Cows Milk, Whey and Casein : The Dangers to Human Health

After 25 years of consulting to athletes, the general public and also as a parent, I felt that I had a moral obligation to share my findings on the devastating effects of cows’ milk and its associated products, such as whey and casein protein shakes.

This is why I developed Green Protein Power which has no artificial sweeteners and is derived from Rice, Pea and Hemp protein.  Unlike milk, casein and whey protein drinks, they are non allergenic and also loaded with all the essential amino acids that we need.

Every day millions of gallons of milk and protein shakes will be consumed by millions, in the belief that what they are drinking is hugely beneficial to health.  Unfortunately nothing could be further from the truth.

How much milk do we drink in the UK?

Around 5 billion litres of milk are sold in Britain each year and we consume an average of 1.6 litres each a week.  On top of that, 7 billion litres go into dairy products such as cheese, butter and dried milk powder, which is a vital component of many other food products. All in all, we buy enough dairy products every year to fill nearly 5,000 Olympic-size swimming pools.  No wonder we have a society that is full of Disease.

Health food stores, websites and gyms are packed with huge multi coloured tubs of whey or casein protein powders, promising you fantastic results in muscle gain and fat loss.  Let’s look at what is in these garish containers, which promise you the holy grail in health and performance.

I will also reveal the problems with drinking cows’ milk, which is heavily promoted as a health drink.  I agree that cow’s milk is healthy for baby cows.  For humans, cows’ milk is definitely a deadly poison.

For all you athletes, trainers and weekend warriors, guzzling your milk derived protein shakes.  Be warned: disease is heading your way.  I GUARANTEE!

The Problem with Whey Protein

Whey is made up of bovine blood protein. The body’s reaction to this foreign protein often causes an auto-immune response, as the antibody used to destroy the invader turns against the body’s own cells.

The New England Journal of Medicine reported in 1992, that insulin-dependent Type 1 diabetes is linked to the body’s production of antibodies to cow’s milk.

When I looked at the mass of whey and casein products on the market, I personally couldn’t find one without artificial sweeteners; either  Acesulfame K, Aspartame or Sucralose. Most of the time they would contain two of these artificial sweeteners together.

Firstly, let’s look at the devastating effects of these 3 artificial sweeteners, which I found in every whey or Casein product I looked at.  Often two of the above sweeteners were combined.

Acesulfame K stimulates insulin secretion in a dose dependent fashion, thereby possibly aggravating reactive hypoglycemia (low blood sugar attacks.)

Acesulfame K apparently produced lung tumours, breast tumours, rare types of tumours of other organs (such as the thymus gland,) several forms of leukemia and chronic respiratory disease in several rodent studies.  Even when less than maximum doses were given.  The Centre for Science in the Public Interest petitioned on August 29, l988 for a stay of approval by the FDA because of “significant doubt” about its safety. Dr. H.J. Roberts, Aspartame “(NutraSweet) Is It Safe?” Charles Press pp 283/84.

Aspartame Dangers The dangers of aspartame poisoning have been a well-guarded secret since the 1980s.  The research and history of aspartame as a cause of illness and toxic reactions in the human body is conclusive:  Aspartame is a dangerous chemical food additive.  Its use by children and pregnant women is one of the greatest modern tragedies of all.

There are over 92 different health side effects associated with aspartame consumption. This seems surreal, but it is true.

Recent research supports a correlation between leukemia and aspartame. An Italian study fed animals aspartame throughout their lives and let them die a natural death. They found a dramatic and statistically significant increase in the related cancers of lymphoma and leukemia, along with several histological types of lymphomas and a significant increase in the primary lymphoma of the brain.

Sucralose Safety Concerns

Few human studies of safety have been published on sucralose.  One small study of diabetic patients who used  the sweetener showed a statistically significant increase in glycosylated hemoglobin (Hba1C) (a marker of long-term blood glucose levels and  used to assess glycemic control in diabetic patients.)

According to the FDA,  sucralose  “increases in glycosolation in hemoglobin imply lessening of control of diabetes.

Research in animals has shown that sucralose can cause problems in rats, mice, and rabbits:

• Shrunken thymus glands (up to 40% shrinkage)
• Enlarged liver and kidneys.
• Atrophy of lymph follicles in the spleen and thymus
• Reduced growth rate
• Decreased red blood cell count
• Hyperplasia of the pelvis
• Extension of the pregnancy period
• Aborted pregnancy
• Decreased fetal body weights and placental weights
• Diarrhea

According to one source (Sucralose Toxicity Information Centre) concerning the significant reduction in size of the thymus gland:

“The manufacturer claimed that the sucralose was unpleasant for the rodents to eat in large doses and that starvation caused the shrunken thymus glands.”

