Do You Exercise On An Empty Stomach?

I think it is safe to say that we all want the most out of our morning workouts. For many of us that means firing up our metabolism and burning fat, which are two benefits of getting the heart rate up. I also believe it is safe to say that a lot of us think that if we do not eat before working out, we will burn more calories..  I know I used to believe this.

Do you think its beneficial to run on an empty stomach? Does it burn more fat and fire up the metabolism to skip breakfast?

NO! This is a long held fitness and weight loss myth. While it seems like it should be true, that if you have no food to fuel your body, your body will burn fat straight away, but this is not true.

Make sure to fuel up in the morning for maximum fat burning effect!

Here’s Just a quick explanation of how it all works. The main fuel of your body during exercise is glycogen, which is carbs that have been broken down and stored in the liver and the muscles – but you cannot store much. After sleeping, your glycogen stores in your liver are depleted by as much as 80 percent. When you wake up and begin exercising, once you have burned through all the stored glycogen your body begins to use muscle tissue to fuel your movements. This is by some evolutionary trick, since muscle takes more energy to preserve and fuel compared to fat, the body uses it for fuel to create less of an energy need. So by exercising on an empty stomach you could be actually losing muscle.

If you are planning on working out, doing cardio or strength training, you MUST eat something before you do! Carbs preferably. A banana is a great option! I do understand that some of you don’t like eating breakfast, but I can’t stress to you enough how important it is that you do. You can’t run a car on an empty tank, it’s exactly the same as a person. We need our fuel so we can work to the best of our ability. Something as small as a banana or even a piece of toast in the morning before a workout can make a world of difference, and you will be able to push yourself that much more without flaking out.  Too many clients are training on empty stomachs which are leading to dizziness, not being able to finish a whole training sessions and in turn their fitness is not improving.

I never used to eat breakfast, but now I seriously cannot start the day without a huge breakfast! It is my favourite meal for the day. I know your always hearing people say “breakfast is the most important meal of the day”, but it actually is the most important meal! I really believe this!

So please guys start your day off healthy with a bite to eat and plenty of water before you start your training, it won’t take long to get in the habit of having breakfast every morning before your session, in no time you won’t even think about having to eat breakfast, it will just be part of your morning routine and you will be thinking “How did I ever skip this amazing meal each day?”

Introducing PerFit’s Newest Staff Memeber- Cat Madden

Hi there!

My name is Cat Madden, and I’m the newest staff member at PerFit Health and Wellness.

I’ve been working at PerFit Health and Wellness for the past 4 months and loving it!! I used to be a dental technician but took a 180 in my career direction and looked towards fitness.  I have coached girls rowing crews for the last 3 years and absolutely love it! I took this job because I need to be around fun and energetic people.  So by combining my experience with coaching rowing and my love for helping people, I studied and got qualified as a Personal Trainer! The best choice I have ever made!

So, enough about the boring background stuff, here’s some random facts about me!

I have 2 sisters, one older one younger.

I LOVE music festivals.

My favorite healthy food is Golden Delicious apples

My favorite naughty food is lollies……any jube lollies!

I love watching Antique Roadshow

I laugh when I see people fall over (but not in the studio!)

People always comment on my upbeat personality

I seriously can’t touch polystyrene without getting queasy and shivering

I can’t wait to go sky diving! I’ve been booked in for 4 months but it keeps getting canceled due to bad weather!

So that’s me in a nutshell. I can’t wait to share my health and fitness tips with you (along with any other quirky stories I think you might like)

Talk to you soon!

Cat

Top 10 Nutrion Secrets To Weightloss PART 2

Part 2 of our fantastic article on ways to ensure you stick to your weight loss plan.

Secret 7: Turn off the Tube
Time spent watching TV is time spent being completely sedentary (and thus expending minimal amounts of calories) and often eating as well. Most people mindlessly consume snacks while mesmerized in front of the television, not noticing the rapidly multiplying calorie intake. Case in point: The successful NWCR “losers” watched less than 10 hours of television per week.

Don’t be a couch Potato!

Secret 8: Retrain Your Brain
Interestingly, most people who have lost and kept off the most weight tend to be “lower left” brained, meaning they are organized, controlled, methodical and disciplined. This is not to say that those of us who thrive on spontaneity or embrace clutter are doomed- it’s just a matter of retraining our brains. Encourage clients to become better organized by writing a grocery shopping list and sticking to it! Before your next exercise session, plan your workout schedule for the next week and make a promise to stick to it. These efforts will help solidify their lifestyle change and make permanent weight loss more of a reality.

