Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

As this show goes live it’ll be almost the end of Jan! I know that dates the podcast however everything I share will be relevant regardless of when you’re listening.

This past month has flown and I feel like I have lots of different things I’d like to share with you so I thought a month in review type of a format could be the go. Similar to the weekly wrap I used to do though, obviously… less frequent!

I’ll chat a little food, a little exercise and a little mindset. I’ll share what’s been rockin this past month and what’s been a tad more struggle street. Above all, my intention is to make this wrap applicable to YOU and creating and keeping a fit, healthy plant strong body.

Let’s get rolling…

As I mentioned, it’s the end of Jan and all my one of one clients are returning to the gym. Amusing one dear client shared with me her strategy for answering me when I ask: “How many times did you train while you were away?” is to always add on a session! I design a travel program for my clients who intend to train while away and it seems they may stretch the truth when sharing how often it’s actually used!

Anyway, if the holiday season meant a bit too much of a break to YOUR ideal food and exercise I have some ideas for you to get back your eating and exercising mojo in todays show!

Which brings me to FOOD… because holiday time means indulgent food right?

Well it doesn’t have too. In fact I’d prefer that your food always feels indulgent yet still remains nutritious and aligned with your goal.

With that in mind I’d like to share my latest vegan deliciousness which is perfect to make on mass and easy to turn to when you’re eating with non vegan friends / family.

Let’s call it Pasta not Pasta.

I’m really happy with this messy invention! The rest of the fam were having spaghetti bolognese and happily mum had put aside some of the sauce for me before adding meat. In fact she had 3 serves frozen and I ate them for dinner 3 nights in a row. Did I say I’m a lazy cook? I’m not sure I could re-create the exact deliciousness of meat free spag bol that my mum achieves however I know she uses: olive oil, garlic, onion, zucchini, eggplant, canned tomatoes and lots of fresh herbs. Likely carrot would be a good addition too.

I had it over a bed of field mushroom, asparagus, broccoli and peeled zucchini (all baked w coconut oil, salt & rosemary). I then added some nutritional yeast + kalamata olives + marinated artichoke. Next came the veg sauce & finally some coconut yoghurt! Soo good!

Do you know what else would be a fab addition? Roasted salted hemps seeds. Now I’ve been obsessed with hemp seeds for years now however I recently bought some roasted salted ones by mistake. Though lets call it a mistake not mistake! Like your regular hemp seeds you’ll find them in health food store.

Let’s chat EXERCISE and Do you need to train harder?

I’ve done a couple of sessions with a friend recently who wanted to learn some new stuff to help her shift a few stubborn kilo’s.

Now shifting that last (or that first!) bit of fat is going to come down to nutritional upgrades more than anything however I do also regularly meet people who could absolutely see better results for their exercising effort if they trained harder.

So you might be thinking: “Is that me?”

It’s a tough one right? Most often if I meet someone disappointed with their results it’s a combo that is stalling their progress.

A) They would benefit from eating even better.

B) They need to be even more consistent.

C) They could certainly train harder.

Regarding C),

Let’s first cover 3 common sense keys to know if you’re training hard enough:

1. Do you feel like you ACCOMPLISHED something beyond ticking the requisite minutes of exercise box?

Caveat: just because you’re not sore the next day does not mean you didn’t work hard enough. I always walk away from my work out feeling like it was time well spent. Like I worked hard and gave the best that my body had to give today.

How much you can give to your work out is going to vary day to day. Give it your best for today and you’re going to do ok.

2. Does your routine BORE you? Boredom will set in quickly when you’re not pushing yourself.

Caveat: it’s not about a fancy new exercise every time. It’s more about the challenge. About aiming to progress – not every single time, however you do need to push beyond your comfort zone.

3. Are you getting the RESULTS you’re seeking? 

Caveat: you need to be patient to see results and there is no one timeframe fits all. Equally you need to also be compliant and consistent to give your approach a fair chance.

So, if you’re now thinking: “Yes, I might need to train harder!” 

As you’ve likely noticed, your body is pretty awesome at adapting to the challenges you throw at it. Here are 6 variables to consider beyond simply changing the exercises you do and increasing the weight you lift:

• Increase your training DENSITY by getting the same amount done in less time…or getting more done in the same time OR the super brutal, getting more done in less time!
• Throw a FINISHER on to the end of your work-out.A finisher is an intense little exercise combo that squeezes all that’s left out of you at the end of your weights session.

For a full body example: 5 pull ups, 10 squat press’s and 15 kettle-bell swings. Performed 3-5 times.

