Lifestyle Habits That Can Lead To Weight Gain

There are three reactions taking place in our body at any given moment: Physical, Psychological and Chemical

Whenever there is a problem in one of those systems, chemical (digestion), psychological (high stress levels, depression), physical (injuries) the body will drive most of its resources to “fix” that problem with the respective system.

It does this by taking resources from the other two systems. And this way they end up imbalanced.

It is important to identify the cause of your problem: weight loss, weight gain, injuries etc beforehand.

So today I would like to give you some examples of weight gain triggers from each system.

Physical

Sedentary lifestyle

If you read the book “The Story Of The Human Body” by Daniel Lieberman, and other books on evolution, you will learn that we are meant to move.

And move a lot. Hunter gatherers used to walk 15km or more. Today we walk 10 min around Tesco and get food that’s already prepared for us.

Furthermore, the fact that our body is mobile, has joints, is a good hint that it is not supposed to sit but move in all ways possible. Bicep curls are not what I have in mind when I think about movement.

Too little physical movement

You probably walk 30 min a day or so and you think it’s enough. Allow me to disagree. In the society we live today we sit far too much for 30 min a day to be enough.

Maybe in the past when we used to work in different, more active conditions it was very good but today …. it is not enough. Walking is great but there is more needed: movement, flexibility, mobility, strength, stamina.

Moreover, you can’t always, for the rest of your life, count the calories you intake and the energy you use. That’s just a burden if you ask me. So use up your energy by practicing some type of movement every day.

I give my clients 5 min, 8 min, 10 min routines to practice every day for a few weeks at a time, each of them at their own level, but they move their bodies as well as walk.

Too much training

Yes you can do that. When we do too much of the same thing, same routine over and over again without changing must you over train.

Under times of stress, such as exercise, cortisol is secreted by the adrenal glands and its purpose is to maintain energy supply through the breakdown of carbohydrates, fats and protein.

Cortisol is a double edge sword. When we are continually under stress, the body is constantly releasing cortisol. This triggers the release of sugar from the liver, which releases insulin from the pancreas, and which causes more fat storage.

Chemical

Toxic environment

The majority of harmful toxins come from medication, alcohol, cigarettes, and pesticides found in non-organic produce and processed products.

Your body protects itself from pollutants by building a layer of fat. It’s like an armour. When it can’t eliminate toxins, it stores them in your fat cells creating a type of buffer between the toxins and your body. And since the fat is protecting your body, its natural reaction is to protect itself by not burning the fat.

Exercising, breathing correctly, drinking water and eating the right foods will help your body eliminate those toxins, if done consistently and long term.

Create strong foundations which last for a lifetime.

Not eating truly nutritious foods.

Playing with food, this week good, next week bad, today was bad but yesterday was good is not the way to go. You will just go up and down, never finding a balance.

Aim to have a little bit of everything and a day when you can have anything you want.

If you keep the same diet for too long you plateau. A day off can get you out of the plateau.

Making too many exceptions and giving into cravings

If you want a lifestyle that is easy to maintain long term you need to stop thinking about food as a tasty, cultural treat and start seeing it as fuel for your body.

In essence that’s what food is: fuel. Food is not for us to play with and enjoy the taste. The taste is just an awesome add-on.

When this lesson sinks in, when you really understand it, your food choices will change. You will want only good quality fuel for your body and mind to function at its peak.

Not eating high quality foods that promote digestion

Fibre. We do not digest fibre but our body uses fibre for healthy digestion. Eating too much of it, particularly from sources such as pasta, creates bulk and we feel unwell, bloated, cramps etc.

When you eat the wrong foods your digestive tract suffers the consequences. This results in starvation response, which puts your body in fat storage mode and increases your hunger.

Eating too much, even if healthy

Quality and quantity are both important.

Carbs, fats and protein in high amounts will lead to fat storage. Your body can utilize a certain quantity of these essential macronutrients, it’s not infinite.

So if the body doesn’t use the nutrients for energy, or storage for later use, it will store the energy is in the adipose tissue, fat.

Psychological

Stress

We mentioned cortisol earlier. High levels of stress release too much cortisol in the body which, leads to weight gain. In a tiny nutshell that’s how it works.

Emotional eating

Stress, depression, worry all lead to unhealthy over eating and weight gain. We’ve all been there at one point in our lives.

However, I have experienced the stages myself and I can say that if you have good, solid foundations or food discipline habits in place, and they are automatic, emotional UNHEALTHY eating turns into emotional HEALTHY eating.

