How to make a gluten free, vegan, veggie Burger

1. Start by shallow frying the chopped onion in a little vegetable oil. (Use a large frying pan).
2. Let the onions cool and add the broad beans and chick peas to the food processor.
3. Then add 4 tablespoons of (gluten free) flour and the onions to the food processor and start mixing.
4. Then add the chilli powder and mix.
5. Once it is all mixed together and you have a moist dough, dust a clean surface with flour and empty the mixture onto it.
6. Separate the mixture into 6 equal balls and shape your burgers.
7. Heat a couple of splashes of vegetable oil in a large frying pan and place the burgers into it.
8. Turn regularly and add more oil if the pan dries up.

Fry the burgers for 6-8 min and they are ready to eat. If you don’t want them straight away, let them cool and put them in freezer bags and place them in the freezer. When you want to eat them place them in a pre-heated oven at gas mark 5 for 10mins (make sure they are hot) and serve.

 Enjoy! :)

Time to initiate the "Fat Loss Leicester Attack"

I have worked in more than my fair share of gyms in Leicester over the last 10 years. You would think I had got used to it by now, but every day when I turn up to work I am face with a gym overflowing with overweight gym goers. This may seem obvious to you, but the reason I am bothered by this is that a large percentage of these Leicester gym members have been going to the gym for years and haven't managed to lose a single pound of fat.

Now those of you who know me will know that I am not on the search for new clients, as my books remain full. However this does not mean that I can not help those Leicester gym bunnies that need help with their fat loss goals. So If you or anyone you know need help losing weight in Leicester (or anywhere else for that matter!) feel free to ask my advice. My advice is honest and most importantly it's FREE!

Fat Loss Leicester - Fat Loss in Leicester - Free Fat Loss Advice - Fat Loss Leicester Attack

Successful push-ups with man on back
(Chest, Triceps + Core)

Never mind Back to the Future, just don’t go back to the past!

Sometimes when you’re training it can be a bit tricky to separate the past, the present and the future. Especially if you’re getting yourself a bit worked up and in a tizzy. Chill. Relax.

Just because you couldn’t lift a certain weight or shift that pound last week, it doesn’t automatically mean that you won’t be able to get results this week, or indeed next week.  Don’t give in to those inner demons that are trying to convince you that if you fail once you’re doomed to fail forever. Take no notice. They talk crap.

One way of building up a realistic picture of how you can get from where you are today to where you want to be in the future is to draw up what the academic boffins call a success map.  Fancy giving it a go? Come back again soon and we’ll have a go at doing it.

Happy training! J

Rock Climbing: How to get started?

A step by step guide to becoming a climber

 Find a Climbing wall near you.

Finding your nearest climbing wall is easy.

(Simply go on google and type in "[your city] climbing wall" )

 Visit the climbing wall

Phone them up or go down to the climbing wall and talk to them about starting up.  There is two options you could choose as a beginner, these are step Bouldering and Sport Climbing. 

Example:
How to get started at a climbing wall in Leicester 

If you're interested in; how to put a harness on correctly, tie the right knot and how to belay safely, then my next post will tell you exactly what you need to know.

Mike's Kitchen - This Smoothie I name "The Kick"
...but you may choose to call it a raspberry,  blackberry and lime smoothie :P

 
What you need... 

- Blender
- 1 ripe banana
- 1 Handfull of frozen Raspberries
- 1 Handfull of frozen Blackberries
- Juice of half a lime
- Small cup of water
- A pint glass

 

How it's done

Step 1 - Place the peeled banana into the blender
Step 2 - Add your 2 handfull of berries
Step 3 - Add your lime juice
Step 4 - Add water (just enough to help it mix)
Step 5 - Give it a whiz!

Vegan Smoothies - Healthy Recipes Blog - Weight Loss Recipes Blog - Fitness Blog

Poke us and show us yer tweets

You've done the SMART stuff. You've set your targets. Now what you need to do is keep your motivation going to achieve them.  One of the best ways of doing this is to get encouragement from friends and family.

If you keep your targets to yourself and don't share them with anyone, who's going to know if you don't meet them?  Who's going to give you a  if you do well, or going to give a **** if you don't?

