Category: Health

Categories
Health Nutrition Training

Listen to your messages……………..

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I am a very military oriented personality, just the kind of life I have lead since birth. A naval officer father, nutrition strict mother and then my own life experiences which followed very much similar routes. My clients know when I take them on there is black and white, tolerance levels are low and I demand results.

I travel quite a bit and come into contact with all types of cultures and personalities on many different levels. South Africans generally I see as quite a soft sort of courteous kind of nation, mainly rule followers and breaking them will definitely command some sort of reaction but generally in a very subtle kind of a way to start. In Israel where I currently am it’s a completely different ball game, you can be sure people will be telling you what to do on a daily basis, because they always know better, yet the rules are consistently broken by the big mouths.

It often gets my back up and I am often in a defensive mode which in military terms means strike them down before they even get close to doing or saying something, that way you won’t have to defend. It’s an aggressive approach but generally one that has won many warsJ.

So my resistant personality wherever I am is constantly ready to go to war, don’t tell me what to do or else, because I know my boundaries, I know what I am doing and if I need your advice I will ask for it. Most people tend to similar so I am not unique ;-).

Yesterday I was out on a training ride, I was around 80minutes into the ride, in the country side and just started a climb out of the valley, music in my ears and really just soaking up the view when all of a sudden a car slows down next to me the window open and I can see muttering and hands waving. The sound completely drowned out by some Armin van Burin ASOT in my ears.

My instinctive thoughts was to tell her to shut the hell up and leave me to my training session, I know the rules of the road and I am within my right to ride here. Instead I just ignored her completely she tried several times to shout at me, but Armin kept me calm. Eventually she just drove off and I carried on with my ride.

This is not an unusual situation for me, when running, swimming or cycling, I get told why you riding here, why you running without a water bottle, where is your hat. I know sometimes they mean good but geeeez most of these people have never trained in their lives and they talking to someone that lives it. The frustration of being told what to do just wants to put me into war, sometimes I long for it hoping it will result in vented anger and then some more peace of mind.

Just the other day I was doing a swim session, I did my warm ups and some drills. By the way in South Africa 2 swimmers to a lane is like max, unless you are group training, however in Israel you have to swim counterclockwise, and if you need to overtake then do it with caution because 3, 4 or 5 people can get in your lane without warning, because it’s their right and they know better. I have had many head bashings here and the fast lane means nothing. Even though it’s labelled for fast swimmers you get back floaters, because they consider themselves fast. Anyway back to my story on my swim session. So I get into nice rhythm and start with some clockwork intervals. I was focused on my set, however at around the 4th interval I noticed something strange. Each time I swam passed a woman in the other lane “slow lane” she splashed water on my face as I turned to breathe. I thought ok she is doing some sort of exercise creating splashing, giving her the benefit of the doubt. However as my session continued I realized this was intentional splashing she kept shoving water in my face every time I did a pass. I just ignored her put my head down and finished my set. While taking a breather at the end of the pool I waited for her to reach my side. When she arrived, I asked her why she was splashing me. Of course sniper rifle in my hands ready to take aim and blow her away. She said to me I was splashing her eyes when I swam????? WTF, you in a pool lady wear some goggles and learn to swim. You afraid of water I asked. She said no but my splashes were irritating her and I must get out the pool, and she threw more water at me??

I went a little mad, I unleashed my M23A4 on her, it was locked loaded and I sent a couple of waves in her direction ensuring the water bullets hit her right between the eyes. Of course she carried on throwing water at me. I took a step back and thought no ways, is this what I am resorting to a water fight between 40 and 50yr olds in a pool no ways I was like in shock, like kids having a tantrum in a pool.

I just motioned the rest of my unit “The Lifeguard” and said tell her to stop or get out I need to train. He did just that, war over. I felt an empty victory, thinking could I have handled this slightly differently, but then I thought no screw her, I was within my right.

