The process below is one that we use with our client once we know what their metabolic type is and they have got used to their diet plans. This is a fine tuning process designed to get your fat protein and carbohydrate (Macronutrient), level just right for you.

MOST people following the system below lose between 2 and 8lb in the first week. This will slow to a stead 1 to 2lb per week if you follow the process properly. Weight loss usually stops dropping off after about 1 – 2.5 stone has been lost, at this point if you have more to lose you will need to look a bit deeper at your body and what is and is not working properly inside. The same goes if you have NO weight loss. If when you do diets you don’t lose weight it’s time to find out WHY.

Step 1

Cut the Crap and drink more water, but you knew this already right?

Always remember that ‘nothing does what water does inside your body’. Your body uses about 4oz of water every 30 mins just to run your metabolism. Most chronic illnesses and diseases have a dehydration component to them. For instance joint ware and tear, coronary heart disease or even something simple things you may suffer everday…. Fatigue headaches etc.

Do not count tea, coffee, fruit juices etc etc etc as water… Just drink water with nothing with it and give you body a break.

I need you to drink about 1.5liters of water sipped throughout the day.

Remember water is also important for detoxification and liver function, after the Christmas excess I need to detox and wash through my liver, how about you?

Step 2

Is to with draw starchy carbohydrates for 7 days. We call this a starch detox. I want to keep this short so I’m not going to head into the biochemistry of why this works, I’ll save that for another time, the short version is that it allows the cells with in your body the opportunity to burn fat without carbohydrates getting in the way.

Here is the list of what you need to remove for your 7 day detox;

 Rules of the Starch Detox

1. No starchy fruits or vegetables
2. Root and starchy vegetables – carrots – turnip – swede – beet root – chickpeas – sweet corn – etc
3. Beans – lentils
4. Rice brown or white
5. Potatoes
6. Bananas
7. No Cows Dairy (Goats, Sheep’s, Buffalos are all fine)
8. No processed foods – microwavable meals – pasta – pastries – pies
9. Artificial / non foods – sweeteners – flavourings and preservatives
10. No grain or grain products – cereals – bread –  baked goods
11. NO Sugar
12. No chocolate unless is 85% or above
13. No alcohol
14. No Caffeine
15. Soya

During this period you may experience the following symptoms;

• Headaches
• Cough, cold, aches and pains (flu like symptoms)
• Cravings
• Depression
• Spots and skin disruption
• Changes in bowel habits

Step 3

So, what do you eat?

All meals should be based around having 30% protein, (meat, fish or eggs). 25% fat and then 45% of your plate should be non-starchy vegetables.

When I say all meal I do mean ALL meals, Breakfast lunch and dinner. There is not point trying to rebalance yourself at a cellular level if you keep have cereal or toast for breakfast.

Step 4

7 days later…..

You may have had a bit of a rough ride but are now feeling awesome OR you may still not be feeling at your best.

Lets see if we can either make you feel ‘even’ better or make you feel… better!

I still want to keep away from the powerful carbohydrates such as rice, potatoes, bread and pasta but I want you to carefully add in starchy vegetables these are root vegetables.

The table below will show you how:

As in the table above you add in carbohydrates one tablespoon full at a time starting on day one at dinner. The following day have starchy carbs at both lunch and dinner and then on day 3 a tablespoon full at breakfast, lunch and dinner. You then add more starch day by day at each meal.

You should feel better and better. As soon as you don’t feel better and in fact feel worse decrease the amount of carbs back to where you were when you were feeling great.

If you felt worse the moment you added in starchy carbs then go back to low carb veg so that you can keep feeling great.

Step 5

Once you have found your correct Macronutrient balance it time to add in some more NUTRITION. This is best done in the form of superfoods. Below is a list of superfoods for you to try.

Sprouted beans, seeds and nuts

Wheat grass

Barley grass

Chorella

Spirilina

Aloe vera

Follow the process and you will have weight loss and after a small and short process of detoxification energy and even regulated moods and weight loss.

If you have any problems or want more information than contact us

Happy new YOU!

Committed to your success

Keith Tucker and Clare Valvona

01494 783 685

info@absolute-training.com

The A-team never step out without a plan as Hannibal says, ‘He loves it when a plan comes together!’

This year I want you to feel the same I want you to love it because your plan has come together!

But first you have to plan!

Start with a blank sheet of paper and decide what it is you want to achieve, what are your goals.

