Month: October 2019

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Self-confidence & body positive

So last week I caught up with Billy Morrison from Upfront & Personal..

Billy is a personal bra fitter…

And it might seem like it’s non-related

But considering that some of the ladies just starting our 4-Week Kickstart Programme

Haven’t exercised for a while and often wonder what to wear  (Obviously I can’t give any advice on bras…despite Billy being convinced our need a bra when I am older haha)

And some of the ladies inside our programme

Who have lost weight mention their clothes no longer fit…

It’s something that is more relevant that I would have ever thought (learn something new everyday )

Especially when you consider that how you FEEL impacts what you DO and what you DO impacts the RESULTS you get..

So, here’s what we discussed:

*Self-confidence in women and how this might impact the results you get

*Non-food related rewards for doing the things you know you need to do but struggle to motivate yourself to do

*Billy’s top tips when choosing a bra

*Doing things that make you feel better to create a ripple effect and improve your motivation and energy

*Negative self-talk, judging your body and the power of treating yourself how you would treat others…

Plus much, much more!

Go here to watch:

Body Confidence, negative self-talk, judgement and Bras…with Billy Morrison

Matt ‘Bra-vo’ Fruci

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73 years old 😱

So one of the ladies inside our Fit For Life Programme sent me a link to an article

About a Joan MacDonald, a 73 year old woman

Who is now medication free

After losing 4 stone

Through muscle strengthening exercise and making some simple swaps to her diet.

In fact, here’s what it said:

“Joan has also changed her diet: before she would eat two slices of toast with jam and coffee for breakfast, a sandwich and fruit salad for lunch, meat and vegetables and dessert for dinner and she would snack on sweets, chocolates or nuts.

Now she sticks to a healthier meal plan: egg whites, cheese, meat, vegetables and bread or half a bagel for breakfast, coconut milk, protein powder, fruit and ice blended for a smoothie for lunch and for dinner she now has meat, vegetables and a salad.”

But I get it…

You probably know what to do but still don’t do it.

You’re not alone with that.

And it comes down to this:

Your MINDSET.

AKA

A set of beliefs so strong that your behaviour conforms to them…

Whether that’s 

“I’m too unfit”

“I don’t have enough time”

“I’m too old”

Whatever it is

Your behaviour conforms to what you focus on…

Whatever it is..

And to succeed,

You have to forge new beliefs that allow you to do the things you want to do…

Often by linking enough pain to the beliefs you currently have that keep holding you back…

AKA

If you continue to believe this thought, what happens?

To your health?

Confidence? 

Body?

And something that gets me going…

Is asking the question:

Who else does this impact?

Because when I realise that a belief I have may impact my family and daughters?

That gets me

To do the thing I am scared of doing…

But I know I need to do..

And I get it’s scary..

It’s like one of the ladies in side the progamme, Linda Baker…

Who has just got a place at the London Marathon.

In her words “I am a non-runner”….

It’s an exciting challenge for her

at 55 years young…

Linda will be sharing her journey, 

the highs, the lows and the challenges so be sure to follow. 

She’ll be on the podcast too soon talking about her “why” for doing it and the plan. 

Hopefully she inspires one person to move forward by 1% today as that’s exactly what the next 6 months will be about for Linda! 😃

And speaking of moving 1% forward each day with small, simple steps..

Our NEW FLEXI November 4-Week Kickstart Programme in Devizes, Burbage and Marlborough 

With mornings, daytime and evenings

(with evenings now available in Marlborough AND Devizes)

Is starting FROM Saturday 2nd November ..

We have 9 spaces left for this

And I will be putting an advert out on Wednesday so if you’d like to be first to know the details on this?

Just send over a message with ‘Devizes’ ‘Marlborough’ or ‘Burbage’

And I’ll get you the relevant details. 

Matt ’73 years old?!?!?!’ Fruci 

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Is protein ‘toxic’ (or is it your beliefs)

So I must admit,

When I first started seeing ‘with added protein’ on every other label in the supermarket 

I was kind of annoyed by the fact it was just another marketing buzzword…

To go with ‘gluten free’, ‘vegan’ etc.

But the thing is,

As much as a lot of these ‘with added protein’ products do just add cheap protein to products…

The more I think about it

(And after working with thousands of ladies now..)

The more I realise that change is HARD..

And given this?

What if you could get a benefit from making the smallest possible change?

A change that is SO small 

That you don’t really notice it?

