madi’s place

Words of Wisdom:

” There is no sincerer love than the love of food” - George Bernard Shaw

One of the things I dread the most is a diet. It all starts well for a week or two and then you start cheating because you are starving. You then feel guilty and in the end you quit the diet.

The good news is one can loose weigh without going on a diet. You just need to know what to eat and how much. You can truly eat whatever you want as long as it is done in moderation.

The second secret is exercise. And you don’t have to kill yourself exercising either. You can loose a lot of weight by just walking for example.

I want to dedicate the next few posts to the type of food we can eat that will help you to loose weight.

Our eating habits are very important. Most of us leave in the morning without eating and that is one of the biggest mistakes we make. I know a lot of people believe that you must eat less and they do that by skipping meals. And often it is breakfast.

I think we should change our mindset first of all. We will not achieve perfection overnight, but all in good time. If we can shift our mind from perfection to making progress in our diet we already achieved a lot.

Researchers at the Georgia State University have developed a process that measures your hourly energy balance. Your energy balance is the amount of kilojoules you take in versus the amount of energy that you burn.

They have found that if you keep your energy between 1250 and 2000 kj at all times, you can change your bodies composition loosing fat and adding lean muscle mass.

It basically boils down to eating at least 6 times a day. When you eat regularly. Your body is use to getting food and then it only stores the food it needs. Also if you eat six time a day you get full very quickly, which means you eat a lot less.

Weekly insight: Pr. 20:13

” Do not love sleep or you will grow poor,stay awake and you will have food to spare“

Exercise of the week : Lateral Lunge and Touch

Stand with your feet shoulder-with apart. Hands at your sides. With your toes forward and your abs braced, step to your right. Bend your right leg. Keeping your left leg straight. Reach your hands to the floor on the opposite sides of your right knee. Pause for 2 seconds and then return to the start. Now repeat this movement with your left leg. This is one rep. Do 8 reps.

Words of wisdom:

“Water is the only drink for a wise man” – Henry David Thoreau

We are all aware of our metabolism. But how many of us actually knows what it is? Ones metabolism is the way your body handles substances. According to wikipedia it is the set of chemical reactions that happens in living organisms to maintain life.

We are all aware of the fat in our bodies, because it is the most obvious and the thing that keeps us from fitting into our summer bikini’s. The liver converts stored fat into energy. This is one of its main functions.

The kidneys are responsible for water balance and salt regulation of the body. The kidneys need  water to function properly. If the kidneys are water deprived, they cannot function properly. Unfortunately the liver takes slack for the kidneys. The liver takes over some of the kidney functions, now causing the liver to do his own work as well as the work of the kidney’s.  This lowers the livers productivity. In other words, because the liver now has to function as partially kidneys as well, it does not produce fat into energy as much as it does when is is only being a liver. Causing the body to store the fat.

By drinking water we keep our kidney hydrated and fully functional, leaving each organ to do its job. Because your body is getting the amount of water it needs to function properly. It gets rid of the excess water that it doesn’t need. Not by storing it in the ankles and hips, but by turning it into urine and flashing it out of the body.

This is why you are losing weight. However if you don’t hydrate your body enough, it stores every little bit of water it gets. Storing it and causing you to gain those few extra’s, because the body believes it needs it.

Drinking water is not only good for losing weight but it also keeps the organs going. Water also improves muscle tone.  Water burns fat. Well hydrated cells increase once fat burning metabolism.

Scripture of the day: Proverbs 25:25

Like cold water to a weary soul, is good news from a distant land.

Just as we need water to hydrate our bodies and keep it healthy. We need God’s word to hydrate our Soul and keep it healthy.

Exercise for the week: Side Plank

Lie on your left side with your legs straight. Prop yourself with your left forearm, so your body forms a diagonal line. Put your right hand on your right hip.

Brace your abs and lift your hips. Hold it for 30 secs – if 30 seconds is too long in the beginning just do it for 10 sec at a time. Rest for 5 sec. Alternate this for 1 minute. then change sides.

Engage your core when you lift your hip of the floor.

Words of wisdom:

Walking is the nearest activity to perfect exercise – Prof J Morris

When I go for a cycle I always make sure that I take enough energy drinks along to keep me going while I am out there. But I also make sure that I take some water with me.

If I develop a headache in the afternoon after a ride. It is normally due to dehydration.  We often forget that we can dehydrate on a very hot day even if we don’t exercise.  Every day we lose at least 3 litres of water just from going to the bathroom and sweating naturally.

We are so often busy during the day that we forget to just drink a glass of water every two hours. Most of us are unaware of the danger of dehydrating our bodies. Dehydration leads to a nutritional and chemical imbalance in the body. It worsens with illnesses like diabetes, cholesterol and cardiovascular problems.

Headaches are often a good sign of dehydration, as well as dark urine.  I often drink water when I feel a headache develop. Normally after a hour of drinking water every 10 to 15 minutes the headache is gone,without me having to take any tablets whatsoever.

