Tag Archive for: sugar free

6 Sneaky steps to slim your tummy – Week 3 – Stress

How was week two of your “6 Sneaky steps to slim your tummy”?

  • Were you able to decrease your alcohol intake? – How did this make you feel each day?
  • Were you brighter on the mornings where you had no alcohol the night before?
  • Did you tummy feel a bit better?

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I would love to know! Share your stories with me on any of…

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Week 3:

Stress:

We now know that stress plays a big part in holding weight around our waists.

This has to do with our stress hormones being pushed out of balance when we are under constant stress with no time for adequate rest.

Do any of the following statements resonate with you?

  • “No matter how hard I exercise I still have a belly.”
  • “I work long hours and work out hard and still can’t shift my belly.”
  • “I am exhausted all the time to the point that my legs always feel heavy and I have no energy to work out.”
  • “When I wake up in the morning, even after a good amount of sleep, I still feel wiped out.”

These are just several statements I have heard from new personal training clients who are totally frustrated.

Some stress is fine and our bodies are capable of dealing with it but problems arise when we can’t recover and recharge.

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Insights:

Getting stress levels down, therefore balancing our hormone results in:

  • a healthier body shape, including your tummy
  • improved moods
  • better feeling, regulated energy levels throughout a day
  • less inflammation in our bodies, meaning less chances of injuries and future disease

Do you notice that these insights are the same for week 1 (decreasing sugar)?

Practices for this week:

  1. Think about your stress levels.
    1. Rate yourself on a scale of 1 (totally relaxed man!) through 10 (exhausted and not able to deal with stressors)
  2. What is your optimum number of hours sleep in a night?
    1. Aim to get these hours regularly
    2. Create a calming bedtime routine starting about an hour before you want to be asleep
      1. For some people this includes turning technologies off, packing their lunch and bag for the morning, bath, reading a book, sleep
    3. Notice how you deal with stressors each day.
      1. Be mindful when finding yourself in a stressful situation
      2. Take some deep breaths
      3. Focus on the moment – remember you will be fine
    4. Exercise.
      1. Yep, exercise does cause stress and breakdown of our tissues in our bodies. This is meant to happen and is healthy when we get enough rest and recovery between sessions.
      2. Genetically some people need more rest than others. If you know from past experience that you are regularly very sore post workout or take days to recover then you may be one of these people. It is beneficial for you to take more time to rest. If you still want to be active then make your next day of movement an “active recovery” such as a very light bike ride, walk, swim, core or stretch session. You will find your workouts and energy eventually swing back up therefore allowing you to feel and see better results from your performance and body.  And remember you are reading this because you are interested in your tummy feeling better. More rest will help.
      3. Your genes may not be a factor but your stress levels can be!
        1. More is not better when you are feeling stressed and exhausted.
        2. Rest and recovery are even more important to you right now.
        3. Shorter, quality workouts are key with ample rest.
      4. Feeling stressed? But haven’t been working out then start out slow.
        1. Be sure you are sleeping enough each night.
        2. Start with 10 minute quality workouts every other day.
          1. Weight training and walking are a great options.
        3. Find 10-20 minutes each day to sit quietly with no noise or technology.

Press here for Week 4

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Need some helping planning your rest and recovery?

healthessentials

Check out my EBOOK – “Simple Healthy Living – A Guide for Busy People”

You will find lots of tools and tricks to guide you!

 

 

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Remember each week keep the practices from the previous week going.

So, sugar will be taken out for all six weeks…..

Alcohol is being decreased.

Now we are decreasing stress through adequate rest, being in the moment, taking some time to ourselves and choosing quality (not thoroughly exhausting) exercise.

Press any of the above points to review that week.

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Want to really get to the causes of your stress?

I recommend the book “The De-Stress Effect” by my friend and colleague Nutritional Therapist Charlotte Watts.  See my contributions in the exercise chapter!

Press on the book cover below to find it!

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I would love to know how you are doing over our six weeks so…..

Chat with me on twitter – facebook – instagram

Let’s have some fun!!!

Find other great workout & wellness stuff on my shop!

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6 Sneaky steps to slim your tummy – Week 2 – Alcohol

I hope you enjoyed your first week of “6 Sneaky steps to slim your tummy”!

  • How did you find decreasing your sugar intake?
  • Was it easy or difficult?

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I would love to know! Share your stories with me on any of…

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Week 2!!!

pint of beer, slim your tummy

Alcohol is our focus this time around.

As many of you know I am a very realistic and nurturing personal trainer. I never tell anyone they need to completely give up alcohol unless they know they have an all or nothing type personality.

I do believe that less alcohol is better when trying to slim a tummy, or at least get rid of a bloating feeling.

Who out there feels lethargic and bloated after a night of drinking?

Trousers a bit tight? Belly pinching on the waist line?

I personally can’t stand that feeling!

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Alcohol can affect our bellies for two reasons

Glass of water, stay hydrated

 

It is high in sugar, which we discussed last week in the post here and it is a diuretic which means it can cause your body to flush out too much water.

In a weird way this means that because your body is losing water it will hang on to whatever is left in the body and cause you to look and feel bloated.

