What I ate today!

This is one for the ladies! I’m not being sexist but us girls think a lot about what we eat. Don't get me wrong guys are health conscious too but us girls take this to another level. For most women every meal, snack, drink is accompanied by a lightening fast thought process including a detailed biochemical breakdown of its content; calories, fat, protein, carbs......and emotions: guilt, pleasure, need, greed, etc.

Food and bodyfat make up a unique and universal language to us ladies, we can talk for hours about what we eat, but mainly what we don’t eat. We go on about how we have two more kilos to lose, how we feel bloated because we ate bread, how we hate shopping for jeans, gym kit and bikini's as all three make us face our lumpy bits. We use shop windows to see how big our bum looks today. Sometimes we pretend we don’t give a toss about our waistline but secretly spend most of our waking hours formulating a plan to get it smaller! Between clients I often work in coffee shops and witness these conversations all day long:

“This week I’m mainly eating cardboard, it really works for me, you should try it…”

“Really! Any special type of cardboard or will any do? I’ll get some on my way home!”

We have routines and rules when it comes to food, We love reading about diets and detoxes, we look at diet pills and potions in Superdrug and for a split second we’re tempted but common sense prevails, if they really worked there wouldn’t be any fat people in the world!

We like to know what's in a celebrities fridge and what they eat on the weekend, knowing full well there's no way they eat that much crap! We scrutinise shots of Abbey Clancey on the beach, trying to find a hint of cellulite and hope that one day we might just witness a bingo wing wobble on Madonna and breathe a sigh of relief that she’s normal after all. We’re fascinated by what other women are doing and constantly compare ourselves.... how do they get such a tiny waist, such a flat stomach and my own personal envy: slim bloody legs!

Its a sad fact that the majority of the women I know may not have eating disorders but certainly eat disorderly. I have refined my diet so much over the years, the more I learn the more it improves and the better I feel. My weight has pretty much stayed the same but I have seen a nice reduction in my muffin top (I am still scarred from a fellow gym pal once pointing out that I was sporting a "cake top" - at least get the insult right!) My skin is the best its ever been, I no longer wear make up in the day and I have the best energy levels I’ve ever experienced in my life. No cravings, no hunger and no sense of deprivation. I will continue to strategically angle mirrors to see how big my bum really is and ask Matt ten times a day if he thinks my legs look fat but I can confidently say I am 100% happier in myself than years gone by, what I'm eating now works so much better for me.

So here’s what I ate today and why:

Upon waking (5.30am)
Warm water and lemon- Cleanses digestive system and stimulates liver.
Teaspoon of nut butter - Stabilise blood sugar and keeps me going until I get chance to eat.

On the train (6.15am)
Organic black coffee - I still love a good strong coffee to start my day.

Breakfast 7.30am
2 scoops chocolate Sunwarrior protein shake with added L-glutamine and Maca (+ Multi Vits/fish oil).

I have a shake for convenience as breakfast is consumed on the go. Sunwarrior is raw, vegan and unlike whey doesn't inflate my stomach, I add L-glutamine as it's alkalines the body and helps strengthen gut integrity, Maca is an adaptogenic herb renowned for regulating and supporting hormone health.

Mid Morning (11am)
Handful of walnuts and clean greens drink.

Walnuts are great source of omega 3's and protein. Pukka Clean Greens is the only green drink I can get on with most others make me heave, I have 1-2 a day for an anti-oxidant fix.

Lunch (12.30pm) Large, baked organic chicken breast with organic green salad, topped with roasted red onion, butternut squash, carrots, broccoli and cauliflower (+digestive enzymes)

I always chunk out salad with roasted veg to keep it tasty and steamed veg for a vitamin and mineral fix, cruciferous vegetables (broccoli and cauliflower) are great for reducing excessive estrogen - a must if you store fat around your legs and chest area.

Mid afternoon (3pm)
Small black coffee and pot of brazil nuts + pumpkin seeds.

Brazil nuts are sweet and creamy so lovely mid afternoon with a coffee, they are a good source of selenium and pumpkin seeds are a great source of zinc. I always portion control these as nuts and seeds are a what Tim Ferris calls a 'domino' food for me, I can eat and eat and eat .


