Good morning  All, Hope you plan on having an awesome day and enjoying what little sunshine we have left for this year.  This is probably another off health topic I thought I would share with you, my email last week about my time in Iraq got a lot of response, and it got me thinking about another key event that happened just a year later, which again held another key life lesson for me. Never mess with Mother Nature, Mother in Laws, or Mother F**king Royal Marine Commando's! Valuable lesson in life! I loved my Green Beret, I worked very hard for it, not only did I complete the thirty week commando training course, but I broke my hand twice which extended it by 20 weeks. So when I got that lid I felt extremely proud, and when I got the opportunity to go to war and experience what I had trained for it felt like a privilege, and my training made sure I was more than ready. Then it finished. Unlike the Falklands we didn't come back to a Hero's reception. There was supposed to be a big dramatic sailing in to Portsmouth where we would all be stood on the ship waving at large crowed's of our family, friends and well wishers waving Union Jacks and just itching to buy us a drink.  News footage of family reunions with long separated soldiers and their wives, kids, mothers and all who loved them who where probably the real hero's of the war, kept in complete silence watching the news terrified of what they would see and barely keeping it together. ( my own mother learned of the outbreak of the War when she walked past the local newsagent only to see that she was on the billboard, as Mother Waits at home for News of her two sons in Helicopter Crash, it turned out eh Leicester Mercury had cottoned onto the big crash at the start and as me and brother where in the same unit had decided to run with that as a story, I refused them an interview on my return) But then it got cancelled. We where just flown into the UK in the dead of night, no big scene and then we unpacked our stuff and went home for two weeks.  No big welcome.  It turns out the War was pretty unpopular. A lot of questions where being asked.  People where outraged that Blair had just blindly followed Bush into what seemed like more of a personal vendetta than any political reason to invade another country, and all on the basis of fabricated evidence. So nobody bought me a drink, and after months of living a real life version of Grand Theft Auto I was back into reality and finding it hard to adjust.  For people who weren't there it was impossible to explain, and for the family who had so eagerly anticipated the return of their loved ones now found they had a socially awkward and changed person on their hands.  Everyone went through different experiences, some people had nightmares, woke up having wet the bed and struggled to cope. But to be honest I felt fine. Just a little disorientated. Then over the following year morale at 40 Commando went down hill. We got new officers in charge who had never been in the conflict. We took to drinking very heavily most nights. We still had a sense of being indestructible and we mostly fought and brawled and got up to all kinds of stuff that would be inappropriate for me to talk about in a Newsletter. So whilst in Norway I handed in my notice, I was going to leave the Marines and pursue my interest as a personal trainer, a job I felt sure I was well suited for, more of a calling than a career. There was just one problem though. Iraq, we where due to go back there, I was to spend my last three months back in the dessert. I was not very happy with that to say the least, but I just swallowed it and got ready to put my family through it all again. Several of my friends had also handed in their notice, and together we hung around and talked about how awesome we thought civvy street would be! The prized Green Beret I had worked so hard for and felt so proud of had now became something I despised. I cleaned the floor with it. Spat on it and turned my back on everything the Marines stood for. The B.S discipline and administration nonsense and bureaucracy that had never sat well with me. I knew I had made the right decision when I stood in parade one day and watched a 38 Year old man, married with children who was being shouted at by a jumped up litte tw*t of an officer  half his age. Before we had to go to Iraq, we had to go for a two week field exercise in Wales, this was to familiarize ourselves with tactics, and learn new troop formations and test out equipment. It was an important exercise, and the prospect of spending two weeks stuck in the rain on what can only be described as the worst camping holiday ever didn't appeal to me much. So that's when it happened. The basis of the headline of this email We went out for a cheeky couple of half pints on the Sunday night after packing all of our kit. As Ryan and myself rolled back into camp about 4am the next morning, slightly the worst for wear we made a decision which changed everything. (Ryan was with me in Iraq a year earlier, he had laid next to me in a ditch as Rocket Propelled Grenades went above us, he caught the back dust in his eyes and was blinded for two weeks and had to be carried out of Battle by Helicopter) It started out as a joke, one of us dared the other person to go AWOL. We dared each other to just go  AWOL and enjoy a few more nights drinking! Never set dares when your  drunk!  So we got a Taxi and found ourselves to Bournemouth! So we spent a few days in Bournemouth, and had a few drinks, and enjoyed being AWOL for a few days whilst the Military police set off on our tracks. After a few days we ran out of things to do, and decided to hand ourselves in. We rang up the base, told them we where coming and where immediately arrested on arrival. Later that day we where in the office of the highest ranking officer of 40 Commando, who had come back from the exercise in Wales especially for us.  He ran through the charges of AWOL, and then sentenced us to 14 days in Colchester Prison. Then he hit me with the worst news, I was to report to MT that night with my bags packed to go into the field. I was to join everyone in Wales for the last week of the exercise. No way! I wasn't having it. I could appeal against the charges, which would then go to a higher court, but I had to get out of the exercise in Wales, it was a matter of personal pride, NO WAY WHERE THEY GOING TO WIN! So it was, just a few hours later, I stood outside a Hospital in Taunton with Ryan and did something stupid and drastic!  I huffed and puffed hard for 30 seconds, then stood against a tree whilst Ryan pushed my chest, which caused me to go unconscious. Ryan ran and got a doctor, and I received a medical letter from the hospital which I took back with me to 40 commando saying I had an Anxiety attack bought on by stress. I was given a medical reason not to go into the field! I had won! it was just a small victory, but they had not beaten me, and I felt proud. Months later a higher court upheld the sentence, in spite of me getting a sympathetic psychiatrist to write out a report recommending I don't go to jail as my AWOL was a stress reaction caused from Iraq ( I didn't tell them about the drunken bet part) So it was I spent two weeks at one of the toughest jails in Britain, sharing a cell with convicted military murderers, thieves and all round no gooders. To be fair I quite enjoyed it, we got to exercise three times a day, which I liked, and I got plenty of time to read up on Anatomy and Physiology books I had gotten from the Library which prepared me well for my Personal Trainer course I was about to start in a few weeks. Take what lessons you like from this story, for me it was just about not getting beat by the system, winning by any means necessary and making it happen. I also just thought it would be a pretty cool story to share, am sure most of us have a drunken tale or two! Thanks for taking the time to read this rather long email! regards Rich Rebel Without a Cause McKeating!

