Revealed: The TRUTH about Hormones.

 

 
If you haven't read my article on "The Toxic Age And How Your Doctor Is Making You Sicker" then I stongly recommend you do so first before reading this
 
Weight loss and regaining health  isn't rocket science is it?
 
You just eat less, exercise more and the rest will take care of itself right? It's frustrating when people can't seem to grasp this concept isn't it, especially when the equation is pretty straight forward:
 
Get exercising and stop eating crap = better health and weight loss
 
Most personal trainers and boot camp coaches will usually put this lack of results down to a "lack of will power" for the reason why their clients aren't getting into great shape labelling them with "the wrong mind-set”, and Id agree with this up to a point.
 
However there is something that's often HUGELY overlooked when it comes to weight loss yet is vital to restoring health and wearing the body of your dreams.
 
Let me put this another way,
 
You've started exercising and eating healthy, you've started to make better food choices and your results have been AMAZING in the first couple of months.
 
You can fit back into those jeans, your energy levels have increased and you’re the fittest that you have been since you can remember but lately the results have started to plateau somewhat and your still struggling with some stubborn body fat that won't seem to shift no matter what you try.
 
It's frustrating isn't it?
 
You've lost the initial weight and all you want to do is just target that stubborn belly fat so you do more crunches but still no joy.
You just want to lose abet more around your legs and bum so you tidy up your diet and do more butt exercises in the gym but still no results.
You also notice that you’re not losing any fat from the back of your arm so you start doing tricep kickbacks in the gym but nothing again. Your arms still look the same.
 
This is so frustrating isn't it, especially when you work hard and you eat well, and I guess you just put this down to genetics right?. "My mum had a fat bum so unfortunately i will get one as well," is a comment that I hear on a regular basis.
 
Well, unfortunately all these stubborn body fat areas have absolutely NOTHING to do with a lack of exercise or poor nutrition but more to do with what's going on with your
 
HORMONES
 
Your stubborn body fat is not because you have poor will power but more because of your hormonal imbalances in your body and will continue to be there until you address what's going on.
 
So how do we do this?
 
The first thing you'll need to address is  how much STRESS is in your life right now.
 
Whether it be physical stress, emotional stress, environmental stress, mental stress or nutritional stress, the body will deal with it in EXACTLY the same way.
 
Physical stress
 
physical stress is the WRONG type of exercise for you.
 
You maybe training too much without structuring in any regeneration workouts or rest weeks. Endurance athletes like runners or triathletes tend to suffer from this. Gym members who do classes on a day to day basis, sometimes back to back, will also be prime candidates for having too much physical stress in their life.
 
People that think that "exercise is their stress outlet" are also high candidates here as well.
 
Emotional stress.
 
Emotional stress could be unresolved issues in a person’s life. Maybe it's being in the wrong relationship for whatever reason or perhaps it’s dealing with a loved one that's passed away recently. All of this contributes to emotional stress. Some people don't even know they are suffering from emotional stress
 
Environmental stress.
 
Weird right? You wouldn't think that the environment around you would contribute to your stress level but it does. If you live in a town then the air that you breathe will be more polluted than in the countryside. Certain jobs that require you to deal with chemicals would also fit here. Even plastics used in furniture can give off gases that will contribute to our stress levels. Have a look around you now. Your table, your sofa, your carpet, even your computer are all giving off gases that you'll be inhaling on a daily basis.
 
Artificial light can elevate stress levels as well, so if you’re spending a lot of time watching TV in the evening or working on the lap top late at night then your body still thinks it’s day light and will want to keep you awake.
 
Mental stress.
 
This is probably the most common form that everyone associates stress with.
 
Mental stress could be relationship issues. Being in the wrong relationship, maybe you’re sad because you don't feel like your kids are listening to you, your friends are just energy sucking vampires that actually just piss you off rather than understand you. Maybe people are asking too much of you and you're spreading yourself too thin.
It could be financial worries or simply just being in a job that you hate doing. Maybe you just feel like you’re working ALL the time and not having any fun in your life.
 
All of this would contribute to mental stress.
 
Nutritional stress.
 
Consuming a diet that's highly toxic in nature and allergenic to the body will contribute to your stress levels. Any chemicals or toxins coming into your system along with wheat, gluten, sugar, some dairy and alcohol that will stress the liver out will also trigger a huge stress response in your body.
 
Medicine from your doctor, despite good intent and temporarily getting rid of pain and symptoms is STILL toxic to the liver and stressful to your system.
 
Postural  stress.
 
If you're in the wrong posture, have pain or injury anywhere in the body then this will trigger a stress response.  Sitting for long periods of time during the day and not addressing a nagging injury will also stress the system out.
 
The problem with our body is that it sees ALL of the above as just one thing.
 
Yep, you guessed it!
 
STRESS!
 
It doesn't know the difference between financial worries and a crappy diet.
 
It won’t see exercise and relationship problems as different.
 
It will see mental and physical stress as the same and will deal with it in exactly the same way...
 
By releasing the stress hormone cortisol.
 
Every time we get stressed, the stress hormone cortisol is released because it thinks our body is in danger.
 
But cortisol isn't bad though!