Now decide on a time frame for achieving them.

And finally for this section ask yourself, ‘is this goal of mine realistic in this time frame I have set? ‘

Once you have done the above you have completed step 1 you should be able to feel the beginning sparks of success.

By placing your goals down in black and white you have made a map but this is not good unless we have a route to follow to get to our destination.

Planning the route is the hardest part but is the most important. Everyone gets excited by their goal but you don’t have the steps or route to get to your destination you’re likely to get lost on the way.

New sheet of paper required I think or if your green you can write on the back.

I want you to write all the things that you will need to do to achieve the goal. Group them under different headings so that you understand all that is involved in achieving your goals. As you know absolute training is all about healthy weight loss. So if your goal was to lose weight then your headings and list might look a little bit like this:

 Diet

• Plan day by day what to eat
• Make a shopping list
• Clear the cupboards of all crap food
• Etc etc etc

 Exercise

• Decide what type of exercise I want to do
• Find classes or get a membership
• Place into my diary with the same importance as a business meeting my training days and times

 Motivation

Identify all factors that could cause you to have a decrease in motivation.

• Slow results
• No results
• Busy at work
• etc

 Support

Build yourself a support network.

• Get a training partner
• Keep a food diary with a friend and compare
• Tell people your goals and time frame and ask tem to help you when you are out with them buy not forcing you to have coffee and a cake or to have that sweet, sticky pudding etc.

Build yourself a strategy for coping with any problems that might appear. For instance always keep nuts in your desk or car, so that if a meeting over runs you have a healthy snack to get you through rather then hitting the garage and a chocolate bar!

Become a member of the A-team and Plan to succeed as ‘I pity the fool’ who doesn’t have plan!

We are here for you every step of the way if you need help with the planning or execution just call or email.

Committed to your success

Keith and Clare

01494 783 685

info@absolute-training.com

Once you have your diet right i.e you know and are eating to your metabolic type, there are 4 fundamentals to nutritional therapy that you need to optimise. Get these right along with your diet and you should not need to count calories or do anything extreme. You should get healthier, thinner, and sexier with more energy, strong hair and nails and clear skin if after following your metabolic type and maximising the list below you are not moving in the right direction it is time for you to look a bit deeper and possibly get some lab tests done, NOT cut calories!

These 4 fundamentals are;

1. Hydration
2. Digestion
3. Assimilation
4. Elimination

Hydration

Are you drinking 1.5 to 2 litres of water per day? Rain or shine the basic Metabolic processes that occur in each of your 3 trillion cells require 4oz of pure water every 30 mins to run efficiently! ‘Remember nothing does what water does in your body!’ So fruit juice, tea and coffee don’t count as they all require further metabolic process to retrieve the water or to digest and assimilate them to get the nutrients out of them.

Bottled water is generally better than tap water but if you want to go one step further then look into getting a reverse osmosis water filter here;

www.healthy-house.co.uk

At this site you can get many other health products I recommend spending some time going through it and making a shopping list so that over time you can reduce all the blocking factors to your health that reside in your environment. First steps though, the water you drink and shower/wash in!

Digestion

‘You are what you eat!’

Is this a true statement?

Personally I think it’s a great line to get people to start thinking about food and what they are placing in their mouths but is it accurate…… NO.

You are only what you can DIGEST and ASSIMILATE, in other words, you are what you can break down and absorb into your blood stream and therefore use to build and fuel your body. You can eat the healthiest organic foods and take the best supplements but if you don’t have the digestive capacity to break stuff down into small enough elements so that they can pass through the wall of your small intestine then it really does not matter and you are probably waisting your money.

With this in mind we started to talk about supplementation primarily Hydrochloric acid (HCL) and digestive enzymes.

The stomach’s ability to produce HCL and pepsin is often inadequate.  It is affected by high carbohydrate diets, medication; particularly pain relief meds and allergy medication and it also reduces with age.

You will often hear people refer to this or that as the bodies first line of defence against parasites, bacteria, viruses, yeast, mould and fungi. The first step in your defence against invaders is the acidic condition of your stomach as most can’t survive the low pH of this environment.

HCL helps in the digestion of proteins along with pepsin so that it can be ASSIMILATED by the intestines. If too larger protein molecules are absorbed by your intestines then you immune system is called into action. This can lead to allergies such as hay fever or if you have continued exposure you could end up with an autoimmune disease.