Quick update on my transformation progress

Hi folks,

sorry to have kept things quite on here lately, this is kind of a laid back and relaxed transformation!

The whole reason I was getting so knackered was because I was trying to juggle a million things at once.

So I have cut right back on the stuff that was pulsating my adrenaline glands all day.

Right now I only answer emails between 12 and 4. I only go on Facebook to post links to my articles and I don't do any work at night time.

In this sense I am not spilling out all my energy trying to chase people up and respond to everything.

I have also noticed that the less emails I send the less I receive

The last two days of my transformation I have been taking some time out to really appreciate what I have, and to let people know how much I appreciate them, this involved writing letters, sending emails and just telling people thanks!!

It really did make me feel better so I decided to write an article about it!

http://www.rmkhealth.co.uk/newshome.php?m=09&y=2012&nid=124


As I carry on with this transformation I will be focusing on small little things that make profound differences and will keep escalating the compound affect all of these things have as I work through them.

On a nutritional front I am finding my Nutrition plan really easy, its not too strict, on Sunday night I had a lovely roast chicken with veggies and after wards gave everyone Apple pie, it didn't bother me that I went without this and instead I just had some berries and natural yoghurt.

Exercise wise I am still going with the 100 press ups and squats per day with a 10kg vest. At the weekend the kids did this with me in the garden, and embarrassingly whilst I was breathing out my backside they where laughing and getting ahead of me in the workout!

Being a Dad is the toughest fitness challenge ever!!!!

So that's it for now, but will keep updating this regularly throughout the next month! so stay tuned!

How I Get My Super Energy!!!!

Ok, I am already kind of breaking one of my rules by writing this at 11.10pm on a Friday night, especially as I have already written another article tonight.

But truth is I'm on kind of a high right now, feeling very energetic and motivated, and whilst I feel like that I probably wont sleep anyway.

Motivation doesn't last, but then as Zig Zagler says, neither does taking a bath, that's why you have to do it often. So whilst I am feeling motivated, I am going to ride that wave!!!

 Let me tell you a little about today, and why I feel so good.

