Lets Dance 2 - New Release

I don't normally plug new products - well not unless they are something that I persoanlly use and have experience of - I recently got approached by a media company who are promoting the new release of lets dance 2 - I got given the first one for rmy birthday recently and I have to say its fab! You can really get a good sweat on if you put some effort into it and its all good fun too- you really dont feel like you are working out at all! and all the time you are burning calories - remember all activity adds up to losing that weight you are after! It doesnt always have to be structured exercise!

This new release is set to include some fitness aspects which could prove to be really effective! I for one cant wait to try it out!

I have attached the press release giving you some more info! I am hoping to get a copy to try out and will reveiw it for you if that happens!

JUST DANCE® 2

THE COUNTDOWN HAS BEGUN

21st September 2010

There are 24 days to go until the much-anticipated game Just Dance 2 is released in the UK on 15th October 2010. After the success of the first installment, which has sold more than 4 million units to date and even sold out in stores during Christmas 2009, Just Dance returns with a brand new track-list of more than 40 popular songs, each track featuring its own choreography.



Just Dance 2’s track list offers a wide range of songs drawn from classic hits and legendary songs to today’s chart-toppers, including Donna Summer’s Hot Stuff, I Got You by James Brown but also Rihanna’s SOS, When I Grow Up by the Pussycat Dolls and many other famous songs for perfect dancing parties! It also explores new music styles such as Bollywood music or reggaeton. And for those who still want more, they will be able to download tracks from an expanding catalogue of new hits.



Added to the “Classic” mode in which you can just dance on the tracks and hit the score, Just Dance 2 also boasts new modes. Thus, players will now be able to create their own team and engage in dance-off contests with up to 8 players. In the Duet Mode, each player will follow a different choreography mixing dance steps and poses that will respond to the choreography of the other. An added benefit is the new Just Sweat mode where players will lose calories shaking their bodies to their favorite songs.

Just Dance 2 will be released exclusively on WiiTM on October 15th in the UK.

For more information about Just Dance 2, please visit www.facebook.com/justdanceuk

About Ubisoft



Ubisoft is a leading producer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment products worldwide and has grown considerably through a strong and diversified line-up of products and partnerships. Ubisoft has offices in 26 countries and has sales in more than 55 countries around the globe. It is committed to delivering high-quality, cutting-edge video game titles to consumers. For the 2009-10 fiscal year Ubisoft generated sales of € 871 million. To learn more, please visit www.ubisoftgroup.com.



© 2010 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Just Dance, Ubisoft and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Trademarks are property of their respective owners. Wii is a trademark of Nintendo. © 2006 Nintendo.

What a difference a year makes!

As promised I finally have the great before and after pic of my lovely client who got married earlier this year!

Together we have worked hard and she lost over 5 stone and over 40 inches in total off her body in just over 12 months of our training!

Pretty impressive I think!

Her face has been blurred out as she is a little shy about her achievements! But I think she should be so proud of the amazing transformation she has made and the huge health benefits she has got too!

Video of Clean eating/Paleo diet!

I just loved this - I found it this morning and it is a really simple explanation but sure gets its point across! Thanks to paynowlivelater for making it or posting it - hope you dont mind me sharing it with a few more people :-) Here are some views from the same person on exercise!

Motivation Board!

I recently made a board complete with pics of figures that inspire or motivate me! I found a cool tool to do this online which enabled me to save it to my desktop so it now greets me everytime I open my laptop!

Its a great idea and you can make a hard copy too cutting out pics from magazines of bodies that you would like to  look like! There will be different ideas for different people, some like the athletic sporty look, some the bodybuilder/figure model look, personally I prefer the slightly softer fitness model look although I know how hard they work to look like they do and also how great the photographer/make up artists are at making them look perfect and im sure the old airbrush comes into play too!

Why not make your own version and stick it on your fridge or somewhere that you will see it everyday for that added bit of motivation, perhaps it will inspire you to close the fridge and go work out instead!

ps I should just mention that my blog mate JustaGirl posted hers recently on her blog which gave me the idea for posting mine here too!

Inspirational!