The latter can also be caused by the stomach lining becoming inflammed or irritated by the alcohol. Because the stomach then doesn’t do it’s job properly there is a cascade of irritation all the way through the intestinal tract.

 

Staying hydrated

Drinking less alcohol and more water is also important because we are then keeping our cells hydrated and functioning optimally.

When our cells can do their jobs they flush out toxins better which means a healthier and slimmer feeling body.

The reality is you can help yourself feel better all around when you decrease alcohol intake.

 

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Insights:

Less alcohol each week can:

  • slim your tummy because of less bloating from the stomach and intestinal tract being irritated
  • allow for increased energy
  • keep you hydrated which allows for overall optimal body functioning

Practices for this week:

  • if you know you are an all or nothing person then take out alcohol completely for the next 5 weeks
  • for those who can have a little bit of alcohol and stay at those guidelines then choose a block of days each week to go alcohol free
    • ie: Sun-Thurs – no alcohol
  • do allow for any functions or parties you have coming up and adjust your alcohol intake days accordingly
    • ie: if you are taking Sun-Thurs off alcohol but have a party on a Thursday then have a bit but then take Friday off | In other words ebb and flow with any given week
  • swap water for alcohol
  • eat before you drink – most likely you won’t want that glass of wine once you have eaten
  • the less you have the better you and your lovely tummy will feel!

Press here for Week 3

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Recommendations:

Review from last week…

Alcohol is high glycemic so last week’s recommendations are still relevant.

If you want more information and guidance on sugar I highly recommend the following from a few colleagues of mine:

VIDEO: by Nutritional Therapist – Angelique Panagos – “Can I eat sugar and still be healthy” – find it on her homepage

Book: by Nutritional Therapist – Amelia Freer – “Eat.Nourish.Glow”

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Get in touch!

LisbonCHutsebaut015

I would love to know how you are doing over our six weeks so…..

Chat with me on twitterfacebookinstagram

Let’s have some fun!!!

Find other great workout & wellness stuff on my shop!

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6 Sneaky steps to slim your tummy – Week 1 – Sugar

Do you think you have to do 100s of sit-ups to achieve a flatter tummy? Think again!

I have brilliant news!

Finding and keeping toned abs is not all about exercising. There are other parts of our lifestyles and health routines that are more important.

Let me share a story with you.

Over the years when I have met people at parties or networking events we always get around to the “What do you do?” question. When I tell them I am a personal trainer, most people look down at their stomachs, grab a bit of flesh and say, “So, how do I get rid of this?!” It amazes me how this happens over and over again. No one has ever asked me how to get toned legs, butts, arms etc.

You want it….you got it! Let’s talk about the ever elusive flatter tummy.

Over the next six weeks here on Life Labs I will share my “6 Sneaky steps to slim your tummy.” Each post will give you an insight and some practices to implement, slowly guiding you towards making positive changes and building new habits.

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Sugar

Who out there is a sugar addict?

*Hands up* from me for sure!

In a nut shell sugar can cause weight gain, mood swings, energy spikes/dips and inflammation in our bodies. This has far reaching implications not only on how our bodies feel and look but also on long term health.

When we eat sugar it spikes in our blood streams quite fast. This is dealt with quickly but the problem is we are so good at this process that our blood sugars drop so low it then creates a craving for our next sugar hit. This is why if you have a sugary breakfast option or something which is high glycaemic (food’s effect on a person’s blood sugar) you will find you are really hungry again within an hour or two, craving something again by 10 or 11am. These cravings are so strong that many people give in and have more.

Sugar is described as a drug by many nutritionists.

All of this means we are taking in more energy than we need so it is then stored, normally in fat cells. If you also have a stressful life the storage is more likely to happen around your midsection. I know someone out there is reading this and thinking but what if I work out to get rid of the energy. I would say yes, true… But there are better foods out there to nurture and support your body through a day including workouts where you will have more even energy.

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Insights:

A life without sugar means:

  • a healthier body shape, including your tummy
  • improved moods
  • better feeling, regulated energy levels throughout a day
  • less inflammation in our bodies, meaning less chances of injuries and future disease

Practices for this week:

  1. Decrease sugar intake (let’s keep it simple to start)
    1. This includes:
      1. white bread products, sugar, additives (corn syrup, glucose, fructose etc) – check your labels!
      2. soft drinks, fruit juices & energy drinks
  2. Increase vegetables and good sources of protein (fish, chicken, nuts/seeds, avocadoes, eggs, turkey, nut butters)

Each week keep the practices from the previous week going.

So, sugar will be taken out for all six weeks…..

Press here for Week 2

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Recommendations:

I have tried to keep our approach straight forward for you. If you want more information and guidance on sugar I highly recommend the following from a few colleagues of mine:

VIDEO: by Nutritional Therapist – Angelique Panagos – “Can I eat sugar and still be healthy” – find it on her homepage

Book: by Nutritional Therapist – Amelia Freer – “Eat.Nourish.Glow”

 

Press on the picture to find the book.

________________________________________________________________________________

Get in touch!

