Welcome to my very first post! If you haven’t already, you might like to head over to my ‘about’ pages first, to find out a little about me and about what you can expect on this blog. I’m very excited to be sharing my knowledge, stories and interviews on this blog, and I hope you get a lot out of visiting this site 🙂

1. Move your body every day. Choose 3-4 days a week to train hard for 20-40 minutes. The other days can be softer movements like walking or yoga.  Always be thinking of ways to implement ‘incidental exercise’. Examples include: walking instead of driving to the supermarket (walking home with bags of shopping is a good trick!), taking the stairs instead of the elevator/escalator, opting to clean the house! Be creative.
2. Organic produce is best to consume so you limit your intake of harmful toxins. The crops that are sprayed the most include: strawberries, peaches, apples, celery, spinach, potatoes, lettuce, nectarines, grapes, pears, cherries, and capsicums.
3. Hiring a Personal Trainer is probably the smartest thing you could invest in to help you reach your weight loss goals. For more info on this, please email me here.
4. I’m a big advocate of eating the way our ancestors did, aka, the paleo diet. If it isn’t an animal, mammal, comes from the ground or a tree, eat it SPARINGLY. Whole food based nutrition, not processed food, is the way to go.
5. Can’t get rid of stubborn tummy fat? Consider reducing stress/cortisol levels by practicing daily mindful meditation and regular massages. Gut health and the gut-brain connection are extremely important to your overall health and well-being, and in achieving that flat stomach you’ve always dreamed of.
6. Fact: The nutrient values in our foods aren’t what they used to be. To make up for this, it is wise to invest in some high quality supplements.  The number one supplement I recommend to all my clients is Juice PLUS. Juice PLUS is a whole food based supplement will give you massive amounts of live, raw nutrients from 17 varieties of fruits, vegetables and grains with no gluten or added calories or sugar. Daily fish or krill oil (if you don’t get enough omega 3 from food sources such as salmon & flaxseeds ), magnesium (pm) and a probiotic (homemade coconut kefir is great!) are good ones to start with.
7. Set yourself goals based on what’s most important to you NOW. Look over these goals everyday or at least a few times a week and take ACTION.
8. Constant state endurance cardio is NOT the answer to weight loss. A combination of strength training, circuit training and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) are much better options.
9. Weighing yourself daily, counting calories and obsessing over your weight 24/7 will most likely have a negative effect on your body by increasing cortisol levels; and a compromising affect on your mind. Instead, focus on committing yourself to the steps you need to take in order to reach your goals, and feel happy and proud of yourself for staying on track.
10. Bloated all the time? Try doing an elimination diet of the foods you think could be the culprits or go to a naturopath to get a food intolerance test. A quarterly detox is a good idea too!
11. Try including yoga into your weekly routine. Not only is it great for increased flexibility, it’s combination of yoga postures (asanas), yoga breathing (pranayama) and meditation can have a therapeutic effect.
    
12. You are what you think most about. Repeating positive affirmations can have a powerful affect on your life.
13. Mix it up a bit! Include other forms of exercise to keep it interesting, challenge different energy systems and avoid the dreaded plateau. Try: TRX, kettlebells, Bulgarian bags, strong man training, crossfit, hill sprints, dancing, swimming, boxing, hiking, rock climbing, team sports, sex. You get the drift!
14. Read. Educate. APPLY.
15. Eating protein and smart fats first thing in the morning is wise to help reduce cravings in the afternoon and to optimise energy and fat loss.
16. Gluten, processed soy, high fructose corn syrup and industrial seed oils are harmful toxins that should be avoided as much as possible.
17. Laughing is good for the soul. Try to have a good cackle daily!
18. Keeping a daily gratitude journal is a fantastic tool to help reduce stress and to re-program your mind into thinking more positively.  It only takes a few minutes a day. I find it works best right before bedtime.
19. Sleep is oooh so important! Aim to get 7-9 hours of sleep a night, particularly between the hours of 10pm-6am.
20. And finally, my motto for the year: don’t sweat the small stuff!!

ACTION PLAN: Feeling overwhelmed? Start with choosing the 3 that resonate with you the most, and work on those for 1-2 weeks before including more.

Stay tuned for future posts where I’ll elaborate more on some of these points! If there’s any in particular you’d like to know more about, please leave a comment below and if you liked this post, please share it!