Warrior Performance

Busting your own myths

admin — Tue, 01 May 2012 01:14:12 +0000

Guest post by Belinda Thomson

Sometimes you reach a point where you ask: ‘Is this as good as I get?’

I was training pretty hard, watching my diet – I figured I was doing everything right. But I just couldn’t seem to get any leaner. I had good strength gains, but it was kind of hidden by a layer of fat.

So, I figured, maybe this is just who I am… maybe I’m meant to look like this. But that’s not really my style. Self-acceptance is ok up to a point, but then it just turns into laziness and complacency. So I figured I would give it one last shot, and invest in a strength coach.

Now that I’m about six weeks into my program, I can see the high level of bullshit I was feeding myself. We humans have a phenomenal ability to delude ourselves, and it usually takes someone else to call us on that stuff. So here are some myths Shannon has been helping me bust in recent weeks:

Myth 1 – I’m doing everything I can – I was eating a low-carb paleo diet and training at least 3 days a week. Surely that’s enough right? Well, if I actually was eating a strict paleo diet with no cheats and no alcohol, maybe so. But the food diary doesn’t lie. When I actually wrote that stuff down, I was drinking nearly every day, even if it was just a glass or two of wine. On weekends, a lot more. (I thought my husband would divorce me if he lost a drinking partner). I was also eating cheat meals for whatever social occasion demanded it – and there are lots of social occasions. Oh, and I was going pretty heavy on the flat whites and lattes, convinced my life would be ruined without them, even though I knew they spike my insulin.

Funnily enough, giving up wine and milky coffee didn’t ruin my life (although the jury’s out on the divorce part). I replaced milk with cream or coconut milk for a while, but now I actually prefer the taste of the black coffee. A complete lack of sugar in my diet has changed my palate – or as my husband says, my tastebuds simply reflect my bitter heart. And like a preachy AA member, I’ve realised how much better I feel without alcohol. Its siren song no longer has any power.

Myth 2 – I’m doing more than everyone else – When I started with Shannon, I was at 20% body fat. He said I should easily be 15% or below. I pointed out that I was already slimmer than a lot of people, and he sagely replied that they should be leaner too! Basically, we live in a fat, lazy world of convenience and poor nutrition. So comparing yourself to the 99% of people who eat shit and don’t exercise isn’t really helpful. In fact, you have embrace being a freak: the only one not drinking on a pub crawl, the only one not eating bread at dinner, the weirdo who eats steak for breakfast. After a while, you just stop caring – and it helps when you know how much you squatted this week and how much body fat you dropped.

Myth 3 – I can do it on my own – Yeah, you can – up to a point. But when you write everything you’ve eaten in a food diary and handed it over to someone to inspect, you see how much more disciplined you can be.

Beyond accountability, though, it’s all about technique. Just like you can’t ever really see how big your arse looks in the change room mirrors at the shops, you can’t ever really check your form with your own eyes. Having a coach to weed out your weak spots and correct your form is where you really start seeing results. Turns out Shannon is completely underwhelmed by my awesome bench press abilities, because I have a lot of weaknesses in my back, which we’re fixing. And of course, a coach can always get that extra rep out of you.

So I’ve already seen some impressive results with my body fat loss and muscle gain. Most importantly, I feel better: lighter, more clear-headed and very focused. I read a quote from an Olympic rower recently, who says ‘What I deserve, I earn’. It makes sense.

I don’t want to be as good as most people – I want to be as good as I can be. Unfortunately, there’s no way to get there except with hard work, discipline and sacrifice. No matter how many stories you tell yourself, the real truth is in the results: whether you’re getting the ones you want.

Why You’re NOT Achieving Results

admin — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 01:44:15 +0000

Before we go on, let’s understand that the meaning of “Achieve” is … to carry out successfully!

So what’s the answer? It’s in the meaning “carry out successfully” ….

How do you do that? CONSISTENCY! CONSISTENCY! CONSISTENCY! and something else you may want to try is CONSISTENCY! Regardless of what your goal is in life, there is generally one way to achieve it and that is a lot of hard work and sacrifice…You get out what you put in!