Wow I just had to share these amazing photos of a truly inspirational lady!

Im just going to post the pics for now and leave me a comment to guess her age! I'll reveal all later!

C'mon get guessing - answer coming later!!

UPDATE!!!! Coming soon............................

Hey bloggers! Sorry for lack of blog updates lately, exciting things to come though so please keep following! I am currently taking part in a business development program and part of this will include a much more informative blog for you to read with alot more interesting topics, recipies and news from the fitness industry!

I have also recently spent a weekend up in Nottingham at a Fitness Bootcamp where I learnt some really mind blowing information and will share some of this with you over the coming weeks!

I am also really excited to be able to share the journey and results of one of my clients with you - she has lost an amazing 5 stone + in the last year and gets married on the 29th May so watch this space for some inspirational pictures!

In the mean time if anyone has any ideas or topics they woul dliek covered then please leave me a comment and I will try my best to follow this up!

This isnt my client of course but her transformation is awesome too!!

Easter, Eggs and Moving On!

Most people other than the very dedicated will have indulged in a little Easter treat over the weekend, Easter is the longest  Bank Holiday we get other than Xmas and is a great time to spend catching up with family and friends, Easter is a fun time with Egg hunts and an array of brightly coloured goodies filling the shelves since well just after Xmas i think, so now its done put it behind you and get back on track! Dont let the guilt get in the way of your goals, you chose to indulge, and in doing so will have enjoyed things that maybe you dont choose to eat every day! Savour the tastes you experienced but  now get back on to your regular nutritional plan that is something that you can sustain day in day out and week in week out whether that be carb cycling, good old fashioned healthy eating or which ever is your choice of program but make it consistant, most "diet" plans fail due to inconsistancy so make yours something that will keep you on the straight and narrow for some time and not veering off to the next temptation because you just cant stick to it! We are now nearly a third into 2010 are you a third of the way into achieving your goals for this year? If not, there is still time - just be consistant!

No More Excuses! How many do you have?

What is clean eating or eating clean?

What is clean eating or eating clean?

I decided to write about this as the term is being widely used these days and seems to be wildly open to interpretation, where did it originate from? Who eats this way? Why eat this way? What does it involve? Those are just a few of the questions I have seen asked or been asked and the following is a collection of what I believe, what I’ve read and from googling the term!

There is also another reason behind writing this article, something I read earlier this week on a weight loss forum has stuck with me! The question posted was one from the above list and asked what could be eaten to sweeten a morning bowl of porridge, some good replies were amongst them including adding fruits, or making with oat milk etc however one suggested using jam, now having watched my Mum make jam as a child I still remember how much sugar went into the process and I knew nothing about nutrition at that point! The poster then went on to say that as jam was purely fruit and sugar it must be clean! Sugar is one of the most processed and refined substances available! My point here I guess is that people hear a term being used, currently quite a “trendy” term and kind of jump on the bandwagon without really having a clue about what this means! It also shows what a lack of nutrition knowledge we as a nation still have!

Anyway to get back to the main point what is the fuss all about? Clean eating (not my favourite term for it – but one commonly used now) is not a new invention, in fact it has been around for many, many years, centuries even, based really on how our ancestors ate! Wholesome healthy and natural foods! I first heard the term through a fitness magazine called Oxygen and a fitness model/clean eating queen Tosca Reno who transformed her life and body through a clean eating diet and full on exercise regime, she is now a very successful author on the subject!
So what is clean eating? This sentence I’ve borrowed from googling the term as it was simple and is a fairly good explanation of what clean eating is all about!

“At it’s most basic, clean eating is making the healthiest food choices possible, opting for fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean cuts of meat instead of processed and refined foods.”

In other words things that grow on or under the ground, have lived on the land or swam in the sea! Lean, Green or Marine! As nature intended!

Eating this way eliminates processed foods as much as possible, cuts out refined foods that have been changed from their original state, with unpronounceable ingredients on the packets full of additives and chemicals!
Eating clean isn’t a diet it’s a lifestyle choice for life! For me it’s about caring what you put into your body and how it affects you and the knock on effect of how you look and how healthy you are! Another borrowed quote “Clean eating is not about deprivation, avoiding food groups, counting calories or starvation, but about making healthy food choices and providing the body with the best foods possible.”