I found a great way of staying motivated was to post updates about my progress on Facebook - you see where the poking reference in the title comes from now? .  I got a bit of gentle ribbing, but also plenty of encouragement from friends to keep going. The Prime Minister said "too many tweets can make a twat" but take no notice of him. He's a bit of a fool. Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Bebo - use whatever techno-means you can to get your message across to your mates and family. Why not set up a blog to record your progress, or get people to sponsor you if you're looking to lose weight? You can set up sponsorship sites for charity really easily on www.justgiving.com.

Happy Training!

Making SMART a reality

Last time we started looking at SMART targets. You might have read it and thought “OK, sounds interesting, but how is it relevant to my training?”

An Introduction to Rock Climbing

I am writing as though you (the reader) have never been climbing, yet you have always wondered what it is all about.  The main reasons why people do not climb, is that people think it’s either too extreme for them, it’s too complicated (rope work), only super human people do it, their scared of heights or the main one is ‘I’ve not got good upper body strength’.  All these reasons are not a good foundation to why you should not try it.  When I say try rock climbing, first you need to understand the difference between the categories within climbing.    

 

What is rock climbing?

 

Rock climbing is split into three different categories: 

 

1. Bouldering:  Bouldering is undertaken indoors and outdoors, without any ropes and normally you climb only a short distance.  Your equipment is a crash pad (very thick foam mat), rock shoes and chalk bag. Normally bouldering starts hard and then get progressively harder than that.
	2. Sport: Sport climbing is undertaken indoors and outdoors, with ropes and normally you climb as high as the route will take you.  Also there are fixed anchors in the wall, which you clip into to make yourself safe as you climb upwards.  Your equipment is a harness, helmet, rock shoes, chalk bag, rope, belay device, quickdraws and a sling with a karabiner on it.
3. Traditional (Trad): Traditional climbing or Trad for short is the oldest form of climbing as you rock up to a route (route meaning a pathway in the rock, which is where you follow and climb up) and pre-place your gear (pieces of steel that jam into the rock to keep you safe).  Then when your at the top the next person takes all the metal work out of the rock, restoring the rock to its normal state.  Equipment needed is everything mentioned in sport climbing plus, ‘your gear’ meaning all the items you put into the rock to make yourself safe.

  

If you're interested in how to get started, my next post will tell you exactly what you need to know.

 

(Oh and if you have any questions please comment below)

Question: Is it best to lose the weight first then tone up?

Lets start with toning

It is common for people to ask me "If I do lots of reps with a light weight will I get more toned?" and "If I lift heavy weights will my muscles be big and bulky?" The answer to both of these questions is no. Training with light weights will do very little for you if anything at all. Also you cannot change the shape of your muscles by changing the resistance.

Toning as a form of exercise is a myth and the spread of this myth has been caused by magazines, television and inexperienced gym instructors. That does not mean that you cant have a lean defined body. It just means you need to take a different approach.

Your muscles are already "Toned"

If you haven't got that lean defined physique you are looking for, chances are you either have too much fat or two little muscle, but in most cases... both. Muscle is already firm or "toned" as you often hear it referred to. However your muscles will feel soft if they are surrounded by fat.

How YOU can get that defined physique

The way I train my clients is to work in cycles. For most people I train losing weight is top of their agenda so this is what we focus on first. We have 5 weeks to strip off as much fat as we can and its then onto strength training for a further 5 weeks. add one more cycle like growth or power training and then they return back to fat loss. Our goal then is then for them to become much leaner than before. There are many different approaches but I believe this to be the most effective way to achieve a lean, defined and "toned" body.

How can you apply this to yourself? You need to follow a strict training routine and eat a very clean and healthy diet (The diet is essential). There are lots of training routines on the net and obviously some are better than others. If you struggle to find a decent programme that suits your needs you can get one from me. Just send me a message explaining your goals fitness level and any specific requirements you may have and I will put a programme together for you. However I am not trying to sell programmes and if you do your research you should be able to find one online that will give you some decent results.

Work hard and good luck on your journey! :)