Are You Summer Ready?

Your summer holiday is fast approaching and I’m pretty sure that right now your mind is focused on how you will look and feel when it’s time to take the layers off.

Feel like it’s a little late to get started on a healthy eating and exercise plan? Are you starting to panic when thinking about yourself in your summer clothing?

Well you’ll be happy to know all is not lost. 

Sure it may feel a little late to get yourself started on a summer shake-up plan but however much time you have left can be used wisely to create the change you desire.   I am not suggesting for one minute that it is all about the aesthetic, but if the aesthetic is a means to bring about a happier you at this time of year then there are ways you can big about big changes in a short space of time.

As the time is limited you will first need to decide, act then commit.   Decide what it is you actually want to achieve, begin to act, then commit on seeing it through.  These essential ingredients will go some way in making your holiday a happier one, and by knowing you made that last ditch effort you can go away fully deserving that pat on the back rather than feeling like you wasted away valuable time.

Ok so you’re still with me, great! Where to begin I hear you ask? Firstly write out how many days you have till you go away and you can now work back to today and plan the amount of time you can commit to this.

If you are to have the biggest impact on your health and fat loss in the time you have remaining till you depart these shores then you need to know the most impactful action you can take is to cut out all of what your liver deems a toxin.  Avoiding the likes of alcohol, wheat, gluten, caffeine, sugar and processed foods will help you shed the pounds super quick and by adding a healthy 3-4 litres of water a day you can be safe in the knowledge that you are on the path to success.  A good night sleep is vitally important too and a topic which is to be discussed sometime soon.

To some it may seem a little drastic, but of course because you haven’t been too kind to yourself over the last few months so you’ll need all the impetus to get the new you ready for beach time. 

You may have realised that I haven’t yet spoken of exercise.  It too is important and at this time of year the team here at All About You are busy applying the tried and tested fat loss programs, which have so far been working a treat.  With our home workout plans to help get our wonderful clients moving more at home we are seeing better results than ever before.  I know it sounds too good to be true but don’t just take my word for it.  If you've read this far then no doubt you are interested in finding out what our Summer Shake up plan can do for you so here’s what you’ll need to do to get involved.

Call up the studio on 020 8348 9706 and arrange your free consultation with a member of our team so we can tell you all about what we can do for you in time for Summer.

Health and happiness,

Mario. 

All About You Food Revolution Farmer’s Market

On Sunday 27^th April, All About You, will be hosting a farmer’s market in association with Jamie Oliver’s food revolution to promote healthy eating across the country. Although it will appeal primarily to those who live locally, we believe that re-educating even a small number of people about nutrition and food can make a big difference.

But why are we doing this? 

Well since 1980, the number of overweight and obese adults has quadrupled to around one billion people in the developing world, and 64% of adults in the UK are now classed as being overweight. This rise in obesity has also trickled down to the children of our nation – resulting in 25% of boys and 33% of girls ages 2-19 being overweight or obese.

So why is our nation getting so fat? Well unfortunately, this is no mystery. Quite simply, many children do little exercise and eat a diet that’s packed with junk food. Numerous studies confirm what celebrity Chef Jamie Oliver discovered when he started looking more closely at school dinners – that children consume too much sugar, salt and saturates and eat only two portions of fruit and veg each day. There are too many opportunities and such easy access to quick, on the go, high energy junk foods which are usually cheaper than a healthier alternative. Our kids are following in the rather large footsteps of our increasingly obese adults, and today’s children will be the first generation to live shorter lives than their parents.

So how do we stop this? 

Unsurprisingly, most health experts agree one of the most important factors in the fight against childhood obesity is to encourage healthy eating habits from an early age. At All About You we have joined the Jamie Oliver food revolution programme, and as a part of our mission we are promoting healthy eating through our farmer’s market. We want to bring Jamie’s food revolution to the UK and change the way our nation eats and thinks about food. We can fight obesity with better food, and to get people cooking healthy meals again both at home and in schools. By eating home cooked meals, people will know what is going into their meals which will decrease the amount of fat and sugars they consume from fast food and takeaways.