Anyway back to my training ride. I kept wondering about the car stopping next to me screaming and shouting at me and here I had made judgment and executed her. Something just did not seem right, but I kept on going. Eventually it hit me, I reach around to my rear bottle cage and there it was, the reason for my insubordination. My 600ml water bottle had been flung out of the cage. Leaving me with only 600ml’s of water in 33degrees of heat on a long ride. I should have maybe listened to this driver, however I was stubborn, in attack mode waiting just waiting to unleash my ammunition once again. How mistaken could I have been this time as it was a call to help.

I kept riding conserving my water, and thinking over and over about what had just happened. How stubborn I was and how I had made judgment without listening and giving someone the benefit of the doubt. Eventually at the turn around point I made my way back to that climb out the valley and tried to climb it again from the halfway point and reenact what happened to see if I could track my bottle. There it was lying in the ditch just where that lady was attempting to inform me of the incident. In the end I listened to my message, however the lesson learned was I needed to listen a lot earlier.

I guess you are wondering why I am writing about this?

The truth is most of us are very much the same. Every single day, messages come our way and each and every single one has a meaning. The thing is how many of us actually listen to these messages. We don’t we ignore them because we know better.

I especially see this when it comes to health and wellness. When injured we don’t listen we always know better we focus on the race, on the end goal and absolutely nothing will stop us from getting to the start line. When sick, we brush it off as a head cold, we can’t stop training we cannot lose fitness we just push through it. The overweight will keep eating their pizzas because a large stomach or a double chin is not a strong enough message to make them change their ways.

So which messages do make us change? It’s the messages that come with severity or shock when it’s a little too late to listen and we need to face the consequences of our actions.

When an injury becomes unbearable and crippling, when an illness becomes severe and bed ridding, and when weight issues lead to organ, heart problems or blood pressure and cholesterol worries. Why is human nature generally so stubborn as to know better when it comes to interpreting messages?

A wise man once said ” The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them”, and another

“Big egos have little ears”

The basis of this blog was to instill some thoughts into your minds and get you to understand the importance of listening. Listen to your messages whether from the mouth of another or from your body signaling your brain. You cannot go wrong you can only become wiser stronger, fitter and healthier.

Keep Going……………………..

all the best

m

Categories
Health Nutrition

“Health is not a sacrifice but the most important tool for an enjoyable journey called life”

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The more often I listen to people the more I learn and the more I realize that the general perception of a healthy lifestyle is actually seen as a burden by the majority. Frequent comments revolving around cost, effort, time, stress and then the most common sacrifice seem to be at the top of the list. The unfortunate thing that we are confronted with in modern society is that yes, lifespan of the human being has increased and mainly due to modern medicine. 

I often question the logic behind it though. Did we not create illness? Did mankind not run after wealth in order to sacrifice health? I firmly believe this is the case. Thousands of years ago, a fraction of the diseases that we experience today existed and with the industrial revolution and man’s lust and greed to become powerful and rich brought us to our own downfall. Most will not acknowledge it and keep doing as they please because hey you only live once right, take what you can, have fun and make the most out of it.

 The amazing thing is generally it’s the young that have this attitude, maybe because they are too young to have experienced joint or organ issues, blood disorders or severe illness. Nature has this strange yet wicked way of knocking on the door later on for most. But even now we are still seeing very young beginning to suffer illness and as parents there is always the question why?

I don’t have all the answers but, sometimes I wonder if what we did when we were young, what we ate, what we experienced or experimented with came back to haunt us later in life, with possible, disorders genetic modifications and then passed on to our new born. I always tell my clients once it’s passed your lips you have no control over what it’s going to do to the body and this is the point of control and decision. It’s not always our fault. Food manufacturers use genetically modified produce, load foods with sugar, create a bad name for the word “fat” and tell us what we should be eating in order to guide our money into their pockets with little concern for our health. The wellness industry exploded right along with it, as a result of what was created, we now are supporting a trillion dollar industry of quick fixes to get back to health, control weight, feel more energetic and become superhuman but that’s a separate debate.

