Thank you so much to those who came to the 90 min  ‘Kettlebelle Booty Blaster’ camp yesterday.

As promised here are the questions/ and answers summarised for you. Feel free to add any further questions to the discussion, but for now here goes:

MUFFIN TOP/ LOVE HANDLES: “How do I get rid of them”?

The main culprit is ALCOHOL – I know I know – Huge groan – You have heard me say it before ladies but the alcohol HAS to go!!  Think of Alcohol as liquid sugar and a completely useless nutrient that the body cannot handle. Alcohol reduces the number of fat cells you burn for up to 72 hours after drinking – Basically the body will use the fuel from the Alcohol calories before any other fuel. The alcohol gets turned into a substance called Acetate. Therefore as acetate levels rise, your body simply burns more acetate, and less fat. In essence, acetate (alcohol) pushes fat to the back of the  calorie burning que. A single bout of heavy drinking will also increase the production of cortisol which in turn destroys muscle tissue (The more muscle you have the higher your metabolism will be and the more fat burning enzymes you will have in laymans terms).

A single glass of white wine 125mls has approx 100 calories – That is approx ONE unit of alcohol. Red wine has more calories and a large glass of red/white is 3 units. Therefore if you go by the equation that most bottles of wine are between 12-14 units, how many extra calories are YOU consuming???

ALSO – Refined carbs are the enemy – SERIOUSLY!!  If you have love handles, this is directly related to how many bad carbs you are eating. By bad carbs I mean white bread, pasta, rice, cakes, biscuits and all those wonderful sweet things!! (Sugar Love)  And to be honest unless you are an elite athlete brown bread and pasta should also be off the menu. Replace with higher amounts of veg and fruit. Be creative with your meals. See the Food Porn group on here and make some of the wonderful recipes that you lot have shared with the rest of the women on here.

To summarise – If you want to lose the ‘Muffin Top’ I would advise that you:

1. CUT OUT the alcohol completely (Or at least for a period of 21 days to change the habits that you have formed)

2. CUT OUT all refined carbs.

3. Increase vegetables and fruit intake by 100% especially GREEN veg.

4. Take a good quality fish oil. I am a practitioner for Aliment Nutrition. I recomend Omega Plus Finest Fish Oil Capsules   

If you say that I sent you when you phone and order the product it should be sent to you super quickly. Take 2 caps 3 x daily with food.

Linda mentioned Udo’s Oil, which is a similar supplement but without using actual fish. This product is gluten-free, fish-free and suitable for vegetarians.

5. Increase your WATER!!!!!  ++++++

6. Increase your intake of green tea.

7. Supplement also with L-Carnatine (as mentioned by Anna) . I have done a little research on this little supplement and although I have never used it, it appears to aid in the oxidation of fat in the body. Now whilst I only recomend buying from credited wholesalors ie. NOT H+B etc, I found this reputable product http://sportsnutritionvlog.com/products-page/protein/kinetica-recov…  which combines a protein powder with L-Carnatine.

8. Remember this one simple rule. You cannot out train a bad diet. That really is the bottom line. If you are doing the same classes week in week out, the amount of calories you burn will DECREASE as your body gets used to the exercises. Your body NEEDS to be challenged – which means adding Interval Training to your w.o (as we do at bootcamps) a min of 3 x weekly. Change your own w.o routine every 4 – 6 weeks; and add resistance training into your training program.

I will continue this article soon, as the other questions seemed to be relating to foods, and when is the best time to eat after exercise etc.

If you have any further questions on the above please DO write them below.

I found the Q+A answer session very interesting and positive however,much of this information is already here on the site, and much is common sense. We did also speak about denial and ‘starting to be healthy tomorrow’. I guess you need to have a good hard look at your eating/ drinking patterns and ask yourself HONESTLY – How much do you value your body? Enough to eat/ drink cleanly to become the sexy goddess I know you are )

See you soon,

Charlie x

http://www.purplefitness.co.uk

http://www.cambridgebootcamps.co.uk

I am writing this blog post to discuss and motivate me (others?) to wean from sugar. I have realised with somewhat delayed horror that I am completely addicted to sugar, even with my supposed ‘healthy eating plan’.

I have to admit that lately – Since becoming ill last year – I have become a little too used to snacking at night on sweet things – and then I have realised that my daily mocha addiction is controlling me, rather than the other way around!! I have been planning my day around when I can get to Starbucks to devour my delicious ‘short soya macha’. The guys in Starbucks know my name!!