 
Cortisol is an amazing hormone that's designed to help us out when were in trouble.
 
Millions of years ago when we were cave men and woman, our bodies were designed to cope with danger. If a sabre tooth tiger was chasing us or if we were fighting with another "early man spear thrower" then we needed to react quickly to these situations. When the brain thinks you're under danger it triggers your adrenal glands (which sit on top of your kidneys) to release adrenaline and cortisol.
 
So due to modern day stress, your body ALWAYS thinks it’s under attack so it will ALWAYS be releasing adrenaline and cortisol to help cope with the perceived danger.
 
Adrenaline helps with mental alertness and cortisol's job is to increase levels of fat and sugar in the bloodstream to help with physical exertion. However, unless you're doing something physical then all that extra sugar and fat that’s been released into your blood stream has nowhere to go and has no option other than to be stored as fat.
 
After a stressful event, your adrenaline will come down very quickly although your cortisol will remain high for quite some time after the event, usually up to 2-3 days. This is because your body thinks you should be refuelling after your fighting or fleeing so your appetite will typically increase.
 
This is fine if you've been running for your life or scrapping with fellow spear throwers, your body will clearly need to refuel after this but if you're sat at a desk making stressful phone calls all day then continuous refuelling is hardly appropriate or deserved is it!
 
So because your body "thinks" that you need to refuel after your stressful event then you will typically crave more carbohydrates and fats which will of course lead to increased body fat levels, particularly around the belly ad waist.
 
But here's the thing though:
 
Here's what happens to ALL your hormones when just your cortisol goes up:
 
If your stress hormone cortisol goes up, then growth hormone and testosterone goes down. If  growth hormone and testosterone go down then estrogen goes up. If estrogen goes up then thyroid goes down.
 
If you change one hormone then your ENTIRE hormonal cascade changes:
 
Let me put it another way for you,
 
If cortisol is up then you will always be holding onto fat, particularly fat around the middle because  it’s closer to the liver where it can quickly and more easily be converted back into energy if needed.
 
If growth hormone and testosterone is low then you will find it hard to put on lean muscle tissue. Muscle tissue is the only tissue in the body that burns fat so you definitely need it, woman even more so!
 
If estrogen is high then this can cause you to store more fat in the leg, bum and arm area.
And if thyroid levels are low then this will affect your thermogenesis (heat) in the body which means you won't burn so many calories throughout the day.
 
So can you see that IF your stress hormone cortisol is constantly being driven up then this will have a knock on affect with all the other hormones and doing MORE exercise won't make a blind bit of difference and in most cases is the last thing a person needs?
 
Warning signs of too much stress in your life.
 
Getting snappy
Crap sleep
Extreme sweet cravings
Tired but wired!
Depression -
Anxious thoughts
Low immune system
Digestive problems
Heart problems
Kidney disorders
Infertility issues
Dysfunctional liver
Low blood pressure
 
...are just a few health disorders that will occur if you leave stress unchecked.
 
Here's a better way of understanding stress a bit better:
 
Imagine you have a stress bucket.
 

 
In that bucket you have all your different types of stress going in there.
 
You may have more of one stressor over the other but it doesn't matter, it all amalgamates as the same.
 
Most people's stress buckets are full up to the brim these days. The average person is stressed out at work, has financial problems, eating a toxic diet, is dehydrated and has really poor sleep and doing the wrong exercise. The bucket is already full up but the tap is still left on.
 
The stress keeps coming in and when that bucket starts to over flow then that first drip is what we call "breakdown" and this is when problems start occurring.
 
The body starts breaking down.
 
How does it do this?
 
When I say breakdown I mean our health is compromised.
 
Whether it be digestive health, immune system health, liver health or cardiovascular health, problems will start to occur.
 
What can we take out of the stress bucket?
 
Ok, now that we understand a little bit more about stress and how it can dramatically t affect weight management and overall health let’s talk about how we can go about emptying  that bucket:
 
By taking action with just one of the points below will seriously see your stress levels drop massively but by applying all 7 points together will see unbelievable results:
 
1) And........Breathe!!!
 
Breathing helps to oxygenise the blood which in turn will help calm cortisol down. Practise breathing techniques. If you can get to a yoga or tai chi class then great but if you can't then it’s still ok,  just start off with 10 deep diaphragmatic breaths twice a day and then build up.
 
You'll be amazed at what affect breathing has on alleviating stress!
 
2) Get a better job
 
Most people that I talk to HATE their job and can't wait for the weekend to start.
 
If you hate your job and its sucking the life force out of you then forgive me for asking but why are you still doing it?
 
Remember, we need to try and empty that bucket as much as we can.
 
Now I'm not saying for one minute that we should all just give up our jobs for the sake of lowering cortisol, I'm  just merely pointing out that you need to find a job that you ENJOY doing and stop making out that you "you have no control over your job, I HAVE to work!"
 
You have COMPLETE control over this part of your life. Don't make excuses for your stressful job and find a job that you’re passionate about.
 
3) Remove toxins
 
Toxins from our food and food that is allergenic will stress the liver out which mean it won't work as it should. All of this will cause cortisol to elevate which in turn will make it hard to body fat.
 