Well, that could be the case if you just increased your protein content by eating the same foods but with ‘added protein’…

With the research showing it:

  • Can keep you more full up (so it might stop you snacking)
  • Can help your skin, hair, nails so you feel better (and when you feel better you tend to have more energy and motivation to do the things you want to do..)
  • Can you help you better control your blood sugar levels
  • Can help you lose more fat by controlling your food intake and – as a result – potentially DECREASE INFLAMMATION, CHOLESTEROL and BLOOD PRESSURE…

So, what am I saying here?

Well, nutrition has a lot of emotion attached to it…

So my question to you is this:

Do you have a belief (maybe from someone else or something you heard)

Which might stop you from making a positive change (even if it is so small)?

Maybe you heard protein or some ‘food’ is bad for you?

Maybe you believe that certain foods will make you fat?

That you can’t start because you are too unfit?

Maybe you believed something for so long that you think you can’t change it?

Whatever it is..

To succeed

You have to forge new beliefs that allow you to do the things you want to do…

Often by linking enough pain to the beliefs you currently have the keep holding you back…

These are the exact things that me and Katie discussed in our live chat we did the other day which you can watch here, as we discuss:

👉 Whether protein bars are actually any good or worthwhile.

👉 Why your weight loss may slow or you may be struggling to lose weight despite exercising and eating well (this might surprise you)

👉 What to do if you have ‘fear’ foods that you believe will make you fat so often avoid them and feel ‘fat’ and annoyed when you have them (and maybe end up binging…)

Plus much, much more..

Check it out here:

Challenging Beliefs and Fear Foods With Katie Peace

And my point in all of this

Is that despite what you believe ..

The ONLY way to get the results you want

Is through ACTION…

Matt ‘Do’ Fruci

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This was 5 years ago (Thanks Facebook Memories)

Wow..

So Facebook memories come up the other day

And it’s me

In nothing but speedos

Tanned up like Joey Essex

Posing on stage

At a physique show where you have to get super lean

 5 years ago!

Where I came 2nd in Britain…

And you know the interesting part?

I am 55 lbs HEAVIER today

Than I was then

Yet,

I am happier

Stronger

Better relationship with food

Better work / life balance

Less judgemental about ‘bad’ days

Less obsessed with ‘doing it all’

Don’t beat myself up as much

I have tons more energy…

I could go on…

And this isn’t to say I am not proud of this achievement ..

But it’s to say that

  1. Getting to a desired weight doesn’t necessarily make you happy 
  2. It’s OK to change your priorities 
  3. You don’t have to be on top of everything all of the time

And finally…

  1. A  body weight goal might get you started – but it probably won’t keep you going …

Why?

Because the ‘weight’ you want to lose

Is probably just a symptom of the ACTUAL problem..

Be it your relationship with food

Your mindset – AKA you feel you have to suffer to get the results you want (which is not true)

The way you talk to yourself

The way you think everything has to be perfect ..

I could go on…

As the quote from John Maxwell says:

“I can predict the long-term outcome of your success if you show me your daily habits”

 ^^^ read that again 

Because “you don’t create your future, you create your daily habits and they create your future”  (Randy Gage)

AKA

If you beat yourself up daily

Talk to yourself like 💩

Let one ‘bad’ day turn into a bad week / life..

Expect everything to be ‘perfect’

And stop if it’s not..

That will directly impact the results you get

And those people around you and closest to you – your family, friends, work…

So what’s changed for me?

Napping daily – even for 5 mins, has changed my energy completely 

Meditating – I used to say this was 💩 helped me transform my beliefs and get out of my on way

Setting my expectations that if I do? Will make me happy..

AKA

I know I can’t get to the gym every day, so I don’t say I’m going to do it…

Remember this…

It’s easiest to find happiness when you know what will make you happy..

Unfortunately, 

Most people don’t know what makes them happy

And just go around expecting to feel happy…

Often constantly focussed on what is NOT working

And you DO NOT want to feel..

And when you focus on that?

That is what you get…

More of what you don’t want…

These are the EXACT things we go through in our kickstart coaching sessions

Inside our November 4-Week Kickstart Programme for ladies over in Marlborough, Devizes and Burbage which starts from

Saturday 2nd November…

If you’d like more info on this?

Send over a message and I’ll get you the details. 

I will be sending this out as an advert next week 

So if you do want more info to secure your place

Just send over a message now.

Matt ‘happy?’ Fruci

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Supplements on a vegan diet?

I had a question last week 

About whether you need to supplement on a vegan diet.

They had just gone vegan for health reasons and were told they can get everything from the diet.

They don’t want to eat ‘processed food’ or ‘fake processed meat’…

Which – I’ll be honest – will make it more difficult to cover your nutrients in order to be OPTIMAL..

(notice, I didn’t say survive…)

Now, this is not my opinion

This is just what the Science says..

