So you wan't to be a resolution master?

So you're thinking of, or setting a new years resolution. Since this is a (majority) a health blog, I'm going to go over a few things health related resolutions and how to approach them.

DON'T MAKE THESE RESOLUTIONS:

I want to give up bad foods.

I want to exercise more.

I would like to be X weight.

I'll try to give up smoking.

I want to be more successful.

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DO MAKE THESE RESOLUTIONS:

I will be more healthy by next new years.

I will fit in X item of clothing again.

I will quit smoking.

I will quit alcohol.

I will build the body I want.

I will achieve X goal.

*Notice the will , thisis because the words "Want" "Try" and "going to" are all approaching words not doing words. Telling yourself you WILL do something is more likley to result in positive subconscious approval over I'LL TRY, or I WANT.

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I want to be X weight by X date.

So you have an idea what weight you want to be, and while in most cases weighing less would indicate a healthy person this is not entirely true.

The real question isn't being X weight, it's rather "I want to be a lot more healthy by X date".
WARNING:
When setting any variables (dates, weight, size, anything that is reliant on a time frame) you HAVE to be realistic, most people fail this aspect I'll give an example:

"I want to lose 2 stones (28 lbs) in 2 months"

This is very unachievable without putting your health at serious risk, and since your health should come first. You will fail this goal, get disheartened and likely quit. However:

"I want to fit into X item of clothing again before summer."

This kind of goal is a lot better, even if to fit in said clothing you'd need to lose 2 stone (28 lbs), its not a giant number any more  its an item of clothing, something tangible. And also losing 2 stone within 6 months is doable at a healthy rate.

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SUMMERY:

Make resolutions:

• Precise and not vague.
• Achievable.
• Beneficial.
• Tangible (something real to you, something you can image how you'd feel if you achieved it)
• You would break your back (metaphorically speaking) to maintain, DO NOT even a little bit go back on what you set out to do.
• MOST IMPORTANTLY, because YOU want to do it, DO NOT do resolutions with friends under the illusion of support, the foundation has to be because you actually want to do this regardless of friends doing the same thing.

So you want to be healthy / lose weight / build muscle / tone / become fitter / become more attractive (yes).

Well the bad news is, no matter what you're goal is you can only BENEFIT a great deal by changing your diet.

Good news is that this is no where near as bad as people and the media make out, take it from me, I'm a hugely fussy eater.

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Little side note: while studies show the body only absorbs so much vitamin content from foods, you do still absorb an amount. I highly recommend taking Vitamin B12. It's a vitamin that increases serotonin output which is responsible for making us feel happy. Feeling happy is always a bonus when you do anything. 

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Do you suffer from heartburn or indigestion?

Well I used to, it's actually really easy to fix, eat less red meat (nobody is banning you, just limit your intake) and avoid meats that have been processed too much, more processing = more heartburn from the fatty stabilisers they add to processed foods (helps increase its shelf life).

My personal tip, always buy raw ingredients and cook from scratch, its not hard to learn a few recipes, if you buy batches of food and make large amounts to freeze and eat later or things that you can store in your fridge and eat over the space of a few days, you'll find yourself rapidly saving money.

AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE:

Processed ready meals.
Why:
They have high saturated fats and salt contents, the meat is heavily processed and the vegetables lacking in nutrition.

Low % pork sausages (I always aim for over 70% pork, you can look on the pack to see).
Why:
The rest of that % is the bad stuff, cartilage, tendons, guts, connective tissue, bits from the head and other parts of the pig. This stuff is lacking in nutrition and not great for you.

Non free range / organic chicken or eggs. (I know that it costs more for them)
Why:
Caged chickens have a terrible life, you must not ever forget to be thankful for the life you consume, and I just think if a chicken has to die for me it should at least have a life with dignity, not injected and modified and not feed altered food to make it grow abnormally fast. Chicken might be a great food source but it is also a living creature. Plus remember all the growth hormones and modifiers get absorbed by the animal and passed into the meat in one form or another.

Fast food:
Why:
Fast food has little nutritional value and is generally bad for you, sometimes its a nice treat but that is how it should be viewed, and if I'm honest, after having a prolonged period of not eating fast food or heavily carbonated drinks I actually realised just how disgusting and how unnatural they tasted.