“ [Toxicologist Judith] Bellin reviewed studies on rats starved under experimental conditions, and concluded that their growth rate could be reduced by as much as a third without the thymus losing a significant amount of weight (less than 7 percent.) The changes were much more marked in rats fed on sucralose. While the animals’ growth rate was reduced by between 7 and 20 percent, their thymuses shrank by as much as 40 percent. (New Scientist 23 Nov 1991, pg 13)”

The Insanity of Drinking Casein Shakes

Casein is another health risk.  It represents 80 percent of the protein in cows’ milk.  This protein is a powerful binder and is used as a glue to make sturdy furniture and to hold beer-bottle labels in place. Casein is also a polymer used to make plastics.

In his book The China Study, Dr. Campbell tells about one of his studies, funded by a research grant from the National Institutes of Health.  In the study, he administered aflatoxin, a known carcinogen, to rats. One group he fed with a diet of 20 percent casein and the other group he fed with a diet of 5 percent casein.

After 100 weeks, all of the animals fed 20 percent casein were dead or near death from liver tumors. The group that were fed 5 percent casein was alive, active and healthy. The same results were found when mice were dosed with HBV, another known carcinogen. These implications in rodents apply to humans because of the almost identical protein requirements in rats and humans.  Protein also operates almost the same way in humans as it does in rats.

In fact, the connection between casein and cancer was so profound that the scientists could literally turn cancer growth on and off in the laboratory animals, like a light switch, simply by altering the level of casein protein in their diets.

Cows’ milk has 300 times more casein than human milk and 4 X more protein. It is liquid GLUE!!!

Casein coagulates in the stomach and forms large, tough, dense,  difficult to digest curds, adapted to the four stomach digestive apparatus of a cow. That’s why it’s slow releasing it’s so difficult for humans to break this glue down!

Once inside the human system, this thick mass of goo puts a tremendous burden on the body.  It is tough to get rid of this.  Unfortunately some of this gooey substance hardens and adheres to the lining of the intestines and prevents the absorption of nutrients into the body.

To all you parents who make sure your children get their milk every day:

WAKE UP!

You have been lied to by the dairy industry and the government.  They want you to  believe that cows’ milk is good for you.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

We are simply not designed to drink the milk of another species.  To get a better understanding of why cows’ milk is not meant for humans, lets analyze the difference between a human baby drinking the milk of its mother versus the milk from a cow.

The type of milk an animal produces reflects the nutritional needs of its babies. In other words, the milk of each species appears to have been specifically designed to protect the young of that species. In human babies, the high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) provided in breast milk are responsible for developing the brain rapidly.  By the age of one it will have tripled in size.

Besides the amount of protein present in the two milks, the composition is completely different.  Cows’ milk contains 300 times more casein, the primary type of protein, than human milk, making it nearly impossible for us to assimilate.  Also, a large majority of us are lactose intolerant.

What does this mean exactly? Being lactose intolerant means that we cannot digest lactose which is the sugar in milk (cow’s milk and human milk).

An enzyme known as lactase is responsible for digesting lactose.  We now know that we lose the lactase enzyme activity between the ages of one and a half and four years old.  This appears to be a normal process of maturation and shows that in nature, we were never intended to consume lactose containing foods after the normal weaning period.  Having proteins that are not assimilated by our body leads to a weakened immune system, causing a wide array of problems such as allergies, asthma, skin rashes, arthritis, heart disease and more

Cows’ milk contains a significantly lower amount of PUFAs and a higher level of body-building saturated fats, which contribute to rapid growth in body size, rather than brain development.

Human milk is 5 percent protein and it takes an infant approximately 180 days to double their birth weight.  A calf requires only 45 days to double their birth weight, since the cows’ milk is 20 percent protein. See the major difference?

Contrary to popular belief, cows’ milk is the worst substance that you can put into your body.  The latest research has shown that it aggravates indigestion, causes stomach ulcers, creates gas from the undigested lactose sugars and slowly destroys your health.

So why do people drink it?

First – you are falsely being told that milk is ESSENTIAL for good health.

Second – Milk is addictive and not easy to give up.  It actually has opiates in it. Opiates are narcotics and they produce an intense feeling of pleasure followed by a calm, drowsy feeling.

