W10 Food Pyramid – 10 Steps to Success

June 27, 2012 by ·

Our W10 Food Pyramid is now available for download in a new nutrition section on our website (download it here).  This pyramid is the framework around which we eat at W10 and the basis upon which we offer nutritional advice to our members.

We think it’s a pretty solid nutritional model.  It’s simple, easy to understand and applicable to all but the most extreme of creatures (bodybuilders, man-orexics and so on).  It is important to recognise that it is NOT intended to be a ‘diet’, it’s a set of principles or guidelines which people should adopt and adapt according to their personal requirements.  The ‘green list’ foods are our staple foods, the ‘black list’ are our ‘eat in moderation’ choices and the red list includes all of the foods we would suggest that you steer clear of for the most part.  Pretty straight forward we think you’ll agree.

As with all things the key lies with the interpretation and implementation of these guidelines or principles.  There is still (as there should be) a huge requirement for ownership on the part of every individual who decides to use the pyramid as a template.  We’re not selling the latest fly-by-night, one-size-fits-all, diet farce, this is simply how we should eat – we just need to modify it to suits us individually.  Perhaps above all else, we need to apply common sense.

W10 Food Pyramid  + Individual Requirements + Common Sense = A Results Based Nutritional Programme.

Just because nuts are in the green section for example, doesn’t mean that eating 300g of cashews for dinner is a good idea (whilst we don’t advocate calorie counting for most people, calories do count, and that’s nearly 18oo of them right there, just from nuts).  Similarly, half a kilo of oven roasted chipped sweet potatoes – also on the green list – isn’t going to help (most) people morph from the wrong side of chunky to cover model either. Common sense right?  Right.

You need to consider YOUR goals, YOUR body type, YOUR likes and dislikes (to a non-sabotaging extent), and you need to eat according to YOUR requirements.

“The W10 Food Pyramid will provide the framework and underlying principles, but you need to ascertain what foods, and combinations of, work for you.”  Me.

The trouble is most of us simply don’t know what ‘works for me’ looks like anymore.  It’s not that we don’t have any common sense (clears his throat), it’s all just gotten very confusing.  And the thing is, the more we read, research and try and work it out, the more confusing it becomes (there’s a lot of charlatans talking some serious BS out there) .

Authors note: If you’re serious about getting good advice and getting in shape, I strongly recommend that you stop reading most glossy magazines, especially those targeting females.  What worked for supermodel X (who endorsed the product) probably won’t work for you and more than likely won’t work for her long term either (watch this space for future endorsements) – I strongly recommend that you don’t just copy it.

But thankfully confusion need not reign.  It need not be that complicated and getting it right is probably much easier than most of us think.  At a basic level it’s quite simple.  In fact, use the W10 Food Pyramid following these ten pointers alongside it and you’ll probably be well on the road to optimal health and physical appearance.

1. Eat protein for breakfast.

There’s is good reason(s) why you keep hearing this.  Primarily it’s about detoxification and immune system function (it’s estimated that the first 30-60g of protein we consume daily are used for these purposes), not necessarily muscles.  It’s also startlingly obvious to me that people who eat breakfast make better food choices throughout the rest of day.

No excuses, do yourself a favour and just get this one ticked off.

2. Stick mainly to the green foods list.

80% or more of your food choices should come from the green list of foods.  There’s good reason why they’re at the base of the pyramid and two thirds or more of the way up.  Embrace the green, get lean.

3. Quinoa and wild rice are the best black list choices.

Many people don’t digest grains and legumes well (bloating, wind, etc) and my personal opinion is that, on the whole, these are best excluded by most.  After a period of elimination, the first (and often only) black list foods that I suggest people introduce back into their diet are quinoa and wild rice.

4. Exclude the foods on the red list completely except one MEAL per week where you can eat whatever you want.

Physiologically speaking re-feeds or ‘cheat meals’ are not really necessary initially, but psychologically speaking they’re a must, but only after an initial period of elimination.  I don’t give direction here, eat the foods you like, but understand that the fatter you are the less indulgent you should be/will get away with.

People stay on track better during the rest of the week once they’ve had their ‘release’ and moreover most people find that after having excluded wheat, diary, gluten and processed foods for a couple of weeks the reintroduction of these foods is enough to give them the stomach upset of all stomach upsets.  Many don’t repeat the same meal.

The jump in calories once per week is actually helpful in accelerating fat loss.

5. Don’t snack

I’m increasingly becoming the ‘anti-snack’.  My experience is that people don’t make good snack choices and are far better off getting all they need nutritionally at meal times.  Intuitively this seems a more sensible approach also – if you need to snack you probably didn’t get your previous meal(s) right.