I once met a scientist abroad who won a Nobel Prize for his research in Biotechnology. I distinctly remember a reporter asking him if this was the happiest moment of his life as it was such an achievement. His answer completely struck a cord and put a lump in my throat. He said not at all, the happiest time of his life was when he was still herding sheep on the mountain plains of Ethiopia. Life was simple then, not complicated, far less stressful and worry free.

As a nutrition expert, I can honestly soak that up and say simplicity is absolutely key. Health is not a complication, it’s merely the opposite, its avoidance it’s keeping it simple, keeping it clean and not getting caught up as another cog in the wheel being ground over and over. I always consider health to be risk management, meaning the more you extend yourself towards unhealthy options, the higher the long term risk, the more in favour you are of healthy choices the far lower the long term risks. So with all this in mind, I just want to provide you with some key thoughts which I hope will get you thinking and on the right path to ensure your life is a quality one.

EDUCATION
As I mentioned earlier the youth do silly things, not because of anything except they don’t know any better. I was blessed with parents who ensured nutritional health was very strict, Fanta and Coke were never ever seen, except maybe one day of the week. Water was the only choice we had. My mother is a chrones disease sufferer and was on weigh-less so her general diet rubbed off onto us, it’s no wonder I landed up in this business later on in lifeJ.The point I am trying to make is that educating the youth when it comes to nutrition, is so critical in how their lives will pan out. As an example a simple understanding of the effects of alcohol and sugar will go a long way especially as they grow older. Of course education without example setting is futile!

Giving a child money for school tuck shop because you are too lazy to make a healthy lunch is basically saying go and buy yourself some diabetes. Then one can look to the schools and say why do you even stock the unhealthy stuff and blame will go around and around. It’s up to us to set an example and try and create a healthier next generation, only we will suffer in the long run when our youth are falling ill due to our wrong doings.

WISE PURCHASING
Firstly if it’s in the home it’s accessible, meaning you are going to consume it for sure at some stage. If it’s not in the home, you cannot miss or indulge in what you don’t have. The choice begins at store level. Look for the healthy options and make sure only those go into the trolley. Keep the majority of your purchases, natural and unprocessed. Microwave dishes are not healthy, neither are ready made or instant soups. Low fat produce is loaded in sugar, learn to read the labels and understand the contents of exactly what you are purchasing. Remember convenience & emotional buying is just going to lead you or your family down the wrong path.

NUTRITION ADVICE
Not everyone understands nutrition properly, not even a lot of the dieticians today. Text book theories are forever changing, especially in today’s age, and out of the box thinking and experimentation is required constantly. You need to find an expert in the field you can trust and who can guide you on the right path when it comes to understanding what type of eating is best suited to your particular lifestyle. It’s also up to you to read and gain the knowledge required to be able to help further your own health goals.

SIMPLICITY
This is truly the key to a healthy eating lifestyle. Meals never need to be over complicated, thousands of years ago a five course meal with sugar loaded deserts and tons of mashed or grilled potato, salads, focaccia starters & don pedro liqueur’s to finish did NOT exist. Seriously is this the way the world has shifted? What happened to good old fashioned fried eggs, avocado, olives, and grass fed animals? Water has been replaced with colorants, acid and sugar. Coffees have been chemically purified, processed and dried, and even the naturalness of it being removed with caffeine free which is in my words pure poison, just to satisfy the emotional dependency of a craving.  Anything you make that’s quick, or processed has already been completely over complicated in order to make you addicted to that specific taste or flavour, making you want more of the unhealthy combination each time you visit the store.  Get real think about what you are actually consuming and don’t think for a second it won’t impact you. Invincibility does not exist, not even for an elite athlete or a fitness freak. Keep your meals simple, no need to overdress over cook and over flavour. One simple easy meal at a time is more than sufficient.

I am sure a lot of what I said will spark a lot of debate. There will be the deniers, the agreeable and those that just don’t care. The one thing I can say is that if you or a loved one falls ill, you will care very quickly, but by then the damage will be done.