That last sentence really sums it up for me as the whole debate is open to everyone’s individual interpretation, some state that everything we eat today has undergone some form of processing and that people that say they eat clean are not really unless they farm, kill, grow and then cook everything they eat which is what some people who take it very seriously do, others like me adapt it to their lifestyle and what is convenient for them and their needs, I am no saint my diet is not 100% clean all of the time but the basic principles remain true that I choose to make healthy choices wherever possible and try to avoid as many processed man made foods where I can!
The term clean eating has crossed over into the fitness world quite heavily and the two now seem to make a great match being quite inseparable, you will find people that take on this way of life tend to eat small frequent meals, cook from scratch using fresh natural ingredients, eliminate refined sugars and alcohol, drink plenty of natural water as much as half your bodyweight in ounces! Eat a compulsory breakfast and pack and prepare daily meals and snacks in advance! They do not rely on shop bought sandwiches or ready meals they are always prepared and carry their staples with them!

What will eating clean do for you? Other than improving health and vitality, it will help you lose unwanted bodyfat, give you increased energy, clearer skin, stronger hair and nails, enhanced sleep and clearer mental focus!
So to end I would say adjust your diet to fit in with your current lifestyle whilst staying true to the basic principles of clean eating! There is no right and wrong, it is a choice after all but if you really care about your body then you’d do worse than to take on board some or all of these principles!
www.sarahbrookes.co.uk

Burger - Treadmill - Exhaustion: can you outtrain a bad diet?

Can you out train a bad diet?

If you eat too many calories, too much junk food, or too many processed carbohydrates, it doesn't matter how tough or how long you exercise, you just won't lose that stubborn body fat. No exercise program is so great that it can out train a bad diet.


I’ve lost count of the times I’ve over heard conversations or read on weight loss forums “I’ve got pizza for dinner tonight so I’m going to do an extra 20 minutes on the treadmill at the gym today” or “It was my friend’s birthday so I had a piece of her Chocolate birthday cake – but it’s ok because I haven’t eaten any lunch and I’ll work twice as hard at the gym tomorrow”


I’ve even seen people come fresh from their workout and in the gym café order a frothy latte and a pastry “I’ve earned it – I’ve worked so hard in my aerobics class”


Unfortunately there is an assumption that because you train hard that you can eat what you like – it may be true that once you have got the body you desire through hard work and sensible nutrition, that you can indulge in the occasional treat and it wont do too much damage to your waistline, however if you are trying to lose fat and aiming to get into that bikini this summer then you still have to be very careful about what goes into your mouth!


Proper nutrition is paramount to you achieving your goals, filling up on healthy nutritious meals and snacks in the right quantities will get you that dream body, not fooling yourself that you have earned that “Starbucks Coffee and Muffin”


As a trainer I hear from clients again thinking that because they employ me to sort out their training that somehow my programs contain magic exercises that will eliminate the need for them to make any changes to their diet and nutrition program, sadly this is not the case, I may train someone for up to 2 or maybe 3 hours per week but that still leaves the other 168 or so hours in that week that they are responsible for themselves and what they put into their mouths!


Of course you will still get a change in body shape from a good training plan, and can even make a change to your body composition with the addition of some lean muscle, however if the nutrition isn’t in place then you wont be getting the transformation you are really seeking!


Why is it so hard to get the nutrition right? Many people would rather work themselves into a sweaty mess on the floor in the belief that they are out training their poor diet than put any thought and effort into what goes into their mouths, grabbing pre prepared foods on the go probably not even tasting what they’ve eaten.


It does take some thought, time and preparation to get your meal plans right but this comes down to just one word organisation! Spending just a little time over your weekend thinking about what you will eat in the forthcoming week, even cooking and freezing ahead, shopping and getting in what you will need, this will become second nature once you start planning and your body will thank you for it; and therefore be prepared to be optimally fuelled during and after your workouts, helping you recover and heal in the process and accelerate your fat loss results and increase your muscle gains.