6. Eat three or four times per day (see above)

All things being equal I think we should eat intuitively.  The issue with intuitive eating is that most of us have terrible intuition when it comes to feeding ourselves.  We’re out of sync and it’s hard to make solid choices when you’re not in sync.

You can argue with me all day long about not having breakfast, but initially it’s a very good idea.  Eat again at lunch, for a third time mid-afternoon (you know, when you get the 3-4pm lull…..) and for the last time at dinner.  A typical schedule might be 7am, 11am, 4pm and 7pm.  Less than three meals doesn’t work for most people and more than four is often totally impractical.

7. No training, no carbs

Carb cycling has become the latest fitness industry buzzword with every Tom, Richard (more likely) and Harry getting regular gym-Jane to count her carbs and eat fluctuating amounts daily.  Deary deary me – no-carb, low carb, slow carb, carb cycle, what next?  Look, we could get into the minutiae here and confuse the b’jesus out of people, but with no good reason.  The premise is simple and is certainly not a new one: allow yourself some more carbs when you train hard.  And you should eat most of said carbs in the meal you have AFTER training (referred to as the window of opportunity).

So the days you DON’T train, you stick to Category A vegetables, concentrated protein sources and natural fats and oils – eg Chicken and vegetables stir-fired in coconut oil.  The days the you train (hard) allow yourself some more carbs AFTER you’ve worked out, including Category B vegetables and/or some wild rice or quinoa (remember also that when you increase your carbs, you should reduce the fats) – eg salmon fillet with broccoli and sweet potato.  Note: If you’re trying to add mass or are already reasonably lean, you might eat another higher carb meal later in the same day also.

8. Limit fruit

Yes, fruit is ‘good’ for you, but you can definitely have too much of a good thing.  For me it’s pretty simple, the more you train (exercise), the more fruit you need/should eat.

9. Drink water & organic coffee and herbal teas

That’s it.  The exception – after a period of elimination – might be a glass or two of red wine a couple or few times per week (the only issue with wine is the yeast content).

10. Keep a food diary

Tedious, inconvenient and socially compromising granted, but essential.  If you don’t know what works for you, you’ll become increasingly frustrated reading countless blogs like this one.

Also, it’s not for me, I’m old-skool, I like paper – it means I can check to see if it’s been kept in real time rather than retrospectively! – but there’s plenty of good apps these days that make it less of a hassle.

Bear in mind there are times when almost any food will be appropriate for a given person at that given time.  But these pointers in conjunction with our W10 Food Pyramid might well be all the guidance some people need.  Give them a go consistently and see how you get on.

 

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The LighterLife side of Life

May 30, 2012 by ·

On Monday night this week we did something that we would previously have vowed never to do when we collaborated with LighterLife to do a workshop for the male members of our local branch.

Now for those who don’t know what LighterLife is about you can find details on their website www.lighterlife.com.  In a nutshell (apologies to LighterLife if I do not describe the program in it fullest), they help people lose weight quickly through radical through nutritional intervention.  Their brand is huge and they have thousands of people following their programs globally.

On Monday morning we posted our proposed involvement on our Twitter feed and within an hour I had three personal email messages asking me what the <insert profanity> I was doing.  Here’s an excerpt from one of these:

 “The words Lighterlife fill me with dread, take me back to times of horrible mental anguish.   If anyone is doing a sole source program, I’d be amazed if they could manage exercise, and introducing exercise at the end of a regime, when weight is lost, but also skin is hanging off you and muscle has been eaten away is just the hardest way round to approach the issue”.

Now I can vouch for the fact that the person who sent me this is not some neurotic lunatic looking for an excuse to be melodramatic; she was genuinely concerned, presumably because she did not want people to go through what she and some of her friends have been through.  (If I wasn’t already aware, I was certain that we were dipping our toes into some pretty dicey water as far as some people were concerned!)

Our involvement came about after the local LighterLife counselor contact me to do a workshop for them.  (Yes, they contacted us, so credit where it is undoubtedly due).  One of our members had been through their program and had said nice things about us.

We’re respected gym with (I perceive) a reputation for giving good advice and influencing people to get healthier, stronger and fitter.  But despite our attempts to persuade our member otherwise, she signed up to the LighterLife program a few months ago.  And her journey has persuaded us that rather than just ruck up and posture indignantly, we can (and should) actually work with and help people in a similar position.

We managed to persuade our member not to do the ‘LighterLife Total’ (shakes and a snack bar only) program, convincing her that the ‘Lite’ program would work for her (two shakes, one snack bar, and one meal) – which it did.  She was determined to do it come what may, so that was a result for us.  Along the way we also helped her with some supplementation (additional amino acids etcetera) that would allow her continue with her personalised resistance (strength training) program and would go some way to ensuring that she maintained her lean mass – which it also did.