Secret 9: Start Today and Don’t Cheat
It’s easy to put off starting a serious lifestyle change to a later date. Likewise, it’s easy to “cheat” and eat an extra piece of cake here, a pizza there. It’s important to be diligent when attempting to lose weight, because people who don’t cheat on a regular basis are 150% more likely to maintain their weight loss. Encourage clients to adopt a “doable” healthy lifestyle they can stick with; this will reduce those compelling urges to unwittingly sabotage their weight management success.

Be strong! Don’t give in to temptation!

Secret 10: Know that Birds of a Feather stick together
A study of 12,067 people followed over 32 years concluded that obesity spreads through social ties. That
is, obese people tend to have obese friends. Pairs of friends and siblings of the same sex seem to have
the most profound effect on each others weight loss. Some researchers suspect that the spread of obesity
has a lot to do with an individual’s general perception of the social norms regarding the acceptability
of obesity. The logic works like this: If my best friend and my sister are both obese and I love and admire
them all the same, then maybe it’s not so bad that I gain a few pounds. Clients can reverse this psychological
phenomenon by inviting pals to work out at the gym or go for a bike ride with them to stay or get fit.

We hope you can implement some of these tips into your daily life to help you with your weight loss goals. If you would like further help, please fill out the consult form by clicking the link below!

Sue Drops 11.6kgs of fat and wins Body Balance Contest!

After nearly not turning up to the initial welcome session, Sue Morna lost 11.6kgs of fat and 55cm from her body to win PerFit Health and Wellness’ first ever Body Balance Contest. Sue was the unanimous winner, claiming the $700 cash prize but most importantly, a brand new body and a new outlook on life!

“8 weeks ago I felt very lazy, unhealthy and really couldn’t be bothered doing anything. I decided to take part in the Body Balance Challenge because I was sick of feeling fat & unhealthy and not being able to muck around with my teenage kids.” Sue explained when looking back on her decision to make the most important change in her life.

“When I first started I doubted myself a great deal. I didn’t know if I could juggle a healthy lifestyle, work and kids. I started to notice my clothes had started to sit differently than before and I also had more energy. The results kept me going and knowing that, I felt better.”

During the Body Balance Contest, Sue (along with all other contestants) was guided through the 8 weeks with a combination of personalised 1-on-1 coaching sessions to address nutrition and exercise needs and group educational sessions which served as an opportunity to learn and help each other along the way.

“I loved the nutrition coaching. It definitely made eating correctly easier. The meal plans were fantastic. It was far from dieting and so easy to follow. The best thing I about it was the variety and amount of food I got to eat. We were even given a weekly shopping list. I couldn’t believe how much food I was eating yet I was losing weight. Go Figure?!” Sue exclaimed.

Sue found the group coaching sessions to be invaluable when it came to keeping her on track and focused. “The group education sessions were great, I loved it. There was no bitchiness….. which everyone believes there is in contests. It was actually the opposite. We tried to support each other and ask how the others how they had done for the week”

When asked about how she feels about winning the contest, Sue says the money really isn’t and wasn’t the motivating factor. “That (The $700 prize) was just a bonus and everyone was really a winner”

When asked how life had changed for Sue after these 8 weeks she replied with a smile “Now I walk with my head help high, especially after seeing the before and after photos….Ive got a bounce in my step now which I never had. My confidence has definitely lifted and even other people are noticing the difference and are just blown away.”

Sue passionately expressed for anyone else out there wanting to make a change in their health and fitness, getting started is the hardest part. “At the very start of the contest I thought to myself ‘I don’t know if I can be bothered (turning up to the meeting)’, and that’s the problem…you get yourself into such a rut. You just need to kick yourself up the butt and say ‘No, I’m going to do this’” Sue emotionally explained. “You may hit speed bumps along the way but the fact you’ve got the ball rolling means you’ve got your motivation and momentum up to overcome them.

In the following weeks a brand new 8-week body balance contest will be starting which Sue whole heatedly advocates all to register for. “I loved all 8 weeks of the contest with PerFit and can’t recommend it enough. If you have been looking to make a change in your health and are on the fence about it, stop finding excuses and do it now. There is no better way”.

For more information about the upcoming Body Balance Contest and to register, visit

www.BodyBalanceBallarat.com.au

and start your transformation today!