Categories
Health Training

Acceptance is the First Port of Call

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I often get inundated with requests on how to deal with illness or injury, It is something that every person will eventually have to face whether an athlete or not. Even the healthy get sick :-).

One of the most noticeable things I always see, is that whether injured or ill, especially when it is an athlete they are living in complete denial. They are focusing on the next workout, a day or two away, even if bed ridden and the chances of that are close to zero. This is what I call the stage of complete denial, the person refuses to acknowledge they are ill or injured.

“How can it be, I am in the best condition of my life, its not possible”. When there is refusal to accept & acknowledge illness or injury it makes the road to recovery that much longer. The person wont accept and deal with the situation to find a solution to overcome it, instead they wallow in their own misery thinking about lost training sessions, or missed races and it completely demotivates them causing far more setback than wanted.

Recently a colleague of mine was extremely ill, I told him he needed at least 7-10 days rest & even then he might not be ready to start training again. He was so impatient that after 5 days he was back on his bike, needless to say this resulted in 6 weeks of reoccurring infections & he is far worse off now. He caused a complete loss of quick & proper recovery due to stubborn inclination.

I myself have been through severe illness and in a positive light I think the heavens put me in these situations in order to use my own experiences to be able to help others :-).

At the beginning of this year, after an awesome start to the first half of the racing season, I was in top racing condition.
A week out from a championship race with eyes set firmly on a podium spot, I fell ill. Thinking it was flu at first I took complete rest.
After a week I was still not getting any better, and decided this is not a normal feeling & decided to have some blood tests run. Behold my liver function was elevated which for me is usually a sign of viral infection. Unfortunately I had to miss the race that I had prepared so hard for.
However my complete focus had shifted, I had to accept what I was going through and get to the bottom of what was causing this. It took about 8 weeks before a choice of several doctors managed to figure out what was going on. A parasite infection!

Never dreamed of that before but this was the case. The immunologists involved wanted to pulse me with a variety of antibiotics every month for 8 months, which to me had zero credibility, and I sought out other opinions.
Generally the human immune system is capable of keeping these little bastards under control, however in my case there was no control at all.

I was recommended an incredibly good sports doctor who was a thorough diagnostician.The thing I liked about her was that she never knocked ideas or those of the immunologists she actually tended to agree that they were possibly onto something. However she would run additional testing before coming to any conclusions.

Examinations were very granular from ultrasounds & blood tests, to ECG’s & lung function testing. Finally the puzzle started to piece together. 

At age 41 I was diagnosed with chronic asthma, a lung function of only 50%. I was dumbfounded questioning the authenticity of her diagnosis. My reasoning was how can an athlete who trains, races & also gets to podium every now & then suffer from chronic asthma. Her answer to me was quite simple. “You have been training & racing by breathing through a straw your entire life, you  never knew any better, you thought this was normal”. 

It turned out the parasite infection was very real, and the reason my immune system was not dealing with the infection was due to the fact that it was completely run down because of my asthmatic condition. I was always putting in a major effort during training & racing without realizing it at all, and this was the trigger to immunity suppression.

16 weeks in and 2 courses of antibiotics down, with 7 to go, asthma treatment, an incredibly strict eating regime & proper rest, finally I could start some mild exercise. I began slowly and very gradually. Within 3 weeks my running was up to around 20-30km’s a week, and in between only focused on some core and strength training. A far cry from where I was 4 months earlier. 

A 3rd course of antibiotics, and more improvement, running increased again now to around 50-70km’s a week & started swimming again. What I noticed now was my lungs were not tiring, it was the body first. I guess in a way its amazing that once you can utilize your complete lung capacity you are in a totally different space. Month 6, and swimming & running is now back to where I was, however with a difference, my speeds & times are faster than I was at peak fitness 6 months earlier with less effort. 