Note: Most diets that elicit substantial weight loss actually strip you of metabolically and structurally essential lean tissue and do not so much for actual fat loss.  Yes you’ll lose some fat, but you’ll lose a greater proportion of lean mass.  Not good news, especially when you go back to advisable long term eating habits (did anyone say rebound weight gain?)

Our member is no longer doing LighterLife.  She has lost the weight that she wanted to lose.  She has maintained her lean mass (almost all of it).  She trains three times per week consistently.  Her eating habits are pretty good.  She’s stronger.  She’s leaner.  And she’s happier.  And at the time of writing (five months after finishing the program) there has been no rebound weight gain.  All in all, I’d say it has worked.

All things being equal I’d rather people didn’t do the program and followed our W10 Food Pyramid, but thats not going to happen – they’re going to do it.  And whilst we don’t necessarily agree with the LighterLife approach and our approach is in not similar, I do accept that we share a common goal – which is to help people get healthier, lose weight and overall live a better quality of life. I’ve now also seen first hand that we can help people through the program ensuring that they get the outcome they want, without compromising themselves further down the line.  In other words, we can work with them to make sure that they keep the weight off and they never have to go through the program again (something LighterLife say is important to them also).

Yes, it would be easier for us to sit here and criticise LighterLife and their approach (as I have previously done), but that’s not going to help anyone.  What they do gets people the outcome they want and therefore people are going to do it, regardless of what I or anyone else thinks and advises.  The answer is not for us to distance ourselves from it but rather recognize that its going to happen and work with people to ensure the best possible outcome.  So that’s what we’re doing.

Note: Before the cynics amongst you pipe up and shout about the potential commercial benefits, we haven’t been paid (nor do we intend to ask for) a penny!

Our first workshop (a nutrition and exercise Q&A/open forum) with the male group was very well received and we’ve now been asked back to do two more for the female groups in the next week or so.  I’ve also had two personal email messages from attendees asking follow up questions – all good.

In bigger picture terms, if it helps people through the program, it works for LighterLife.  If it helps people chose a less radical program and/or avoid the rebound weight gain, it works for us (and them).  And if it gets people both the short and long term outcome they want, then it works for them.

Let’s see how things progress.

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Spring Cleanse Your Body – Part 1

March 30, 2012 by ·

Spring is officially upon us and with it comes the perfect time to shake off any winter lethargy and perhaps the resultant additional pounds and spring cleanse your body!

Let’s start with the basics.

What is a ‘cleanse’?

By our definition, a cleanse is the act of both reducing the amount of toxins coming IN to the body whilst aiding or accelerating the processing and elimination of toxins OUT of the body.

In others words, cleansing helps us detoxify the existing CRAP (typically Chemicals, Refined sugars, Alcohol and Processed foods) out of our system whilst at the same time reducing the amount of CRAP that we put in that system in the first place!

At W10 Performance this process often begins with our W10 14-day Re-boot program.

What is the W10 14-day Re-boot?

The reality for people who are carrying a few extra pounds is that their blood sugar levels are out of whack and they have developed some degree of insulin resistance – disastrous for both health and aesthetics!

How has this come about?  Long story short, insulin rears its head in response to elevated blood sugar levels and insulin resistance occurs when insulin levels are elevated over a prolonged period of time, causing the body’s own sensitivity to insulin to be reduced.  This is a fat loss own goal and we need to reverse this, quickly.  Enter the 14-day Re-boot diet.

How does the 14-Day Re-boot work?

Our 14-day Re-boot program does exactly what it says on the tin; it ‘re-boots’ the system, specifically kick-starting fat loss.

In a nutshell, it works by removing processed foods and refined sugars that negatively affect insulin levels and balancing the diet with low GI foods which will help rebalance, or re-boot, our sensitivity to insulin.  This will help us tolerate sugars better and in turn help us shed some of that excess body fat.

So, we’re removing higher GI food – which eliminates all processed foods and refined sugars; we’re removing alcohol completely; and we’re placing the emphasis on clean water and organic produce – thus reducing many sources of chemicals and other unwanted nasties from the system.

Net effect?  Many major sources of CRAP removed from the system meaning a significantly healthier and more aesthetically pleasing you!

How do I do the 14-Day Re-boot?

It’s simple.  For fourteen days – and fourteen days only – you eat from the ‘green’ foods at the base of the W10 Food Pyramid, excluding all fruit and Category B vegetables.  No digressions, no cheat meals.  That’s it.  (We know, but it works!)

The only other guidelines we give are around protein quantity, supplements and fluids.

Protein recommendations are based an individuals lean mass and we encourage people to ensure that they get adequate amounts.  This is important for several reasons, most notably the preservation of lean mass and to aid liver detoxification.  A palm-sized serving with each meal is a decent guideline.

