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Nutrition Essentials

rob.ftafitness

🚀 I help people who are fed up of dieting their life away focus on getting stronger and improving their lifestyle habits.
👇 Work with me here:

You don't need to "cleanse" your body. It's not a

You don't need to "cleanse" your body.

It's not a hoover that needs cleaning out.

Your liver, kidneys, gut and skin already work really well to filter out anything your body doesn't need.

The best thing you can do to look after your body is to support it by hydrating, giving your body the nutrients it needs, moving it regularly and keeping your alcohol intake in check.

Not doing unnecessary detoxes and buying expensive supplements.

A recent study suggests that there is a strong ass

A recent study suggests that there is a strong association between getting your heart rate up on a daily basis and a reduction in total incident cancer risk.

"A minimum dose of 3.4 to 3.6 minutes of vigorous daily activity was associated with a 17% to 18% reduction in total incident cancer risk compared with none. A median daily vigorous activity level of 4.5 minutes was associated with a 32% to 32% reduction in physical activity-related cancer incidence."

The best part about this study?

It wasn't focused on exercise.

Vigorous daily activity used in the study focused on short bouts (1-2 minutes) of daily activity, like fast walking or stair climbing.

The take home here:

You really don't need to do much to dramatically improve your health.

And it is ALWAYS worth doing something, even if you only have a few minutes.

🥔 Why am I talking about potatoes, and what do

🥔 Why am I talking about potatoes, and what do they have to do with fat loss?

If you want to find out, then listen to the latest episode of the podcast, which is all about how to lose body fat whilst eating more.

Search: 'Beans and Barbells' on Spotify, or follow the link in my bio.

It might feel like an effort now. But if you leav

It might feel like an effort now.

But if you leave it it's only going to get harder.

And you're going to wish you'd done something sooner.

It really doesn't take a lot to look after and protect your body, and improve your quality of life into older age.

And you don't want to wait until something happens.

An injury.

A lack of mobility.

Because it'll only take more work then.

So just start now.

Do something even if it's small.

Your body will thank you later.

Just a few things that are grinding my gears this

Just a few things that are grinding my gears this week...

I get it.

Finding a bogeyman to point to makes us feel good because it's simple and it makes us feel morally superior.

The problem is, that's not the way nutrition works.

Nutrition doesn't function in isolation

Nor does it come down to absolutes.

And it certainly doesn't care about how you feel.

Or what 'makes sense' to you.

But unfortunately that's what brings in the views and likes on social media.

Because let's face it, emotions are more powerful than facts.

And when someone is passionately yelling that something is dangerous at you, you're much more likely to take that on board.

It makes you feel like you finally know 'the secret'.

And that is a powerful feeling.

But that doesn't make it true.

What I'm trying to say is this...

Be cautious of anyone giving you nutrition advice that is grounded in absolutes.

For most people, nutrition is simple.

But our urge to find the next "thing we're missing" has made it far more complex than it needs to be.

Cover your bases, do the essentials, and then get on with your life.

Because stressing about every last detail will do you more damage in the long-run.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

The idea that the decline in physical ability as w

The idea that the decline in physical ability as we age is unavoidable just simply isn't true.

More and more research shows that the decline in physical ability comes from inactivity, and not aging itself.

Muscle mass and bone density are two of the most important things we can focus on to ensure we not only live longer, but better quality lives.

And strength training (or resistance training) helps with both of these things.

And the best part?

You don't need to do much.

You just need to do something!

If you want some help getting started, DM me 'coaching' and let's have a zero-presure chat 🙂

If you struggle with motivation, it could be that

If you struggle with motivation, it could be that your goal just isn't motivating enough.

You need something bigger.

Something deeper.

Than just "lose some weight" or "be healthier".

You need a why.

Why do you want to make that change?

What will your life look like when you accomplish it?

What will it provide you that you don't currently have?

Answer these questions and I promise you that doing the things you need to do when you don't want to do them will become easier.

When you think of fat loss, do you think of restri

When you think of fat loss, do you think of restriction?

Eating less.

Cutting out certain food.

What if instead, you thought about it as adding?

Adding more movement to your day.

Adding protein to your meals.

Adding a variety of fruit and veg.

Viewing things from a place of abundance stops you from feeling restricted.

And reinforces the idea that even in a fat loss phase, fitness and nutrition should add to your life.

Instead of taking away from it.

It’s become quite the trend to s*** on the scale

It’s become quite the trend to s*** on the scale weight.

I’m guilty of it myself.

But the scale weight is a tool.

And as with most tools, how good or bad it is comes down to how you use it.

A knife can be a great tool, but I wouldn’t use one to pick my nose.

Yes, there are some people who shouldn't touch the scale weight with a barge pole.

But for the rest of us, we would probably be better off understanding the limitations of it and how to use it properly.

So that we can use it as a source of data, without letting it consume us.

Instead of just avoiding it altogether.

If you want more information, DM me ‘SCALE’ and I’ll send the full podcast episode I recorded on this very subject.

Episode 18 of the podcast is out! 🎉 It's anoth

Episode 18 of the podcast is out! 🎉

It's another Q+A episode with answers to questions from clients.

In it I cover:
- Why you can't spot reduce body fat, but what you can do to focus on specific areas
- Why sugar won't stop you from losing body fat and why it doesn't cause fat gain

Search 'Beans and Barbells' on Spotify, or follow the link in my bio.

How do you stay motivated? I don't. If I relied

How do you stay motivated?

I don't.

If I relied on motivation to get me to the gym, prepare and cook food I'd end up playing Doom all the time and surviving off of Rustlers.

(True story that was me in the first year of uni)

Feeling motivated is a fleeting sensation.

And if you rely on doing things only when you feel motivated then you're going to be disappointed.

There are things you can do to help:
- Habits
- Environment
- Psyching yourself up
- Revisiting your goals and values

But sometimes you just have to suck it up, parent yourself, and understand that achieving things requires you to do things even when you don't feel like doing them.

Yes, it sucks.

But it's what makes achieving your goals all that more sweeter.

Using what you see in the mirror as your only meas

Using what you see in the mirror as your only measure of progress is the worst thing you can do when fat loss is your goal.

It's a surefire way to shoot yourself in the foot down the line.

Firstly, you won’t notice fat loss happening happening.

You know how you don’t notice your hair growing day-to-day?

Same thing with fat loss. It happens so gradually you probably won’t notice anything happening for a while.

Secondly, we tend to hyper-fixate on one part of our bodies, usually our stomachs, to measure progress.

But when you lose fat it comes off from all over your body.

Only using the mirror means you won’t notice it coming off of other areas.

Thirdly, what you see in the mirror is coloured by your mood on the day and a whole host of other things.

You could look the same from one day to the next, but your opinion of what you look like will change.

These things can often lead people to feel like they’re not making progress when they are.

The solution?

Use metrics:
- Monthly progress photos
- Body part measurements
- Scale weight to see long-term changes/patterns

The metrics you use are completely down to you and your relationship with each, but data is going to provide you with a better, less biased way of measuring your progress.

It can be reassuring when you have a bad day and feel like you’re not progressing to look at data and see that your emotions are incorrect.

The key thing with each of these is to understand that it’s all just data.

None of them are a moral judgment on you as a human-being.

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