09 1 / 2012
The Competition Begins!!
It’s a new year. You have had time to eat your leftover Christmas dinners and selection boxes and get back into your normal routine. What a perfect time for New Year, New You to start up!
Congratulations to those who have already signed up :)
I have to say, after seeing one of the competitions participants rating their motivation to do well as 9000 on a scale of 1 to 10, I am feeling positive about the outcomes of this competition! For those who are less motivated it is important to remember your only limits are self-imposed. Aim high and you will achieve high.
Good luck everyone!
P.S. late comers welcome :)
28 12 / 2011
New Year’s Resolution
Imagine yourself one year from now. What can you see? If like many people you see yourself a few pounds lighter, it may seem a great idea to make weight loss your New Year’s resolution. But are New Year’s resolutions doomed to failure? Are they not just useless promises you are intent on keeping, until January 3rd, when you notice the twix looking up at you from the selection box? What will make this year different than any other year? I believe planning is key.
New Year’s resolutions are often a thought of what you should do. Lose weight, quit smoking, get a new hobby. Yes, these are all great ideas in theory but do you want to do them? If you think ‘now you mention it I wouldn’t mind losing some weight’ you are probably going to fail. You don’t want it enough. If you have been thinking for a while of a particular goal weight, the benefits to yourself and your family of losing weight and feel it will make your life more positive, then you are much more likely to achieve.
Go back to the beginning and think of yourself one year from now, not a week or a month, a year. You should not be aiming to meet this goal in less than a year. A lot of people give up after not seeing an immediate change. Weight loss involves a lifestyle change, not a 2 week diet. Your goal may be to lose 3 stone within the year but this can be split up further, lose 1 stone every 4 months, or half a stone every 2 months. If you lose weight quicker, great! If not, you are still on target and on your way to your end of year goal. Be specific with your aims so it is easy to split it down into smaller chunks.
Include how you are planning to lose weight in your resolution. It’s not just going to disappear while you watch eastenders with a slice of batternburg. It will take hard work and to avoid disappointment you need to think about what you will do to help you towards your target weight. Plan to do what you know you will do. If you hate the gym don’t plan to join one and go 7 times a week, it won’t happen! Do exercise you enjoy, eat food you love. Remember this is a lifestyle change and not a diet, you don’t have to hate everything about it!
Remember why you want to lose weight. Your reasons must be important for you to have even thought about it. Make it a priority. Aim high, if you truly want something and believe you can achieve it then why not go for it?
Happy New Year!
Please visit zestwellness.co.uk for more information and help with weight loss.
28 12 / 2011
New Year, New You Competition
Hello all!
Zest Wellness is starting a New Year, New You weight loss competition.
Anyone is welcome to join in as I am sure 99% of us will have filled to the brim over Christmas and may be feeling slightly sluggish. The aim of the competition is weight loss however it can be done by anyone as a health kick.
The competition lasts 6 weeks starting the 9th January (just to give you time to get back to normal!) and will end on the 20th February. Whoever has lost the most weight (percentage body weight) will be crowned Zest Wellness’s New Year Slimmer who will be receive £50 Zest Wellness voucher and maybe something extra de
To get you going I will provide a booklet (via email) to monitor your progress which will include some diet tips for the competition, exercise ideas, and some yummy low fat recipes. I will be blogging throughout the 6 weeks to keep you up to date with progress and some extra ideas which may be useful for the diet. Any of your feedback or hints and tips to share with the others in the group will be greatly appreciated! I will also be available via email (emma@zestwellness.co.uk) or on my, or Zest Wellness’s facebook daily throughout the competition.
All I ask for in return is your honest feedback and a cheeky £5 to help get Zest Wellness up and running (it’s hard without money!!).
The competition can all be done in your own way, to fit in with your life. However, as it will be difficult to meet up to do weigh ins, I will be relying on peoples honesty! Remember the only person you will be cheating is yourself (and also the person who should have won of course!).
For more information please don’t hesitate to ask and don’t forget to get all your friends and family to join in too!
20 12 / 2011
Keep your figure over Christmas
Christmas is just around the corner and temptation will be high. Chocolates, turkey and wine will be almost everywhere you turn begging you to eat, drink and be merry. Potential diet nightmare!