Supplements are not essential but will definitely help. If you choose to do nothing else, throw an organic greens drink into the mix (to help alkalize the system), some omega 3 fish oils (to help reduce inflammation), some fibre (to ‘clean out the pipes’), and a decent probiotic (to boost gut health).  A good quality multivitamin will also make you feel better.

Needless to say that plenty of clean water is essential – add lime to further alkalise.  No coffee would be ideal; one coffee per day is fine.  Herbal teas are in.  All else is out.

What can I expect from doing the 14-Day Re-boot?

Significant fat loss, increased energy levels, better looking skin, better sleep and radically improved mood are just a few of the things you’ll be experiencing by the end of the fourteen days.

Although it’s probably fair to say that for most people the first few days can be pretty tough going, the effort is worth it.  You’ll look, feel and function better – and you’ll find it easier to lose or maintain your weight in the long run.

Is the 14-Day Re-boot suitable for everyone?

It’s suitable for most people, although if you’re starting on the back foot you might want to build up to it meal by meal – something we do a lot with our new members at W10.

In other words, align your breakfast to the green list first – do that for a week or two.  Next, look at your lunch, align that to the green list – do that for a further two weeks.  Next, look at dinner, and so on.

Where can I find the W10 Food Pyramid?

You can find our downloadable W10 Food Pyramid on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/W10Performance and on our website homepage.  Please feel free to ask us any questions that you may have there also.

You’re set.

Happy spring cleansing!

In Part 2, we’ll look more closely at specific nutritional cleansing where we’ll introduce our 14-day W10 Amino Cleanse, a two week fat loss program designed to specifically boost liver function and help rejuvenate the digestive system, whilst simultaneously helping you shift fat like no other program we’ve seen!

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12 Reasons You’re Not Losing Fat

February 1, 2012 by ·

'Whole' grain or not, they're not going to help most people when it comes to losing body fat!

Have a read of the 12 Reasons You’re Not Losing Body Fat guest blog by Jason Ferruggia which we posted on our Facebook page.

It’s a really good overview of the common mistakes A LOT of people are making when it comes to fat loss.

We’ll worth a read…..

 

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W10 Fat Loss 101

January 19, 2012 by ·

W10 training tip: Full-body compound movements are superior to body part split-routines for fat loss purposes!

In anticipation of the enquiries and the barrage of questions we’d be facing relating to fat loss – it being January and all – last week we held a seminar at the gym focussing primarily on, you guessed it, fat loss.  We touched upon nutrition, training, supplements and other factors such as sleep and stress etc, but most of the content was about what, why and when to eat.  We also also had one of our members who is a chef knock us up some menus in keeping with our ‘green list’ – more on that later.

We did our best as always to keep things simple.  In hindsight, we tried to cram to much in in such a short space of time – we get carried away – so as promised here is a brief summary of what was covered.  Apologies for the delay….. it’s January, and there’s the usual influx of people coming through the doors with new goals and New Years resolutions!

In the interest in keeping things brief (ish) we’ve got for five key points in each area.  Some of these are simple and certainly won’t gain us column inches for the next ‘new’ diet, but they work – consistently.

Here goes…

Goal setting

  1. Set measurable short-term goals.  Fat loss needs to be sustainable, definitely – but it’s best achieved when attacked in short and highly focussed (unsustainable perhaps) bursts.  We’ve found 28-days to be optimal – it’s about all most people with other stuff going on in life can commit/stick to 100%.
  2. Commit 100%.  52-week long, half-arsed fat loss programs don’t work.  Focus for 4-6wks and do exactly what is required.  If you get to where you want to be, great – if not, go back to ‘moderate’ living for a couple/few weeks, and do it again.  Repeat this process three or four times per year if necessary, just stopping doing it half-cocked all year every year.  It hasn’t worked and it’s unlikely to!
  3. Shift your goal from an ‘outcome’ goal to a ‘process’ goal.  Most people fail when they align their goals to a particular outcome, Eg. ‘I want to lose a stone’.  They are much more successful when they set process goals, Eg ‘I will go to the gym three times per week, every week and I will eat foods from W10′s green section of the pyramid for all but two meals, every week’.  Forget about the outcome, just follow the steps it takes to get there and it will happen as a matter of course.
  4. Measure progress.  Weight alone isn’t a great marker.  Skinfold readings, photos, circumference measurements or an item of clothing are far better indicators of progress.  Whatever it is, get some marker.
  5. Find a social support network.  Do it with someone, make yourself accountable by telling as many people as possible and hang around with like-minded folk.  Don’t kick around in a health club with all the other demotivated and uninspired souls – the environment is not conducive to getting results.