Got up at 5 am, I had a client at 6,for breakfast I made a Banana omelette with 5 eggs, some cinnamon, fresh lemon juice and organic Greek yoghurt.  It's great to be eating again! after fasting I feel very grateful for the food, and am able to stick to a healthy plan pretty much effortlessly.

For lunch I ate a tin of wild salmon, with cucumbers, watercress, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and for tea I ate gluten free sausages, with sweet potatoes and carrot mash with grilled apples.

I also worked out three times today, went for a great 3 mile run with my 19 year old female client ( tried to look cool and not too much like an old man at the same time) then I did 100 press ups and squats with a 10kg vest, then at night I did an arms workout that left me with the Guns of Navarone.

Today I also met with the totally awesome personal trainer Dan Norman from Beverly, he's a corrective exercise specialist and life coach and if you are in pain at any level then I strongly suggest you check him out.

We talked shop and banded a few ideas around and afterwards I felt super charged, it was great!

Most important we had an honest conversation about some of the challenges we face, and about the things we love most about our jobs.

When I got home there where two quite damaging things that could have bought me down, the first was a letter saying I haven't paid a big bill, and the 2nd was some very sad news, not about anyone I know but about a very tragic accident that has happened to somebody local.

I decided to put both of these things in my body safe, I know how crazy that sounds but trust me it works! at least for me anyway!!!

I stood outside, thought of the things, and decided to place them in a box, and imagined myself locking it, knowing that they would be safe in there, and I could open them on Monday and process it then, taking some pro active action.

The sad incident was something that could potentially have bought me down, even though I didn't know the person, my body still has to process this and deal with its reality and the sad reality it had for all the family involved who my heart goes out too. But I also feel its not my grief to share, and right now I want to enjoy me weekend and spend time with family.

Tonight I have been able to put both my kids to bed, have a cuddle with Dylan and Mel and watch a recorded Bletchley Park form last night ( which was brilliant)

There is still tons more to explain, but will keep revealing bits as I go. This weekend I will not be working, checking any emails, or even phone calls or text ( as I never do) and will be spending time with my loved ones. :)

Hope you enjoy your weekend too, especially this great weather. .

The end of 3 days fasting, and the beginning of the next phase!!!

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh........

Thats how I felt last night at 8pm, as I tucked into a well made stead with mushroom sauce and green beans. After going 3 days without eating anything I was ready for this, the last few hours where probably the toughest. Again I heard the voice telling me it was OK to just break it now, I had come so far and done so well so what did it matter, worse yet as 8pm approached Lennie wanted me to go outside and play with him whilst I was cooking.  I had been at work most of the day and felt guilty for saying no so I took 5 mins away from cooking my steak to go race him up the street on his scooter.

So now that phase is over what have I gained from it?

Well looking back it really wasn't that hard, I didn't mind most of it and just had a few moments where food was constantly on my mind. I also feel more confident in my ability to show control around food, and am better able to gage my appetite.

Best yet I feel really good, this morning I ate a banana omelette with cinnamon, lemon juice and natural yoghurt so I am now eating a pretty clean diet.

The next stage with Nutrition is now pretty easy, am not being too strict really, have just decided to cut out alcohol, sugar, bread, pasta, processed foods for the reminding 30 days.Oh, and I have decided to just have on cup of coffee a day. This really wont be too much trouble at all, and best of all, this is my plan, which I have chosen, on my own terms, after having tried different plans this is what I feel comfortable and confident with.

So my goal right now is to add some lean mass, to me this has always seemed like a harder challenge than fat loss, even though essentially all it requires is eating a lot more.

For my size and activity levels I actually under eat, so by taking in more frequent and larger meals I should be able to get to a good size, and by doing this on a clean diet I should avoid putting on flab.

This brings me to my exercise plan.

There are certain key elements I always like to have in my program, squatting, dead lifting, bench press, Olympic lifts, running, press ups and pull ups. So I will be training 3 times per week around big compound movements, going heavy ( for me) and in addition I will complete 100 reps of press ups and squats with a 10kg vest on each day. I'll also be going for  a steady run each week, and just for fun, am going to take up kick boxing again, have found a local gym and am going to check it out.

