today is not that day
discipline, mindset, Motivation

Today is NOT that Day!

Take Control of Your Life

People ask if I struggle to eat healthy all the time

people ask if it is hard for me to train consistently

People tell me that they cannot do what I do

BUT YOU CAN…. ANYONE CAN

People tell me they are different…

…and they are right

But that is no excuse, no reason to stop

Don’t fight your resistance, embrace it

Use it as fuel for your journey

Challenge every story you have,

Every belief you hold dear

Because you have the power to change it…

…Every single day!

Put yourself through the forge

Like a blacksmith tempers steel

Because the more discomfort you embrace

The more hardy you will become

The stronger you will be…inside

Your truth will set you free

Don’t use the stories in your head as an excuse

Do not let your inner voice tell you what to do and when

Embrace it with everything you have

Listen to its message and then shout…

TODAY IS NOT THAT DAY!

That day may be coming,

One day you may have to call it quits

When you are too old, and your body calls time

That day… when you just want to give up

That day… when you think things are too hard

That day… to be too tired to train

That day… you are too busy at work

That day… when you just want to eat crap

That day… when you just want to stop

That day… when you are just not feeling it

That day… When you just want to run away

Turn around and shout….

TODAY IS NOT THAT DAY!

Be True (to Yourself)

Be Courageous (to turn inside)

Be Happy (for you)

 

Dean x

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loveshinyobjects
discipline, Fat Loss, mindset

Shiny Object Syndrome

shiny objectsFrom when man first evolved, we have recognised the need for exercise, whether it was for building shelters, hunting for food or travelling large distances, even our earliest ancestors had to be aware that they needed energy for these movements.

Unfortunately modern society has had an inverse relationship on the amount of energy that is required for given tasks in our lives. In fact I will go so far as to say that technology is making us lazy. We no longer have to run for our lives or to travel for days to find food and water. It is all around us in abundance and there is no immediate danger from predators, just poor lifestyle choices. Indeed it has come to the point that we no longer need the required amount of energy expenditure necessary for survival.

I believe that we have lost sight of our inner warrior, our ability to be self aware, to be in tune with our bodies  and it’s natural sense to exercise and eat naturally.

The last 100 years has seen “fitness training” become a necessity because of the decrease in our survival workload. In fact instead of it being mandatory it is now voluntary to the detriment to our health and longevity.  More recently, in the last 50 years there have been growing trends leading to what people now know as cardio training. The term aerobics is known by most and has a multitude of meanings. Firstly jogging was the exercise, which was then replaced by “working out” in fitness centres and gyms.

Unfortunately, we have now become victims of what I call “shiny object syndrome”, where every conceivable gadget has been constructed to entice us to buy devices that are so contrived, that we as a species have lost touch with what the human body was designed for. So now every new gadget promises you fitness nirvana and it seems these days that most “cardio” activities are simply something mildly interesting and if a company can make a gadget promising you by using it 5 minutes a day will give you the body of your dreams then you are sold!

Today’s gyms have rows of shiny treadmills and spin bikes , which are a far cry from what we should be doing.  Now we see fitness moving from gyms to the home with even more contrived gadgets, marketed to be the next best thing when in fact they take you further from where you need to be.  Despite all these shiny objects, statistics show that we are getting increasingly obese and sedentary, people want to lose fat but without the cost (time & effort) required.

This has to stop, exercise is simple, doing it is the challenge and for that you need to know  your why. If you know why you want to achieve your goals then you need to realise that it is hard work not “shiny objects” that are going to get you there. you have the perfect training tool already, your body is all you really need to reach the goals you want. You need to move more frequently and choose your food wisely. Keep it simple and Get Moving!

 

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benefits-of-a-healthy-lifestyle
discipline, Fat Loss, Health, Nutrition, palate, self mastery

3 Tips to a Healthier Life

As a nutrition specialist and performance coach, I have always admired the people who decide to change their health for the better by following an exercise and healthy eating program.healthy lifestyle

Whether that is following my Assert Fitness Nutrition and fitness program or someone else s I totally respect them, as it often takes a lot of courage to join a fitness boot camp, walk into a personal training studio, gym or even one of the local weekly weight loss clubs.