Cheese:
Why:
This is a hard one for me, I love cheese and do have it now and then as treat. The problem is that it is mostly fat and a high percentage of it saturates, only one cheese is really good for you and that's cottage cheese, it has a high protein content and is great for people working out.

Carbonated (Fizzy) Drinks:
Why:
Carbonated drinks have a huge sugar content, this can help cause diabetes and will aid to terrible dental health. They offer very little actual hydration, and as for diet drinks, they have sweeteners in which are actually carcinogenic (indirect cancer causing chemicals).

HIGH SATURATED FAT FOODS:
Why:
High sat fat foods are very hard to digest, in my experiences you should't really eat anything that contains over 5grams of sat fat. Some foods will surprise you very much! I once bought a kids lunch box kit (came with cheese and ham slices and crackers) and it was over 10 grams of sat fat!! ALWAYS CHECK THE NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF FOODS YOU EAT!

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Next update I'm going to show you cost effective ways to buy raw ingredients and make healthy, good food that will help boost you in what you do.

I'm basically going to formulate recipes and foods that match the common goals people have!

On the next exciting episode of KIKOJUI EVOLUTION SAGA!!

"P o w e r  U p  M e a l s"
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Peace you beautiful, beautiful readers.

NEXT YEAR RUMBLE!!

So we rapidly approach new years, and I've not had a lot to say, however I have learned a LOT and since new years day is heading towards as at a fast pace, now more than ever people consider their health.
I'm going to push the blog into 5.0 and if you know ANYTHING about this blog then you'll realise that will bring a new feature or two, a new logo and a new feel. The reason this blogs face changes so often is to reflect the changes we make in ourselves. 5.0 is going to be awesome!!

Before I continue I feel I might refresh and go over a few VERY important things.

I'd like to go over something I find amusing, NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS.

While I personally approve of people wanting to make changes in their lives very few indeed ever make them (Myself included). This is down to many reasons but most importantly is the approach.

For example when I eventually quit smoking it wasn't the time I told myself "Today I'll quit" it was the day I thought to myself, I don't want to die before my time and at that moment threw a almost full pack of 20 into the bin. It sounds simple but you have to really want the changes if you expect them to last.

In the Gym, well in any Gym, just after Christmas the place gets packed with people unhappy with Christmas weight or just because it is their new years resolution. But this isn't your choice, not in the abstract.

You only thought about losing weight because on a specific day you're expected to make a resolution. This isn't your own thought, and since it's imposed onto you it feels more like a challenge than a option.

For you to make ANY changes in your life, be them giving up alcohol or losing weight, they all require some basic principals:

• You must WANT the change and not feel forced.
• You must ACCEPT that the changes will not happen quickly.
• You must DEVOTE yourself to the new cause, making sure to give it the attention it deserves.  
• You must LOVE the idea of actually accomplishing the goal.
• You must ENJOY doing the activity, I enjoyed every month I was smoke free, and I enjoy everytime I look in the mirror and see my changes.
• You must ACHIEVE a positive state of mind, don't look at a gym session as a hour and a half of pain, look at it as a hour and a half closer to being the person you wish to be.

Simple to remember really, WANT, ACCEPT, DEVOTE, LOVE, ENJOY, ACHIEVE.

AVOID THE PITFALLS OF FITNESS RIGHT HERE!!!

The single most important thing is that you DO NOT NEED A GYM.
Gym prices and deals are very attractive during the new year and there is a very good reason for it. The Gyms do NOT want guys like me that use the gym 3-5 times a week. They want the person who has made a new years resolution, go's for a week or two before quitting. Why? Well almost all Gyms require at least a 3 month contract, you'll be paying them for 3 months and only using the equipment for a week or so, the winners are the gym. Gyms will always have regulars like myself who sustain the buisness.

So let me weight up the advantages and disadvantages to a gym, and then I'll provide you with a very cost effective solution.

PROS:

1. A range of quality equipment and facilities.
2. A good atmosphere for exercising.

3. No space in your house required for the same equipment.

4. Expensive cardio machines like a treadmill.

5. On site professionals for advice.

CONS:

1. Costs an enormous amount of money in comparison to alternatives.

2. Queuing for equipment.

3. Witnessing bad form, and maybe thinking it's the right way to do an exercise.

4. Working out in front of other people is not easy for people who are unhappy with their body or shy.

5. Travel to the gym costs money unless you live close to one.

6. Meat heads who aren't always great to be around and the attitudes some people have to fitness.

SOLUTION:

If you have a lot of disposable income, do not care to waste your money and live close to a gym, then by all means use one. If not, do the following.

