How to - with the OMG diet!!!

Well my last post told you how I feel now it's time, if you want to for you to give it a go. Don't forget that if you are unsure about anything check it out with your doctor this is what I did but is not a tested diet, it's based on principles and you can be as strict or lenient as you want, I was quite strict and think that's what got the results.........

It's in 2 parts, a 10 day cleanse/elimination phase and then the follow up....... you can do it all or just the 10 days, my idea is to maintain the eating habits I have developed and to re-introduce foods one by one (the ones I want to re-introduce) and to take time to think about how they make me feel, if they make me feel not so good I won't have them again or very infrequently.

So let's go:........

10 day detox/cleanse
Firstly, preparation......

Let's start by ordering the herbal healthy starter pack (optional) which contains herbs that help your body to cleanse the digestive system, liver, kidneys and in general.

Healthy starter pack
Click the name to go to the site. It takes about three days to arrive so time to clear out the cupboards

During the 10 days you are going to cut out:

DAIRY - CAFFEINE - ALCOHOL - WEHAT & GLUTEN - SUGAR & SWEETENERS - TRANS FAT

Wheat and gluten –
Due to a large % of the population being allergic to these and to some processed versions being hard to digest. Found in biscuits, breads, cakes pies etc but also in some soups and sauces as thickener.

Dairy –
with the exception of eggs and live yoghurt cut out milk and dairy products (cheese etc)

Alcohol –
No alcohol at all during the diet

Sugar –
Avoid sugar and artificial sweeteners – no fizzy sugary drinks including diet versions, honey, sugar, sugary foods, cakes, sweets, biscuits

Trans fat –
avoid products that list hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated or shortenings on the label, avoid fast food, high and full fat margarine and baked goods such as doughnuts, pastries and biscuits, use lean cuts of meat and poultry and cook them without skin, without adding trans fats

Caffeine –
avoid tea, coffee (unless caffeine free), hot chocolate, energy drinks

It it's not there you can't have it so best to get rid (more difficult if you live with someone who is not going to do it - then you will need all your will power)

It sounds like a lot to cut out but I found it quite easy once I started, you do have to think a bit more about shopping but here's some things you can have (this list is not exhaustive)

Introduce Coconut Oil, olive oil for cooking (no vegetable oils)

Stock up on good foods

Eggs, plain porridge oats, fish, chicken, turkey, beef (lean), lamb, quorn, vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, celery, green beans, mushrooms, onions, peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, carrots etc), fruit (apple, lemon, lime, orange, pears), live yoghurt, sea salt, black pepper,

My tips, remember to avoid any processed or mixed products, by this I mean basically no tins, no pre-prepared meals/food and stick to basics like potatoes and rice rather than pasta and no bread anyway but they are mixed and you cannot control the salt, sugar, fat content.

Exercise:
3 sessions per week minimum - it doesn't have to be a marathon but try to get some exercise at least a long walk 3 times per week

OMG DIET!!!!!!

Week 1 start detox

Cut out all foods that are no allowed, instead of caffeine use decaf options or fruit tea, ensure you drink at least a litre of water a day. If you have got a healthy starter pack, start taking your packs 15 mins before food with water, three times a day.

Eat small portions often, i.e. every three-four hours, this means you will have 5 to 6 meals a day. Try to keep carbs up to lunch time then in the later meals fill up on vegs or salad.

Week 2: Increase water to 2 litres per day

Stick with it keep avoiding all foods as above - when you reach 10 days why not keep on for two full weeks

Week 3: Follow up

After Cleanse finishes introduce Omega 3 and Multi vitamin and mineral (click here for a link - optional to super supplemental vitamin and omega three capsules)

Either stop after cleanse as detox step only – reintroduce foods but step by step paying attention to how you feel – you may decide not to reintroduce some as they make you feel bad.

Follow up - This is when we create the you of the future and a new daily eating regime that you will be able to maintain. Keep eating in the same way but if there are food you are missing put them back in slowly - for example:

Bread

day one - have one slice or bread - now the key is to keep monitoring how you feel, how does the bread affect you? if it feels fine introduce another slice on day 2 so 2 slices and see how you feel. By doing this you can decide if it makes you feel bad, lethargic, dizzy, bloated and you can decide whether or not you want to keep on eating it.

