Free Workout and Four Winter Warming Soup Recipes

Hi All,
Its That time of year again when the snow falls out of the sky and everyone begins to hibernate! If you find yourself becoming surrounded by your four walls constantly and your exercise and diet have gone down hill, stop and turn it around! The average person puts on over 10lbs over the festive period, don't let that be you! Get out for some fantastic winter walks - especially around noon when you might get some sunshine too to help with Vitamin D Uptake.

Even if you are stuck indoors there's no excuse for not being able to do exercise, here is a workout that you can do in the comfort of your own home (be sure to warm up first):



And to keep you warm on the inside here are some fantastic warming winter soup recipes that take no time to make but taste great:

Carrot and Lentil Soup


Rinse 75g (1/2 cup) red lentils, and put in a large saucepan with 1 sliced onion, 450g sliced carrots, 1.2 litres (5 cups) vegetable stock and 5ml (1 tsp) ground coriander. Stir, season and bring to the boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer gently for about 30 minutes or until the lentils are cooked. Add 3tbsp chopped parsley and cook for a little longer. Puree the soup in a blender or food processor, return to the pan to reheat, and thin with a little extra water if needed before serving.

Green Soup

This makes a beautiful velvety soup that's not too thick. If you prefer a soup with more substance, add a handful brown rice, but it needs to simmer for 10 minutes.
500g (10 cups) spinach,1 large onion, 2 medium potatoes, 750ml (3 cups) vegetable stock
Get the stock simmering nicely, wash and shred the spinach removing any tough stalks, peel and chop the onion and potatoes, and add all to the stock. Season lightly. Let it simmer for 15 minutes, until the veg are softened. Blend. Serve immediately, or chill.
Variations
• For a creamier, richer soup, cook the vegetables in 500ml (2 cups) stock. This will give you a thick puree, which you can thin down to taste with organic milk.
• You can add any vegetables you have to hand – chopped carrot, squash, sweet potato, leeks, broccoli. The result is always slightly different, and may not be as intensely green, but will still be delicious.
• Add depth and warmth. Peel a 1-inch piece of root ginger and grate it in while the soup is simmering.
• Grate in some fresh nutmeg. Particularly good with spinach.

The above recipes are thanks to http://www.healthy-eating-made-easy.com

Here’s a couple of soups I put together –

Cream of Tomato Soup


put 2 tins of plum tomatoes and about a cup of water in a pan and bring to the boil, then add 1 onion, 2 sweet potatoes and 3 cloves of garlic. Once it boils reduce the heat to a simmer for 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are soft. Place in a blender and add 1-2 handfuls of cashew nuts (soaked over night) blend and add sea salt as desired.

Butternut Squash and Green Lentil Soup

I made a chicken stock from the roast we had at the weekend so was about 1ltr

add some chopped butternut squash (I’d bought a packet already cut on Sat - used some for our roast and the rest for this) about 4 carrots peeled and chopped and half a can of green lentils (drained and rinsed)

In a frying pan sautée an onion and add to the mix
leave to simmer for about 20 minutes or so (until veg soft) then let cool before blending it all together, add some some sea salt and pepper (and also some other spices to make it a little bit hot but that’s optional) and that's about it, its VERY tasty

Remember though with root vegetables you want to limit to 2-3 x per week but in the winter it's a lovely treat ;o)

Enjoy!

PS I have a 21 day Online Xmas Booty Program just released with more fantastic workouts and nutritional program, if you want to drop a dress size in time for Xmas and feel fantastic while everyone else feels uncomfortable check it out here 21 day Xmas Booty Body Blast Online Program

Your body, Your responsibility

Excuses, excuses! I hear them every day:

‘But it was pouring down and freezing I wasn’t in the mood for training today’
‘My alarm didn’t go off’
‘My workmates bought in cream cakes and I’d be rude if I refused them’
‘I can’t give up bread, pasta and cereal what will I eat!’
‘I’m not fit enough exercise 3 times a week’
‘I was stressed at work, I needed junk food!’

Let’s get one things straight, your body is nobody else’s responsibility but your own – period.

If you’re out of shape because you enjoy a good drink with your mates every weekend and eating crappy food choices then that’s down to no one else but you!

If you’re feeling ill and tired all the time then you should be looking at what you’re fuelling your body with and whether you are getting enough exercise, this could be playing a major role in how you’re feeling.

If you’re feeling fat but can’t give up on your regular treats of alcohol, chocolate and other unhealthy food choices then that’s all down to you.

We all want to feel great about ourselves but it’s only the truly committed people that will actually do something about it. The overall outlook you have about your body is all down to you, you can either make excuses about your shape or you can do something about it.

If you’re unhealthy and out of shape then the only way to reverse that is to do something about it, make a start, that’s the main thing then you must be consistent with it, the more you do the more your body will adapt, so the more you can challenge it, you will see the changes happening and start to feel more body confident and in turn start to feel happier.

