Katie Baines Pregnancy Blog #3 - 'Two weeks out!'

As I sit here writing my final pregnancy blog, I can't help but be surprised at where on earth the time has gone? There are now only two weeks until my due date when we are finally able to meet and say hello to our little man

 

It feels like only yesterday when I found out that I was pregnant and I started to wonder how the next few months would pan out in terms of changes to my body and my life! I was determined from day 1 to continue training at UFit Studio right up until my due date . 

 

I must admit, I did have doubts if that was a realistic ambition, because this is my first pregnancy and I had no idea how late pregnancy would affect my body.

 

Others around me were so sceptical and just smiled politely, worried of how naive I was.

 

I never thought I would be saying this BUT at 8 and a half months pregnant, I have kept my word and continue to attend U Fit Studio on a twice weekly basis! Much to the dismay of those who are just desperate for me to sit down and rest!

 

Even though I am not that big for someone who is a couple of weeks off from giving birth, I am so full of energy still with a spring in my step! I often forget I am pregnant until I try and reach to shut that car door!

 

People say that the reason why I am still so full of energy and am able to continue going to the gym well into my late pregnancy is because I have been one of the 'lucky' ones who have had a very easy pregnancy throughout, with no sickness, back aches or tiredness.

 

I agree to a certain extent as we cannot control all of the hormonal effects of pregnancy, but I do believe that great nutrition and a tailored pregnancy fitness programme have played a huge part in giving me the best possible experience!

 

 

 

 

I appreciate that a tailored fitness programme has helped me to continue coming to the gym so late into my pregnancy, as it is more manageable and I feel completely safe and confident in it.

 

The exercise routines are gentle enough so I do not risk pulling any muscles or harming the baby but challenging enough to feel the effects and strengthen my body in preparation for labour!

 

One effect of exercising that I have found to have had both pros and cons, is the fact that my abdominal muscles have remained tight. In fact they have remained so tight that on two occasions, the midwife has been unable to tell us which way round the baby is and made us worry for two weeks that baby has been breeched! So aside from the extra scans we have had to have, I am most definitely hoping that my tight stomach muscles will spring back quicker post-birth!

 

In the past I have continuously fluctuated between size 16 and 8. Over the years U Fit Studio has equipped me all the right tools to help me achieve something which once seemed an impossible dream; comfortably keeping within the same clothes size for more than 2 years! 

 

Although they have helped me to achieve my desired physique, U Fit Studio have given me something more precious than that. With their endless support of my own determination over the years, I have learnt so much about myself and my capabilities. I never knew I had such determination and perseverance in me until I started training at U Fit Studio.

 

Not only have they played a big part in helping to transform my body but they have 'toned' my mind as I am so focused, goal driven and ready to face any challenge in life.

 

Including getting me through labour!

 

 

 

 

This mind-set has not only helped me to enjoy my pregnancy and stay fit, it has also helped me in both my personal and professional life. I have learnt that any limitations whether it be physical or psychological come from within yourself. The power of the mind is immense; if you are in a positive mind-set surrounded by positive influences then you can achieve anything!

 

So, two weeks away from giving birth, aside from the fridge, freezer, kitchen cupboards being cleaned several times in case the in-laws come round. I feel ready and hugely excited to face my next challenge! I don't feel frightened or apprehensive of what is ahead of me as I know whatever pain I will experience is a positive pain and it brings me that one step closer to meeting our baby boy. Where is the sense of achievement in anything if it comes all too easily without the pain and endurance?!'

 

I can't wait!

 

Katie x

‘Uniquely Competitive’ – Who’s YOUR competition?

My little thought for the day…

It was a cold winter’s school day back in 1998 on the big sports field across the street from my secondary school, and there I was in shorts that were too long and an off white T-shirt that was too small. This was the moment where our sporting school captains picked who they wanted for their competitive teams for ‘the big date in the calendar’…’Sports Day’.  One by one, names were called and my other class mates jumped for joy as they were joining their friends to compete in what I would call now days ‘The Hunger Games’. (The competition was tough and personal)
By this time my heart began to sink as I was left standing alone, and not picked for either teams. I was not wanted.

The truth was, I wasn’t a ‘Sports Man’ and they knew this. However what they failed to notice about me, was that although I wasn’t your traditional sports man with the latest Nike trainers, I WAS a competitive person, but in a different way to them.

In my life, I have always prided myself on the fact that I work well within teams of people, I love people, I love meeting new people and engaging with them and learning about ‘their story’.
 I have never been one to base relationships with people on rivalry or even worse…Jealousy.
I personally feel that this isn’t healthy as it can on occasion lead you to self-doubt, and a negative outlook. We are all different, we are all unique (It sounds clichéd, but I believe this to be true.)