Remove wheat, dairy, gluten, sugar and processed food for the next week and let your liver get back to working as it should. Focus on lean proteins like turkey, chicken, beef and seafood and plenty of crucifers us vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, murky kale, watercress etc. and you will feel a thousand times better and will look better than ever before!
 
 If you'd like to know more about the harmful impact that toxins have on liver health then go here.
 
4) Stay hydrated
 
How freely your hormones move around your blood is related to the viscous of your blood. The more dehydrated you are the thicker your blood will be which means your hormones will find it harder to move around.
 
If hormones are finding it hard to move around, then it's likely that the nutrients from your food won't be extracted properly.
 
Drinking plenty of water will keep things moving along nicely.
 
Shoot for a litre of water per pound of bodyweight and put a pinch of sea salt in your water to help your body retain it.
 
5) Off the laptop by 7pm.
 
Remember we need to calm cortisol down in the hours before bed. When  your body sees light, it wants to keep you up so it will  secrete some more cortisol for you.
 
Avoid artificial light 3 hours before bed. Stay off the lap top, avoid watching late night TV and dim your lights. Have an evening ritual. You do this for your kids so why do adults have to be any different.
 
Read a book before bed and be in bed before 1030.
 
Try it for a couple of nights to start off with and I guarantee you your sleep will be a thousand times better.
 
6)Stop beasting yourself in the gym
 
Keep your workouts really short but work hard!!! Have regular recovery weeks where you stop exercising completely to give the body a rest. Your body does most of its repair work when you’re at rest so aim to have a rest from training every  4-6 weeks.
 
7)Apply the 12 week rule
 
Not having a break from the norm is a one way ticket to becoming stressed. Aim to have a break or a holiday every 12 weeks so that you have something to look forward to.
 
Ok, and that's it!
 
I hope you found this article helpful and has given you a bit more of an insight into hormones.
 
Peace out and remember:

CHILL OUT!!! ;-)

Turn that tap off and Start emptying that stress bucket!
 
Sam Winkworth

How To Use Your Scales For Weight Loss

 

Ok, I'm not going to beat around the bush here, and I apologise if I offend anyone, that’s REALLY not my intention whilst writing this but if you’re still using scales as a way of measuring your weight loss progress then you are a f*cktard!
 
Let me explain why:
 
You start that long awaited diet and have finally committed to doing regular exercise after all these years, and you want a way of measuring your results don't you? You want to know that what you’re doing is working and that you’re not wasting your time right?
 
After all, the slimming clubs and gyms use scales so they must be pretty good right?
 
Well, I used to think like this when I first started back as a personal trainer all those years ago. I used to use scales and do weekly weigh ins just like all the slimming clubs did but immediately changed my mind when I found out that they are NOT the best way to measure fat loss progress and can also be SEVERELY demotivating as well.
 
The problem with scales is that they are a VERY inaccurate method of measuring your progress and aren't a TRUE reflection of your results.
 
Let me put this another way for you:
 
You've committed to exercising three times a week, you've nailed your nutrition, you look and feel better and you have your mojo back as well.
You just quickly hop onto the scales to see how much weight you've lost and DISASTER! You've only lost a few pounds or worse still, NOTHING at all! This is heart breaking, (especially when everyone around you is getting results), you've  put so much effort into losing weight and this just makes you feel unhappy, so much so that you just want to give up or try something else. Maybe you just want to go back to eating how you used to eat. It's clearly not working.
 
You can't understand it though? You look better in clothes, you feel like you've lost fat from your stomach and thighs and you’re EVEN getting comments from friends asking you for workout tips but your SCALES still aren’t showing it?
 
AND THERE'S A REASON WHY YOUR SCALES WON'T SHOW IT!
 
Because scales only focus on overall WEIGHT LOSS and not FAT LOSS!
 
Firstly,
 
Your scales don't take into account how much lean  muscle tissue you have which is cr*p because having some muscle is a GOOD thing as muscle tissue is the only tissue in the body that can burn fat so why would you NOT want it?
 
So even though you've gained a small amount of lean muscle and dropped a load of fat, your scales STILL won't show it because technically you’re the same weight?
 
Let me put this another way:
 
Muscle weighs more than fat.

Let’s take a pound of muscle versus a pound of fat. They both WEIGH the same HOWEVER a pound of muscle takes up less space than a pound of fat.
 

 
Muscle  also burns 7 to 10 calories daily per pound compared to fat which only burns 2 to 3 calories daily per pound so replacing more fat with muscle makes sense for fat loss right?
 
And secondly,
 
Your weight can fluctuate by as much as 3 kilos in a day. It's impossible to gain 3 kilos of fat in a day. This is more likely due to fluid retention from a hormonal imbalance or a congested liver but your scales won't see it this way!
 
And by the way, those bio-electrical impedance scales that you see in the health clubs that tell you what fat percentage you are, are a load of cr*p as well. They are VERY inaccurate and also are mis-guiding.

I'm finding this quite difficult to put into words so I decided to put a video together for you on what to do with your scales and how to make them work for you:

I hope that's made things a little clearer for you?

Don't be a F*CKTARD!
 
Ditch the scales!
 