It is common for people, especially the overweight to feel self conscious of how they appear and are more concerned about what other people think of them. I have a lot of conversations with people who reveal its often this fear of what others think that puts a lot of people off joining a fitness program in the first place.

They think that they are too fat and that everyone else will already be super human fit and so gives them an excuse not to try. They actually think that they need to lose weight and get fit before attending a fitness camp or personal training studio that is there for precisely that reason!

At Assert Fitness Camp, everyone is there for the same reason, to become healthy by learning how to eat again and to get fit. They are all in the same boat!

Of course there are members of different fitness levels, some more so, some less, but they have to remember that they all started exercising at some point. Maybe they too felt the same way as you do now.

So what does tell you?

That once you take that first step and join up for a new exercise program that you might actually be pleasantly surprised to find normal every day people that have taking that first step themselves! And those people who have been where you are will be more than willing to support you on your journey. That is what Assert Fitness Camp is all about. Bringing like minded people together with common goals so that everyone can help each other!

So if you are thinking about taking that first step on the road to a fitter, healthier you then I’d like to share with you these tips that will make that journey not only quicker but safer too.

 

Tip 1: Hire A Fitness Professional

For all it is tempting to just go to a gym and ask the nearest muscle bound guy or hot looking girl for advice, it doesn’t mean that they actually know what they are talking about.  I have been in gyms where people who have been brave enough to go in, ask advice from the staff behind reception. Their replies have been startling to say the least! from bad nutrition advice to telling someone new to exercise that to lose weight they have to do every class they have!

It’s easy to think that because they’re in good shape they must know what they are talking about, or MORE IMPORTANTLY that they are qualified to help other people in their quest for fitness and health.

Often people who are in shape have trained for years, have had many mishaps and injuries, have the right genetics, or they were in pretty good shape from the get go and have no experience of going from fat to thin.

Hiring a professional who has a proven track record of helping people like yourself get the kind of results that you want is quite possibly the best investment you could make for your health.

A professional will be able to give you a training program that is designed for your body as it is now. A properly structured and designed program should incorporate corrective exercise elements to bring your posture back into alignment and improve the integrity of your kinetic chain (how your body is supposed to move). Simply following a mates program, one from the magazines or copying the fit guy or girl in the gym could be a recipe for injury and disaster.

 

Tip 2: Follow A Principle Based Nutrition Program

fruit and veg 534x356Diet! It’s a scary word and one that has many people feeling like a failure before they even start one.

“I can’t stick to a diet”

I’ve heard that sentence hundreds of times and it’s not that the person saying it has no will power, its just the diets that they have followed up to now have failed them.

Most diets have you focusing on counting calories, checking points or drinking disgusting shakes.  The fact is that any diet that has you behaving like this is doomed. You cannot live your life with a calorie pocket book in your bag or checking points or mixing shakes. You become a slave to eating.

And because these kinds of diets allow you to eat crap, yes that is a technical word for junk, you have to eat less of it to lose weight. It often becomes a case of people wanting their cake and eating it. Well it just doesn’t work that way. Our bodies are an amazing organism, but if they are constantly abused by poor food chioces then it will breakdown and get sick. If you continue to do this then you will find that all kinds of issues can start to appear, from joint pain, obesity, diabetes, headaches, lethargy, heart disease and asthma. These are all modern diseases brought about by our excessive eating of processed crap that is not designed to nourish our body’s, but instead line the wallets of the food manufacturers making it. They haven’t got your best interest at heart, they only care about their bank balance.

Trouble is, all that crap messes with your bodies hormones so much that you either crave it or it your metabolism gets screwed and so you end up gaining fat even when you’re only eating 500 calories per day.

So, how about a little common sense?

The Assert Nutrition program isn’t so much as a diet but a change in thinking. Human’s evolved eating natural, organic meats, fruits and vegetables and we did it with hardly any of the disease that is killing modern man.

You are the only person responsible for your health and you owe to yourself, and your kids if you have any to look after yourself, because who will look after your kids if you became ill?