This is nature’s methodtof ensuring the young calf keeps drinking milk.  However, the milk that it drinks is not what you drink.  What you can buy has been totally adulterated through the addition of chemicals, antibiotics, growth hormones, pasteurization and homogenization.

Get off of it and stay off of it.  It is a deadly poison that you will want to avoid at all cost!

If you drink milk or milk derived products (this includes whey and casein protein shakes, which should, in my opinion, be named  DISEASE shakes,)  medical research shows that you are likely to be plagued by anemia, migraine, bloating, gas, indigestion, asthma, prostate cancer, and a host of potentially fatal allergies.

Sixty percent of ear infections in kids under six years of age are milk-induced.

The late Dr. Benjamin Spock, the U.S.’ leading authority on child care, spoke out against feeding “cow’s glue” to children.  He stated that it can cause anemia, allergies, and diabetes and in the long term and will set kids up for obesity and heart disease,  the number one cause of death in the Western World.

“In lieu of the recent evidence that cows’ milk protein may be implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus, we believe that the Committee on Nutrition should clarify whether cow’s milk is ever appropriate for children and whether or not infant formulas that are based on cow’s milk protein are appropriate alternatives to breast milk.”

Pediatrics, July, 1992: 89

“Introduction of dairy products and high milk consumption during childhood may increase the child’s risk of developing juvenile diabetes.”

Diabetologia 1994;37(4):381-387

Perhaps the most rampant fallacy regarding dairy products is the idea that milk is needed to prevent osteoporosis. We are told that the calcium present in dairy products will keep our bones strong. It is interesting to note that most of the calcium present in cows’ milk is useless to the body. In order for calcium to be absorbed, magnesium must be present in equal quantities.  Since one cup of milk contains 291 milligrams of calcium and 33 milligrams of magnesium, only around 11 percent of the calcium can be absorbed.

As proof, the highest rates of hip fractures worldwide occur among populations that consume the most dairy products. The lowest rates of fractures are found among people who eat little or no dairy products. The United States consumes more dairy products than almost any other country, and in turn, has one of the highest rates of osteoporosis.

One study of postmenopausal women tested the effects of milk on bone health and found that those who received extra milk for a year lost more bone than those who didn’t. Where do cows get their calcium?

Not from milk. They,like every other species on the planet (other than one segment of the human population) consume no milk after weaning.

The cows get their calcium from the green plants they consume.  Magnesium is the center atom of the chlorophyll molecule.  This makes greens one of the richest sources of this essential mineral for calcium absorption.  The calcium in green plants is available to and easily used by the body.  In addition, green plants are alkalizing to the body.

When the body has sufficient amounts of alkaline minerals, there is no need for it to break down bone in order to neutralize acids.  We should rely on greens to strengthen our bones rather than consuming unsuitable and harmful lactose substances that will leach calcium from our hard tissue.

If you eat an abundance of green leafy vegetables and sprouts along with green vegetable and sprout juices and in addition perform weight-bearing exercises, you need not worry about osteoporosis.

Will you end up with osteoporosis? What about vitamin D? These are the kinds of questions that immediately pop into most people’s minds when it is suggested that they stop consuming milk.

That the dairy industry would lull unsuspecting women and children into complacency by telling them, essentially, drink more milk and your bones will be fine, may make good business sense, but it does the public a grave disservice.A National Institute of Health study out of the University of California, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2001) found that

“Women who ate most of their protein from animal sources had three times the rate of bone loss and 3.7 times the rate of hip fractures of women who ate most of their protein from vegetable sources.”

Even though the researchers adjusted

“for everything we could think of that might otherwise explain the relationship … it didn’t change the results.”

The study’s conclusion:

The latest research shows that far from protecting bones, milk actually increases the risk of osteoporosis by eroding bone-making cells. Also, people with osteoporosis have a much higher incidence of heart disease and cancer.  The evidence is pointing at milk as the common factor.

Dairy Products Linked to Rheumatoid Arthritis

“Rheumatoid arthritis is more severe than osteoarthritis, is most common in the hands and feet, and is characterized by swelling of joints. Since this type of joint pain can be a symptom of a food allergy, dietary change sometimes has a profound effect. Dairy products, the most common food allergen, are one likely candidate as a contributing causative factor.”

-Vegetarian and Vegan Nutrition by George Eisman, M.A., M.Sc., R.D.

“In the case of the eight year old female subject, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis was a milk allergy. After avoiding dairy products, all pain was gone in three weeks.”

-Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 1985, 78

Consider the facts: All cow’s milk, including “organic” milk, contains more than 50 active hormones, scores of allergens and loads of fat and cholesterol. The recommended three glasses of milk per day contains the same amount of cholesterol found in 53 slices of bacon!  Other ingredients in most cows’ milk include measurable quantities of pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, blood, pus, feces, bacteria, viruses, and up to 200 times the levels of dioxins that are considered “safe.”

One cubic centimeter of cows’ milk is allowed to contain up to 750,000 pus cells and up to 20,000 live bacteria.  This is what the dairy industry recommends that you feed your children.  Just whose best interest do they have at heart?  Certainly not yours.

How Does This Affect the Cows?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kM387cI4rk&feature=related

Furthermore, not only are people drinking in these toxins, we are also taking in the energetic effects of the life of the cow.

Studies show that many cows are infected with incredibly painful inflammatory infections such as mastitis.  Due to over-milking, artificial hormones, bacteria and medications, cow’s udders can become chronically inflamed, thus altering the colour and taste of the milk.

Over time, this bacterial invasion causes harm to the cow’s mammary gland, wrecking havoc on the milk which is produced.  From parasitic worms to cancerous tumours, these diseases are passed along to the next generation of cows, and more often, into the milk we drink.

The conditions in which cows live, as well as the rigorous milking regimes, cause dairy cattle to live in a permanent state of sympathetic (stress) response, as well as adrenal over-load. When our adrenal glands are overworked for long periods of time, there is an overload of cortisol in the blood.

When we drink this milk, we are then exposed to the millions of stress-response cells in the milk of cows. It is no wonder that we are a chronically-stressed society!

A Tale of Two Calves.

One Fed on Raw Milk, the Other on Pasteurized Milk

The weight of the two calves was basically equal at the beginning of the feeding trial.

At the end, the raw milk calf weight 200 kg and the pasteurized milk calf weight 115 kg.

They gained weight almost equally for about 8 weeks and then the pasteurized milk calf started falling back.

A significant difference during the 4 month trial was always the different smell and the consistency of the manure.  The raw milk calf had mostly a well formed manure and normal smell you would expect. Contrary to that, the manure of the pasteurized calf was runny and the color mostly grey or almost white during the feeding trial.

The hair on the raw milk calf was shiny and solid.  On the pasteurized calf  it was dull and easily pulled out.

The alertness in the two calves was a major difference.  The pasteurized calf seemed very uninterested, with a clear lack of movement.

After nearly 5 months we could see that the pasteurized calf would have had difficulty  surviving without medication and supplements.

All the milk you drink. including those garbage whey and casein drinks will have gone through pasteurization.

Let’s look at the problems with pasteurized dairy products

It destroys vitamins C, B12 and B6.  However, it does not remove the pus, steroids and pesticides which are found in cows’ milk.  It also kills beneficial bacteria which help our digestive tract function properly and depletes our enzyme bank enormously as e try  to digest protein liquid.

Pasteurized Milk and Children:  Parents Must Read!

What the USA’s leading pediatrician has to say about pasteurized milkThere have been numerous books written in the past decade about the dangers of pasteurized dairy products.  The most influential is a book by Frank Oski, MD, current chairman of pediatrics of John Hopkins University and perhaps the most influential pediatrician in the USA.

It’s called Don’t Drink Your Milk.  In it Oski pins just about every health problem in children to the consumption of milk, everything from acute and chronic ear infections, constipation, asthma, eczema, and so on.

Pasteurized Milk Is Implicated in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

“Those who consumed cows’ milk were fourteen times more likely to die from diarrhea-related complications and four times more likely to die of pneumonia than were breast-fed babies.  Intolerance and allergy to cows’ milk products is a factor in sudden infant death syndrome.” The Lancet, vol. 344, November 5, 1994

Pasteurized Milk Causes Allergies—Especially in Young Children

“Most formula fed infants developed symptoms of allergic rejection to cow milk proteins before one month of age. About 50-70% experienced rashes or other skin symptoms, 50-60 percent gastrointestinal symptoms, and 20-30 percent respiratory symptoms. The recommended therapy is to avoid cows’ milk.” Pediatric-Allergy-Immunology,  August, 1994, 5 (5 Suppl.)

Milk and Heart Disease

“Milk and milk products gave the highest correlation coefficient to heart disease. Sugar, animal proteins and animal fats came in second, third, and fourth, respectively.”