Sure, You COULD still carry on using your scales, you can keep on checking your weight on a daily basis. You could carry on obsessively checking  your weight every time you've exercised and carry on feeling unhappy and miserable inside because you haven't lost those "last few extra pounds" or have stayed the same weight.
 
Or you could smash your scales  up like I did and focus on FAT LOSS. You can go on how you look, how you feel and how your clothes fit you where you will see more ACCURATE results which in turn will motivate you more?
 
What's it to be?
 
OK!  That is all!
 
Sam
 
PS - If you want a programme that focuses on FAT LOSS and not WEIGHT LOSS then Our next Evolution Boot camp FREE taster week kicks off on Monday 8th October. Call 07817 403398 or Email sam@evolutionfitnessandnutrition.com if you'd like to reserve a place. Alternatively check out www.evolutionbootcamp.com for more info.
 

Can't Make My Bootcamp? No Problem!!

Hi guys,

how you doing?

This is just a quick video blog for all you guys that can't make it to my Bootcamp because of money or time. Or maybe you just live outside the Kent area then I have the PERFECT programme for you!

If you're interested then just click on the video below and follow the instructions:

>> CLICK HERE TO START BURNING FAT IN YOUR HOME! <<

The next Evolution Bootcamp At Home Programme starts on Monday 8th October and I'm only taking 5 people onto this as I want to keep the group relatively smallish so don't hang about!

Ok! thats it!

Have an awesome day!

Sam ;-)

PS - >> HERE'S THAT LINK AGAIN TO BURN FAT FROM YOUR HOME! <<

How She DID IT! (How She Lost 2 Stone In Just 8 Weeks!)

If you're a woman who wants to lose weight then have a read of Felicity's story at Evolution Bootcamp: How She Lost 2 stone in 8 weeks.

"Before I began my transformation journey at Evolution Bootcamp I wasn’t in the best shape since suffering from glandular fever and being unable to exercise during this time. I had always been active and conscious of my appearance and like to keep track of my diet but through university and life style changes over the last few years I had began putting on weight which resulted in me feeling lethargic and uncomfortable in my body. I knew that I needed to lose at least two stone and change my diet when I signed up to boot camp in order to be my ideal weight and have a leaner body, giving me more self confidence and energy in every day life. 

I had no direction with my gym sessions and diet and would attend Weightwatcher meetings and become demotivated by only loosing a pound a week and constantly counting points and not keeping the weight off. I found that each sporadic gym session was very repetitive and I knew that I needed to start a proper fitness programme in a supportive environment, being given clear instructions. A friend of mine had been attending Evolution Boot camp for nearly a year and loved the results and had become very trim and toned and suggested I sign up.

Before I started the boot camp training I attended Sam’s seminar on fat loss and it gave me a great insight into what was expected of you to achieve your ultimate goals and exactly how to accomplish this. I was apprehensive about beginning the sessions but the seminar put me at ease and I began to look forward to transforming my body. I bought the Evolution cookbook to give me some menu ideas which were easy to make and made it easier to plan ahead. I was surprised at how after only week one I wasn’t craving carbs and I had lost 5 pounds. 

I was amazed at the results I achieved at Bootcamp, I had so much energy and was no longer bloated after eliminating gluten from my diet. I lost 2 stone overall and noticed a huge difference in my before and after pictures on the inches I had lost on my waist. 

Before I started boot camp I began restricting my diet but did not know or understand the reasons why I should eliminate certain foods. At Bootcamp I got the correct nutritional guidance and was shown how it coupled with the exercises we were undertaking to enable me to have optimum fat loss and weight loss."

Is Herbal Life Healthy?

Is Herbal Life Healthy?

I’ve been biting my tongue on this subject for quite some time now but I feel it’s the right time to educate the general public on this area and give you a few facts on Herbal Life that you may not knew about.

For those of you that aren’t sure what Herbal Life is then it’s a supplement company that pride themselves on being completely healthy and great for weight loss.

It seems that more and more people are using Herbal Life for their nutrition now. Only the other day I got an email from a Herbal Life representative trying to sell me a range of their “healthy weight loss supplements”. And only yesterday, I got a phone call from another one trying to sell me the benefits of their supplement range.

Not only that but it appears that many personal trainers and fitness experts of late are now endorsing herbal life as a healthy weight loss system for their clients without maybe completely understanding what ingredients go into these supplements and what impact they will have on liver health and hormone health.

First of all, let me just clarify by saying that I’m not questioning whether any of their weight loss systems get RESULTS. They clearly do and they will certainly have hundreds of testimonials to back their claims up, which is great!

But I guess, we as individuals have to decide and understand what is TRUELY health and what is not?

I wanted to quickly show you some of the ingredients that Herbal Life use in their main  shakes and bars:

 

 

So let’s give you a few facts about some of the ingredients in some of their products:

Soy Protein – Soya is one of the most heavily sprayed crops out there meaning it will add to your toxic load and over burden the liver. Most modern soy foods are not fermented which means the toxins aren’t neutralised. It is also processed in a way that can increase levels of carcinogens. Carcinogens are the substances capable of causing cancer in living tissue.