Its got to a stage where I can honestly look back now and say, the rest was completely worth it. It enabled me to focus on the issue at hand and not side track myself with thoughts of misery & denial of not being able to train. I appreciate the fact that the body just shut down and said time out friend, you need to recover. 

I always tell my clients, you can only come back stronger from illness & injury if you rest & recover properly. For me a huge black hole in my life has finally been filled with an answer as to why I tended to get run down, even though I am so completely focused on nutrition & health. For me its a lifestyle and in my case it was probably even a harder pill to swallow. But acceptance was the key to dealing with it properly.

The reason I am using myself as an example is to really emphasize the fact that many people are out there, not feeling 100% yet they often think it was a bad nights sleep, or they ate something terrible or they have a slight cold. But do they really completely understand exactly what is going on. Most of my clientele never really understand what its like to feel on top of the world. Their definition is only the best day they have ever experienced, but whose to say that experience can not be a better one. Below are some thoughts on how you should understand your health status and know how to deal with it when it takes a turn for the worst.

Do you understand your health intimately. 
It is important to have a snapshot of your health, a starting point from where you are working. This means knowing if your blood is 100% normal, or are you lacking any vitamins, minerals etc. Do you know your cholesterol, blood sugar levels, are your heart and lungs functioning correctly. Do you know if your body is in a condition where you can sleep at night and have peace of mind that everything is in good working order. If not then you need to have a medical, and get yourself knowledgeable with your own physiological state in order to ensure your journey is a transparent one. The interesting thing is I have a thorough medical examination every year before the onset of racing season, but I have never ever had a lung function test done. It shows how thorough a medical actually needs to be.

Listen to your body
I know many people that when ill, injured or fatigued they just don’t listen to their body. This is the first thing you need to accept. You not feeling 100%, you wont be able to give a quality workout, then why do it. Remember training is what breaks us down, recovery is what builds us up and makes us stronger. You wont lose any fitness, trust me I know I was out for many months, a few days to weeks is a weak excuse in comparison :-). As a rule of thumb, I take my Rest Heart Rate when I get up in the mornings, if its slightly elevated and by that I mean around 10%, I will not train. It can mean recovery needed due to fatigue, it can also be a sign as to the onset of illness.

Fear of the Doctor
There are a majority of people out there that fear doctors. They wait until the last possible moment, when infection or injury is at a pinnacle. This only means one thing, longer recovery time. If you are ill or injured don’t wait for it to get worse, pay the relevant medical specialist a visit as soon as possible, before it gets to latter stages when it will be too late and you will truly be setback.

The Fear Factor
The two main fear factors of illness or injury is loss of fitness & weight gain. This is very common among athletes specifically. Well the good news is neither should be a worry.
When a person is ill or injured it gives them the opportunity to actually focus on their nutrition, whereas previously they would not. Many just figure if they are putting in so many hours of training, they can eat pretty much what they feel like weight is not an issue. However stop training and you cannot just keep eating what you want. This is where you truly have an opportunity to train your gut instead of your muscles. Its an area that requires discipline, but is even more important than training and is often an area that lacks focus. The truth of the matter is that when a person is ill or injured it should be associated with weight loss not weight gain, however many people eat emotionally due to the stage of denial they are living in and over do it. Monitor your intake, plan your meals, get an expert to help you if you require it. Certain illnesses & injuries can be more quickly eradicated with various nutrient intake. Remember calorie consumption will need to be adjusted as you are now burning less.
As for fitness, I mentioned earlier you will come back stronger and that is a fact don’t worry about that at all.

Knowledge is Power
When ill or injured, you need to understand everything there is to know about the illness or injury. You know your body better than anyone. You will understand if a treatment is working or not, and how you are feeling at any given time. A doctor is a human being and they do make mistakes especially when it comes to diagnosing correctly. The more information you can give a medical specialist the better it will enable him to make a more informed decision to get to the bottom of what is causing your ailment. Do the research speak to people, use the internet.