Personal Trainer Ballarat PerFit- Top 5 Winter Exercise Tips

Hearty Shepherd’s Pie

Ingredients
1.5 kg sweet potato
1 tblspn olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
½ cup dried green lentils (or 150g lean mince)
1 medium carrot, diced
2 ½ cups vegetable stock
1 x 400g can crushed tomatoes
1 ½ tblspns tomato paste
½ cup each peas and corn (fresh or frozen)
Small handful of fresh herbs of your choice
½ cup grated cheddar cheese
Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees centigrade. Peel and cut sweet potato into large chunks. Steam for 10 minutes, or until tender. Mash to a smooth consistency, season with salt and pepper, then set aside. Warm the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and gently fry the onion and garlic until onion softens. Add the lentils (or mince) and carrot and fry gently until carrot begins to soften. Add the stock, tomatoes, tomato paste and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the peas and corn and continue to simmer 10 minutes until thick. Stir in the herbs and transfer to a large ovenproof dish. Cover with mashed sweet potato and sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 15 minutes or until the top is golden.

Tomato Soup with Basil

Ingredients

3 cloves garlic, crushed

2 leeks, finely chopped

1 cup celery & leaves, finely chopped

1 ¼ cups vegetable stock

2 kg tomatoes, peeled, seeded and roughly chopped

2 tablespoons pure tomato paste

3 teaspoons fresh basil, finely chopped

Black pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a large saucepan add garlic, leeks, celery and ¼ cup vegetable stock.

2. Simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Add tomatoes and remaining stock.

4. Simmer for 20 minutes.

5. Add tomato paste, basil and season with pepper.

6. Simmer for a further 10 minutes and serve.

Top 10 Nutrion Secrets To Weightloss PART 1

Follow these 10 nutrition secrets and you will be on your way to a great body transformation

Secret 1: Control Portions
Less than 20 years ago, a standard cup of coffee with whole milk and sugar measured in at 1 cup and 45 calories. Today, many java junkies have replaced that cup with a Starbucks 4 cup Grande Mocha Frappuccino, which weighs in at a whopping 380 calories (www.starbucks.com). To burn all those extra calories, you would have to walk for at least one hour. Successful weight “losers” control their food portions. In fact, research suggests portion control is the greatest predictor of successful weight loss. Control portions by learning to read nutrition labels; carefully measure out servings; eat only a single helping; use smaller serving dishes; and resist the urge to “clean your plates.”

Secret 2: Be Mindful When Eating
Many people turn to food when they are bored or stressed out. Learn to only to eat when hungry and stop when you’re full. That means paying attention to everything you eat. You should ask yourself why are you heading to the fridge or pantry. Are you really motivated by hunger, or are you really just bored, stressed, sad, tired and maybe even full from their last meal or snack! Emotional eating can wreak havoc on a well-planned weight management program.

Secret 3: Exercise Regularly
Fitness is key in losing weight and keeping those pounds off. More than 94% of articipants who succeeded in their goals in the National Weight Control Registry increased their rate of physical activity (NWCR 2007). In fact, many who lost weight reported walking for at least 1 hour per day. And for those who kept the weight off, exercise was also crucial. This was evident because the registry participants who dropped out of fitness programs ended putting the weight back on (NWCR 2007). Remember, as people lose weight, a proportion of each kilogram comes from muscle; that, in turn , slows down the metabolism and makes it difficult to keep the weight off. Although walking and other cardiovascular exercise is important for burning calories, a resistance training program is essential to help preserve their lean tissue and keep up their metabolic rate.

Secret 4: Check the Scale
While it is not advisable to become obsessive about weight to the nearest 0.01 kilo, people who maintain their weight loss do so by keeping periodic tabs on the scale, weighing themselves ideally once per week. This way they are able to identify small weight increases in time to take appropriate corrective action.

Secret 5: Eat Breakfast
More than 75% of the NWCR participants eat breakfast daily; only 4% never do. And research suggests that breakfast eaters weigh less and suffer from fewer chronic diseases than people who skip breakfast.

Secret 6: Monitor Intake
One of the strongest predictors of successful and maintained lifestyle change is monitoring dietary intake. While it can be tedious to keep a daily food log, research has shown that this practice is a highly effective and proven strategy.

To Be Continued…. See Part II Soon!

Can You Eat Healthy When Ordering Fast Food?

This is a good question!! Many of us are just too lazy to eat healthy. We always seem to find time to shop for a new dress, go to the movies or watch the football game but not enough time to have a good healthy dinner. Grabbing a pie and beer at the game is way too convenient. Yes, eating healthy costs a little more and takes a little more time and energy to prepare, but what is more important that football game or your long term health? If you do not have your health, you will eventually not be able to
attend the footy!!
Fast food chains have been one of the major contributing factors to our obesity problem here in the Australia. In all major cities, you can find every type of food on every corner with a drive through window attached!! Fortunately, many fast food chains have re-directed their efforts to become more health conscious for us busy people on the go!! If you ask, most outlets have the nutritional specifications about their food. The things to be aware of are the fat content per serving, the sodium content and of course, the calories.