So instead of ice cream you will actually eat a lot of fruit, vegetables and other foods.

Negative self talk

Telling yourself all sort of negative things will not help either. You will only bring yourself into a position of stress, depression, worry and over eating.

If you have nothing particularly awesome to say, take action, change your habits, change your lifestyle accordingly and get yourself into the position where every day you have something awesome to say about yourself.

If you’d like to talk more about the three reaction do get in touch.

July 15, 2015July 15, 2015

The Story Of How I Changed My Relationship With Food

This is one of my stories and one that will shed some light on why I am the way I am, why I know the things I know and why I coach the way I coach.

It is the story of how I built healthy habits that stuck for a lifetime. It’s long but I tried to make it easy to read.

And I actually had to talk to my mother to remember when everything began. Everything as in me eating healthy and being aware and caring about the fuel I gave my body to work with.

The Beginning

I began practicing Martial Arts in 1995. My diet mostly consisted of broths, home cooked meals, sandwiches at school, I didn’t grow up with breakfast cereal.

However, believe it or not when I was a child and through part of my teenage I used to drink Coca Cola and Sprite. I used to drink a whole 2l bottle sometimes in just one day. Seriously.

That was until one day when I threw up after drinking coca cola and eating a sandwich. And it was not the sandwich that got me sick. That was the end of that for me.

I also used to eat fast food. I didn’t do that all the time but it was on a weekly basis. Fast food was on the menu frequently, again in between those broths I didn’t like then and now I love.

However the fact that we, my family, would not generally eat take aways, or go to restaurants or visit too many people, it kinda levelled up the toxins I’d put in my body a couple of times a week. I was extremely skinny though. I didn’t end up obese, somehow. Anyway, let’s just say I wasn’t always like you see me today with regards to food.

In 2003-2004 (if I remember well) I was at least 10kg heavier that what I am today. That’s 22 lb. Seriously…again.

Nonetheless I went onto a difficult journey.

The Downfall

When you are an athlete training 6 days a week and competing at international level you don’t really care about the amount of food you eat, even if it’s healthy. You just eat and burn everything straight away.

But…when you stop training, or go from 6 sessions a week to 3, and you still eat a lot of food and you also start eating more garbage food, well that changes your life….and weight, and not for the better.

I went to France with a friend to visit my family. For 2 months we ate burgers and chips at unusual hours, 1 am, 2 am, it didn’t matter. Now I’d never do either of those.

Long story short, I got home and I was 10kg heavier. Yes, I felt fat, that was fat for me and we all know how it can go further and further if you don’t wake up and do something about it.

From being slim and toned to clothes not fitting me anymore. I didn’t feel good in my own body anymore. The transformation was incredible, in all the wrong ways.

The Commitment

Soon after, I made a decision… no, I made a COMMITMENT to myself that it was time to change. That I was going to lose the weight and get back to myself again where I felt strong in my body, and moved freely and gracefully, I made a commitment that I would fit in my clothes again.

That meant training again and eating better, better than even before the weight gain.
So bread was out. For years I didn’t touch it, now I do a couple of times a month, even less than that. No pasta, no pizza, no breakfast cereals, less rice and less potatoes. I still had the later 2 but only 2-3 times a week.

No more sweets, or ice cream or anything that wasn’t supposed to be there. Not even dark chocolate, which I hated by the way. Now I learnt to like it…kinda. And no more homemade jams or pastries or Christmas family food and so on.

In 2007 I took up running and since then I never looked back.

Can I also say that when all this started to change and I found my balance through nutrition and training the friend I went on the wrong road with disappeared from my life. It’s as if she was there to show me a different way.

Once You change your environment automatically changes as well. It all comes from within you. But I didn’t know that then.

The Struggle

It was difficult, not only because I was changing habits and refusing to give my brain what it craved and when it craves but because no one would understand why I would say no to grandma’s jams and my cousin’s awesome pies and desserts. And why I wouldn’t make exceptions.

They did not understand that making exceptions every day will turn that into a habit rather than an exception.

So they would offer me and ask me if I wanted foods they knew I loved. No one understood how difficult it was for me to say no, until I got those toxins out of the system and then it got easier and easier.

Sure, I had my “let go day” but that was once in a while.

And the first 3-6 months were the worst. That’s why today my coaching programs are 3 or 6 months. It takes time to build habits that last for a lifetime.