If you are planning on still being super healthy this Christmas follow these tips to remain guilt free!
* Swap roast potatoes for boiled.
* Stock up on the vegetables to fill you up.
* Make sure you have lean meat.
* Do not leave snacks around the house as that could lead to eating mindlessly when you are not hungry.
* Don’t starve yourself throughout the day as you will only end up giving up and bingeing on lots of high calorie foods later on.
* Have a small portion and go back for more later on if you want it.
* Don’t eat until you feel sick, it’s not pleasant.
* Instead of going to the pub, get yourself wrapped up warm and go for a family walk. This will give your body time to rest and help your food digest better.
* And if you do decide to drink, drink water between each alcoholic drink to keep yourself hydrated.
Remember Christmas only comes once a year! Embrace it! Christmas is a time where you may see friends and family you do not usually see. Make the most of this time, do not stress over how many calories are in each roast potato, it will only spoil the day for you. As part of a healthy lifestyle it is okay to take a few days off, and if you can’t take time off at Christmas when can you?
If you have taken a few days off over Christmas and have noticed the pounds come on why not treat yourself to a Zest Wellness weight loss package? Alternatively give someone you love a head start at their new years resolution with a perfect Zest Wellness Christmas present! For more information please contact Emma on 07983665401 or emma@zestwellness.co.uk Alternatively visit www.zestwelllness.co.uk
Have a great Christmas and a happy new year!
Love Zest Wellness!
30 10 / 2011
Personal Training in Preston
Keep yourself fit in winter with personal training sessions from Zest Wellness!
It can be hard to keep yourself motivated especially throughout the winter. It’s easy to stay inside hibernating by the radiators! Even on the occasion when you do manage to get outside the cold can make it difficult to put your all in to the workout.
Get back on track with Zest Wellness personal training in Preston Moor Park.
One hour- £20
30 minutes - £15
Kick start package - £100
- 5 x 30 minute one on one personal trainers - Initial consultation and goal setting session - Nutrition review and advice - 6 week review
All abilities welcome for fun, exhilarating exercise!
For more information visit www.zestwellness.co.uk
or contact Emma on 07983665401 or email emma@zestwellness.co.uk :)
04 10 / 2011
Love your body
In order to treat your body with the respect it needs when you are trying to lose weight you need to love it. The old saying ‘my body is a temple’ has never been more true. It is very easy to take dieting to the extreme but you will deprive your body of vital calories and nutrients. This sort of diet alone would be exceptionally hard to follow, but almost impossible after you add in dull skin, mood swings and constantly having no energy. Take care of yourself! A balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables should be enough to keep you on track with your diet. Respect your body and you won’t want to put rubbish in it!
Always stay realistic! Being a size 12 may seem morbidly obese compared to the fashion models we see on a daily basis in magazines, but I assure you it is not! The fact of the matter is that these girls are usually airbrushed to the max, see the gym as a full time job and haven’t even looked at a chip in years. It’s not worth it. Don’t bother teasing yourself by picking at your body or comparing it to these models. It’s pointless and you could be spending your time doing something more productive, like drawing moustaches on their pictures instead!
We need to ask ‘why are we always wanting better?’ Of course, if your health is involved it is great to want to improve it, and having an aspiration to do better in work or at anything else in life is essential to give you drive. But where in life should we draw the line? When should we accept things for the way they are and make the most of it? Maybe we should start to embrace life with cellulite and a bit of a double chin. Stop obsessing. Start to see a lifestyle change as something that will make you healthier, not just as a punishment you must go through temporarily in order to banish your love handles.
A healthy lifestyle starts with the mind. Anyone can change their diet without thinking too much about it, inevitably, they will be asking for failure. By changing the way you view your lifestyle and how much importance you put on your health, you will see the benefits whilst not even noticing the bad parts, or at least to a much lesser scale than you would if you just went on a diet. Don’t talk yourself down. Look at your positives and build on that. Confidence is the key to keeping your motivation levels up. Believe in yourself and you will know that you can, and will, succeed.
