Not that 'C' word!

As I write this post, Roger Federer has just come from 2 sets down to win 3 sets to 2 in the 3rd round of Wimbledon 2012...

Now, as a personal trainer, an optimist and an advocate for forward thinking, there is one word that if I could ban, from the face of the earth, it would be the 'C' word. I hear this mostly around the gym, but I also hear it in life when people are presented with some form of challenge prior to them even attempting it. 

The word I'm referring to is Can't. This word should be made illegal! In fact, I would like to ban the use of all words that are the opposite to positive! (see what I did there?) But for now, let's stick with the C word in question shall we.

If I had £1 for every time a client said the words "I can't", prior to attempting any exercise, and then failing, I would be quite rich. However, if I had £1 for every time I made them say "I can" prior to them attempting the same exercise, they would complete it 100% of the time. 

You see the only thing stopping you from achieving anything in life is your beliefs, that's it, not your circumstances, your beliefs. 

Founder of the Ford motor company - Henry Ford hit the nail on the head when he said:

"Whether you think you can, or think you can't - you're right".

I'll repeat that because it's probably the most important statement ever made,

''Whether you think you can, or think you can't - You're right!''

Remember, what you focus on, you get more of. 

So before you write off your chances of any accomplishment when you are faced with a challenge, give yourself a little pep talk. And when I say little, all I mean is to simply say the two words that WILL make all the difference to any outcome, those two powerful words are.... 

"I can".

You could always take that one step further by using these next two words:

''I WILL!''

Give it a go and let me know how you get on.

Matt 'eliminating self limiting beliefs' smith 

Really? That many?

2000 For women and 2500 for men. That's how many calories the goverment recommend we all consume per day, Don't believe me? Then go and grab a packet of anything in your cupboard and read just above the ingredients, it's under GDA (Guideline Daily Amounts). OK, so what about Mrs Jones who is a 28 year old, 6' 2", 85kg factory worker who 1.spends 12 hours a day loading pallets and 2.plays tennis in her spare time? Or how about Mr Smith who is a 24 year old 6' 5" 98kg builder who also spends on average 8 hours a day, no not drinking tea, but climbing ladders and moving various pieces of masonry about the place, before heading off to the gym for a bit of a chat and a pose otherwise known as a workout?


What I'm getting at here is if Mrs Jones and Mr Smith were to listen to, and stick by, the governments calorific intake Guidleines then they would be seriously putting their health at risk. Lets take a look at the stats to work out why: Mrs Jones burns on average 2488 calories a day and Mr Smith about 3334, Really? That many? I hear you say, then maybe you should check out a previous post of mine titled 'everyone needs this in their life' as the equation is on there as to how I worked that out. Maybe you could work yours out too?   


I digress, although I have used extreme examples above, and the government Guidelines are what the 'average' adult should consume, (how many of us are average by the way?) well unless you are a 5'10'' 30 year old male, weighing 12 stone, then you shouldn't be listening to the government (as if you've not heard that before) when it comes to your diet, as you are (sorry to disappoint you) not average. Therefore, like the above examples, (Mrs Jones, who has a deficit of almost 500 calories a day, would lose close to 1lb per week and Mr Smith, who's deficit is almost 1000 calories a day, would lose close to 2lbs a week) you will not be getting enough calories in your diet to function optimally. Or, you could be going the other way, lets say you are ''vertically challenged'' and lead a very sedentary (long hours of office based work with a bit of sleep in between and not much else)  lifestyle, then the government recommendations could be too much for you, thus leading to unnecessary weight gain, aka FAT, and nobody wants that!


In summary, everyone should be made aware of exactly how many calories they are burning and how many they should be consuming per day. Yes I am suggesting that the equation on how to work it out should be printed on the food and drink labels instead of the GDA. And why not? People, and not just those who care about their health and appearance, should be made aware of how they can work out how to either maintain, increase or decrease their weight.


Thank you for taking the time to read my very first detailed blog, any comments are welcome and will be appreciated.  


Matt  

Everyone needs this in their life...

Below may look like something Einstein scribbled on a dusty window, but it is actually the secret to how many calories you burn on average per day (a number everyone needs in their life). Forget what's on your packet of Doritos under the heading GDA or RDA, if you haven't already realised, we are all different! Those figures are an 'average' and may as well be written in gobbledegook!


All you need to do is find out your weight in Kilograms, your height in centimeters, know your sex and age and the figure everyone should know will reveal itself to you...


Males: 66 + (13.7 x weight in kg) + (5 x height in cm) - (6.8 x age)


Females: 655 + (9.6 x kg) + (1.7 x cm) - (4.7 x age)


From there you need to do one more sum.


just multiply your answer from above with the following....


1.2 if you have a sedentary lifestyle
1.375 if you exercise lightly 1-3 times a week
1.55 if you exercise 3-5 times a week
1.725 if you exercise 6-7 times a week
and 1.9 if you exercise regularly and have a physical job


Hey presto! That's the amount of calories you need per day to maintain your current weight. If you want to lose weight just take away 20%, if you want to gain, just add 20%, Then keep going until you are at your desired weight.


Thanks for reading.


Matt


twitter @MattThePT.
   

Blog Bio..

This blog is about my knowledge and experiences regarding the health, fitness and lifestyle industries. Some of my posts will be about my personal knowledge, experience and opinions, some will be about the science and studies relating to the aforementioned industries and some will be about both. I aim to educate, motivate and inspire while being somewhat controversial. Enjoy.. side note: all links on this blog are ones that I have visited my self and were 100% safe at time of visiting.