I did it myself, been through it and now I guide others. Of course it is down to each of us to put the work in. As my Sensei once told me: we [coaches] open the book for you but we cannot read it for you.

The Result

The result was that by changing what I ate and train up to 6 days out of 7, by building healthy habits that would stick for a life time, by taking my time (1-2 years), be patient, and focusing on the process every day, instead of weighing myself every day and seeing myself fat, was that I went from 60+ kg to 49 (3 kg thinner than today)!! To the point that people thought I wasn’t eat.

What they didn’t know was that I would eat a lot of the right foods and train every day. Not walking, training. Not exercising, training. Training to get better at running. Training to get stronger and more flexible. Training with a purpose, to learn and to develop.

I was the strongest and fittest and healthiest than ever before. And I was working in an office 8 hours and after than I had my Masters courses. Before work and after the courses I would run and ice skate or take my waveboard out.

There are many, many habits I changed in those 2-3 years. And they stuck with me and they will be part of my life forever.

Today I am in a place where I have control over my life, I am aware, more disciplined and able to guide others on their journey to building Food Discipline and foundations that last for a lifetime.

The Lessons

I learnt so many lessons I teach my clients today and probably the most important ones have to do with creating habits and a lifestyle that will last forever through discipline and strong foundations.

In the end I don’t get you healthy and fit for summer, I teach you to be and stay healthy and fit for the rest of your life.
This is my story. What’s yours? Are you committed to change your life like I did? If so, book a FREE call with me and let’s see how we can make than happen by building strong foundations to last for a lifetime. Book here.

May 8, 2015

Why I Stand For 1h30m Training Sessions

Ever since I began practicing Karate, 20 years ago, I learnt that training is at least 1h30min long. Not 1h, not 45 min. And I kept it this way. Here I will explain WHY this is so important.

Today we have all sorts of sessions. And they are all good. They target different things, mostly weight loss or general fitness. And I agree with them all.

However, what they also do is turn us into little robots. Sorry…but the attitude of “get in and get out” is like programming a machine.

What is the general 1h training:

1. Rush inside the gym with the sole purpose of exercising and leave as quickly as you can. This is called “me time”

2. Warm up 10min

3. Stretching 5 min… most people don’t even remember that. That’s not even half of I do with my clients

4. Main session. This is usually a circuit of general exercises to target specific goals. The circuit, in many situations, is not actually broken into small pieces and each exercise explained thoroughly: how not to injure yourself, why that’s important, what muscles you are working and how to BREATH

5. Cool down and stretch….maybe….5min??? Noooo…..that’s not enough. And most importantly the exercises in the main session seldom improve mobility and flexibility. Read here why they are so important.

6. Rush out the door

So much rush and lack of attention and focus leads to all these injuries we see everyone suffer from. I’m not saying that not rushing will definitely lead to no injuries, ever. But the risk is far greater when we rush.

What a 1h30min session does:

1. Brings you THERE. Not just your body, that’s not enough, you are there with the mind. You are focused and prepared. That’s a true “me time”. This can be done through meditation or some deep breathing exercises (which by the way helps with warming up your body besides many other benefits).

2. Warm up, without rushing, ok…..that can be 10 min

3. Stretching 20 min!! Yes, 20 min if your training has a limited number of exercises which improve flexibility and mobility as well as working towards your final goal

4. Technique. Before the killer cardio session you go through ALL exercises which will be in the session. You break them down to its smallest elements. You adjust and make sure your body understands how to move and what to expect. This way you reduce the risk of injuries….a lot.

5. Cardio session. This is where you put into application what you practiced earlier.

6. Cool down and stretching, 20 min stretching again. If your session had elements of mobility and flexibility it can be shorter. But most routines don’t. Many of them tighten muscles and with 5 min stretching you are no actually doing too much.

And these are only the basics 😉

Benefits of such long sessions

I train myself and my clients like this all the time and here’s what happens

1. It takes you about 20 min to get out of the rushing world and work/family related thoughts. The world full of noise and clutter and into a moment of peace and focus dedicated to yourself. That’s the “me moment”. Twenty minutes.

2. Reduce the risk of injuries because you actually warm up properly, stretch and you go through technique. You understand how to move your body, how to adjust, why you are doing all those things you chose to do.

3. Your Coach is not rushed when explaining the elements of good posture, breathing and efficient body use which can make the greatest difference in reaching your goals and protecting your body. If they do explain these at all

4. You get the most out of your Coaches’ knowledge. Knowledge which you can take home and apply yourself whether in your individual training or daily life (like posture and breathing for example).

