangover in the morning.

– Choose Wisely: Some drinks are higher in calories than others. Mixers are a rich source of processed sugars and cocktails can contain up to twice as many calories as a light beer or wine spritzer.

– Move Around: Dancing after a few drinks will certainly help burn off the excess sugars but if we're not planning on strutting our stuff, it pays to be standing and animated rather than sedentary. Even, fitting in a brisk walk on route to the cab office/public transport etc. before returning home will speed the metabolism up enough to burn off some of the alcohol. And if it's possible to resist the temptation to lay around on the mornings after and take in some exercise instead to burn off excess sugars, there's a better chance of missing out on the hangover too.

At the end of the day - we all have to decide what we want from our dieting, exercising and socialising and find a balance. There's no point avoiding friends and fun for the sake of vanity - and likewise, we can't be beating ourselves up about over-indulging from time to time if it defeats the object of cutting loose & having a fun in the first place. It just helps us to have a better understanding of what it means to consume many extra calories in alcohol and fatty foods.

Sticking to the programme

FOLLOWING SOME SIMPLE RULES

Make some positive changes by implementing some simple rules. Write down the plans, then set a time frame to work within. Don't be too hard on yourself - you want to be able to stick to these rules for the duration. Set out your goals and make a schedule. If the time frame is too short, the task won't feel enough of a challenge and if the timeframe too long, the discipline required won't be enough to get you through. The idea is to set yourself up with new and positive lifestyle changes. by removing old habits and forming new ones.

We're currently in week three of a six week training schedule that will help get the body back in shape for the summer and in good physical condition to best enjoy all the fun times that lie ahead. The early starts and hard work - an hour of intense exercise - have stopped the late nights and curbed the drinking levels. Initially, it was hard getting up so early but now, there's no chance of me missing a class as the lifestyle has been adjusted to fit around the exercise routine.

I've just written a blog/page on making plans called Taking Stock which outlines a few changes I've made to help me stay motivated and on track. And I'm using this blog to implement/track any positive changes I'm making by writing it all down. The action of writing intentions and results down really does help cement the changes we want to make and keep us focussed on making them. Then we can re-visit these pages in the future and see how we've got on.

Weekend Get Aways

THE PEAK DISTRICT

Being in a major city like London, you have so much entertainment right on the doorstep. Theatre, film, culture and of course great pubs, restaurants and bars to meet with friends and have some fun. However, we have other great places of natural beauty also just on our doorstep. The Peak District can be reached by rail or car and is just a short 3hr journey away. There's great things to do like horse riding, hiking, cycling and nature watching.

The area also has some great pubs with local beers and hearty meals - and what better way to enjoy a pint after a full day's excursion walking or cycling the famous trails around the area than stopping at The Lady Bower Inn which is where we are today after completing a 28mile Ladybower loop on our mountain bikes.

The extra reward at the end of the trail was seeing the sun setting over Derwent Dam, which had a kind of other-worldly glow and gave the illusion of a floating reservoir of water and submersed castle at it's edge. After a heavy 4 hour exertion cycling up and down steep and rocky hills, the pint in the sun at the end was all the more sweeter and my 'fix' for taking on an adventure like this - new places and sites to explore, gave me a satisfaction that a workout in the gym can never compete with and a reminder to get away more at the weekends.

The Pledge Commitment

JOINING THE BOXING CLUB

Boxing training is fun and the best way to get in shape. If you're based in London, UK and would like to take on a 6 week challenge to improve physique ready for Summer. Contact me: fitclubbox@gmail.com

Check out Floyd's website - read the testimonials and see what great results can be achieved through taking up boxing.

Practicing Daily Rituals

MORNING RITUALS SET UP YOUR DAY

If you start the day on the right track - the rest of your day has a better chance of success. Try forming morning habits and rituals that you can stick to and they will help with forming other positive habits. I watched a few video clips on martial arts yesterday and became really interested in learning more about harnessing life energy (Chi or Qi). I'm now doing this 10 minute QiGong morning practice (below) every morning. I'll be checking my local yoga centre for when the Qigong sessions are on - looking at doing a couple of classes to complement the yoga as it really seems to help get the body energised.

Qigong Master
If you want to see what powers harnessing Qi energy can give us, do a few internet searches. I watched this video clip on Qi the other day and now have the 4-part series called: The Ring of Fire in my list of things to watch. One of the series talks about this martial arts master John Chang (video below) who uses Qi to heal people - amazing footage....