 So here is my point….
Competition is healthy, it’s fun, it’s entertaining, it drives people to succeed, it can sometimes come with huge rewards and benefits, but where is that ‘Real’ sense of competition?

I believe competition should start and continue within ourselves.
I like to keep the ‘Ethos’ in life that every day I should set out to do better, and be better and my daily challenge is to keep this in mind for every aspect of my own life.
This concept isn’t a new one, and it has certainly been said before, I just believe that sometimes we can lose focus on what is really important, and where our goals should be.

‘I only compete in my life to improve on my best, and that in itself brings achievement, happiness and complete satisfaction’.
So the next time you are in the studio and you happen to notice the person to your right, doing an extra squat or lifting a heavier weight than yourself, don’t allow yourself to feel like you’re not winning, just know that you are in your own race, and if you keep going, you’ll be at the finish line being the person you aspire to be.

(You can also remind me of this statement, when you see me in a pool of sweat in the studio, begging to have 60 second rest! Ha ha)

Thank you for reading

Ben York

Member Representative

Head of Front Of House

Cheat workouts - My response to the shut up and train culture

Cheat meals are a funny business. I don't think that anybody should ever have a cheat meal, I'd like to live in a place where everyone just eats what they want to eat all day every day.



I think this is possible whilst remaining healthy, here's how:

I want to feel great during as much of my life as possible. What I don't want is energy swings, bad digestion, interrupted sleep and low mood.

I know that by eating good food, sleeping well and exercising regularly I will feel as good as I possibly can most of the time. There are times where I don't feel on top form, like every body, but I can promise you that 99% of the time it is as a result of a poor nutrition choice, a bad night's sleep or from having missed training.

The other thing is that after a while, training should become a hobby. Eventually everyone gets in to it. You start to become hungry for more progress. As a result I want to recover from my training as fast as possible. I have no interest in walking around feeling like an 80yr old for 4 days of the week. So, again I know that by eating lots of clean food I will get that.

It's a no brainer isn't it, the food that you really want to eat for long term happiness is the food that makes you feel good most of the time.

But there is an exception.

Every now and again, you will be faced with a situation where you are looking at a slab of chocolate cake (or whatever doesn't make you feel good but tastes lovely) and you will make the decision there and then to have some, even though you know it won't help your long term progress.

Now who exactly are you cheating?

Where in the rules does it say no chocolate cake?

Who's rules say no chocolate cake?

Well I don't follow anyone else's rules, I follow my own rules. I would expect you to do the same. All you can say is that I understand the implications of what I am about to do and weighing up the benefits and the costs of this action I have decided that I am OK with doing it.



It only becomes a cheat meal if you regret it afterwards. That means you let your emotions get the better of you. You let your cravings get the better of you and you made a misinformed choice.

So here I am, staring at that piece of chocolate cake and I think.

- I eat well most of the time so my metabolism will probably deal with this chocolate cake no problem
- I am not on any strict fat loss goal.
- I have eaten enough protein vegetables and fat for the day to make sure my body stays healthy.
- I'm going to really enjoy it.
- I might get a bit of digestive distress, but most likely one piece of cake will go largely unnoticed.

So I say go for it.

And that's it. If you really care about your progress you will say no. For example I will always decline an alcoholic drink if I have trained in the last 24 hours or I plan to in the next 24 hours. Which means that I almost never drink.

I just don't see the point.

So can this apply to physical training?



I apply the same logic...

On average I'll get in 4 sessions per week. However sometimes I just really don't want to do my programme.

You know the days, you're fatigued from previous workouts, stressed from work, you have no energy and you know that if you do your normal routine your going to get about as much out of it as if you didn't do it at all.

Well this happens on occasion, really not very often, maybe once every 6 weeks.

What do I really need to feel good?

What I need is a reduced volume session where I do something which I haven't done in a while and just have some fun.

So I will usually spend a bit of extra time foam rolling and a bit longer on my warm up. After all I need it because I'm hurting.

Then I'll just do some stuff I don't usually do, which makes me happy.

I'll finish with a bit of HIIT training and then that's it.

Some people might say that I am cheating myself and that I should just do it.

But I disagree, occasionally it is a great thing to do something just for the fun of it. Every time I do have a cheat session, the next training session is a million times better because I have given myself some time to recover properly and I actually do better than ever.

We don't need to be 100% strict 100% of the time. You just need to use your brain and make sensible, informed decisions.

Too much 'good food' will make you fat

Diet books are a perennial feature on the best seller list, right now if you look at Waterstone's non-fiction best-sellers list about half of the books are to do with diets.

The diet book is endlessly appealing, ‘finally a solution to my problem’ people say, ‘something which will just tell me what I need to do’.