Training

  1. Train with purpose.  Turning up and going through the motions won’t cut it.  Fat loss requires that you create significant metabolic disturbance and you’ve got to train accordingly.  Be prepared to work hard for it.
  2. You need to train four times per week consistently – three minimum – to see significant results.
  3. Stick to full body strength training programs – body part split routines are not the best choice for fat loss.  And big multi-joint exercises like squats, lunges, push-ups, chin-ups, etc are where it’s at if you want to shed fat.
  4. Keep your workouts short.  Under an hour including mobility/movement prep & flexibility work.  Cutting carbs, caffeine, calories, and other ‘feel good’ things from the diet will cause an initial stress response (as will food separation anxiety!), don’t add to this considerable cascade of stress hormones by smashing yourself in the gym for several hours, several times per week.
  5. Add some short, sharp conditioning blocks to your strength training for more rapid results – either at the end of your workout or as separate sessions.  Include metabolic resistance training (bodyweight included), interval training, hill sprints, sled work and so on to massively accelerate fat loss.

Nutrition

  1. Eat clean.  Follow the W10 Food Pyramid (soon to be published on the site) and eat from the green list.  Avoid Category B vegetables and excess fructose (fruit) for an initial period of 14-days.
  2. Eat regularly.  Three meals and two snacks is often the preferred approach, and that’s fine, but based on experience we find people do better with four small meals (Eg 7am, 11am, 4pm & 7pm).  This could be breakfast, lunch, mid-afternoon protein shake (if you struggle to find time to eat mid-afternoon) and dinner.  (Get a quality protein supplement – we stock Solgar).
  3. Include adequate amounts of protein.  This doesn’t mean that you’ve got to gorge on an abbatoir quota of meat a la Atkins, but most people are ‘under-proteined’, which is fat loss suicide.  There’s a reason – multiple actually – why many diets favour protein over other macronutrients….
  4. Eat from a relatively small base of foods.  Most people don’t do well with choice – we have to make too many of them already.  I can’t tell you how many people we’ve given the W10 Food Pyramid to who still look at us and ask “well, what do I eat”.  I used to think it was them.  I know realise that it’s just more to have to think about and incorporate into an already busy life.    Many people do very well when they pick three breakfast, three lunch and three dinner options and they rotate these twice through the week – Sunday when they typically have more time being the one day the make other choices.
  5. Keep a food diary throughout.  Not only does this keep you accountable, it also creates awareness of what you eat and what makes you feel good or otherwise.  An irritating thing to keep perhaps, but those who keep a diary throughout get the best results.

Supplements

  1. Supplements are exactly that – supplementary to a clean diet.  Don’t live off frankfurters and cage raised poultry/eggs whilst spending the US defence budget on supplements – thats backward.
  2. Buy reassuringly expensive.  Many products bought from mainstream high street outlets cost you more to process and eliminate than they actually give you.  It’s better not to take supplements than it is to take cheap crappy products.
  3. Different people need different things.  Biosignature Modulation works well, but before we go down that road, let’s get all of the five nutrition and training points in place.
  4. Protein supplements are not just for meatheads and knuckle-draggers.  For most people they help them get the levels of protein that are essential to their fat loss goals without the bind of meal preparation time.  Yes, ideally we should definitely eat all of our food, but protein supplements come into their own when time is short, say first thing in the morning or when mid-afternoon nutrition doesn’t fit in with work schedules.  Be sure to buy a decent quality brand (we stock Solgar).
  5. Supplements should be taken with meals  (the exception being neural stimulants).  Digestive supports (probably the most important of all supplements for most people), omega 3 fish oils, greens drinks/multi-vitamins and other ‘staples’ should always be taken with food.

Other factors

  1. Mindset.  If it was easy, everyone would be lean and you wouldn’t be reading this.
  2. Mindset
  3. Mindset
  4. Sleep.  Probably one of the most important things you can do for your health and hormonal balance, and thus fat loss efforts, is to get regular quality sleep.  Afternoon naps are great also if you have that luxury.
  5. Relaxation.  Not TV, not Playstation, and no, not your gym workouts.  We’re talking dog-walking, fresh-air induced, loved ones included, genuine relaxation.  Most people just do not do ‘nothing’, but doing ‘nothing’ occasionally is important.

So that’s it – hopefully some useful points.

We haven’t posted the 28-day sample nutrition program and the ‘green’ recipes that we provided.  We might post these next week, but please ‘Like’ our page and post on our Facebook wall if you would like them or have any questions in the meantime.

Going forward we want to make the nutrition aspect of fat loss and indeed general health far less complicated and easy to combine with a busy schedule, so we’re working on a few things we’ve come up with – our own W10 Food Delivery Box, aligned with seasonal menus, recipes and video tutorials one we’re particularly excited about.  Any suggestions, recommendations and ideas from both a practical and personal experience perspective would, as always, be greatly appreciated!