And I want to say first and foremost

That I will always put science over my own beliefs

Because – well – our beliefs can make us pretty biased..

So…

Put simply,

Vitamin B12 is one that you will have to either get from:

  1. A supplement / pill / injection

Of

  1. Fortified foods (some cereals, nut milks, nutritional yeast will have it)

Without Vitamin B12?

Red blood cells may not function properly 

And you may experience tiredness, lack of energy, mouth ulcers, psychological issues / depression, and even pins and needles. 

You might have heard that you can get:

Iron, calcium, zinc, choline, calcium, and omega 3 from a vegan diet..

Now, you can get them from plant-based foods. 

But when you look at studies looking at large populations?

It seems people following a vegan diet tends to lead to higher deficiencies..

Thought to be because your body doesn’t absorb as much nutrition from these plant based sources and / or you have to eat so much of them to get enough…

Example being that the type of iron found in beans and spinach is not so easily absorbed by the human body compared to the iron found in red meat.

Now, this is not to say you can’t do a plant based / vegan diet and be healthy..

Far from.

Many people do fine.. providing they do pay more attention to these minerals and vitamins. 

And after all, cutting out food groups gives you a reason to say to no to most cakes, biscuits, and limits your food choices

Which can make it easier to eat less (although that is changing with all the vegan cakes, pastries, burger and chips etc)

But if it were me going vegan?

Based on what the science says, I’d probably supplement with:

-Iron

-Vitamin B12

-Omega 3 (look at algae supplements for alternative to fish)

-Calcium 

-Zinc

-Choline

-Vitamin D3 (even if you eat fish, eggs, meat and dairy, I’d still recommend this one)

To decrease my risk of anaemia, bone fractures, and even depression…over TIME…

I hope this helps…

Because – ultimately – your reason for eating ANY way or doing ANY type of diet… 

Has to be the right one for you and your lifestyle. 

I mean, one of the ladies did it purely for ‘health reasons’ 

but didn’t get on with it and felt so much better eating some fish, eggs and some meat eat again. 

Interesting part 

Is that she said 

‘I feel bad about it as I was committed to being veggie and still eat mostly veggie stuff. Just can’t believe it took me so long to work it out. 

I am most pleased about getting up so early for the exercise and I seem to manage to pack in loads now 

and have more energy that makes me feel in control and able to control other habits”

Like I side, the most important part 

Is that you do what makes you happy…

Matt ‘supplements’ Fruci

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You can’t do it all

“Remember to share”

“What happened?”

“Where did you get that from?”

“How did you get up there?”

^^^ Just a few of the things I have found myself saying whilst feeling PRESSURED to get stuff done…including my own workout whilst looking over two toddlers under 3, at times…

So over the last few months,

I’ll admit that on plenty of occasions I’ve gone into ‘I don’t have time’ mode…

It’s even put me off some of my own workouts…

I initially struggled to workout from home with 2 babies under three years old…

And I get that it’s not one else’s fault but mine..

You see, if you’re anything like me

Everyone else’s agenda becomes an emergency:

Kids

Work

Emails

And all of this?

Takes over YOUR agenda…

“I better ring him”

“I better go see her”

“I better see if he’s OK” 

At the expense of YOU…

Your TO DO LIST is huge…

And all you can see

Is it coming down on you…

And you can’t do everything, right?

The thing with all of this?

It will probably make you feel pressured..

AND…

The result of feeling pressured?

We do nothing..

Eat crap.. (to escape the moment)

‘Just get through the day so I can drink tonight’

So what am I saying?

Well, I’ll give you a clue:

YOU can’t do everything…

But you can always do ONE THING..

When I feel pressure from a list of things to do..

I remember that I can ALWAYS do one thing..

The only REAL way to get rid of pressure is ACTION.

(yes, you can drink, eat crap, scroll Facebook, complain about Brexit)

But the only REAL way to get rid of pressure is ACTION…

ONE thing at a time..

To sum up?

1-Take care of YOUR agenda before anyone else’s 

(try this 6 minute workout here: https://frucifit.com/reverse-ageing/)

2– YOU can’t do everything…But you can always do ONE THING..

try this 6 minute workout here: https://frucifit.com/reverse-ageing/

Matt ‘one thing’ Fruci

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Food for fatigue & tiredness 🍫

Quick one today as we have a busy day ahead with our monthly ‘Twilight Spa’ (almost)..

Full of mindfulness meditations, yoga, canapes (kind of), and a nutrition seminar with me.

