Healthy Thai Chicken Meatballs

Quick and Easy....Now we are talking!!! 

Simple Thai Chicken Meatballs that you can serve for lunch with a salad or you can make them bite size if you are having friends over for Christmas drinks.

Enjoy xx

 

 

www.realfitnessforrealwomen.com.au

Metabolism Fact!

 

People with more muscle and less fat generally have a faster metabolic rate, while people with more fat and less muscle have a slower metabolic rate.  What does this mean.....

 

Increase your muscle and you increase your metabolism, turning your body into a

fat burning machine.

www.realfitnessforrealwomen.com.au

 

Is your friendship sabotaging your weight loss?

Knock the tall poppy!  It’s such a shame that we don’t cheer on people that are successful, instead we knock them and try and sabotage their success.  Yes a generalisation and a pretty broad statement but as a Fitness Professional I see it every day.

Taking the first step to lose weight can be a challenge and we know the obvious ones.  A challenge that we don’t prepare for is our friends sabotaging us.  Friends are used to sharing a piece of cake or indulging in chocolate with you.  If you honestly look at some of your friendships you enable each other with your eating.  The friendship is based around food and feeling better about eating food you know you probably shouldn’t but you have someone eating it with you so it must be ok! 

You make a conscious decision to improve your life and change your eating but your friend no longer has an eating buddy and doesn’t know how to cope.  Their goal is to get you back to the old friend as quickly as possible, they may not realise they are doing this but they are feeling lost.  For example you are at a party and are trying to eat well, stay on track and remain focussed on your goals. Friends that are used to you eating junk food will constantly try and get you to have ‘just one piece’ or ‘just one bite’ and they can be very determined, there is nothing quite like peer pressure.  What do I do you ask.....Use strategies like I will in a minute I’m just going to the loo, or I will just get a drink first and put some distance even for a minute between you, them and the food.  Chances are they will forget about you not having shared in their treasure trove of snacks.

Other saboteurs take form in the ‘that’s crazy, your being ridiculous’ why are you going to the gym, waste of time and money.  These types are often jealous, just ignore them, hold your head high and be proud.

People generally don’t like change, you have made an important step to improve your lifestyle and you should be congratulated.  It won’t be long before they start saying you look amazing and are asking how did you do it.

 

Everything you need at Real Fitness for Real Women

 

If it's meant to be it's up to me....A statement of truth!  You can have all  the support and fancy equipment but at the end of the day it's up to YOU. If you want to change your lifestyle, your health, your fitness or your weight the buck stops with you.  How badly do you want to achieve your goal?  How angry do you get when you try on clothes that are too tight? Is the quick satisfaction of a chocolate bar worth it?  You are in charge or your results......

Real Fitness for Real Women, is here to support you and make the journey as painless and as quick as possible but at the end of the day you have to be responsible for your actions.

www.realfitnessforrealwomen.com.au

It's time to share my weight loss story ...
Size 20 to size 10!

 

I got picked on at school for having fat calves!  Yep, crazy opening statement but I promise I will come back to it.

As a Fitness Professional I was embarrassed that I had previously had a weight issue.  I hid it for years and didn’t share my past with anyone. Very tentatively I started to share my past with clients, I was amazed at how open they were to hearing my story and in actual fact how much more my amazing clients were able to relate to me.  They no longer saw me as just a Personal Trainer but as someone who had genuine empathy for where they were at on their weight loss journey.

The second stage of sharing my story starts now, I think it’s important for you to understand what it feels like to reflect on your weight gain and loss and the emotional roller coaster that goes with it.  When you are in the ‘zone’ you truly cannot grasp your emotions and your feelings.

Yes I went through the puppy fat stage as an adolescent but through sport and lifestyle I came out the other side in one piece.  No this is not when I got teased about having fat calves!!!  Late teens I was a ‘normal’ ‘average’ young lady and as crazy as it sounds this is when I got teased for having fat calves...girls can be so nasty!.  But I will get back to the fat calves in a minute. 20’s and early 30’s no drama’s I worked, played and partied as a happy size 10 – 12....then......

Yep I fell pregnant....excitement, joy...love and incredible weight gain!!!  Yeah yeah you say don’t we all but wait a minute....My son was born 11lbs at 38 weeks!  I didn’t eat for 2, I didn’t over indulge I just got huge!!!!  My son was a tourist attraction for the nurses wanting to see the biggest baby born in the hospital for that year.  The hardest part was I still looked 6 months pregnant for the longest time.  How heavy was I?  I wish I knew!  I was so embarrassed to stand on the scales, and now I regret not knowing because I didn’t get the chance to own that number which is such a big part of the weight loss journey.  What I do know is that I was a size 20 elastic waist band.  If I had to be honest I was definitely 100kg and my son was a few months old.

I remember trying to buy ‘gym wear’ and they didn’t go up to my size.  I lost the plot in the middle of the shop!  Yep a hormone melt down, how was I supposed to go to the gym when I don’t have gym clothes and how am I supposed to fit into gym clothes if I have nothing to wear to the gym.......How did I feel? ..... frustrated and embarrassed!

Now to make matters worse in my hormonal over weight world my son was a big boy, not over weight but off the charts in every measurement.  As he moved on to solids I made everything from scratch for fear my son was going to have a weight issue.  People would ask why is your 1 year old not walking? Aaahhh!! Sorry he is 6 months old.   I’ll stop here and say he is 10 now and is as lean as a whip with an amazing body, healthy appetite and a well rounded young man!  Phew!!!  But it was hard as a new mum being overweight with a ‘large’ child.  I felt embarrassed and I felt people were staring at me.  I felt insecure, uncomfortable and when I got cranky at something trivial I over reacted because I added my anger of my weight to the situation.  Was my weight relevant to the issue at hand? Absolutely not but being fat exaggerated my anger.

