Archive for the ‘FITNESS & HEALTH – Nelly’ Category

So I’ve been doing some research on thee art of cheating… Seems to me like with all methods of cheating YOU’VE GOT TO BE SMART. Weigh up your options and in the end, figure out if it’s better in the long run or will it just destroy you? Is this sounding familiar?? Welcome cheaters…

There are different schools of thought here! Cheat once, get it over and done with and move on. Cheat every week, pick a day, it’s normally Sundays and then have one cheat meal. Cheat every few days on something small that you want to keep the cravings under control. Cheat everyday on something reeeaallly tiny to preserve sanity.

But I’m here to tell you from experience that it’s all bull. A cheat meal isn’t going to get you anywhere- at least a cheat meal that consists of junk. After a few weeks of a strict diet your taste buds would’ve forgotten the forbidden fruits of junk and have moved on with something healthier and better! Every time I cheat I reminisce on the good old days, screw that! Yeah the good old days when I couldn’t see my quads popping!!

The truth is that the body doesn’t crave anything, or at least anything that it NEEDS. Your taste buds be deceiving you. But psychologically if it plays some significance in your life I say go for it. But don’t binge and pig out as there will be damage control to pay for afterwards! The general rule is, the leaner you are, the more cheat meals you are allowed. Men over 15% and females over 24% shouldn’t be cheating in my personal opinion.

Cheating is not a bad thing however; it doesn’t have to be a bad thing if you don’t make it a bad thing! Here are some ways to make your cheat meals less disastrous.

Pumpkin cheesecake (yes I said cheese cake hallelujah!):

• 28g crushed Graham Cracker for Crust
• 2 blocks of Fat Free Cream Cheese
• 1/2 cup Splenda
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 Egg, 1 Egg White
• 1/4 cup Whole Milk
• 120g Canned Pumpkin
• 1 pinch of Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 1 dash of Cinnamon 

GI Joe only eats Low GI

What is GI?

The rate at which a food releases glucose, or sugar into your bloodstream can be measured on a scale called the glycaemic index.  When your blood sugar levels rise, your body sends out insulin to place the sugar into your cells or store it as fat. If you eat something that measures high on the glycaemic index, then your blood sugar will rise drastically. If you eat something low on the glycaemic index, your blood sugar will rise a little bit but your energy will last A LOT longer.

Planning your meals smartly!

Did you know that certain types of fibre can slow down the release of sugars? So eating whole foods is better than eating refined, processed foods.  Eat foods in its most natural state! Brown rice = better then white rice. Whole fruit= much better then fruit juice as it contains fibre. The presence of protein in food also lowers the GI of the food. This is why lentils and beans have such a low GI because it contains high fibre and protein!

Proteins triggers a small, even insulin release.

Carbohydrates (especially fast releasing)  trigger a larger insulin release.

So combining protein rich foods with slow releasing carbs will help control blood sugar levels.

The best grains to eat:

Some grains are better than other grains. Wheat and corn are fast releasing while barley, rye and quinoa are slow releasing. Most rice have a high GI score though basmati rice is slower releasing than normal rice. The best is brown basmati. If wheat gets turned into pasta, its GI score is low especially if it is wholemeal. When wheat is used to make bread, pastries, cakes etc… the GI score goes up! The best bread would then be the whole rye grain bread. Oats are low GI in any form- whole oat flakes, oatmeal or rolled oats!

Best fruit and Veg to eat:

Most fruits contain the fruit sugar, fructose, which is slow releasing because it first needs to be converted to glucose. But some fruits like grapes, pineapples, watermelon and banana contain some fast releasing glucose. So it would be best to have these fruits after a hard workout. Most vegetables have an insignificant effect on blood sugar levels. Vegetables to watch out for though are potatoes, parsnips and Swedes.

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Look at yourself in the mirror- tell yourself you’re worth it and tell yourself to stop sabotaging your goals because you don’t appreciate it! You mean business; you’re not some joke… Your feelings are real, your needs and desires are REAL! If you keep neglecting yourself and not taking yourself seriously- who the hek is going to? I know some of the most beautiful women and some of the best-looking and successful men and deep down they BATTLE with their own demons. Men and Women whose lives you would assume to be perfect are experiencing the same very problems you are experiencing. YOU are NOT alone! So stop whatever it is you’re doing right now and read what I’m about to say…

Every man and women out there is faced with a battle everyday they decide to wake up and open their eyes. More specifically it is not their choice to wake up but tis their God given right that they should rise from their beds and continue to fight which ever battle they have chosen for themselves. What is your battle?