On train home:
Large green tea

I aim for 3 a day if I can (every time I enter a coffee shop I have a 5 minute coffee/green tea debate!) Green tea has always been renowned for high antioxidant content but green tea is increasingly being recognised for improving glucose metabolism and increasing fat metabolism.

Snack whilst making dinner (7pm)
Roasted squash and handful pumpkin seeds.

I always snack when making dinner, a very bad habit (that I can't seem to break) as sometimes I eat so much I don't even feel like dinner! We had some butternut squash roasted in coconut milk and garlic in the fridge so I snacked on that, it makes a lovely sweet, creamy snack.

Dinner 7.30pm
Cod and mushrooms sauteed in coconut oil and a dash of tamari (gluten free soya sauce) with avocado, watercress, spinach, pine nuts and sundried tomato salad (+digestive enzymes).

This is such a quick supper, I like to eat as soon as I get home so I have few hours to digest dinner and chill out before bed. I have two pieces of fish (lots of lean protein) and a big serving of greens to go with my omega 3's. The sundried tomatoes and pine nuts add flavour. Mushrooms (great with tamari) really are magical when it comes to health; they lower bad cholesterol, have anti-carcinogenic properties, a high anti-oxidant content to boost your immune system and are packed with minerals like copper and potassium. The bitter, peppery taste of watercress makes it a great digestive aid and vitamin A content improves skin health.

Snack 8pm
Teaspoon of nut butter & ginger and lemon steeper.

If you ever get a sweet craving after dinner have a teaspoon of nut butter, the fat will curb the craving and help you feel satiated. Ginger and lemon steepers are lovely, both sweet and spicy, trust me on this one! Ginger also has so many medicinal benefits so get dosed up for winter, I roughly chop big chunks and have with hot water and a squeeze of fresh lemon. I've tried lots of herbal teas but most for me are more of a chore than an enjoyment, but I love ginger steepers. It goes great with some dark chocolate too....only at the weekend of course ;-)

So that's what I ate today, some days I eat more (much more!) some days I eat less but the important thing is that every day I focus on filling my body with good stuff that will keep me happy, healthy and energised.....by the way don't expect a blog on what Matt eats, it would need to be an EPIC novel!

Want to burn fat, get strong, have superior energy levels and avoid excuses?

Then cook in bulk.

I can't eat well
I just don't have the time
I can't cook my own lunches for work
I work too late
blah blah blah blah blah!

I have a simple solution to this......cook more food.

I, too, start work early and finish late. A typical day for me is a 6.30am client followed by 7-9 more throughout the day until about 7.30pm. I then get home around 8.30-9pm. This means I'm out of the house from 5.45am until 8.30-9pm at night. I could easily sloth on the sofa and claim I am too tired and don't have the time, reach for the phone and order an Indian take away. Don't get me wrong, I sometimes do, but it’s rare.

I like to eat well and be prepared.Thats why when I cook, I cook big. Here is a great example:

A very simple, quick and tasty meal to prepare that will last for days. Great to have for lunches or the next days dinner.

To be honest roasting veg is a winner. It’s nutritious, tastes good and can be cooked in bulk quantities:

• Chop a load of sweet potato, red onion, parsnips, carrots, butternut squash and wack it in a baking tray.
• Mix with some macadamia nut oil, mixed herbs, salt and pepper then in the oven it goes. It takes 5mins to prepare and then whilst it's cooking get some steaks in the pan and you’re away.
• Cook enough steaks to last for dinner and tomorrow’s lunch, it doesn’t take any longer so if you’re cooking dinner anyway you might as well cook a bit extra for your lunch.
  

This way, you enjoy a tasy nutritious lunch, save money and you can be safe in the knowledge you’re eating good quality food.

Another great tip is to bulk cook your meat and poultry. Invest in a decent sized baking tray and cook a couple of days worth of meat or poultry.