Our famer’s market will include stalls run by local businesses as well as the more famously known Bedford Clanger’s Pasties shown on Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast. We will also be offering food demonstrations from the amazing Tootoomoo, who we work closely with to provide a healthy takeaway alternative.

We want to show people that eating healthily can be just as tasty and satisfying as junk food which carry a less certain nutritional value, as well as the health benefits a healthy diet will offer. At All About You we want to promote the benefits of an active lifestyle and good nutrition combined to put a stop to the growing waistbands of our nation, and to start making a difference to people’s lives one step at a time.

We hope to see you there!

Food Revolution Farmer’s Market

Sunday 27^th April 2014 12pm until 4pm

Contact All About You to find out more. www.aayou.co.uk

Meet The Team!

In the last few months there have been a number of changes to All About You. The business has grown drastically, not just in the size of the studio but also through the addition of a new fitness class timetable and our wellbeing clinic.

Here's how our team looks today...




David Osgathorp

David set up All About You in 2006 with the idea of creating a holistic health centre that delivers a unique experience and an unrivalled personal service to our clients. After seven years and many additions to the original business I feel that I have now constructed an excellent team of individuals to offer the ultimate health and wellbeing package.

James Hutchison

Combining over 10 years of experience in the fitness industry with a Psychology degree has allowed James to develop a unique Personal Training style which focuses not only on health and well being, but on goal setting, motivation and long term behaviour change for weight loss.

Nick Palma

Sports Therapist Nick, specialises in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal injuries. With a wealth of experience in both clinical and health & fitness environments, Nick enjoys using the latest corrective exercise techniques to provide pain prevention solutions for all his clients.

Dan Humphries

Fat Loss Specialist, Dan has designed our One to One Bootcamp Programme which combines a mix of sweat, challenges and a topping of fun to deliver exceptional results. He is our resident nice guy and will also ensure you have a five star experience at the studio in his role as Studio Manager.

Benjamin Cooper

Holistic Lifestyle Coach Benjamin understands that the human body works PHYSICALLY (movement), EMOTIONALLY (Hormonal) and CHEMICALLY (Nutrition). His approach addresses sleep patterns, stress levels, nutrition, and movement to not only improve his clients quality of life but educate them on the best choices to make.

 Paul Ranson

Natural Movement Coach, Paul aims to address our body’s optimal health and alignment which is compromised on a daily basis. His approach teaches clients to move with efficiency and skill while following his philosophy of having fun and enjoying movement to achieve sustainable fitness. He has worked successfully with this approach in London, Spain and Kenya.

Tony Wilson

Performance Coach Tony has a no nonsense approach to training. He lives and breathes health and fitness and delivers exceptional results to his clients. He specialises in strength training, fat loss and nutrition. With many years of experience he understands the importance of keeping clients motivated and on track to achieving their goals.

James Lockyer

Sport & Exercise Rehabilitation Specialist James has a unique approach to training. He uses a variety of release techniques and corrective exercise methods to create strong foundations to reduce pain and improve everyday function. He is a very knowledgeable and enthusiastic trainer and a great addition to the All About You Team.

Stephen Sacks

Harley Street Osteopath Stephen has a simple approach: Find it, fix it and leave it alone but maintain it and give you the tools to make sure it does not come back. In order to do this, he uses a variety of methods from osteopathy, acupuncture/dry needling, sports taping and electrotherapy.

Stephen is now working at the studio on Monday and Wednesday mornings.

Antonia Ptohides

Pilates Instructor Antonia started ballet at the age of 10 and she has since gone on work as a professional dancer and complete an MA in Movement Studies. Antonia acknowledges the original form of the Pilates Method, and applies his principals in her classes. Her classes give adherence to core stability and body awareness and emphasise spinal and pelvic alignment, coordination and body balance.

 Tanya Kalides

Tanya is a keen and enthusiastic trainer whose interest in health and fitness began whilst studying human biology at Loughborough University. She believes in training hard whatever your fitness level. Her sessions are always energetic varied and challenging!