I have also realised that this addiction has become worse as I have gotten older and prone to comfort eating. This stems back some years ago, when after my brothers death, I used drugs/fags to get through. I didn’t realise the power of those numbing substances back then, i just used to take them to feel numb.

This was obviously playing havoc with my Adrenal system and causing me to have symptoms in later life which relate to ‘Adrenal Fatigue’ = Tiredness; Trouble getting up in the morning; craving sweet and salty snacks, I have not recovered at all from having the Swine Flu last year – All this has led to increase in my weight by a stone and a half. If I am not careful this will continue to creep up, despite my exercise..

SO, I am looking at what I eat currently that contains sugar, who acts like sugar when it hits my blood stream..

I am ashamed to say I have been snacking on chocolate bars recently; Rice cakes (High GI index); MOCHA’s (Max 2 daily) ; Bread (again acts like sugar when it hits the blood stream = instant high – huge crash in insulin); WINE (eeeeeek); Hemp Bars; Biscuits; (Oh dear, I am starting to realise why I have been feeling so terrible lately!!!!) And when it comes to desserts, I totally forgo the food allergy attention because the sugar junkie in me doesn’t care. MUST have sugar! So, going sugar free is ‘hopefully’ going to help me get more disciplined about heeding my food allergies.

Everytime I eat these ‘sugary’ foods my body reacts by creating an insulin spike, and rather like a drug we can get addicted to these feelings of euphoria related to food. I believe I have probably been trying to recreate feeling high since my brother died using one substance or another!

I am fed up with feeling tired and run down all the time, fed up of having the mid afternoon crash, fed up of falling asleep at 9pm only to feel exhausted when I wake up..

I will be documenting here my sugar withdrawal diary for all to see starting tomorrow. I will take photos but may not post them yet as I am not looking or feeling particularly “yummy” at the moment.

I will also be concentrating on my exercise regime and will also post daily i I can what I do with that. I tend to record my exercise on here ‘My Daily Mile’ and in our group ‘What I did for my work-out’

I start tomorrow…. If you would like to join me, then PLEASE let me know, or support me on here.

Charlie Wall

Cambridge Personal Trainer – Personal Fintess Coach and Bootcamp Instructor.

http://www.cambridgebootcamps.co.uk

http://www.huntingdonbootcamps.co.uk

http://www.purplefitness.co.uk

You are here – there is a reason. You are here – you want something better.
You are here – you have a chance.
Take it – grasp it and hold on with all your might.
There will be reasons why you can’t – but for every one there is a reason why you will.

Move forward. Be better today. More active, eat smarter, be proud of yourself. One hour at a time adds up to a day, days at a time will equal a week – the weeks will blend – good habits take hold – results will show – it is hard to see 4 weeks, even12 weeks from now – but I am here to tell you it’s worth it – so are many others.

There are ups and downs, plateaus and set backs – these come with change. But a formerly obese 45 year old spent 60 minutes with me today strength training and attend’s these bootcamps. She had a well proportioned healthy breakfast, a turkey salad for lunch, fruit and nuts for a snack and is planning a dinner of grilled fish, vegetables and salad. – This has been an amazing journey to watch – it took 3 months to take hold – but 12 months later it still works. A 29 year old mother also overweight 18 months ago, changed her life with such amazing dedication that she has lost 7 stone since I met her. Again I have watched her journey from near and sometimes far in awe. She makes it work despite sometimes terrible stressors – She makes it achievable in her world – HOPE..

Why post this here? Hope.

You are facing a tough challenge – but tough is very different than impossible. You will face difficulties, uncooperative family members, time issues, self doubt, years of bad habits – but look to those here who are winning the battle – they faced down those difficulties and often use them as motivation. http://www.out-fit.ning.com

Need help -ask for it. Want to succeed – find your motivation – write it down – think of it every time you are tempted. This is about a better lifestyle not a diet. Diets don’t work – but a better approach to eating combined with more and sustained activity can change your life. The resources are here, the support is here. http://www.out-fit.ning.com

Lastly don’t be afraid – anything you do is likely better than what you have been doing – be a little better every day – fear will defeat the process.

You can do this – and no one can do it for you.

Grab the hope – hold on tight. Start your improvements and then reach out and help someone else.