I also have a hell of a lot of energy physchological and spiritual exercises I am going to work through, will let you know about them in my upcoming blogs!

The Science behind fasting, day 2

OK so I'm now at the end of the 2nd day of my fast, so far its been a very interesting and revealing experience for me.

I wont say its been easy, but I certainly haven't found it to be Hell like some people have commented when they have gone through it. I think a large part of this has been my mindset and understanding that this is just an experience, a challenge, something to learn from and grow. And with that understanding it has been at times quite pleasurable, in fact at times I have felt almost euphoric with energy.

The trickiest thing has been dealing with the voice, by going without food for two days I have ironically laid out food for the wolf to appear. In my mind I hear the following phrases

" fuck it, just go ahead and have a cookie/ take away"
" why not just break the fast and eat something healthy? that's not so bad?"
" are you sure you can see this through? you haven't done this before"
" nobody would know if you did break it"
" what are you trying to be? a health freak? why not just live with moderation?"

On and on it goes, but as it does, I recognize it, and I sit there with it, I am glad to have come face to face with it because this is the same voice that has held me back in so many other areas, and is responsible for all the bad decisions I make.

If I can come face to face with this voice, and learn to ignore it and do what I intuitively feel is the right thing, then perhaps there are many other areas of progress I can make in my life.

So anyway, back to the title of this blog, the science of fasting. Yesterday I went through my personal reasons for fasting, but today I want to cover the Science underpinning this method.

Longevity

The animal models are a little confusing regards the benefits of fasting on a longer life. The fist major study took hundreds of rats and split them into two groups with one group eating as much as they liked and the other group eating about a 1/3 less .

The result where pretty much astounding, the lower calorie group lived an incredible 50% longer than the other rats, they also head much lower incidence of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and even cataracts. They even had shiner coats.

A more recent study however has cast some doubt on the theory of fasting causing longer life spans. This study was done on our closest relative the rhesus monkey.

Over 23 years they studied the effects of eating a 1/3 less calories compared to other monkey in the group. They found that although they had much better health markers such as lower cholesterol and lower incidence of heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

In retrospect, fasting vs a diet where people eat crap will always win hands down, but fasting vs a normal healthy diet ( by my definition) I believe will still make you live longer, and will definitely improve health by lowering risk of diabetes, cancer and heart disease ( which may make you live longer!!!!)

Improved cellular repair

In a fasted state the body can start looking after itself better, instead of breaking down it conserves energy and starts doing a little maintenance. When food is constantly coming in the body has little need to do this as it has constant resources to build with. So fasting is a little bit like running out of money for your household budget, so you start to take better care of it and do more repair work.

Appetite Control

Sometimes people use extreme generalizations, like when they say the are " starving" when really they are just a little peckish. Well fasting teaches you what real hunger looks like and you start to get a real sense of just how much food your body actually needs.

Improved Health markets

Fasting helps the body become much more sensitive to Insulin. Seeing as how the current rise in obesity is very tightly knitted with a rise in diabetes then this is a very good thing. I am now on my third day of fasting. Most of the energy we need to do stuff comes from the food we ate yesterday. Seeing as how I ate nothing yesterday then my body is having to break down fat tissue for energy.

Fasting also lower cholesterol, especially the bad cholesterol, and improve the ratio of good to bad.

And on another personal note...

Fasting has really given me an increased spiritual perspective.Its no wonder that Hindus, Sikhs, Judaism, Buddhist and Muslim practice it as part of their religion. To me I am thinking less and feeling more, the world somehow seems more brighter and a part of me is actually enjoying this whole experience :)

Saying that though! I am definitely looking forward to a big juicy steak tonight!!!!

Fasting is just the first part of my 30 day transformation, keep tuned to here what else I have coming up.

Here's why I'm going three days without any food part I

At first I dismissed it as a fad, but then more and more people started raving about it, and then I saw that there was genuine science behind it with proper Academics in white coats and interesting moustaches.

In the Fitness Industry they say don't be the first to try something, but don't be the last.

So since fasting is gaining so much popularity, I decided it's time to experience what it's all about.

It started a few weeks ago with a simple twenty four hour fast. That felt fine, I had no problem with it and so decided to up the ante and go for a three day fast.