5. NO RUSH. I cannot stress this enough. We are always on the run. We NEVER ever have time. There is enough time. You can make time. You can stretch time. If you only take a moment… and breathe

6. You pay attention. Rushing around will only cause chaos, mistakes and injuries in your mind and body. Is a hardcore training worth all that? Causing your body extreme pain (the wrong kind of pain). Pay attention to yourself, your body, your movement and the world around you and you will be HAPPIER, FITTER and HEALTHIER

[tweetthis]Cultivate the art of attention and focus and your life will change[/tweetthis]

These are some benefits from the top of my head. But these 1h30min sessions are priceless for me as a Coach and my clients. They get the very best of me and my knowledge.

I have time to explain every little details, building strong foundations for 12 weeks before I let them go knowing they know what to do by themselves in the correct way.

March 21, 2015May 23, 2015

Why Weight Loss Should Not Be Your #1 Priority

Before I even begin to write on the topic I want to tell you my story on weight loss, or rather weigh gain.

Until not long ago I was about 10 kg heavier than how you see me now. That’s almost 2 stones and I am sure at some points I was 2 stones heavier than what I am now.

And let me tell you something. After you are an athlete training 6 days a week and eating whatever you wanted and whenever, drinking soft drinks , eating fast food and never putting any weight on, not even knowing what cellulite it, putting 10kg on brings you down like a rock in a lake. It’s really a shock.

Ok, so now you know I had to lose weight myself. Busted!

How gained weight in the first place

I took a break from Karate and for almost 2 years my physical activity went from 6 training session a week to 1….. maybe!

However my food intake was the same AND I started eating fast food and eating out with my friends as well as drinking soft drinks more than before.

#1 mistake: lack of physical activity

#2 mistake: junk food and eating out

#3 mistake: stressed out because of the extra weight and quality of food intake

How I got back to my normal weight

Habit #1

stop eating out, junk food, soft drinks, even sauces with my food.

My mother put me on a diet of grilled meat, salads, fruit and whatever else she thought I needed to nourish my body. Rice and potatoes once a week, maybe twice. Bread …..not really. Pasta never, we are not pasta lovers.

My mother is a diet genius I tell ya! She helped me lose the weight and keep it off. Would you like a consultation with her ? :)) Ah, sorry to disappoint you but you are stuck with me.

Habit #2

Stop spending time with friends so often and start training and running. That’s when I fell in love with running, 7-8 years ago I think.

Habit #3

Stop thinking about losing weight. And this is THE SECRET. Allow me to elaborate on this idea.

Focus on losing weight and it will become the most difficult thing in the world. That’s because it takes time.

You have ups and downs and it’s so easy to get demoralized when you see the scale showing you lost weight today and next week you are 1kg heavier. Drove me nuts!

This is why you should not make weight loss your #1 priority. Rather than making weight loss your priority focus on the process:

1. Eat healthy, unprocessed food. Find foods that are simple and grilled meat with fresh vegetable salads are a great starting point. Eat….more……salads!

2. Find a sport or type of exercise you like and can get better at. Where you learn something rather than just burn calories for the sake of burning calories.

Where you feel fantastic that today you managed to do that exercise you worked on for weeks. It’s exciting! And accomplishment.

Where you come with a smile on your face knowing you have no idea what you’ll be doing. It’s always a surprise.

Doing the same routine you did yesterday, the day before and last week will just make you feel like you’re not going anywhere. There’s nothing new, nothing exciting.

That’s why I love the outdoors and my clients love it as well, because every time you go out there you find something different.

Nature is never ever the same. And they learn what to do, why they do it and how to do it by themselves, they become their own mini coaches.

Of course training with me takes them out of their comfort zone, they learn more and so they make much more progress when coached.

And finally I spark creativity in them. I encourage them to allow their body to flow and be creative rather than just go from 10 press-ups to 20 and then 30.

3. Have patience

It took me over 2 years to lose the weight I put on in less than 2. How long did it take you to put the weight on?

It may not take 10 years to lose weight you put on in 9 but it will not take 3 months either. That’s is if you want to keep it off.

Lose weight without trying

Awesome isn’t it? Losing weight without actually trying. Just by giving your body the nutrients and the fuel it needs through good nutrition and movement.

That’s what our body needs to function properly. And when it functions properly then it goes back to its original weight and shape. You weren’t born overweight.

