#born2move

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5:20 plank!

My gym is holding a summer challenge and this week we had to do planks. Managed to get up to 5:20 which I never thought I'd be able to do. So pleased!

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Did my first Deadlift today

We have weekly challenges at our gym over summer and this week we have to lift the equivalent of a combine harvester. First time trying deadlifts, did 25 kg and lots of reps. Feeling proud that I'm trying all these new things. It makes it so much more exciting knowing there are new things I can improve on.

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Chicken and Chorizo 

What?

8 x boneless chicken thighs

8 x chunky slices of choritzo

2 x onions, cut into chunks

1 x large sweet potatoes or 8 x new potatoes cut in half

2 x large garlic pieces, peeled a cut in half

2 x red peppers

Salt and pepper

Extra virgin olive oil

How?

Place all ingredients onto a baking tray. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil over entire dish and season well. Place in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees celsius until chicken skin is crispy (approximately 80 minutes), yummy! 

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Sweet potato, why make the change?

We now know that eating 'low fat' and 'diet' versions of food isn't going to make us lose weight and drop body fat. People are realising more and more that sugar, and simple carbohydrate in particular, is making the world a fatter place.

Unfortunately for all the jacket potato, chip and mash fans out there potatoes are one example of a complex carbohydrate that acts like a simple one. Now I'm not advocating that potatoes are as bad as eating a round of white bread sandwiches but due to their starchy nature I am afraid to say they still need to be reduced to a minimum or eliminated altogether if you wish to see fantastic fat loss results. 

'So what am I going to eat if I can't eat potatoes!?'

This is a question we get asked regularly by clients and my simple answer is to suggest replacing white potatoes with sweet potatoes. Now this doesn't mean that sweet potatoes should be eaten in excess or that deep frying a sweet potato makes chips healthy; this is just a suggestion of how to make that leap to cutting out the potato and simple carbohydrate.

'Why sweet potato? Surely it has more sugar in it than a normal potato?'

Again a common question asked by clients and one I can understand given the name 'sweet potato.' Unlike when carefully choosing your fruit and veg, the glycemic index is not the only important issue here. However, it should be noted that a sweet potato does have a lower glycemic index than the common potato and as such is a much healthier choice:

Glycemic index of root crops 

Sweet potato, 54

Boiled potato, 56

New potato, 57

Mashed potato, 70

Baked potato, 85

http://www.southbeach-diet-plan.com/glycemicfoodchart.htm

Choosing food that is lower on the GI scale promotes normal blood sugar levels and enables the body to stay in a fat burning mode.

On top of this the reason why the sweet potato is a better choice lies in the way it is broken down in our bodies.

White potatoes behave like simple sugars: they break down quickly into glucose and cause a sharp insulin response. The sharp insulin response is due to the starch, which is made up of long strings of glucose, being rapidly digested.

The sweet potato on the other hand digests slowly, causing a gradual rise in blood sugar. This leaves you feeling satisfied for longer. It will reduce insulin spikes and troughs leading to fewer cravings, a more efficient digestion process and ultimately a healthier, leaner body. 

The final nail in the potato's coffin

Not only does the sweet potato digest slower in the body and rank lower on the glycemic index table, it also has much higher nutritional benefits. 

Nutritionists at the CSPI (Center for Science in the Public Interest) ranked the sweet potato as the number one vegetable for nutrition. Factors considered were: 'the content of dietary fibre, naturally occurring sugars and complex carbohydrates, protein, vitamins A and C, iron and calcium. fat content (especially saturated fat), sodium, cholesterol, added refined sugars and caffeine' The outcome of their study was that the sweet potato recorded a score of 184 with the second placed vegetable scoring just 83.

Sweet potatoes are high in beta-carotene, vitamin A, vitamin B6 and vitamin C; fibre, thiamine, niacin, potassium and copper. They are also a good source of protein, calcium, vitamin E. A sweet potato delivers twice the RDA of vitamin A, 42% of the recommended vitamin C and when eaten with the skin on provides more fibre than oatmeal.    