So you may have guessed I am no fasting expert, but I have read around, and tomorrow I will try to give you a brief over view of the science behind fasting, but first I thought I would just give you my personal reasons.

I am fasting for improved discipline, I love food, but I also like to be in control. By going without food, I am able to prove to myself that I don't need to panic and wolf something down every time I am hungry. I also prove to myself that all food is enjoyable, right now its the end of my first day and I would love a salad!

I am fasting to enjoy food more. I am not planning on fasting for ever! just a few days out of my life and then I can go back to eating again, but this time I will be able to appreciate the food more. At first I wont be eating anything unhealthy, in fact I am spending the next thirty days completely eliminating alcohol, sugar, gluten and processed foods. When I return to eating any of those foods I will probably enjoy them more too. Without feeling the need to go nuts.

Its a bit like how you enjoy a simple glass of water more when you are thirsty and its a hot day.

I am fasting for the spiritual aspect. I am often so caught up in the day to day that I have lost touch with just being, feeling and taking joy through the moment. So by taking away the joy from food, I am sought to look for it elsewhere, that's when I really come face to experience a bit of peace.

I am fasting and eating healthy to improve my health, but also to go first. If there really is anything in this, its important I experience it first before I take any of my clients through it, otherwise I will have no understanding of what they are going through. A good personal trainer should walk the walk, and this is my way of walking it.

Plus a few slack weeks of 80/20 healthy eating have seen me get a slightly podgy tummy!

So at the end of the first day I feel absolutely fine, I had my last meal at 8:30 last night, I made sure to have a very healthy meal with lots of nutrients. Today I have been drinking mostly fruit tea and lots of water. I also had a great workout, with no loss of strength, getting some good Olympic lifts out.

There are many more reasons why I am doing this, and I want to point out that this is not for everyone, for example breast feeding women should not fast, nor should diabetics or people with low thyroids and it should especially be avoided by people with a history of eating disorders. I should also point out that I have helped hundred of people to lose weight, without fasting. This is just another interesting tool in my box, that I may decided to use if the situation is right.

Tomorrow I will go over the science behind fasting, and let you know how I get on with my 2nd day.

There's an old story which goes something like this

A man constantly prays to God for more energy, days go by, and then weeks, and yet still he has no more energy. Eventually years go by and at the end of his life when he meets God he ask " why did you not give me more energy? " to which God replies "you fool, I was constantly giving you energy, but you kept leaking it"

That's kind of how I have been feeling lately. Very flat, lacking in energy, motivation, tired, withdrawn and just getting by.

This might come as a surprise to people who know me, but let me explain.

It all started a few months ago when Dylan was born, with an extra child comes extra responsibility which means working harder both at work and home. So a typical day for me could mean getting up at 5am to train clients at 6, working right through till 7 or 8pm, come home and put Lennie to bed, make myself some tea, wash the pots, and then crash out about 9pm to finally spend some time with my wife who has a much rougher deal than me, having had no adult company all day, and constantly feeding Dylan whilst dealing with the demands of the kids.

Night times have been OK, but I have had a little interruption to my sleep with the kids waking up.

Weekends are a blur of trying to get jobs done, keep the house tidy and do something with the family.

It reached a critical point 2 weeks ago when I realized I just needed to take a day off work to go home and recuperate.

Needless to say that during this time my health has not been as on form as it usually is, I still eat well 80% of the time, but most weekends when me and Mel finally get a meal together we usually get a take out, and then I have been enjoying a few beers most Friday and Saturday nights.

The upshot of this is that my belly is looking a little flabby, not a great look for a personal trainer.

I've still been working out 3 times a week but this has just been keeping me in shape rather than making big progress.

So now, after having got back from a lovely break in North Yorkshire with the family, I have put a lot of thought into getting myself back into great shape, and most off all getting myself super energized to help me tackle the demands of my life.

There is going to be a lot of things I am doing as part of this, I am tackling it from a spiritual, nutritional, physical  relationship and environmental perspective.

There are way too many things for me to highlight here, but if you want to keep up with my progress then subscribe to this blog and I will let you know all about it, including all the ways in which I help myself to get more energized, and hopefully you may even pick up a few ideas to help improve your energy levels.

To kick start the plan I am going through a three day fast, that means three days without any food. My next blog will detail how I get on with this and why I am doing it.