Lisa rediscovers carrots

mmm birthday cake

At last. Some time to myself. The past couple of weeks have been hectic while entertaining my family and it has certainly been entertaining. Especially when it came to food. Since my sister has 3 kids under 10, we've had some very norty food in my cupboard while they've been staying with us. You know stuff like snack sized chip packets, biscuits, chocolates, fruit roll ups (why don't they just eat fruit!) and plenty of other treats that gave my cupboard and fridge quite a shock. Ofcourse I've also had to resist the temptation to introduce my tastebuds to these treats, which I did with flying colours.

Gotta start 'em young!

Although the kids did get into the bad snacks, luckily they do like healthier stuff too. Otherwise I would've forced fed them! Strangely my youngest niece loves cucumber. She actually asks for cucumber ' a nice big chunk of cucumber please Auntie Lisa' she'd say. And has it with some hummus and ham.

The other niece loves carrots, so I thought hmm carrots, its been ages since I actually snacked on carrots and it wasn't that bad. So I picked up snacking on carrots from her. So now I love carrots and would encourage all of you out there to pick up carrots or celery as a snack when you're feeling hungry.

Lisa's holiday adventures

Lisa and Nikki	Well I had a very busy time holidaying in the South Island, mainly in Greymouth and Christchurch catching up with friends and family and ofcourse my bodybuilding friends too. Niki Taylor (NZFBB Bodyfitness champ 07) came out to wile away a couple of hours with me at the airport. Thanks Niki.	Sunny day over snowy alps
I was feeling queezy from my flight from Auckland. The last 5mins were very bumpy due to the westerly blowing in. I'm not a great traveller sometimes and I hate landings so the 2 didn't mix. Anyway, Niki took my mind off my stomach and we chatted about bodybuliding...ofcourse! Niki's coming over to the Gold Coast to do the ANB and WNBF comps at end of May with the team. She hasn't decided if she's doing the Sportsmodel or figure class yet. Niki's been dieting a couple of weeks and weight's just dropping off her, lucky thing. She didn't quite manage to convince me to compete. Others already have tried, eh Ali, but just biding my time and enjoying my rest and growth. So after coffee it was into a little 12 seater paper plane to Greymouth aka the flight from hell...or to hell. That westerly didn't stop blowing and just as we were about to cross to the other side of the alps the plane started shaking, then rollercoastered abit, then it dipped into a 'hole'! I was not in great shape and felt all my breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea wanting to come back up again. The sickbag was firmly in my hands and without going into too graphic details, the bag was full by the time I landed in Hokitika. It took me a day to get my land legs back. Luckily I had a smoother flight back on a gorgeous day where I could see the snow on the alps. See pic above right.

Lisa gives TRX Training a go!

Click above pic for video

They say necessity is the mother of invention and for one U.S Navy SEAL who was fighting in Afghanistan it was a necessity for him to workout so he could keep up his strength and muscle mass. As if battling the war against terror and the taliban wasn't enough!

Brent and Lisa

There was no equipment so he used some parachute handles to come up with a basic suspension system he used to workout with. This parachute has since been fined tuned into this durable and lightweight TRX suspension training system. And its pretty cool. Maybe the only thing good that came out of the war?!!

The TRX is distributed in NZ by www.speedpowerstability.com Check out their site!

I have seen the TRX system on various websites and I thought it would be fun but hard at the same time. So when Brent Taylor, a fellow PT based in New Plymouth, contacted me as he thought it might be of interest to fellow Go Figure viewers and Personal Trainers. I thought 'yes please! give me a go'. Brent has been using it for a while on himself and his clients and he sure knows his way around all the exercises. And tell you what, training on it was hard work!

It looks easy, afterall its just a couple of cables tied on to a bar right? But it was pretty tough as you really have to use your own core to move your whole bodyweight through the various exercises. We only went through a few basic exercises but by the end of it my heart was pounding and I could feel my muscles fatigueing already...or was it because I was still sore from my chest workout the previous day.

Some of the exercises we did were pushups, pull ups, front delts, rear delts, triceps, obliques, one legged front lunges, one legged squats and I'm sure there's heaps more. You can make the exercise easier or harder by moving away from the bar or closer. And also shortening the cable makes things harder too. I didn't choose that option! so it can be used by all strength levels.

Brent seemed to easily breeze through going from one exercise to the other changing his foot or hand placing on the handles so I think if you're using it often, you can get quite a good cardio workout from it too. He said he uses the TRX during supersets with normal weight trainng exercises to add intensity. I only did about 4 or 5 reps of these exercises and I was tired. I don't think I'm the weakest girl in the world but these suspension exercises really wore me out. But I must admit my core is weak.

I think a suspension system would be great if you don't have much room as you can just hang it up as you need it. All you need is a solid bar across a doorway and you're away doing a workout. You can take it outdoors and suspend it from one of the playground playthings. Just make sure no kids around otherwise they'll pester you to play on it too! The system fits into a very small bag so you can even take it away on holiday with you so no more excuses for not training!

The TRX probably more suited for people who are into more fitness, sport specific and conditioning and not for the hardcore bodybuilder types. But I think the bodybuilders would struggle to do some of these exercises though.

Check out the Video Here! Don't just read about my experience, see just how I struggled with some of these exercises in the video. Excuse my red face, it was hard work!

Click above pic for video

Well ofcourse we had to get Brent to take his shirt off so we could see his tatts!

Lisa chews the Fat

	Us women are always talking about fat. How fat we are. How much fat is in that muffin? Can I get a trim fat latte? Can you trim that fat off the chicken? Do my legs look fat? and it goes on and on. I'm sure you know what I mean eh girls. FAT FAT FAT its the smallest word but can make such a biggest difference to how we live our lives and how we look.
But despite fat getting a bad rap, you do need fat in your diet. Even when you're dieting. With my clients I generally don't take all fat out of the diet as fat is needed as co factors to many body functions. If too much fat is missing from the diet then it may actually decrease the rate of fat loss.
	Fats and oils in the form of flax oil, omega fish oil, nuts are a concentrated source of energy and is neccesary to be in the diet especially when your carb intake is low. Plus I also cycle in steak and salmon in their diets which adds to the fat intake. Diets that are too low in fat (less than 20 - 25%) may trigger cravings so adding fat curbs the cravings and since fat helps food stay in the stomach longer, it gives a greater sense of satisfaction and preventing hunger soon after meals.

Lisa rediscovers carrots

Lisa's holiday adventures

Lisa gives TRX Training a go!

Lisa chews the Fat

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