At the top of the list is a book called, ‘I quit sugar’. It’s entirely representative of the trend of diet books at the moment. Everyone is blaming carbohydrates for their weight problems.

Low carb diets are not new, but they have never been more popular because they offer a quick and simple solution to most people’s problems.  The science stacks up, but there is a dark side to low carb diets.

Incorrect use of a low carb diet could make it impossible to return to a normal diet ever again. Ultimately just cutting carbs could make your problem worse.

 

 

Firstly, here’s the reason why low-carb diets work for most of us.

Take your average overweight person:

High levels of body fat impair the function on insulin by impairing its ability to transport nutrients (particularly carbs and sugars) into cells to be used for energy.

The more fat this person gains, the more that they are unable to properly manage their blood sugar. 

 

     Their body's sensitivty to insulin becomes more and more reduced, until they have to excrete a very large amount of insulin to control even small consumption of carbohydrates

The more impaired their ability to manage blood sugar becomes, the more their body has to store what they eat as fat.

When the insulin doesn't shift any more nutrients out of the blood, the body has to protect itself from damage by converting it to relatively safe fat stores.

The even better news is that because their insulin level is so high, their body is very reluctant in using fats for energy.  So as long as the carbs keep going in, the fat’s not going anywhere.

So they can’t get energy from carbs, and they can’t get energy from fats. The result is that they have no energy, which is why they feel lethargic. It isn't laziness, it’s just physiology.

When you reduce carb intake, you effectively stop the motor running this vicious cycle and everything can begin to return to balance.

 

Secondly here is a list of some of the metabolic effects of a low carb plan:

Insulin sensitivity increase

This means that cells can get hold of the energy they need to function correctly. Particularly muscle cells increase in their capability to use energy activity.

Insulin production decreases

Abnormally high levels of insulin are no longer required to keep blood sugar levels at safe levels. This means that the body will reduce its capacity to produce insulin.

Body fat will become more available for fuel

When carb intake is reduced the body alters fuel sources. After a while the shift becomes more to using fats rather than carbs. You will always use both, but the chains are off the fence surrounding your body fat. If your body needs to use it, it can.

Lastly here’s why a low carb plan shouldn't be done long term without consideration

Carbohydrate tolerance is a term used to describe how much carbohydrate absorb and utilise productively.

 

Limiting factors include the amount of insulin produced and the sensitivity of cells to insulin.

 

When someone eats more carbohydrate than they can handle they cannot absorb carbs because their insulin sensitivity becomes too low. This is what everyone hears,

 

But when someone goes too low carb for too long, they don't need to produce much insulin any more. Our bodies are efficient, we don't waste energy and so their body down-regulates the amount of insulin produced.

This means that each day they operate on a low carb level they lose the ability to produce insulin a little more. Until one day in a few years, they get to the point where they are producing so little insulin, that something like a bit of sweet potato will be too much carb and they will gain fat. 

What we need when on a low carb plan is intermittent re-feeding points.We need to periodically stimulate insulin production so that we can eat carbs. 

So next time you hear someone saying, 'Oh I don't handle carbs well so I tend to avoid them' give them a slap from me. All they're doing is creating a self fulfilling prophecy.

 The rock eats pancakes

How do I lose the fat around on my stomach, thighs and arms?

Great question from RWL member Jeanette Rogers in her one 2 one yesterday:

"Joe, I have a wedding coming up in July and would really like to fit in to a dress for it but I have one problem... over the next few month's I'd like to reduce the fat from around my stomach, thighs and arms. Can we do this?"

I then went on to show her the plan to achieve this, and actually, to achieve this will be well and truly done before July.

It's just a few simple things

That I have also decided to share with you

Well, what woman doesn't want to lose more fat on their stomach, thighs and arms?

This won't be your traditional advice. We are going to set you straight on what to do for YOU.

 I'm not going to do this through email though because even though it's simple once you know how I writing it through email wont do it justice

There is more to it than just telling you what to eat and how to exercise

So both I and my partner in crime Sam (Personal trainer of the year 2013 and person responsible for designing our 

members programs) will be presenting a 'live' online seminar in a few weeks time.

We will dive into information based around your 'female' hormones (yes, you know which ones I mean. I just hope we don't catch you on a bad week :))

How your metabolic type will influence your changes

What to do if you are on certain medications (the pill, pain killers, anti depressants, thyroxine)

Plus much more...

This will leave you knowing what to do and how to do it... and wait for it... never have to worry about your problems areas again.

(that's if you put what we tell you in to action...)

That's all I have time for today as I'm just about to interview members for our pod cast show which is coming up in a few 

weeks time.

