Fat loss is no different. The task is not impossible. It just requires all out war. It requires 100% effort, focus, determination and clear road map. Particularly if you want to get lean quickly. Not 80%, not being flaky at the drop of a hat.

You are either in or out.

What about this? What about if I were to tell you that to win a million euros you would have to strip naked and walk up your town high street.

I am sure that would drive you to become body conscious, enough to actually take it seriously.

So if fat loss is your goal and ‘getting in shape’ or ‘toning flabby bits’ is what you are after you had better be prepared for the fight.

Cover models, celebs have it easy. The sheer burden of having to look good in the public eye seemingly drives them work their back-sides off to stay in shape.

So where does it all begin?

First step – ditch the excuses. I couldn’t care less how many kids you have, what hours you work or how much stress you are under at work. I really couldn’t.

Some of the above is not your fault. Some of it is. But you have to take responsibility for your own actions. You didn’t slip into that biscuit tin and accidentally fall in that bowl of ice-cream.

If you want it enough you will move heaven and earth to  do it. One of my clients sets their alarm to get up before the children to cook and prepare meals for the day. That is why she is very lean. Others just do it.

So what do you need to do to get lean in say 4 weeks? This would equate to dropping a serious amount of body fat.

Notice a say body fat, not weight. You see the crucial difference here is we are looking to preserve what muscle we have. Muscle is crucial to our metabolism, tone, health and well-being. Starving yourself will lead to a loss of muscle.

It really takes a three-pronged approach focusing on training, nutrition and supplementation.

Training requires hard word. Plain and simple. Ideally, training twice a day with two days on, one day off with weight training and sprint intervals is key. Performing an exercise for the upper body and pairing this with an exercise for the lower body works best. As does High Intensity Intervals with bouts of hard work (sprints, jogs, runs – whatever you deem high intensity) followed by easy period of recovery. This is repeated for 20 minutes.

Note I say ideal. You have to build up to this. Even getting some exercise in is enough.

Your nutrition will lean towards taking in vegetables,  organics meats and fish and Omega 3 Fats in the form of Fish Oil, Nuts, Seeds and healthy oils.

Before you say, ‘Where are the breads, pastas, rice or spuds’ or ‘this isn’t balanced’ then please this isn’t for you.

I liken wheat and other refined cereals to sugar. “Wheat influences blood sugar levels the same way as plain table sugar”.

Results come fast as result if coupled with a good training programme and sound nutrition as a tailored supplement programme can be modulated depending on your own body fat distribution.

For example carrying fat around your mid-rift – the dreaded love handles – would signify a low tolerance to sugars and poor insulin management. Fish Oil, Magnesium, Greens Powders and a special blend of Fenugreek and other herbs would work wonders here.

Does this require hard-work? Yes. But it also requires a road-map tailored to your needs, a sound understanding of your physiology and hormonal activity all topped off with the grit between your teeth.

John Lark is a Fat Loss Specialist providing tools to help you get healthier and leaner – faster. He can be contacted at 01-505213. Download your free fat loss report at www.spherefitnessstudio.com

The K Word or the forbidden dietary conundrum.

Yes it shouldn’t be used by uncontrolled type 1 diabetics, pregnant women or those with an existing kidney condition. But for the vast majority of us it is perfectly safe.

Ketosis is as Lyle MacDonald states “the shifting of carbohydrate to fat as the body’s preferred use of fuel”

What actually happens?

We produce ketones all the time as a byproduct of the metabolism of fat. So there are a level of ketones within the blood all the time. They are not as some journalists have described as ‘poisonous’. IN fact the body uses them as fuel within the skeletal and cardiac muscle.

We metabolise fat into glycerol and fatty acids which is then converted into Acetyl CoA. The same effect happens when carbohydrate is metabolized into Glucose and Pyruvic Acid. The next pathway is towards Acetyl CoA.

IN the presence of Oxaloacetic Acid the Acetyl CoA will enter the Krebs Cycle for metabolism as energy

However, here comes the clever bit. Low carb diets will not induce the production of Oxoloacetic Acid in sufficient enough quantities to send it into the Krebs Cycle.

Instead it accumulates in the Liver and is converted into Ketones. These are then transported to the skeletal and cardiac muscle.

So what does the science say?

Well key studies have had positive effects on blood chemistry, childhood epilepsy and healthy weight loss (burning fat!)