I hope I guilt tripped you there? Maybe that was my intention!

Sometimes when we are told the stone cold truth it finally hits home the dangers of eating crap. All too often we live in ignorance because we refuse to beleive things like these modern diseases will happen to you. Well guess what, if you keep abusing your body then it will.

If you are thinking who does he think he is talking to me like this? then I am doing my job. It is not my intention to offend but to simply lay down the facts, the reality of this modern society we live in.

 

Tip 3: Drink More Water

This is very important and I have been talking about water for a long time now and I’ll continue to do so for a long time to come.Pouring water into a glass

Chronic dehydration and it’s side effects coupled with our addiction to is the biggest cause of all the health issues we see in modern man today.

If you haven’t read “Your Body’s Many Cries For Water: You’re Not Sick; You’re Thirsty” then please grab a copy ASAP and read it from cover to cover. It is probably one of the best books on health you could ever read!

Want to drop 30lb of weight by doing one thing?

Then drink 1 litre of water for every 50lb of bodyweight.

Sceptical? Then grab yourself a copy.

So there you go, three tips on changing your health for the better.

 

 

To your Health

 

Dean

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lose fat fast
discipline, Fat Loss

5 Ways on How to Lose Fat Fast!

If you Ever want to lost weight,

 

What ever you do, DO NOT do the following:

 

1) Count calories – it’s a waste of time. Calories are not made equal. 100 calories in a chocolate bar is NOT the same as 100 calories in brocolli.lose fat fast

 

2) Steady state cardio like running or Zumba dancing – it’s a waste of time for fat loss – only burns calories as you’re doing it, when you stop, fat burning stops.

 

3) Hang around friends who bring you down – Have any of your friends ever said  “one won’t hurt”? Well guess what, one of anything you shouldn’t be eating or drinking will, it will sabotage your efforts and put you right back where you started.  They are only saying this to you to make themselves feel better, because they cannot do it. Don’t hang around with them if you want to improve yourself.

 

4) Believe that moderation is key – This is said and believed by people who don’t want to accept that to get healthy they have to cut out the crap! – it’s ok if you want to maintain weight, but to lose weight or more importantly FAT, you have got to eat clean with no slip ups. Moderation won’t work, it never has and never will!

 

5) Going alone – don’t do this either – support, not just in your workouts but also in between your workout sessions when your mindset may slip a little, it is important that you have a support network always. At Assert Fitness Camp we have our members site that we use when clients need help, need motivation and need advice, they go there to get a step a head. Going alone will and will always equal in making something simple, very hard to do.

 

Yes, I just said it was simple to lose weight. It really is. Eat clean by following our meal plans, train hard in our workouts, and rest harder in between. And you will see A-MA-ZING results!

 

To find out more about our outdoor group training programs in Ashington and Blyth go to Northumberlands premier fitness experience!

 

yours in health

 

 

Dean

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Addictions-free
discipline, Nutrition, palate

Kill Your Addictions, the Path to Self Mastery

We live in a world where everything is moving so fast that if you blink you would miss something. The people in it have totally lost the ability to be self aware. Too many times things are just accepted, aches and pains, poor sleep, headaches etc are written off as “life” or getting old. What they don’t realise is that if they just stopped and thought about themselves and how they are living their lives they would realise that they are responsible for how they look and feel and they also have the power th change it if necessary.

How can people change the world, when they cannot even change themselves? they think power comes from accumulating wealth or acquiring material posessions, whilst in reality if they looked closer to home they would realise the the power they seek is within them. Everything you can achieve starts with you and only you.

Mastering yourself is the way to unlocking your true potential.

SELF MASTERY

there is a verse from the Bhagavad – gita that says:

“Live the self by the self, never let the self droop down, the self is the self’s only friend, the self is the self’s only enemy”

what does that mean?

That true power comes from you and you have the ability to harness it. It also says that you are the only person who can hold yourself back. There is noone to blame but yourself. So the next time you catch yourself blaming someone or something else, realise this; you are giving power your away to them, why would you do that? why would you let someone else have a hold over you? Think about it, if you accept the responsibility then it is within you to sort it out.