Joe '23 days without coffiene' Hanney

Ps- you'll have to sit tight and wait anxiously whilst I create the registeration link to the 'lose fat on your stomach, thighs 

and arms' online seminar 

Pps- by the way, it will be FREE to the first 20 people. keep an eye out for the email that will have the registration link

Stroking our own ego

It's Monday and I'm in the mood for some ego stroking

Why?

Well, for one you better get used to it because from what the RWL members had to share on their podcast interview this weekend you are in for a treat of a show every Monday when we'll be letting loose a member in the spotlight each week.

And of course, it just seems right before we open up places for a membership at RWL in a few week's time

There are 4 people on the waiting list (not all will be successful) but what they have done is taken the time and 
first steps in their journey by filling out an Application form

There are 7 open spaces available for membership in total for February and that's all we can take on.

To apply head over to here

So enough of that, let's start...
(casually stroking my fingers through my hair, not a good thing though - it means I need a hair cut)

First up is 'RWL member' and friend Karen Preston (a gal that just 'gets it' - give her the plan and she'll run through a brick wall for you until she gets results, well there's proof in the pudding, shes gone from a size 16 to a small 8)

=====

"This has changed my life."

"I can do anything I can set my mind to now, which is great."

"I've lost about 3 stone."

"I've gone from a size 16 to a size 8."

"I found an inner strength and inner dedication that I just never knew I had."

=====

Ahh, yes

Aint nothing like a good ego strking, is there?

The next one is from yet another 'RWL member' and friend Kate Solomon's (we had blast at the Miss Great 
Britain after party. She also got down to serious business and lost a couple of sizes to fit in her wedding dress)

=====

"I have a new lifestyle and look at things completely differently."

"In 3 to 4 months I lost 2 dress sizes, which was fantastic!"

"I noticed after 3 months, I hadn't had the random headaches.  I'd wake up in the morning and I was so much fresher, and more energized. "

"My hair, my skin, my whole body physically and mentally is stronger and better."

"You come out of every session and feel amazing."

=====

You haven't heard nothing yet

I'm just getting started

=====

joe, unsubscribe me from your email list and I don't want to see the application process through.. I just want to join and you have so many steps that I should take, so no i'm not doing this

=====

WHHHHAAAAATTTT!

I knew all this ego stroking wouldn't last :)

Its all good though, because even feedback like this strokes my ego, and probably even more so.

Why, because it means they weren't going to be a good member.

More importantly they didn't want to STEP UP

They wanted the easiest route

Im sorry, if you are searching for an easy route to weight loss success, there aint one.

You have to answer to a few home truths first

And one of them is... why haven't you yet achieved your goals... no excuses... just the honest truth

This is where the lady that left the comment got to... couldn't answer it

Didn't want to accept any responsibility

.... Until she does I can categorically say that she will never lose weight

And this is no bitter twist because she decided not to use our services it's a hard fact.

Alright, enough ego stroking

Heres what to do next

1.      Click on the link (it'll take through to the application form)
              https://rwlgym.wufoo.com/forms/z88ywm606e3yra/

2.      Read the questions and answer VERY HONESTLY (there are no right answers)

3.      Hit complete if you think you've got what it takes to join our RWL Family and are not afraid of work

4.      Get accepted

5.      Implement your plan and what you learn

6.      Get plenty of compliments

7.      Then send me an ego stroking testimonial in approx. 12 weeks time when you've met your goals

Cool?


Joe 'fired up' Hanney

Hold my balls

It was a comment I made yesterday when I was training and I hadn't realised what I had said until after

Have you ever done that?

How embarrassing.... haha!

I'll tell you what I was actually referring too further down the email

But for now I'd like you to think about YOURSELF

What have you done this week that's taken you closer to your dream dress size?

And... don't be so harsh on yourself here

Even if you started well on Monday but then you went off the wagon as the week went on... we can still take a positive out of this

Referring to Jeff's article yesterday one small change is by far better than trying to change everything at once

So, using the example above I'd suggest that you do the same for the week coming (well, the Monday at the least)

BUT this time write exactly what you did this time i.e. what did you eat? what time did you go to bed? what time did you exercise? etc. etc.

Then Just take those notes and repeat for the Tuesday

Even if it goes awol again from thereon, you've still made PROGRESS and done two positive days instead of one

Then repeat..

Sooner than later you'll be at 7 days...

That's what I do when I implement a new habit or change something up in my plans.. like yesterday I held a Medicine "Ball in my hand" instead of a Dumbbell in an exercise I did.

That's where the phrase "hold my balls" came from...

Not Me - I'm Better Looking :)

You see what I did there :)

I was getting frustrated with myself which is why it came out wrongly....

This is the quote we have in our studio, as soon as you walk in

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Lao-tzu

Joe 'sorry about the title of this email' Hanney

ps- podcast interviews start tomorrow, remember to get your questions in.