Studies by Sharman (2003) and Westman in (2002) both concluded in The Journal of Nutrition that Low Carb intake generated an increase in HDL (good cholesterol), an increase in triglycerides and a change in patter of LDL from B to A (also good).

A controlled study at the University of Cincinnati in 2003 took 53 obese women and fed them 1300 kcal. One group took a high fat approach, the other a low carb approach. Interestingly the low carb approach won out with more subjects losing fat.

A final interesting note is that for 70 years, 78 medical centres in the US have used low carb diets to treat childhood epilepsy.

Science out of the way and now for the application. I know that the art really is a) what your individual goals are and b) the quality and timing of your carbohydrates.

If you are after general health than you would be best to keep your carbohydrate intake to good quality sources such as quinoa and brown rice.

Here is another tip too. Master the use of herbs and spices otherwise they will taste like your armpit.

Any of the other carbs tend to be processed and alien to the function of your body causing imflamation and other systemic overload.  The bets way of knowing this is to literally remove any sign of things like gluten for up to 6 weeks and then retest by introducing them back again and monitoring your response.

For the clients who have actually been able to stuck to this they have been so use to feeling friggin awesome without the breads, pastas and starches that they are scared of feeling crap by eating what they know is one of the main offenders of lethargy, brain fog, inflammation and other chronic based ailments.

The next issue is timing. For overall health and vitality I would recommend consuming your good quality carbs in your first meal of the day and after you train. You don’t need a lot. Just enough to ensure a good trickle to glucose to that important bit of grey matter between your ears. One serving is enough.

Do you know that your brain consumes around 20% of all the glucose in your body?

A very low carb approach will mean you becoming depressed and irritable – you may even start to detest people if they mention the word ‘biscuit’ or ‘cake’. Not a good place to be. In that respect if you have trouble falling asleep you would be wise to consume some gluten free porridge made with rice milk an hour before bed or even add in some carbohydrate in your last meal (dinner) before you hit the pillow.

That will help in winding you down making you sleepy.

So the art is always in the application. Don’t fear carbs that is just dumb. They don’t make you fat. You sitting on your arse all day and eating poor quality foods does that. Just use them wisely.

It seems everywhere I look the word‘resolution’ is staring me in the face.

Billboards, articles, magazines, the latestweight loss success story from a celebrity who will inevitably pile it all backon in within months and all the other avenues.

Here it is – never set a resolution. Youwill fail. All they are are lofty dreams without any plan of action.

I hate to be a kill-joy but this is whathappens.

“This year I will watch my weight”

Great – how, what, when, where?

“This year I will definitely start abusiness”

Great – how , what, when, where?

“This year I will watch what I eat and losea stone”

Great – how, what, when, where?

You can see where this is heading.

With a little dissection you have a loftyambition or a dream, a vision that you have created in your mind. Perhaps ithas been moulded by what you have seen, done or previously felt or achieved.

This year will be the year. This is themoment that it all happens and suddenly Rocky steps out of the picture to thesound of Eye of the Tiger.

But there is where the good bit starts andends.

Get your resolution and swap that word to a‘goal with a specific plan of action matched clearly with specific behavioursthat will align you with success.

And then write it down. Behavioural studieshave demonstrated that this simple act will increase your likelihood ofachieving them dramatically.

You can see what I use and how I teach thisover at my free community (healthcamp.ning.com).

I like this act of writing them down as ago to when the going gets tough. Every day check in on this list of goals toremind yourself what you need to DO to get it right.

Health and fitness doesn’t come easy. If itdid all of us would be walking round with six packs. And no there isn’t a magicbullet.

What you MUST do is align your purpose or‘why’ with your goal. Why are you doing this? Why are you going to give upsugar, alcohol or processed foods. It is because they make you feel like crapand the last time that you felt crap you snapped at your kids as a result?

Most of us do not align what we eat withour resultant behaviours. Well folks start seeing the patterns and it will makecompliance a lot easier. If you want to feel depressed, angry, upset,vulnerable and for some suicidal keep eating the junk and lo and behold youwill begin to tick the boxes.

Easier to find a why now – isn’t it?

So if your resolution is to lose weight forthe New Year firstly set a goal.

“I will lose 14 lbs by the end of Januarycome what May”

Then find your why.

