Biggest Loser…..Reality TV? I think Not!
Feb 17th
Reality Television. That’s what they call it, don’t they? Let’s explore this for a moment. Putting fifteen strangers into a house with T.V. cameras watching their every move and then have them secretly vote each other out on a weekly basis . What is real about that? How about we Get 12 obese people, and have a competition to see who can lose the most percentage of body weight over the duration. Now I might be pointing out something ridiculously obvious but if networks are willing to refer to these type of programs as reality I would like to offer them a suggestion………Here we go……you ready?
Ask the biggest loser contestants to
- Work full time during the duration of the competition
- Live in their own home for the duration of the competition
- Pay for and cook every meal that they consume for them and their family
- Attend every function they are invited to by friends or colleagues
- Look after their kids if they have them.
- Pay for the 3 P.T sessions a day that they are afforded on the show. (Going on 1hour sessions at $50 per session) Estimating at a cost of $1050 dollars a week!
- Drive through peak hour to get to the gym after a full day’s work all while their families sacrifice time, money and re arrange their schedule to accommodate your gym time.
- Have to worry about their Husbands, wives, kids and life/society problems like drugs, alcohol, depression etc.
- Pay for physio, dieticians, massage therapists and any specialists associated with starting an exercise program.
Ask the producers to
- Include participants who live with obesity related pre existing health conditions such as, Heart disease, diabetes, High cholesterol, stress injuries, high blood pressure, gout, bladder control and psychological disorders.
And they call this reality TV!! To me it would be more realistic to have the competitors have to deal with all these external life factors as opposed to what is served up to the general public every night.
Secondly I would like to discuss what I see from my end as a Personal Trainer. I consider the biggest loser as a “double edged sword”. I actually get a bit of business from the show and some of my best clients have initially come to me because the show inspired them to get off their back sides and do something about their situation. This is outstanding! A TV show that has the ability to do that is not all bad. Unfortunately the situation I’m faced with on a daily basis (when the show is on the air) is that I constantly have to reinforce “healthy” weight loss principles to my clients and dispel the false ideals and unrealistic expectations that the show thrives on. What am I talking about here?? Well I don’t know about you but to me it seems that the sheer amount of weight that these contestants lose in such a short period is not only unrealistic but unachievable in the real world. Would you agree?
If you have bad eating and exercise habits and this has lead to obesity like in the case of the BL contestants then a key to successfully turning this around is to make changes that are lifelong ( get used to that idea) . To undo a lifetimes worth of self inflicted damage on your body in eight weeks to me is completely unrealistic. To make a change in your habits for eight weeks is one thing but these changes have to be lifelong!! Yes there are contestants that have successfully kept off their weight but I would be interested to see how many contestants have put their weight back on or never got it off in the first place. You would never see them on the cover of New Idea.
The practices of this show are questionable at best, if they really cared for these obese people they would not let them gorge themselves for the first week of the competition, tempt then with yum cha and subsequently shove a camera in their face while they are stuffing theirs. It seems to me that every time a contestant breaks down and tears are cried, the executives see this as more dollars in the pockets. What makes me say this?? Well I’m glad you asked!!
A couple of days ago I was told by a little birdie that when they went to audition for the biggest loser “as a laugh” they were told basically that they were too mentally stable, confident and strong psychologically to be accepted on the program. Obviously “stable” people wouldn’t make good tv. Stable people don’t cry enough!
But hey, let’s finish on a good note. I will share a piece of advice that I give to my clients that love the show and to anyone who wants to listen…..For the duration of the series, which is four nights a week for 10 weeks………..set your VCR (if you still have one) your tivo or whatever, record the show and for the hour that it’s on………go for a walk, ride your bike, have a swim, take your kids, wife, husband, raise a sweat, spend time with those important to you or have some time to yourself and your I-pod, be consistent. And maybe, just maybe you might find yourself in a good habit by the end of the series. Maybe you might find yourself setting some realistically achievable goals. As for The Biggest Loser, you can make your own mind up, but please, pretty please, with a sugar encrusted temptation on top, see it for what it is….TV.
Reality? I think not!
X-man out!
Operation “YOU”
Feb 15th
Its on again!!