Come to the Bootcamps if you can.. The support and cameraderie is BRILL!!!!! Results are a given – Hope is here if you want it

Charlie Wall

http://www.purplefitness.co.uk

http://www.out-fit.ning.com

Ok, so this is quite a confusing one, but also one I hear a lot, particularly in women who have just started their exercise regime, in fact it seems to be a little mantra chanted over and over again ‘Muscle weighs more than fat, Muscle weighs more than fat” 

1lb of muscle = 1lb of fat – They weigh the same, HOWEVER, what is important to remember is that Muscle is denser than fat. It’s like comparing metal (muscle) with wood (fat).  Metal sinks in water; so does muscle.  Wood floats; so does fat.  The correct way to state the muscle weighs more than fat scenario is, “Muscle is heavier by volume than fat.”  A woman weighing 9 stone with 19% fat will look much smaller (and be much healthier) than a woman at 9 stone with 35% fat. They weigh the same, yet the composition is different. Because muscle is more dense than fat ,the person with less fat and more muscle will look smaller.

It would be far wiser to stop obsessessing with body weight and start paying attention to body composition. How much body fat do you have compared to muscle? Simply seeing how much you weigh isn’t very helpful.

This leads me nicely onto my next point…

2. I weigh myself every day…..

Please note… THROW THE SCALES AWAY, THEY ARE NOT YOUR FRIEND!!!!!!

How many of you weigh yourself more than once a day? How many of you allow the scales to determine your mood in the morning? I do not own a pair of scales, and throwing them away some 6 years ago (along with my ex husband) was one of the best decisions I ever made!!! hehehe!!

You need to be measuring yourself – Your arms/legs/waist and hips preferably and focusing on fat loss rather than weight loss.

If you are losing weight, you could be losing water or even muscle.  Therefore by monitoring your measurements you are more likely to gage whether you are achieving real results , not weight loss (or gain)  from the consequences of your daily habits, hormonal shifts and changing hydration levels.

This also seems to be closely linked to ‘punishing’ one-self. Take the example of client A. She weighs herself twice a day. This particular day, she feels she has been really ‘good’. She has barely eaten a thing all day, she goes to the scales in the evening and is really happy that she has lost 2llbs. As a reward, she buys herself two bottles of wine. During the evening, she is sitting at home watching the X-factor, drinking her wine steadily, and begins to get cravings for FOOD. Biscuits seem appealing at that point, and this client begins to gorge on the biscuits. More wine and more biscuits and a slight sinking into denial. The next morning our client goes to the scales. It is not good, client A has regained the 2 lbs and put on a further 2lbs. Her mood plummets, she looks despairingly at herself in the mirror and binges for the rest of the day on unhealthy bad food choices.

You can see here not only how the scales can DE-MOTIVATE  you, but how this can contribute to extreme dieting/binging behaviour.

3. These next two points are closely linked.. I starve myself all day/ and – or I drink alcohol instead of eating a meal.

Both quite dangerous and both do not lead to the right kind of weight loss. If I had a pound for the amount of times a woman has said to me, “But if I drink instead of eat, I lose weight” .  This generally leads to the skinny/fat phenomenon. Where women do hours and hours of cardio or aerobics classes, eat virtually nothing, and think nothing of consuming large quantities of wine or vodka in the evening. I have one word for you ladies OSTEOPOROSIS. The less muscle you have, the less work your bones have to do, and they begin to shed that incredibly valuable osseous material: your bones, which are, in fact, living tissues directly related to your blood, immune system, strength, longevity – even your mood.  You have to feed your bones, and incorporate weight-baring activity to keep them healthy. Muscle which we mentioned earlier also plays a part here as the more muscle we have the more we burn calories. No muscle = no calorific expenditure. Starvation = very low metabolism = little calorific expenditure. Alcohol = liquid sugar = fat storage around the middle (muffin top anyone).

I will expand this article in part TWO. For now, please leave any comments, or let me know of any other strange rituals you know that us women do or think leads to being thin!!

Charlie Wall

www.purplefitness.co.uk

www.out-fit.ning.com

“This burden to be thin leaves countless people victimized by failure, as they crumble under the added weight to fit within the bi-laws of a materialistic community” RKHenry.

Read about her experience

“I ran past Charlie’s poster on another bloody run that I’d had to literally drag myself into my joggers and trainers for after work. All I really wanted to do was eat cheese on toast, have a glass of wine and watch The One Show. Popped a bit of Whitney on my ipod and off I went.