Let’s use university as an example:

In order to get a degree you must turn up to class, not be half asleep and pay attention. You also must study and not just flip through a few pages of your text book and then say ‘ok I’ll watch some tv or go to the pub’. You need to read the material, absorb it and reproduce it in a test…. unless you’re a freak. And yes there will be a small percentage of the population that won’t have to put half the effort in, but if you were in this group, you would not be reading this!

Now, let’s apply this theory to weight loss/body recomposition. Training/exercise is turning up to class: you need to put effort in to your workouts, not just turn up. Just ‘turning up’ to class is only going to earn you so many points. There comes a time when you need to pay attention to get better grades; and if you want more out of your workout, you need to push harder!

The next part – diet/nutrition – is the homework, and yes, some people don’t need to study as hard as others. But guess what, if lack of study is not improving your grades, it just means you need to fucken study more!! No one ever achieved anything meaningful without working for it, and no one ever said it was easy!!!!! If you’re trying to get a degree in fat loss, then you need to put in the effort. The teacher doesn’t give a shit if you forgot to do your homework or that it was a friend’s birthday and I couldn’t read that book or had a late night, etc, etc…

Are you 12 years old? We expect shit like this from children. It’s time to grow up a little. Excuses will achieve ZERO… hang on I’ll recalculate that to make sure the number is correct… yes ZERO results! If you want better marks, then don’t make excuses: do the required work!

And if you’re trying to achieve a Masters Degree or a Doctorate, you can bet your bottom dollar you are going to have to study harder and for a fucken longer time than most other students.

She definitely has been turning up to class and doing her homework

These things don’t happen overnight, and 1 or 2 days of study ain’t going to do much. Even 2-3 weeks means nothing, it’s simply a start: think of how long it took you to put on the weight on!

It is delusional to think that a month of half-baked training and nutrition will make it magically disappear. We all have to scarifice things to get to where we’re going. At uni you may need to give up most of your partying to get the marks you want… but you don’t have to give it up forever.

Everyone is looking for that quick fix or magical pill. I’ve got one for you: it’s called hard work and sacrifice.

You need to devote yourself to your goals to attain them… if something is hindering your progress and you need to cut it out, well that’s what you need to do to get the job done. People find this hard because they like “stuff” and don’t want to go without. Just because you like it doesn’t mean anything. Kids like shitting their pants and scribbling on your car upholstery, junkies like heroin, and most students like good marks but they don’t like studying for them!

So if you wind up going backwards or stalling out, don’t fucken whinge… get back on track, get out of your comfort zone and stay CONSISTENT!

As my Sifu used to say: “when in doubt, do what your coach told you to do in the first place”!

What’s on the Menu 4

admin — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 22:19:05 +0000

Not much today, but more to show you that it doesn’t need to be complex or involve much cooking to get a good feed in.

duck breast pan fried in ghee
fermented vegtables (this is similar to sauerkraut)
blueberries
macadamia nut butter

The lacto-fermented vegetables are really good with game meats: the vinegary sourness really cuts the heaviness of the game - it would be great with venison, roo, etc.

This is an easy to prepare meal: spoon some fermented veg out of a jar, cook some game or reheat some previously cooked from the night before and eat. Afterwards, have some blueberries and a couple of spoons of macadamia butter (make sure you stick with in the guidelines of what has been prescribed to you by your Bio-Sig practitioner)

To learn about the benefits of lacto-fermented vegetables such as sauerkraut go here – http://www.westonaprice.org/food-features/lacto-fermentation

What’s on the Menu 3

admin — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 06:17:52 +0000

Muckeld Egg

This was one of my Granddad’s favourite breakfasts, and I grew up with this… when the Fam gets together and we go away, this is always on the breaky menu. I ate it for dinner the other night, got home late and wasn’t much left in the fridge so whipped this up in no time (eggs and bacon don’t just have to be for breakfast!!)

as many eggs as you need i put 5

as much Nitrate Free bacon as you need (I use 4 rashers)

one onion diced

one tomato diced

2 tsp organic butter (not margarine, nutelex, olive grove or any of that similar shit, it’s fucken rubbish!)

1 tsp herbamare (as I’ve told you before this stuff is the Colonel’s secret herbs and spices )

Put your eggs in a bowl and beat it,

Throw the rest of the ingredients in the pan, fry a little to get some colour,

Add the eggs,

Serve on a plate with what ever you want… I had some sweet potato, and broccoli sprouts.