Weight loss is easy, it really is, when you stop trying to lose it and just look after your body from the inside first. And have patience

As usual I am here to give you free motivation and inspiration through my blogs. But I know how difficult it is to take the first step alone. Even I had a coach, my mother that is. Believe me, it was like in the military. No love and cuddles, I was on a serious journey to re-gaining my balance.

How serious are you about your journey? Are you committed enough? Do you do what you are told to get the results you seek? Do you focus on the process?

Let me show you the path you need to follow to get from where you are to where you want to be. And I will show you this for FREE when you book a call with me.

We will go through you initial weight loss goal. Then we will talk about your diet and finally we will see what activity you can take on to stop you thinking about weight loss and just focus on the process. This takes less than 45 min. Book that FREE call with me and let’s go.

February 25, 2015February 26, 2015

Why Training 4 Days A Week Is Essential For Transformational Results

If you brushed your teeth only once a week would your teeth be healthy? The answer is no…..at least I hope so.

So why do you think that training once a week can actually get you the results you want?

Whether we talk about weight loss, toning, fitting into your favourite jeans, overcoming depression, once a week effort will not make a difference.

If you want transformational results you NEED to transform your habits, your life. And exercising is one of the most important aspects of your life.

I am sure I don’t need to tell you about scientific facts proving that exercising (whether it’s yoga or intense workouts) is healthy for all aspects of your life: physical, psychological, emotional, social.

And I may be biased but I do believe that taking your training outdoors makes again a HUGE difference. I see this all the time.

I have clients I trained in a gym, with weights and treadmills and all these things for over a year. Really challenging exercises. When I took them outdoors their bodies changed massively in a matter of months.

But not only their bodies, they were also more focused, ADHD symptoms dissolved, they became more patient and so on. But those clients train with me at least twice a week and alone twice a week.

It’s in your genes

As human beings we have always been moving, running, climbing, carrying, lifting, throwing for millions of years, every day. Every Day! It’s in your genes, whether you accept it or not.

Now you attempt to go AGAINST your nature. Against what your body needs and you focus only on what your brain wants: comfort – 1 lousy exercising session a week.

That’s not even half of what your body has been used to for millions of years. And you expect transformational results…

We have created an environment for our comfort, for our brains but our bodies are still behind, a long way behind.

If you do not keep in touch with your body you will suffer the consequences.

There’s no time

Something I hear every time I talk to someone about anything. Ladies…there is no such thing as “no time”.

I am one of the people who should say that night and day. I’ve done almost 1 year’s worth of progress in 6-7 months. And ever since I can remember I always did 10 times more than everyone else. I also got 10 times more than everyone else.

No one “has time”, we all make the time we need to do the things we DECIDE to spend the time we have on. I believe it was Earl Nightingale I heard talking about this.

Whenever I feel like saying “I don’t have time” I stop and say “I choose do to something else with the time I have”. Do this and things will begin to change.

I decide what I do with my time. Sometimes I give up a few hours of sleep a week. Sometimes I gives up going out with friends, partying and having fun.

When things need to get done you need to choose what you will do with your time. It’s simple…

From now on NEVER say “I don’t have time”. The more you say it, the more you believe it and the more true it becomes.

To transform your life you have to decide what you are going to do with your time. You want to exercise more? Then make the time in your life for that.

And you want to transform your life? Make time for 4 sessions a week.

Making time for 4 sessions a week to get transformational results

I’ve been really strict with what I wrote in this blog. But I had to and I hope it woke you up and made you understand that nothing with transform if you don’t change the way you think and the words you speak.

So here is how I make time to do 1000 things in one day. I give you this not because I want to prove something but because I am hoping you will take something out of them

1. Discipline. When I get lazy then I work twice as hard to recover the time I lost. Be disciplined enough to go out there and do your 4 sessions.

2. Accountability – have a Coach. I am accountable to 4 people in my life right now: Amanda my business and marketing coach, Michael – natural movement and OCR coach and Sensei Robin and Sensei Graham – my Karate coaches. They always keep an eye on me to make sure I don’t fall back. It’s difficult sometimes but when I get the results it’s worth all the effort.

3. Accountable to myself. I admit I am hard of myself. Many people tell me this. But that’s how I get what I want out of life. It’s difficult to please myself but when I do it’s for massive transformations and breakthroughs and I give myself a high five. And sometimes a hug (shhhh….don’t tell anyone). Expect great things from yourself, get those 4 sessions in to get results.