Staying Motivated
This can be very difficult especially when you have missed your big race or you know that you will not be prepared for something down the line because illness or injury is too close to the event. I completely understand how a one feels under these circumstances. However in life our goals are forever changing and shifting. We also don’t just have one goal we have many, and on route to our bigger goals are smaller ones.

Once you understand the extent of the illness or injury and the time period you are going to be out of action for, you should set aside time to plan your future goals. This can be exciting and help motivate you even more especially since it gives you something else to look forward to. Make sure the goal is realistic and achievable you don’t want to set yourself up for disappointment. 

Finally I just want to stress that we are all human, life often throws curve balls at us which are unexpected. How we deal with them will ultimately determine the outcome. Failing to deal with them will leave you with an unknown which is not a space that you want to be in.

Everything we experience in life on a physical level does happen for a reason, its up to us to listen to those messages our body is giving us and not ignore them. Get rid of that stubbornness for a short period of time, it will be well worth it in the long run.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Categories
Health

“Ignoring your health will certainly bring bad news knocking at your door”

It’s quite amazing how often when chatting to people young and old, how many of them go about their lives day after day without sparing a second thought to their health. There is always something getting in the way of self-care whether it is work, or going out, there is always too much to do and wellness takes the back seat. I have often asked people when last did you go for a medical and most say “well I took out a life insurance policy about 6 years ago and …” or “what’s that?” or “I don’t like going to doctors” and the reasons and excuses carry on.

Well, I am in risk management 😉 and the basics are, there are no guarantees in life, but mitigate the risks as much as possible, be aware of action and consequence, and you will have a better understanding and control of any situation as it arises. The same goes for your health, prevention is first of all better than cure, and no matter how young or old you are, mitigating health risks and looking after yourself are important, because the truth is without health, you have nothing. How many of you make sure your car goes for a service when it hits a certain mileage, you even check your oil and water periodically and if you are going on a long trip you will put new tires on .Wow, amazing, you will look after your car but never check your own engine for problems. Isn’t that ironic and careless. Come on people, make the change. When you are on the journey of life you need to make sure your own engine is serviced and can make the journey with as few issues as possible.

So how do you go about doing this?
Well first off, what is the status of your current health? Are you aware of any medical conditions, when last did you go for a medical?
I watch myself consistently, when it comes to nutrition, exercise and rest, I have been going for a medical every year since the age of 30, and people say I am over the top, but that’s nonsense. With an active lifestyle I still need to make sure my body is in good order from year to year, and if it requires some servicing (lifestyle change) well that’s not a bad thing, especially if it will minimize the risks of a severe health impact.

So go for an annual medical to your doctor, and get the full range of tests and make sure they do full blood works aside from the basic blood pressure, cholesterol, sugar and urine tests. At my age as fit as I am I do an ECG as well, don’t ever count out heart condition no matter how healthy or fit you are.

Secondly, check your body fat. I notice a lot of people standing on a scale after a workout in the gym looking at their weight. But most have no idea what it means and to be honest BMI (Body Mass Index) is not always the best reflection of a healthy weight it’s purely a statistical marker. Everyone has different body types and bone structures, so best bet is a body fat test, this will tell you whether you need to watch yourself more carefully.
Finally, analyse your lifestyle, I do it weekly, and I look at seven days, what I ate each day, what exercise I did, and what I could have avoided or done differently. Yearly goals and analyses are good, but you need to have short term successes to achieve long term goals. At least if you make changes within a weekly period it’s doable, but if six months go by and nothing has been done, well it’s a longer road to change.
Take control of your life, give yourself the best chance for health quality and know you are doing everything to ensure that your engine runs smoothly.Image

Categories
Health

The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind. – William James

It is fascinating how ninety nine percent of the world’s population are so set in their ways and the biggest fear we face in life is actually change. The same is so true when it comes to physical activity. So many people are so resistant to certain types of exercise or methods of training, because they fear the worst, or they know better, they become so stuck in routine it becomes habitual.
A few weeks ago I taught a spinning class at Virgin Active. Right after the class one of the participants approached me and said, “I spin twice a day, 5 days a week, and I am really battling to lose weight”. I asked her if that was her goal (to lose weight), and her response was “well I want to be shapely, fit and lose weight”. Quite an output for a complicated recipe, I thought. It’s like wanting to bake a muffin, chocolate cake and loaf of bread all at once with the incorrect ingredients.