This is important to me because I want tofeel better (too woolly – be more specific), I feel lousy all the timer (warmer– dig deeper), I was laughed at as a kid (now we sucking diesel), I love thefeeling of bouncing out of bed in the morning as it will give me the energy,drive and focus to excel at my job leading to more money for us as a family –what’s more I will have more than enough energy to deal with my children andeven remove my wild hormonal swings that I get at least twice a week. I amfrightened of the cancer that inflicted my mother at such an early age.(bingo).

Then list what you need to do in terms ofspecific behaviours.

For example -  I will hit up the gym 3 times per week, Iwill ditch coffee, wheat, processed foods, dairy and sugar for the first 30days. I will walk every morning for 30 minutes. I will have a breakfast everymorning.

These actions are the doing bit and are alot more specific to the nitty gritty of getting stuff done rather than stayingin the background of your consciousness.

I am by no means a behavioural scientistbut I know what it takes to get stuff done and make resounding change inpeople’s health and fitness. What is to say you can’t apply this technique toanything else in your life.

Dream about it by all means. And dream big– so big that it scares you. But then actually do something about it.

Downloadyour free T2H Nutrition Plan at http://www.spherefitnessstudio.com

JohnLark is owner of Sphere Fitness Group and a personal trainer in Dublin

I use to think that too. But the more I worked with people on this, the more I concluded that there is far more to this than meets the eye.

You see before the creeping on of fat and decline of health there is always a decline in mental health first.

It is why so many of us really struggle with motivation and sticking to the plan. It is why so many of us find simple changes so fundamentally impossible to keep at.
Life gets in the way. The kids are running riot. The stress of life, job and bills all keep coming and coming. The mountain never seems to move.

Optimal brain chemistry in health and fitness programmes is key to success.

How?

Well you can have someone bark at you, drag you out of bed in the morning and kick you up and down a car park or you can take control of your moods from what you eat, drink and think.

You do this and rest assured you will never need to worry about lacking the motivation to do it because you can subtlety manipulate the way you respond to life and what it throws at you.

A lot has to do with the role of a brain chemical called serotonin. Get it normal and you have a winning formula on your hands. You will feel happy, motivated, lifted and life ‘ain’t so tough all the time’.

I was standing there after a camp session there the other day and we were noting that people are so angry all the time. You know it wasn’t so long ago that we used to whistle, hum, skip and smile our way around the place.

Nowadays you would be lucky not to be ploughed out the way by ‘mother-of-three-in-jeep-at-the-car-park-trying-to-find-the-space-closest-to-the-door’.

Anger, stress and in the inability to cope with life are all markers of poor mental health. Ok – point accepted – it is not ‘prozac’ time or dehabilitating levels of depression. But it is certainly a sliding scale.

So what to do? Well there are few things but this is what you can do NOW.

Get hydrated. Your brain is dependant on you to give it its ‘oil’ and that oil is water. 3-4 litres every day – male and female.

You know we wouldn’t dream of letting our car run dry of oil yet we do it everyday to our brain.

Clean up your diet next. Focus on lots of green veggies and green drinks and add

in seeds and some vegetable based proteins. Limit your cooked meat to one meal per day and make it really good quality. Since you will be buying less you can really focus in ‘where it came from’.

Get the junk out. Most of us wouldn’t dream of feeding our kids before bed a good dose of sweets washed down with a cocktail of sunny delight. We know that it would bring about Hurricane Katrina in the living room.

The reason being is that you (yes, you – they didn’t know) have altered their brain chemistry. Since they are smaller it is faster acting too.

And since our mind and gut are inextricably linked via the valgus nerve plugging them up with piles of bread and constipating them also has a direct effect on their mental status.

Did you know that MSG actually does a pretty good job in killing off brain cells?
And that Alzheimer’s has been linked directly to diets high in sugar?

Green drinks and alkalising salts are a great addition to your daily plan. They work in maintaining and promoting an oxygenated and pH balanced body (for more on this go to my website). You need this for optimal health.

You can also supplement with tryptophan or 5-HTP, amino acids that are used in the production of serotonin. Most people sleep better with this too as increasing
serotonin will have a direct affect on the production of melatonin that will help
you sleep.

The main aim of these four simple steps (and there are so many more beyond the scope of here) is to boost our natural serotonin levels and, unlike anti-depressants that encourage you to draw on what little serotonin you have, they will give you a good boost hopefully empowering you to make the route to health
and fitness a little easier.