Plod plod plod, then saw some posters on the fence. Stopped to read, really to take a breath because so unfit, but pretended to read all. Saw amazing bootcamp poster, called Charlie about ten minutes later, (entire run was about 9 mins long).

Anyway, a week later I was at my first bootcamp blinking in the sun in the middle of a park. Was bit nervous, didn’t know anyone. Soon we were all leaping around throwing bean bags and I didn’t know anyone’s name. Heard people shout ‘Mum’ instead of their names when throwing and was bit surprised but then realised Alex was in fact, really Lucy’s daughter and wasn’t just some strange thing we all did. The girls were literally awesome. Every time I thought I was going to die because inchworm nearly killed me, Gemma would be egging me on. Or Alex would be grimly surging forward ‘Come on, let’s get it done, gotta do it’. Then Charlie would be leaping around telling us all how proud she was. Plus watching all our techinique and telling us exactly how we should be doing it. After the 45 mins was up I actually felt amazing. Then really strangely, I WANTED to exercise. I started going for runs before work. I started going for runs after work regularly. I wanted to join in the chat when all the girls said what they’d done for their w.o. that week. I lost half a stone! Stopped drinking wine every night. I used to drink an entire litre of water in exercise classes just to run out and make excuse needed water for quick breather. Pretend I’d hurt my leg to avoid staying on X trainer, that kind of thing. Now I genuinely wanted to see my body changing, and seeing results when you’ve been working so hard is so rewarding.

The other week, when I really thought ‘this is amazing’ was a bit of an X Factor moment. Gemma pulled out a photo of this fat girl. We all said, ‘Err who’s that Gemma?’ (Gemma is stunning, beautiful beanpole). Turns out it was her. We all gasped and bonded a bit more. Just goes to show what being committed to exercise and a good diet can do. She literally looks amazing!

Basically, boot camp is tough. but it’s tough for 45 mins twice a week. And doing it outside, with Charlie motivating us all and encouraging us is amazing. She really knows her stuff. She’ll tell us about interval training, or the benefits of hip flexes, or she’ll post a new recipe she’s found. She makes a real point of speaking to everyone and helping us all achieve our targets. I can’t tell you how brilliant camp is, with everyone joining in, leaping over hurdle things, skipping, press ups etc. I have made so many great new friends and there’s a real sense of camaraderie there. Charlie does push you. Sometimes we play this poker game she’s made up. She’ll shuffle the cards before the game. You do actions to correspond with the cards you get. Only often, mysteriously, we’ll get rather a lot of jokers. Hence more inchworm or bear crawl or whatever Charlie’s decided that day. But you know what, it’s great being pushed. Exhilarating. You get pushed without realising it too. I realised the other week that we used to get two choices, the ‘easier one’ or the ‘harder one’ with exercises. Now we just seemed to do one, the harder one. It gets stepped up without you noticing, because you can achieve more! It’s also great doing it outside and not being trapped indoors. Funny moments too. Other week I had a new top on with an inbuilt bra supposedly, got right into inchworm and was delighted when finished. Stood up delightedly and Charlie discreetly tried to point out was flashing everyone my boobs (if any boys reading we don’t do this all the time). We play games, get stuck in and it’s so worth going.

If you’re reading this and want to get fit but don’t know how, or are daunted, please, just come along to the first bootcamp for free. See what it’s like and you’ll be hooked. I love all the girls there, they are so genuine and so much fun! And I can’t wait for our Christmas meal/night out. It’s also ok to be naughty sometimes!”

All the ladies have a phenomenal rapport and work extremely hard to support each other, and to push themselves during their camp experience.

Thank you Megan for writing such a fabulous blog.

See if for yourself on www.out-fit.ning.com

Charlie

www.purplefitness.co.uk

There are 100 days left of this year.. Or maybe by the time you read this there will be 99 days left of 2009.. Next year my son will be 10 years old!!!!! EEEEEEEEKKKK!!!!

But what do you still need to achieve? I am writing this blog as I want to be accountable for my goals over the next few months of this remaining year..

And what better way than to be accountable to you guys.. I want to write my goals down and then make sure you all kick my butt to achieve them I hope to be able to do the same for you… IF you tell me what your goals are..