If you choose to continue acting like a kid in a sweet shop stuffing down processed ready meals, takeaways and calorie laden snacks and hoping that that extra 20 minutes wasting your time on that treadmill will get you where you want to be then this time next year you will look at your reflection and be very disappointed, you will at best look the same or worst still you will have gained more pounds and be spending even more time on that treadmill or cross trainer trying to out do what you put in your mouth!


As a final example and taking things to the extreme for fun, imagine you have just spent an hour or so working out so intensely doing your HIIT (High intensity interval training) doing hill sprints followed by a gruelling spin class that has literally melted you off your seat – you may if your lucky have burnt up to 1000 calories however you may be left feeling that you couldn’t walk another step or even make sense when engaging in conversation on your way out of the gym – you did literally work your arse off!


Now you’re driving home and you are so tired you cant even imagine cooking - oh and there in all its glory is that big shiny yellow “M” sign – without thinking you are through that drive in within minutes and on your lap is a small box containing a burger, fries and coke – regular sized not large after all you are watching your diet aren’t you? Oops there is the big mistake in less than a few minutes you have just eaten up those 1000 calories and some! Now remind me – why did you just spend 60 minutes wasting your precious time to burn those 1000 calories? Just to eat them in less than the time it took you to put your trainers on?


On a final note it is possible to get your dream body, it just needs the right combination of a good training plan along side the right nutrition plan. Your results are approximately 80-90% diet related!


www.sarahbrookes.co.uk

Off Radar!

Hey Blogland! Apologies for being off the blog radar lately, I kinda ran out of steam, not really having the time or motivation to be online all the time, this is just a quick update to catch up with everyone!

Time is running out for me before my first event of the year at the end of March and as yet no real results to report - I think I have been going from one thing to another rather than sticking with any particular thing.

Currently I have signed up to Daxs monthly workout which is tough I can tell you, I have glute and quad doms from hell right now from some lovely 1 legged squats! I dont think the 20 mins of KB swingsheloed either!!

I have also got another product that I am thinking of trialling to called Final phase fatloss which i quiet like the look of! So I will rport back real soon!

Hoe all is well with you all - drop me a comment to let me know how you are doing xx

Good day today!

Today has been a good and busy day - woke up feeling quite refreshed, made my new fave mango and banana smoothie for brekkie - went to train my first 3 clients of the day who have been doing soooooooooo well and lost over 8lbs each in their first 2 weeks! I then met a friend and fellow PT for lunch and we had a good catch up and discussed work and clients and nutrition and exercise so all in all a great lunch, we met in a lovely cafe called Alexs Healthy Cafe! http://www.good-food-co.co.uk/good-food-cafe.php and had homemade hummus, olives, pitta and fresh yellow and red pepper! Yummy!! I came home for a bit then went to my evening clients, after finishing I cam back to my lovely friends house and we worked out together! Phew it is now nearly 10 and my day is nearly done - a nice relaxing bath and the latest episode of The Biggest loser in bed and thats me done!  Yes today has been a good one :-)

 Hope yours is as good tomorrow :-))

Go to work on an egg - remember that???

The beauty of eggs! What I have found whilst doing the elimination diet is that eggs really are my wonder food, they provide me with a complete meal in a shell! The keep me full and are full of very very good things!

The old theory about eggs still seems to exist and I read so many diet programs and books still that only use the whites, Why? the chicken made the egg as a whole and people are losing out big time when they dont eat the yolk! I am going to borrow some information from Dax Moys February Newsletter - free to anyone who visits his site - link at the top!

"Eggs a healthy food but that the yolk is in fact the healthiest part of the egg and should not be avoided for either concern of heart health or weight loss. The link between the dietary cholesterol and blood cholesterol levels is flimsy at best and it is now known that healthy fats and cholesterol in eggs can actively raise
the good cholesterol giving a better ratio of good cholesterol (HDL) to bad cholesterol (LDL).


Research published in The European Journal of Nutrition found that those who ate two eggs per day while on a calorie-restricted diet not only lost weight - but also reduced their cholesterol levels.