LisbonCHutsebaut015

I would love to know how you are doing over our six weeks so…..

Chat with me on twitterfacebookinstagram

Let’s have some fun!!!

Find other great workout & wellness stuff on my shop!

Healthy protein powder

Over the weekend I met a lovely couple who asked me about protein powders. They obviously take their health seriously as they love to workout and eat good food. However, when I asked them what types of protein powder they were already using they mentioned chocolate, strawberry….they shopped around for best prices.

I am all for getting a deal but when it comes to certain products we eat I am a firm believer of choosing clean items free from additives, colourings and fake sugars. Many protein powders have all of these when they really don’t need to. If you look carefully you can find powders without any of these. They have no taste and actually this is a bonus because you can then add things to your smoothies or homemade sports drinks which have natural tastes such as berries, avocados, natural yogurt, bananas, almond milk, fresh juices (grape is great!) and cherry active. These real foods will enhance your recovery and therefore your performance.

Staying away from man made additives and fake sugars is very important for your overall health and fitness achievements whatever they may be.

Top Sports Nutritional Therapist Ian Craig, editor of Functional Sports Nutrition and Total Sports Performance magazines and creator of the Functional Sports Nutrition Academy course recommends the following source in the UK for proteins. Other companies sell powders of course just remember to choose the plain/unflavoured versions.

www.myprotein.com

I also recommend hemp powder by Naturya for recovery drinks.

Hemp powder - Naturya

10 minute tummy tighteners

As originally seen in “Woman” magazine – June 2012 

 

Take inches off your waist in no time with these super-quick tricks…

Start the day with yoghurt for breakfast

‘Low-fat dairy products may help lower the levels of fat that get deposited around the abdomen’ reveals Charlotte Stirling-Reed, a registered public health nutritionist and founder of SR Nutrition. ‘Try a breakfast of low-fat, plain yoghurt with some oats and fruit.’

Imagine you’re in a ‘corset’

‘While standing, imagine the muscle tissue from your ribcage to pelvis as a corset,’advises Charlene Hutsebaut, a Pilates instructor and personal trainer. ‘Now, imagine the corset being pulled and tightened fiom behind, and try to move the muscles in the same way. This will help strengthen the tranwerse abdominal muscles and help give you an internal ‘corset’ making your stomach look firmer.’

Skip sugar-free foods

While loading up on refined sugars is a sure-fire way to land yourself a spare tyre, you aiso need to be aware of the dangers of some sugar-free options. Sweeteners such as
sorbitol are broken down and absorbed very slowly by the human body, meaning they can feed the gut bacteria that produce belly-bloating gas.

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Ready to take your own action?! 

Press here to start my 6 Sneaky Steps to Slim your Tummy Series 

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Try a super-powered plank

‘To work your stomach muscles, try an alternative side plank’ says Charlene. ‘Lie on one side and push yourself off the floor, while one hand reaches up and the other supports you with your fingers facing forward and pull your tummy towards your spine as you bring the top arm up and over towards the one on the floor. Go as far as you can without dipping. Hold for 10 secs.’

Lay off the leggings

While skin-ti9ht leggings and skinny jeans can hold you in, they can also make your core muscles relax and sag as they become lazy. Switch to clothes
where you have to hold your tummy in yourself to help tighten those midriff muscles back up.

Flush out fluid

To deflate a bloated belly, try adding foods with diuretic properties to your diet to help ease any fluid retention. Watermelon, celery asparagus and cucumber are all good choices, plus they taste great!

Hang up your killer heels

Yes, we know a pair of shiny stilettos can make your legs look longer and leaner, but experts say they can also turn a taut tum into a pot belly thanks to the way they encourage your pelvis to tilt, pushing your abs forward. Switch to f lats for an instant tummy trimmer, and try to go barefoot at home.

Can the cola

It’s easy to reach for caffeine when you need an energy hit, but by ditching the coffee and coke you could minimise your midriff. Studies have suggested that caffeine could cause levels of the stress hormone cortisol to spike for a shocking 18 hours after you’ve finished sipping your drink. Secreted by the adrenal gland, excess levels of the hormone can mean fat cells get dumped in your tummy.

Talk more sl-l-o-w-l-y

It might sound far-fetched, but researchers at the American College of Gastroenterology have found that nattering away can increase the amount of air you take in, making your belly balloon.

Shop yourself slim

For a no-fuss way to instantly slim your stomach, shapewear is getting better and better. Our fuvourite waist whiltler is Miraclesuit’s new lightweight Sheer Hi Waist Brief,£31.95, shapewear.co.uk.

Get minted

If cravings are stopping you from sculpting that stomach and keeping flab on your abs, try taking a sniff of peppermint. Research from the States found that people who sniffed mint or certain fruits when they had a craving lost more weight than non-inhalers.

Go wholegrain

Switch processed white bread for wholegrain. Studies show that wholegrain-rich diets are linked to a smaller waist circumference.

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Ready to take your own action?! 

Press here to start my 6 Sneaky Steps to Slim your Tummy Series 

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View the original article here (Woman, June 2012)

View the original article here (from Woman Diet Special, April 2013)