Fighting Fit

THE PLEDGE

6 weeks to get back on track with fitness and physique. Floyd, our boxing trainer from Flobox Boxing, is going to be taking us through our places over the next 6 weeks - starting after Easter holidays. I knocked up some posters and going to use the diet, PT training course and my other learnings over the last few months, to get the results I'm after and send out some weekly newsletters to help inspire other in the group too. I'll be setting up a PLEDGE page very soon...

Good Practice

REPITITION

Practice makes perfect so the saying goes. So it figures, that in order to get good at something, we need to repeat the process over and over until we know it off by heart. Intuitively. Practice needs focus to make perfection and this is where the repetition over time will get us desired results. 

In Pursuit Of Perfection

Japanese sushi master Jiro Ono - knew about the quest for perfection in making the best sushi. This film shows how even washing rice can take many years to get right. Another of James clear 's blogs also teaches us about self mastery and how focussed attention is what is required.

Boredom

The difference between a good athlete and a gold medal winning one is down to focussed practice plus an iron resolve to continue those hours of repetition - pushing through when most of us have become bored with the task in hand. I thought about this with my last swim - 60 lengths at pace is not easy to do day after day and unlike, say, running through the park, the repetition of ploughing up and down the same lane of the pool, with just the tiles at the bottom to look at, can be boring. However, it's in this time that I became really switched on. True focus can be found in the pool. Free from distractions, each stroke, each kick and each breath becomes a focus for repeated practice. Checking the reach, pull and exit of every stroke - assessing the body position in the water and timing the kicks became so laser-focussed that I barely noticed counting the laps. The swim, at only 30 minutes long, was completed without being bored at all - in fact, I look forward to the next session already. 

Taking It Personal

PERSONAL TRAINING

Employing the services of a qualified Personal Trainer to help you achieve your goals, is the best way to get results you're after. Even with our best intentions and at our strongest willed, most of us just don't have the dedication to motivate ourselves to go through a gruelling and uncomfortable hour at the gym. We still have to step into the gym and put the effort in, but without the focussed training, we're going nowhere fast and that's why paying for the pro is so worth it. 

Hence, I've been having personal training since the beginning of the year with Zac - a super-fit PT who is himself training with Olympic Decathalon Gold Medalist - Daley Thompson. What I've got here, is someone who is dedicated to the pursuit of bettering himself and he's using this knowledge/wisdom to help better me.

What I've learned from doing sports and sports training over the last 20 years, are pretty basic assumptions. Get your heart rate up, sweat loads and if your muscles ache the next day, you're working out enough. Not a very focussed or measured approach. This is obviously not a good way to train and it's no surprise that I've got injuries and poor results. 

Getting In The Know

There are various ways to burn calories, keep a general level of joint mobility, improve heart & lung performance and maintain healthy cholesterol levels. If you jog for 30 minutes at an easy level or as I see many people doing, sit reading the paper whilst leisurely pedalling on a gym bike, you'll burn calories eventually but it's a going to be of a waste of gym time if you want killer abs. Understanding anatomy, metabolism, nutrition and the best ways to train are gonna help give you the tools for maximising the gym & training time. So, I've now signed up to be a Personal Trainer and this new found knowledge should help get the results even quicker. 

Take The Plunge

MILES AWAY

Swimming up and down in a pool can be very therapeutic. Counting off the lengths towards the goal of 1 mile today, I switched from focussed practice of my stroke to what I need to achieve in the coming weeks. 

To get an increased workout in my arms, I tried these aqua gloves - which were actually quite hard going and surprisingly, didn't add anything to my speed in the water. 

The resistance made each stroke a lot more powerful and where they took water in, were heavier through the top of the stroke. The best thing about them, is that they give an extra stretch on the backs of your arms, from the longest reach of the stroke all the way through to where your hand exits the water at the end of the stroke. Which was great to free up my muscles after training hard on the rower machine yesterday

Swimming is a great form of low-impact exercise. It's easy on your joints and great if recovering from injuries plus offers a multitude of other benefits including giving you a kinda zen feeling as you glide through the water, that could be of course, unless you catch the school lessons like I did!

Detox Exposed

EXERCISE & DIET

So, the truth is out! Interesting research taken recently says that detox diets and all their supplements are bogus. We're being conned with marketing tricks to get us buying products that do nothing to cleanse the body and purge it of 'toxins'. This is because the body is actually very capable of repairing itself and is well equipped for removing any potentially harmful toxins.

