madi’s place

Words of Wisdom:

In 1969 I asked President de Gaulle what he did for exercise. He told me that he believed that walking was the best thing a leader could do for his mental, physical and emotion health - Richard Nixon

I was never an exercise fundi or even keen to do any sort of exercise. I hate running and I can’t swim because I look fat in a swimsuit. I tried all kinds of diet supplements to try and loose weight. Nothing really seemed to work. My husband and I decided to visit Europe, and one thing we did there was walk. We walked a lot, and after a month of walking around and just sight seeing I suddenly on our return home was a hole 3 kg lighter than when we went. But that was not all, I also lost centimeters.

I exercised everyday by walking and I did not even realize it. Walking is something most of us do on a daily basis. It comes natural to us. So why not use walking as your daily exercise? If you walk at a moderate pace for about 30 – 60 min daily your body burns stored fat. This can build muscle and increase your metabolism. If you walk for an hour a day you decrease your risk of heart disease, cancer and even diabetes.

There are lots of fun ways for getting in your daily dose of walking. Instead of driving and parking your car on the doorstep of the local mall, you can park and walk to the shops. Walk at a fast pace, to get that heart rate up, and in the process burn a few calories.

Playing with the kids is another great way to get the heart going. The kids enjoy you playing and running around with them and you burn the calories. Dancing is another fun way to get the body moving. And no-one has to see you. You can wiggle and shake to your favorite song in the privacy of your own home.

Going out for walks is the best. Find yourself a friend or a walking buddy who can walk with you. It is much easier to stay focused and motivated if you have someone that exercises with you. It is easier to go with a friend than being on your own. When you exercise on your own it is very easy to skip a day or two. Working with someone makes this a bit harder. It is also a lot more fun when you exercise with someone.

The best way to start walking is not to go out there fast and furious. If your body is not use to exercise you will get tired very easily. Take it slow in the beginning and work it up slowly. Maybe for the first two weeks try to walk for only 20 minutes and work your way up to an hour. This will get your body going systematically.

Weekly insight : Da. 4:37

” And those who walk in pride he is able to humble”

We must be humble in front of God and acknowledge Him As our Lord and savior.

Exercise of the week: Walking

Make an effort and start walking for 20 min. a day this week.

Start slowly and work yourself up to a steady pace.

Once you can walk for 20 min up your time by 10 minutes until you can walk for an hour.

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.