Remember adjust the protein, carbohydrate & fat ratios according to what your personal trainer/coach has set up for you to achieve your fitness/fat-loss goals

What’s on the Menu 2

admin — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 09:29:43 +0000

Mexican Style Veal Slow Cook.

1kg diced veal

1 ham hock (optional could use some nitrate free bacon, this just adds a real depth of flavour)

1 tin tomatoes

1 medium brown onion diced

1/2 bulb garlic diced

1 filtered cup water

1 good quality organic vegetable stock cube (forget that rubbish shit at the supermarket!)

1 tsp cumin

2 tbsp ground coriander seed

2 tbsp dried thyme

2 tbsp dried oregano

3 tsp chipotle powder

1 tsp celtic sea salt

1-2 tsp herbamare (to taste)

1/2 cup coconut flour

2 tbsp coconut oil

coat veal in coconut flour then brown in pan with coconut oil,

then combine the rest of the ingredients in a slow cooker,

Add the veal and slow cook the shit out of that bitch (about 6 hours)….

Depending on your Strength Coach or Personal Trainer has set your dietary requirements for? Hi carb day / Low carb day… you can put this over many things, over a baked sweet potato or potato, with some rice or rice and peas (black beans)

you can have it by itself like i did… with some green beans, capsicum, carrot and Guacamole

or throw on some Paleo Tortillas the recipe is here http://civilizedcavemancooking.com/entrees/beef/paleo-comfort-foods-recipereview-breakfast-burrito/ that breakfast burrito is tasty aswell

What’s on the Menu 1

admin — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 05:55:56 +0000

Thought i start throwing one of these posts out each week, as i always get people complaining they don’t know what to cook, and food is getting boring etc, etc, my general reply is pull your skirt up you fairy and watch a cooking show or read a cookbook, well now you read the latest post instead

On the menu today is – Mexican Chicken Burgers, with Guacamole and Green Beans

Now i never cook a small amount of meat its a waste of time, ill cook enough for a few meals and just change what i have with it, so it doesn’t feel like I’m eating exactly the same thing ie; this one was guacamole and green beans, next one might be with a rocket, goats cheese and balsamic salad or i might add a baked sweet potato and some home made tomato salsa….. so if you want to make a smaller portion adjust the amounts acordingly

How to Make

Burgers

2 kgs of free range chicken mince

2 tsps of dried chipolte chilli powder

1 tsp cumin

4 tsp ground coriander seed

2 tsp herbamare (its an organic sat made from veggies and herbs TASTY SHIT!)

2 tbsp dried rosemary

1/2 cup pine nuts

1 medium brown onion diced finely

1/2 bulb of garlic diced finely

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp coconut oil

put a tbspn of the coconut oil in pan and heat, add in onion and garlic sauté till translucent, and take out of pan and allow to cool. in a big bowl combine all the other ingredients except for the remaining tbsp of coconut oil this will be used to cook the burgers.. once onions and garlic have cooled mix all the ingredients together, shape in to burger patties and cook.

Guacamole

1 avocado mashed

1 roma tomato diced

1/2 small red onion finely diced

2 tbs olive oil

1/2 lime juiced

tsp herbamare

mix all the ingredients in a bowl then put on top of you cooked burgers.

Green Beans

big handful of green beans

top and tail the green beans and throw them bitches on the plate.. yes they are RAW, more nutrients, less cooking so don’t whinge!

Plate up and Eat up!!

Don’t have time for breakfast?

admin — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 01:24:45 +0000

BULLSHIT! You’re just not organised… Let’s look at how much time it really takes – this is what I did this morning,

5.45am – alarm goes off, straight out of bed, I don’t hit the snooze button because that’s not going to make a difference. It will just make you feel like shit for the day because you made a poor nutritional decision to skip breakfast!

I go straight into the kitchen – turn on coffee machine, jug and pan to heat.

5.46am – toilet

5.48am – back in the kitchen, pour hot water into my green tea, pan heated, throw in a dollop of butter and 6 burger patties 4 for now 2 for morning tea.

5.49am – glass of water, take supplements, sip of green tea, flip burgers

5.51am – prep a salad to go with morning tea and lunch, chop a cucumber and some tomatoes, throw in some containers with baby spinach and rocket.