Here I chopped two whole chickens, marinated them in macadamia nut oil, cayenne chilli powder, cumin, garlic, salt and pepper and cooked them in the oven. This was enough for both mine and Keris’ dinner and our lunches the following day. It was so easy to prepare, tasted amazing and lunch the next day was sorted.


I always recomend folk eat a good breakfast but I understand and extra 20 minutes in bed can be the most appealing thing in the world at times. Which is why I recommend my egg loaf.


This is great for breakfast on the go or something to get down you upon waking as it requires no prep, just eat it. Simply mix 6-8 whole free range organic eggs with chopped red pinion, chopped red pepper, some smoked salmon and a bit of seasoning and cook in the oven for 15-20 mins.

A good protein hit, healthy fats and antioxidants and it tastes great. You can use spinach, mushrooms, chopped tomatoes whatever you like. Be creative and enjoy. Again, something like this will last a couple of days.

So, invest in some baking trays and some tupperware boxes and get cooking. Stop making excuses and feed your body with the good food it deserves rather than spending money on that shop brought processed crap. Saying that, we have a great blog series coming soon with some great tips on where to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner and advice on what choices to make. I'm sure you'll find this of interest.

The point of this post is to assure you that cooking your own breakfast, lunches and dinners is not as time consuming or expensive as you think. It is very time friendly and easy on the wallet and can also be incredibly enjoyable if you put your mind to it. I used to hate cooking and would often put together the easiest dish possible. Uncle Ben’s 2 minute Rice, a tin of tuna and a tin of sweetcorn was a favourite of mine :-) Now i love trying out new ideas and I feel very satisfied when I'm tucking in to my tasty, healthy and hearty lunches whilst other people opt for their processed, fat laden lunches.

People often ask how I manage to maintain high energy levels throughout the day and I always say it’s my diet. This may sound obvious but it is often over looked and people are always looking for other reasons as to why their energy levels have dropped. When more often that not they have had a carb rich and processed breakfast which has now seen them have a blood sugar crash. Start your day right, snack well, eat a good lunch and your body will thank you for it not to mention your training sessions will benefit too.

Hope you enjoyed this quick post and please if you have any questions or would like some recipe ideas please don’t hesitate to get in touch at matt@fitterlondon.co.uk

Have great day,

Matt

Caveman Survival in a 21st Century Office by Ceri Jones

I’m not going to sit here and say that eating Paleo is easy at first - it does require some planning and thinking ahead (that for me is the fun part!), but once you’ve worked out how it can easily fit with your lifestyle (whatever your career) , it really is plain sailing.

I've been near as damned it Paleo since last December. As I enjoy planning my food and discovering new recipes, for me the hardest thing wasn’t eating all this wonderful Paleo food but rather having confidence to explain to people around me why I had decided to overhaul my eating habits in this way - But why not? Why is choosing to eat Paleo any different from being a Vegetarian, Vegan, Fruitarian or Raw Food connoisseur? I went along with this line when first explaining to my family, friends and colleagues why I was no longer regularly eating pasta and porridge, refusing afternoon cake, or why now I prefer my coffee black. A stream of questions about being a Paleo followed and ultimately I believe I gained their respect for sticking to my guns (although they do still laugh at me for eating Chicken for breakfast). Surviving the office environment is tough; office hours can be long, sedentary, and mid-afternoon munchies, birthdays, lunches out, conferences and after work drinks all provide plenty of distractions. Here are some of my personal tips to help get you through;

The PFA



In my office we have an area called the PFA (the projects food area), so called because it's situated on some spare desk space at the end of the Projects Team pod. The PFA ALWAYS contains morsels of food, a half eaten packed of crumbled digestive biscuits, some random sweets from Joe Blogg's recent trip to Greece, a pot of M&S mini-bites just because it's Tuesday and we all need cheering up?? I'm sure this all sounds familiar... Even with a rock-hard will of steel I know it’s not always easy to ignore the PFA, especially when it’s 3.30pm, you're tired and having a really hard day. I’m not going to lie and say that I never dip into it, but there are ways you can avoid it... Firstly get organised and bring your own personal supply of snacks, of if you’re feeling generous bring Paleo snacks to share - A bag of nuts or fruit for starters (punnets of berries always a winner). Or if you’re feeling really adventurous make some Paleo cakes to share, yes sweet (healthy) treats ARE allowed. When I have time at the weekend or a spare evening I make up a huge batch of cakes stick them in the freezer and then bring them out as and when I fancy them. I have great satisfaction in feeding other people my Paleo creations, especially when they show complete surprise just how tasty Paleo recipes can be. Being a cake maker can have other benefits too - you get repaid by a constant supply of tea (green or herbal of course)