4. Say no to parties, movies, nights out. It takes discipline and commitment but hey….who said it’s going to be easy. No to parties, YES to training to get transformation results.

5. Have a strong WHY. This is what Amanda taught me. She says that if you have a strong enough why you can overcome almost any how. And looking back I always had a huge WHY behind my actions. Everything I ever did has a strong why and strong emotions behind. So this way you will make the time to do your 4 days a week training.

So if you want transformational results, get those 4 sessions a week in. They do not all need to be intense and sweaty, but they need to be there if you think you need to exercise more.

Yoga, Tai Chi, running, natural movement, anything, get them in there so you can make the transformations. Otherwise you will struggle all your life.

But I can make things easier for you

I have a program which makes things easier. This program is for a period of 6 months and you will do 2 sessions a week for the first 3 months and then 4 sessions a week for the last 3 months.

Plus you get:

Accountability
Nutrition guidance
Training plans we create together to fit your lifestyle and your personality
Weekly calls to make sure you are doing the work to transform your life
You get your sessions recorded so you don’t miss anything
You get life access to all my online resources: exclusive articles, podcasts, webinars
And much, much more…

It will leave you feeling

Proud that you achieved your transformational goals and you did not give up
Confident that you know exactly what and how to do things moving forward, to continue transforming your life
Enthusiastic when you think about exercising. No more confusion.
Relaxed you have the right knowledge and right person behind you
Motivated and inspired to move on, reach your goals and purpose

If you want to know more about this particular program please email (and mention this blog and program) at alexandra@urbanwomenfitness.com

February 10, 2015May 23, 2015

3 Mistakes Women Make Which Increase Stress Levels

#3. Obsessed about weight gain and weight loss

Keeping a healthy weight is crucial for your health. However weighing yourself every day or every other day won’t get you anywhere and you will be continuously worried and stressed that you are getting nowhere.

Your weight will fluctuate from day to day, often throughout the day as you eat and drink. Better weigh yourself at the end of he week to see where you are on a weekly, not daily basis.

And if you really want to lose weight, doing it fast will get you nowhere. Sure, you will lose it – the weight, but you will put it right back up.

When you deal with weight loss have a plan, a healthy lifestyle plan, and stick to it. Have a schedule of exercising, create healthy habits for the entire family and just focus on the process only. This will also reduce the stress and frustration of slow progress.

#2. Worrying about every little detail

You like to do things well, to strive for perfection. I know, I do the same. However, many times, although we strive for perfection, we cannot reach it not matter how hard we try.

This tension of trying to get things 100% right leads to working long hours, frustration and stress. The result… unhealthy lifestyle.

Because no matter how well you nourish yourself, and how often you exercise, you also need to look at your emotional wellbeing. Then we can talk about real and not partial health.

#1. Not allowing for some space in their lives

You look after everyone else and there is not time and space left for yourself. As a result you are continuously under pressure and stressed.

And you also transmit that pressure, tension and stress to the people around you, particularly your family and children. Believe me when I say your family suffers a lot when you are unwell, I tell you this from a child’s perspective.

As a child and teenager I took all my mother’s stress, anxiety and depression, all my parents’ anger and violence into my early 20’s. Only when I left to live on my own in UK I managed to heal and become the opposite of them. Nowadays I manage stress in a totally different way, and no more anxiety, depression or anger.

The solution

But it’s so difficult to make the space in our minds and bodies to allow ourselves to heal and nurture ourselves.

No worries, this is why I am here doing what I do. I can show you how to make that little bit of space in your world to allow yourself to slow down, breathe, relax and then resume your hard work and make things happen faster and better than ever before.

You may think I am talking about a sort of meditation or some mindfulness techniques. No, no, none of this. I have a much, much simpler and easier to implement habit to help you relax and find a little bit of calmness in your life.

A habit which no one ever considers because it’s so obvious we overlook it all the time. I can show you what it is, FOR FREE. Book a free call with me and I will share it with you, my little secret weapon 😉

February 6, 2015May 23, 2015

How the meaning you give to your words can make you sick

The meaning you give to the words, events and experiences unfolding in your life will decide whether you will feel miserable and defeated or stronger and more confident than ever, after anything and everything you encounter in life.

And that event can be related to your weight, a cold or flu, stress, anxiety or anything else.

What we tell ourselves and what we tell those around us will influence the outcomes of that particular experience you are going through right now.