Sun Fitness presents our 4 week outdoor training program,
Operation “YOU”
Starts Tuesday the 15th of March 2011
| Tuesday | Thursday | Saturday |
| 15/03 @ 6.30am | 17/03 @ 6.30am | 19/03 @ 6.30 am |
| 22/03 @ 6.30 am | 24/03 @ 6.30 am | 26/03 @ 6.30 am |
| 29/03 @ 6.30 am | 31/03 @ 6.30 am | 02/04 @ 6.30 am |
| 05/04 @ 6.30 am | 07/04 @ 6.30 am | 09/04 @ 6.30 am |
| 12/04 @ 6.30 am | ||
Alternate session times.
- Monday @6.00pm,
- Wednesday @ 7.00pm
- Thursday @ 7.00pm
Can’t make all sessions? Call us to discuss your options.
OPERATION “YOU” includes:
- 12 sessions at great locations
- Personal fitness consultations
- Expert trainers
- Healthy eating guides / plans
- Carefully structured training program
- Detailed training guidelines
- Great Bayside and melbourne locations
To book call Xavier on 0401 370 886,
BOOK NOW! Places are filling fast
What’s Going On?
Jan 31st
Hi there all you superstars!! Before I crack on with all the upcoming events and goings in the happy little world of Sunfitness, may I say a very big thank you to all those of you who have been a part of Sunfitness over 2010, whether you have done a handful of sessions or you are a committed regular, without your support and fantastic efforts Sunfitness would not exist.
In 2010 we saw one of the biggest steps forward with the business with the upgrade of www.sunfitness.com.au. With the hard work of our IT guru Dan, the site is looking fantastic and is a great advertisement for Sun Fit, we will keep you up to date with any new, major upgrades through Facebook and e-mail but it is worth logging on anyway to give yourself some motivation or some health and fitness tips. In 2011 we are hoping to create an “On Line PT” service where if you have any health and fitness related questions, ask away, and they can be answered on line.
I am looking forward to a vibrant 2011 where nothing would give me greater pleasure in seeing you all reach your goals, health and fitness related or not. As Sunfitness moves into its third year we are always looking for new ways to ensure that your training experience with us is fun, enjoyable and most of all effective. Coming up in the next couple of months are some old favourites and some new initiatives. We are planning on running our famous Outdoor Training Programs at some stage during March, with a date yet to be confirmed it will surely be an enjoyable experience for those involved and thoroughly challenging as usual. Details can be found at sunfitness.com. If you would like to register your interest e mail me on xavier@sunfitness.com.au. It is sure to be a lot of fun.
On Sat the 5th of March I will be competing in an annual event called the Maximum Adventure “Tough Bloke/Chick Challenge” This is an event that combines cross country running, challenging obstacles and a lot of mud. This will be the third year that I am competing and I am looking for a “Sun Fit” Team to come and compete with me. The event is so much fun but I’m sure it would be better with a Kick arse team to do it with, are you with me???? If you want to get involved or want more info e mail me at xavier@sunfitness.com.au or got to the website http://www.maxadventure.com.au/toughblokechallenge/. Here is a pic of me during last years Tough Bloke Challenge.
Strength in numbers!!!
How is your motivation? Do you find it hard to get up and about for that run or ride in the morning? Do you find yourself finding every reason not to go to the gym after work, no matter how small the reason may be? Staying motivated to keep up your health and fitness routine is a challenge no matter who you are. Motivation is an emotional state and unfortunately is not constant, this is one of the reasons so many people start their health kick with good (motivated) intentions only to find it all too hard after a couple of months, sometimes weeks.
In my experience one of the best ways to stay motivated is to train with a buddy. Find yourself a friend who wants to achieve like you do and wants you to achieve (similar goals or not), they will hold you accountable and you them, they will make you train when you don’t want to, they can be your sounding board when things get tough, they can make the training a more enjoyable experience and make time fly. It can become something you look forward to all day, not a chore that you dread. The same applies when you join a team!! All too often once we all leave high school our involvement in team sports diminishes. I understand that we are not all “team” type of people but it’s hard to get through your daily life without a team to back you up. Anyone have family and friends? They are our “life teams”, there to help us when we need it, to die laughing with, to cry with and to love with. They are our support group, always there when we need them. Imaging having that kind of support with your health and fitness, this is where exercising with a team, a friend, even a personal trainer can be such an advantage. It can give you the edge on Average Joe/Jane sweating away in the gym.
If you are looking to get into some health and fitness or have fallen off the wagon recently, try training with a friend, join a club or fitness group or get yourself a couple of Personal Training sessions. If you would like a trial session, fill out your details on the right and we can contact you to get you started.