Tanya will be heading up our new fitness classes at All About You from September.

Simone Woolerton

Female weight loss specialist Simone has a passion for movement and fitness. She has a wealth of skills in teaching Kettlebells, TRX, Aerobics,Yoga and Boxing to name a few! Her training sessions take you beyond your physical limits and her creative and motivating training sessions and classes make her a much loved instructor.

Alex Neilsen

Sports Massage Therapist Alex, has experience working for the Whittington hospital and Hampstead Rugby Club. Alex first learnt massage in Thailand where he studied Thai massage and elbow massage and has continued his studies and practice 

specialising in Sports Massage.

Christine Nielsen

Christine is a specialist in Pregnancy Massage, Baby Yoga and Baby / Infant Massage Therapist. She originally trained in Thailand where she discovered the importance of regular massage and a hands on approach towards teaching.

Christine teaches the Infant & Baby Massage Diploma & Baby Yoga Diploma's as well as workshops on Pregnancy & Labour Massage.

For more information on any of our practitioners please Contact Us at the studio.

Time To Detox?

We are all exposed to thousands of toxins and chemicals on a daily basis at work, in the home, through the air we breathe, our food and water supply, and through the use of pharmaceutical drugs. In addition, we are eating more sugar and processed foods than ever before in human history and regularly abuse our bodies with various stimulants and sedatives.

For decades, scientists have been studying the pollutants in our air, water, food, and soil. U.S. industries manufacture over 6 trillion pounds of 9,000 different chemicals a year. They dump billions of pounds of industrial chemicals into our air and water year after year. So now scientists have started to examine pollution levels in humans and their findings are deeply disturbing.

The foods and drinks we like the best, unfortunately happen to be the ones that are the worst for us.


The Truth

The more of these you consume the more acidic your body will become.

Our bodies are extremely clever at surviving, and set up defense mechanisms against substances that could harm our vital organs. In this case it is FAT. Our bodies use Fat to defend its self against an acidic system. This can also explain one reason why exercise is sometimes quite ineffective.

The organ most under threat is the Liver. Research clearly proves that our bodies are not capable of eliminating all the different toxins and chemicals we inhale and ingest every day. They simply accumulate in our cells (especially fat cells), tissues, blood, organs (such as the colon, liver and brain) and remain stored for an indefinite length of time causing all kinds of health problems. (Here are pictures of what pollution build-up looks like in the liver, versus a healthily functioning liver).

However the production of acid is also a natural function within the body. All of the cells (billions of them) that make up the human body are slightly alkaline, and must maintain alkaline in order to function and remain healthy and alive. However when we move, their cellular activity creates acid and this acid is what gives the cell energy and function. As each alkaline cell performs its task of respiration, it secretes metabolic wastes, and these end products of cellular metabolism are acid in nature.



Other than the liver one of the main areas that is subject to serious health issues is the Intestines and the Colon.Look at this picture on the right, would you feel constipated, bloated and lethargic? Would your bowels be irritated by this build-up day in and day out causing what we today call IBS? Just think about what other problems toxic build-up like this can cause? Stomach pain and constipation? Fatigue, gas and bloating? Overgrowth of Candida? Headaches and indigestion? Weight gain and a large protruding belly?

It has been stated that over 90% of disease in America could be traced to unhealthy conditions in the bowel. “The poisons thus generated (in the bowel) pollute the bloodstream, causing every tissue, gland, and organ of the body to gradually deteriorate and be destroyed.

When do you need to Detox?

If this is the first time you've been exposed to this life-changing information, you've probably never considered this simple question: Are you clean inside? Of course you take care of the outside: You shower, brush your teeth and wash your hair on a regular basis, but do you clean yourself inside? In this modern, toxic world it's becoming a simple fact of life that our colon & Lymphatic System (the ‘sewer system' of the body), liver and other organs also require cleansing. Just like a car requires an oil change periodically.