For a core example: 8 walking planks, 8 side planks with hip dip and toe tap (each side) and 24 mountain climbers. Performed 3-5 times.

• Pair your big heavy compound movements with high repetition BODY WEIGHT movements.

For a similar muscle group example: Barbell lunges and pistol squats and/or sumo in out jump squats.

For an opposing muscle group example: Assisted chin-ups and decline push-ups.

• Change your weights training SPLIT from upper and lower body orsingle body parts to full body… or vice versa.
• Incorporate some HIIT into your weights sessions…perhaps some intervals on the treadmill, rower or skipping at the end of each weighted circuit or at the end of your session.
• Experiment with training times, CONDITIONS and nutrition to see if it helps you train harder.I prefer training a couple of hours after I wake up, with breakfast on board yet an hour or two past, a 20 minute walk to work under my belt, a strong black coffee AND my fav tunes. Everyone is different, many people train better with a training buddy or on an empty stomach or even late in the day.

For the final part of todays show I want to move a little more rapid fire. A recommendation, who’s inspiring me and also my biggest struggle.

So far as a recommendation I usually share a Podcast or Documentary:

For a trip down memory lane I checked out my recommendation this time 2 years ago! To quote me (Is that lame? I’m sharing as it’s illustrative of how I started the vegan journey and how LESS than confident I was)

“A documentary blew my mind. It’s the prompt for me eating 60 less egg whites a week, for returning to making my own dairy free pesto and the reason I’m giving Vegan’ish a whirl this month. By the way ‘a whirl’ makes it sound a whole lot more casual than it is. I’m taking it seriously. In fact it’s really been consuming my thoughts. 

The best documentary I’ve seen in years – perhaps ever – is: COWSPIRACY.”

You’ll find details at www.cowspiracy.com.

WOW, so back to real time and “giving Vegan’ish a whirl” turned out to be so much easier and more delicious than I expected.

Unexpectedly, the only thing that has been a tad struggle street is my increasing frustration and sadness at the detachment I see in people around me at our exploitation of animals. So I’ve actively sort out the opposite, both online and face to face.

Which brings me back to that recommendation this week. It’s a YouTube series by animal rights activist Earthling Ed on 30 Days, 30 Excuses. Ed incredibly articulately details, the excuses people use to justify not going vegan. I cannot recommend the series highly enough.

Finally for today, Who’s inspiring me? Besides Earthling Ed of course.

The welcoming, passionate and compassionate volunteers at Anonymous for the Voiceless. AV is an animal rights organisation that specializes in street activism.

I spent a couple of afternoons with them last week and it’ll certainly become a regular part of my week. To learn more about Anonymous for the Voiceless check out the Live video I’ll post to Facebook and link to in the show notes for today. If you’re interesting in volunteering AV operates in 376 cities globally (just type AV and your city in Facebook search for info). The video’s and images you’ll see will do the organisation’s work more justice than I could here in audio however regardless of whether you’re vegan, vego or a carnivore to make this part of the show relevant and actionable I strongly recommend asking yourself: Who’s Inspiring me right now?

It’s been my experience that you can get somewhat stale, stuck and disheartened if you don’t have regular interaction with people who inspire you.

It’s all to easy to just drift into day to day auto-pilot. I had forgotten my own advice (!) as doled out in a popular post entitled: If I had to start again, this is what I would do. (5 steps)

Step number two right after step number one: Back Yourself 100% is,

Seek out mentors that both inspire and stretch my definitions of success.

People who are achieving through their Bodies, their Business’s, their attitude to Life, their Gratitude and Generosity, success that explodes my old comfort zone.

That brings us to the end of todays show. I’d love to know your thoughts re the month in review wrap format? Shall I ditch it or keep it??

That’s also it for this week in Healthification.

Is there anything you’d love me to cover in an up coming show? Please let me know. I’d love to hear from you via the show notes or even better via an iTunes review. Those little reviews absolutely 100% make my day.

Thanks so very much for hanging with me today. I appreciate it. Till next week, happy training and remember… Creating a body and life you love is Freedom. (If this ex-carb queen, NON-genetically gifted, naturally uncoordinated VEGAN chick can do it – so can YOU!!!)

If you liked ‘Month In Review plus: Do you need to train harder?‘ you’ll also like: Do You Need To Train Harder?

If you’re yet to share the Healthification love – just click here to zip over to iTunes and leave an honest rating and review. It’d help me out big time. With gratitude, Kate.