To Fast is Human: A Simple Guide to Intermittent Fasting

I’m a proponent of intermittent fasting because I believe in its health benefits, but I’ve not always been that way.

When I first started out as a fitness professional, I used to believe that breakfast was the most important meal of the day. Like many other well-meaning fitness pros, I preached the message of “eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper”. It was the dietary philosophy I believed and lived.

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Just like our brain needs, 7-8 hours of sleep, almost every organ in our body needs 12-14 hours of downtown, to repair, reset and rejuvenate.

Dr Satchin Panda.

Is Breakfast The Most Important Meal of The Day?

The answer depends on your definition of the word, breakfast.

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My Top 10 Fitness Tips For 2017

The new year we’ve been waiting for is finally here! If you’re a fitfam like, I believe you have some fitness goals.  But before we set the ball rolling, here are my top 10 fitness tips.

Tip #1: Don’t pitch your tent with the resolution crowd

The resolution crowd is easy to identify. They announce their resolutions to friends and family. In excitement, they join all the weight loss groups on Facebook and BB. They start a new diet and start going to the gym. They are pumped and excited about losing weight in January! Then February comes along, and life gradually slips back to normal.

You can’t afford to pitch your tent with this crowd in 2017. Resolutions are nothing unless you back them with actions all year round. Make a habit, not a resolution.

Tip #2: Be realistic with your expectations, it will save you from false hope syndrome

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5 Tips To Help You Stay In Shape During The Holidays

Christmas season is a period of giving and receiving. The time when gifts of all sizes and types – from cakes to chicken to chocolate and champagne – just keep coming in. That means the average household is going to have more to eat and drink than usual during the festive season. And if you’re a very social person, you may have too many foods and drinks flowing around in your house.

With so much to eat and drink, it wouldn’t be a surprise if some people come back from the holiday a size bigger. But you don’t have to be in that number; you can enjoy the festive foods and drinks without adding inches to your waistline.

5 tips to help you stay in shape during the holidays

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2 Common Reasons People Struggle With Their Weight

Have you ever wondered why eating healthy can be difficult sometimes? You are not alone.

When it comes to nutrition and diet, some of us have real struggles. We want to eat clean and healthy, but we keep falling on our faces again and again.

Why do people struggle with their diet? In my opinion, there are two common reasons people struggle with their diet.

Reason #1: Going on a punishment diet

A punishment diet is any diet plan that restricts calorie intake in a drastic way (Esta’s definition). Remember those diet plans that only allow you to eat one cucumber and one boiled egg for breakfast, one piece of roasted chicken for lunch and 1 cup of grape juice, or a plate of cabbage soup dinner?

That is what a punishment diet looks like!

Solution

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Why You Should Lift Weights, Especially If You Are A Woman

This post is the third post in my FITNESS 101 series.

First Post: You Don’t Need Exercise To Lose Weight

Second Post: Cardio Is More Than Running

In this post, you’ll learn about why you must lift weights, especially if you are a woman.

You need to lift weights as a woman! No, I’m not talking about those pink, 1kg dumbbells that have become some women’s favourite. I’m talking about weights.

 To Lift Weights Or Not

One reason is that many cardio exercises don’t require special instructions or equipment. For instance, you don’t need anyone to teach you how to walk or run; these are movement patterns that come naturally to every healthy human (You may need someone to coach you on the proper running form if you plan to make distance running a hobby. Having a running coach will help you become a better recreation runner and help you prevent running-related injuries), and don’t need an instructor to teach you how to groove to the beats of your favourite songs; you just want to move with the rhythms. But when it comes to strength training, you have to know what you are doing and do it the right way for it to be safe and effective.

Why You Must Lift Weights, Especially If You Are A Woman

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Cardio Is More Than Running

If you have been on the fitness train for an extended period, you must have come across the term “Cardio”. And depending on which camp you belong, you may either love or hate it or have a love-hate relationship with it.

Anytime I hear people talk about how they don’t like cardio or how they see it as a necessary evil; I always wonder if they understand the meaning of the word.

Cardio is more than running

For many people, Cardio means, running! But that is incorrect. Yes, running is a type of cardio exercise, but Cardio is much more than running. A cardio exercise is any exercise that requires the movement of the large muscle groups.

To explain in a simple term, a cardio exercise is any exercise that requires that you move your legs, arms and torso at the same time.

This type of exercise places a higher demand on the organs that are responsible for respiration and nutrients transportation. For example, when you stand up to move to the beat of Shoki at that party, you are doing a form cardio. (Apologies if you are not a Nigerian. Shoki is a type of dance step in Nigeria).

Cardio-respiratory fitness

Like I did explain in the first article in this series, cardio-respiratory fitness is the ability of the heart, blood vessels and respiratory system to supply nutrients and oxygen to the muscles and the ability of the muscles to utilise fuel to allow sustained exercise. Whether a person is walking or dancing, the heart, blood vessels and the organs of the respiratory systems are working in concert to deliver nutrients and oxygen to the working muscles.

How fast and far a person can go, depend on the efficiency of the cardio-respiratory system. A fit person can exercise for a relatively extended period without unnecessary tiredness.

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3 Hidden Causes Of Weight Gain

Are you currently experiencing this?

You’re giving your best effort every day because you believe it is the only way to get what you want. You’ve been consistent with your exercise, and you have cleaned up your diet, but despite your consistent effort the scale seems to be showing you are gaining weight. And you know the scale is not playing a prank on you because you can feel and see it in your clothes.

How can you be adding weight when you’re doing everything right?

That is the question I want to answer in this article. You’ll discover the three hidden causes of weight gain many people are not even aware of.

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How To Bust Through A Weight Loss Plateau

Are you experiencing a weight loss plateau? Read this article to learn how you can start losing weight again.

So you have lost a significant amount of weight then all of a sudden you stopped losing weight. You’ve evaluated your nutrition and exercise habits to see if there was something you were not doing right, but everything looked okay.

Welcome to a weight loss plateau, the most dreaded place for Fit Friends.

But you don’t need to panic because there is a way out. Stay with me, and I’ll show how to bust through the plateau.

First, let’s talk about the potential causes, and after that, we’ll talk about the solutions.

The three potential causes of a weight loss plateau

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3 Ways Your Mind Can Help You Lose Weight

As humans, we are always faced with many choices, but how we respond to the choices we face is what determines the outcome we get. When it comes to weight loss, some people only focus on the nutrition and the fitness part things. But food and fitness decisions are not always made in isolation, the mind plays a role in the decision-making process.

In this article, I share the three ways your mind can help you lose weight.

Three ways your mind can help you lose weight

Don’t do what comes naturally to you

We all have our default responses to things. Your default response is how you react to a stimulus or a trigger. It is your first choice of action when you are faced with a particular situation. It is what comes naturally to you.

For example, if you like akara and Agege bread, there are chances that you’d stop to buy anytime you drive, or walk by the akara seller. Why is that? Because that is your default response.

When your eyes see the akara, a thought flashes in your mind that says “I want to eat!” If you react by default, you are going to buy and eat to satisfy the urge. And 15-20 minutes later you’ll regret your actions and feel bad, and depressed that you have lost it again. Sounds familiar?

A better way to deal with the situation is to choose your response. When the stimulus (akara and bread) is pressing your button, DO NOT DO WHAT COMES NATURALLY TO YOU. Exercise control for a few seconds and follow the next tip.

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