Saturday 31 August 2013

Lighter fluid for the fat burning furnace

A big part of fat loss is about developing little habits. Little habits that all add up to produce fast, effective results. I would urge everyone that wants to lose weight fast and effectively to incorporate these 2 habits into their daily life. Let me introduce 2 of the best fat burning drinks you can drink.....




Iced water - drinking 2L of water a day consecutivley for 6 months alone can produce up to a 5% loss  in body fat. Try adding ice, and this adds a completely new benefit. Because the ice is cold, your body has to work to warm it back up to body temperature. This raises your resting metabolic rate, meaning your total calories expended per day will increase.

Green tea with lemon - studies have shown green tea can cause weightloss from a mild increase in thermogenesis, ie. calorie burning. This is partly from its caffeine content and partly from its catechins and flavanols content. As another benefit it contains some strong anti-oxidants. Try and find real green tea leaves as opposed to the tea bags as they're much more potent. Adding a slice of lemon makes it taste a little better and helps alkalise the body. Aim for anything from 1-3 cups a day.

Tuesday 20 August 2013

Desert island supplements


You join me 35,000ft up, somewhere over the Atlantic on a flight homeward bound. Amongst other things, I'm bored. There's only so many times you can watch the bleach blonde donut-haired air hostess's legs walk up and down the gangway before she gets annoyed. So to pass the time I thought I'd do something relatively productive - blog. Being this bored got me thinking, imagine if this plane was to go down, and crash land on a desert island. Much like the opening episode of 'lost'. Horrific! I know. The fitness and bodybuilding regime would crash (no pun intended) and fly right out of the window. or would it? 


Let me tell you about this island. It's population is 0. There's drinkable water. foods such as bananas, pineapples and coconuts thrive and are easily available. Seafood, like fish and crabs are available, but need to be caught. It's average temperature is 30 degrees. And the sun beats down day after day. Exercise on the island is easy as there's lots of things to push and pull. So a healthy, active lifestyle is easy to maintain. I've got one supplement in my bag. Is it the ultimate supplement to help support my new desert island lifestyle and keep me working towards my fitness and bodybuilding goals? I think so....

There's only a few supplements I'd ever recommend to my clients, because quite honestly, many of them are crap and a waste of your hard earned cash. Let me go through some of them and reveal what my 'if I were stranded on a desert island and could only take one supplement' is. 

Vitamin D - no, no, no. The "sunshine vitamin" as it's called is made in your body when exposed to uv light. There's plenty of this on the desert island.

Omega 3 - not this time. Foods such as fish and coconuts are high in good fats.

Zinc - a good choice. It will help support immune levels and maintain testosterone levels, but I think there's a better choice if you wanted more bang for your buck on this occasion.

Whey protein - not bad, your protein intake may be low depending on what food you've caught, but with only a 20kg allowance on most suitcases, a large tub of whey is a stupid idea unless your only packing 1 pair of socks, 1 pair of underwear and a toothbrush. 

BCAA capsules - yes! BCAA's made up of the amino acids L-leucine, L-isoleucine and L-valine are small, compact and extremely useful in this situation. Your diet may be lacking the full amino acid spectrum on the desert island due to unpredictable meals. Studies have shown they actually have immune strengthening properties, but what they are most known for is being the building blocks of the body. This will help build and retain lean muscle. This will keep your body in an anti-catabolic state. So you'll still be looking your best a million miles from home. So the tables will turn, and it'll be bleach-blondey air hostesses time to gawp!



Take home point from this post is BCAA caps make a great supplement choice to take away with you on vacation, if your going to be spending a long period away from home or if you plan on crash landing on a desert island.