HCL also triggers the pyloric sphincter to open (exit of the stomach), so that the pre-digested contents can pass into the small intestine. The pyloric sphincter is pH (acid/alkaline) sensitive. This means that it only opens when the pH of the stomach gets low enough or acidic enough.

Inadequate HCL causes many health problems and is a very important issue that is not addressed by mainstream diets, doctors or many other health professionals. As this is a big issue, a root cause of disease, we will be talking about HCL, HCL supplementation and a condition called hydrochloride in the future.

But in a nut shell…. If you don’t have enough HCL you can’t provide the right environment to maximise digestion, if you can’t maximise the breaking down of food you CANNOT therefore maximise assimilation which means you can’t give your body the nutrition that it needs. As you can see from this, inadequate HCL can be one of the root causes of all disease.

Digestive Enzymes

Breaking down food particles into small enough pieces that they can pass through the wall of your small intestine and be assimilated into the body. We have a finite ability to produce enzymes but have many environmental factors that inhibit or use up our enzyme capacity. Taking a digestive enzyme is beneficial as it will relieve the stress on our bodies digestive capacity as well as slowing the use of our enzymic capacity.

Digestive enzymes should not be taken with your meal, unless otherwise directed they should be taken about 20 minutes after eating.

I think that that’s probably enough information for one post. We’ll cover probiotic and elimination real soon.

If you’re struggling with your diet or your health then contact me for a free consultation.

Committed to your health and success

Keith, Clare and the Absolute Training team.

I often take people off cows dairy for a period of time when I work with them due to the high levels of adverse reactions it causes. Many people are reacting to dairy and they don’t even know it and it’s therefore a stressor and a blocking factor to their weight loss efforts or their desire to be healthier.

The first thing that people often say when I get them off the dairy is whether they should go out and buy a dairy substitute such as soya.

There are substitutes that you can use such as almond milk, (remember none of the milk substitutes taste the same as milk), but soya is NOT a substitute that I would recommend.

There are many people who come to me who have already taken out dairy and they can wait to tell me how they are making good choices as they use soya instead. Yep thats right I then take them off this as well but…. Why

Why don’t I like soya products? Why can I not recommend them to you?

Lets start with dispelling a myth about soya and Asian cultures;

Myth – Asians Consume large amounts of soya based foods and have done for 1000′s of years and it’s healthy for them!

Truth – Average consumption is about 2 teaspoonfuls per day in Japan and China. It is consumed as a condiment and NOT as a replacement for animal proteins in a meal. Soya has been used in China from about 1134BC but they ONLY consumed it once it had been fermented making tempeh, natto and tamari.

Fermenting soya makes it healthful and eliminates all the problem causing elements that are found in soya.

The soya we use in this country has NOT been fermented. It is a highly processed ‘food’.

Unfermented processed soya food has the following problems;

• When soya is digested, a by product is made called phytic acid. Phytic acid disrupts the assimilation of the minerals calcium, magnesium, copper iron and zinc. It’s worth knowing that high phytate diets have caused growth problems in children. Other foods also release phytic acid but it can be neutralised by soaking, sprouting, slow cooking or fermentation.
• Soya releases substances that can act like hormones in our bodies called phytoestrogens. This can disrupt endocrine function (hormone function), leading to infertility and breast cancer. Phytoestrogens are also antithyroid agents which can cause hypothyroid conditions and thyroid cancer. Autoimmune conditions of the thyroid have a strong link with infants that have been fed a soya formula.
• The Vitamin B12 analogues that are found in soya are not usable, we cannot absorb it. These forms of vitamin B12 do in fact increase the bodies need for vitamin B12. The consumption of soya also increases the bodies need for vitamin D. In a country where most people are deficient in Vitamin D we don’t want to be eating anything that causes further requirements for it.
• Soya products often have higher levels of aluminium in them which is toxic to us effecting both the kidneys and the nervous system.
• Many people are now aware of, and trying to avoid, a product call monosodiumglutimate (MSG). This is a substance that is formed during the processing process of soya and many soya products have extra MSG added to them.
• Further more the processing process of soya requires the soya to be heated to high temperatures. This part of the process denatures the proteins. Your body does not recognise the proteins and they will therefore place stress on your digestive system; possibly even your immune system as your body works out what to do with them. This stress could lead to inflammation in your gut over time causing you digestive problems possibly even IBS symptoms or if your immune systems involved you may find an increase or the development of allergies over time.
• Finally for this article the processing of soya also leads to a nasty chemicals called lysinealanine being formed. This substance is carcinogenic nitrosamine and to be avoided!.