5.53am – flip burgers, turn pan off, head to shower… the residual heat in the pan will finish cooking burgers while I’m in the shower.

If you were using chicken breast or turkey breast cut thin, they would have already been cooked. I used burgers as an example, as I found they take the longest too cook – you could also do them under the grill or in the oven as the time is not much different.

5.54-5.57am – shower (don’t fuck around and have an 8 hour shower – streamline your shit)

6am – put my Morning Tea & Lunch in containers and plate up breakfast – I like to throw some blueberries with it as well.

6.02 – 6.15am – sit down and eat… I over estimated this, I go back for seconds in this time. Don’t fuck around and watch TV or check Facebook! This will cause too much distraction EAT FIRST!

So don’t whinge anymore. It took a grand total of 30mins from waking up to finishing eating…… yet I made breakfast, morning tea, lunch, shit, showered and got dressed…… and I still have time to sit back and enjoy a coffee before heading down to the Warrior Performance centre to train clients. For a female it will take slightly longer – I’m sure you will figure out how to fit make up and other ‘look pretty’ things in the routine – I’d do it after you have eaten.

Option 2 – If you dont have time to sit down and eat, you’re gonna save 15mins. Here’s what you do: put it in a container and eat on the road.

Option 3 – Even quicker than the lot (although I’d much rather people eat real food, as it’s more filling, and along with the digestion of food comes a thermogenic effect which means greater fat loss). Take the berries and nuts in a container like above, turn on coffee machine make a short black. Then in a shaker place two scoops of international protein synergy 5 vanilla (which we stock here at the Warrior Performance centre in Miranda), add water and shake, then add short black to shake and get the fuck out the door.

A Few Tips

Organise what you need to the night before – as your brain will not be as sharp first thing in the morning, you want to leave thinking to a minimum.. I put my green tea leaves in a mug on the kitchen bench next to 3 shot glasses, into which I put all my supplements for the day (breakfast/lunch/dinner).

Pull your meat out the night before to defrost; defrosting shit in the morning is not going to happen. You could put your protein in the shaker or even put the coffee in the coffee basket and sit it in the group head (group head is that thing with a handle that the coffee sits in in the coffee machine, where the coffee pours out from) ready to use in the morning.

Lunch for me is generally left over dinner from the night before, so I just cook extra then put in a container and make a salad fresh in the morning to eat with it.

So get organised…. Preparation is the key!

Guilt Free Ice Cream – and some cool coconut facts

Shannon — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 09:52:40 +0000

I’ve been playing around with this one for the last couple of days and seeing what I can do with it. I got the idea from Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals, but put my own twist on it and without blowin’ my own trumpet, it worked out much better. The problem I’ve found with this is that it’s so tasty, sometimes it does not make it to the freezer…..

Ingredients

1 270ml tin of coconut cream

400g of frozen mango

chop mango into small chunks throw in food processor with coconut cream, blend till smooth then place in a tupperware container and freeze……SIMPLE.

You can use almost any frozen fruit – I’ve done almost every berry known to man, but raspberry is one of my favourites. With some berries like raspberries, you may need to sweeten, so I just add agave syrup to taste and also vanilla bean paste.

Raspberries with 70% dark chocolate grated through it is good too.

Below is some research articles on the benefits of coconuts, that I got from www.coconutresearchcenter.org

Antimicrobial Effects

The Effect Of Virgin Coconut Oil Supplementation For Community-Acquired Pneumonia In Children Aged 3 To 60 Months Admitted At The Philippine Children’s Medical Center: A Single Blinded Randomized Controlled Trial, CHEST, October 29, 2008

In vitro antimicrobial properties of coconut oil on Candida species in Ibadan, Nigeria.

J Med Food. 2007 Jun;10(2):384-7

Antimicrobial Activity of Saturated Fatty Acids and Fatty Amines against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus , Biological & Pharmaceutical Bulletin, Vol. 27 (2004) , No. 9 1321

Antibacterial actions of fatty acids and monoglycerides against Helicobacter pylori. FEMS Immunol Med Microbiol. 2003 May 15;36(1-2):9-17.

Bactericidal effects of fatty acids and monoglycerides on Helicobacter pylori. Int J Antimicrob Agents. 2002 Oct;20(4):258-62.