If something makes you feel less well than you can take it out again.

Don't reintroduce more than one food stuff at time or you won't be able to tell what is affecting you or not.

If you are wanting weight-loss as well as the healthy feeling remember to keep the food intake down, keep carbs up to lunch time and don't reintroduce the sugars and fats

Week 4: Increase water to 3 litres per day, re-measure and weigh in!!!!
keep eating clean

Week 5: Cheat Day – pick a day – one meal, eat what you want!
keep eating clean

Week 6: Increase water to 4 litres; add an extra Omega 3 capsule into daily regime
keep eating clean

Now we should have a new you, why reintroduce all those foods you had before, be selective re-introduce some and have one cheat day a week - thus alcohol no more than once a week and keep the intake controlled.

I am on day 11 and will let you know how I go over the 6 weeks. I lost 3.5 lbs in the first 4 days and haven't weighed since.

Good luck - if you need any help or have questions please comment. I will endeavour to reply but as I have said this is the way I have done it.

Do you want energy and health??????? The OMG diet....

Well, I never thought I would go for it but I have and I have just done a 10 day cleanse/detox and I am now continuing on with healthy eating - forever - but certainly for another 4 weeks.

I am really amazed at how different I feel, for the past 6 months I have been on a bit of a downward spiral, not severe but I have let myself have treats nearly every day of the week instead of on my saturday treat day. I have succumbed to a glass of wine with tea and generally started to feel lethargic and not able to get up in a morning.

As a kick to myself and to give my body a break I decided to follow a cleanse/detox regime to stop putting chemicals and compounds I can't control into my body and that my body has to work extra hard to process. This coupled with herbal cleanse tablets to be taken 3 times a day for 10 days boosted my body in clearing it out and giving it a chance to deal with what I throw at it.

For the first two days I was more tired, really found it hard to keep my eyes open after lunch but by day four I was on the up and by day 10 (today) I am zing zing bouncy like Tiger!! OMG do I feel different. I am going to continue with the habits I have developed and keep feeling the way I do. I may reintroduce some of the food items I have taken out or have one or two as a treat infrequently but I am not going back to the same every day diet.

I can get out of the bed in the morning and even after a poor night's sleep I feel only vaguely tired not the physical heavy limbed tiredness I was feeling. I am loving it and hopefully so will you.

My next post is the basic guidelines, stick to it and I am pretty convinced you will feel considerably different. Keep it up and hopefully you will maintain that feeling. That said, this is what I have done, it is not clinically proven or tested so if you want to have a go do, if you are unsure consult your doctor and ask them what they think.

Rachael

Role of Food Types i Exercise - Proteins

Protein

*provides energy in the late stages of prolonged exercise - when the muscle glycogen stores fall, as may happen in the later stages of endurance activity the body breaks down the amino acids (building blocks of protein) in muscle to provide glucose to supply energy.

* protein provides energy when your daily diet is inadequate in calories or carbs - when you hav ean imbalanced diet low in carbs/energy the body is forced to use protein - this leads to a reduction in lean muscle mass



By TwitterButtons.com

Roles of Food Types during Exercise - Fats

Fat

* fat provides a concentrated source of energy - it provides more than twice the energy that cabs and protein do. Protein and carbs provide four calories per gram whilst fat provides nine.

* it helps to fuel low-moderate intensity activity. At rest and during exercise which is below 65% of your aerobic capacity (amount of oxygen available) - fat contributes 50% or more of the energy that your muscles need

* fat aids endurance exercise by sparing your glycogen reserves. Usually as the distance or duration of your exercise increaeses the intensity decreases thus fat becomes more important as a fuel source.

Roles of Fuel Types during Exercise - Carbohydrates

Carbohydrate

* provide an efficient source of energy - it requires less oxygen to burn than protein or fat- this makes it the body's most efficient source of energy. Carbs are vital during intense exercise when the oxygen availability is less than that needed.