As is always the case, work with your health and medical practitioner if you intend on implementing some of these strategies. You never know you might teach them a thing or two .

John Lark is a Personal Trainer and Nutritional Consultant. Download your ‘5 Top Tips for Fat Loss’ at www.spherefitnessstudio.com. He can be reached at 01-5052131

http://www.yourhealthcamp.com

Let me list perhaps the 7 most effective and easiest ways of gaining fat like it was suddenly an Olympic sport. This is what the masses would be practicising at the moment.

1. Eat a Diet Rich in Sugars, Hydrogenated Vegetable Fats and ‘Acid’ Foods

Ensure that you take a restricted approach to your diet by consuming foods rich in hydrogenated vegetable oils and fats and sugar.
One trick of convincing yourself that you avoided this pitfall is to consume low-fat cereal bars.
“It’s OK – these are low in fat!”
Taking in these between meals are a sure fire way to keep you on the road to gaining fat in a sensible and progressive way by allowing us to shut down the activity of our fat burning enzymes and increasing the activity of fat storage enzymes.
Forget calories and think ‘nutrients’. How many vitamins, enzymes, minerals, phytonutrients and antioxidants in this orange compared to this 1 point choco-orange brownie.

2. Sit on Your Backside
This is a great approach to take to again ensure steady fat gain. All the excuses under the sun will be strong enough to overcome the urge to exercise and get out of breath through lifting weights, circuit training and a brisk walk, jog, run, swim or bike.
Oscar Wilde once wrote that whenever he felt like exercise he sat down until the feeling passed.Sound advice.

3. Avoid Fruits and Vegetables like the plague

Avoiding these little bundles of goodness will help me no end in my quest to put on fat over the holidays. They will allow you extra time in bed as you catch every cold going. They will even make you eat more of the sugary stuff as you will never, unbelievably, feel full after eating.
RESULT!

4. Taking No Responsibility for Your Actions
This is a great little accelerator in the fat gaining stakes.
It can’t be your fault that you cram the cookies into your mouth or sit on your backside all day watching the clock ticking.
It is your dog’s fault that he kept you up all night barking stopping you from going out for your morning walk.
It is your children’s fault that they can’t do their homework and have a play that you have to attend that stops you from attending your class.
It is your husband’s fault that he argued with you and you responded by eating a tub of Ben and Jerry’s.
Equally it is not your fault when you see the scales rise after doing nothing all weak. But that’s OK at the end of the day it is not your problem.

5. Choose to Drink 3 litres of Alcohol a Day rather than water A bottle of wine is a far better choice than a glass.10 pints seems to have far more rational logic to it that 3-4 bottles.
5 chasers seem to have a much better effect than just leaving at the lovely dinner that you ate.
But that’s OK – see point 4.

6. Stress, Stress and More Stress
This will help you lose weight but still gain fat as frequent boozing, late nights, no exercise lowers your testosterone to levels akin to the alcoholic on the corner of Grafton Street. Keep working the hours you work, neglect taking proper time off and stress the body until it cries at you to stop.
Equally stress will be available in volume alongside the more obvious times you can feel it.

7. Letting it all go!
Let it all go!
Ignore your body and the potential it has to provide you with boundless energy, strength and vitality.
Develop the will to just say no to exercise, sound food choices and a comfortable stress free lifestyle.
That is, after all the easiest way isn’t it?

John Lark is a Personal Trainer and Nutritional Consultant. Download your ’5 Top Tips for Fat Loss’ at www.spherefitnessstudio.com. He can be reached at 01-5052131.

Days drag into weeks, weeks into months, months into years and still the dreaded tyre just wont shift. The rest of the body may (or may not be) taking shape nicely. So what is going on and more importantly how can we fix it?

Your love handle levels are a direct correlation to your glucose or sugar tolerance which in turn is a direct reflection of how healthy you are.

So, you want to get lean? Well then get healthy!

In simple terms when we eat sugar, take for instance a piece of cake, our body responds by releasing insulin to shuttle that sugar to the muscle cells for use. That is when we are insulin sensitive.

However, our consumption of grain, pastas, starches and simple sugars grossly outweigh our ability to tolerate the level of sugar in our diet. Do we need to consume the amount of sugar we consume on a day-to-day basis to ‘keep our energy levels up’? – NO!