Effect of fatty acids on arenavirus replication: inhibition of virus production by lauric acid. Arch Virol. 2001;146(4):777-90.

Killing of Gram-positive cocci by fatty acids and monoglycerides. APMIS. 2001 Oct;109(10):670-8.

In vitro killing of Candida albicans by fatty acids and monoglycerides. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2001 Nov;45(11):3209-12.

In vitro susceptibilities of Neisseria gonorrhoeae to fatty acids and monoglycerides. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1999 Nov;43(11):2790-2.

Medium-chain triglycerides inhibit growth of Malassezia: implications for prevention of systemic infection. Crit Care Med. 1999 Sep;27(9):1781-6.
In vitro inactivation of Chlamydia trachomatis by fatty acids and monoglycerides. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1998 Sep;42(9):2290-4.

Susceptibility of Helicobacter pylori to bactericidal properties of medium-chain monoglycerides and free fatty acids. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1996 Feb;40(2):302-6.

Inactivation of enveloped viruses in human bodily fluids by purified lipids. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1994 Jun 6;724:457-64. Review.

Inactivation of visna virus and other enveloped viruses by free fatty acids and monoglycerides. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1994 Jun 6;724:465-71.

Lauric acid inhibits the maturation of vesicular stomatitis virus. J Gen Virol. 1994 Feb;75 ( Pt 2):353-61.

Antibacterial effect of caprylic acid and monocaprylin on major bacterial mastitis pathogens. J Dairy Sci. 2005 Oct; 88(10):3488-95.

Inactivation of enveloped viruses and killing of cells by fatty acids and monoglycerides. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1987 Jan;31(1):27-31.

The effects of fatty acids and their monoesters on the metabolic activity of dental plaque. J Dent Res. 1984 Jan;63(1):2-5.

Cardiovascular Health

Note: A large number of studies are showing a direct correlation between chronic low-grade bacterial and viral infections and coronary heart disease. The primary culprits are Chlamydia pneumoniae, Cytomegalovirus, and Helicobacter pylori. Each of these pathogenic organisms as well as many others are effectively killed by the medium-chain fatty acids in coconut oil. Coconut oil, therefore, can reduce risk of heart disease.

Effects of dietary coconut oil on the biochemical and anthropometric profiles of women presenting abdominal obesity. Lipids. 2009 Jul;44(7):593-601. Epub 2009 May 13.

Medium chain triglyceride oil consumption as part of a weight loss diet does not lead to an adverse metabolic profile when compared to olive oil. J Am Coll Nutr. 2008 Oct;27(5):547-52.

Effects of dietary medium-chain triglyceride on weight loss and insulin sensitivity in a group of moderately overweight free-living type 2 diabetic Chinese subjects. Metabolism. 2007 Jul;56(7):985-91.

Beneficial effects of virgin coconut oil on lipid parameters and in vitro LDL oxidation. Clin Biochem. 2004 Sep;37(9):830-5

Comparative Study of Coconut Oil, Soybean Oil, and Hydrogenated Soybean Oil. PJCS. 2004;24

A diet rich in coconut oil reduces diurnal postprandial variations in circulating tissue plasminogen activator antigen and fasting lipoprotein (a) compared with a diet rich in unsaturated fat in women. J. Nutr. 2003;133:3422-3427.

Antibiotic treatment of atherosclerosis. Curr Opin Lipidol. 2003 Dec;14(6):605-14.

Coconut Oil: Atherogenic or Not? (What therefore causes Atherosclerosis?). Philippine Journal of Cardiology. 2003 July-Sept; 31(3):97-104.

Chronic infection and coronary artery disease. Cardiol Clin. 2003 Aug;21(3):333-62.

Prevalence of Chlamydia pneumoniae in the atherosclerotic plaque of patients with unstable angina and its relation with serology. Int J Cardiol. 2003 Jun;89(2-3):273-9.

Effects of dietary medium-chain triacylglycerols on serum lipoproteins and biochemical parameters in healthy men. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 2002 Aug;66(8):1713-8
Results of use of metformin and replacement of starch with saturated fat in diets of patients with type 2 diabetes. Endocr Pract. 2002 May-Jun;8(3):177-83.

Secondary prevention of coronary artery disease with antimicrobials: current status and future directions. Am J Cardiovasc Drugs. 2002;2(2):107-18.