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How To Balance Fitness and Fast Food

February 16, 2016Bodyadmin

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Here is a controversial fitness topic that many spend countless internet hours arguing over – can you eat fast food and still look good.

Now there are two routes we can go down here: the ‘perfect fitness’ route, or the ‘realistic’ route.

The ‘perfect fitness’ answer is NO.
I see ‘perfect fitness’ as what we believe fitness to be – 100% dedication and sacrifice.
Fast foods are pumped full of shit and hormones which makes the foods become so unnatural that our bodies do not know how to handle the foods – this results in fat storage and potentially all other sorts of other illnesses and diseases.
So it goes without saying that if you are trying to get into shape then it is wise that you avoid these things – and any fitness magazine will tell you exactly the same thing.

However…

We do not live in an ideal world… sometimes I just really want a McDonanld’s, so I will occasionally have it – and I enjoy every single bite of it.

Now I’m in no way saying that McDonald’s is healthy, or that McDonald’s is good for fitness at all.. however we do not need to sacrifice fast food completely to stay in shape.
You do not need to be 100% dedicated all the time.. Getting 80% of the results is fine if it allows you to still enjoy your life.

Obviously if you are going 7 days a week then you need to seriously consider sorting this out, and work on going less – as fast food in most cases is so full or just shit which will lead to bad things happening to your body on the inside.

Keep in mind that one of the factors that make fast food so unfavourable for keeping in shape is that it is just full of calories which do not even fill you up – so if you are struggling to maintain your caloric deficit then I would strongly advise to stay away completely from fast food.

I probably indulge in McDonald’s and such once a week, but I am bulking at the moment so I have plenty of space in my calories to fit in the wonderful yummy shit.

It would definitely be better if I had some lean protein, some healthy fats, and some rice, but simple pushing fast food out of my life completely will result in me being more resentful at wanting to stay fit, and may result in me relapsing more severely.

Fast food is the only way to look good! – lol jk no, but you can still indulge in it occasionally if you feel that it will help keep you on the right track and stay motivated for the rest of the time when you are not stuffing your face with shit.

-Mike

Like my shit? Ask me questions at mike@unigains.com or at @Unigains on Twitter!

How To Stop Giving Up

February 3, 2016Bodyadmin

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My life is not perfect.

Sure I may have a good job, and am helping you guys out there which is the best thing ever – but sometimes I just want to procrastinate.

How do you keep yourself on track?

Now this answer may suck, but you have to do something which will keep you disciplined.
When you are mentally feeling demotivated, you have to pull something together which will push you in the right direction.

For example, on writing this little post I was going to just postpone it and carry on watching my Kevin Hart videos… however, I knew that it would only lead to a downwards spiral of procrastination.

Doing that little bit of practice each day teaches our brain to get accustomed to the process and get used to it, eventually helping it become a routine – the more you do positive shit the easier it gets to do positive things.

You don’t have to be on full throttle 24/7. Just get up and take one little step on your journey which will help you get that one little big closer to your goal, and make taking the other steps so much easier.

-Mike

Got questions? Want advice? Want me to transform your life? Email me at mike@unigains.com

5 Food Which Will Stop You Being Hungry

February 2, 2016Foodadmin

When you are trying to lose weight the worst thing in the world is being hungry after dinner with no calories left.

If you are remotely similar to me then you will quickly give up your pursuit of a better body and cram a load of food down your face calling it a cheat day…

Preferably we do not want this to happen, so I have created a list of 5 items which help me fight the hunger without (as much) pain.

These items are ideally used to help you eat fewer calories earlier in the day, in order to let you eat normally later in the day (i.e. basically intermittent fasting)

1. Porridge

This saved my life. You can have a massive bowl of this which will only set you back about 250 calories (60g porridge with water and 2 teaspoons sugar). Whenever I eat a bit too many calories earlier on in the day, filling up with some of this is a perfect way to end the day without physically and mentally dying. Use water to reduce calories further; it actually tastes pretty good with some sugar/jam/honey/maple syrup.

Have porridge in the morning instead of a donut or some other sweet and sugary snack that you would otherwise have had.