‘You service and tune your car up every 6-12 months or every 5000 miles. Why? To ensure that you get the most from it and that it lasts longer…When was the last time you did this for yourself? And what is more important – you or your car?’
If you experience one or more of the following, then it's time to detoxify:

Frequent fatigue and low energy
Flatulence, gas & bloating
Excess weight
Impaired digestion
Irritability, mood swings
Bad breath & foul-smelling stools

Recurring headaches
Constipation
Protruding belly ("pooch")
Powerful food cravings
Skin problems
Metallic taste in mouth

For more information on The All About You Detox programme contact us at the studio.

Personal Boot-camp training with All About You Performance and Wellbeing

Do you need to get in shape for a holiday, a wedding, a sports event or just want RESULTS FAST? Are you willing to work hard for them? Then a personal boot-camp with All About You Performance and Wellbeing could be for you.

Our personal boot-camps are an intense, bespoke series of workouts designed with one goal in mind; RESULTS! At All About You Performance and Wellbeing we understand that sometimes people just do not have the time to dedicate months to an exercise or fitness goal, therefore we are now offering this personal boot-camp service.

The boot-camp consists of a short term commitment of either 4, 5 or 6 weeks. Each week there will be four workouts, each offering a different way pushing you to the limits. The exercise sessions may include; resistance training, outdoor cardio workouts, boxing, circuits, body weight training, flexibility and much more. A diet plan will also be provided to compliment the exercise programme.

The boot-camps are hard work, be prepared to sweat, but they offer a safe and fun way of getting you GUARANTEED RESULTS!




You can use the boot-camp for whatever fitness goal is necessary. It could be getting beach fit for holiday, ski fit for the winter, running a 5km or 10km race. Farah aged 30, used her 6 week programme as a Bridal Boot-camp so she could drop a dress size for her big day. Check out her results; she lost 7lbs, including 2inches of her tummy and over an inch off her waist and hips.

“…the boot-camp was hard work, but worth it. I feel thinner, more toned and have bags of energy….”

The cost of the boot-camp depends on the option you choose, there are 4, 5 or 6 week programmes available. So if you are interested in finding out more about this exciting new guaranteed results service, please contact James Hutchison at the studio.

Studio number: 0208 348 9706
Mobile: 07979 022120
Email: james.hutchison4@btinternet.com

Why failure is what most dieters experience.

James Hutchison, senior trainer at the studio and in his final year of a Psychology degree has sent me this great article on why dieting won't work - have a read and leave us your comments...


The obesity epidemic is fast becoming a crisis in the United Kingdom. The term clinically obese is defined as, “a body mass index of 30 kg/m² or greater,” 1. In fact the NHS released statistics in 2009 that claimed 24% of adults in England were clinically obese, an increase of 15% since 1993 2.

This same report shows there is a 14% increase in raised waist circumference in adults across the same time scale. More alarming figures were released this summer by top market researchers Mintel showing that almost a quarter of women in the UK are wearing size 18 clothes or over 3, that equates to approximately 6.2 million people. So with obesity problems like this it is no surprise that the diet industry is big business. There are no official statistics for the amount of money spent on the UK diet industry, but estimates in the US quote figures of between $40-$100 billion 4. So for the industry to be making this kind of revenue they expect one thing, your failure.

If every person who put themselves on the (place generic diet brand here) diet actually kept the weight off, then there would be no need to sell the memberships, promote the books or champion the powders and potions that bring this miraculous weight loss.

Speaking as someone who has worked in the Health and Fitness industry for over ten years I can honestly say the clients of mine who have successfully lost weight and kept it off are those who do two things; first of all they work hard in raising their exercise levels, not only in the gym or in personal training sessions, but overall in their lifestyle. This could be exercising outside of the gym by taking up a sport, or just walking more often or cycling with the kids. Secondly, and most importantly they adopt a sensible balanced diet, which provides adequate nutrition and calorie intake to sustain their daily activities, but a regime that they can stick to without falling off the wagon every week due to treat deprived binges.