So the question is, do you really want to eat it?

You may be a cynical sort and are thinking to yourself… It does not seem to be harming me or just plain and simply… Prove it Tucker, show me some proof.

I understand and so right here I have included studies and references for you viewing pleasure. So please once you have been convinced, for me and for you…. Stop eating soya.

Committed to your success

Keith and Clare

Sources and references;

Studies showing the adverse effects of soy 1939 – 2008

Studies showing the adverse effects of isoflavones 1950 – 2010

Even if none of this completely convinces you…. I have only one question to ask; If there is doubt why take the risk?

Good health to you

As neither you nor I have been able to make it to boot camp over the last couple of days and this evening I lost my car in the snow on Warners end hill coming back from the town, Clare and I decided that there was no excuses for you not to work, out when we can tell you what to do and you can do it in your spare room or living room.

No excuses!

So here it is the Fit body “home” weight loss work out!

Fast Tube by Casper

Once you have completed the work out text Clare or I to let us know how it went. See you Wednesday at bootcamp I hope!

Keith

No messing here we go!

1. I going to attack main stream ‘health food’ such as microwave meals and low fat options and I can add to that many slimming shakes. These are often cleverly disguised junk foods. Yes they are fast and they are convenient but they are nutritionally deficient and are more likely to stimulate you storage mechanisms increasing the about of fat you store around your belly. Remember the diet and food industry only have one agenda…… MAXAMISED PROFITS!

2. I have said it before and I’ll say it again Ab exercises like crunches, sit-ups will not flatten you belly or give you that allusive six pack. They are more likely to give you a bad back and postural problems, so don’t make them the most important or only exercises that you do.

3. Boring repetitive cardio exercise routines will slow your progress, you could be doing a lot better for your weight loss goals and not have to commit the time that long runs or walk require. How would you like to double or triple your results and only train 30 to 40 mins. In fact the right 20 mins is more effective at burning fat then a 5k run if you do it right. The fit body boot camp or melt the fat Personal Training will give you the tools that you need and the results that you desire.

4. Get yourself on a health promoting nutrition programme such as the Personal nutrition course. Take the power back and learn how food reacts in your body rather than relying on the media. 

5. Low calorie diets! Do they work, well some do and some don’t but generally let’s say yes, you will lose weight on a low calorie diet. But is it the long term answer to your weight problem? I’m going to have to give you the painful truth and say……………………… No, No it’s not. I think that I going to do a whole blog post on this in the near future so I’ll save the low calorie rant for then. Many of our client’s have been on low calorie diets and yet they have still ended up at our door!

So what are the answers, by telling you that these thing don’t work I have probably created more question and therefore more problems.

We’ll I’m going to give you them tomorrow!

Committed to your Success

Keith

For my first post I thought that I would tell you a little about myself and the differences between Personal Trainers.

The Fitness Industry is a fantastic industry so many different approaches and so many avenues to go down. In this article I (Amy Black), am going to be talking about my journey to Absolute Training and the difference between Personal Trainers and Renter Friends. These are two completely different things as i will explain, as well as give you a little backround knowledge on myself.

As some of you may know i have just started working with Absolute Training, very different to what I was used to. Do I like it or prefer it? Well you’ll just have to wait and see……!!

I left school at 16 which did get frowned upon slightly by friends but of course I just wanted to earn money so I got a job as a leisure assistant at the Oxford Belfry hotel cleaning the gym and working on reception. I had a lot of fun to and also got qualified as an NVQ level 2 fitness instructor and that’s where the journey begins.

I left to work in Cannons now Nuffield Health. It was like a dream a massive gym and a 20 metre pool, classes, inductions, health assessments loads to do.

Well for the first few months.

Then it was standing on the gym floor for about seven hours a day cleaning. Have you ever walked into a gym and seen fitness instructers look like anywhere else would be better than where they are now?

Well that’s how i felt. I went on to my level 3 in advanced training to allow me to do Personal Training. I had been there a year and started to build a client base but things weren’t making any sense to me. On my course we got told machines are rubbish leisure centres aren’t doing the right job, trainers don’t train people properly. My head was just in a whirl wind I’m being told so many different things. I was looking around and was seeing clients achieve nothing although they had been with there trainer for two or three years.