Food preparation

Does your office have a fridge, freezer or microwave? Make use of them!
I have breakfast at work most days having spent the first part of my day in a Fitter London class! The microwave can be incredibly useful and used in conjunction with some trusty Tupperware you’re just 60 seconds away from scrambled eggs. If you also throw in some diced tomatoes, pepper, prawns or salmon you get an omelette in a bowl. If you also top this with some avocado the meal is a total winner! I’ve even got one of those plastic things that makes boiled eggs in the microwave (yes really, I found it in Robert Dyas). Dippy eggs with crudités make a great afternoon snack!

Personally I prefer to bring in my own food for lunch, rather than visit the local Pret.... If I’m making big curry, stew or soup at home in the week I make extra portions for my freezer so that I can take them out first thing and hey presto they have defrosted by lunchtime. I also keep extra frozen veg in the office freezer so if ‘m really hungry I can us it to pad out my Bolognaise stew or Thai Curry for example.

Office Lunch?

Someone suggests lunch out, and your first thought is well, that’s Paleo out of the window for today? Au contraire, I have yet to find a cafe, restaurant or pub where a Paleo meal can’t be found, and if necessary don’t be afraid or embarrassed to ask to sub one item for another. Keris’ previous article sums this up nicely. They know me now in our local cafe and are always quite happy to give me extra salad instead of chips (though are constantly surprised I can easily conquer half a chicken).

Another slightly challenging situation for a Paleo can be the conference / training day / meeting lunch. On my second day as a Paleo I was out at a staff training day, where I knew sandwiches would be served up at lunch. I didn’t want to fail so early on, so made sure I asked before hand if it might be possible to have a salad (with protein of course). If you don’t feel comfortable spending the next 30 minutes explaining why you don’t want a sandwich then just them you have a wheat allergy.... That should help!

The Office Birthday



Is it someone’s birthday soon? Offer to make the cake – a great excuse to put your new found recipes to use. I was deeply touched that on my birthday this year along with buying a classic cake from M&S my colleague made me a Paleo Carrot cake. Guess which one got eaten first and was still talked about for weeks afterwards? – yep the Carrot cake! My endless ranting has obviously started to pay off! The same goes for office cake sales, make some Paleo versions to sell, people will soon realise Paleo = tasty!)

Post-work drinks

7pm Friday night, you've been in the pub since 5, had a few glasses of wine (Pinot Noir or Rioja of course) and you're starving. You've scanned the pub food menu and there is nothing but chips, or fish finger sandwiches on the bar menu (if you're lucky a handful of nuts) so what to do?? Again it’s a bit of a plan in advance thing. There are some snack bars (such as Nakd) out there that which can be yanked out of a handbag in a matter of seconds, and even though they can be quite carby are a billion times better than chips. Failing that an emergency bag of nuts or a pack of meat from the supermarket (bought in your lunch hour or en route to the pub) are a good plan!

Hope that covers it, but most of all - take your colleagues along for the ride - they'll thank you for it when their concentration levels reach sky high, and mid afternoon energy slumps are a thing of the past. Plus don’t forget that by working in an office you have one massive advantage over non-office based workers - The Internet! At your fingertips you have access to the biggest Paleo cook book in the world. Type the word Paleo recipe in front of any number of ingredients into Google et voila – inspiration for tonight’s dinner? A snack for tomorrow afternoon? A scrummy cake?

By the way, I do fall off the Paleo Wagon (Friday 3pm usually) when I succumb to the packet of biscuits that have been staring at me for 5 days, but that’s allowed, we’re all human after all, and I know that come Monday I can get right back on it.