What made it worse was that I tried everything to drop the kilos.  Yep I tried every fad diet and gimmick I could and nothing worked.  Why?....Now I know why, none of it works!  I understand now that if there was a quick fix we would all be skinny!!!!!!! What did I do......

My son was a year old, I couldn’t lose weight and it depressed me.  I could have eaten my way out of it or in to it.  But instead something snapped and I said "that’s it"!.  I used that anger and channelled it towards success.  I ate ‘well’, no gimmicks, healthy food that was ‘clean’ no processed food, no starvation diets nothing silly.  As for exercise I enlisted a Personal Trainer.  I was accountable for weigh ins, measurements and I tracked my results.  Was it hard? You bet! Did I have highs and lows and then more lows for sure.  But that’s how it works, the key is learning from the experience and learning how to maintain your loss.

I did lose all the weight but I got to a size 14 and said, "well I am a mum now this is it, be happy"!  Those of you who know me know I'm not going to settle for something I am not happy with.  At this stage I had had my second baby, my oldest was 3 my youngest 1 and I was an athletic 14 but I still wasn’t happy.  This is when I started my studies to become a Personal Trainer.  I knew I would be a better Trainer/Health Coach because I had life experience behind me.  I achieved a comfortable size 10-12 and I have maintained that range going on 7 years.  Could I be a lean size 10? Yep I could but that doesn’t give me room to enjoy life and all things yummy in moderation.  The goal is not to be as ‘skinny’ as you can be, the goal is being at a weight where you feel comfortable and able to maintain.

Trust me maintenance is not hard, it’s actually the easy bit...when you know how, that is.  But first things first; you need to get there.  Yo-Yo dieting and fad diets are not going to get you there, what it will do is put you on a weight loss/gain roller coaster for the rest of your life and you will still be angry, frustrated and disappointed with yourself. Education is key, you need to respect where you are, own where you are at and refuse to go back.  How?  Yes it is scary but it can be done...I know I did it and I am prepared to teach you.

Back to the fat calves!!!!!!  I will fill you in on the rest of the story.  I was looking for some long boots just this winter and the sales lady was looking me up and down checking out my legs...She said ‘you have skinny calves, wait right there’ I literally burst out laughing as I remembered being teased as a 16 year old for having fat calves.  Sure enough she brought out an amazing size 10 pair of boots that they hadn’t been able to sell because they are a slim fit.  Lucky me, a $300 pair of boots for $39 and a compliment of having skinny ankles.....it made my day.

Now....I am a successful Personal Trainer and a Fitness Director for a leading health club chain in Australia. I am able to support and motivate so many people on a daily basis but it’s not enough.  I know what it feels like not being able to get into a gym or not being able to find someone who you can connect with to help you on your journey....I share because I share your pain but I also want to share your joy in achieving your goal.

Unfortunately there are not many photos of me and my son, I was embarrassed by my size.  It's not a great example but it's the best I have, check out that double chin!!!  32 years old Size 20, and now a size 10/12 at 42 years old!  I look younger now!!!

 

www.realfitnessforrealwomen.com.au



Sarah Shaw - Your Real Fitness Coach

Real Fitness for Real Women
Weight Loss Stories, Advice, Success, Tips, Tricks and Facts...


What’s the secret to sustainable weight loss and a healthy lifestyle? Forget pills, potions and quick fixes the answer is simple!  Good nutrition, exercise and a positive state of mind. The answer may be simple but the journey can be long and challenging.
 

Taking the first step to a healthier you is always the most difficult but you don’t have to take that journey on your own.

Real Fitness for Real Women is dedicated to helping you achieve your health and fitness goals in a supportive and encouraging environment.  By taking a holistic approach to your health and fitness needs you will be provided with advice and the tools required to achieving and sustaining a healthy lifestyle.

What to expect from Real Fitness for Real Women Programs and e-books:

·         Realistic solutions that can  be easily incorporated into your daily routine

·         Personalised programs

·         Step by step simple process to a healthier lifestyle

·         Healthy nutrition options that can be adapted to any family situation

·         Quick effective exercises that can be done at home, in the gym or at the park

·         Tools for planning menus and exercises

Real Fitness for Real Women will empower you to take charge of your life. You have the power to influence your food and exercise choices!  With determination and hard work, you will achieve your goal. Real Fitness for Real Women is about making lifestyle changes that last.

Sarah Shaw

Sarah is a passionate and committed health and fitness professional with many years of experience. With qualifications in Fitness, Nutrition, Nutrition Psychology and a host of other certifications Sarah has the life skills and text book knowledge to support you on your weight loss journey. Sarah provides a holistic approach to assisting you with achieving your health and fitness goals, starting with getting the right mental attitude, introducing healthy eating as a daily routine and rounding off the process with effective exercises. Having personally experienced her own successful weight loss journey and maintaining it, Sarah understands the challenges that you face.

For Sarah “Diet” is a dirty word. There is just no need to live your life in a perpetual state of dieting. A sustainable healthy lifestyle is achieved by incorporating healthy eating and exercise into your daily life.

Sarah will motivate and encourage you by providing you with the necessary advice and support to ensure that you not only achieve your goals but also maintain them.

 Your Link to Real Fitness Results