This is something we every month inside out 4-Week Kickstart programme to help you prioritise self-care 

so you can change the way you feel (which impacts what you DO…which impacts the RESULTS we get)

Speaking of the way we feel, tiredness, and fatigue…

I caught up with Dr Shelly Coe on Friday

who is a researcher and Nutritionist From Oxford Brookes University

with a focus on lifestyle, food, and exercise to fight fatigue, tiredness and conditions, such as Multiple Sclerosis. 

She is also a big fan of chocolate and wine 😉 backed up the research, of course! 

Here’s what we discussed:

🍫 The everyday food that has been shown to help reduce fatigue (that is pretty tasty and you don’t need loads of time to prep)

🍫 Why lifestyle ‘medicine’ seems to be more effective that drugs for fatigue

🍫 A little known reason that might motivate you to eat more fruit and veg today..

🍫 What to do when you feel you don’t have the motivation or energy to exercise

🍫 Why expensive supplements aren’t the answer either (or organic)

🍫 Why you’ll struggle to overcome your current obstacles unless you stop doing this one thing…

🍫 3 Things you can start with today to improve your sleep, increase your energy and feel better 

🍫 My 2am secret eating habit…

You can check out the video here:

https://www.facebook.com/MattFruciNutrition/videos/698757783971040/

Let me know what you think…

Oh, and if you’re on the go?

It should be up on my podcast too here:

>> If you have an Apple phone, go to iTunes here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/fruci-fit-rough-n-ready/id1469685325

If you have an Android, go here https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/fruci-fit-rough-n-ready-880406

Matt ‘🍫’ Fruci

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Slow metabolism (how to fix it)?

Something I get asked about a lot from the ladies just starting their 4-Week Kickstart is whether their metabolism is now ‘slow’ or ‘broken’ and that’s why they can’t lose weight.

(Reply with ‘November’ if you’d like more info on our November kickstart in Marlborough, Devizes or Burbage by the way) 

Some being told by slimming clubs to ‘eat more potatoes’ even when they are full up…

Eat more speed foods..

It can be confusing for some. 

Now, it’s true…

That when you diet / try to lose weight

You may find that your progress slows down..

And that adaptations happen that makes it ‘feel like’ you can’t lose weight / your metabolism is slow.

But something that is often overlooked is NEAT 

AKA

The exercise  / movement you do outside of actual exercise.

This could be gardening, walking, fidgeting, paring further away, walking around the house, your posture. Etc…

What the research shows is that some people are more prone to changes in this type of movement when dieting than others..

In fact, one study gave people 1000 calories more than they needed

And showed that weigh gain ranged from 1-2kg to 6-7kg…

With the main difference between their everyday movement.

So what does this mean?

Well, if you have been exercise a lot and / or eating a lot less?

You may be subconsciously moving less..

You may be fidgeting less, walking less, not have that ‘get up and go’ that you maybe used to have..

And this could be the reason why your fat loss is slowing..

Rather than your metabolism.

And it’s for this reason why I often recommend just focussing on small changes..

1% better each day

Rather than going all in on some military bootcamp thing where you leave on your hands and knees, dropping with sweat haha not nice..

And research backs this up..

They gave people an exercise programme that burned 600 calories

Or

An exercise programme that burned 300 calories .

What did they find?

When people did the exercise programme that burnt 600 calories they seemed to move 300 calories less during the day..

Suggesting that ‘more’ is not always better

And just being aware of your daily movement, no matter how small

Even if it is moving around on the hour in the office

Or going for a walk at lunchtime / parking further away at the shops..

This could be key..

And I want to stress that this also relates to the fact that if you do a super low calorie diet

Where you tend to feel pretty rubbish

You tend to move around less

Which may offset the weight loss you think you should get..

And you might even miss out on the benefits of exercise..

I guess this is the debate between eating enough and getting the nutrition you need to

Drop a dress size / get in shape

AND

Have enough energy to get fit and strong so everyday tasks get easier. 

BUT…

3 things I also want to touch on

1 ) SMALL fluctuations in weight that you see weekly / daily

Even up to 6lbs

Can literally just be the results of a bit more veg / fibre in your diet, water, eating later, menstrual cycle, sleep, salt etc.

And probably shouldn’t be taken as some absolute measure of your success 

(in fact, this is why I don’t say to weigh yourself if you’ve had a bad experience with slimming clubs starving yourself for the dreaded weigh in..)

2) IF you have lost weight…you are now a smaller human being and require fewer calories to live 

(this may not be the case with more muscle / ‘tone’ so you may actually keep your metabolism slightly higher with this) 

The good news is that your body adapts to this over time.

Higher protein intakes and resistance / muscle strengthening exercise seems to help with this as they help to keep you full up..

3) Low carb – 

VERY low carb diets ‘may’ slow impact your thyroid..

