What makes you tick?....

Bit of a different spin on my usual nutrition and training ramblings today.

Coming from more of a mindset and general wellbeing point of view. I hope you can take something from it....

Do more of the things that you enjoy and do less of the things that you don't.

Pretty simple when you think about it.

But how many of us actually carry this out on a regular basis?

Training hard in the gym. A good session in the weights room is by far the most satisfying and mood enhancing thing I know.

Days out with my wife and daughter. The most enjoyable thing in the world to me. Nothing else matters when I'm spending a rest day chilling with the two people in the world I care about most.

Nutrition. All things food related. One of the biggest passions I have. Learning and applying good nutritional protocols in myself and helping others with their own nutrition is one of the biggest parts of my life now.

Coffee. The good stuff though. I'm quickly becoming a massive coffee geek. And I'm proud of that! Pretty weird considering I hated the stuff for the first 30 years of my life!   

Sitting in the garden enjoying some good food and a good brew. Relaxation at its best for me.

Early morning walks listening to an inspirational podcast. My newest go to happy place.

Social networking and interacting with people I may never meet. Yes it's procrastinating but I've learned so much from finding people who inspire me on the various platforms.

An early night reading a good book in bed watching my baby fall asleep in my wife's arms. Love this so much.

Spending good times with good mates. A pint with the lads watching the match. A weekend away on a stag party. Even just meeting up for a coffee and catching up on life. Any time spent having a laugh with friends is time well spent.

These are all the things that make me tick and I try and do them as often as possible. 

Find what makes you tick. Find what you are passionate about. Find what makes you smile and what makes you laugh. And do these things as often as you can.

On the flip side, stop doing the things that you don't enjoy. If you don't like something, change it! If something doesn't really interest you, don't do it.

I now have no problem saying no to things that I don't really want to do or don't really care about. Things that I'm not passionate about. I value my time so much more these days and I spend it doing exactly what I want to do.

Cut out all the negative bullshit in your life. Ignore the people who drag you down with their miserable tales of self pity and woe, and how their lives are so hard and crap. Victims I call them.

Everyone gets down now and then but try and take the positive out of situations as much as you can.

Yeah it's not always that easy I know as well as anyone.

We all go through bad times. Sometimes really difficult times. 

But even though it doesn't seem like it at the time, these bad times get better. Things change, that's the one certainty in life. You can't stop change.

Happiness is very much a choice.

And you always have a choice.

Don't worry, be happy!

Simple it may seem but all to often overlooked in our daily lives.

Sometimes in our pursuit of happiness we need to just stop and actually be happy!

I hope you have an awesome weekend doing whatever makes you tick!.....

Acceptance!....

Been thinking about this for a while...

And it's finally sunk in...

I'm a bit gutted to tell you the truth...

I've finally accepted that I'm probably never going to win the lottery!...

Bastard!....

Now before you start shaking your head and say "what a knob head, I could have told him that" just let me explain.

Accepting something that we don't necessarily want to accept is tough. It fucking hurts actually and it's massively disappointing. 

But the sooner we accept it and learn how to move on and deal with it then we quickly realise that the disappointment can be overcome. 

Ok the lottery thing was a bit of a joke. I'll still have my ticket on for this Saturday night!

Let me use another example of myself to get to the point.

I accepted a while ago that I was never going to be as good looking as Brad Pitt in fight club. You know that classic scene where he has his top off and his Abs are looking ripped to bits. Yeah he looked fucking sexy I admit it and I'm about as heterosexual a male as you can get!

I simply don't have the same body type or genetics that brad Pitt does... Or the looks for that matter... Or the money... Or the life... Oh well! 

No matter how hard I train I would never have that look.

I accepted it.

More recently in the new Superman movie. Henry Cavill looks pretty damn awesome too. Big, strong, powerful, superhuman almost. Well he is superman I suppose!

I accepted right away I was never going to be superman.

But has it stopped me trying? 

No has it fuck!

I just accepted it and decided to push myself harder in the gym and in the kitchen to try and be the best version of MYSELF that I can be.

Now don't get me wrong, the last thing I'm trying to promote here is a defeatist attitude.

Never give up on your dreams...Never!

Just be sensible about it.

People who want to lose a bit of weight, build a bit of muscle, become a little stronger, be a little healthier. That's awesome.

And it will happen. 

Just accept that it takes time and you won't look like Brad pit in 8 weeks time. Or like Beyoncé or Nicole Sherzinger after a couple of gym sessions.

I'm sorry this sounds a little harsh but it didn't take you 2 months to put on all that fat did it? Well it won't come off in 2 months either will it! Accept it!

What you can do is follow a proper nutrition and exercise plan and gradually you WILL get to where you want to be. Ok not walking the catwalk or posing on the cover of a magazine maybe, but being the best version of YOURSELF that you've ever been.

Learn how to make small, habit based changes, one at a time, to improve your diet and lifestyle. You don't need to make massive changes all at once, in fact that's probably the quickest way to fail.