We have become insulin resistant whereby the sugar is shuttled to the fat cells instead.

Genetically we have evolved 0.01%  in 40,000 years. Our consumption of grain is alien in the grand scheme of things in our evolutionary diet. We are fighting against our genetic code instead of working worth it.

Can you imagine Larry the Caveman loading up on Sports Drinks, Porridge and pasta the night before for energy before he embarked on the equivalent of 5 marathons back to back for food???

Folks – we are not that different. So why eat Star Trek Food?

To stick to what you should be eating try this simple lifestyle adjustment:

Since our genetic code has not changed since Caveman times it seems logical to eat like one. That certainly did not mean popping to the tree and picking a biscuit off it or leaving the cave to pop on the fire 10 breaded chicken goujons.

We ate the occasional wild meats, fats, green vegetables  some fruits and rarely (maybe once a year according to expert Loren Cordain) we would stumble across a bee-hive and gorge ourselves on the honey.

The easy way to locate this type of food will be found on the fringes of your supermarket and at your local butcher’s.

Upping your intake of  more nutrient dense plant based proteins  at each meal veggies and oils will aid in managing your insulin levels better with small more frequent feedings of protein and healthy fats such as Fish Oil, Avocado, Macademia, Walnut Oil. This will help you lean out that midrift by allowing you to become healthier.

Stick to some good grains AFTER some exercise or training session. Choose from quinoa, millet, brown rice and spelt.

It is a far cry from the ‘low fat’ offerings that are found in the aisles these days. Please – do not be fooled.

“But they are all high in fat” cry the ‘low fat gurus’

“Really?” I reply.

“Low fat = Get Fat”

The calorie is a calorie is far too simplistic in this case. Certain low-fat staples such as Skimmed Milk are low in fat but they have a high insulin load. This means they will still spike the insulin to store the sugar in fat cells.

In addition they are acid forming foods forcing our body to buffer this acidity by removing it from our blood and vital organs and straight to our fat tissues – out of harm’s way.

The classic breakfast cereals with skimmed milk are out and best found in the bottom of a garbage bin. Replace for quinoa or gluten free porridge with some rice or almond milk.

But this is not the whole picture. Fat will accumulate in us in direct response to our levels of toxicity and boy are we swimming it them nowadays. Clean up  your water intake, drop the paraben type cosmetics, look into the amount of metal in your mouth and you will see that it is no wonder obesity is on the rise. All of these factors contribute as a whole. Where do you think these toxins go? It ain’t round our organs!

So simple steps equals long term progress. A skilled exercise physiologist should be able to tell you why you are holding your body fat around your love handles and more importantly tell you how you can reduce them by getting you as a WHOLE healthier!

John Lark is a Personal Trainer and Nutritional Consultant. Download your ‘5 Top Tips for Fat Loss’ at www.spherefitnessstudio.com. He can be reached at 01-5052131.

So I am here in the US writing this and as you can imagine there really is no better place to get a grip on what is extreme and what is not.

You see you can be REALLY healthy and fit and lean and trim and immaculate and you can equally be REALLY sick and in the gutter with your health.

It is your choice.

There are so many options to take the right route.

My wife and I took a tour of L.A. and we stopped off at The Farmer’s Market, a sprawling array of shops, eateries splashed with a bit of history. It was well worth the visit.

As my wife took off leaving a strip of fire in pursuit of the shops I took off in equal fashion to the Whole Foods Supermarket.

Bags and shoes or a look at organic, fresh local seasonal produce. No contest.

Needless to say I hit the supermarket to check it out only to be met with the most amazing foodie experience I have ever encountered. Rows upon rows of seasonal produce (I have stuck a photo on my website with this article), fresh fruits and veggies and choice upon choice of healthy foods.

I had died and gone to heaven. It was a foodie’s paradise.

Was it expensive? Sure it was. But not much more. But that would put most of us off from even hitting up the healthy option. Organic = too expensive.

But that’s the thing. Most of us would piss and moan our way round or not even go there not making any connection between foods and moods or foods, fluids and health.

Personally I don’t scrimp on food or what goes in the head-hole.

When it comes to shopping we have a clear choice and one that may actually surprise you. The more dead, packaged, boxed and processed food you eat the more expensive it is AND the more detrimental it is to your long and short term health.