Both the American heart Association and the British Heart foundation no longer place a limit on the recommended number of eggs to be consumed in a week. Yet, despite this knowledge having been available for many years now people are still frequently recommending the removal of the yolk as a healthy option thinking that taking some the fat and cholesterol out is making a healthy food choice but they’re mistaken.



As well as containing the essential fatty acids the egg yolks also contain the lions share of the vitamins and minerals, 90% of Calcium, 99.8% of Zink, 93% of Iron, 91.7% of vitamin B12 and 100% of vitamins A,E,D & K. On the other hand the egg whites only contain protein and magnesium in significant quantities making it the lesser part of the nutritional whole.
 
Still think that egg white omelet is the healthier option?
 
What about weight loss?



Well first off eggs aren’t as high in fat as most people believe; at 5 grams of fat per egg they certainly can’t be considered a high fat food and it has been shown that Omega 3 fatty acids aid in weight loss. Also zinc, magnesium and calcium deficiencies which are very common in the modern diet often play a role in the hormonal imbalances that contribute to people’s weight and metabolism problems.

Eggs are an excellent source of all these important nutrients. When the yolk and the white are consumed together they form a complete nutritional complex of vitamins minerals essential fatty acids and protein, not only does the egg contain all these things but they are contained in their most absorbable form (humans can’t absorb a lot of the nutrients from many foods) making them one of the most complete and healthy foods found anywhere in nature and nutrition. So clearly the healthiest part of the egg is the two parts together as nature intended.

Thank you to Gavin Smith the author of that article! I have borrowed it as I couldnt have said it better myself and it reflects my view of the egg! So c'mon guys eat the whole egg don't disappoint those chickens that have worked so hard to give you a complete meal by chucking out the best and tastiest part!!

Wow thats a lot of cals!

I finally got round to wearing my HRM for all of the meltdown workouts inluding my own cardio of kettlebell swings, high pulls and cleans and all in all it took me 65 mins spread throughout the day and earnt me 1054 calories after background deducted!!

I made a delicious curry tonight from the spice n tice range "coriander chicken" and it really was lovely, it had chicken, an onion, tomatoes chopped and the spices from the pack and a little water , it was really quite spicy but tasted so clean - will definately make it again and some more from their range too!

Awesome kettlebell queen!

I have been reading a report this week on the effectiveness of kettlebells and the study reveals that it can burn up to 1200 cals per hour! that is some serious calorie burn! I love kettlebells and I only do some fairly basic routines with them, this year I am planning on doing a more advanced training course - and if I needed any inspiration then how about Lauren Brookes?

I think she looks fab and would kill for her abs! I am waiting for my new order of bells to be delivered I am getting a 10kg and 12kg set for now and will aim to be using a 16kg this year some point!

I have been so busy this last 2 weeks the training course I have been on has really taken over and I havent been able to fit in the 4 workouts a day so I am going to extend my 30 days past the supposed finish date as I havent been able to put in the work I wanted to! Some people are getting seriously great results though - some are reporting 16lbs and lots of 12lb losses and we are only 19 or 20 days in. This program really does work if you can put the time and effort into it! I have lots of things this year that I want to look great for so I need to get cracking!!

Always learning

Just back from the 1st day training of the family obesity project that I will be co running in April - very interesting and looking forward to working with the families! I went to see som enew clients on Monday and i mentioned that i was going on a training course this week and the guy said to me "Stll training Sarah"? and it got me thinking that when you train for something if yo think that is it - finished then you are limiting your knoweldge so much - for me I will always be training, always looking to learn new things and improve upon what I know already - that makes me a better trainer and a better person as my mind is kept active and I just love learning new things! Maybe that is why so many fitness industry members are still using outdated training and nutrition!
Anway I have been unable to do 4 workouts today - I did the ICP prior to leaving as it was the quickest i coudl do and I will get another in later but I have to go do clients now - just not enough hours in the day sometimes! oh and i have to cook, clean, pick kids up and get ready fro day 2 of tomorrows course too!! phew!

Oooops sorry last weeks catch up!!