And if that wasn’t enough then I’ve highlighted some other points as to why Soya is not as healthy as we’d like to think it is:

Ø  Free Glutamic Acid or MSG is a highly potent neuro-toxin that is formed during soy processing. A neuro toxin means that the liver cannot break it down so it sends it straight to your brain.

Ø  Soy foods contain high amounts of aluminium which is toxic to the nervous system and kidneys.

Ø  Soy foods increase the body’s requirement for vitamin D

Ø  Trypsin inhibitors in soy interfere with protein digestion and can cause problems with the pancreas.

Ø  Soy phyto estrogens found in soy beans and soy products can play havoc with your hormones, screw up your thyroid gland and have the ability to cause infertility and promote breast cancer in woman.

Ø  Another point to note that has nothing to do with the affects soy has on the body but I thought was unbelievable is that soybean farming has caused more loss of the Amazon rain forest than cattle ranching has. What a waste!

I could go on forever about the health implications of soy but if you want more clarification on why Soy is bad for you and then a great book to read is “The Whole Soy Story” by Kaayla T. Daniel from the Weston Price Foundation.

Anyway, let’s carry on with the other ingredients J

Sucrose, dextrose, sucralose,– All of these ingredients are artificial sweeteners and are MUCH stronger than normal sugar so will have a huge impact on the hormone insulin. If insulin is constantly being spiked throughout the day with food that is high in glycaemic load then you won’t be losing fat any time soon. Too much sugar makes you fat (especially around the love handle area) and gives you diabetes but if you want 146 more reasons WHY you should give up the white stuff then read this staggering article I wrote a while back:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/notes/sam-winkworth/are-you-a-drug-addict/425381068807

Herbal Life also use a sweetener called Acesulfame K in their products. I have written about the health implications of this controversial sweetener before.

Acesulfame Potassium (non-nutrive sweetener) - otherwise known as Acesulfame K is another popular sweetener that many manufacturers use. It’s also found in food and beverages aswell.

The problem with Acesulfame is that there have been no long term studies done on it. Acesulfame K contains the carcinogen methylene chloride.
Long-term exposure to methylene chloride can cause headaches, depression, nausea, mental confusion, liver effects, kidney effects, visual disturbances and cancer in humans.

There has been a great deal of controversy to the use of acesulfame K but at this time, the Foods Standards Agency has not asked for any tests to be done on this sweetener.
 
Emulsifiers – Soya Lechtin is an emulsifier used to stop water and fats from separating which basically helps improve a products shelf life. We’ve just spoken about why soy is detrimental to our health.

Anti-caking agents – An anti-caking agent is an additive put into powder based products to stop lumps forming. Any kind of additive used in a food product (in particular protein powders) isn’t really designed to be in us and so the body will recognise it as toxic.

So…

Let me ask the question again…

Is Herbal Life “Healthy”?

I’ll leave you to make your own mind up…

As a fitness professional that promotes health and eating the way mother nature intended us to eat, I'm afraid I simply cannot endorse a weight loss system that allows you to eat toxic food that will stress out the liver.

I really hate to be a party pooper on this but the ingredients used in herbal life’s supplements (stated above) will unfortunately compromise the liver and if the liver is ALWAYS dealing with chemicals and toxins coming in then people will find it harder to lose those last few extra pounds. Not only that but overall health will eventually be compromised aswell.

Surely a few toxins are OK in moderation though right?

Well, Yes…But the problem with “moderation” is that NO ONE CAN DO IT which is why we have an obesity epidemic on at the moment, which is why we are SICKER than ever before in our history and is why NO ONE is getting awesome fat loss results from their training programmes.

So these days, most people can’t do a few toxins and haven’t been for quite some time now

Here’s how toxins affect your liver and your ability to drop body fat.

When you put food in your body that’s either allergenic or stresses out the liver, your body cannot deal with all these toxins coming in. It also DOESN’T want them in your blood stream for very long so it sends them to the adipose tissue (your fat cells) to be stored out of the way.

This is why you gain fat so quickly if you’re eating toxic food all the time.

So basically when you STOP putting toxins into your body, your liver can go back to doing its job. It can then start dealing with the excess toxins that are stored in the body fat, so it will get rid of the toxins AND the body fat that it’s stored in.

The liver also produces sex hormone binding globulins which are responsible for cleaning up androgens like testosterone and estrogen. But if your liver is stressed and its working over time trying to deal with chemicals and toxins coming in, then it either sends out dysfunctional sex hormone binding globulins or doesn’t send any out at all, which means that this excess estrogen has to be stored somewhere and unfortunately for woman it will be the leg and bum area and for guys it will be the man boob area.

So your liver health is the key to fat loss.

Ok so now that we understand a bit more about how toxic food affects the liver, let’s talk about how we can go about restoring TRUE health and losing fat…for good:

1) Stay away from toxic food and anything that stresses out the liver. Focus on eating organic lean proteins like beef, chicken, turkey, sea food and eat plenty of organic fruit and vegetables.

2) Drink plenty of fresh clean water. Steer clear of tap water because it’s VERY dirty and not as clean as we think it is! If you want to know why I don’t drink tap water then check this article I wrote a while back:
http://takingthehelmofyourownevolution.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/why-i-wont-drink-tap-water.html

3) Manage your insulin levels better. Avoid spiking your insulin with too much sugar and artificial sweeteners. Focus on foods that have little effect on insulin and foods that are low in glycaemic load if you want to lose fat and stay healthy.

