Fitness News #67 - Adders

On the weekend I was at the 2012 Winter Magic Festival and at one of the stalls I brought some food "would you like a soft drink with that sir" I was asked, it was a marketing strategy that major junk food chains have been using for years.  I call this adders.

Commercial Adders

Commercial Adders, is additional items that are added to a food purchase to increase the profit.  Commonly these are chips and/or soft drinks, products that are extremely cheap to produce and market place appealing.  The low production cost enables the seller to entice the consumer to purchase what seems to be a bargain, but we know the true cost is the impact on your health.

 Home Adders

When you make a meal at home, do you add chips and soft drink to it?  Of course not, a home adder is something like a side salad,  cooked vegetables or as per the photo above, fruit with your dessert.

What you should do

This is no brainer, if it isn't a home adder, then don't add it.  Why would you?

What if you did nothing

Are those chips and soft drink so tasty that you are willing to add 1 to 2 gym classes simply to burn off those empty calories?

 Riding

Instead of riding, went for small bush walk

Classes

Second week with the 2 new permanent classes at Fitness First Pitt st.  Join me on Monday for RPM at 11.30am or 1.10pm for the first ever official Ride30 class.

Fitness First 

Rockdale Mon 6.00am Ride 
Pitt st Mon 11.30am RPM
Pitt st Mon 1.10pm Ride30 
Walker St  Tue 12.20pm Cover, this week TBA 
Five Dock Mon 5.45pm RPM
Rockdale Tue 6.30pm RPM
Top Ryde Wed 5.45pm Ride

Walker St Thu 6.00am RPM

 

YMCA

Riverwood Mon 7.30pm RPM - not on public holiday
Riverwood Tue 6.15am RPM

SCG

Stadium Fitness Centre Friday 6.15am RPM

Sleep Ride Eat Repeat
 

Fitness News #66 - One more thing that junk food does to you

My friend makes fun of his tummy

None of us have perfect diets and all of us eat junk food from time to time.

Regardless of which form of healthy eating you believe in, it most likely has things in it like fresh fruit, vegetables, advice on how much protein etc etc etc.

One thing we want in our diet is that we enjoy our food and this is one of the angles that the merchants of junk food use to line their pockets with our hard earned money, by appealing to what we enjoy.

One more thing that junk food does to you

When you eat junk food, you deny the opportunity to meet your daily quota of fruit, vegetables etc etc.

Back in the day when I was transitioning  from a diet that lined the pockets of junk food dealers to the diet we all should have, often I found myself struggling to meet simple quota's such as 2 pieces of fruit per day.  The reason was that I had already filled on junk, reducing desire to eat the good stuff.

What you should do

 It's actually quite simple, start the day with the things that you want in your diet.  Then if you do succumb later in the day to junk (as we all do from time to time), then you've still got the good stuff into you.

For example, when I do a cooked breakfast at home, I put a layer of salad leaves on the bottom of the plate, on top goes fried tomatoes, mushrooms.  It varies from time to time.  On top of that is eggs.  To quote my sister "I never thought of eating salad for breakfast, but once you add egg to it, its really tasty"

What if you did nothing

That's what the junk dealers want you to do, it lines their pockets and they don't give a toss about your health.

 Riding

Took the weekend as a sickie, to try to beat a minor cold I have.

Classes

2 new permanent classes at Fitness First Pitt st.  Join me on Monday for RPM at 11.30am or 1.10pm for the first ever official Ride30 class.

Fitness First 

Rockdale Mon 6.00am Ride 
Pitt st Mon 11.30am RPM
Pitt st Mon 1.10pm Ride30 
Walker St  Tue 12.20pm Cover, this week RPM

Five Dock Mon 5.45pm RPM
Rockdale Tue 6.30pm RPM
Top Ryde Wed 5.45pm Ride

Walker St Thu 6.00am RPM

 

YMCA

Riverwood Mon 7.30pm RPM - not on public holiday
Riverwood Tue 6.15am RPM

SCG

Stadium Fitness Centre Friday 6.15am RPM

Sleep Ride Eat Repeat
 

Fitness News #65 - A diet fit for Queens

Regardless of whether you are a republican or a monarchist, you will be having a holiday on Monday (assuming you live in Australia and not WA).

The holiday is about the Queen of England, a date selected to be her birthday, even if its not.