We all have our “own” battles, whether it be in the work place, at home, in the gym, in our relationships or maybe the greatest battle which takes place within ourselves. Ever heard someone tell you, that your biggest competition is yourself? I hear that a lot. Wise people will always tell you not to look at others, but to look at yourself and compete only with yourself. This will surely make you a better person.

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Quad/ hip flexor stretch

Ask anyone who trains remotely hard, do they like stretching… 9.9 out of 10 times they will smile and say no. They smile, because… knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting it in your fruit salad…  So they know just how important it is, but they’re guilty of not doing it! Who blames them? Not I. Even I skip my stretches every now and then. Sometimes after your workout you’re just downright sick, stiff, hungry, feel like fainting blah blah blah EXCUSES! And you call yourself a man?

You hear people preaching about healthy eating, you hear people preaching about looking after your body and exercising and eating right… Watch them while they train and see if they’re stretching. That is the real test! This is where we separate the man from the mouse… Because God knows, stretching is PAINFUL!!!

Stretching should only be done when the body is warm… Not before a workout when the body is cold this can result in injury. When your body is nice and warm and supple, take advantage and do a good 10minute stretch. It’s not about how many different stretches can I do in 10 minutes; it’s about doing a few quality stretches in that space of time.

A stretch less then 15seconds is in fact, not a stretch. When lifting weights one needs to stretch the muscles a little longer as well.

Benefits of stretching:

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When people hear big words like, onomatopoeia, they freak out. Something in the brain is triggered that sends the I-don’t-wanna-know hormone to the mouth and then they say, “Oh, is it?” Not saying that nobody wants to figure out what these big words mean or what their importance are, we just fear them. So today I’m going to talk about Insulin because I believe in a society where everybody knows somebody who needs to say that word, it is important that we do fully understand them. Tis also our duty to educate ourselves in case oneday (God forbid), we too are in the position where we need to use this word daily.

I put it nice and simple, so lets break this down!

Insulin is a hormone that helps unlock the body’s cells so that sugar (glucose) from the food we eat can be used for energy …  Makes sense right? So if we put resistance next to the word, Insulin… what then are we left with?

Insulin Resistance is when the cells fail to react to insulin, like an irritating ex boyfriend. Who goes there?? Why do you keep calling me? I don’t want to go out with you and metabolize fat!! You just want to use me to metabolize fat, but I have cell-f-respect.

So how do we sort this issue out? :/ Well, we give insulin some tips and guidelines on how to seem appealing again… I mean a cell likes a little effort now and then!? Whats wrong with you Insulin…?

So how do we get the body’s cells more receptive to insulin? Keeping fit is most likely your best bet! Exercise can radically reduce insulin resistance, in the short and long of it all. So now the body becomes more vulnerable to the charms of (Christian) insulin (grey) and builds some sexy muscle that can soak up the blood glucose. Exercise also introduces a different way for glucose to enter muscle cells without Mr insulin’s help. This lets cells be more independent and not fully rely on insulin for energy. This mechanism doesn’t reduce insulin resistance, but it can help people who are insulin resistant improve their blood glucose control.

Weight loss can also alleviate insulin resistance. Research has also shown that people who undergo weight-loss surgery are likely to become significantly more sensitive to insulin.

No medications are specifically approved to treat insulin resistance. Medication such as metformin and thiazolidinediones, or TZDs, are insulin sensitizers partly reducing insulin resistance.

Lose weight, exercising more, and/or take an insulin-sensitizing medication and help Insulin become attractive to Cell again

Nelly

Cranberry Coconut Smoothie

Gluten-Free, Serves 1.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 10 fresh cherries
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 ripe avocado
• 1 large, ripe banana
• 2 Tbsp. ground flax seeds
• 1/2 cup Greek plain yogurt (or dairy-free yogurt)
• 2 fresh Basil leaves
• 1 tsp. chia seeds
• 2 Tbsp. coconut flakes
• 1 tsp. honey
• 5 raw cashews
• Dash of cinnamon

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth and creamy. This may take a few minutes depending on your blender. Enjoy!

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What starts with a B and ends with a D? Billiard, Baldfaced, burdened, besearched, baseboard, blugened, but also… Bread. One of the most terrifying words known to man… One does not always know how to tread around this word. Mentioning it in public always gives you that doubtful feeling in your tummy. Thinking to yourself, “Is this socially acceptable?” “Should I lie?”, “Maybe I should use the word, provita, instead?” Maybe you should shoot yourself in the foot with it?