4) Get READY for the ONSLAUGHT! Herbal Life are REALLY starting to target fit pros and personal trainers to sell on their supplements to their clients so expect to see a lot more “professionals” fronting their products. To be honest with you, I really don’t have a problem with what fit pro’s choose to endorse however I do feel that it’s my duty as a fat loss coach to educate people more on the truth behind these “healthy” supplement companies.

5) Be WARY of supplement companies that claim that they are 100% healthy because quite often they are not. Check the ingredients out for yourself before you take the supplement company’s word for it. Be aware of additives, preservatives and sweeteners, especially in protein bars & shakes. Food that is toxic will stress out the liver and sweeteners will spike your insulin.

And that’s it!

I hope that’s given you a bit more of an insight into Herbal Life and has given you more of an understanding into the ingredients they use in their supplements.

Peace out J

Sam Winkworth
Body Transformation Specialist

PS - If you would like to transform your body and regain your health in just 28 days without the use of supplements then I'll be holding a free taster week at any one of my 3 fat loss Bootcamp venues in the Sevenoaks & Tonbridge area. It starts on Monday 7th October, you can come along to as many fat loss workouts as you like and you will also receive a FREE 7 day meal plan aswell.

Text or call me on 07817 403398 to reserve your place or you can go to www.evolutionbootamp.com to see some awesome body transformation photos from current members.There's only 5 places up fro grabs so if you want to take advantage of this free week then dont hang about.

The "Sam Winkworth Story" You Never Knew About!

It’s taken me a long time to sum up the courage to write about this. It was a time of my life that I don’t like to think about let alone write about it and if I’m truly honest I’m really ashamed of what I did. I’m going back to the year of 2006 and it was a very dark time in my life. Only my brother and a few close friends know about what I did in the year of 2006, not even my parents know what I’m about to reveal, however I feel it’s the right time to talk about it and get it out there in the open. It was a time of my life where I seemed to be lost? I was 26 years old, young and impressionable and I wasn’t sure where I was going with my life. I was into my 4th year working as a personal trainer at Virgin Active in Bromley. Personally my training was going well, mentally I was happy (or at least I thought I was) and I had a huge client base so business was going well but somehow for me this wasn’t enough? I felt something was missing in my life. I’ve always had a burning urge to be the best at whatever I do and it was in the year of 2006 where I REALLY started to focus ALL of my attention onto training. I’ve always enjoyed lifting weights and I’ve always been naturally muscular (thanks to my dads genes!) but back in 2006 I was never satisfied with what I’d got, I always wanted more. Everyone would comment on how good I looked but I’d never listen to them, I always used to think they were just being nice so I made a decision back then that I wanted to take my training to the next level. I wanted to get massive and I wanted to compete as a bodybuilder. I decided to educate myself on what it required to pack on a huge amount of muscle and what it took to compete as a bodybuilder and it was during this time that I decided to train with another bodybuilder and another trainer at virgin active who was training for his first strongman competition. My intention was to enter some bodybuilding competitions. I started to REALLY get into the bodybuilding world. I would buy DVDs of “Mr Olympia” champions Ronnie Coleman and Jay Cutler to study how they’d eat and train to get their body shapes. I’d spend hundreds of pounds on bodybuilding supplements every month and Id train every day with my new bodybuilding buddies. All we’d do is talk about bodybuilding, nutrition and training programmes. I guess you could say that we were completely obsessed with it and we were quite literally living, eating and sleeping bodybuilding. When I look back on it, it seems really laughable how I was back then but at the time, that’s what I wanted. I was starting to become a bit obsessed with it, the more I read up around the subject of bodybuilding the more it was pointing to one thing and one thing alone.