So, if the solution is so simple, why do so many dieters fail? I am going to answer this question from a psychological perspective rather than in the more traditional nutritional (regulate your blood sugar) sense. It would be common sense to assume that if a persons attitude towards a behaviour, lets say their attitude towards eating healthier, was positive, then they are likely to participate in that behaviour. However, it was shown years ago that the correlation between attitude and behaviour was as low as 0.30 5 (1 being a perfect correlation).

Over the years their have been many academic studies into attitude and behaviour change, one of the most significant was proposed by Ajzen & Fishbein; the theory of planned behaviour 6. This model has shown (with empirical evidence) that a person’s actions can be predicted accurately using knowledge of their attitudes towards the behaviour, subjective norms about the behaviour and perceived behavioural control. What this means when related to a person wishing to diet is their behaviour can be predicted more accurately by knowing their attitude towards dieting, what they believe other people will think of them if they do or do not diet, do they believe they can succeed if they diet and most importantly do they show intention to change.

Another theory has grown out of this model, mainly focusing on peoples intention to change. Gollwitzer has proposed the idea of Implementation Intentions 7, and has good empirical support to back it up, such as Sheeren & Orbell (2000) 8. The concept of Implementation Intentions can be summed up as plans to participate in a behaviour that a person will need to perform to achieve a goal. The implementation intentions will specify when, where and how the behaviours will be achieved, this will not just provide the person to time to evaluate their goals and think practically how to achieve them but also provides an emotional and psychological contract that they have signed.

So, my advice to those who are thinking of dieting is to look at the situation from a psychological perspective. Make sure before you go ahead with the latest fad diet in a glossy magazine that you choose an eating regime you believe you can stick to. Then take time to write down when you are going to start, where it is going to happen (such as more home cooked meals, avoiding certain restaurants, spending more time at the gym), and most importantly, how you are going to achieve this.

It is important to prepare meal plans and give yourself 3 or 4 small goals each week, such as drink more water, cut out chocolate, reduce salt intake etc. It is also so important to have this Implementation Intention on paper, if it is sitting as a word document on your lap top you are not going to see it. Print it out, put it up on the fridge or somewhere where you and those around you will see it regularly, and make sure you add your signature to it. If you do these small but significant tasks, it will greatly increase your chances of achieving your goals and avoiding the gut wrenching guilt of previous failures. Good luck!

For more information about the psychological perspective of weight loss and exercise goals, I will be holding a seminar at the studio in the near future. So please join the mailing list on the website www.aayou.co.uk to be kept up to date.

For more information on how to choose a nutrition plan that suits you, please browse the website or contact the studio on 0208 3489706 to book a consultation with one of our nutrition experts.

References
1: Smolin, L., & Grosvenor, M. (2003). Nutrition Science and Applications (4th Ed.) USA: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
2: Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity and Diet: England, February 2009. Retrieved 18 August, 2010 from http://www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/health-and-lifestyles/obesity/statistics-on-obesity-physical-activity-and-diet:england-february-2009
3: Mintel Press release on UK dress sizes: England, August 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2010, from http://www.mintel.com/press-centre/press-releases/587/size-matters-a-quarter-of-uk-women-now-size-18-or-above
4: The diet business: Banking on failure: England, February 2003. Retrieved 18 August, 2010 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2725943.stm
5: Wicker, A.W. (1969). Attitudes versus actions. Cited in; Hogg, M,A. & Vaughan, G,M. (2005/2008). Social Psychology (5th ed.). Harlow: Prentice Hall

6: Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behaviour: cited in; Hewstone, M., Stroebe, W., & Jonas, K. (2008). Introduction to Social Psychology a European Perspective (4th ed). UK: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.

7. Gollwitzer, P.M. (1999). Implementation Intentions: Strong effects of simple plans. Cited in; Hewstone, M., Stroebe, W., & Jonas, K. (2008). Introduction to Social Psychology a European Perspective (4th ed). UK: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.

8. Sheeran, P., & Orbell, S. (2000). Using implementation Intentions to increase attendance for cervical cancer screening. Health Psychology, 19, 283-289.