Is that possible?

Trainers were taking their clients from machine to machine each week counting to 15. In my head I was thinking ‘surely this cant be my future job’ ‘Do I want to do this’. The answer was NO!!

Yet another Health assessment to do ‘GREAT’ but little did I know this was the health assessment that would change my future. I had the Clare that we all no and love.

 As two normal girls we got chatting about the industry and hormonal issues, from that health assessment I met Keith. I got to know him more when I attended the Personal Nutrition Course where I learnt heaps and felt so positive about life in general.

WOW food has a massive impact on our lives, something I’m sure I’ll be writing about in the future.

We got chatting and then the next thing i know I’m looking after his clients for a week while he is in America.

I have to admit there were times when I freaked and didn’t want to do it or felt I couldn’t but I just took a deep breath and got on with it this then led me to working with Keith and Clare, becoming part of the Absolute Training Team.

‘I’ll be ok I’ve done Personal Training before,’ or so i thought.

But in actual fact i had been a renter friend not really taking an interest in there posture or lifestyle I was there to talk to them have a laugh and watch them exercise.

Now I have people with injuries, stress issues, poor posture and muscle imbalances. Gone are the days where I ignored that, it has to be dealt with to get any results. AHHHHHHHHH it can be a complicated nightmare!

More days come where I thought I can’t do this im out of my depth. But by watching Keith listening and learning and discussion I have built on the solid foundation of my qualifications, so much information so fast!  

The early mornings are hard although I am getting there. We are working with real people not lycra gym bunnies, people with real worries and injuries. I have learnt that you need to start with the inside before the outside gets focused on.

Building real relationships with the clients working together to help build a better quality of life. That is why I can get quite tiered because you build a relationship with that person and you can go away still thinking of ways to help them. No client is ever forgotten about.

So The Differences between a Personal Trainer and a Renter Friend:

# Renter friends think its all about the exercise.

# Personal trainers build a relationship and coach’s people with all aspects that affect health.

# Your health and your results is the most important thing for a Personal Trainer

# Renter friends have lots of machines

# Personal Training is not ‘JUST A JOB’ we have a passion to making you feel fantastic inside and out.

The answer to which one do I prefer…..

Well a renter friend is a whole lot easier but who wants easy, so of course there is no doubt it is working with Absolute training being a Personal Trainer!!!

Hope to see you soon

Amy

It’s the sprinter, did you get it right?

On average a sprinter is between 5 and 6% body fat and the marathon runner is about 14%.

Now this gives you some clues as to the best way to train to reduce your body fat %, decreasing your weight and giving you a toned, strong body.

Knowing this also means that you don’t need to run/walk for mega long periods of time each day to get your desired body shape. Short sharp explosive work is far more effective as stripping the fat off you then long slow (boring) endurance based exercise. You could be in and out in 40 minutes having had the most effective work out of your life.

But how do you do this?

Well one way is to use a professional fitness team such as us the Absolute Training team and train one on one doing short 30/40 minutes cost effective workouts, saving you time and money but getting you the results that you want.

If one on one is too daunting or you have budgetary concerns, than your best bet is the Fit Body Bootcamp. You will still be working with qualified personal trainers and they will guide you through the exercises that are required to get you the figure that you need.

If you can’t get to either of these you need to ask you gym team about the correct exercises - exercises such as mat flipping/ running, single leg press, dead lift, clean and press etc. If this is not an option you could try the killer workout that we have videoed for you, which you can find featured just on the right hand side of this page.

Committed to your success

Keith

P.S well done to Bruce for doing the Killer work out the other evening! Awesome!

Directions Form Ashlyns School or Berkhamsted;
From the school gates, turn left and head towards the A41> When you get to the round a bout go straight over, second exit. Continue over the A41 to the second round a bout. Go straight over first exit. Continue to Ashley Green and take the left turn just before the speed camera. Continue to the T junction at the end of the road. At the junction turn Left and then take the first left this is Grove lane. Little Grove is about 800 yards on the left.

Directions from Hemel and Bovingdon;
If you are coming from Hemel or Bovingdon you need to Come all the way through bovingdon so that you are on the Chesham road (B4505).
Grove lane is the third turning on the right. The first is to Whelpley Hill, the second is Orchard Leigh and the third turning is Grove lane.

If you would like to view where we are on google maps click here