Change the way you see yourself, if you think of yourself as fat and unhappy then that is what you’re most likely to be-come, its law of attraction! If you look in the mirror and see a fit and healthy body and are prepared to carry out the work to get that way then you will get there.

Stop making excuses about why you are out of shape and unhappy and start to work on becoming healthy and happy, if a healthy and fit body is your goal then you will get to a healthy size and feel much more confident at what you see in the mirror.
Just because you’re family/friends/partner are eating or drinking crap and doing their own thing doesn’t mean that you have to, perhaps learning to tell the odd white lie might help, telling your friends and family you can’t really drink milk/eat wheat anymore because you’ve found out you’re intolerant might help. Enjoy a night out for sure, but how about not drinking and tell your friends you’re on medication so can’t drink at the minute.

The body you want is achievable with hard work and dedication, it just depends whether you’re prepared to take responsibility and start taking the necessary action to get there....

Are you ready to take responsibility? Here are a few tips how:
Make yourself accountable and set yourself a goal, whether it be to drop a dress size by 20th Dec so I feel fantastic this Christmas or to be able to run around with your kids without getting tired, whatever it may be, write it down and remind yourself daily of your goal. Why not send it to me at Debbie@fatblastbootcamp.co.uk and I will chase you up on it!

Plan your meals ahead, if you know what you’re going to have to eat for the week ahead you’re less likely to feel lost with your nutrition.
Carry snacks with you – take fruit and nuts with you to work, that way when the snack monster attacks you’re ready and prepared ;o)

Eat healthy and wholesome foods, lots of fruit and vegetable, be sure to eat your greens (broccoli, kale, sprouts etc) it’s not some old wives tail they are packed with vitamins and minerals to help you fight off infection and stay healthy.
Exercise regularly!

Eat to exercise not exercise to eat – so many people do it, have a few cream cakes then thrash themselves in the gym to work it off, that’s not the mindset you should have, you should eat a well balanced diet that will support your fitness program not the other way around.

There are many more I could add but perhaps you have your own, why not share below? How do you take responsibility for your health? What actions are you taking to get the best from your body?

My amazing weekend at Fitness Entrepreneur Bootcamp

I'm just so excited about the weekend I've had - basically if you don't know I've been in Nottingham on a fitness business seminar and it has blown me away.

I got to learn from some of the world’s top trainers including Alwyn and Rachel Cosgrove - Alwyn Cosgrove is Scottish but moved to America where him and his wife have set up the leading fitness facility, I didn't know Alwyns background fully but when I learnt he's beaten cancer twice and still runs his fitness facility (which ran itself while he was ill!) I was in awe - They were just a lovely couple too that made me realise my own core values and self worth!

What does this mean business wise - well I've invested around six grand this last year on training courses, fat loss/fitness/kinetic chain courses, books, online courses, seminars, coaching programmes so now’s the time for that value to be reflected in my business, there's going to be some changes made to the way I run my boot camps and the membership options, and also my personal training structure.

What else I learned is some very in depth nutrition information from Phil Richards who is the leading strength and conditioning coach in the UK, he's very much the alkaline diet endorser and after listening to him there was some really valuable points he made, one of which that stuck with me is that if you are exercising yet all the other aspects in your life are a mess - like nutrition, stress levels, sleep patterns etc then if your exercising on top of that you could end up shutting your body down and causing yourself to become a ground for illness, disease and injury! Phil had some interesting info like dairy and meats being a cause of cancer (though I had read about milk) although he does recommend eating a little meat now and then. His five top tips to help people get back into health which are:

Number one is clean water - now he did talk about machines that specially sort out the water as both tap and bottled have lots of chemicals in but those things are expensice so If i can recommend anything it would be to see if you can get glass bottled mineral water - if not normal mineral water (though if you carry weight around your hips don't drink out of plastic bottles as there’s lots of estrogens in there from the plastic which is a HUGE cause of carrying excess weight around those hips!

Number two - eat only organic food (well I’ve been telling you that haven't I!) because it doesn't have the pesticides and fertilisers etc, and with the meat there are no injections etc.

Number three - get into alkalising - the basics, did you know that there’s a doctor in the states (Dr. Mark Sircus) that actually uses sodium bicarb to heal some of his cancer patients - how awesome is that! I hear it helps to restore the white blood cells to fight cancer - so every morning have a pint of water with a spoon full of bicarb of soda / baking soda (about 70p from your local supermarket!) and every night do the same, this is what I was doing the last time i went fully boot camp diet and i felt amazing on day 3 so i have started doing it again, before i wasn't sure why to do it necessarily but it makes perfect sense mow - and if I can give my body a chance to fight cancer forming cells I'm gonna bloody do it - you should too - try it for a week see how you feel, if you have a difference keep doing it! we take in too many chemicals from food, washing powders, pollution, cleaning fluids - the list goes on!! we gotta start fighting against them! If you are severely stressed then I recommend doing extra spoon full’s and even have another glass or two during the day. What have you got to lose if you give it a go - you could just feel like a different person!