Little by little make improvements to your lifestyle, because in most cases that's what's needed, a change in lifestyle. Some people might not want to hear that, because most people don't like change. I know I didn't at first. 

But small changes become habits, and then them habits lead to improvements, and then before you even realise it you have made loads of small changes that have lead to big results. Your diet will have improved, your body composition will have improved, you'll feel more energetic, your mood will have improved.

This will happen. Just give it a bit of time!

But promise me this, please please PLEASE! Don't fall for the bullshit and jump on the latest fad diet or get ripped quick exercise program.

I GUARANTEE you won't lose 30lbs of fat in 8 weeks or put on 20lb of lean muscle in 12 weeks!

You might not want to hear it but it's the truth.

The sooner you accept that and decide to try something that WILL give you results then the sooner you will feel better about yourself. I promise.

Acceptance can sometimes feel awesome. It takes so much pressure off yourself when you stop trying to be something that your never going to be. Or have something your never going to have.

Learn how to get to where you want to be the right way. There are no quick fixes when it comes to your health and physique. That is the simple truth. It's a journey and it's a great one when you get it right.

Make a change for the LONGTERM not just the next 6 weeks.

It's a marathon, not a sprint.

Be the best version of YOU that you can be. 

And don't stop until you get there!

Good luck!

Protein Pancakes!...

Breakfast is by far my favourite meal of the day, and in my opinion the most important, it sets the tone of the day ahead, and once I've had a good breakfast I know it's going to be an awesome day!

Enter Protein pancakes, one of my favourite weekend breakfasts and by far my wife's favourite. (Every day!)

You can make these super healthy and nutritious too and they fill you up easily till lunchtime. 

They are dead easy to make, try using different flavoured protein powders and adding your favourite fruits to find your own favourite version.

Try one this weekend and you'll never look at breakfast the same way again!

Ingredients:-

1 scoop chocolate protein powder.

1 scoop chocolate instant oats (myprotein), or oat flour.

1 whole egg.

Half a cup milk. (I like almond milk).

Blend or whisk together and add a handful of blueberries and half a chopped banana to the batter before frying in coconut oil.

I top my pancake with whatever fruit I have in at the time, some peanut butter, and a dollop of Greek yogurt.

Delicious, healthy, filling, and nutritious! 

Smoothie Recipes...

Smoothies! 

I make them pretty often and find them an excellent way of getting good healthy nutrients into your daily diet. 

I'm not saying I'm an advocate of consuming too many liquid calories but as a way of incorporating vital micronutrients from fruit and veg into your daily food intake, especially if pushed for time, then this approach is quick, simple, and easy.

I also love a good post workout smoothie and load these ones up with nutrients that help the body repair and recover after a hard training session.

I tend to play around with different recipes and ingredients and add different flavoured whey proteins, nut butters, Greek yogurts, and different types of milk. Basically whatever I have available in the fridge and cupboard goes in!

Here's a quick shopping list and a few recipes for you to try out but please feel free to add whatever ingredients you prefer or fancy trying.

I'm yet to find a version I don't like!

Shopping list..

Bananas

Strawberries

Blueberries 

Grapes

Apples

Mango

Frozen berries (asda packs, cheap as chips).

Spinach 

Carrots

Cucumber 

Honey

Greek yogurt 

Milk (I use coconut, almond, or goats, but normal is fine).

Oats (porridge oats or myprotein instant/powdered oats are good).

Nut butter (meridian big tubs, holland & barratt, last for ages and contain no crap).

Protein powder (whatever you use).

Play round with the ingredients you can't go wrong really just whack in whatever stuff you prefer. Don't be put off by using things like fresh spinach, its awesome for you and you can't really taste it once it's blitzed up anyway. Makes a cool green smoothie!

Some of my creations...

Fat Dads Favourite!...

Handful fresh spinach 

Handful frozen berries

1/2 a banana 

1/4 a mango

1 scoop Choc protein powder

Tablespoon Greek yogurt

Tablespoon peanut butter

Teaspoon honey

1 cup milk

Green Goblin...

Handful Spinach

1/2 an avocado 

1 carrot 

1 apple 

Few red grapes

Chunk cucumber

Tablespoon chia seeds

Dash honey

Ice

Cup of water

Choc Banana power shake....

1 scoop Choc protein powder

1 scoop instant oats

1 banana

1 tbsp peanut butter

Handful frozen berries

Half pint almond or goats milk

Pre-workout power!...

1 scoop protein

1 scoop oats

Handful spinach

Handful grapes

Handful blueberries 

Couple strawberries

Half cup almond milk

Ice

Honey

Raspberry ripple!...

1 scoop raspberry & vanilla whey

1 scoop oats

Handful frozen berries

1/2 a banana 

Handful spinach

1 tbsp nut butter

1 tsp honey

Dash milk & water  

Back to basics...

It's time to get back to basics....

To lose weight, or fat I should say, and to generally improve our health and wellbeing in general the best and frankly only place to start is by simply getting the basics right.

Without getting the fundamentals or simple things right you can follow the best 'diet' in the world and you will struggle to get results you want long term.

