Keeping it brief today Ninjarettes, as there hasn't been too much fitness-related stuff happen today. Plus, it appears to be 9pm already. Wow-where did the time go?
Gym Ninja had a very enjoyable day out with one of the few work colleagues who understands the whole healthy lifestyle thing. If you recall, she started her own PT Diploma journey last weekend? It's just fantastic to talk through nutrition and exercise with like-minded people. You get a 'buzz' and you both start to talk faster and faster, sharing ideas and theories interjected with "OMG I TOTALLY agree"... it may sound geeky or sad to some, but if you are a similar person who often spends ages explaining to people why you eat what you do and why you ensure you get to exercise every week rather than skip it to watch TV or go to the pub, then you will understand how much of a weight has been lifted from your shoulders for the duration of the conversation.
This evening, Gym Ninja received a call from Uncle Ninja. You will remember him if you regularly read Gym Ninja's blog? if not, a quick recap.
Great Uncle Ninja
Uncle Ninja is 91 years old. Technically 'Great Uncle Ninja' actually, as he is GN's mothers Uncle. He has always been the slimmer brother to Gym Ninja's grandfather, and as a child Gym Ninja would remember hearing her grandfather laugh at his brother (Great Uncle Ninja) for eating 'rabbit food' and always snacking on fruit rather than cakes and chocolate as GN's grandfather did.
Over the past few years, Gym Ninja has shared many a fitness chat with Great Uncle Ninja. He has kept himself healthy, and despite being 91 years of age, walks the Malvern Hills DAILY...not just once a day. At least two and usually three times a day, to keep fit. That must be at least 3 miles. He had to trade in his old home-based gym bike for a new one as it had reached over 6000 miles! He often mentions how people come up to him and ask him how he stays so young looking and fit for his age. Well, for ANY age really.
"What's your Secret?" They ask him
His answer is always the same...
"There IS no secret." He replies.
"It is all diet and exercise".
Great Uncle Ninja then explained how they never seem to be happy with his response. That they appear to want 'a quick fix'. This is typical of our world today. But what we all need to remember, is that the weight didn't go on 'overnight', so why expect it to shift overnight? Yes, trying to stay healthy, steering clear of unhealthy junk foods and taking regular exercise CAN feel like a chore, more so at the start of your regime. It is for the best of us. But it is the buzz you get once your body starts to again feel alive, that outweighs the effort. It NEVER gets easier, not really...it's just that the rewards get closer to you....the carrot that tempts you.
This evening Great Uncle Ninja rang Gym Ninja to thank her for the branded Postcard he'd received from her. Gym Ninja wanted him to be the first person to receive a newly designed Personal Training promotional Postcard for her new business. He was so proud. Of course, the conversation then turned as per usual, to health & fitness.
"I see so many really obese people in the supermarket these days" He said, sounding exasperated.
"It's such a shame! They have no idea what they are eating and can barely walk around the store. It's an epidemic waiting to happen"
Gym Ninja agreed, and thus followed a chat about the junk that sits on the shelves of our supermarkets posing as food. You know the kind of stuff..when you pick it up off the shelf it has an ingredients list that starts with about 5 or 6 sugars and chemicals. GN and her Great Uncle discussed how they never go into these aisles unless it is to make a short cut, and how shopping 'the perimeter' of the store is a healthier route. After all, if you don't have it in your house then you can't eat it now can you?
The subject turned to smoking, as Great Uncle Ninja explained how even when he was younger and the risks were unknown, he refused to take up smoking when everyone else did as he'd reasoned to himself that if his lungs were supposed to take in air, then inhaling smoke wouldn't do them much benefit. His words, that he said Gym Ninja should pass on to her friends (hence this blog post) were simple...
"Smoking is merely suicide by installments".
He's a cracker is Great Uncle Ninja!
Before GN goes, she wanted to share a neat trick she'd done yesterday. As everyone who listens knows, Gym Ninja is TOTALLY broke right now. More so than ever before at any one point in her life. So budgets are super strict. You will also recall that GN received her Maximuscle delivery and is now rationing it and eating/drinking it in carefully timed moments rather than when she fancies a healthier snack. Well yesterday GN fancied a sweet fix (damned hormones!). GN no longer eats sweets so she went for a Promax Diet Bar. But this is what she did...a trick her mum used to do with GN when she was a child and eating a Mars Bar (yes, GN ate that stuff, lol). Gym Ninja cut the bar in half, and put half in the fridge. The other half she cut up into slices and then small squares, until she had a plate with a diced half of a Promax Diet Bar. Gym Ninja then ate this slowly, savouring the chocolate orange flavour. Did it curb the craving? Hell yeah! It also helped the budget! (That'd be Gym Ninja's budget and not the Country's budget!)
OMG...how sad does that actually sound? But it works for when it's not so much hunger but a craving that you have.
Okey dokey, time to log off. GN has made this brief post into a long one again!
See you all tomorrow!
Gym Ninja x