My Personal Goals for 2009

1. I would like to reach out to at least 100 more women in Cambridge and inspire them to be the best that they can be
2. I would like to increase the number of bootcamps I run, and of course find an indoor venue for the Chinton evening girls
3. I NEED to focus on getting rid of negative influences in my life (those of you that know me well will know what this means to me)
4. Pay off my credit card debt!! :-p
5. Continue with expanding my business and making a difference
6. To write and organise a readable and accessible Nutrition plan for this site
7. Focus on positive affirmations

My Fitness Goals

1. To improve on my nutrition and to achieve a proper bona fida 30 day detox
2. I would like to re-start my fitness regime since slipping up from having the Swine Flu
3. Train at least 3 x a week on top of the classes I already teach..
4. Have a goal to my training
5. Improve flexibility and frequency of stretching

So girls, (and boys) tell me what your goals are.. Let us motivate each other ..

Charlie Wall

www.purplefitness.co.uk

www.out-fit.ning.com

As one of Cambridge’s busiest Personal Trainer’s I hear many many excuses as to why people CANNOT exercise. I do find myself getting slightly irritated by this as the benefits of exercise (not purely from an aesthetic point of view) have been well documented. So with all the amazing benefits of exercise, why do most of us procrastinate about exercise?

It’s too early in the morning!

Getting your exercise done in the morning (before the day starts) is a great idea. However it is very tempting to hit the snooze button. Just think how guilty you will feel all day, knowing you didn’t get your exercise done.

It’s too cold or it’s too hot!

If it’s cold, dress warmer or exercise inside. It won’t take long to warm up once you start exercising. (My bootcampers would testify to that!!) If it’s hot, exercise in the early morning or later in the afternoon – just make sure you have some water!!

I’m too tired!

Even more reason to exercise. Exercise energizes you and you’ll feel fantastic when you’re done.

My muscles hurt!

Keep going! A slow walk is better than nothing. If your knees hurt ride a bike or go for a swim.

I don’t have the right shoes or the clothes!

Training shoes and clothing can be bought fairly inexpensively nowadays. eBay is a great place to buy inexpensive trainers and have them delivered to your door! Even car-boot sales are a good place to find a bargain!

I’m too fat and I will look stupid!

I know this excuse is quite a pertinent one as I hear this a lot, and I have in the past felt this myself. As you know I advocate exercising outside or in the home, so if you follow the plan on the out-fit site you should see results quite quickly and feel the benefits almost instantly. Regular exercise, with the right diet, will strip all that excess weight in no time. It is important to start and keep consistent. It looks better seeing an overweight person out walking, rather than in a MacDonald’s!

I don’t have the time!

I am sorry I just do not buy this excuse. People make time for all the things that they want to do including being on the internet, meeting friends in Starbux, gossiping on the phone, watching your favourite tv progamme, staying for ‘just one more glass of wine’. Think how many minutes we have in a day? To be exact there are 1,440 minutes in one day, I am positive you could spare 15 mins a day on YOURSELF.

I want to sit down and relax for 5 minutes!

The problem with sitting down is the 5 minutes turns into 10 minutes, which turns into 30 minutes. Exercise first and then sit down afterwards. You’ll find that after exercising you’ll be energized and won’t feel like sitting down.

I’ve just eaten!

There is no better time to go for a walk than after a meal. Keep the intensity lower and think of those calories burning.

I can’t leave the kids alone at home!

Take them with you and make a game of it, or swap baby sitting with a friend. If you join the Out-Fit camps, I run these at parks for that very reason. Most of us bring the kids with us and we exercise whilst they play – thus we provide healthy role models for our children.

I don’t actually like exercise!

Then try to find something you do like doing. Riding your bike? Skipping? Swimming? Make exercise into ‘play’ rather than hard work. Change your thinking around it. You will soon get those endorphins pumping and begin to associate exercise with ‘good’ feelings.

My partner won’t exercise with me!

A long walk or run on your own is a great time to reflect and think. Keep at it and your partner or friends will be motivated to join you. To be honest, I have to say that personally I exercise to get away from my partner and my son, and have that time to myself. I find it a useful tool to channel my anger and frustrations – stick the i-pod on and go!! )

There is a good show on TV!

Video or i-player is a great invention, so having to watch a good show on TV is no excuse. Record the show, get your exercise done and watch the show afterwards, commercial free.

I’m on my holidays!

There is no better time to start exercising and get into the habit of exercising, than when you are on holiday. Use your free time being active and you will return home feeling even more relaxed and vibrant.

What are your reasons for NOT exercising?

Charlie Wall

www.purplefitness.co.uk

www.out-fit.ning.com