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?”

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

• Your friend has an obsession with weight and food (more than general comments about how many calories he or she eats in a day). It might seem like your friend talks about food, weight and being thin and nothing else.

• Your friend knows exactly how many calories and fat grams are in everything that he or she eats — and is constantly pointing this out.

• Your friend feels the need to exercise all the time, even when sick or exhausted.

• Your friend avoids hanging out with you and other friends during meals. For example, he or she avoids the school cafeteria at lunch or the coffee shop or diner where you usually meet on weekends.

• Your friend starts to wear big or baggy clothes. Lots of people wear baggy clothes as a fashion statement, but someone who wears baggy clothes to hide their shape might have other issues.

• Your friend goes on dramatic or very restrictive diets, cuts food into tiny pieces, moves food around on the plate instead of eating it, and is very precise about how food is arranged on the plate.

• Your friend seems to compete with others about how little they eat. If a friend proudly tells you she only had a diet soda for breakfast and half an apple for lunch, it’s a red flag that she could be developing an eating disorder.

• Your friend goes to the bathroom a lot, especially right after meals, or you’ve heard your friend vomiting after eating.

• Despite losing a lot of weight, your friend always talks about how fat he or she is.

• Your friend appears to be gaining a lot of weight even though you never see him or her eat (people with bulimia often only eat diet food in front of their friends).

• Your friend is very defensive or sensitive about his or her weight loss or eating habits.

• Your friend buys or takes laxatives, steroids, or diet pills.

• Your friend has a tendency to faint, bruises easily, is very pale, or starts complaining of being cold more than usual (cold intolerance can be a symptom of being underweight).

What to Do

If a friend has these symptoms and you’re concerned, the first thing to do might be to talk to your friend, privately, about what you’ve noticed. Tell your friend that you’re worried. Be as gentle as possible, and try to really listen to and be supportive of your friend and what he or she is going through.

It’s normal for people with eating disorder to feel guarded and private about their eating problems. Try not to get angry or frustrated. Remind your friend that you care.

People with eating disorders often have trouble admitting — even to themselves — that they have a problem. Trying to help someone who doesn’t think he or she needs help can be hard. Many people feel successful and in control when they become thin, but those with eating disorders can become seriously ill and even die. If your friend is willing to seek help, offer to go with him or her to see a counselor or a medical expert.

If your concerns increase and your friend still seems to be in denial, talk to your parents, the school guidance counselor or nurse, or even your friend’s parents. This isn’t easy to do because it can feel like betraying a friend. But it’s often necessary to get a friend the help he or she needs.

Eating disorders can be caused by — and lead to — complicated physical and psychological illnesses. You can support your friend by learning as much as you can about eating disorders. Your friend’s body image and behavior may be a symptom of something else that’s going on. Many organizations, books, websites, hotlines, or other resources are devoted to helping people who are battling eating disorders.

Being a supportive friend also means learning how to behave around someone with an eating disorder. Here are some ways to support a friend who is battling an eating problem:

• Try your best not to talk about food, weight, diets, or body shape (yours, your friend’s, or even a popular celebrity’s).
• Try not to be too watchful of your friend’s eating habits, food amounts, and choices.
• Try not to make statements like, “If you’d just eat (or stop working out so much), you’ll get better.”
• Focus on your friend’s strengths — that he or she has a great smile, is helpful and friendly, or good at math or art.
• Try to avoid focusing on how your friend looks physically.

Most important, remind your friend that you’re there no matter what. You want to help him or her get healthy again. Sometimes you’d be surprised how asking simple questions such as “what can I do to help?” or “what would make you feel better?” can lead to a great conversation about how you can help your friend heal.

Source: http://kidshealth.org

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!

“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!

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.

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.

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!

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!