My 5 Day Cleanse

Why Did I Do A Cleanse?
Well aside from all the reasons stated in Keris Marsden's blog post explaining the scientific stuff, my personal reasons were as follows:

1. To Reduce Inflammation:
   Over years and years of training I have, of course, developed little niggles in places and got my aches and piais. Most recently my right shoulder has felt somewhat inflamed and a bit tender. I've been going heavy lately with 5 sets of 5 reps and think I just overdid it a bit. Anyway, after reading up on other people's experiences from doing a cleanse a lot of them mentioned that joint/tendon pain had massively reduced, if not vanished. I'm keen to resume my training regime so reducing inflammation is top of my list.
   
   
2. Reduce Body Fat:
   Now, I don't feel I need to lose any body fat (I hope you will agree), however I'm more curious to see how much bodyfat one can lose in just 7 days. Simple as that.
   
   
3. To Rebalance My Gut:
   It's no secret, I fart A LOT. I'm not ashamed of this and I will continue to do so, so get over it people ;-) I also eat a lot and I suppose it's only right I have gut problems but recently I have felt really bloated and had to make one too many trips to the toilet (Nuff said). Gut healing is one of the big perks to this clense and I would love for my stomach to feel normal again.
   
   
4. The Challenge Of It:
   Anyone who half knows me knows I love to eat, so this was always going to be a huge challenge for me. I knew I would have to apply a serious amount of discipline to get through this and wanted to see if I had it in me.
   
   
5. A Great Blog:
   I knew, due to this being so far out of my comfort zone being a big foody and all, it would make a great blog post. I kept a daily log of what I consumed, the ups and downs, the moods, the cravings and the benefits. I will also log my training each day and how it felt. I'm hoping there is light at the end of the tunnel and my reasons for doing this are fulfilled. Either way I will log my honest feelings and opinion and put it out there at the end of the 5 days.

Officially this cleanse should have lasted for 7 days but I thought - let's not get carried away. Besides I didn't want to spend my Saturday night drinking a shake. No ta.

What physical exercise will I be doing to support my cleanse?
Charles Poliqiun recommends doing 10 sets of 3 reps to avoid lactic acid build up, but I won't take this approach. I will stick to 3 reps but only do 5 sets, I would get seriously bored if I done 10. I'm also going to do plenty of mobility work and stretches and a couple of yoga sessions too. I plan to keep the weights nice and heavy for my 3 reps and im very curious to see how my strength fairs under these circumstances.

What will be hardest part?
I will simply just miss eating, there really is not much else to it. I'm a huge coffee fan and I know I will miss this dearly too. This is a guy who normally consumes 7-8 meals a day and around 4000-4500cals so just the sensation on chewing will be deeply missed.

SO HERE IT IS:

Please forgive me as some is written in past tense and some present due to the stages I wrote the post.

Day 1: Monday 25/7/11
So, it's the first day and I am some what excited to get started and give this a go, which is surprising considering I love eating and I eat a lot. I have many people who can vouch for this. I am mentally ready to do this.

Its 5.15am and I kick my day off with 3 scoops of UltrainflamX mixed with 10g of glutamine, 5 BCAA's and a green tea. As you can imagine this did not even touch the sides compared to my usual feast but at this point I felt good and was ready for the day.

It's now 8.30am, I have drank plenty of filtered water and I now have an hour before my next client and I am starving (I would normally have my second breakfast now) and all of a sudden not feeling so sure about what I had got myself in to. The worst thing was, I had forgotten about the cleanse, as I was finishing with my client I was thinking about what I was going to eat........then it hit me, I couldn't eat. I had a shake and a load of pills to look forward to, great :-(

I wanted to structure my shakes in a similar way to my meals, so I spaced them out over about 6 shakes. My day was roughly as follows each day:

5.15am: 3 scoops of ultrainflamx mixed with 10g of glutamine, 5 BCAA's and a green tea.

8.30am: 3 scoops of ultraclear plus mixed with 10g of glutamine, 5 BCAA's.

10.30am: 3 scoops of ultrainflamx mixed with 10g of glutamine, 5 BCAA's and a green tea.