Why is it more expensive? Because it lacks any nutrients we end up eating far more than we need. We eat and eat and eat in a vain attempt to find the nutrients. And we get fat.

There is a clear choice.

What frames your choice is equally as important.

For me I thrive on the feeling of having more energy than I know what to do with. I like the fact I have abs and want to keep them. I like the fact I am stronger with the right food choices. I thrive on walking the walk and want to leave a lasting legacy that means I have helped as many people as I can get off the diet train and start living with energy and vitality (not this pretend stimulant induced energy).

Believe it or not it is not a question of willpower either. Your reasons for making better choices are geared and directed by personal reasons but willpower can make or break you.

I have found that trying to fight willpower is futile and self destructive. I have a sweet tooth and there is nothing better than a slice of cheesecake as my kryptonite.

Instead forming new habits can really help. For instance, if I know I am hitting up a desert on Saturday night then I train on that day and as close to dinner time as possible. It makes it less likely that I will really splurge because of the hard work, sweat and a couple of tears that went into training.

If you know for example that you can’t avoid the mid morning munchies then make 10-15 minuites for a good breakfast. That way this new habit will provide you with the tool to keep your blood sugar levels stable and less likely to implode on coffee and cakes.

Likewise educating yourself about the benefits of avoiding Asapartame in diet drinks and organic foods over supermarket foods will make will-power and the notion of making the right choices easy – almost too easy.

What you are doing is making the connection. Suddenly you will realise that there is a link between your mood and the ten coffees and you had through the day or your inability to conjure any energy throughout the day (which does bug you) and your consumption of sugar late in the evening.

So, if you really want to lose weight, get healthy then get informed, educated and form better habits for yourself. Less stress and more results will follow and making the right choice becomes what it is essentially all about.

Check out the latest bootcamp in maynooth
Http://www.yourhealthcamp.com

As a personal trainer I have been meaning to write this for a while now and only this week saw the debate about Sunbeds rear its ugly head again. And we are not talking about the head of the not-so-healthy health minister here.

Typically what happens in Ireland is a rallying call from the political ranks, a cry from the special groups combined with a frenzy of over-the-top horror stories leads to the driving of a complete ban.

It's ok - it ain't gonna get ya

In this case it is not a complete ban of sun-beds but a regulatory system in particular for using tanning beds under the age of 18 and with clear warnings. Good move – but let’s get a few things straight here.

Prudent sun exposure AND responsible indoor tanning is perfectly safe.

Ok it may seem a little strange to rent a video and then hop on the sun-bed or dive into some seedy parlour for a few minutes. But we are missing the bigger picture here.

I would even add it is crucial to our health here in Ireland. We should not be frightening people out of the power of sunlight.

In fact it is so important to health and fitness that we administer UVB Light Therapy in our clinic here in Maynooth.

Let’s get one thing straight here. We need sunlight.

We don’t get enough sun. Ireland lies on 50-55 degrees latitude meaning that sun exposure is minimal. Countless studies have demonstrated that those areas around the globe exposed to more sun experience less cancer!

Speaking of which let’s have a look at the connection between sunlight and cancer. In his book The UV Advantage , Michael Hollick (who just so happens to be as pale as a ghost) outlines some key fallacies that need to be considered.

Maybe not the best joke to play...

For one it is though that any and all sun exposure causes skin cancer. In essence though we can’t live without UVB rays (for production of vitamin D) nor do we understand fully the connection between non-melanoma and UVB/UVA.

Equally there is no evidence to suggest that regular moderate sun exposure causes melanoma (skin cancer). After a 1995 conference the FDA were ‘baffled’ with the link between persons who had melanomas not exposed to regular sun. This seems to point the way to the fact that the actual cause of melanoma is varied and not just rooted in ‘big-bad-sun’.

Why is it that melanomas often appear in areas not exposed to the sun? For instance they are rarely on the face or the hands. For men it is the chest, stomach and back and the women it is the legs.

Isn’t it strange that at present we spend far more time indoors working in our bat-cave offices than our forefathers yet have a steadily increasing rise in skin cancer rates? Is it wonder that they may have built up a GRADUAL resistance to the sun over the years working outside and keeping most of their body covered?