This fact will not only upset my partner, who loves blowing her earnings on an assortment of 'snake oil' from our local health food shop, but will cheer up all those other people who are needlessly throwing away hard-earned money on these so-called 'fixes'.

There's so much noise out there with regard to what's good for you. It seems every week there's some new report to say something we've been taking as a health booster - is actually doing the opposite. Take red wine for instance - one minute it's a health benefit and the next it's not. It's pretty much a given that fresh and unprocessed foods are going to give us a better chance of staying healthy. So we should still focus on eating the foods that are already known to provide the nutrients for better health benefits.

Essentially, though, food is just one factor. Good health is maintained by having an all-round healthy lifestyle. Getting quality sleep, avoiding stressful situations whilst being mindful of eating well-balanced meals and taking time for regular exercise, are the key factors.

Paleo Diet Working
I said in previous blogs that I'd feedback on the progress. Well, here it is:
Since I've started the Paleo diet just two weeks ago, progress is now easy to see just by looking in the mirror. There's very little body fat showing around my middle any more, and the definition is coming though on my chest, shoulders and arms. My legs have slimmed down too. My jeans are feeling baggy around the knees, thighs and backside. I seem to have shed an 'undercoat' of excess bulk. I'm sleeping well, light on my feet, energised and clear-headed. I weighed myself today after boxing and I'm back up to a healthier 12st 8lb (down from a heavy original 13st 8lb). That's pretty much my fighting weight. So, a few more weeks of PT, boxing, yoga and a continued focus on my daily quality protein intake, should mean I'll hit the 12st 10lb weight but with stronger muscles and a more defined shape.

This update above, goes to show how well a focused diet, coupled with regular exercise, can bring such positive results in a very short time frame. Whatever our goals, to stay healthy, we don't need 'detox' supplements. We certainly need to look after ourselves more. But simply monitoring our diet and making time for regular exercise, will be just we need to stay healthy.

Leaner, Stronger, Faster

HAPPY FOOD

So, it's nearly two weeks since I stopped drinking and I'm really starting to notice the difference in my energy levels and general positivity. The guy's who I regularly see at the reception to my office - one of the security team, asked what I've been doing, as I seemed different in some way - more vibrant and extra friendly (jeez, I must have been such a moody b*stard before!). I explained my diet and the early starts and he said he'd like to lose a bit of weight and was on a diet too - It is Jan after all...Thing is, I reckon his diet is wrong for him as it's essentially giving him a lot less food than a man of his size needs and especially as he stands outside in all weathers, he'll be feeling it in the cold at this time of year. I've passed on the Paleo info - and I'm going to send him a link to the blog today. I've also spread the word to my partner and a good friend to see if we can get our beach bodies back in a month!

I've been reading the Paleo book by Robb Fox and starting to get a better understanding of how our digestive system works to break down the food we eat and how we use it as fuel. This is why I can see the Paleo diet really works. I ate well yesterday, cutting out the carbs as much as possible and taking on my daily amount of protein. This seemed to give me enough energy to take two intense yoga classes. The first was a dynamic yoga class with Geraldine of The Radiant Hand - these are excellent teachers who really teach yoga through discipline - giving clear direction, watching, walking the room and correcting poses. I'm starting to get a real flow now, my flexibility is really coming on and I believe I actually got an 'excellent' yesterday, my first - and coming from this teacher, it has spurned me on even more! The second class was at Fierce Grace in the City. I tried Bikram yoga before and liked the intensity of the stretching in the hot environment - and Fierce Grace is a newer cooler version of Bikram - with music. The class I took was 1.5 hours long and equally as much of an endurance test in the 40+ heat!

We had food after - tricky eating out on a Paleo diet but Busaba Eatai have some grill options and I went for the cod stir fry with broccoli, garlic and shitaki mushrooms instead of rice. I had to take my lemongrass tea without honey in it but it was still sweet anyway. I confess, I ate the cashew cookies (it's my weakness). The greatest thing about the meal was the bill, as it is 50% for the whole of Jan - and you can go as many times as you want!

Restocking the cupboard
Day 3 on the Paleo diet - and it's time to get the right foods in. So, we've been down the supermarket at 7am buying meat and fish amongst other things...