1pm: 3 scoops of ultraclear plus mixed with 10g of glutamine, 5 BCAA's.

4pm: clean greens drink mixed with 10g of glutamine, 5 BCAA's

6pm: 3 scoops of ultraclear plus mixed with 10g of glutamine, 5 BCAA's.

9pm: primal fibre drink mixed with 10g of glutamine, 5 BCAA's

As you can see it was all liquid based and yes I was weeing every 20 mins but this was to be expected.

Believe it or not my energy levels remained high right up until 9pm. However this is where I crashed and burned, I couldnt even string a sentence togehter, although it had been a busy day this was not how I would normally feel.

I didn't train today as was still recovering from Saturday's beasting (Keris' 'Kettlebells for Strength, Size and a Sixpack class).

Aside from feeling hungry all day long, it really was not as bad as I was expecting. Infact one of the biggest benefits to not eating is that you now have so much time on your hands. I got so much done today because I was not eating anything. It was a great feeling as it was a very productive day.

I applied topical magnesium to the backs of my knees and neck to aid my sleep. I slept really well aside from waking up once in the night for no reason in particular. Apparently this is due the the liver detoxyfying so its a good thing.

Day 2: Tuesday 26/7/11

Please note I used the same layout of shakes as I did yesterday, I just rotated the ultraclear plus flavours slightly between vanilla and banana/pineapple. Neither of which taste amazing but they taste a darn sight better than the ultrainflamx which is simply rank.

When I woke up I felt really bloated for some reason, I felt this way for at least the first 2 hours of awakening but once it went I had that hollow feeling like my stomach was competely empty.

I got to around 2pm I had treated myself to a massage. When finished I was desperate to eat, my energy levels were high but I just wanted to eat. I read Charles poliquins blog entries from his cleanse and noticed he ate celery sticks. This was awesome news, I went straight to Tesco to buy a pack of organic celery sticks. Anyone would have thought they were dipped in chocolate the way I sank my teeth in to them. I have never in my life enjoyed a stick of celery so much.......AMAZING. Just the crunching sound alone was something else.

Once again, my energy levels remained high all day which I still found very surprising. However, I was in a cafe at around 2pm having a green tea whilst being nasaly raped by the smell of a grilled ham and cheese panini being made, I was trying to get through some emails and I was really finding it hard to concentrate on the task in hand. The temptation of not only the sight but the beautiful smell of food was really testing and incredibly frustrating. It was here I called Keris and told her I was struggling, a few words of encouragement and I was back on track :-)

Tuesday is always a long day at work for me and I was devastated at the thought of not going home to a hot dinner. I felt really tired so figured it would be a shake, an episode of 'Rescue Me' and then an early night.

I had a workout in the morning today but it was really basic stuff sticking to the nice heavy 5 sets of 3 reps with my main focus on back, then a good stretch afterwards. Felt like I was going through the motions more than anything else so not the most satisfying of workouts.

Again I applied the topical magnesium to aid sleep.

I was in bed and suddenly something had dawned on me.......for the first time that I can remember in my life, I had gone a whole day without doing a poo. Sorry for the detail here but I'm a 2-3 times a day man, I mean a lot goes in so a lot's gotta come out :-) but I didn't feel bloated or anything, I'm sure it was purely related to the reduction in the volume of food.

I had an awesome night's sleep, didn't wake up once and felt alert, awake and ready to go on Wednesday.

Day 3: Wednesday 27/7/11

Again when I woke up I had the same bloated feeling as yesterday, but today it was more uncomfortable.

Ah there we go........my first number two in 48hrs, and it felt good :-) Bloated feeling gone and feeling normal again.

My energy levels were really high in the morning up until about 2pm, although I had a pounding headache at around 11am. So 2pm came and then boom, the ultimate energy crash and all I wanted to do was sleep. I felt so lethargic and rough I was ready to jack it all in. I then had a whole organic cucumber to eat and a clean greens drink and within minutes I felt so much better.

Although my energy levels picked up in the afternoon and remained high until the evening I was really struggling to concentrate again. My emails felt like they were taking forever to write, it was like my body was ready for a big heavy workout but my mind was at snail's pace (no comments please, you people are so predictable), very weird.

