PW Physique and Fitness | Worthing and Sussex Personal Training and Weight Loss Blog

May152017May 15, 2017May 17, 2017

How to Kick Chocolate Cravings to the Kerb

Repeat after me: Cravings are powered by the brain’s need for reward – not the need to feed the body.

Sometimes, just knowing that will get you over it when all you want is a chocolate bar, dipped in chocolate sauce, with chocolate sprinkles on top.

Other times, you might want to try one of these:

Sorry not sorry.

Have a little. Eat a little of what you want, maybe a little fun cookie or chocolate bar. Enjoying a little of what you want, can help stop those “Can’t have it” feelings. As long as it doesn’t push you over your numbers (daily protein, carbs, and calorie goals) then it won’t hurt you in moderation. Try to keep it to a maximum 100 calories.

Combine food. If stopping at that one cookie or a chocolate bar seems impossible, you can add chocolate to something healthy to fill you up while satisfying the craving. You might dip a banana in chocolate sauce, or mix some chocolate pieces in with almonds. You will satisfy a craving and get healthy nutrients from those foods good for you. Brucey bonus!

Go cold turkey. Going the other way, you could cut it out altogether. Although the first 48 to 72 hours is difficult, some people find that going cold turkey helps to reduce their cravings after a few days….

Apr142017April 14, 2017April 14, 2017

Spotlight Sunday – Sarah Church – “I’ve found the strength I didn’t know I had, inside and out! And the best bit is; I’m not finished yet!”

I’ve just returned from spending my Sunday Morning running around a muddy field, rolling under nets, throwing myself over walls and jumping over obstacles… For fun! Just over a year ago that would have been my idea of hell, but here I am with a smile on my face.

For me there was no lightbulb moment or time when I looked at a photo and it dawned on me how out of shape I was. I actually joined PW physique and fitness on a bit of a whim, I had a holiday looming and as usual I was unhappy with how I looked in a bikini. Not any more!

So there I was, going to Vegas in a few weeks and suddenly an advert flashed up on my Facebook feed… “lose up to 10lbs in two weeks” and I thought to myself ‘why not?’ So I signed up and 14 days later I was 7lbs lighter and my confidence was soaring….

Dec142016December 14, 2016December 14, 2016

6 Simple Ways to Meal-Prep Like a Boss!

One of the major hurdles in losing weight is the ability to prepare and cook healthy, low-calorie and delicious meals. Many of us mistakenly believe that that this requires endless hours in the kitchen concocting complicated recipes in the kitchen. Locking yourself in the kitchen so long you start to swear like Gordon Ramsey isn’t necessary though. All that is required is a little preparation.

Here’s 6 simple ways to meal prep like a boss!

1) Set aside a specific time to prep and shop each week

There’s a bit of an in-joke in the fitness world that Sunday is international meal-prep day. Although Sunday may not work for you, find a time that does work for you every week to shop for healthy meal ingredients and to prepare your meals….

Nov072016November 7, 2016November 7, 2016

5 Ways to Sort Post-workout Soreness

When you’re new to working out, few experiences are more off-putting than a bout of post-workout muscle soreness. The immediate post-workout period is misleading; you don’t experience soreness straight away, which leads you to believe you’re getting an easy ride. Then perhaps the next day, or even the one after that, it kicks in with a vengeance.

Drumming up the motivation to return to the gym is difficult when your aching muscles are making it difficult to even get out of your chair. Fortunately, there are ways to tackle soreness so you’re more motivated for your next session.

Stretch like your life depends on it

Did you stretch after your workout? And if you did, did you stretch in the right way? While the generic stretches you learned during PE at school were okay, they’re not a match for targeted stretching that’ll address specific muscle groups or sports activities. Do your research and find out which stretches will best benefit your workout.

Factor in rest periods and cool down days

Even the boffins don’t know for sure what causes the muscle soreness, the most popular theory is that your muscles experience small tears, which then repair over the next few days. While you can’t avoid such injuries if you want to progress, you can factor in rest periods and cool down days to ease the pain. Taking days off gives your body time to heal and it’s during rest periods (especially sleep) that you produce more growth hormone. Alternatively, you can try a cool down day where you just walk or swim….

Jul032016July 3, 2016July 3, 2016

Spotlight Sunday – Nicola House! “I have worn a skirt at work for the first time in 15 years, and I am looking forward to hitting the beach this year without worrying how I look!”

Unlike a lot of people my defining moment was not so much the outfits getting tighter or a terrible photo but making a snap decision to sign up to an extreme survival challenge and then realising that A/ I am too stubborn to change my mind and admit defeat and B/ I somehow missed the ‘must be very fit’ in the title.

So I found myself committed both financially and mentally to heading to the Arctic in February 2017 and there I was with something I had been missing previously – a target.

A little about me then – I’m 43, married with 2 tweens and working full-time in London which means I’m usually on a train at 6 something in the morning and not back home until 7 or beyond – not the best mix for a fitness regime or always eating healthily. My weekends are equally manic ferrying children in different directions and catching up with the housework – ‘me time’ has always played second fiddle.

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