Yep, in the summer of July 2006 I decided that I would take steroids. I’d like to say at this point that I wasn’t forced into taking them from anyone. It was completely my decision and my decision alone to take them. It started with a really basic course which saw some pretty good gains. I didn’t really get any side effects and I had gained inches everywhere which was awesome. I would never have got these muscle gains from conventional diet and training. My squat went from 150kg to a whopping 220kg and I was comfortably lifting 115kg on my bench press. I was buzzing! “Why didn’t I think of this sooner?” I thought. “Anyone that said that steroids are bad for you clearly doesn’t know what they’re talking about.” I convinced myself. Although the results were good, I STILL wanted more. I decided that, after trying out a relatively mild course of steroids that I was gonna try a monster course soon after that would get phenomenal results. I would take deca, dianabol and sustanon for 6 weeks, the number one goal would be to INCREASE MUSCLE to the absolute max and boy did I pack on the muscle. In 6 weeks, I went from 13.5 stone at the start of the course to a whopping 15 stone by the end of it! Yep I’d put on a stone and a half of muscle in 6 weeks and I was a MONSTER, I wasn’t particularly lean, quite fat in fact, but I didn’t care, I was HUGE! But it was AFTER this course when the problems with my health started. I started to get terrible side effects due to the horrendous pressure I’d put my endocrine system under over the last 6 weeks. For those of you that don’t know, when you take steroids you’re basically injecting testosterone into your system to help the muscle grow and repair at a rapid rate to allow you train MUCH harder and longer than what you’d normally be able to naturally. However this is synthetic testosterone, meaning the body hasn’t produced it naturally. The body is very clever. When this happens it thinks that there’s testosterone in abundance it so stops producing it naturally which obviously is a big problem when you come off it because you have zero levels of it. (Anyone that tells you that this can be sorted by taking more steroids clearly doesn’t understand how the endocrine system works, trust me I tried!). The hormones Cortisol & Estrogen then go sky high to compensate for this lack of testosterone which then leads to breakdown, which in my case was COMPLETE psychological breakdown. I started off with severe mood swings. My girlfriend at the time and best buddy told me that I was a different person since I started taking them and didn’t really want to be around me or know me during this time. I had become more short- tempered, aggressive and my sex drive had gone through the roof to the point where it had become ridiculous! One of the worse times in my life was when I completely lost it with my girlfriend (at the time) and completely smashed up my bedroom and pushed her down the stairs in a fit of rage. I had completely lost it. Like a wild animal. Luckily she was ok. I didn’t know what was happening to me. I’d become a monster, I didn’t recognise myself anymore? I didn’t know where to turn? All my buddies had disowned me and my girlfriend (at the time) finished with me. I don’t blame her, who would want to stick around that disgusting behaviour? With no where to turn and my endocrine system shot to pieces, the anger soon turned to depression and despair. I had reached rock bottom. Mentally, I had reached a very dark place and didn’t know how to get out. In the space of 6 months I had gone from a healthy, happy 26 year old to a desperate, lonely, unhappy one (and a messed up one at that!) I suppose you could call it a bit of a breakdown? Awesome. A break down at 26 when I should have been in my prime? That wasn’t right… One thing I did know was that I needed to get out of this black hole. I went to see several doctors and physciatrists to help me. One diagnosed me with clinical depression and asked if I wanted to take anything for it but I wanted to get out of this without medicine. Although they all tried to help in their own way, I knew deep down that it would be me, and me alone that could only get out of this. Life didn’t seem worth it anymore, I had contemplated suicide several times. My family tried their hardest to help me, especially my parents. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to over dramatize how I felt but this was more than just “feeling a little bit down” as anyone that’s had depression will verify. The only way I can explain it is that it felt like I was in an empty vessel moving through a still ocean. Nothing seemed to interest me anymore? I just seemed to be… existing… without a goal, without a purpose? And just so desperately unhappy? A horrible feeling that I hope I never have to experience again till the day I die. After weeks and months of trying to get back into normal life, each day I slowly started to feel abit better. The depression I was in was slowly starting to lift. I was keeping busy, trying to keep my mind off what had happened and eventually, after several weeks, I felt like I was starting to climb out of my black hole that id been in. So why am I telling you all this? Good question, after all, why would I divulge all this stuff about me. It’s not exactly what I’d call being a role model is it! And why would I tell you that I’ve done steroids in the past? Surely, I’d want to keep that hidden away from everyone right? Well you’d be right…up to a point. Trust me, I’m not proud of what I did back then but I guess I’m happy to share my experience with you because I wanted you to know when I reached the point when I wanted and needed to change. It was because of THIS experience that made me want to turn over a new health leaf… It was because of THIS experience that made me start my own journey back to health… And, ultimately it was because of THIS experience that made me want to help people do it the right way (and not take the wrong path like I did). This time of my life was a massive learning curve for me. I’d made a decision to take stuff that I shouldn’t have done and I paid the price massively for it. I hit rock bottom, severely compromised my health and lost everyone that I loved and cared for at the time and I knew that once I got myself back on track mentally that I’d never follow this dangerous path ever again. The end of 2006 would be the last time I did bodybuilding. My new goal in 2007 would be restoring health and has been for the last 5 years. In those years I have studied with some of the world’s best health experts, I’ve read over a hundred nutrition books and my whole philosophy towards training & nutrition has changed for the better. My own personal training and diet is primarily focused around regaining health. I have now reached my natural bodyweight, I look far more athletic and toned than I did back in 2006 and my body fat levels have been low throughout. After all, a healthy body cannot carry body fat!

Don’t get me wrong! I’m still HUMAN! I still like a pizza, I LOVE cheesecake and I do like a p*ss up every now and then just like any other person does but I guess what I’m saying is that my main goal is to eat the way mother nature intended us to as much as possible, staying away from toxic, processed and I feel sooo much better for it. I feel in a much better place mentally now although I still have to be aware that I don’t over-do things (both with business and training). As you probably may have guessed by now that when I put my mind to something then I like to give it 100% so I can be prone to a bit of burn out as my adrenal glands aren’t as strong as they once were due to the steroids that I took. This is when the depression can slowly start to kick in again however I guess I can recognise the warning signs now and I’ve learnt to back off a bit when this happens. I’m sure they’ll be some people reading this who’ll be quick to judge me for what I did in which case I have no control over. I’ve already had abusive emails from what I thought were “friends” saying that I’m a fraud and telling me “how the hell can you preach health? Everyone knows you’re a steroid abuser?” This really saddened me when I read this, particularly as we used to be friends once apon a time however I understand that people will form their opinions which is fine however I DO believe that it’s often the people who have had EXPERIENCES in life that are in the best place to help others. After all, you can’t learn experience from a text book! I have learnt HUGELY from my experience and if my story has given people more of an insight about me and understand WHY I’m doing what I do and inspired people to change their ways because they’re unhappy (for whatever reason) then that makes me happy. Looking back, I’m really proud of myself for beating depression and changing my ways. I guess it comes down to this?