Tanned skin protects your skin. It could be argued that you run more of a risk staying out of the sun altogether. Independent research has demonstrated that those individuals who gain sun exposure ultimately are healthier due to the production of the ‘uber vitamin’ vitamin D.

Paraben Free or Cover Up

In our modern age it is the classic look. There is nothing ‘gradual’ about this. One day of sun = the next day of lobsters. Amongst the young this is a disaster and will lead to an increase in skin cancer risk.

But to state that the sun solely causes cancer is pure scare-mongering.

When are both sides of the argument actually going to be presented to us? Just like the vaccine debacle (remember that – yep – we are all still alive and well thanks).

Sun exposure may actually prevent skin cancer. That is why, if you do a search in the journals, there are literally hundreds of studies done in the Scandinavian countries who with their limited sunlight find a positive relationship between improved health and the use of artificial UVB Light Beds.

The risk in this case outweighs the benefits. Get out in the sun as much as possible. Get your ‘dose’ and then cover up. Look into clinics that provide a UVB Therapy service to get your Vitamin D levels raised. Look for paraben free sun lotions but whatever you do do not be scared of the sun. You may be missing out on one of nature’s most powerful healing agents.

Closing thought – our health messages are coming from the mouth of someone who is morbidly obese. Just ‘food’ for thought.

John Lark is a personal trainer in maynooth

Go to www.spherefitnessstudio.com and pick up your free diet plan today

I hate weight watchers and as a personal trainer I have seen many a victim of its folly. There you go, I said and used the dirty ‘h’ word, but it is true. In fact nothing turns my stomach more than seeing another points chart, low-fat cereal bar and neurotic, moody woman so pre-occupied with her points tally that she has forgotten to eat that day.

It stinks for weight loss and only this week I read that weight watchers now supports a common fast food chain placing it points system on the menu of burgers and fries.

Give me a break.

If you are looking to lose fat then go ahead, try weight watchers. I guarantee this. You WILL fail and equally IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT.

I mean what is it with this ‘walk of shame’ up to the scales only to be told that you haven’t lost anything.

‘Naughty You’

Immediately your guilt trip surmounts, cortisol levels rise and ironically you turn yourself into a fat storage machine!

How do I know this? Because since I began this profession I have been picking up the pieces. Explaining that the weight you lost that has now been ‘put back on’ was in fact muscle lost as well.

‘You shrunk your engine size by losing fat AND muscle – now it only needs a small amount of energy to run on. Consequently any more surplus energy you put into the engine will be stored as fat’

Your weight will go back on because you become obsessed with just that – weight. No emphasis on your health or even how much fat (which is toxic) you are losing.

Weight watchers is nothing more than a money-making machine with a ‘walk of shame’ to spur you into ‘keeping up with the rest of the group’.

Each week you learn that ‘fat is the enemy’ hence the plethora of pricely sugar-laden cereal bars and desserts that they have to offer and ‘low fat’ is good and that ‘your points budget is sacred’. Lets have a look at this a little closer.

Firstly, before you read this you may want to grab another one of those weight watcher’s brownies – 60 calories and no fat. Are you kidding me? They are 60 caloreies because there is nothing to them! They are dead food. In fact I would hasten a bet that a) they are just fuelling your sugar cravings and b) the body uses more energy trying to get rid of the toxins in the food than it actually provides you.

A points system breeds problems with your nutrition and lifestyle. By providing you with a budget or an allowance for the day you are setting yourself up for disaster.

Classic scenario is this – overweight Weight Watcher hastily wakes and skips breakfast knowing that lunch with work will HAVE to include a dessert and a few glasses of wine. Having done exactly that (notice how your thoughts inevitably become a reality???), you decide not to eat your dinner either, or just much away on a cup of tea and WW biscuit at only 0.25 points. Your water intake for the day has been at an all time low too – only 1 litre for the day. You activity for the day has been that of a sloth moving from car to office from office to home.

Can you see how ludicrous this is?

The individual is skipping breakfast and as we all know if you do this regularly you will make time for ill-health. Equally, skipping meals turns you into a fat storage machine. A point system also avoids the whole issue of QUALITY of food over QUANTITY OF FOOD.

This situation continues. Invariably, from looking at people’s food diaries for years, the weight loss comes quickly from this. You are literally starving yourself to death.

In fact studies have shown that those individuals who yo-yo diet, DIE EARLY. The reason being is that fat is a great storage place for all the toxins that have built up inside you from your environment and food and drink choices.

