Tag: fat loss

nutrition, weight loss

Cholesterol – The Silent Killer

Cholesterol is often dubbed the silent killer because it doesn’t manifest itself through symptoms or a person’s physical appearance.

It only get’s talked about when you hear about a co worker who keeled over on the treadmill at the gym or on his driveway cleaning his car.

Which may get you to thinking ‘how do I avoid the same fate?’

Here’s the low down on cholesterol and what steps you can take to keep it at a good level.

Firstly it’s prudent that you know what it is. Cholesterol is a fatty substance known as a lipid and is vital for the normal functioning of the body. Cholesterol is carried in your blood by lipoproteins.

HDL (High density Lipoproteins) which some people refer to as “good cholesterol”, and higher levels are better.

LDL (Low Density Lipoproteins) which people refer to as “bad cholesterol”.

Having an excessively high level of lipids in your blood can have an effect on your health. High cholesterol itself doesn’t usually cause any symptoms, but it increases your risk of serious health conditions.

Causes of high cholesterol include: Eating high levels of saturated fats (think cheese and fatty meats), smoking, having diabetes or high blood pressure (hypertension).

So how do you go about being in a position where you don’t need to worry about needing a stent or shuffling off this mortal coil a bit previous. Well, being in a healthy range of body fat (not a specific weight) will put you in good stead.

Eating foods with omega-3 fatty acids include salmon, mackerel, herring, walnuts and flaxseeds. Increase soluble fibre. Soluble fibre can reduce the absorption of cholesterol into your bloodstream. Soluble fibre is found in such foods as oatmeal, kidney beans, Brussels sprouts, apples and pears.

Exercise, this should include resistance or strength training which has the most health benefits of all exercise modalities.

Cut down on your alcohol intake. Yes weekends of debauchery are amusing but what about the occasional alcohol free beer or mocktail?

It’s easier said than done to say stop smoking. However, have you ever considered vaping? Which is a step in the right direction. Then from there it could be patches a bit of hypnosis (if required) and before you know it you are off the cancer sticks and an ‘ex smoker’.

weight loss

Devotional practices

Sunday night rolls around and a cold bead of sweat travels down the forehead of the poor WW member. Uneasy about the prospect of tomorrow’s weigh-in.

So they formulate a plan; consume only dust and dehydrate themselves to prep for the evening meeting.

Flustered and late they arrive at the community centre. As soon as they enter they are summoned by the leader. As they walk up to the stage they feel the eyeballs of the crowd on them.

Anxiety takes hold as they recall the M&M they found in their pocket and devoured at lunchtime. It was the only morsel that has passed their lips but that blue button-shaped chocolate could make all the difference.

As they step on the scale, complete with grimace on face they look down to see the numbers. The ones that will reveal their mass in relation to the earth. The scales move back and forth the needle jumping from oz to oz.

Silence falls as the leader checks the scales and consults their clipboard.  The whole event is similar in hype to pugilists weighing in for a Vegas box office event.

A hush falls over the crowd as the Leader speaks. ‘Well, David that’s the same weight as last week.’

‘Well, s**t. The whole week was mathematically pointless’ David thinks to himself.

If David had an understanding of how his weight can fluctuate from day to day. He would know that one weigh-in per week is a risky game.

If he were to weigh in daily he would ensure that he doesn’t miss the new lows he had been working on. And doing so first thing in the morning after visiting the ablutions would aid consistency.

He would also be content knowing that he only needs to see a new low each week. Not each day! This would show a trend and prove what he is doing is working.

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Simplicity is the key!

Thinking you have to be perfect will be your undoing! Being consistently good is far better than inconsistently perfect!


It’s amazing how people give it the beans with their health and fitness drive only to fade like a cheap battery. Be it a new year’s resolution or the easing of lockdown procedures that sees a new fitness pursuit. It’s quite astounding how people go about it.


Sipping on BCAAs whilst trying to get in 7 gym sessions a week. Along with keeping up 10,000 steps and meal timing. The only meal allowed being kale and chicken and it has to be before 6 pm.


These directives constructed from some half-baked fitness claim from someone. Or derived from an article from a Men’s Health.


This is not the only magazine that sensationalizes everything. They have to. How else are they going to keep subscription rates up? Not by telling people that there is only one way to lose body fat (and it’s not a workout before you ask!) That would be boring. And why let the truth get in the way of a good story, the editors are thinking.


If you cut back all the crap they would only need a couple of pages that you would need to follow to get in shape. Not the myriad of over-complicated regimes. Nor conflicting articles surrounding muscle growth and fat loss.


And there would be no need for the celebrity on the front cover whose Personal Trainer has got them to do some resistance training. Achieve a caloric deficit and get enough protein in their diet. No – they need to let you know about their latest hack that has ‘rebuilt their body’. Christ on a bike!

Look past the lighting, the airbrushing – the dehydration and the filter. – that cover model doesn’t look like that in real life. You only need a couple of things to get the body you are after! Keep it simple and consistent and you’re good!