All my clients were very supportive and encouraging which really helped keep me on track.

Today was easily the hardest day and I was looking forward to it being over. According to others' experiences, the 3rd day is a killer. This reassured me that better days were to come.



I deeply missed eating and again coming home after a long day and no dinner was really hard, so I treated myself to a nice relaxing soak in an Epsom salts bath. Then applied some topical mag and off to bed I went.

Thursday: 28/7/11

I had an awesome nights sleep, the best for a long time. I woke up with no bloating for the first time so far and felt energetic.

Had a busy morning but I always finish work early on a thursday. After my last client I did 30 mins of mobility work and stretching as I planned on having a heavy session on Friday.

When I got home, I lightly steamed some organic broccoli and organic asparagus, again just the sensation of eating solid food was overwhelming. Felt so much better for eating it (mood wise).

Today is my best day, my energy levels are high and finally feel like this cleanse is doing me good. Don't get me wrong an English breakfast would go down a storm but I felt pretty damn awesome all day long.

Sat down in the evening to watch a bit of TV and at 8.30pm I was struggling to keep my eyes open. So I applied my topical magnesium and hit the hay. Excited at the thought of 9hrs sleep.

Friday: 29/7/11

I had the worst night's sleep of the week, it felt like 3 hours sleep as appose to the 9 hours I was so badly looking forward to.

However, nothing was going to keep me from smiling today, as today I could introduce brown rice to my diet. How exciting. I got up early and boiled some organic brown rice and some broccoli and asparagus for my breakfast. Starting the day with a solid meal felt so good, although within moments of finishing I felt so bloated. It was like my stomach had shrunk, although my mood was much better for eating and my energy levels were through the roof, infact the best they had been all week. This was great news as I planned to have a nice heavy training session with my training partner Rich today.

Although neither of us felt as psyched as we normally would, we both managed some nice and heavy lifts and even some PBs which lifted our mood. Although, we would normally finish our sessions with a tasty post workout shake followed by a feast of a meal. As this was not the case today you could say we both just felt pretty miserable and sorry for ourselves.

I decided to have some more brown rice after my workout as my appetite was through the roof, this really helped.

I was busy with clients today which helped keep my mind off things. Although my energy levels were through the roof I was more and rady for this to be over.

Day over, and again I was overwhelmed with joy at the thought of spending the night popping pills and drinking a shake for my dinner but I was only 1 day away from completing the cleanse and there was no was I was going to break.

I HAD DONE IT.

Saturday was here and I was so excited to eat and I must say feeling incredibly proud of myself.

So, let me share the ups downs with you:

The Ups:

1. The pain I was experiencing in my right elbow had completely gone, it felt this way from the Wednesday. I was so pleased.
2. My energy sky rocketed, I felt awesome. It was consistently high all day.
   
3. I felt less bloated and my stomach felt nice and flat, it as a good feeling.
4. I had for sure lost some body fat, nothing drastic but you could see a noticeable difference in my abdominal definition and also my shoulders and arms looked leaner.
   
   



5. I found it really easy to wake up for some reason, I was naturally waking up early and had no problems getting out of bed when the alarm went off.
6. I realised that I was drinking coffee out of liking it as opposed to it being a necessity. This was good to know as I had always told people that I just loved coffee it was never something to get me through the day. I missed it but was more than happy with my herbal teas.
7. I felt victorious, I felt like I had accomplished something that I'm sure many believed I would never pull off. It made me feel incredibly disciplined, I felt mentally stronger for doing it.
8. Overall, by the end of day 5 I was feeling hungry but pretty damn awesome and can certainly say there were benefits to what I had put myself through, but........

The Downs

1. I had a constant feeling of hunger, I was thinking about food 24/7 and this is not a very nice feeling. It made it hard to concentrate.
2. At times I actually felt quite miserable. Not eating meant I had more time to work, I am a bit of a workaholic and as much as I love working I felt as though it was all just work, work, work. Food and training are my release and I missed them both.
3. I was not doing a number 2 regularly enough and I kept getting waves of pretty bad bloating, however I must admit I'm sure I was not consuming enough fibre with my drinks. But now I know for next time.