But how do we tread around this word synonymous with fastfood, malnutrition and just plain fatness? Hhmmm? I’ll tell you, with extreme caution… Every time you want to say the word, bread, to the lady at the bakery, remember this scenario… you’re in a scene from SAW. That evil man at the head of the torture chamber is going to throw your mother into a pit of snakes if you buy that bread…

At this point, if you buy the bread, not only do you need to stop buying bread, but also you may want to contact a Psych… And let me explain to you why? It all also depends on the type of bread you’re buying! But just as killing is still killing, bread is still bread:

Bread Increases blood sugar levels: Wheat contains amylopectin A, a type of molecule that is easier to convert to blood sugar than just about any other carbohydrate. This is when blood sugar levels increase and in a matter of 2-hours you’re deadly hungry, AGAIN! Wheat intake puts the body through a series of highs and lows, where the body becomes stuck in a vicious cycle of endless hunger.

Difficult to digest: Breads generally contains gluten. Gluten is very difficult for the human body to digest and it demands a very strong acid in the stomach to deal with it. It can sometimes take as long as 4-weeks to digest a meal full of wheat.

There are other harmful substances in bread: Most grains also include the “anti nutrient” phytic acid. Phytic acid is a molecule that strongly binds essential minerals like calcium, iron and zinc, preventing them from being absorbed.

Whole wheat raises bad cholesterol

Whole wheat is better than refined wheat, but still not good: It’s true that whole grain breads are better for you than breads made with refined grains. They contain more nutrients and fibre but  they’re just the lesser of two evils. Whole wheat bread and refined bread is like unfiltered cigarettes and filtered cigarettes. Filtered cigarettes are just less harmful.

Bread produces Mucus: Bread is part of the refined grain family joining other grains like barley, oats and rye all of which produce mucus in the body.

Addictive: As humans, we always want what we cant have! But Researchers discovered that the gluten found in bread delights the brains opiate receptors bringing forth a sense of euphoria when eaten. So the more you have it, the more you want it!

I’d advice a couple of slices of Low GI bread every now and then but lets keep bread dead like drop dead fred!

Nelly XXX

It never fails to surprise me how easy people think looking good is… I mean, if it were that easy don’t you think everybody would look like a fitness model by now? It’s not that everyone chooses to “not look like a fitness model” Nobody wakes up one day and says, “Hey! I think I’m just not going to look amazing.” Everybody wants to look amazing!!! It’s in us… ALL of us!! It’s about survival of the fittest (no pun intended) and all that jazz. Nobody wants to be average, everybody wants to look good and feel even better.

My favourite question is “Can you help me look like this in 3 months?” LOL, no I can’t, I’m SORRY I’m not God, nothing like Him! But what I can do is help you look like that in a longer period of time, with PLENTY of hard work and a clean diet. That’s what I CAN do.

Also my favourite insult: – “I want a nice body, but I don’t want to be too muscular like you” ha-ha thanks! Another charmer- “I want to be toned, but I don’t want muscle” – For those who don’t understand how the body works (and I don’t blame you), but all those toned people you see are in fact muscular. You can’t be toned devoid of MUSCLE. If you just lost body fat, you would still be left with cellulite and arms that wave goodbye with your hand. i.e. skinny fat.

Muscle is the hardest thing to grow after the money tree. For a man filled with testosterone (that hormone that helps us build muscle), it is already really tough to build muscle. Now if you take a female, somebody with very little testosterone, it’s 100 times harder to build muscle. So ladies! Pick up those heavy weights and keep picking them up!

Andre Coulson of Body Coaches said: “Why should women lift heavier weights?

• Heavy weight lifting by women improves lean body tissue
• Reduces the chance of developing Type 2 diabetes
• Improves metabolism, fat loss, and weight loss
• Develops functional strength beneficial for doing daily tasks Strengthens the cardiovascular system
• It’s much more difficult for women to bulk up then it is for men. And as I stated earlier, many men don’t find it so easy to bulk up.”

He also said “The great thing about women who lift heavier weights is they build up a certain immunity to belly fat, flab, and obesity. The attractive and toned yet feminine muscle they develop, keeps their fat burning furnace going 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year.”

So with all these health benefits staring you in the face, it would be an utter shame for you to continue avoiding your weight training. I know, as a bodybuilder, that not only does this make me look good but it makes me feel good. It makes me feel strong! It even helps me be a better runner! With stronger legs I can do inclines easier than I did before! I can do yoga with more ease now. I can wear high heels and UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES fall over. I can defend myself. I don’t need a man to help me carry groceries or pick up heavy boxes! Everything is just BETTER!

I’m Superwoman under an extraordinarily toned yet incredibly feminine exterior! So shall I remain… Till my dying day!

To the weights… and beyond…!

