Post Thankgiving damage control - you've got it wrong!

In my view many, many people go wrong after a festive event & Thanksgiving in the US is one of those.  Firstly you eat & drink too much during the day.  Then you get up the next day & go for damage control.  Even vegans & vegetarians who may shun the turkey still often tend to overeat, then go for the old "work it off" idea by really hitting the gym after the celebration.  I actually believe this is counter-productive!

What I actually suggest is that you stick to the plan!  That's right! If you have goals & you are on your way to an objective, then do not alter the plan due to one failed meal.  Rather like if you 'fall off the wagon' one evening, the next day you right back on.  Continue the plan!  One failed meal (however big) will not cause you to destroy all progress, but throwing away the system you are using to try & make up for a bad meal will cause yet another day off the plan, another failure!  Do not go & do extra exercise, do not starve yourself.  Eat your regular food, do your normal workout, return to a stable routine.  This is the secret to success in training.  There are no quick fixes in this game.  Whether you're trying to lose fat or gain muscle, it is rational training & diet done consistently that will get you the results over time.

Over the next few days you will receive many, many 'quick fix' ideas about how you can rev up your metabolism, cut that fat super-fast.  Ignore them, in fact those suggesting it probably do not even understand what it means to have a structured goal & a plan for fat loss or muscle gain.  If you get straight back to the routine today I can guarantee that one meal will not affect you in the grand scheme of things.  If you fall off the plan & try to 'catch up' I predict failure.  Lastly, if you don't have a plan, then I can guarantee failure.  Don't waste your time on the quick fix either, take some time formulate a plan to achieve your goals & start that instead of going for the quick fix option.  That way over the winter you will slowly, but steadily achieve your goals & by summer people will be asking you for your secret!

Space food

My friends (Hello Liz, Maz, Jaz & Lilly)
came back from Holidays a few weeks ago & bought me a pack of these!
They are space strawberries!  No, they don't come from space, but they are what astronauts take with them into space.  This packet only made it as far as Brighton though.
The ingredients were 100% strawberries & they were kind of desiccated & a little bitter.  To be honest they didn't taste too much like a strawberry as you & I think of them & I don't think I actually ever buy them given a choice...but it was weird having spaceman/lady food & seeing what they have to eat when they go into space as you never really think about munching in space.  Personally I'd think could you take something like sprouts....well seeds & mud as they'd survive take off, then the low gravity would surely make sprouts grow like crazy...wouldn't it?  (I really don't know much about growing stuff in space as I don't expect to be doing it any time soon :-), but for now it looks like bitter strawberries are the best you space adventurers have to look forward to :-)

We've been training wrong!

That's right!  ...at least according to some.
I don't usually single out people who say or do stupid things, but I read this advertisement for a new DVD & it got my blood boiling!

According to this you are all making a mistake working out those silly old biceps & hamstrings.  The secret is to avoid working any of those pesky big muscles & only work the smaller accessory (how the hell do you even do that?).
Apparently she's done 10 years of scientific work (yep, I believe that one!) & experience to make this 'discovery'.  According to her you will get 'bulky' if you work any major muscle directly (What!).  Oh yea, she also advocates no more than 3 pound weight should be lifted by women.
...& there was me thinking she was just making these women burn loads of calories with light, repetitive activity & then starving them...silly me!  Gwyneth Paltrow suffering thinning bones is obviously NOTHING to do with the fact she won't lift over 3 pounds of weight, starves herself with 'cleansing' & other extreme calorie restriction. 
The fact that many of us have helped cure thinning bones with sensible weight training, a decent diet & some sunshine must be a strange coincidence.  If only we'd starved our clients & insisted they never lift anything heavy then the condition would have corrected itself as we worked those accessory muscles (Yes that was sarcasm!).
I wouldn't recommend this one for your xmas stocking - buy a decent book or DVD that shows women they are every bit as able to lift as men &, on the whole, don't get 'too bulky' unless they are genetically inclined towards muscle mass building (& that can be corrected by mild dietary modification as a rule.

West Midland Vegan Festival

Just a quick post to let you know that there's a new page up about our day in Wolves at the festival at http://www.veganbodybuilding.org/wolves10.htm We had a great day with talks by me & one by Pat Reeves.  There was also a push-up contest on the day as well!

Special thanks has to go to Fitness Superstore for being the main sponsor at the push-up contest (go check them out if you need any exercise equipment)