Here are some tips when you decide to drive through one of these chains:

1. Order only grilled items on the menu. Avoid the fried fish or chicken.

2. Be aware of the calories and carbohydrates from the “white flour’ buns on your burgers/rolls. If possible,
eliminate the bread and order a pita wrap or salad in its place.

3. Try a honey-mustard sauce on your grilled chicken or as a salad dressing- Be aware of how many
fat grams and calories are in salad dressings.
4. Order the small burger meals instead of the large ones even though they are apparently “better value” (but not for waistline!).

5. Forget about the extras such as bacon or cheese on your burger. Omit it and add mustard and ketchup. You will save
yourself a lot of fat grams.

6. Avoid your “high sugar” drinks and milk shakes. One 750ml soft drink has as much as 50 grams of sugar. (Sugar turns to fat very quickly if not used).

7. Order low-fat milk, diet sodas, tea or water to drink.

8. If ordering pizza, eliminate the high-fat meats and go light on the cheese. Eat a big salad with boiled egg whites (if possible) on top to help satisfy.

9. If at a salad bar, “anything green” is a good start. Do not add ham, bacon, pasta salads or high-fat dressings. Limit your croutons, cheese and nuts. Add boiled eggs without yolks for protein. Vegetables such as celery, tomatoes, peppers, and corn are good for filling you up. Careful with the high calorie breads served at salad bars- they are good on the lips, but terrible for the waist and hips.

10. Last but not least, avoid high-fat desserts such as ice cream, apple pies and cakes. Order the low-fat yogurt instead.
Eating out or driving through your favorite fast-food chains does not have to allow you to “break the laws” of good, healthy eating- Follow the rules, search the menu and order smart. GOOD LUCK!

If you would like some more help with your nutrition, a PerFit customised nutrition plan is for you. We sit down and create a sensible eating plan with the foods you like, to help you get the body of your dreams! Click on the free consult link at the top of this page to get started!

Why You Should Eat Five Meals A Day

Now, you may be asking yourself how eating 5 times a day could possibly be good for you! This eating plan, of course, consists of good, healthy foods along with goods habits- you cannot eat pizza 5 times per day to be a lean, mean working machine. The only thing you would be is a big blob of blubber! Foods high in carbohydrates, like pizza, drag you down, bloat you and deplete your
energy. It is time for you to change your habits and start eating light and healthy.
Your first step to change your lifestyle and your eating habits is to start the day with a good healthy breakfast. Your body needs source of protein and carbohydrate at breakfast. Continue your day eating a good source of protein, carbohydrates and some fats every 3-4 hours. Do not let your body go more than 4 hours without food as you may slow down your metabolism. What we are working towards is to raise your metabolic rate so you can burn calories all day long. Drink plenty of water before and after meals and throughout the day to curb your appetite. You want to flush out any toxins and excess fat in your body.

Try to plan your meals with the foods you enjoy. If you do not like tuna, do not force yourself to eat it. You will never stay consistent if you are dreading what you have to eat. Eat your meals slowly while sitting down. Too many of us eat on the run, standing in the kitchen or in the car. We do not give our bodies the chance to tell our brains we are satisfied and as you know, if you are not satisfied, you might over eat.
There are going to be days that you might “fall off the band wagon.” For example, you might eat a high fat meal or over eat at dinner. If this happens, do not give up- just get right back on your eating plan the next day and your body will not be affected. If you thrown in the towel, that is where you get into trouble. If you make a mistake at work, you don’t just quit your job – you correct it and move forward. Remember, quitters never win and winners never quit.

Here are some tips to follow if body fat loss is your goal:
• Have your food steamed, baked, broiled or roasted.
• Eliminate any rich, thick sauces and soups such as bernaise, hollandaise, alfredos and sauces (marinara is a better choice).
• Remove skin and fat from chicken.
• Eliminate butter all together.
• Eat smaller portions- more often- never stuff yourself.
• Share dessert- do not eat the whole thing by yourself!
• Learn to just have a taste- if it is a food you cannot resist, stay away from it all together.
• Chew gum while baking- especially during the holidays.
• Ask for your salad dressing on the side- dip your fork in for taste.
• Do not go out to dinner starved- this will lead you to over eat. Drink water before your meals.

Schedule a free consultation if you would like more information on PerFit’s exclusive and revolutionary nutritional programs with guaranteed results! We tailor a meal plan (And a shopping list!) just for you with the foods you enjoy eating.

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