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Comments from the Big Man
We all get busy. Working long hours. Fast food meals to catch up. We delete things from our schedule which aren’t a high priority. Often that means skipping a workout. This pressure leads us to make excuses to justify OUR DECISIONS. It comes down to this; what motivates YOU to train and eat healthy? What gets YOUR blood pumping while YOU train (loud music, yelling, someone yelling at YOU, competing with others?) What does it take to get you to night sessions in winter?
Unlike cavemen, we no longer need a high level of fitness to stay alive (unless you are a special forces soldier in a war zone...). We train to: feel healthy, get fit, look amazing, be the best we can be, challenge ourselves, feel more energetic...
There are far more important reasons to train hard. Healthy humans survive illness and injury FAR better and recover quicker than unfit and unhealthy humans. I have witnessed astonishing recoveries of fit people as a paramedic in the military and civilian world and not just Aussies, I have seen this all around the world. Best example: a triathlete shot through both legs and walking the next day... The flexibility which comes from stretching after training is for life, e.g. if you strengthen your legs with squats/sprints and jump lunges then stretch after you are far less likely to experience lower back pain (especially if you train barefoot, but more on that next time) which cripples so many Australian adults who don’t squat down to lift everyday items and lack flexibility. And by the way the time for stretching is always after you train not before (stay tuned for my next blog).
Here are my top five favourite excuses (which people try to peddle to me) in no particular order, and suggestions for not letting them become your reasons for your diabetes or your stroke or your heart attack.
Excuse 1
Ran out of time
The Tabata protocol last 4 minutes (20 seconds work then 10 seconds rest x 8) and is designed to push you to exhaustion. Four sets of Tabata takes 16 minutes. All you need is a couple of metres of floor/ground space and with 4 minutes of push ups, crunches, jump lunges and air squats you have functionally trained your body with no equipment. You don’t even need shoes!
The Baby Jo 20 minute workout
5 minute NO Santa stomach! workout
Excuse 2
I can’t afford gym membership OR classes
Bodyweight exercises are free. Every park in this country has a place for chin ups. Its not just push ups and chin ups, you are limited only by your imagination...burpees, flipping/running with an old tyre. It never has to be the same workout. The undisputed legend of fight fitness Ross Enamait at www.rosstraining.com (also on Facebook) has specific designs for improvised home made boxing, strength and conditioning equipment.
Excuse 3
I’m not fit enough to start a class yet
Our classes are purpose built for beginners AND advanced athletes. No-one walks out of a Sweat Depot session without burning fat. In fact you will be still burning fat hours and hours after you leave. All you need to do is start today and do your body a favour by following your session with a high protein, no (or low) carb diet with plenty of water/mineral water, NO SUGAR and YOU WILL SEE RESULTS. YOUR friends and family will see your results. Passers by at the shops will see your results.....DON’T wait til you’re fit enough we will get you there!
Excuse 4
I don’t have time to cook healthy meals
Let's look at a delicious lunch for home or work. One wholegrain tortilla with half an avocado (containing good fat which you will use in your next workout), some cold meat, some grated carrot, your favourite cheese and with some preparation from the night before some diced baked/boiled sweet potato (brilliantly packed with low GI energy and sooo tasty). Quick to make, inexpensive, and full of flavour without the need for sugary/salty sauce that will make it go soggy anyway.
Dinner: slap a steak on a pre heated BBQ, put a bag of snap frozen store brand veges in the microwave and in 5 minutes, your healthy fast dinner can be on the table.
LEFT OVERS (butt-in from Erin....)
What ever you have left over from the night before always tastes better the day after if you make it into fritters (just add egg, some garden or dried herbs and a little spelt flour) 
Or lasagna... just line a baking dish with canned tomatoes or paste, add wholemeal sheets and layers of left over meats and veges. White sauce is as easy as ricotta cheese (or ANY cheese) and egg...
Excuse 5
I can’t afford healthy meals or protein shakes
If you calculate a week of meals as 21, following a simple plan like the one listed below for 19 meals per week (and maybe hitting some well deserved carbs in the 3 remaining meals) will SAVE YOU MONEY, help you SHRED BODY FAT, and provide the appropriate minerals you hard working body needs to aid recovery. You will also find that you don’t crave the foods you used to survive on (greasy take away, soft drink and chocolate being the main offenders)
Brekkie: rolled oats ($2) with full cream milk
Mid morning snack: a piece of fruit, a few handfuls of mixed unsalted store brand nuts and some mineral water
Lunch: wholemeal wrap mentioned above and mineral water
Mid afternoon snack: yoghurt and some more nuts
Dinner: baked chicken drumsticks with a variety of veges
Protein shakes can be delicious and are handy but are extremely expensive. They generally provide up to 30 gms of protein which is the most our bodies can digest at one time. The menu above provides the same amount of protein as a shake with each meal including each snack.
If you still need convincing that YOU need to be eating healthy from the moment you finish reading this onwards, take a walk through you nearest major hospital emergency department (take it from a former QLD paramedic). Count how many fit, lean and healthy patients you see lying in a bed. More than likely you will see overweight heart attack, stroke and diabetes victims. Then hit the outpatients department and say hi to the adult onset diabetes patients who have lost limbs to the disease due to excessive sugar intake. It would be silly not to stop in at the dental clinic and smile at the patients who have lost teeth to SUGAR.......
CAN YOU AFFORD NOT TO EAT HEALTHY FOOD?
Train hard, eat well
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