In the spirit of the London 12 Olympics, I have declared Tuesday 7th August  ‘Dress as an Olympian’ Day. This will take place during the SO Dancehall Fitness (6pm) and Zumba classes (7pm) at St. Matthews Church Centre, Aldridge Road, Grear Barr.

Therefore, when you come to class, do please join in the fun by dressing as an Olympian of your choice. You can choose any event, a particular person, a random athlete, represent any country, where a country’s colours, etc…. The choice really is yours.

There will be a prize for the best dressed person!

Don’t spend loads of money, just get creative!

See you there!

Pain and Pleasure Principle

“The secret of success is learning how to use pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure use you. If you do that, you’re in control of your life. If you don’t, life controls you.” 

Anthony Robbins

Human beings are wired to seek pleasure and to avoid pain. This is a generally well known fact. However, how often do we use this to our advantage? When it comes to losing weight, many times this fact works towards our disadvantage i.e. a big fat juicy hamburger seems much more pleasurable than going to the gym for an hour. Therefore, many people would rather socialise with their friends and eat that burger than take the time out to burn some serious calories in the gym.

This human instinct can be difficult to overcome if you do not make a conscious effort to make it work for you. How can I utilise the pain and pleasure principle to work in my favour? I hear you ask. Good question, I like good questions. Well, in theory it is simple: find a way of changing your thoughts about something you dislike (but want or need to do) to thoughts that are appealing and attractive. Equally, you have to change the way you think about something that gives you pleasure but is not good for you.

An example of changing something you dislike into something you do like, would be: you hate the idea of jogging. The thought of having to run around in your leggings having your backside bounce up and down in front of strangers sends you heading straight for the settee with a pack of crisps in your hands. You can change this thought by first acknowledging the fact that there is no truth but your perception of the truth. Therefore, your thoughts about people looking at your bottom, is just your opinion and not a fact. So you can tell yourself that people are not looking at your bum. Rather they are admiring this attractive and strong-willed woman who clearly cares about her health and is taking the time out to make herself look more beautiful.

If your love for Cornish pasties is ruling you, you could educate yourself by thinking about the amount of calories they contain. One Cornish pasty has a whopping 467 calories. For the average woman on a healthy eating plan, that is almost one third of her daily calorie intake! They also contain 63.6% fat! Imagine that fat going straight to your hips and stomach. Actually visualise your stomach growing as a result of you eating it.

If you visualise the alternative realities vividly enough, your brain will start to take it on board as the truth. Practise doing this today. Think of something you love to eat but you know will hinder your weight loss journey and turn this into the most hideous thing ever. Close your eyes, visualise it and believe it with all your might. When you start doing this with enough intensity and on a regular basis, you will change your thoughts. Please do not read this and do nothing about it. Put it into practise. Your sexy slimmer version of you is counting on you to do the right thing.

Written by Becks Hemmings

My Before and After Photos… all done through healthy eating a serious work out plan.

The final video from this challenge… but as I said in the video this is not the end of my journey.

I don’t really want to say too much tonight. I’ll say it all tomorrow when I do my final measurements and weigh-in AND… (drum roll) I will release (for the first time ever) my ‘before pictures.’ I can’t say I’m 100% comfortable with this but I do want to show everone the progress I have made in just 30 days.

So there’s no video today folks, just this picture of me on Day 1 of the challenge.

See you tomorrow.

Becks xxx

The beautiful Helen and I in Costa

Today was an easy one. Basically because it was a rest day. Well kind of. I managed to finish filming my first exercise video. That actually was very hard going, especially when I got things wrong and had to do them again. I tell you it was no easy feat! But I feel good that I have accomplished completing that task. I’ve been wanting to do it for years!

The afternoon was spent planning in Costa Coffee where I happened to see the beautiful Ms Helen Johnson, a former Zumba client (who stopped attending because of an injury). She hadn’t seen me in about 6 months. When she looked at me she said ‘Look at your cheekbones! You can really see them!’ (Or something to that effect). Of course my face burst out into a huge grin as I took on board the compliment.

I can’t lie, it feels good to have other people notice that my hard work is paying off. It is definitely a motivating factor and I want to continue to feel like this, so I will do what it takes!

Thank you Helen, you really made my day! xxx