The high levels of Vitamin A and beta-carotene means sweet potatoes are a fantastic for your skin. 'The substances on many pricey skin-care products like retinol and retinoic acid are actually derived from Vitamin A. Plus beta-carotene combats the free radicals which result skin ageing.'

Put simply, while some nutritional changes are hard, costly or time-consuming, swapping white potato for sweet potato is easy. 

They are readily available from all supermarkets and you can treat a sweet potato just like a regular one; mashed, baked, boiled, wedgies and roasted they taste great! 

By Ali Crawford born2move ltd. 

References.

http://www.naturalnews.com/034135_sweet_potatoes_nutrition.html

http://www.foodreference.com/html/sweet-pot-nutrition.htm

http://www.livestrong.com/article/535879-the-nutrition-for-diabetics-in-a-sweet-potato-vs-a-baked-potato

http://www.janetzappala.com/ask-coach-2/white-vs-sweet-potatoes-the-glycemic-index

http://www.southbeach-diet-plan.com/glycemicfoodchart.htm

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Top 10 Worst Nutrition & Dietary Mistakes People Make

Tom (one of born2move's super duper Trainers) just sent me a great link titled 'Top 10 Worst Nutrition & Dietary Mistakes People Make'. Nora Gedgaudas, the author of this post and someone that born2move have leant a lot from over the years has nailed it. She discusses the top 10 mistakes that people believe to be true that are actually leading to ill health and fat gain. We like this post so much because what she talks about rings so true with peoples misconceptions around health and well-being here at born2move. 

Here are the top 10 mistakes she discusses in here blog, sound familiar?

1. Relying on superficial descriptions such as 'natural' or even 'organic' on labels to determine whether a food is truly healthy.

2. Relying on the media, your doctor or even 'conventional' nutritionists/dieticians to provide accurate nutritional information.

3. Believing that junk food/alcohol 'in moderation' is ok.

4. Following 'government guidelines' or 'The Food Pyramid' for healthy eating.

5. Thinking that being 'slim' means you are healthy - using weight as your litmus of good health.

6. Using vitamins to 'make up for' unhealthy eating habits.

7. Believing that exercise can 'make up for' unhealthy eating habits.

8. The belief that 'genetics is destiny'.

9. The belief that eating healthy means having to give up enjoyment of food, good flavour, fat dietary cholesterol or animal source foods.

10. The belief or assumption that eating a quality diet is too expensive or too difficult or too complicated to maintain. 

To read nora's full blog click this link: Primal Body Primal Mind

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Why is the cleansing so important for long term fat loss?

Even if you eat the highest quality food available, you stick to the born2move nutrition programme rigorously, you train effectively 4-6 times per week, you go to bed and wake up on time, you de-stress every day, you drink your require level of double back filtered watered every day and take all your supplements consistently you still might not be able to lose weight or achieve optimal health. No matter how healthy you are you will still experience internal and external toxin exposure that builds up inside your body preventing fat loss. This build up can occur very quickly in unhealthy individuals but if you're really looking after yourself the build up will take 3-6 months before you need to do something about it i.e., rejuvenate your internal environment.

Your digestive system is one of the most important detoxification pathways and as a result should be a major focus for a complete cleanse. The health of your digestive system is also incredibly important to assimilate foods (send nutrients to the right places) and deal with catabolic effects (accelerated ageing) from exercise.

Your digestive system is arguably the most important system in the body and you have to make sure it is in good working order from day one in order to achieve the best results. No matter who you are born2move recommend you begin any body transformation programme with a total body cleanse last between 1-2 weeks and then repeat this process every 3-6 months thereafter. 