Watch this space…..

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Red Thai Curry & Salad Dressing Recipes

October 28, 2011 by ·

By request from a couple of our current Jeans Challenge ladies, here are a couple of recipe ideas.  One for the much missed curry (which although certainly not recommended as a stable for this program, can actually be ‘good’ for you if made from scratch), the other two to ‘help make salad and vegetables taste less boring’.

Now before anyone starts questioning these, bear in mind that they are JC’s – who is certainly no chef!  He’s not sure where or whom they’ve been borrowed/stolen/adapted from (probably a mix and match), but they taste alright.  JC would probably tell you that they’re ‘special’, but we’ll leave you to make up your own mind on that bold claim.

Feedback would be very much welcomed.  Especially if it relates to making these (particularly the curry!) taste better.

Here goes.

Thai Red Curry 

A red chilli (or two)

A couple of garlic cloves

Fresh coriander

A thumbnail sized piece of ginger

A splash of fish sauce (splash = teaspoon?)

A generous splash of soy sauce

A splash of sesame oil

A sprinkle of tumeric (odd I know – more Indian – but it’s very good for you!)

Throw all of the above into a mini-blender.  Put to one side.  Finely chop a whole onion and pan fry in coconut oil (until no longer crunchy – important).  Start on high heat and bring down to moderate. Par-cook your meat – chicken or prawns I use.  Add the mix and stir.  Throw over a can of coconut milk (half, depending on how many you’re cooking for) and stir briefly.  Turn off the heat, leave to sit for a couple of minutes and serve.

You can add sugar snap peas and other veg to this, rather than serve with rice.  Chop these finely and throw in at the same time as the meat, or a couple of minutes after.

 

Standard Salad Dressing

A finely chopped shallot

Couple of finely chopped cloves of garlic (more or less, whatever you’re into – I like garlic)

½ a crushed avocado

½ teaspoon mustard

Olive Oil & Balsamic vinegar (3:1 ratio ish – play with it)

Goes with just about anything ‘salady’.

 

Thai Salad dressing (sort of)

Finely chopped thumbnail sized piece of ginger

A finely chopped clove or two of garlic

A finely chopped red chilli (1/2 might do it)

A splash of soy sauce (splash = teaspoon?)

A splash of sesame oil

Handful of finely chopped fresh coriander

A generous squeeze of fresh lime

Throw over chosen salad/grated raw vegetables and mix.

Enjoy.

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Women’s Fat Loss & Men’s Arm Programs

October 28, 2011 by ·


Good Friday afternoon all.

Well, it’s the last week in what has been an unsurprisingly busy October.  We’ve seen an influx of new faces through the doors of W10 – both men and women – all of whom are now realising that there is definitely more to life than sterile gym environments and stagnant results!  (Word is spreading rapidly about that small gym tucked away in St Marks Road W10!).

Our latest Jeans Challenge – our mission to get our next batch our women to drop two dress sizes in just two weeks – has gone of with a serious bang.  We’re coming to the end of week two, and you can already visibly see that fat loss on all of our fourteen ladies.  Amazing what four uncomplicated, forty-five minute training sessions and a sensible nutrition can do for posture, strength, energy levels, and of course FAT LOSS, in such a short space of time.  Looking forward to getting some measurements in week three – we’re expecting some pretty impressive results!

Don’t fret, we haven’t forgotten the guys in all of this excitement.  In fact, we’ve get an absolute pearler of a program in store for the 6th November – the infamous One Day Arm Cure.  The brainchild of world renowned strength coach Charles Poliquin, designed to add up to an inch of solid muscle to you arms in as little as 48hrs, the One Day Arm Cure is being brought to W10.  Of course, it’s not all about size…..but it does count, especially when we’re talking ‘guns’ – right chaps?  We’ve still got some spots left, so contact us you would like to register.

Thats all for now, so here’s to some decent Holloween celebrations over weekend and of course the extra hours sleep on Sunday morning!

The W10 Team.

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Jeans Challenge: The Results

September 14, 2011 by ·

A couple of weeks ago we drew the curtain on the very first W10 Jeans Challenge – our bid to help six women cast away those scales and judge results by fitting into that pair of jeans…..

…….And we’re pleased to report that the Challenge was a huge success!  (Excuse the tardy summary post – August is a month of downtime for us!).

All of our challengers radically changed their body shape and got into the jeans they previously could not wear.  For some that was a flat stomach and one jeans size, for others is was a quite staggering two dress sizes, some in six, some in eight weeks!  (Perhaps those guys tucked away in that Ladbroke Grove gym do know a thing or few about getting women into the best shape of their life after all……).