The queen of England at 86 an old lady, she has not had a lot of health problems and that's a predictor she will live on for many years yet.  Perhaps she make it till 100.

Part of the secret to her success is her diet

A diet fit for a queen

Go to google and type "queen Elizabeth II diet" and you will receive a host of pages making all sorts of claims about what she eats.  The underlining communication is that she has a clean simple diet.  There is no mention of any magical solution like some herb that only grows in the foot hills of the Himalayas.  Yes, despite her considerable wealth, there is no rocket science in there.

I also recall the comment on TV, when she visited on of the pacific island countries, that she had small portions.

One thing that wealth can bring you is good professional advice.

What you should do

You should become your own expert.  At the end of the day we want to enjoy what we stuff down our throats and want it to be healthy for us.

What if you did nothing

Well its up to you as to how long you want to live

 Riding

 Did a mega ride today, 152K leaving Marrickville at 6.05am, headed to the northern end of the southern highlands.  With me was Todd, who those of you at FF Rockdale might know

Sunday's ride

Ride photo

Classes

Tuesday 12.20 I'll be covering at Fitness First Walker St.  They are looking for a new instructor and I'm covering it for a few weeks while they search for one.  This week I'll do Ride8 in that class.

Fitness First 

Rockdale Mon 6.00am Ride - not on public holiday
Five Dock Mon 5.45pm RPM - not on public holiday
Rockdale Tue 6.30pm RPM
Top Ryde Wed 5.45pm Ride

Walker St Thu 6.00am RPM

 

YMCA

Riverwood Mon 7.30pm RPM - not on public holiday
Riverwood Tue 6.15am RPM

SCG

Stadium Fitness Centre Friday 6.15am RPM

Sleep Ride Eat Repeat
 

Fitness News #64 - Gym for sale

Gyms are a business.  Most business's operate to drive a profit, by providing products and services to customers.

Generally the business's are in a competitive situation with others who provide similar products and services.  There are different ways of competing and to use the motor industry as an example, each year they will market an update on last years offering or even a completely new product.

The income for gyms mainly comes from the membership fees you pay.  They also derive some income from personal training and the sale of the occasional item such as a drink.

Buy a Gym ?

Gyms by their nature have significant operating costs, including but not restricted to;

• Equipment purchase/lease
• Maintenance
• Real estate
• Staff
• Cleaning
• Consumables
• Utilities
• Depreciation

So you feel you can drive a profit from owning a gym?  Well theirs one for sale for $75,000 on gumtree... I'm serious

Commercial Gym For Sale - Located Western Suburbs Melbourne

Fitness First for Sale

Most of you would of seen in the news that Fitness First is selling 24 of its gyms

Fitness First culls more than a quarter of its Australian gyms

However at the same time that Fitness First is shedding clubs, it is also opening new clubs, such as the Top Ryde Platinum, see Fitness First's press release on the topic

Changes at Fitness First

Are you impacted by the sale

The sale is of no interest to you unless you joined or work out at Five Dock.  And if you work out just at Five Dock, you are likely to continue working out at Five Dock after the sale.

There will be no changes until after the gym has been sold.

What you should do

If you joined or work out at Five Dock, then when you are next there, ask the staff, they can provide the info outlining the options available to you. 

What if you did nothing

Your Five Dock membership will be transferred to the new owner and you will continue to use the gym under the new owner.

A similar situation has occurred when Fitness First purchased Space, a smaller network of gyms around Australia, the memberships were transferred.

Classes

 Its business as usual at YMCA and SCG.   At Fitness First the Rockdale Saturday High Performance class has been removed.

 

This Tuesday 12.20pm we have a treat for you, double trouble with Stuart and myself on the stage at Fitness First Pitt st.  Come and join the party, be early the bikes fill out.

New Releases at Fitness First

All classes at Fitness First this week will enjoy the new releases;

• Ride will have Ride8
• RPM will have RPM55

Fitness First 

Rockdale Mon 6.00am Ride
Five Dock Mon 5.45pm RPM
Rockdale Tue 6.30pm RPM
Top Ryde Wed 5.45pm Ride

Walker St Thu 6.00am RPM

 

YMCA

Riverwood Mon 7.30pm RPM
Riverwood Tue 6.15am RPM

SCG

Stadium Fitness Centre Friday 6.15am RPM

Sleep Ride Eat Repeat