Whether we talk about stress, depression, illness, job loss, overweight, all consequences come as a results of our interpretation of the world around us.

In terms of illness “Science has proven, beyond doubt, that the content of our thoughts and emotions directly and immediately influence our biochemistry” Kelly Howell (Sound Healer, Meditation Guide, Consciousness Researcher)

This does not mean that if you are ill you can suddenly come off your medication, but you can use this knowledge in parallel to it.

The meaning you give to the words you speak

I’ve experienced cold and flues many times, like everyone else. A cold is a cold, although I think I never actually had a flu.

And we generally see the common cold as coughing, sneezing, runny nose, lethargy, feeling lifeless and miserable.

But how I see (or interpret) the common cold as opposed to how many others see it makes the difference between how I feel and how most other people feel.

~ when I catch a cold I feel energetic, while they feel lifeless.

~ when I go running in shorts in the middle of winter they sit in the kitchen thinking about how bad they feel.

~ while I am more enthusiastic, and stronger at all levels they lie on the couch with pills and tea in front of them thinking “I feel like crap (pardon my French – no offence French people, this is just how the saying goes)

So, in the rare occasions I catch a cold, I feel more energetic, more enthusiastic, more confident and literally stronger than many other times when I am under the common cold, while you probably feel lifeless, lethargic and miserable.

And I will give you MY SECRET,

the ONE thing I do to feel awesome even when I’m ill

In high school I was sick and tired of telling everyone I caught a cold (or it caught me!) all the time. It made me feel worse actually.

The mere mentioning of the sentence “I caught a cold” made my mind associate it with being sick.

So one day I began doing something different. And since then I never changed it. I began telling everyone this:

“You are WRONG, I am not sick, I did not catch a cold.

I am creating anti-bodies…”

And I kept telling this to literally everyone who asked me if I was sick or who didn’t ask for that matter. And the more I repeated this the stronger my belief was that that’s what was actually happening.

Everyone was surprised to witness how well I was training (as part of Romania’s National Karate Shotokan Squad), how focused I was in class, how much energy and vitality I had.

To be honest I was amazed as well.

So for me now the

COMMON COLD = ANTIBODIES PRODUCTION PROCESS

The meaning of “Stress”

Based on the same principles. We learnt and now associate the word stress with bad things (weight gain, depression, anxiety, lack of productivity etc all the bad stuff).

So when we tell ourselves “I am stressed”, your body immediately reacts to bring forth those results.

If we were to replace the word “stress” with the word “apple” (I know it’s stupid but bear with me).

So if apple was not a fruit but its definition would be that of ” a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances.” (the definition of stress) then every time we would use the word apple we would automatically go into that state of emotional tension.

The meaning you give to the words you use will determine how you feel

mentally, physically, emotionally and socially, whatever those words may be.

Again I associate stress with success, and so every time I am under “stress” or stressed I work harder and I am more focused. And that’s how it works for me.

And how I did that is simply telling everyone that stress makes me better at what I do. While they were telling me the opposite in their case.

The same principles can be applied to weight loss and many other events and experiences you go through over the course of your life.

This is where I come into play. I help women overcomes stress and depression through The Merisoiu Technique, enabling them to push boundaries for their physical, mental and spiritual development.

So if you are looking for guidance with something that’s going on in your life right now and you can’t shift it alone, book a free call with me and I will give you the tools you need. Yes! I give you stuff for free on the free call.

February 2, 2015March 13, 2015

Weight loss is simple…

Ha, I knew this will draw your attention. But I am serious, it is simple. If you struggle with weight you might say this is nonsense. But hear me out, read the whole thing including my story at the end. Read with an open mind.

Weight loss is simple, keeping it off is bloody difficult. You can lose weight fast in so many ways including going day and night to the gym for an X number of months, stop eating carbs and fats, being “beasted” into running and weight lifting, pills and shakes and all other stuff.

But what happens when all this stops?

Because you can’t do this forever. You know why? Well….you will be miserable because you want to live your life, you only have one after all, and it’s short. So you want to enjoy it not feel you are trapped in your own body.

You want to eat a biscuit from time to time, you want chips now and then , you want to have an ice cream once in a blue moon, because they are tasty, your brain is thankful, you are enjoying life.

So after you lose the weight and start living your life with pleasure again, even if that means you will have an ice cream once a year, what will happen?