To each and every one of you, have a great year and I will see you in the sun.
X-Man out!!
Happy New Year!
Jan 7th
Hi there team, Happy New Year to you all and I hope life is treating you well. As of the 10th of January, Sun Fitness Personal and Group Training is back into full swing.
If you haven’t tried training with Sun Fitness before feel free to enter your details over on the right and get yourself a free trial session.
What have you got to lose?
See you in the sun!! X-man.
6 steps to effective weight loss.
Oct 31st
Hi team, today I want to discuss some key points that I address in my work as a Personal Trainer that I thought worth sharing. Frequently I have people come to me who are looking for change. Some of which include such things like losing weight, getting fit and becoming overall healthier and happier, so I thought I share with you some key points that I recommend to my clients
The big 6……
- Eat less: C’mon X-man, there’s got to be more to it than that!! Sorry folks but it’s pretty simple. One of the most important things involved with weight loss is eating less. If you are looking to loose weight, then simply reduce the size of your meals by about 10 to 20% (don’t go back to the pot for more) and you will see a significant difference over time.
Not only is this method so effective that a medical procedure has been developed to help people achieve this called Laparoscopic adjustable gastric band surgery more commonly referred to Lap Band surgery. This is a procedure that in layman’s terms ties a band around your stomach to let less food in and is usually given to obese people. Lap band surgery can help to achieve eating less but can it change your mental approach to what you eat? Can Lap band surgery change your ability to make better food choices? Is it going to help you eat some fruit when you feel like ice cream? Or choose to eat nothing instead of the chips or party pies that are on offer at a function. Lap band surgery can physically stop you from eating too much but is it addressing the real issue. It comes down to choice and making the correct choices in your life to achieve your goals. - Eat well. Good quality, low fat, sugar free food. A general rule of thumb that I use is that if it comes pre packaged then don’t eat it. What you are looking for is to eat a wide variety of fresh fruit and vegetables, lean proteins e.g. chicken, beef, fish, lamb etc. (If it has eyes than it has protein) and complex carbohydrates, oats, rice, bread, pasta, potatoes etc. Don’t go over board and eat these at the right times, if you want more info on this hit me up on Facebook or at xavier@sunfitness.com.au or contact a dietitian.
- Making life changes and finish what you start. What we are discussing today is about making a change in the way you eat so it will be “life long” not “week long” (The soup diet- I’m sure you’ve heard of it- is a good example of week long). Do you want to loose weight fast only to put it back on just because you are not willing to change your habits for good? In my experience what’s not going to help is soup diets, lemon detox diets, cabbage diets, milkshake diets, the cookie diet (I’ve seen it), diet pills, Atkins diet, grapefruit diet, Diets full stop!! Aaaaarrrrrrrggggggg!!! (A diet infers that it has a start and finish date!!) I have seen it before on many occasions and every time the dieter always ends up stopping because it’s too hard to stick to because of its unrealistic approach and ends up in a worse position mentally and physically as a result. Don’t look for the easy way out! This is fraught with danger and can ultimately lead to failure.
- Move more. Pretty simple really, I would aim to do something every day for a minimum of a half an hour. No excuses! Walking, swimming, bike riding, boxing, gym time, weight training, pt sessions, etc. (For those of you who are active in your work unfortunately that doesn’t count). Don’t have time? Make time!
- Don’t make excuses. They will only hold you back.
- Set realistically achievable goals and focus on the process, not the result. How many times have you heard the coach of a sporting team talk about “the process”?
“Yeah nar, we are just going to focus on what we can control, and if we play to our plan and execute that plan the best we can then the result will take care of its self.”
Listen out next AFL season, the coaches can be a great source for life lessons (when put into context of course). Geoff Huegill at the recent Commonwealth games was another who put it very simply when asked how did he lose 40 kgs, to the best of my recollection it went something like this…….
Reporter: “Tell us about your journey from a couple of years ago to now. How did you lose the 40kgs?”
Geoff: “Surround your self with good people who want you to achieve and focus on the little things, the daily tasks.”
Reporter: “Like what”
Geoff: “Well I had to really focus day to day on not eating so much.”
Geoff you legend!!! How refreshing to hear someone come straight out and say it as it is.
What are the little things I hear you ask, well…….. points one through six are a good start.
See you next time, X-man out.
Spring (OTP) Outdoor training program.
Sep 9th
Boom Baby!! Its back!!