HOME SET UP!

• Buy two adjustable dumbbells (ones in which you can put different weights onto) and buy a good range of weights so that you can get around at max 40KG on a single dumbbell (should be the max amount you want to life on a dumbbell eventually, not what you can lift now)
• Buy a yoga mat, this will make a lot of exercises more comfortable and also yoga is fantastic for you anyway.
• Buy a Bar to do pull ups and dips on, you can get ones that fold and rest onto your door frame.
• Either buy a bench or just get a strong piece of wood to rest between two chairs as a bench, remove a chair for an incline bench, this will be used in a lot of exercises.
• For cardio, either use a bike or just run outside, no matter where you are this is always the best option for cardio unless you're prone to knee injury's, in which case I'd suggest buying a elliptical Cross trainer, low impact high cardiovascular, the cost of one would be about the same or less than a year at the gym anyway.
• If you have the space and a strong floor you could also get an olympic barbell, but this is optional.

Once you have these items you will be able to do everything most gyms can offer, free weights ALWAYS beat machines. Why? Because machines take out the balancing some of the smaller muscle groups provide when handling free weights.

Ok I've run out of time, I'm going to expand on this a lot more over the next few weeks, and go over how just how easily you can make those lasting changes and not just phase out after a week or so.

Best of luck readers, I've missed you!!

Chills of a frozen sun.

Hello readers, it's been a few days of intensive training (I'll talk about that later) I have a little treat for you, and of course another NEW section (as well as blog design, again... more on that later)

Since the cold air is here, and winter rapidly approaching I feel it's important for me to disclose on a few weapons on fighting the cold. I personally love the cold, I have an air conditioner on most days and sleep with fans on. When I sleep I find it so uncomfortable to be warm, I know this is a strange concept but I like to be at a certain temperature. Anyway enough babbling on about me, I'm here to help you!!

Kira's last post talked about making soups in batches so you save money and have delicious hot food with little preparation. 

Well I'm going to give you readers some great recipes!

First off a vegetarian option, I may not be vegetarian nor believe that most vegetarians realise that plants are in fact living beings as well, but that said I respect it as a lifestyle choice.

SPICY ROASTED PARSNIP SOUP:

Fight the cold by making a large batch of this (Recipe Serves 4) so if you double everything you can have 8 meals(make sure to adjust cooking time accordingly)!

You can freeze in plastic containers any you think you wont eat the next day, and re-heat in the microwave whenever you feel like it!

The cost to make this is very minimal, it will take around 10-15 minutes to prepare and only 35 mins to cook!

Ingredients:

• 
  
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds , plus extra to garnish
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• 1 large onion, cut into 8 chunks
• 2 garlic cloves
• 675g parsnips , diced
• 2 plum tomatoes , quartered
• 1.2l vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. In a bowl, mix together the oil and spices. Add the vegetables and mix well. Spread over a heavy baking sheet, then roast for 30 mins until tender.

2. Spoon into a food processor or liquidiser with half the stock and process until smooth. Pour into a pan with the remaining stock, season, then heat until barely simmering. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Garnish with cumin seeds.

Want to know what else soups can do? they not only fight the cold but they can fight illness, the next soup is a Chinese medicinal soup

CHICKEN SOUP RECIPE WITH DANG SHEN AND GOJI BERRIES:

Serves 1

Most people, more so if you live in or near a city, will have access to a Chinese herbal medicine shop, little known fact if you go in with the exact amounts you need they can usually give you just the right amount of what you need.

Dang shen, also known as codonopsis root, has a gentler herbal flavor compared to ginseng. Omit the ginger if you do not like it much.
This is a pleasant light herbal soup.