What I mean by the basics are:-

Trying as much as possible to stick to single ingredient, whole foods. Fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, fresh fish, lean cuts of meat & poultry. Ideally free range and organic if your budget allows.

No processed crap. That includes ready meals, pre packaged cakes, biscuits, sweets, and crisps.

Ditch the takeaways. Full stop. You know why. They're full of shit.

Keep alcohol to a minimum. Everyone likes a pint or glass of wine now and then, there's nothing wrong with that, we're all human! But drinking to often will kill your diet. Easily!

Cut out fizzy pop and other sugary drinks. And yes that includes diet pop. It tastes like shit anyway.

Drink plenty of water. At least 2-3 litres per day. This is so important!

Eat until you are satisfied not until your are full. Portion size and control are big things to master. You don't have to stuff yourself by clearing your plate if you have had enough.

Also, you don't always need to have a dessert after every meal! Have an apple or some grapes instead.

Eat breakfast. No excuses. Just eat breakfast.

To summarise.

Cut out crap, convenience, preprocessed, sugar laden food.

Eat nutritious, real food, in the right quantities, at the right times. 

Nothing difficult or fancy about that right?

I could go on but you know all these things already don't you.

Yes it's all obvious stuff I agree but you'd be surprised how often people forget the basics when their fat loss stalls, stops altogether, or worst of all does a u turn and they begin piling on the pounds again.

They'll blame anything for it happening. This goes back to accountability.

Normally though it's just they've forgotten the basics and once they get back to them everything is rosy again. Job done.

I'll stop things right there as there's no need to ramble on.

So get back to basics people and the rest will take care of itself!

Accountability

"What will you do when you realise it was always down to you"

I can't get that quote out of my head at the moment!

And that's a good thing. I'll tell you why.

I first heard it said on the Mike Dolce podcast which is by the way an awesome resource to listen to.

Mike was talking about accountability and it's role in someone's fitness journey. And it hit home hard with me.

A C C O U N T A B I L I T Y.

Accountability to me can be defined as taking responsibility for your actions and accepting the consequences of those actions.

Nobody is responsible for the results you get, apart from YOU. and YOU only. 

You cannot expect to achieve results, with the work you didnt do, and then blame somebody else as things didn't go right. 

Take responsibility for your actions, and get the results you want. Push yourself further than before, and be accountable for your own results -then sit down, pat yourself on the back and be proud of what you have achieved!!!!

The sooner people realise they need to be accountable for their decisions and actions the better.

When it comes to a persons health and fitness, if they are not happy with it for whatever reason, it is no one else's fault than their own that they find themselves in the position they are in.

Ok, there are the extremes such as people with serious illnesses beyond their control or someone who has been injured by a third party but on the whole people need to take full responsibility for their current state of health and wellbeing.

No one made you eat like a pig for all those years or made you smoke 20 cigarettes every day for the past 10 years. Or made you choose to sit watching tv for 4hrs on an evening every night instead of taking some sort of exercise.

You made the decision to eat take away too often and drink that extra bottle of wine every weekend and continually buy processed ready meals because you 'didn't have time' to prepare a proper meal. That's bullshit by the way and a terrible excuse for not eating right. But I'll keep that topic for another day.

You made all those choices. No one else. 

Now before you close this blog down and call me a dick for just having a go please hear me out.

The reason I say all these things is because I was that person not all that long ago. I made so many bad decisions where my health and fitness was concerned. And I blamed everyone and everything except myself for that. 

I came up with excuses in my head why I couldn't be bothered to go to the gym. I chose not to learn how to cook a decent meal because it was easier to nip to the chip shop.

I told myself there's plenty of time to be healthy when I'm 'older' and I'm going to enjoy another blow out on the drink on Saturday night because I'm young and I can.

But then I became accountable for my actions.

I had the lightbulb moment when I realised I was getting no younger and I needed to take control of my health because no one else was going to do it for me.

I made myself accountable to myself first and foremost. I set myself goals which I held myself responsible for achieving. Initially I asked no one for help in achieving them and the feeling when I start reaching these targets and goals was amazing.

I then started sharing some of my goals with others. Just people really close to me such as family members or a good mate.

This then made me feel accountable to them as well as myself as I didn't want them to see me fail. This is a great method actually as I found it really spurs you on when the old demons start creeping back into the back of your mind.

I would only have myself to blame if I didn't stick to my goals and I wanted to show everyone I could achieve what I set out to do.

What I want you to get out of this message is that once you take responsibility for what's gone on before it's so much easier to become accountable for your future.

Find a way, whatever way you find best, to use accountability to stick to your goals.

Set yourself targets and stick to them. For yourself.

Tell others your goals if you think it will help.

Tell the world if you like. People love sharing everything on Facebook and the likes these days so why not use that as a platform to becoming accountable. It's not for me I must admit but I've seen great examples of it put to good use.

Whatever you decide, start being accountable for it right now. It's never too late to start a fresh.

Because otherwise,

"What will you do when you realise it was always down to you"