Sun Fitness presents our
30 day Oudoor Training Program “OPERATION SPRING CHICKEN”
Starts October 5th 2010
To book call Xavier on 0401 370 886
Or Jess on 0407 094 951
Or email xavier@sunfitness.com.au for more information
Session days and times
| Tuesday | Thursday | Saturday |
| 05/10 @ 6.00 pm | O7/10 @ 6.15 am | 09/10 @ 6.30 am |
| 12/10 @ 6.00 pm | 14/10 @ 6.15 am | 16/10 @ 6.30 am |
| 19/10 @ 6.00 pm | 21/10 @ 6.15 am | 23/10 @ 6.30 am |
| 26/10 @ 6.00 pm | 28/10 @ 6.15 am | 30/10 @ 6.30 am |
“Operation Spring Chicken” Includes:
- 12 Sessions @ Great locations
- Personal fitness consultations
- Expert trainers
- Healthy eating guide/plans
- Carefully structured training program
- Detailed training guidelines
- Great Bayside Locations
Can’t make all the sessions??
Call us to arrange your payment options.
The Breakfast Asile, the good the bad and the ugly.
Sep 6th
The breakfast aisle ….The good, the bad and the ugly!!!
Hi there team, and welcome to the latest “SFB” (Sun Fitness Blog). In the ongoing crusade for health, well being I find my self some times over whelmed at the amount of things that are presented in the media to be the “latest in advancement in weight loss” shortly followed by an average Joe or Jane proclaiming “I lost 15 kgs and I didn’t even have to do anything” (true story, I’ve seen the ad).What is also distressing and hilarious at the same time is the constant barrage of the latest fitness equipment that comes on to the market and our TV screens that will turn you from “Flab to Ab” just by using the product for 3 minutes a day. Distressing for many reasons, one being the false promises and unrealistic expectations portrayed in the ad. Hilarious because some things are just funny, (Anyone seen the “Shake weight?”)
Have a look here…..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXHUdvvHTkw&feature=channel
This is quite possibly the funniest thing ever!! C’mon people, get on board with the shake weight!!
Anyway, at the risk of my head exploding at the endless jokes that can be made about the “Shake Weight” the point of all this is a little bit more general. I want to have a look at Advertising on our food packaging, now I’m not talking about an ad for “Packed to the rafters” on a tub of yoghurt, but the advertising that manufactures use to help sell their product, generally these are claims plastered on the front of the product to make it more appealing, I’m sure you have all seen the stock standard “99% Fat Free”, “No artificial colours , flavours or additives,” type of marketing, it’s actually quite hard to find products without something like this on the front.
My crusade began with the attempt at hitting the entire supermarket and collecting as much info as I could but realising the magnitude of this undertaking I decided to limit myself to one aisle. “Which aisle?” I hear you ask, well…….. what about the breakfast cereal aisle!!
So I grabbed my favourite trench coat, magnifying glass and looking a dodgy as possible, and with some awkward sideways glances from disturbed shoppers I hit the Breakfast aisle! Before we get into specifics about particular packaging, claims and actual nutritional information one thing really stood out. This was the amount of cartoon characters, bright colours, and snappy marketing all directed at children. 
Now we all know that the kids do not buy the products, the parents do. So why market to kids?? Well, because kids make great targets. They are innocent and impressionable. Now as parents it’s our job to help our kids to see the bigger picture, to do this we need to stay sharp and aware of the differences between Marketing and Facts! I like to call it a “Bull sh*t Filter”
The best way I think to do this is to compile a list and you can make your own mind up. I have put it into a table which will make them easy to compare. Please take a close look at the Marketing “Claims” on the front of the box and the subsequent nutritional information
Here we go, for the sake of the supermarket closing time I just took a good cross section of cereals, im sure you will know most of them, One thing i want you to have a look at on this table is that the overall amount of kilojoules in all the cerials are quite similar, but the way those kjs are made up is another story. I will also highlight a few things on the table that are worth having a look at.