There are a number of cleanse programme that we love but our favourite is the 10 day Healthy Starter Programme+ from Nature's Sunshine. This cleanse is our favourite for many reasons but mostly because it fits alongside normal food, easy to follow, does not require too much preparation and most importantly it works to support every detoxification pathway throughout the entire body. The Healthy Starter Pack+ is a powerful and effective ten day course of five cleansing herbal products which collectively help cleanse the whole body of cellular waste.  Healthy Starter Pack Contains: • Psyllium Hulls • Digestive Health • Liver Health • Cranberry & Buchu Combination • HS II Liquid Chlorophyll is a great tasting ‘minty drink’ which the whole family can  enjoy throughout the day. Chlorophyll is the substance responsible for a plant’s green colour. Among its many benefits, Chlorophyll is a good natural cleanser and it helps eliminate body odour.  Add Liquid Chlorophyll to water for a great tasting drink that has effective cleansing properties, making it a valued addition to your cleanse programme. Probiotic Eleven is a milk-free, potent probiotic supplement, providing important strains of friendly flora which naturally inhabit the intestinal tract. These aid the digestion and absorption of nutrients, and help to maintain a healthy immune function.  Probiotic Eleven provides billions of beneficial intestinal micro-organisms that offer a whole range of health benefits. It contains 6.5 billion friendly micro-organisms, including  lactobacillus acidophilus and bifidobacterium longum. Nature’s Sunshine’s Probiotic capsules are enteric coated which means they release the friendly bacteria in the intestines where it is needed and not in the stomach.

You can purchase the Healthy Starter Programme from born2move or via our online shop. 

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Why is bread and pasta bad?

We are simply not designed to consume the volume of bread and pasta (and any other grain based products for that matter) in the quantities that we are today! 99.99% of a genes were developed before agriculture (agriculture began 10000 years ago). Everything that we eat causes our genes to respond positively (lean, healthy, high energy, positivity, muscular, optimal, longevity etc) or negatively (fat, lazy, depressed, anxious, unhappy, low energy, cellulite, accelerated aging etc). When we eat substances (bread and pasta for example) that are essentially foreign to our genetic make up our body will not achieve the body shape that you have always dreamed of.   

Here are just some problems with bread and in particular gluten (note: gluten free flour based products are a little better but should also be avoided! See FAQ ‘Is healthy bread ok to eat, it’s gluten free and how about other gluten free foods?’): 

Leads to insulin and leptin spikes causing chronic ill health, accelerated aging and FAT GAIN, eek!

Grains lead to deficiencies in minerals including calcium, iron, magnesium and zinc

Grains contain thyroid-inhibiting substances, as well as ‘foreign proteins like gluten and gladin - extremely common source of allergies and sensitivities that can lead to both physical and mental or emotional disorders. 

Gluten can effect all organ systems (including your brain, heart and kidneys), your extended nervous system, your moods, your digestive system, and even your musculoskeletal system - negatively effecting the way your muscles form and how your body is shaped! 

This short list of problems is literally only scratching the surface. Bottom line is avoid grain and in particular gluten as it will simply act as a barrier to what you really want; a fit, healthy, lean, strong, energy filled improved, you.

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I'm afraid I will get bulky if a lift weights

It is impossible for a women to get big and muscular naturally if you are burning body fat at the same time as weight training (e.g. following one of born2move’s results programmes). If you look at anyone of our male Trainers you will notice that non of them are huge yet most of them have been training for 10+ years and lift weights 3-5 times per week. On top of that our male Trainers take additional supplements to boost testosterone and have natural testosterone levels 30 times higher than females. If you also consider the intensity of our Trainers workouts you can soon appreciate how difficult it would be for a female to get bulky from weight training. 

When we get females to lift weights we use methods that create long, lean, toned physiques (the ones you can’t get from cardio alone). We don’t use muscle building methods (hypertrophy) so you literally have nothing to worry about as long as you are training right.

Start thinking about muscle differently - muscle is your friend - the more muscle you have the easier it is to burn fat (metabolic efficiency). 1lbs of muscle burns an extra 50cals per day for free. If you drop 10lbs of fat and build 10lbs of muscle you will weigh exactly the same but burn an extra 62lbs of fat per day doing nothing and you will look incredible!

Start lifting weights now if you want to wow your friends with an amazing new improved you.