Number four, Grasses - grasses such as wheat grass and barley grass to help with your bloods alkalisation and get you back to a healthy state, think these are about £10-15 from the health food shop in Richmond but there may be cheaper options

Number five Magnesium spray - we are all deficient in magnesium and rather than taking a supplement orally we can rub it on our skin and it is absorbed much better (30% absorbed orally compared to 80% on the skin or there abouts!)

Now phil has studied and trained for over 25 years in this field so he knows his stuff, a lot of the other stuff he told us was mind blowing but so much to take in!!

The most memorable presentation with stuff I can pass onto you was without a doubt Michael Heppell, this man had us literally crying with laughter but some really powerful messages were passed on, he talks about making positive sentences to use instead of negatives, for instance instead of saying 'I'm tired' - say 'I could do with more energy', 'I have no time to exercise' to 'I need to find some time to exercise' Michael is from the North East himself and the stuff I learned from him was outstanding.


The stuff here is not necessarily ground breaking, I’ve been passing a lot of the info off to you in bits and bobs (maybe not everything but a fair bit!)

Let’s all try the above regards nutrition and positive thinking for 2 weeks minimum and just see how we feel after that week - who's in with me?


So there you have it I just had to share with you the amazing weekend that has changed my life and the changes in my fitness business will be such a positive change and I hope that it will show in the service I give to you - stay BRILLIANT! x

New Year - New Goals!

Happy new year everybody I hope you've all had a great start.

I always like to think about my goals around new year, I have a list of business goals, health goals, family goals and personal goals and I set out in as much detail what my goal is, ways in which I can achieve the goals and work hard towards them.

Fair enough there are times when I let things lapse a bit (especially this Xmas when illness struck) but the main thing is picking yourself back up and getting back on track.

If you've put on a few pounds over Xmas and the New year, no worries, s**t happens you'll shift it again at least you enjoyed yourself right? (and weren't too unhealthy ha ha), Xmas is about taking time out for yourself and having a break from all of your hard work over the year. If you followed some of the advice given on staying as healthy as possible during the festivities and continued with some exercise then you shouldn't have put on too much?! Maybe you even lost some which is a bonus and well done if you did, great stuff.

As a nation we are being conditioned to believe its fine to be unhealthy and pile on the pounds over Xmas and the New year and that you must diet come the beginning of January. Ever noticed how many food adverts are on before and during Xmas and the increase in cooking shows, then the new year hits and you have weight watchers, slimming world and the biggest waste of money- the Special K 2 bowls 2 weeks challenge (all this is going to do is mess up your insides and the way you process your foods causing you to retain fat even more efficiently!). Some people rave about the weight watchers diet, it works as a calorie restricted diet that is all, I can guarantee that a lot of the people following the diet will not be in a state of true health. The points system and the weight watchers ready meals will make sure of that, a choice of a piece of fruit or a small packet of crisps and I know what most people with a weight problem would rather choose! They might end up slimmer but they'll still have a high body fat ratio which is not healthy.

What my aim as a Personal Trainer is to help people get a healthy body (strive for health and thin will follow), basically by giving up any pre packaged foods (if its in a packet - sack it, in a tin - bin!!) in favour of wholesome nutritious foods and best of all choosing organic, local produce will ensure that your food will be as fresh as possible. Buying from farmers markets will help you achieve this, also making sure that the meat that you eat is grass fed and has had the freedom to roam, much of the meats we eat are injected with antibiotics and growth hormones, ever wondered how MRSA came about (I believe eating meats full of antibiotics must play a huge part in making your body resistant to them), also what about what happens to your body when the foods we eat are injected with growth hormones to help fatten them up? Will that have the same effect on us when we eat them?

I know I've put on weight this Xmas what with the mulled wine (red wine has its health benefits you know : ) and flu just before Xmas putting me out of action but I'm not going to stress about it, I know I've made a few unhealthy choices and fallen off my 'health wagon' and I've got to admit at times I've suffered! No chance I could eat a diet like I have on a daily basis as I'd get nothing done and sit on my bum all day doing nothing feeling low and lethargic! Unfortunately this is what much of the nation have become, without education on food people don't know what’s healthy and what isn't anymore, kids choose sitting in watching telly or playing on their computers eating crap in favour of getting outside and playing with their friends. No wonder there's so many fat kids these days!

Well with the festivities over I've got some preparations to do today to clean up the food in the kitchen and get ready to do an elimination diet (my Personal Training and Boot Camp clients use this) to remove the toxins built up over Xmas and the New Year!! I know one of my goals is to shift at least 2 inches off my waist by the end of Jan (and I haven't even measured yet!), to do this I am going to have to eat healthy, cut out the crap and step up my exercise regime.

I also have a personal goal - not to take myself so seriously!! When in times of stress I must remind myself of this to remain happy and positive, after all life is about being happy isn't it - who needs stress!!

So come on what are your goals? What does January and 2010 have in store for you?

I for one can't wait to get back to normality after a well deserved break!

Happy New Year - to your success : )