Hi - It's so gorgeous outside I’ve been out in the garden, out walking, out running, out at the lake, outside my house in the gym, and just loving the blue sky, white mountains and warm weather. It's so nice, so apologies for this email being delayed. I hope you’ve managed to enjoy the outside and taken time to just look around you and say what a gorgeous part of New Zealand we live in. How lucky are we to be able to walk with no smog, and a beautiful view almost every day.

The weeks are racing by and before we know it our countdown will be DONE! SO HOW ARE YOU TRACKING? This week we are measuring and testing to see how you are going. Remember measuring or just trying on clothes is the best way to gauge any progress. Scales can be deceptive as numbers can go up if your building muscle. We want muscle as it powers our metabolism, but it can mess with the figures!

Are you making those unhealthy swaps for healthy and therefore is change taking place. I’ve attached an article about this below. You are the only one who can instigate that change, and if your taking one step forward and two back ask why? Why is it too hard? It shouldn’t be. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE TEXT OR RING ME IF IT IS.

Be aware of the crazy options that try to side track you, as its around this time of year that the “Summer is on its way lets try a fancy diet" come out!!! They do not work, all they do is encourage you to eat less or drink a shake or take a tablet or do a detox and all that achieves is you feel great for a while, loose muscle, loose water and then its not sustainable so you go back to the not so good eating, put on body fat, water and feel miserable because you’ve failed when in fact its the COMPANY that persuded you that this NEW way was the best way. I’m sorry but its not - you know its CONSISTENT healthy eating and exercise that DOES!!!!

Our testing in the gym is to show that your either making improvements in the gym or holding your own. Today I was at lunch (all choices included chips) I asked for double salad and was really happy with my choice, I secretly think others at the table felt a little out of sorts eating their chips and a lot were left on the side. However we were discussing a couple who struggle with weight issues and now health issues and although retired cannot achieve any of the things they thought they’d look forward to because they physically can’t. How sad this would be. Then there is my mum at 73 (I think she’s 73) who was out buying a new bike this week so she has one at home to ride. How COOL is that!!! I think it’s awesome my mum goes bike riding and walks each day. It also means that she can keep living an active life and enjoys doing things with her Grandchildren and friends and being BUSY not on the couch!!!

You may meet mum as she is visiting from next Sunday and quite likes to say hi as you walk past the lounge. However I will warn you, almost 100% of the time my mum visits it snows, so be prepared for a cold snap!!!

So the days are getting longer, warmer and the only thing stopping you from stepping outside is you, so make that date with yourself, enjoy the extra ME time outside, its has so many benefits. Buy the healthy food, throw out any unhealthy, we all have time sometimes we just choose not to, and this goes for exercise and making food (preparing)!!!

Have a great week! See you in the gym - loving it!!!

Four ways to beat food cravings

By Nicola Jackson | Aug 4, 2015 | Login to post a comment

Here are some pointers to consider if unhealthy food cravings are getting the best of you.

At some stage, we’ve all had that irresistible urge to eat a specific food. Whether your craving is for chippies and chocolate, or white bread with butter, food cravings can really throw you when you’re trying to get into a pattern of healthy eating. So what should you do when that bag of potato chips is calling your name?

1. Have you got your baseline diet right?

The first port of call when dealing with cravings is to take a look at your overall diet. Is it balanced? Are you eating enough? If you’re regularly getting food cravings in between meals, you might need to look at the balance of your meals. Often a 3pm sugar craving can be avoided by eating a more balanced lunch. This is something I see a lot of, especially when people eat salad-based lunches. To feel full, you need more than just greens! A serve of protein, a little healthy fat and healthy carbohydrate alongside those greens is a much more balanced lunch that will increase satiety and help keep those cravings at bay.

2. Is it emotional?

If you’re getting food cravings after a bad day at the office, chances are the cravings are emotional. Emotional eating becomes an issue when you’re consistently using food as a way to cope with emotions. Sometimes, it’s a habit so engrained, you don’t actually realise your craving is related to emotions. Next time you are craving something, have a think about how you are feeling and ask yourself, ‘Do I really feel like this? Is this going to make me feel better long term?’ Have a list of other things you can do when you are tempted to emotionally eat. Distracting yourself and doing something else that makes you feel good is a technique which works for many. If it’s a habit you’ve had for a while, emotional eating can be tricky to break, but finding new ways to soothe those emotions is an important first step.

3. Don’t ban foods

A sure-fire way to intensify cravings is to ban foods from your diet. If you can’t have it, you want it! Unless you have a food allergy, there’s no need to completely ban foods from your diet. Focus on a healthy diet, but don’t deprive yourself of the foods you love – allowing treats occasionally in appropriate portions can really help to avoid those intense cravings.

4. Retrain those taste buds

By making some simple food swaps, you can retrain your taste buds to enjoy less sweet and less salty foods. Every few weeks, our taste buds renew themselves. Whilst food will taste a little less flavoursome when you use less sugar and salt, after a few weeks it will become the new normal for your taste buds. If cravings, emotional eating or binge eating are an issue that you’re dealing with on a regular basis and finding it hard to beat, the best thing to do is get support from a qualified professional.