-A Survey of Mortality Rates and Food Consumption Statistics of 24 Countries, Medical Hypothesis 7:907-918, 1981

“Bovine milk is presently under investigation by this laboratory since it has been shown that milk antibodies are significantly elevated in the blood of male patients with heart disease.”

-Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, 163:1981

Milk: the Prostate Cancer Link

When it comes to preventing prostate cancer, the science is clear: Men who steer clear of milk have significantly lower rates of the deadly disease. According to the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research, 11 separate human population studies have tied dairy consumption to prostate cancer.

Dr.  Walter Willett, M.D., chief investigator for the ongoing Harvard University Health Professionals Follow-up Study, has found that consumption of two or more glasses of milk per day is associated with nearly twice the risk of advanced and metastatic prostate cancer.

Data from Dr. T. Colin Campbell’s landmark scientific study, the China-Oxford-Cornell Study, indicates that women who derive their protein from animal products, including milk, are five times more likely to die of breast cancer than women who follow a plant-based diet.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer-related death among women in most of the Western world and the leading cause of death for women under 50.  Consuming dairy products is linked to an increased risk for breast cancer as dairy products are high in fat, animal protein, and hormones, each of which increases cancer risk.

Since the 1980’s, study after study has linked dairy consumption to a high incidence of breast and other cancers. Women seeking to minimize their chances of breast cancer should avoid milk, other dairy products, and meat.In Asia, where milk consumption is extremely rare, breast cancer is almost unheard of. International renowned nutrition expert Dr. T. Colin Campbell points to China, an almost  non milk-drinking country, where cancer deaths among women aged 35 to 64 averaged less than 9 per 100,000, as opposed to 44 per 100,000 in the U.S.

Professor Jane Plant says

“It seemed highly likely that consuming a powerful biochemical solution from the mammary glands of one species of animal (cows’ milk,) could be sending the wrong signals to my own mammary glands – my breasts.”

“Recently, I discovered that way back in 1989, yoghurt had been implicated in ovarian cancer.”   Professor Jane Plant

Lactase Persistence and Milk Consumption As Determinants of Ovarian Cancer Risk

Dr Daniel W Cramer, from the Dept of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Epidemiology Centre, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.

Dr Cramer suggested that the culprit might be a normal breakdown product in milk sugar; lactose.  Lactose is broken down in the body to another sugar called galactose.   In turn, galactose is further broken down by different enzymes in the body.

According to Dr Cramer, when dairy product consumption exceeds the enzymes’ capacity to break down galactose, there is a build up of galactose in the blood, which may damage a woman’s ovaries.

Some women have particularly low levels of the enzymes needed to break down galactose and when they consume dairy products on a regular basis, their risk of ovarian cancer could be triple that of other women.

Dr Cramer observed that the problem was the milk sugar, not the fat.  Low fat dairy products do not solve the problem.  In fact, yoghurt and cottage cheese seem to be of most concern because the bacteria used in the production increase the production of galactose from lactose.

Drinking cow’s milk, whey and casein shakes in the name of health is insane!

Hopefully, this article will get you off these garbage products and taking control of your health.

Shame to say it – any monkey can take you through a workout providing you with entertaining variations on simple exercises, leaning on your ‘empathy’ buttons between sets and whilst draining your back pocket with very little in terms of hard and fast results to show for it.

The spectrum is getting wider and here is how to spot the right personal trainer.

1. They can deliver results

More often than not you will hear about a good personal trainer through a friend’s positive experience. This is a good start. It reveals a trust and standards that your friend is willing enough to share with you.

However, it can’t stop there. Your personal trainer or Dublin Personal Training company must be able to prove that they can match your needs and deliver the results you are after.

Where are the testimonials?

2. To this end they put their money where their mouth it

In this climate, offering a guarantee for personal training services reveals true professionalism. It reveals a company or an indivudual geared towards results rather than figures. They can back this up by guaranteeing their services 100%.

3. They truly walk the walk

Your trainer will be your coach. How can you respect him or her if they are a walking sign of ill-health or stink of coffee the minute you meet them? Personal training is not a hobby. It is a lifestyle. You will not meet a more passionate and determined group of practioners who can help you with your fitness goals.

In essence your personal trainer is not your ‘friend’, more your coach there to inspire and take you to levels you never thought were possible.

4. Their Application of Knowledge stretches beyond ‘counting reps’ and ‘barking orders’

There are plenty of opportunites for personal trainers to upskill and develop their knowledge base. A good personal training compnoay will be constantly doing this within the realms of functional medicine (therefore knowing the red flags to look for in what may be preventing cloients from losing body fat and achieving optimal health), functional anatomy, psychology, nutrition and lifestyle management.