The strange thing is I hear this all the time. A friend of mine once said, the “Mens Health cover model looks amazing and guess what he does a marathon, mountain biking, adventure racing and is a medical doctor and so on”. I guess my point is, what is the cover models main goal, what is your main goal?

You cannot be good at everything, but you can definitely work towards something specific and you will get there a lot quicker. I am a triathlete, which requires three disciplines swimming, cycling and running. One cannot put focus into all three disciplines simultaneously and hope to achieve excellence for all three at once. It just does not work that way.
The same way that a bodybuilder won’t be a great athlete, an athlete will not be a great bodybuilder, because both require very different approaches.
So what steps do you need to take in achieving your ultimate goal? Firstly you need to decide on your goal, and work out how you are going to achieve it. My solid advice to you is to find an expert someone who really understands what’s required to help you achieve your goals and let them guide you to achieving it.
Personal training has grown significantly over the last few years, and it’s proven to be a successful motivator and results achiever for most people. Even as a competitive triathlete, I try to train with the best cyclists, swimmers and runners, in order to learn as much as I can and to be pushed as hard as I can. We all need a mentor or coach.

Secondly, do not be afraid of trying new things. Our bodies work in very complex ways, and the more understanding you have of  it’s mechanics the better you will be able to shape a training program around it. Spinning 5 days a week is not going to result in weight loss, shape and fitness simultaneously ;-).

Finally you need to monitor progress, change, adapt and change again.
A body bodybuilder cannot stick to the same routine for long periods of time, a muscle needs to be hit from all angles to bring out the best shape and growth. A swimmer does not just swim lengths up and down a swimming pool. There is focus on breathing, upper body and lower body strength, speed and endurance. The same goes for a runner and a cyclist.
Set realistic short and long term goals. Choose the correct path to get there.
Get proper professional advice and stick with the program, until you achieve the desired result. Good luck!

Categories
Health Nutrition

To Organic or non-Organic that is the question – Some food for thought

Lately there has been a lot of debate around organic and non-organic whether it actually makes a difference.
Recently there was a nutritionist on the radio debating that organic food was not actually beneficial, and everyone that approached me that day had something to say about it. I never actually heard the debate, maybe she was speaking strictly from a nutrient point of view, which is highly debatable anyway. But I would rather take advice from the likes of Dr Patrick Holford, around these types of issues.

However, that is not my reason for favouring organic products. Mine is purely from a point of not ingesting nonsense.
Many years ago I worked in the banana plantations while living abroad and had first hand exposure to all the goings on behind the scenes.

I wont get into the science of how a banana tree is grown to produce fruit, but basically it consists of multiple seedlings then trees growing around the main fruit bearing tree. In order to ensure maximum energy transfer to the fruit bearing tree so that the bunch size is maximized, the other little surrounding trees are killed.

This was done by injecting benzene into them.

Of course it does not just disappear into thin air but seeps into the ground and eventually gets absorbed into the main fruit bearing roots. Bottom line, those bananas definitely contained traces of benzene, and some lab testing done on those fields produced some shocking results. When someone says to you fuel up on bananas you can take that quite to heart.
My main point however is that as consumers we are never exposed to the processes of getting food to our shelves, and if we were we might land up starving ourselves for fear of being poisoned.Yes, organic produce is highly expensive, and most will go for non-organic produce. I just advise you to think twice when you have the choice, because the evidence for non-organic food composition, is as I put it quite shocking.

My advice to you is, take a look at your weekly menu and switch the most eaten produce to organic, and then move to the next. In this case, its not about what you are wanting to take in, but what you are wanting to avoid taking in.