This was the first time we’d run our Jeans Challenge (which is why we limited it to six women) and although we ticked every box in terms of our challengers getting into their jeans, we also learned plenty -all of which we can improve on next time, for even better results.  (For example, further Jeans Challenges will be run over eight weeks.  Six weeks definitely works in terms of results, but it’s too tiring for most women to do it in).

Above all else, we learned that six to eight weeks is most definitely a realistic timescale for women to drop a dress or two. These women can also not only get dramatically leaner in this time, but they can also get seriously fitter and stronger at the same time.  Leaner, fitter and stronger in only six to eight weeks you say?  Sounds like a decent program to me….!

In fact, in one case, Meg managed it in sightly less than five weeks…..

A pretty bemused looking Meg three days before take off…..

Meg in her jeans and looking pretty darn good after only 4 weeks and 4 days of her W10 Jeans Challenge! An impressive change in a such a short window (especially for some who was perviously exercising three or four times per week!)

In Meg’s own words: “Despite having to cut short my challenge short by a week they still managed to eek out a 6% drop in my body fat, inch loss across the board and a kilo or two of weight loss to boot! More importantly (for me at least), was that I have never felt stronger and it was definitely the fittest I have been since… high school – which is to far back in the dark ages to count”.

Already exercising regularly and getting nowhere?  Time for a change – worked for Meg.

And after six weeks…..

 

Selina at beginning of the first week pondering what the next six weeks holds in store…..

Selina at the end of 6 Weeks of her W10 Jeans Challenge. Not bad for someone who was previously running three times per week and already 'in shape'!

In Selina’s own words: ”I have had such a great time at the gym with you guys.  I love the gym and the experience has genuinely been life-changing.

 I don’t think I will be able to justify eating crappy food again.  I feel really good – no aches and pains at all in my body. I have always had this constant gentle ache in my shoulder region but it has really died down now.  It’s been amazing”.

A flat stomach?  And without a single sit up or crunch?  Worked for Selina.

And…..

A slightly less than posture perfect Marianne on Day One…..

Marianne looking leaner and healthier after only Six Weeks on her W10 Jeans Challenge. What a difference for someone with a previous aversion to all things gym!

In Marianne’s own words:  “The Jeans Challenge was an exhausting shock to the system but I loved it and can’t believe the difference in my body in just six weeks. I lost 8lbs and 9 per cent of my body fat. Jeans that I could not do up are now fitting comfortably – in fact one friend says they are too loose! My hips are much narrower, I can see my jawline for the first time in years and my tummy is almost flat. It’s brilliant”.

Never been to the gym before?  No problem – Marianne hadn’t either.

After 8 Weeks…..

An excited looking Sarah (and her equally enthused partner Marianne!) a couple of days before the start of their Jeans Challenge….

8weeks later Sarah is in those jeans in looking good! (She also developed strong and fitness levels to a level that she thought were well beyond her)

In Sarah’s own words: “I would like to say a big thank you to JC and his team.  First I have lost 8-10% if of my body fat and about 1 Kilo in weight, and I am now much happier with my shape.  I have to say at times it really was hard, I am not a gym bunny but now I am stronger fitter and happier.  I am very happy to have been able to take part in the challenge and I would recommend to anybody who gets the chance”.

Chronic knee problems confining you to the cross trainer?  It needn’t, it didn’t for Sarah.

And…..

A rather sheepish looking Sara two days before the start of her W10 Jeans Challenge…..

Sara into her jeans and looking sassy after 8weeks of her W10 Jeans Challenge!

In Sara’s own words: “My stats speak for themselves: Circa 13% body fat loss & over 9kg’s of weight loss in 6 weeks.  This was more a revolution than a challenge for me! On the all or nothing scale I veer heavily towards all.  Go big or go home is a maxim I’ve lived by in my professional life for over a decade but had never been able to successfully translate it to physical exercise so this jeans challenge was perfect for me.  I used jeans bought in NY nearly 3 years ago which were a good 2 sizes too small and within 6 weeks I was in them.  Quite unbelievable”.

Eight weeks, two jeans sizes lost?  Worked for Sara.

We’re missing pictures of our sixth challenger (operations issue – p*ss poor organization! – on the camera front), but needless to say that Amanda’s hard work paid off and she lost more than 10% body fat en route to getting into her jeans.