|
Cereals |
Claims/advertising on front of box |
Kilojoules per 100 grams |
Sugar per 100 grams |
Sugar in teaspoons |
Fat per 100gms |
||
|
Crispix with honey |
|
1630kj |
24gms |
4.80 tsp |
0.3gms |
||
|
Nesquik |
|
1610kj |
31.5gms |
6.3tsp |
4.0gms |
||
|
Frosties |
|
1610kj |
41.3gms |
8.26 |
0.1gms |
||
|
Milo duo |
|
1638kj |
29.5gms |
5.9 |
4.3gms |
||
|
Nutra-grain |
|
1600kj |
32.0gms |
6.4 |
0.6gms |
||
|
Weet-bix |
|
1490kj |
3.3gms |
0.66 |
1.4gms |
||
|
Corn flakes |
|
1580kj |
7.9gms |
1.58 |
0.2gms |
||
|
Just right |
|
1490kj |
31.2gms |
6.24 |
1.6gms |
||
|
Uncle Toby’s “Plus” fibre lift |
|
1431kj |
26.0gms |
Sorry, I missed this one! |
|
||
|
Special k |
|
1570kj |
14.5gms |
2.9 |
1.9gms |
||
|
Uncle Toby’s oats |
|
1590kj |
1.0gms |
0.2 |
8.8gms |
||
|
Home brand rolled oats |
|
1580kj |
2.5gms |
0.5 |
7.7gms |
||
|
Carman’s classic (muesli) |
|
1940kj |
8.3gs |
1.66 4.479 fat |
22.4gms/2.4gms saturated |
||
|
Home brand muesli |
|
1570kj |
8.9gms |
1.78 |
8.3gms |
||
So there it is, in my opinion, and its pretty plain to see, Oats and Weet bix are the only two that I would recommend, boring I know but it’s the truth. Add some fruit to your cereal and you are on a winner. Most of the others have excess amounts of sugar no matter what they claim. See you next time!!
Burn Baby Burn
Aug 23rd
Hi there team, I hope you are all well and kicking goals.
I client came to me the other day with a question of how could they get more activity in to their day? For the purpose of burning more calories. Now, the obvious answer to this question is simple. Get out and about and start walking!! Get off the couch and take the dog for a walk, get on your bike and have a ride on the weekend, make it a habit. Don’t make excuses, show commitment and get out and do it!! This is a classic “Don’t think! Do!” answer (Thanks John Kennedy) but it got me thinking of ways we can all get more activity in to our day from a different “angle”.
The “angle” is practical ways to get this activity in to your day. A great topic of discussion, I would love any comments/ideas from you all. Let’s build a list! Here are some examples that I can think of.
- Walk/ride to and from school with your kids. Not only do you get some exercise done, but you are also setting a great example for your kids. And I am sure that the ankle biters will keep up a cracking pace.
- This is an easy one. At work, take the stairs instead of the elevator. And don’t just do it once a day, every time you come or go, get on the stairs burn some calories. If you work on the top floor of a sky scraper, hop off the elevator 5 floors from your stop and get climbing.
- If you catch the train to work, depart the train 1 stop before yours. This works particularly well if you work in the city where the stations are not too far away from each other. The same can be done if you drive to work, you can simply park your car a suitable distance from your work and you are guaranteed to get more calories burnt.
- Go for a walk on your lunch break, even if its 15 minutes. It will help you digest your lunch and lessen the effects of that post lunch sluggishness and get some endorphins going and help you fire for the remainder of your day.
- For those of you who are lucky to live close enough, ride or walk to and from work.
- Try some resistance training. Resistance training can be a great way to burn more energy throughout your day without even trying. Consistant resistance training can increase what is called your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). This is the amount of energy that you burn throughout your day just doing what you do. With resistance training you can increase your lean muscle mass to create a significant boost to your BMR. So even when you are doing nothing you are doing something.
So there are a few practical ideas how you can get more activity and calorie burning into your day, but lets be honest, these ideas will only work on someone who is willing to make the change, it is not about a short term fix, these are things that if you are serious about living a healthy life, will become part of your life!
I hope you find this useful and until the next Sunfit instalment, stay happy
Xavier Griffiths.
A NEW BEGINNING
Aug 19th
Hi there boys and girls and welcome to Sun Fitness!!! And welcome to the first Sun Fitness blog. Today will be a short one but I thought it a good opportunity to explain the possibilities that this blog offers. What I am hoping to achieve with this blog and web site is to build an on line community where the focus is on Health, Wellbeing and Life style.
Within those topics is limitless subject matter and this blog is an opportunity to discuss subject matter that can help and assist you in your quest for a happy healthy life.
I for one am very excited by the endless possibilities that lie ahead and all the different subject matter that can be explored, dissected and discussed. So stay tuned for what should prove to be an exciting journey, I hope you come along for the ride with me!!
See you in the sun
Xavier Griffiths. 