For more information on weight loss and health please visit
09 8 / 2011
School Holidays
When you have been used to having a teacher as a babysitter for the last 10 months, adapting to the school holidays can be tough. Suddenly there is an extra 7 hours of entertaining to be done! But what should you do with your children and what should you feed them? Just because school has finished, does this mean their education should stop?
Recent studies by the Health Survey for England (HSE) have revealed that 1 in 10 children are obese. If current trends continue, by 2050 this figure will have increased to a massive 25% along with 60% of men and 50% of women Children learn from example, so why not use the seemingly endless 6 weeks as an opportunity, set them an example. Incorporate fun activities into both your own and your child’s day. Use the school holidays as an ideal time to make healthy choices the norm, something your children will not think about but just do. Being healthy is a lifestyle, the older you are the harder it is to change, so starting young is ideal.
Exercise should be introduced from an early age, spending days at the swimming pool and playing in the park will be fun for your children, as well as keeping them fit and active. Giving your children the opportunity to try out new sports and games will keep them interested and enable them to find something they really enjoy and wish to carry on throughout their life.
Food and nutrition is also important so introduce good food choices to your children early. Try to get your kids to help out as much in the kitchen as possible and teach your children that healthy doesn’t mean horrible! If you are a useless cook use this opportunity to learn yourself too, buy a health food cook book and have fun as you go.
Get your children involved in their food choices as much as possible, however, remember that you are the parent and that you will have to say no occasionally. Just because your child knows that an apple is better for you than a bar of chocolate doesn’t mean they will choose the apple. Use your common sense and remember everything is fine in moderation. When nearing the end of the holidays you will find that not only have your children had a fun and active break, but you have too. |You may notice the effects of this healthy new lifestyle, looser trousers and more energy with the added benefit of becoming a fantastic cook! Remember that just because the holidays are over doesn’t mean your lifestyle has to revert. The summer has been a head start and now you can continue to get healthy and have lots more fun!
For more information contact www.zestwellness.co.uk
06 7 / 2011
STOP STARVING! START EATING!
Diets can be confusing, and with so many people telling you about new diets, it can be tempting to eliminate a food group completely. The main two being carbohydrates and fats, as well as common overall calorie deficient diets. Don’t do it to yourself, instead read below to understand why you can lose weight without starving.
A lot of dieters see carbohydrates as unnecessary calories however this could not be further from the truth. ALL carbohydrates are broken down into a simple molecule called glucose – an obligate fuel. This means it is essential for the body. Glucose is the body’s first port of call when it needs energy. Your body’s most vital organ n- the brain works solely off carbohydrates and by following a low carb diet you will be preventing you brain working to its full functionality. You may notice this as a lack of concentration.
Proteins provide your body with vital amino acids which enable your body to build strong muscles, hair, skin and nails, as well as enzymes for important reactions within the body. HOWEVER – foods which provide out bodies with proteins often come with large amounts of harmful saturated fats e.g. mince meat and steaks. When choosing meats look for lean options to reduce your fat consumption. Alternatively choosing a vegetarian option such as quorn or tofu can significantly reduce the amount of fat coming with your proteins s, so too can adding beans and pulses to your meals as an alternative to meat. Think smart and lean when it comes to your protein and you won’t go too far wrong.
When on a diet it may seem like eating anything that contains fat would be a massive sin however some fats, such as unsaturated fats from sources such as olive oil, nuts and avocados, and omega oils, which come from flax seeds and oily fish, are actually highly beneficial to our health and should not be eliminated from our diets. Saturated fats and trans-fats should be avoided as much as possible. Most people are getting too much of these kinds of fats which increase the risk of suffering with cardiovascular disease, not pleasant. Remember that fats contain more than double the amount of calories per gram than carbohydrates and proteins so limit your intake if you are trying to lose weight and swap to the good fats where you can. Make sure you check your labels!
Thinking of weight loss as a lifestyle change and not something temporary is a great way to increase your success. Stop thinking of carbs as the enemy and start seeing them as a vital part of your diet that provides you with the energy you need to enjoy life and when it comes to fats know what is good for you and know what is artery clogging bad for you!
For more information on health and nutrition visit www.zestwellness.co.uk and get the zest back into your life!