For some reason I thought I hadnt blogged over the weekend but it has been longer than that - the days are flying past! My excuses - well I have been away to Dublin for the weekend which was part of my Xmas present - we had a lovely time even though it was -8 degrees!!! It snowed the whole time we were there and we actually thought we may get stuck there!! They closed Dublin airport for a while on Saturday afternoon but luckily it was ok for departures first thing Sunday!!
We did loads of walking around however I didnt stick to the 4 workouts a day whilst we were there so a fair bit of making up to do this week!!
Dax's program is going well (other than my 2 day escape) I am still quite tired though :-(
I have also been meeting with new clients and re doing all of my paperwork and forms etc for my business so that has been time consuming and after days of pc work I have been quite pleased to turn the laptop off so apologies for my disappearance - back to normal now :-))

I have roped a friend in to start the ED and she started today - nice to have someone close to share ideas and the odd craving with!!

I am not measuring or weighing this week yet as totm looming and I feel bloaty and horrible so I dont want to get discouraged by not getting good results until it has gone away!

Hope all is good with my fellow bloggers - off now to read my list and catch up xx

Day 4 I knew it was coming!!!!

Hmmm woke up today to news that the wave was being introduced from tomorrow - I knew that was coming!! So although I know it is what helps me as I do love my carbs in the form of potatoes or rice it means I will no longer have them for 3 days and can re fuel on them on the 4th day!!

So I guess that means I will have to make the most of a spud for dinner tonight!

Day 4's food was oats and raspberries with flaxseed for brekkie, cashew nuts and an apple, live yog with raspberries throughout the day, and pork and apple casserole with mashed potato, carrots, green beans and peas for dinner! Quite carb based really but so yummy!

I am still really sore especially between my shoulders for some reason - I tried out my new HRM yesterday which is fab and I think it encouraged me to work harder to see those calories mount up!

The Meltdown lasting only 16 mins earned me 165 cals after background deducted! not bad!! I forgot to put it back on for the others so will try better today!! Want to see how the kettlebell swings compare!!

It is quite hard actually fitting in the 4 workouts more challenging than last time but still it has to be done :-)

Day 3 Meltdown!

Nothing very exciting to report - exercise continues with the 4 workouts a day - am looking forward to the kids back at school and routine etc i findit easier when i am left to my own devices!

Food wise it has been fine - poached egg on rye for brekkie, lemon water to drink (am really enjoying this it is so cleansing) Lunch was carrot and coriander soup with another piece of rye )they are tiny slices) Dinner was salmon salad with a jacket spud!

I am kind of making the most of the carbs at the mo as i know they will be going as the meltdown continues when we do the wave again - i'm guessing this will be introduced again! which means 3 days of carbs coming only from veg followed by one day where we can have fruit, rice or spuds again!!

No change weight or inch wise at the start of day 4 although i do feel thinner! the bloat is going!!

Happy New Year Blogland! & Day 1 Meltdown

Happy New Year to you all!

Meltdown Day 1!

Foodwise it was so nice to be eating clean healthy foods after the Xmas excesses food was very simple today with a poached egg and a slice of home cooked ham for brekkie, nuts and grapes for snacks, butternut squash with a slice of rye and cranberry bread for lunch and a gorgeous roast dinner cooked by my 12 year old son! He did a roast chicken, roast potatoes in olive oil, brocolli, runner beans, roasted carrots - it was really delicious!

Exercise was hard work - I have been lazy over Xmas so i feel stiff after the 4 workouts and the memories of last years meltdown came flooding back - I still dislike the spidermen and step through lunges but hey!!!

I need to do my measurements but have lost my measures - I took them out of my bag when i went last minute Xmas shopping on Xmas eve and cant find them - the weight though is 147lbs yuk!!!!!!!!!

29 more days to go...........

Day 2

Samw workouts as yesterday - I am doing kettlebell swings and cleans for the cv intervals - need to get my practice in on those so this is ideal!

Food for today - drinking hot water and lemon in place of my tea plus the normal water! I got up quite late today so was a little naughty and missed brekkie but had potato and leek soup and rye bread for lunch, apple and nuts as snacks and salad, jacket spud and some left over chilli for dinner! Yum x