In Amanda’s own words: “The jeans challenge was great as it gave me a goal to focus on and every week I felt stronger and stronger. The training initially was to gain strength in my back and to do exercises that strengthened the weaker muscles so that I could move onto metabolic exercises after the first few weeks. The training was also varied so there was no time to get bored with the same exercise routine day after day and the trainers at W10 really kept you on track and motivated you to keep going. It was also great to be training with other women as you didn’t feel like you were alone in the challenge and you were all striving for the same goal. I would recommend the jeans challenge to anyone who wants to increase their fitness, lose weight, reach a specific fitness goal or they just want to fit into ‘that’ pair of jeans. I know that at the end of the 8 week challenge that I did! I lost two dress sizes, my back pain was significantly reduced and my legs were stronger than ever. Thank you to everyone at W10 who worked with me through the 8 weeks. Much appreciated!”

Lose two dress sizes and significantly reduce back pain in eight weeks?  Amanda did both.

 

So what did learn?  Well, we learned that our approach works.  Very effectively.  Our belief that women should exercise beyond the constraints of what mainstream media and ‘celebrity’ trainers would have them confined to was reinforced – to both us and them.  Not one of our women ‘bulked up’, not one of them looked ‘chunky’ or ‘manly’ as a result of their training program.  (We think you’ll agree that our pictures show the opposite).  But yet all of our women got leaner, stronger and fitter; doing zero traditional cardiovascular training, lifting weights (and yes, they were above 3kg’s!) and following non calorie restricted diet!

Beyond that, we also tracked everything that we did so that we could measure how effective our approach was.  In all honesty, we knew it would yield results, but the aim of the game was and is, to provide women with a refreshingly honest kick-start to their long term health and fitness program.  Something we’re now determined to move forward and reach out to as many women as possible.

The results this time were very impressive.  But given the extras we now know, next time, they’ll be even better!  (The next challenge will be run over eight weeks starting in October – see below for details).

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We are now registering interest for our next Jeans Challenge.  The start date is the 17th October 2011 – in time for Christmas party season (without encroaching into it!).  More information will be posted on our refreshed website in the next week or so, but in the meantime please email info@w10performance.com or call 020 3489 5428 for further information.

Cards on the table:  This Jeans Challenge is not for everyone.  Our approach will accommodate any level of fitness/previous gym experience, but the eight weeks are challenging.  You will need to bring commitment and a sense of humour to the table.  We’ll bring the rest, but you need to keep up you end of the bargain!

(We’re a busy facility and places will therefore be limited to twelve women.  And we will only enter into partnership with those who are serious about their program.  It’s otherwise unfair on those who are serious about making a change.  That, and it’s no good for our reputation! ;-).  If you’re keen we’d love to hear from you).

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Jeans Challenge Week 8

August 15, 2011 by ·

Into the final week we go……

First session of the final week of our Jeans Challenge today and, despite our three remaining ladies already being into their jeans, they came in ‘raring to go’ and we had another good workout (with a little encouragement along the way!)

We already know that all of the ladies were into their jeans after week six, but weeks seven and eight were all about seeing if we could make an even more noticeable difference….. the answer we now already know to be a definite ‘yes’.

It’s fair to say that the guys are feeling a little jaded physically, which is not exactly surprising after seven weeks of solid training and reasonably narrow nutritional guidelines.  But there’s only four sleeps to go until we do our final measurements and model those jeans, so it’s just one last push…..

Watch out for the final update on our last three on Friday this week and a full Jeans Challenge summary next week!

 

 

 

 

 

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Jeans Challenge Week 7

August 9, 2011 by ·

Thumbs up to a 100% success rate!

We’re now well into Week 7 of the Jeans Challenge – our bid to help six women get into ‘that’ pair of jeans.  And…..

**ALL OF OUR CHALLENGERS ARE INTO THEIR JEANS….. AFTER ONLY SIX WEEKS!!**

All of our ladies have achieved what they started out to do.  For some thats a jeans size, for others it’s two.  No matter, they’ve all been successful!  And it’s no more than six weeks of dedication, purposeful graft (and a continued sense of humour!) deserve.

Watch this space  when in a couple of weeks we’ll be putting together the full story, complete with input from all of our challengers, once the full eight week program is complete.  In the meantime, we’ve posted a couple of pictures and brief stories on our Facebook page to whet the appetite.

We started with six women, three embarking on a six week program and three committing to eight weeks (we needed to be able to guarantee results over a determined timeframe, and wanted six and eight week real world stories), so we now have three women left, with two weeks to go.  Everyone is into their jeans, but lets see what the next two weeks add.

The results from this Jeans Challenge have been impressive (and thats despite still having two weeks to go!).  In fact, we’re already very excited about starting our Autumn Jeans Challenge!  More details to follow, but the start date will be the 10th October and we’ll be accepting a limited intake of twenty women (we already have two!).

Lets see where weeks seven and eight take us…… Watch this space for the full write up, individual stories and amazing results!

(To register you interest in our autumn Jeans Challenge please contact us at info@w10performance.com or call the office on 020 3489 5428).

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