Ingredients:

1 fresh chicken breast
500g old cucumber (老黄瓜 lao huang gua)
1 slice ginger
4 dried chinese mushrooms
6g codonopsis root (党参 dang shen)
5 red dates
1 tbsp chinese wolfberries / goji berries(枸杞子 gou ji zi)

Soup base:
1.8 liter of water
3 bouillon cubes

Directions

1. Cut the chicken breast into bite-sized pieces



2. Cut the old cucumber into sections and remove the seeds



3. Wash and soak the dried chinese mushrooms in hot water



4. Wash and clean the codonopsis root and halve it if it is too long



5. Wash the red dates and remove the seeds



6. Bring the water to a boil and add the bouillon cubes



7. Add all the ingredients into the chicken stock



8. Bring soup back to a boil



9. Low heat to a slow simmer and simmer for about 50 minutes



10. Serve

Something for you sea food lovers, Thailand's most eaten soup, if you like food with a spicy bite, and like seafood then this is perfect for you!

TOM YUM GOONG:

Serves 2

Ingredients:

12 uncooked prawns, deveined with tail on
1 small fresh red chillies, chopped
1 tbsp lemongrass, chopped
1 tsp ginger, chopped
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp lime juice
1 tsp sugar
2 green onions, chopped
50gms button mushrooms, sliced
500mls fish stock

Directions:

1) Put stock in pan and add prawns, chilli, lemongrass, ginger, sauces, juice, sugar, onion and sliced mushrooms.

2) Bring to boil and simmer uncovered until prawns are tender.

Serving Tip: Garnish with whole coriander leaves

These last few days I've been following a fairly strict diet and exercising, either using my weights in a fitness plan coupled with running each night.

I've moved into a fat burning plan, not something sustainable as its not great for you to do, sio I'm only on this for 28 days.

It basically swaps all my meals for high protein low fat alternatives, you still take carbohydrates, just not much in proportion, the proportions are: 60% protein  20% carbs  20% fat  also meeting  2000 calories.

With daily exercise and this diet I've noticed two things, firstly I'm very tired most of the time, this is down to the body working really hard to break down fat in the body and convert the protein into muscle.

Secondly, I've lost a lot of weight very quickly, within 2 days I lost just over 5 pounds, now granted it always falls off fast at the start and the slows down so I was kinda prepared for this.

I would say the biggest problem has been adjusting what I eat, being a picky eater means I've had to endure some things I'd not normally touch... like cottage cheese.

So if you wanted to follow this but to a less extreme, Switch all your breads to wholemeal, switch rice to brown rice, eat a lot of salmon, topside steak, egg whites (not yolk as that is where a lot of unneeded calories are) lean mince, 0% fat yoghurt, skimmed milk, fruit, vegetables (this was hard for me as I only like a few limited vegetables, so to subsidise I bought a drink that I will review in a minute) and of course a lot of chicken!

Another new thing I like is Quorn burgers (I get the tesco brand as they have half the saturated fat of the official quorn ones)

Basically cut down on junk, high fat foods, and try out new foods!

I hate most vegetables, and for me to take vegetables I thought it might be easier for me to drink them, so I tried out both the original and the Fruit and carrot vegetable drinks from V8.

1. Orignal:

Tastes of nothing but tomato soup, I can drink it, it is not amazing for me and I'd probably like to try it warm as a soup more than a drink, I'll post later if that worked ok.

Taste: 5  Smell: 6  Texture: 5  *total* 16/30

2. Fruit and carrot:

I had massive reservations on this one, I personally hate the smell and taste of carrot.

Upon opening I was greeted with a very pleasant zesty smell, I poured it into a glass and looked hard at the substance, it was carrot colour, I thought perhaps the smell was a disguise for something truly revolting. After a few moments to prepare myself I took a generous swig, and I can say hand on heart it tasted amazing! I could not taste any carrot, only a fruity explosion of orange, mango and lime!! Beautiful as a normal drink, add to the fact that a portion of this counts as one of your recommended five a day in not only fruit but also vegetable!! I will be breathing this stuff!

Taste: 9   Smell: 9  Texture: 9  *Total* 27/30

This concludes this information packed post, I've divulged some soups that you can store in the freezer and give you a cheap constant supply of food!

Oh also, I've shared with you my opinion of the V8 drinks, lastly remember this?

Well I'll tell you I've had a lot more energy than normal while using this, and even though I'm drained from the diet I still have the energy for the runs and exercise so I'd defiantly advise this to anyone who is athletic or training for an event.

Don't forget to comment, It's comments that help direct me to making better posts, blogging about what the readers what to know about as well as my own subjects, take care my beautiful, beautiful readers!!