Nelly XXX

So yesterday I went to meet up with executive producer of ETV Africa, Yashini Padayachee, as it was her birthday and I hadn’t seen her in years. There I met her lovely sister and cousin. And of course… besides being moderately inebriated… they were geared up with their health and fitness questions!! And like most women (and people) they weren’t interested in the little bits about is it healthy? Isn’t it healthy? Oh no! They were gung-ho on the calories!! Asking me things like, “Tonic? Yes, no?” or, what’s the least fattening alcoholic drink? Hahahahahhaha! I just love how we ALL, straight up REJECT the facts about the things we love the most. Men, our bank accounts… FOOD! If you have been following my blogs, by now you should know that, alcohol is a NO, NO! Not just for health reasons but also for aesthetic (looks) reasons. Carbonated beverages?? Are you kidding me- If I asked you “Could I pump you up with gas?” Would you run willingly? No! What does gas do? It has no nutritional value and neither does it help your quest in abs! It bloats you up. Now imagine the combination of alcohol (breaks down muscle, increases appetite etc…) and Carbonated Liquids (bloats the stomach, flatulence etc…).  Think we all get it now So even if you cut the one out for now… We are getting somewhere

Anyway, they went on to tell me about their diets and their training… Let me just tell you- I simply adore women. Not ALL, women… Just women like me LOL! No surprise there. But what I mean is that while we are in denial about some factors in our lives- we are just so passionate! Now understanding the way the human body helps here… Not just understanding the anatomy but also understanding hormones. We are estrogen based animals. This makes us VERY different from men. People seem to think, the boobies and the veevees are the only thing that separates us. But when you introduce a large amount of estrogen into the equation- EVERYTHING changes.

I won’t go into heavy detail and bore you- the important thing is that you understand why, say… It’s harder for you to lose weight then your boyfriend. Your boyfriends toned, you are not! He’s skinny, and you have cellulite! Relax… That’s what makes us feminine. Don’t use it as an excuse though! Out of whack hormones can contribute to this too; it can cause PCOS which may go hand-in-hand with insulin resistance, a glitch in the way your body processes blood sugar, which is often associated with excess fat storage, especially around the waist. Left untreated, insulin resistance can lead to type 2 diabetes.

Lastly, Ill touch on the fact that estrogen just makes us crazy emotional!! Leading to emotional eating. We can’t help that we are just passionate about everything! We just feel ten times more than men do and that’s a fact and that fact is known by mankind all the years of existence. We are different! We have to work ten times harder to look good- but when we do- we have the world at our feet! So come on ladies, let’s put our estrogen to use and get emotional about diet and training!!! Get passionate with yourself for a change and stop cheating on the person that loves you the most- YOU!

Sometimes we forget the importance of training. We just focus on how it will make us look or associate it with cardiovascular health. Yet the most overlooked benefit is the most significant one… Can you believe it!?

Where does happiness come from? Real happiness comes from inside you! It’s the voice inside telling you “Yes, you did it you pushed through. You’re a better you then you were yesterday!” Training is literally like a drug for me, if I don’t train for a week or more I get simultaneous PMS. Yes, you heard me, moods. This doesn’t mean I’m always in the gym, body needs a break too. But without those, ENDORPHINS <3 I may have committed many felonies…

So I watch my clients wobble around like some drunken people at a party, they go on some form of high… Sometimes they become aware of it and sometimes they don’t.

They say the funniest things to me, something only someone inebriated could say!! I’ve come to the conclusion that my training sessions are more than plain old training sessions, they’ve become more like parties. Where we all get high and laugh at the silly things they do and say! They prance around, socialise, sometimes meeting other clients of mine or family and friends. We will talk about anything literally (secrets come out) – No judge zone! Then they go home, eat, shower and plonk themselves into bed. Next day they usually feel the after effects…

Does this sound familiar to you? Definitely sounds like a celebration to me! Only difference is, this party has benefits. So many I can’t even explain them all here…

I try to party every day, or at least 6 times a week. But sometimes you party so much that your body starts giving in and you have to give it a break!!! (Which I am currently on – and guilt free may I add, as I’ve earned it) In this time away from “the jol”, you start to notice your mood decrease. You get edgy, maybe even depressed! The withdrawals of the intoxication are kicking in!! This is where you must ignore. Do little bouts of exercise and ease your way back into it. So you see, training doesn’t have to be something you don’t enjoy… oh contraire! It is something that brings more to the table than one is even aware of! God is all knowing and there is a reason why He created us to need exercise. There is a kind of “party” waiting for you… in your mind lol don’t miss out! I guarantee you! It’s addictive and you won’t ever look back! And if you do, you will be looking back on your fine ass!!

Nelly