To be honest these are the only real downs that come to mind, so as you can see the good well out weighs the bad which is always a positive thing.

But the question is - Would I do it again and would I recommend it to others?

For sure I would do it again, I would alter it slightly for my own needs. I have learnt so much about my body over this 5 days and would love to give it another go putting everything I have learnt into place. I can't say I saw or felt the difference I was expecting but what can I say, I'm a very optimistic person and although I was initially very dissapointed with the outcome I soon reminded myself that
a) I didn't do the full 7 days
b) I sometimes forgot to take the suggested supplements
c) I certainly was not getting enough sleep
and
d) I really was way too optimistic.

It is very tough and you have to be mentally ready to do it but I would most definitely recommend people try it although don't try and wing it, consult a Biosignature practitioner like Keris Marsden first to learn the ins and outs and to be properly adviced. If your going to do this you may as well do it properly for maximum gain.

I can't lie, although I did it, I really struggled to stay on track but I think it's so important to test yourself, throw yourself out you comfort zone and really test your boundaries.

I feel as though I have been reset and I feel highly motivated not to throw it all away. Even 3 days after whilst following a clean paleo style diet, I am feeling great. I can't wait to have my first workout, I'm feeling energetic, strong and incredibly focused.



So what are you waiting for contact Keris at Keris@fitterlondon.co.uk now to hear all about it.

Have a great day,

Matt

We all have the time if we choose to.

Do I have time to train, prepare meals and eat well? Not always, but only because I chose not to.

"I DON'T HAVE THE TIME TO TRAIN" or "I DON'T HAVE THE TIME TO PREPARE MEALS"

These are the 2 most commonly used excuses used by people these days to justify why they do not exercise and why they eat crap.

You have also heard the expression "if you don't have time, make the time". This to me is bang on point. We all have a choice to make but its all about how we prioraties our actions.

Let's use eating as an example here. I eat breakfast at 5.30am to set off at 5.45am to start my day. I have a bag full of tupaware boxes packed with my lunches and snacks for the day. Why do I have this bag full of food? Because I prepared it the night before in 10mins. I simply cooked extra dinner and saved it for the next day, once i finished my dinner I packed the extra chicken breasts, steamed veg and salad into the tupaware boxes, a pot of nuts, and some fruit and I am good to go.

Like i said, this took 10mins to prepare, if that. Remember this is left over dinner so I was cooking anyway, it required no extra effort.

HOWEVER,

Let's not assume I do this everyday, because I dont. There are days where I simply can't be bothered, so I end up buying lunch out or eating out for dinner. But the thing is, this is because I could not be bothered, I made the decision not to prepare my food that day. It was a long day, i was tired and it was late. I chose to spend that time watching tv instead. It was not because I didn't have the time, I simply chose to do something else.

I start work at 6.30am and very rarely finish any earlier than 7.30pm, it's a long day but i have my priorities. Which are to eat well and not to eat out too often.

Your priorities may be different, but if you claim your goals are to lose weight, get fit and eat better the "not having time" is simply an excuse and its clear that your goal is not the priority you claim it to be.

Im not perfect (so many people are quick to assume that personal trainers have it easy and that we dont understand what its like blah blah blah, which is a load of rubbish) I just simply priorities preparing my lunches and dinners as i want to eat well and also save money, eating out is not cheap and i cant afford that luxury unfortunately.

Lets summerise:

Eating well and preparing meals is a decision, just as not eating well and not preparing meals is also a decision. We all have a choice, let's make the right one and get our priorities in order. Like I said, yours may be different to mine, which is fine by me just remember this "fail to prepare then prepare to fail".

- Get yourself some tupaware boxes.
- Cook in bulk.
- Save money.

I have tonnes of awesome, easy to make dinner and lunch ideas that require very little effort and taste amazing. If you would like me to share these with you please get in touch matt@fitterlondon.co.uk andi will be more than happy to help.

Train smart, eat well and sleep peacefully,

Matt Whitmore