Funny how giving up drinking gives you more time - but it can leave a bit of a void for what to spend your money on...I'm really trying to save money, but so used to getting the wallet out - so the motivation for going down to Aldi at 7am this morning as it opened, was to make the most of picking up this week's offers! Aldi now has an organic range and it's a good place for getting packaged meats like ham, turkey and chicken and great value for buying bags of nuts and fresh veg, fruit etc. We also need to stock up on quality fish & meat - we have Waitrose and Sainsbury's very near - but there's a great butchers called Chadwicks also nearby (who also do delivery) that's going to have the best grass fed beef and free range stuff in the store - plus we have a locally sourced fish mongers that comes to our farmers market every saturday which I'll be buying from. My parents befriended our local butcher to ensure always getting the choicest cuts...and we ate really well as a kid. It's going to be more expensive as a rule, but if there's a proper fish mongers or butchers nearby - it makes sense to make the most of it.

Improving digestion
The daily dose of Aloe Vera is really helping keep away any stomach issues and sticking to less acidic and non spicy foods is helping too. I've also been taking a supplement called Argi+ with anti-oxidants and vitamins - including L-arginine which is claiming to aid faster recovery after training. I've noticed that when taking before and after climbing or mountain biking, I've had less aching muscles the following day. I'll have to continue taking it to measure longer term benefits.

I'm not drinking tea or coffee during the day - but having an espresso in the mornings after eating. I've taken to regularly drinking freshly squeezed lemon in hot water (no honey or sugar added now though) and having a shot of Milk Thistle first thing in the morning - allegedly good for liver function.

Fit and Flexible 
First proper week back on the exercise routine. Here's how it's been in the week so far...

Tuesday was the first day back on the early boxing routine - really enjoyed pushing myself physically and mentally, it really helps to clear any angst or frustrations. I noticed a change in the core strength immediately after doing 100 situps at the end of the session. If you're in the London area and a member of Fitness First - we're having the sessions every Tuesday morning at 7.15-8am. If you'd like to know more and to join, email me at fitclubbox@gmail.com

Wednesday was a double helping of dynamic and hot yoga. I'm really starting to notice the difference in my flexibility and posture and my lower back aches and stiffness seem to have subsided considerably. I've got a great iPhone/iPad app for the days when you just want a quick 20 minute session at home or are on holiday - it's called Yoga Studio - available on the app store.

Thursday is my personal training day. So I'm going to really push myself and with all the good food I've been eating, should be on top of my game today. The guys at Ultimate City Fitness really know their stuff! Sign-up to get their daily newsletter giving advice on personal training, nutrition and achieving a leaner, stronger and fitter you. I'll be posting my routines up on a separate training page at some point in the near future.

Touch and Go
I realise I'm spending considerably more time on the keyboard typing these days. I should know where the keys are after 20 years using a computer but I just do two-finger typing. So I've decided to teach myself to touch type. I've been using this great free typing tool called Typing Club and after doing 20-30 minutes a day for 5 days - I'm up to about 20 words a minute! There's still a lot a of work to do before I'm speedy enough to be using this method full time - but it's a start.

A final note on speed
Saving seconds from my day to do the important things by being efficient, are part of my research on how to do things better. I wrote in a previous post about using a long-life, aluminium free deodorant and said I'd come back to it soon. So, I applied a very liberal amount of cream on Monday morning. I've washed 1-3 times every day with soap and water, but haven't had to re-apply any deodorant in 4 days. That's pretty good considering all the sweating I do. So this product is £8 but it's meant to last for over a month. That means I don't have to carry deodorants around with me in my gym bag, saves me time and could save money in the long run - plus it has to be better for me not using aluminium products. This will be great for festivals me thinks...

It's not that I ever get a chance to smell, because I wash a lot - 1-3 times a day typically. I'm usually having a shower after cycling in to work in the morning, one at lunch time if I'm hitting the gym and one in the evening after cycling home. Do I need to wash so much - probably not? I'm also getting through a lot of shower gel - so I only use soap now. I've got a small bar of aloe soap (which you can get from Holland & Barratt) and a Speedo sports towel - which is small, light, faster and more efficient for drying yourself off with - it can also be used as a flannel if, like me, you don't want to wash yourself away with constant showers. It's easy to carry around and you don't have to wait for it to dry like a conventional towel - just wring it out!

Having The Right Kit

SELF DISCIPLINE RULES

If you are lacking in self discipline, maybe you need a computer telling you what you already know. You're not exercising enough. You're eating too much. You're eating the wrong food. Wearable tech. It's all the rage these days! I'm a big fan of the old fashioned methods myself. So unless you can afford a wearable device - and this site has a whole list of them, try using some of these lo-tech methods I use every day.

