Easy ABC to Exercise!
Headstand on the beach in Aruba, Caribbean Islands.
In my line of work, before and during travel – my main goal is to inspire and motivate people to become healthier. For me, the least important thing in your journey is how you look on the outside. Of course, we all want to look good on the external, but focusing on being healthy from the inside out will help you feel and look good, plus be able to sustain your health journey for life.
I work 14 hour days almosteveryday on the ship and staying healthy outside of work, has beenkey for me. Here are my top 5 exercise essentials for those who aretravelling and/or those who aren’t, but have limited time due towork, family and other commitments.
#1 The Key to a Flatter Tummy? What the Gut?!
One of the Fitness To A Tee published e-books on Amazon Kindle.
Click here now to view it on Amazon Kindle Australia. To get your own copy for AUSD$11.99,
head to the Amazon Kindle store of your country & enter the title of the book.
One of the biggest goals of the people that I help worldwide as an International Personal Trainer either in person in gyms, onboard the cruise ship and also via the online Fitness To A Tee Flat Tummy programs is to have a flat tummy.
Where is your stomach though boo?
Worldwide so many people arestruggling to lose weight around the midsection area. But do youactually know where your tummy is? Take a moment to locate it withyour hand and think about how big the stomach organ is. Many people Iask don’t know where the stomach is. It is located just under thesternum by your chest and is only the size of your fist. So what’sbehind the area that everyone always points to as the area ofconcern; the place where you want to pull your skirt or pants over;the area you do countless situps and diets for – only to haveminimal to no results.
Behind that area sits yourintestines!! The intestines are 22 feet long and can expand up to 3times! So it’s super important to know what’s happening in thatarea and how to reduce it so your “tummy” can actually beflatter.
In ordinary good digestion,hair like follicles on the walls of the intestines eliminate what thebody doesn’t need as you take in your nutrition. However due totoxins such as processed food, preservatives, stress, air/waterpollution, synthetic skincare products, medications etc - undigestedparticles can get stuck in the intestinal walls and a mucoid plaquebuilds up. This happens over years and years if you’ve nevercleansed your body, including your intestines.
That pot belly effect
What happens then is afermentation process where the undigested particles rot due to beingin a warm, dark sticky place. The intestines can’t expand backwardsbecause of our spine; they can’t expand upwards as we have ourheart and diaphragm; they can’t expand downwards because we’lllose our guts eww...so the only place they can expand is outwards!Get it? Hence the “pot belly” or rounded tummy look many of usare struggling with.
Naturalcleansing
I will go deeper into detoxification in one of my next blog posts. However, one of the ways to detoxify at the cellular level and clean the intestines is to use algae and seaweed in a concentrated form. Algae and seaweed therapies have been around for centuries in Europe, and research by Dr Rene Quinton, a French biologist shows that ocean water in which algae and seaweed are found and which keep the oceans clean...have the same nutrient profile as the human blood plasma and mimics the human body’s immune system. Thus, the same algae which cleans the ocean can clean the human body internally.
#2 Nutrition...Keep It Simple Silly!
Eating 5 – 6 small meals perday will always be my go to for a healthy, energetic body. A greatway to eat is breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, mid-afternoonsnack and then dinner. This will help to keep your metabolismworking. Your metabolism is fuelled by your liver and is like youroil filter or engine of your car. If you keep fuelling your bodyregularly, it also reduces the chances of it going into survival modei.e. your body won’t preserve the fat or hold onto the fat for fearof not knowing when it will be fed again.
Well...what do you do ifyou’re travelling and can’t eat 5 to 6 small meals per day. Isuggest never skipping breakfast; eating within an hour of waking;eating as fresh as possible and loading up on veggies as half of yourplate with each meal. Veggies are always available in whichevercountry you travel in. This will keep you in reasonable to greatshape as you travel.
#3 Move It or Lose It...even in 20 minutes!
1 of the many classes I teach onboard. This is Stretch & Release which is great for helping people relieve any aches/pains/tension in the body; improve mobility; flexibility & teach how to strengthen the foundation of the body - the feet (the base of the skeletal system).
The key to keeping fit is to never stop moving. Movement comes in so many different ways so itcould be a walk; a swim; a stretch class; weights; body weight;dancing to your favourite songs etc. All these things can be done when travelling or if you’re short of time.
Also workouts like Tabata and HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) can be done within 20 minutes. For tabata, you can find a tabata timer at http://fitlb.com. As an example, for tabata you can pick an exercise like skipping. You do 20 seconds of work, rest for 10 seconds and repeat 8 times which equals a total of 4 minutes. Repeat 3 to 4 times.
Click on this link to do this skipping tabata workout with me.
As an example of HIIT, after warming up for 5 minutes - you do 30 seconds of running, then 30seconds slow walking. Keep alternating until you get to a total of 20minutes.
#4 Everything You Need is Around You!
On Boracay Island, Phillipines.
There is no rule that you needto have a skipping rope or weights with you. Why not use things likewater bottles; your stocking as a “resistance band” around yourthighs lol; a bag or a chair with a few things in it as a weight etc?
Here’s a water bottle workout you can use anywhere! Click here to view it now.
#5 Shut Up and Listen!
Half flagging in Albury, Australia.
Listeningto your body and being kind to yourself is the most important thingyou can do on your fitness journey. As humans we are so used to guilttripping ourselves once we start our journey, so for some people Iwork with – even having a not so healthy meal now and again becomestraumatic for them. I also had moments in my past when I obsessed andfelt so guilty about eating something not so healthy e.g. when I wasdoing bodybuilding, but by the time I did my last competition in 2016which I trained myself for, I had learnt to understand thateverything in moderation is the key.
Also,eating and moving 80% of the time, with 20% not moving or eatingsuper healthy is healthier for our souls and bodies. When you findyourself obsessing – ask yourself why; think back to your pastthoughts about your body and continue to repeat sentences that affirmyou positively. It may seem silly at first, but the more you saypositive things to yourself about yourself– the more it becomes part of you.
Continue to walk with me in my next blog as I talk about my transition in London as I prepared to go to the Fitness and Business Academy before joining the cruise ship I’m currently on.
Other useful links:
Follow Fitness To A Tee exercise videos on YouTube
Instragram - @fitnesstoatee/@teurai1
My Model Business page on Facebook
BusinessEnquiries Email: fitness@fitnesstoatee.com.au