This will help you kill two birds with one stone – you will not be getting a sugar crash from your breakfast, and you will stay full for longer!

2. Chewing Gum

For a while gum just makes my hunger go away, and then after a while it gives me a weird feeling of hunger which is bearable. I really don’t know how to explain it, but when I do not eat breakfast it helps change that feeling of unbearable hunger to one that is controllable. Also, it helps make my breath taste good, and eating after chewing gum never really tastes nice, so chewing on some encourages me to not eat for that little bit longer.

3. Sparkling Water

There are some controversial opinions on sparkling water; some say it acts like fizzy drinks and erodes your teeth and damages your stomach whilst others say there is not harm.
I will have to leave this one up to you, but I have found that again it tricks my belly into feeling satisfied, allowing me to wait longer before I eat a feast later on.
If you’re worried about your teeth, just use a straw.

4. Warm Drinks

I was going to limit this to just coffee, then I realized that hot drinks in general are great tools to help keep me full; this is likely due to them helping me keep occupied for about 30 mins at a time. I am surprised that I cannot find articles on this, as it has played a huge part in helping me get through the morning and get a good fast going.

Coffee is the best of the hot drinks to achieve this for me, as the caffeine gives me a little extra boost of energy which enables me to not be tempted to other energy sources from sugary foods.

5. Lean Protein and Vegetables

If all else fails, think about increasing your protein and vegetable uptake throughout the day. Foods like tuna, eggs and steal fill you up quite extremely well for the amount of calories they have. For example, it takes 5 eggs or 700g of frozen vegetables to get the same amount of calories as a large donut.

Now I am no doctor or nutritionist, but it is safe to say that eating less sugary carbs is a wise choice. A large factor that determines satisfaction from a meal is the amount of time it takes to eat it; as vegetables and proteins tend to take longer to eat, you will end up being more satisfied from your meal then if you were to eat the same calories from processed carbs.

So there you have it, the 5 items I use to help me eat less without it feeling as much of a burden. I highly suggest you try intermittent fasting as it did wonders for me to help reduce my calories and help me get ripped. Check out my guide here.

-Mike

Got any questions? Ask me at mike@unigains.com or @unigains on Twitter!

How To Achieve Your Goals

February 2, 2016Mindadmin

A lot of you out there have goals and aspirations which you want to achieve, but you just can’t be bothered to do it.

For years I have wanted to help others get into fitness and help them develop their bodies and minds… but I was just too lazy and made excuses.

How do we stop this and start being productive?

Well, what we need to do is start developing positive habits.
Habits are basically your brain’s ‘default’ mode; they are the things you just do without even realising.

Your brain acts similar to your body – the more you practise something the easier it gets.
Therefore the way to start doing positive things is to practice at them.

Unfortunately, developing positive habits takes a tonne of willpower… and we have a limited amount… great…

So how do I develop these habits successfully?

I am not an advocate for going cold-turkey; it always results in me rebounding. My logical answer as to why is because going cold turkey requires a lot of willpower for a significant amount of time before it becomes a habit – a lot of us will not be able to handle this and will give up before reaching the ‘habit’ stage.

Going cold turkey also often leaves us feeling resentful too; suddenly giving up things which have been mentally ingrained in you for so long is pretty hard to give up.

Of course I’m not saying it’s impossible; many people quit smoking and drinking in this manner. However I have found that when it comes to fitness and building new habits, the people who decide to start eating healthy, stop eating junk food, and start exercising everyday are the ones who fail.

Instead, taking things slowly and steadily requires only a little bit of willpower each time, allowing you to stay consistent. Also, constantly achieving little goals feel really good, which will help motivate you to stay on track.

So instead of trying to reduce your calories by 1000 instantly, try and eat one less bit of that croissant you buy each morning, or put half a teaspoon less of sugar in your coffee – you can easily do that.

Before you know it you will be achieving your goals without it feeling like a burden, and you will learn to love the process.

So what are you waiting for? Bin that last bit of that donut and start making some progress!

–Mike

Need help on how to develop the positive habits? Email me at mike@unigains.com!