This is then imparted directly to the client.

At Sphere our trainers intern and surround themselves with some of the sharpest minds in the health, well-being, nutrition and medical field. We learn of the best so that the best is delivered to the client.

There may even be the case where we need to call upon these experts to help you reach your goals quicker.

5. Your personal trainer can deliver a tried and tested system of delivering results

It takes years of hands on experience to truly understand the profession – not a weekend of training leaving with a certificate.
Personal training is our business. We have developed a system here at Sphere that delivers a tailored health and fitness experience.

From initial assessment stages and ascertaining your needs and goals, to a tailored nutrition and health programme and finally to the implementation of methods, including training, that we feel will yield the greatest results for you. This isn’t our hobby or part-time cash add on.

You will have a programme geared to you – not the remnants of a health and fitness magazine or ‘whatever your trainer feels like doing on the day’.

John Lark is a personal trainer in kildare, Ireland.

Visit his website – Sphere Fitness and downoad your free fat loss report

John Lark, a personal trainer in Celbridge, Co.Kildare outlines how we can take lessons from the Obamas when it comes to health and fitness. You don’t have time….reallly? Read on…

When Michele Obama emerged from the aftermath of her Husband’s inauguration the world was heard muttering words of encouragement about the first lady’s physique.

In particular her toned arms were marvelled at and suddenly a wave of Internet and media followers c. 40-year-old age bracket were taking encouragement from her looks.

Reportedly she arises at 5.30am to train with her husband and a personal trainer three times a week. She trains and consumes a ‘clean diet’.

This is only matched by her husband who on his campaign trail awoke at 5.30 in the AM to workout at gyms that had been closed off to accommodate the Premier.

So what is ‘her secret’? What is separates her from the masses of women who struggle with ‘the bingo wings’ or ‘dinner lady arms?’

Of course the perks of the job come with all the trimmings of an in-house chef and personal trainer. However, do you think that her physique is the result of a magic bullet?

There are much deeper issues and lessons at play here and ones that can help you strive for greater achievements.
Take for instance the issue of consistency. No matter what, Obama trains three times a week. They make time. They find time.

For them 5.30 in the morning is the only time they can make. So be it. If the most powerful couple can find time to do this, do you think you can too?

Then there is the issue of public accountability. Do you think that the pressure of millions watching your every move is enough motivation to get you hit the gym rather than pulling your duvet over your eyes? Or what about the tin of biscuits that is regularly visited by your hands? A global audience would certainly scupper that visit.

Accountability is a hugely successful tool in fat loss. It makes celebrities work their backsides off to drop baby weight, help extras from Eastenders make fitness DVDs.

Making this work for you however is simple enough. Tell people about your plans. Tell your friends, family and co-workers. Tell them specifically about your plans.

I had an assessment this week with a female client and she rightly pointed out that the Irish are ‘negative’ in their comments.

She was dead right. I stated that the best way to respond to this would be to feed off this. Let it drive you to greater achievements (as a side note – she did awesome with a 10lb loss achieved with a steely determination to prove her group wrong).

When making yourself accountable step out of your comfort zone. Stick your neck out. Why not set up a weight loss blog on the Internet? It has driven some individuals to amazing losses in weight. Why? Because suddenly you are making yourself accountable to a global community.

Take home point –find your social support group / individual and check in with them frequently.

Then there is the issue of the nature of her training. Michele Obama did not get arms like that lifting the pink dumbbells for 2 sets of 30 repetitions or poodle on the cross trainer for 60 minutes counting the calorie dial.

To create a toned physique you need to step up to the heav(ier) forms of weight training. Swap the plastic dumbbells for chin ups, press ups, squats and Deadlifts and be prepared to lift heavy!

If you couple this with a clean diet rich in vegetables, fish, water and good fats you will literally watch your fat disappear to reveal toned slender muscles.

I was in the gym the other morning watching as some poor trainer was lambasted with comments such as“If walk at this speed then how many calories have I burned off” and “If I put this incline up, will I burn more calories”

In other words ‘have I worked off last night’s dessert yet?’

Stop concerning about the petty details. Get in the gym, remain consistent with your behaviours and your results will follow.

John Lark is a personal trainer in celbridge, co .kildare. His personal training company, Sphere Fitness can be found in Maynooth, Kildare