Most of us only drink water in summer when it is hot. Water is essential to the body throughout the year. Don’t stop drinking water in the winter because it is cold and we are not thirsty or because a cup of hot chocolate does a better job in winter. Our body needs water to clean us from the inside out.

Scripture of the day: Psalms 1:3

He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

Just as our bodies needs water to be healthy, our Souls need God. The closer we are to God. The more we will be like Him.

Exercise for the week: Step Ups

Tip: If you don’t have a bench, you can use a chair or a step.

Place your left foot on the bench. It must be high enough so that your knee is bent at 90 degrees.

Press down on your heel and step up until your left leg is straight and your right foot is off the floor.

This is one rep.

Do ten reps with your left leg ans then change legs. Repeat the exercise now using your right leg.

Words of wisdom:

A high quality life has a lot more to do with what you remove from your life than what you add to it. - Cheryl Richardson

I think we all agree, that when you look great you also feel great. Looking great boosts confidence. The secret, it is not all that hard to get into shape. All you need is to devote half an hour three or four times a week, and a bit of dedication.

I think diets often fail because we lack two things dedication and exercise and I hope that this blog will change that for you.

We are all aware that we should drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. Water cleanses the body from the inside and gets rid off all the poison in our bodies. Just think about it. In a normal day our kidneys recycle 1500l per day.

That is quite a scary thought if you consider how much of that is only water that you drink. We often will rather consume coffee and tea or fizzy cold drinks instead of just water. My guess is because water I find is rather tasteless.

There are a lot of benefits to drinking water. A person can only live a week without water. It is very important that we do drink water on a regular basis. Water improves the way we feel and look. Water hydrates your skin, which will make you look younger and get rid of some of those wrinkles. Your skin also feels softer and firmer. It is also good for your hair. Water give your hair a healthier look. Water also increases your energy and makes one more alert. It will also help you to tolerate those warm days a lot better.

Water burns fat. It reduces hunger and flushes away toxins in the body. Water regulates the bodies temperature. It also keeps you regular. Drinking water reduce the risk of disease and infection.

Water has a lot of benefits for the human body. I know eight glasses of water sound very daunting but if one spread it over 16 hours it means you need to drink a glass every two hours. Which is easy to do.

Scripture for the day:  Psalm 23 : 2

He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet water,

Exercise for the week: Reverse Lunge

Stand with your feet hip with apart.  

Your arms at your side.

a) step back with your left leg, and lower your body until your right knee is bent 90 degrees.

b) Push back up to start. Repeat this stepping back with your right leg this time. This is one rep.

Do 10 reps and as you improve you can increase your reps.

Tip. You do not have to use weights . The weights increase the intensity of the exercise.

We are a decade into the 21st century. If there is something I have learnt in the past ten years is that health is a gift.  We must take care off our health. If we look great we feel great and we have more confidence to achieve those goals we so badly want.

I am not a model. I am not 6 feet tall and drop dead gorgeous. I am a normal 1.5 meter tall woman. I have never been skinny in my life. And being the mother of two my body is everything but toned and sexy. I will be honest this is a problem for me, because I have hangups and am forever scared that my husband might leave me because of the way I look.

I am sure there are a lot of woman out there who feel exactly the same. I have tried every single diet there is with no results whatsoever. Leaving me desperate and down in the dumps.

Being over weight did not only influence my relationship with my husband but it also influenced my confidence. I started wearing bags trying to hide my body. My dress size was a 40 (18). I hated myself.

Then a wonderful miracle happened. I was diagnosed with very high cholesterol. This changed my whole life. The doctor left me with two options. I either shape up or die from a heart attack at a young age. I am 32.

I made a decision and I do not regret it for one minute. I know it is hard getting around to a gym and exercise especially if you are a mother, and you need to work. There is just not enough time in the day. The good news is with a bit of dedication and willpower to achieve, it is possible.

I don’t go to a gym and exercise at home. Because it save me time and I can exercise while my kids are around me. The fun bit is that they sometimes join in and exercise with me. I only spend  30 min three times a week on toning exercises. The other 4 days I will either walk or ride my bike. The best thing about walking is that the kids go with me and they love it. I put them in the stroller and take them along on 5 km walk. This benefits all of us because they get out in the fresh air and I get to exercise.

I also cycle. I found that cycling is a great way to burn fat fast. You  are not only burning kilojoules when you are cycling you are at the same time building and toning your legs.

Because I have my kids I cannot always ride outside so I got myself an indoor trainer and there are a lot on the market. A great website to look at if you are interested in indoor trainers : indoor-trainer.com. This site also has great fitness tips.

The result,  I stopped using  diet tablets. I have lost a lot of weight and my dress size is down to a 36 (14) just because I eat right and I exercise.

I would like to dedicate this year to great health and share with you exercises, health secrets and fitness tips.  Not just to help you looking great but also feeling great about yourself and life.

I hope we will have a great year together. If you would like to share advice or any tips with me. Please feel free to email me.

Have a fit and healthy 2010.