Your Friday Dose Of Inspiration.

AmandaCatherineDes

Ain't nothin' truer than that.

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Food Switch

A very food-savvy friend alterted me to this one to me and, in a word, it's genius. It's called Food Switch and it works like so: You're standing in the cold food section, debating the difficult issue of which vanilla custard to buy. You turn on Food Switch. You scan the barcode. It recommends healthier options. Simple as that. And you're out of there before your eyebrows freeze over.

It's Just A Little Crush.

Bubby And Bean

 
As the mornings get darker and colder, and it becomes harder to drag your booty out of bed and on route to the gym, there's one thing that can help... A harmless little crush.

You know that hottie that you've seen lifting weights, or the cycling instructor with the amazing AFL-worthy arms? He might be doing more for you than just providing a nice "atmosphere" to work out in. You see, gym crushes are great because, not only do they get you to the gym with a little extra pep in your step, trying to impress your gym crush by lifting bigger dumbells or coming to extra spin classes can work wonders. But here are the rules...

1. You can smile and chat away about trivial things, but you don't want to know about his relationship status. You don't want to have to get a new gym crush if you find out he's married. Or gay.

2. You don't want to impress your gym crush in the traditional Saturday-night-out-on-the-town way, with a smokey eye and perfect hair. Nope, you want to impress with your extreme fitness. But if that also involves a new outfit from Lorna Jane, so be it.

3. You can have a girl crush. In the same way I have an unhealthy obsession with Amber Heard right now (before that it was Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, but we had to break up when she got too skinny), it doesn't hurt to have someone in the gym that you can be inspired by and challenged to keep up with. Just don't get too competitive. No one wants a cardio room catfight.

4. Your gym crush is your little secret. Don't make it too obvious with prolonged staring. That's why the gym is full of mirrors. Subtlty is key.

5. For goodness sake, don't actually date your gym crush. Because if it all goes bad, you don't want to have to find a new place to work out.

Food For Thought...

It's no secret – losing weight is hard. Keeping it off is harder. But is there a reason obese people struggle so hard to keep the kilos at bay? Could it be that their bodies are actually working against them? A very interesting piece in the New York Times looked into just that, and if you're interested in the topic, it's well worth a read...

While researchers have known for decades that the body undergoes various metabolic and hormonal changes while it’s losing weight, the Australian team detected something new. A full year after significant weight loss, these men and women remained in what could be described as a biologically altered state. Their still-plump bodies were acting as if they were starving and were working overtime to regain the pounds they lost. For instance, a gastric hormone called ghrelin, often dubbed the “hunger hormone,” was about 20 percent higher than at the start of the study. Another hormone associated with suppressing hunger, peptide YY, was also abnormally low. Levels of leptin, a hormone that suppresses hunger and increases metabolism, also remained lower than expected. A cocktail of other hormones associated with hunger and metabolism all remained significantly changed compared to pre-dieting levels. It was almost as if weight loss had put their bodies into a unique metabolic state, a sort of post-dieting syndrome that set them apart from people who hadn’t tried to lose weight in the first place.

That's not to say that overweight people can't slim down and stay that way. The results just indicate that it may be harder for them. While at 60kg, I can maintain my weight by eating a certain number of calories and doing a certain amount of exercise, someone who gets down to 60kg from an obese weight may find they have to eat less calories and workout for longer in order to maintain the same weight – because their bodies process food differently and respond to exercise differently.

It's preliminary research, but it could go some way to explaining just why it's so hard for obese people to lose weight and keep it off.

Move It Like Kristen.

I like to think that if I ever met Kristen Bell, we would be BFFs. She's just so damn cute. And nice. And she's freaking Veronica Mars. I mean, you can't watch this and not love her.



And maybe, when we're being best friends – and between double dates with Dax Shepard – I think we could be awesome training buddies, too. Because K-Bell has the moves. Here's her fave exercise, as she reveals to Self magazine...

"Here's the one that packs the most punch. I call it The Bowler: Stand with your feet hip-width apart, and bend slightly at the waist, holding a 5-pound weight in your right hand. Squat, then swing your right hand up and left, across your body, and sweep your right foot to the left behind you, as if you're bowling. Do about eight on each side. It's amazing for the butt cheeks!"

We're going to be the most bootylicious besties in town! I just know it.

Simple Swaps.

This week, I stumbled across this fabulous link to 89 Simple Swaps That Could Change Your Life at The Greatist. So basic, so easy to implement. Check out the full list, but here are a few of my faves...

• Incline for flat treadmill. In a perfect, outdoor world, flat roads rarely exist. (Sorry, Midwestern readers!) Add some hills to that treadmill run by cranking up the incline and feel the muscle-building burn! 

• Foam rolling for static stretching. Need to get the knots out? Try using a foam roller instead of sitting and stretching to the toes. It’s almost like a personal massage. 

• Homemade post-workout snack for a protein bar. Bring a PB&J or another post-workout snack to the gym rather than buying a protein bar. We need some after-exercise fuel, but don’t get it in the form of excess sugar! 

• Greek yoghurt for sour cream. Sour cream can taste pretty good in a burrito. To get that same creamy coolness, add a dollop of plain Greek yogurt to amp up the protein and slash the fat. 

• Frozen grapes for popsicles. It may sound a little weird, but hear us out. Stick a bunch of grapes in the freezer and snack on them a few hours later— it’s like eating bite-sized Popsicles with no added sugar! 

• Keeping the same bedtime for winging it. Setting a bedtime schedule may help us fall asleep faster, so pick a good time and try to stick to it!

Hot Fitness Trend: Tabata Training

Looking for a new way to torture yourself in the gym? Allow me to introduce you to Tabata training. It's a super high-intensity workout that lasts for... wait for it... four minutes. Yep, you read that right. Four measly minutes. Except that they'll be the longest, most exhausting four minutes of your life.

Tabata Exercise

It works like this: work to your maximum for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, and repeat that 8 times. Like any interval training, you can do it with sprints (although on the treadmill it's difficult to get on pace fast enough) but you can also do it with other cardio moves like squat jumps, burpees, skipping or mountain climbers. All you need is a good timer.

Want a bit more direction? Dowload this app. It's like your own personal Tabata coach.