If you’re not happy , and you WANT to be happy then change SOMETHING! I hope my story has inspired you and I hope you don’t judge me too much  Thank you for taking the time to reading it Sam x

Why I’ll NEVER Use Whey Protein Powder!

Ok here’s my take on why most protein shakes are absolute horse shit and why I’ll never use whey protein or recommend it in any of my nutrition plans.

Yep, you heard me right, WHEY protein, that stuff that’s great for building muscle and supposed to be really good for you after a hard weight training session? It must be true because the supplement companies told you it was, right?

Well I used to think like this aswell. During my bodybuilding days I used to slug down 3 protein shakes a day like it was going out of fashion, that was until I researched the actual ingredients in these protein powders a while back and I was shocked at the actual truth. Not only are they full of sugar and chemicals but the “whey” protein that’s considered bad ass by top strength coaches & nutritionists, isn’t as good as we think it is.

In this article I’m going to address the reasons why most protein powders are making you fatter, a waste of money and are detrimental to your health. I’m also going to tell you the only 2 powders that I recommend but bare in your mind that if fat loss is your goal then you don’t really need to worry about a protein shake.

So let’s take a look at some of the ingredients put in these “amazing super-duper” protein shakes:

First up, Whey Protein

There are 2 different types of whey protein, whey isolate and whey concentrate.

Whey Protein isolate is a by-product from cheese-making. It’s the clear liquid used after the milk has curdled and is often used to feed pigs. Those of you that read my blog regularly will know that I’m not a fan of cow’s milk. Humans aren’t designed to drink cow’s milk, baby cows are!



Not only is cow’s milk highly allergenic for most people but the process of refining whey protein isolate involves heat and acid treatment which kills off any friendly bacteria which would be good for your gut health. The treatment process also leaves the milk putrid (yep, you’re drinking putrid protein when you slug down that protein shake!) and hard to dissolve which is why manufacturers have to use additives to make it easier to mix.

Ever noticed that some protein powders are a bitch to dissolve? There are always lumpy bits in it that don’t seem to dissolve aren’t there! Well now you know why 

Whey protein concentrate could be considered a slightly better option than whey isolate. Unpasteurised whey protein from hormone free, grass fed cows, is better because it doesn’t go through the pasteurisation process however it’s still COW’S MILK and we can still get better sources of protein elsewhere without having to resort to whey.

Secondly, Sweeteners

Sucralose is a sweetener manufacturers use to give the protein its flavour and has exactly the same effect on your body as normal sugar does meaning it will play havoc with your insulin levels which is bad news if you’re susceptible to love handle fat in particular. Plus the fact sugar gives you diabetes and is also terrible for your health.

Acesulfame Potassium or Acesulfame K is another popular sweetener that manufacturers use. It’s also found in food and beverages aswell. It is 200 times sweeter than normal sugar so you’ll get all the same problems sugar will give you plus MORE!

The problem with Acesulfame is that there have been no long term studies done on it. Acesulfame K contains the carcinogen methylene chloride.
Long-term exposure to methylene chloride can cause headaches, depression, nausea, mental confusion, liver effects, kidney effects, visual disturbances and cancer in humans.

There has been a great deal of controversy to the use of acesulfame K but at this time, the Foods Standards Agency has not asked for any tests to be done on this sweetener.

Aspartame is also found in some protein powders and is a highly controversial sweetener; it’s been banned in several countries. Basically the liver cannot break aspartame down so it’s sent straight to the brain. Not only is this found in protein powders but also sports drinks, chewing gum, children’s food and loads of other stuff. There are over 92 different health side-affects from consuming aspartame. Horrendous food additive!

So basically the body has no use for any of these sweeteners in the body so in order to reduce their circulation, the body will dump them into your fat cells which will add to your toxic load which in turn will make you fatter. It’s as simple as that really.

Not only this but research is clearly showing that our bodies cannot cope with these sweeteners and are seriously damaging our health.

So what if I was to tell you that there are MUCH better alternatives to using whey protein? Alternatives that are free from all these additives and sweeteners and won’t compromise your health?

Would you be interested?

Well you should be because there is!

Protein powder made from rice or hemp is just as good as whey and in my opinion is better as you’re not consuming putrid milk! There are only a couple of powders I recommend and they are:

Sun Warrior Protein
And Vega Protein

Both are made from (non-soy) whole grain rice protein, are gluten free and have a complete amino-acid profile. I’m not affiliated with either of these products however I do believe that these are the cleanest protein powders out there at the moment and I have personally had good results using both.

Peace out and stop drinking cows milk! You're not a baby cow! :-)

SAM :-)