However…

A lot of the ladies I work with actually find that it helps their hunger and ability to stick to a diet 

By eating a lower carb diet. 

Perhaps due to the higher protein that results from this?

So anyway..

what does this mean for you today?

  1. Keep an eye on your daily steps – track your steps and try to keep them the same even if you do exercise
  2. Keep protein higher  – this can help your body hold on to muscle and be more likely to lose body fat
  3. Don’t take fluctuations on the scale as the absolute indicator of your efforts – after all…keeping going at 60% will get you better results than being 100% on it for a day…
  4. You don’t have to jump straight into some crazy high intensity exercise programme … start small, you might then keep up your other exercise and you might then enjoy it again to do it tomorrow and the next…

And finally..

Small habits, compound effect…

Matt ‘1>0’ Fruci

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What Caroline said about me

So last week I got this message from Caroline who’s on our October 4 Week Kickstart Programme 

(which will be open soon for November by the way, see ‘PS’ on how to get more details)

“So I have got below 10st 4 for the first time in 8 years.

It’s not about the weight (never thought I’d say that). I feel so much better already. The best new habit is getting up and doing my routine at home, one of yours and then Katies stretching sessions.

After that I pack so much more in my day and enjoy things so much more. 

Am virtually alcohol free (my choice and big challenge to break the habit).

I thought I was done as far as fitness etc. I used to get out of the car 

Or up from the chair as stiff as anything but your promises have come true.

I have more energy, more happiness and feel I can carry on ☺ “

Well done, Caroline.

And when I talk about our community and the support from the ladies that we have…

I don’t just mean like-minded ladies together In a room..

This is so much more than that.

Accountability 

Friendships

Teamwork 

And – of course – a lot of fun ☺

And I think Caroline summed it up with this (which made my day because this is why we do it):

“Can I just say what a lovely tribute it is to you that there were so many of us there this morning at 7am trying out hearts out, 

laughing about questions about cows and chickens (this was our riddle workout)

And feeling so much better for it all.

You must have a nice warm flow inside – seriously. 

It’s the best classes I’ve been to…

Caroline”

WOW…

The crazy part

Is this is just one of our 53 amazing reviews from like-minded ladies 

Who just started DOING

And funnily enough…started seeing RESULTS.

Ready?

We’ll be opening up soon for our November Kickstart Programmes in Marlborough, Devizes and Burbage.

If you’d like to get on the priority list and get more info now?

Send over a message and I’ll get you the details. 

Matt ‘half assed is better than no assed’ Fruci

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“Fancy a burger and fries? 🍔🍟

It’s vegan, gluten free, made with ‘natural’ coconut sugar, and organic. “

It’s a minefield right now…

And some food manufacturers are taking advantage of this, potentially leading to you making choices that might not be as beneficial as you thought (both for your waistline and your bank account):

1. “Vegan” – Despite the word being associated with ‘health’….Marketers can put vegan on ice creams, cookies, and even crisps (which should be vegan anyway) to make the seem better than the original

2. “Gluten free” – Just go down the gluten free isle and have a look at the calories…a biscuit is a biscuit…

3. Coconut sugar / beet sugar / brown rice syrup etc. – these are all just the same as plain old…sugar. Now, there’s no reason to avoid sugar but just so you’re aware of what you’re buying

4. Agave syrup – Did you know this has 5 times the calories as sugar? Now, it is sweeter than sugar, so the ‘proposed’ benefit is that you might use less… It’s also a vegan substitute for honey…but is still just sugar.

5. “Organic” – There’s very little difference, if any, in NUTRITION between organic and conventional packaged food…

My point in all of this is that contrary to what many of the food manufactures might want you to believe, you don’t have to change EVERYTHING to get healthy and lose some body fat…

In fact, this ‘all or nothing’ / thinking it has to be ‘perfect’ is that exact reason that stops you from starting and…getting closer to where you want to be.

Just remember, Consistency >>> Perfection​​​

So, start small. Don’t forget to pack your bottle of water with you today, something that is SOOO simple, is overlooked.

In fact, when I was asked the other day what ONE thing would have the biggest benefit on someones life that they could do NOW…

It was ‘drink more water’.

Not eat ‘organic’, not ‘ go vegan’, not ‘ditch dairy’, and not ‘don’t eat carbs after 6pm’…

And I often get the following at the start when people start using our nutrition system which does your food targets, meal plans and shopping lists for you:

“Surely it can’t be this simple?” “What about bread being bad?” “Am I really allowed wine?”

​​​​​​My answer?

Well, wouldn’t it be fun to find out if doing these simple things consistently worked?

Matt ‘naturale’ Fruci