* fuels the brain and nervous system - when you are low on carbs you can be less able to concentrate, lethargic, irritable, confused and find simple tasks difficult.

* carbs aid the metabolism of fats - they help your body to burn fat effectively, your body must have some carbs to allow fat to be used as energy. As you store much more fat in your body than carbs your diet needs to contain enough carbohydrates to allow fat burning.

* carbs preserve proteins - if you eat enough carbohydrates this spares your body from using protein (from your muscles) as a source of energy. Is is not advisable to use protein as a source of energy as it is needed for more important tasks like, to grow, maintain and repair body tissue as well as synthesising enzymes and hormones.

Measurements of success.......

When trying to lose fat weighing yourself is not the only gauge you should use to assess your progress. When you begin exercise at the same time as starting a weightloss diet you may not experience the weightless you expect. Muscle is more dense than fat and weighs approximately twice as much so whilst you tone up your weightloss may be slow.

When you do weigh yourself if you do it too often you will not be able to separate the differences like water retention and food you have eaten. For weight you should weigh yourself once a week at the same time, if possible first thing in the morning before you eat, but if its the same time of day each week you should avoid fluctuations.

The second guage you need to couple with weight is measurements, waist, hips, arms, thighs etc another good gauge is how your clothes feel, e.g. Loose or tight, can you do your belt up an extra hole. This is to see if you are losing inches.

When you couple the two you can gauge if you are losing inches and thus fat even though the weight loss in kilos may not be high.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are the body's preferred source of energy as they are the most efficient to convert to energy of the three main nutrients (carbohydrate, protein and fat). They provide energy for the central nervous system and to power muscles during work/activity.

So carbohydrates are:

The primary source of energy, the only fuel for the central nervous system, an aid to metabolising fat (without glucose present in your muscles fat metabolism or break down cannot occur) and carbs spare the protein in your body, being used in preference as energy,  leaving the protein for growth and repair.

1g of carbohydrate supplies 4kcal of energy.

Carbs can be broken down into two categories, simple carbs and complex. Simple carbs are simple sugars such as fructose - fruit sugar, maltose and glucose these breakdown quickly providing energy for approx 30 minutes. Complex carbs are made of strings of sugars and take longer to breakdown, they can be found in the form of starches and fibre etc (potatoes, rice, vegetables, beans etc)

To maintain metabolism throughout the day try to eat complex carbs with breakfast, simple carbs with your mid morning and afternoon meals. Keep carbs to the front of the day and fill up on vegs and salad with your tea/dinner.

Basic food groups

I have been asked to talk about carbohydrates, how much, when etc. but before I can do that we need to start with the basic food groups and make sure we are all talking about the same thing.....

There are six main nutrients that we need to survive. When we plan our eating (or diet) we need to be aware of each, they are:

• Carbohydrates (including fibre)
• Fats (including cholesterol)
• Proteins
• Vitamins
• Minerals
• Water

We will explore each in more detail later (we have already looked at water). For now we need to think about sources of each of these to maintain a balanced diet. For most healthy people the published recommended daily intakes of each of these nutrients (published by the department of health) will ensure that levels in the body are not deficient or toxic.

Our bodies use energy from food to fuel internal functions such as digestion, breathing, muscle function etc. The energy in food comes from carbohydrate, fat and protein. We all need to eat a balance of these food groups to ensure we have energy for activity and bodily functions.

NOTE: another energy source is alcohol but this is not considered a nutrient or food group.

Water, water everywhere.....

As a human being you are made up of a varied mixed of substances and water. Yes you are over 70% water.

What this means in terms of your diet and nutrition is that you need to replace that water regularly. By drinking two litres of water a day you can assist your body in flushing through excess chemicals, minerals or toxins. The kidneys process substances in the body and get rid of waste in the form of urea (wee to you and me).

An added benefit to drinking more water is that the body doesn't feel it needs to hold on to water as it is getting a regular supply. This means less water retention and puffiness. Probably the only down side is the need to visit the loo more often.

Aim to drink 2 litres of water a day. Remember Jon says,

Good water in, Bad water out......

Breakfast - is it really that important?