If you believe it is someone else’s fault how can you ever resolve it and move on?

The path to self mastery is to start with your palate. what you eat, drink, ingest, read, hear, and who you are influenced by has a massive impact on who you are and what you do.

Until people who are overweight or have addictions sort this out then how can they even think about helping other people?

Master what you eat and drink, this is paramount

Shit in = shit out – period!

Everything you eat causes a hormonal response, your body can only work with what you give it. If you feed it crap, if you abuse it, your hormones will be affected.

And here’s the thing. what you eat affects your hormones, but your hormones affect your behaviours, So how you act is affected by what you eat, drink and ingest through your senses!

How can it not be that way!

Do not indulge in excess if you want to be successful and live a happy fulfilling life.

Realise what you are taking in on your television, in the papers and radio. The news for example is massively negative. If you watch doom and gloom all day (which is what you will be doing, as the media knows that tragedy sells) then guess how you will be feeling. You are massively influenced by what you take in. Your whole reality is based on what you are taking in on a daily basis.

You literally are what you eat, drink and watch on television, listen on the radio and who you hang around with on a daily basis. If they are negative, then you need to change it because you will feel the affects. Why would you want to willingly feel like this?

Food is the major addiction of many people in this modern world, however many people are incomplete denial that it is an addiction.

I mentioned our influences before, well food can be thought of as our first influence. Control of your food is vital to being fit and healthy. As you may have heard many times before, you are what you eat, food is taken apart and it becomes you.

You know that if you put diesel in a petrol engine then it will break it. It is the same with the food that you consume, however why are people still surprised that when they continue to put shit in their mouths that they feel shit and fall ill or when they drink poison or listen to crap that they feel down and out?

Incorrect eating will lead to stress as the body tries to deal with all the crap. And when the body is stressed it shuts down and this can cause real damage due to the amount of hormones released, which are detrimental to your health.

All addictions are controlling and disempowering. they talk to you subtly at first, tell you moderation is good, just have a little bit, you have had a hard day, you have earned it, whos gonna know, you deserve a treat. However as the addiction grows it becomes a war of attrition to try and control it. The inner voice that started off encouraging you is now in full control telling you anything and everything to get what it wants.

How many of you just give up and eat crap because they cannot be bothered to make anything healthy and so reach for the takeaway menu? most people aren’t even aware of it and would think that it is their choice, but in reality it isn’t. It is your addiction to food that is controlling.

It’s the same with drink, I have had many mates who use a hard days graft any night of the week as an excuse to drink. Now we all know about alcohol and you can have a great night out every now and then, but every night and into oblivion??

There are too many people out there claiming to be experts in training and nutrition and these are the same people who do not practice what they preach. Life gets in the way.

But let me ask you this. How can you be an expert at something, and try to help people when you cannot master the basic principles yourself?

So whats the answer?

TRUE POWER

stop feeding you addictions, remove their power and they will shrivel up and die, but also remember that addictions are cunning and will not go without a fight. Be aware at all times, do not let them back in! You have to be strong on all fronts and just like any other habit they will go and be replaced be another better one.

Start by addressing your food and drinking habits. If you are overweight then, remove all the garbage you are eating, write down everything and start making adjustments be eating healthier, natural foods. Look at making your diet up with 80% of one ingredient foods, drink more fresh water and less tea, coffee and fizzy drinks.

Stop watching the news or sensationalistic programs and start feeding your mind with inspirational programs. Read more motivational and inspirational things instead of what celebrity has had what done, who cares!!

Look at the company you keep, are they dragging you down?

Be brutally honest! if they are, look at gradually finding people who are more engaging and not gossip mongers who are an extension of the news on TV.

Change can be scary and uncomfortable, but they are only feelings that cannot harm you. When you change everything around you will change. Take control of your life and don’t worry about the people around you adjusting, work on yourself and by becoming more self aware, controlling your food, removing addictions and bad habits you will find that you will Shine.

 

Lets all shine together

 

Take Care

 

Dean

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