As FIt As a Butchers Dog

Just stumbling around the internet as I often do and came across a get UK based website for all those who are out there looking for a partner to do various sports with or for a coach.


Well go to http://afaabd.com/ and get yourself a profile, let everyone know what you are looking for and you might find a group, club, or training partner in the sport or activity you are looking for.

While your on there why not look us up my profile is Tomforesight and if you are one of our clients it would be very much appreciated if you could give us a rating!

Until next time,

TOM

Tom Godwin – Personal Trainer – Foresight Fitness Services (Personal Training + Corporate Wellbeing) - Manchester and Cheshire, UK

trainer@foresight-fitness.co.uk

www.foresight-fitness.co.uk

Q+A: I am planning to have a baby, should i continue exercising if I get pregnant?

It is a great idea to continue your training throughout your pregnancy, it will of course need some modification, so let your personal trainer know. They will be able to make sure that the exercises that they give you are appropriate for the trimester you are currently in.

There are many great benefits of exercising while pregnant, these include:-

• Mothers who exercise tend to have a shorter labour.
• Mothers who exercise tend to have a more comfortable pregnancy.
• Mothers who exercise need less medical intervention during labour

TOM

Tom Godwin – Personal Trainer – Foresight Fitness Services (Personal Training + Corporate Wellbeing) - Manchester and Cheshire, UK

trainer@foresight-fitness.co.uk

www.foresight-fitness.co.uk

Fat Basics

What is fat?

Fat is the most concentrated form of energy in our diet, yielding 9 calories per gram compared to 4 calories per gram with carbohydrates and proteins. Fats are also important carriers of vitamins A, D, E and K. Fats are found both in solid form (fat) and liquid form (oils) at room temperature. Fats are made up of fatty acids, different combinations of these building blocks of fat are what gives different fats its different properties. Fatty acids are basically chains of carbon atoms.

What is fat used for in the body?

In the body fats are used for a wide variety of functions. These include protection of the bodies organs, providing insulation, give the body its shape, protect the brain and coat the nervous system.

Are there different types of fat?

There are three main types of fat, these are discussed below:-

• Saturated fats – usually solid at room temperature. Primarily from animal fats but also coconut and palm oil. These fats are the culprits of heart disease as they are high in the harmful LDL cholesterol.
• Unsaturated fats – usually liquid at room temperature. Primarily from vegetable oils and oily fish. There are two types of unsaturated fats, monounsaturated (olive oil, rapeseed oil, peanut oil) and polyunsaturated (sunflower oil, safflower oil, corn oil). These fats contain HDL cholesterol, or the good cholesterol. HDL can help to eliminate, or cancel out the harmful LDL.
• Cis or trans fats – unsaturated fats that have been treated to give them the properties of saturated fats. These are thought to be worse than saturated fats, as they appear to reduce good HDL and increase LDL levels.

What problems are associated with a high fat diet?

High fat diet are associated with a higher risk of coronary heart disease, also many suffer from higher cholesterol levels. Due to the fact that fat is high in calories high fat diets are also associated with obesity.

What problems are associated with a low fat diet?

Fat is an essential part of our diet, fat is present in every single one of our bodies cells. In women with a lower body at percentage than 15-20% may experience an absence of periods, due to hormonal imbalances. This may lead to fertility problems in the future. Low fat diets in general can result in missing out on essential fatty acids and vitamins needed by the body.

How much fat should I eat?

It is recommended that approx 15 – 30% of your daily calorie intake should be made up of fat. This is a very general figure and should be discussed fully with a nutritional therapist.

TOM

Tom Godwin – Personal Trainer – Foresight Fitness Services (Personal Training + Corporate Wellbeing) - Manchester and Cheshire, UK

trainer@foresight-fitness.co.uk

www.foresight-fitness.co.uk

Setting Effective New Years Resolutions

It is that time of year again when we are looking towards/back at Christmas, then looking down at that bit of a budge that we have put on. It springs into many people minds to set themselves some new years resolutions based around health and fitness. But lets face it, how many of you have looked back at the resolutions you set last year, or what we are going to refer to as goals, and have achieved them? Unfortunately not many people do go on to achieve what they have set out to do, but why?

I feel that by following some simple goal setting rules, and this is not just post Christmas, but all year round, you can greatly increase your chance of achieving your goals. So lets take a look at the SMARTER system for setting goals, all goals must be:-

Specific - Goals must be specific to what you want to achieve, a goal such as to ‘get fitter’ is too vague to be used motivationally. A specific goal needs to be along the lines of 'to improve my fitness levels to a point where I can run a 10K'.

Measurable - All goals must have some form or measurable element such as a time, a weight or the completion of an event, so you clearly know when you have achieved your goal. A goal such as 'to lose weight' is useless as it has no clear end point.

Agreed - If you do not feel that you can achieve a goal, then you will have no ownership of it and therefore it loses it's motivating power. Goals must therefore be considered achievable and agreed to by all parties involved.

Realistic - A goal must be challenging but achievable. If you feel you can't achieve the goals that have been set by you then they will have no motivational effect.

Time Framed - If a goal is not time framed then it is easy to put it off, therefore increasing the risk for failure.

Exciting - Goals must excite you, if you are excited about it you are much more likely to get up and work towards achieving it.

Recorded - Writing down your goal allows you to fix and focus on what you are looking to achieve.

If I take a common example of a guy who comes to a personal trainer and would like to loose 2 stone. The goal outline might look like the following:-

'To loose 2 stone, over the next year, so I weigh 12 stone on the 31^st December 2009’.

This goal meets all the criteria of the SMARTER principle, it is specific in that he wants to loose 2 stone, it is measurable as a specific time has been set. It has been agreed between the two parties who both think it is challenging but realistic. And a specific date it is set by which he would like to achieve the weight loss, so it is time framed.

Once you have set yourself a goal it is then time to work on your strategy that will help you achieve it. This is done by initially setting a number of sub-goals with motivating rewards. These should also follow the SMARTER principle!

So for our guy he might se similar goals at 3 months, 6 months and 9 month. These would take the format of ‘I would like to loose 8lb by 1^st April, making my weight 13st6lb’. He may also set goals that might add to his main goals such as ‘ take a course of Personal Training in my first 3 months of training’ or ‘use a nutritionist to help me formulate a diet plan, during my first 3 months of training’.

Once this goal outline is completed it should not be put away in a drawer to gather dust, read over it regularly place it somewhere prominent where you will see it daily. By doing this you are focusing your mind on the goal that you have set yourself and you are preventing deviation from it.

Although goal setting like this may seem like a lengthy process compared to the relative ease of just saying in your head ‘I am going to lose 2 stone’, once you get into the habit of doing it you will soon start to see the motivational rewards of having a clearly defined goal and achievement.

I hope that by this time next year you will be looking back seeing a year of achievement, whatever your goals may be.

TOM

Tom Godwin – Personal Trainer – Foresight Fitness Services (Personal Training + Corporate Wellbeing) - Manchester and Cheshire, UK

trainer@foresight-fitness.co.uk

www.foresight-fitness.co.uk