I’ll tell you what will happen. After you put your body and brain under so much pressure to avoid fats and carbs and everything else, when they finally get some they will hold on to it thinking they will probably not get any more because that’s what you taught them.

And every time you eat something you “shouldn’t” your body will keep it all.

So what is The Secret to losing weight and keeping it off

Oh the secret….there’s no secret. Sorry to disappoint you. Harv Ecker said in a video that doing SIMPLE THINGS on an ongoing basis will change who you are.

Yep, I’m sorry again, but to get the weight off and keep it off you need to look for simple things and do them on an ongoing basis. Don’t worry, they will become automatic and you will not struggle with them after a while. But you should look for simple things anyway, so you don’t struggle.

Weight loss is a result of a healthy lifestyle and a healthy lifestyle has several components: Body, Mind, Emotions, Soul and Social.

If and when you understand this, really understand it, that’s when you will get your weight loss with a lot less resistance.

But focusing on weight loss alone will get you nowhere, and you will end up slim, sad and miserable.

Here’s what I mean by simple things which you do on an ongoing basis that will change who you are:

Simple Thing #1. Eat healthy

You heard me saying it before and I say it again.

Understand that weight loss and weight maintenance is the result of a healthy life. And that means eating food how mother nature gives them to you (95% of the time at least, exceptions are allowed). That’s fats, carbs, protein, vitamins and minerals. Everything that’s in the books.

Simple Thing #2. Exercise a little

Walk, run, practice a sport, 15 – 30 min a day 4-5 days a week. If now you walk everyday and you don’t lose weight that means your body is ready to take exercising at the next level, maybe a run or maybe longer or/and faster walking.

Or maybe searching and finding a sport you like instead of going to the gym if you don’t enjoy it that much. Or how about spending more time outdoors?

Simple Thing #3. Be happy, be grateful

This is emotional and spiritual health.

See the small beautiful things in life, because they are everywhere. I used to be happy collecting dried leaves in autumn and I love feeling the texture of a tree bark. Yep….now you know. I am a tree hugger…..as if you didn’t already know… The fact is that it does not take a lot to make me happy.

These are simple things you can do on an ongoing basis. Easier said than done….I know very well what you mean.

The fact is that to do this you need to create space in your mind and in your life so you can see clear and make wise decisions.

And that’s when I come into the picture. I create a healthy, fit and organic lifestyle for my students which they learn to keep by themselves, which stick long term. That’s empowerment, so they achieve and keep and improve their achievements. And I invite you to book a free call with me to go over some of your struggles and find solutions (yes, FREE COACHING on this call!!)

Be consistent, keep going…and going

Something done over 3 days will be a waste of your time. Done over 3 months will do nothing. Done over 1 year will get you nowhever. A simple habit done over 3-4 years will literally change who you are.

This is continuous development. Consistency is key when we want to continuously grow and improve, whether we talk about weight loss and maintenance or being a top athlete. Consistency, even if it’s slow and steady, they trick is to keep at it.

And that’s what my business mentor Amanda Watts keeps repeating and repeating hoping we will all get the picture at some point.

My personal experience with weight loss

And I tell you this from personal experience. Yep…..even since I took a break from Karate I always had problems keeping a balanced weight.

When I was around 18 I was 10kg heavier than today, maybe even more. And that’s because I stopped karate (after 10 years of being in the National Squad) and for 2 years I didn’t do too much sport or physical activity. And I had a friend who was not interested in these things.

And we used to eat junk food and all sorts of crap (pardon my language), day and night. Since that unbalance I experienced weight gain and weight loss throughout the years.

When I started running, in 2 years I became so addicted to it that I went down to 49kg and people thought I was malnourished. Then I slowed down on running and weight went up to my balance point which s 51-53kg. But then it went again to 59kg and down again and so on so forth.

So the way I have maintained my weight balanced throughout the past few years is by following some simple actions and doing them on an ongoing basis. And 3 of them are in this article. It’s as simple as that.

And I enjoy life and food, I have ice cream every other month, and sometimes I have milk chocolate as well and bread, and pizza once or twice a year, same with home made chips.

And I am happy and healthy, and I am not miserable that I can’t eat this and that. And instead of saying I’m not allowed to eat this and that, my mindset was always that I choose not to eat them, and I choose when to have them.

Weight loss is a result of health and not the other way around

…and a healthy life consists of healthy habits. But to transform your current habits you need to go through a step by step process that’s as little painful as possible. But I am here for you, book a free call with me and I will work with you on a couple of habits to get you on the right path.