Don't just count your steps....make your steps count:
It's been shown in studies (watch this program if you can get it), that a smaller amount of high intensity exercise, can shock your body into action and increase your metabolic rate, burn fat and improve your cardio/Vascular fitness levels. It's called High Intensity Training or HIT. I don't record my steps. I know when I've been sedentary and when I'm walking. This smart TV show from the BBC informs us that even by speeding up your walking pace a bit (speeding your heart rate), you can lower cholesterol and burn more calories. So make the steps you take really count! It's really simple...just walk.

– Walk fast everywhere you go
– Don't take the lift and walk up/down the stairs
– Never stand on the escalator
– If you want to really make steps count - do them 2 at a time
– To improve core strength, don't hold the rail (have your hand hovering above the rail ready in case it's needed) and try to keep your upper body engaged through your core as you steadily climb 2 steps at a time
– For even greater cardio fitness - do as I do and run the escalator two steps at a time!

Remember to breathe deeply, so you're not gasping for breath at the top and be extra careful not to trip, and take care to be aware of what's going on around you - especially when quickly crossing the road. I've gone even further with this attack on stairs and told myself that I'll take two steps at a time for as long as I can into old age for a measure of my physical strengths!

Counting Your Calories
I find a really great way to keep an eye on what we eat, is to take pictures of every meal. When I started off doing this, I quickly realised how big my portions were. I also noticed that I was finishing every meal, no matter if I was hungry or not. I've come from working class roots and this must have been instilled in me by my parents and grand parents from an early age. No waste. Not leaving the table until the plate was clean and praise for completing over my brother who was a bit of a fussy eater!

So, now I make smaller portions. In fact, I half everything with my partner, who is 8.5-9 stone/120lbs or roughly 55kilos. So mealtimes, I'll still finish my smaller plate of food and because I'm like a dog, be watching as my partner leaves some choice morsels of food on her plate. The rule is that we always start together, and if there's food left when she's finished eating (which is always long after I have finished), I can have it. Chances are, that I'll get those tasty morsels if I time it right - BUT, after a couple of minutes of finishing my food. I'm done. My hunger has past. And even though I have this no wasted policy, it's not my plate. I still feel that deep rooted satisfaction that I've finished my food and if I really am that hungry, I can always go back to the cupboard and get myself a snack.

Smart Snacks
Having snacks is fine - providing they are good snacks but if you eat smart and often, you don't really need to eat much between meals unless you're in a physically demanding job or exerting yourself with a physical activity. I used to tell myself that elevensy's and 3 o'clock snacks were needed every day but realised I'd just formed a habit so I stopped having them. If I felt the urge, I had another glass of water instead. However, there are times when you feel a bit low in energy, so I find that having a handful of nuts on hand normally does the trick, so there's always a selection of nuts in the house and I have some mixed nuts in my bag at work. I like pistachios - it's a smart nut to have around. Because the effort it takes to open them means I get bored before I get full. We always have a bit of cold meat around in the house too. A little bit of turkey or ham & cheese (cheese is my chocolate remember?) on a rice cake will easily satisfy a hunger pang. If you've managed to watch the BBC documentary, you've also learned that eating more proteins like meats, fills you up quicker and for longer. I avoid sugary snacks because I can't stop eating them once I've started as they seem to make me even hungrier. I make a point of not having any sweet snacks in the house but I do like digestive biscuits, so those and cheese are my treats and I'll rarely have them unless I've been exercising. We also have a bit of fresh and dried fruit kept in the house/sports bag but I'll usually only eat when exercising again.

Another snack that I carry in my sports bags are protein bars. I know they're processed foods - but they are good for immediately after or during a bit of intense exercise like mountain biking or climbing or after a tough session at the gym if I'm unable to eat something fresh within 30 minutes of exercise.

Making the right food choices

I'm keeping it fairly simple with food, and I can feel the benefits paying off already. When the spring comes, I'd like to be in a better position to step up the diet, so I've signed up to get a 30 day Paleo challenge sent to my phone every day to see what it's about and I'm reading Rob Wolf's book on Paleo this week too. I'll come back to this tomorrow.

Back to kit....

I'm off to boxing now - but before I go...just to say I'm also trialing a new deodorant, a nifty little bike mud guard, sports training bands and a sports recovery/drink called Argi+.

I'll come back to these products at a later date when I've had some usage to to feed back on the results.