When you decide to lose weight over burning fat, you shuttle these toxic elements out of your fat stores into your blood streams allowing to wreak havoc elsewhere in your body – namely round your vital organs.

There is no where for this garbage of life to go if you decide to just lose the weight. So, when you stop your weight loss programme you pile the weight back on.

It is a vicious circle.

You need to emphasise fat loss. That way everything becomes metabolised and removed from the body in a safe and effective way. You burn fat and along with it the junk that it has been holding onto.

The most effective ways of doing this is to stop counting points and clean up your nutrition and lifestlye without becoming fanatical about it. Care about your food source, sweat every day, build muscle through resistance training

John Lark is a personal trainer in maynooth.

Go to yourhealthcamp.com to register your interest in his new line of health and fitness bootcamps in maynooth, kilcock, celbridge and leixlip

Disclaimer – Note this is opinion. If you are a member of weight watchers then awesome! Congratulations for taking action which we all know is the way forward. If you need help then drop me a line.

To make this easy I want to make this as simple as possible.

Here is a list of what I believe to be the best steps you can take this year to improve your health and fitness levels.

Take one action item from this list. Do it. Do it hard for a week or however long it takes you embed.

So without further a due.

Write down your goal. You are far more likely to achieve it.

Match your behaviours to your goals. If your goal is to run a marathon this year then you need to get running. Likewise the same goal wont be met if you are constantly in the behaviour pattern of sitting on your arse every day. Equally if you want to lose weight then pick five behaviours that you know will help you lose weight and do them every day.

Find your ‘why’. Why are you doing this? This has to be strong.

Focus on improving your health rather than shrinking your waistline. With health comes fat loss. With health comes abundant energy and balanced moods. With health comes performance in life, sport and work. Living should be fun and easy not a chore.

Keep a grateful journal. Each day spend 2-3 minutes and wrote down what you are grateful for. Turn off the news and do this. You will sleep better and wake up looking forward to the day rather than thinking about the next ‘drama’ that you have to tackle.

Improve your sleep by investing in blackout blinds. Your hormones and immune system will thank you for giving them a good night’s sleep. If you struggle to nod off hop into an Epsom Salts bath. They work brilliantly.

Eat raw foods with every meal. Stick a salad or lightly cooked vegetable soup next to your meal and eat it first.

Drink more good FILTERED water. The best thing you can do for you and your family’s health is to use reverse osmosis or water ionisers. 3-4 litres every day.

Replace your paraben-laden cosmetics with organic versions. Likewise stop spraying aluminium next to your armpits. These are carcinogenic and the health shop have excellent replacements that are in most cases cheaper. No brainer.

Get your mercury fillings removed and then follow up with a good nutritional chelation protocol (like the one we can offer). This is another no brainer. Mercury is poisoning you 24-7. If your dentist says that this is not worth doing then thank him for his/ her opinion and find another one. He/she does not have your health at heart.

Stick to exercise at first (if you are new to this) that you will enjoy and keep at. Sweating and using oxygen  is at the heart of most beginners to exercise Nutritional and lifestyle changes will make the biggest difference so just get sweating and moving!

Use an Infra red sauna. These are great for your health. Sweat removes toxins and again makes strides to build your health.

Want power is more powerful than will power.

Learn how to weight train.

Eat les animal and diary protein. It is making you sick and tired.

Eat more fruits and vegetables. Simple. Effective. Cheap.

Buy a vegetarian cookbook and learn how to ‘dress up’ these once boring and tasteless items.

Start supplementing your diet with Sodium Bicarbonate, Lugol’s Iodine, Magnesium and Vitamin D. These are power houses and will not fail to improve everyone’s health. A year’s supply of all of these items will set you back about 100 quid. What a bargain. In fact – let’s start an experiment. Use them and see how many visits to the Doctor you need this year. Let me know in December.

I hate ‘detox’. It is far more complicated than that. Our bodies are well adjusted to deal with it. However, it needs help. Especially in this day and age. We have not quire evolved to deal with the environment that burdens us day in day out.

Do you think our caveman ancestors worried about what skin care product to use?

There is plenty here to get you going. Health comes from in to out. Stress, poor nutrition, toxic overload and lack of exercise will all be reflected on the outside. You are your own canvas.