A Big YES to this one.

Link it back to the last blog and the 5 to 6 small meals which keep your metabolic rate higher throughout the day breakfast is the meal that starts this process. Overnight your digestive system finishes digesting everything from the day before and slows down lowering your metabolic rate. The first meal of the day kicks the digestive system back into action and gives the boost to your metabolic rate. This is key to encouraging your body to burn off more energy (calories).

In addition, the first meal of the day provides the nutrition that boosts all your body's functions thus you will not be as tired, will be able to concentrate better, feel more energised etc..

I eat breakfast everyday but often find it quite difficult and have to make myself eat it.... A good basic cereal is a good choice, quite a lot of breakfast cereals are mainly sugar so stick to the basics, weetabix, shredded wheat, bran flakes etc.....




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Rotherham town centre gym, making your health and well-being affordable.

Little and often the way to go

A good tip for healthy eating is to split your meals into smaller portions and eat more often. Try to eat every two and a half to three hours and eat 5 to 6 small meals a day.

Remember this is not an excuse to eat more than usual you need to break down your daily intake over the more frequent mealtimes.

The key to this is metabolism. Your metabolism is the rate at which your body uses energy or calories in order for your body to function. Everybody has an individual metabolic rate ( some have a naturally fast metabolism and are people who can eat quite a lot and not seem to put on weight, others have a slow metabolism and put on weight easily).

Metabolic rate is directly affected by food intake, when you eat your body's digestive system etc kicks into action to turn the food into energy. When we have large gaps between meals the rate slows down in-between whilst not digesting food, thus burning less energy. By eating little and often and reducing time between meals you are able to keep your body's automatic functions like digestion going more constantly using more energy whilst processing the food.

Therefore, if you eat the same amount of food but over more frequent smaller meals your body will use more energy to do this which should result in burning off more calories without actually changing the content of your diet.

It may be that you need to change what you eat as well to make your diet healthier and to achieve a goal of weight-loss or toning but this approach will form a good basis on which to build.

Another benefit is that more regular eating will help to regulate blood sugar levels reducing peaks and troughs which tend to lead us to hunger pangs and binge eating.

Small meals are important as the body can only digest so much food in one sitting, any additional food will either be discarded as waste or stored as fat another reason for little and often.

5 to 6 meals per day, every 2.5 to 3 hours.....

Call in the gym and ask Jon about his campfire theory.......it works!!

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Let's start easy

Hi everyone

The first thing to remember is the use of the word diet - DIET doesn't always mean reducing food it is a eating regime or plan, is may be aimed at putting weight on or gaining lean muscle mass so don't be fooled that we are going to reduce your eating. We may just change it a little.

But having said that, assuming you want to lose weight then Let's start with the obvious and simple. The basic of weight management is input versus output.

Quite simply if input (what you eat) is greater than output ( the energy you need during the day) you will put weight on, if input is the same as output you will remain static and if input is less than output you will lose weight. So quite simply reduce what you put in and you will start to lose weight.

Let's start 2011 by keeping a food diary for one week to see what you eat In a normal week, when you eat (time of day), how you feel and how much you weigh.

So make a note from tomorrow of what you eat and when.

Start by weighing yourself and taking key measurements, chest, waist, hips, thigh, bicep. Note all these down and away we go. I will do it to tomorrow too so we are all taking this journey together.

It does get a little more complicated but this is the basic principle. When we add in exercise you can start to change your shape more quickly as this will burn off additional energy using up the food you are eating.

Keep up with the blog for the next step.....




Revolution gym, Rotherham 35-37 Bridgegate, Rotherham. A town centre based gym for all, your needs. 01709 372659


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Revolution Gym Slimming Revolution

No fads, gimmicks or points. The Slimming Revolution aims to provide you with the information and motivation to design an eating regime that suits your needs and achieve the results you want.

This blog will support and reinforce the information supplied in our gym based classes which are due to start in Januray 2011. Again these are aimed at putting you in control. You get out what you put in, simple!!!

Revolution gym, Rotherham 35-37 Bridgegate, Rotherham. A town centre based gym for all, your needs. 01709 372659