Remember last summer and how you looked? Look in the mirror today and have you still got the look you had or is it time to get your arse into gear and start thinking of the summer of 2012, it's just around the corner and some planning and changes now will make all the difference and give you the summer bod you need. It's back on the diet, back in the gym and cardio heaven to shift the pounds you gained over christmas and tone the muscle for the beach.

Every year there is always new diets floating around and new training programs and every year its always better than the year before - we have been in the low carb era for quite a while now and everybody who is starting a diet seams terrified to death if a carb passes their lips. It's low carb, zero carb, how many carbs has it got in, can't eat carbs after 6pm, can't eat carbs ever, carbs make you fat, carbs are the devil in disguise. Well lets look at the facts and put you on the right path as the truth is CARBS are not as bad as every one makes out and are needed in a healthy balanced diet to give you the energy to do all the training and cardio you need to lose the weight. You can lose weight by restricting your calorie intake and this is proved to work, but return to your normal calorie intake and the weight comes back. You can lose weight by going really low carbs and eating protein only but this leads to low energy leaves, and a loss of interest in training so you might get the look you wanted but for most it's a hard miserable journey and the carbs will be put back in the diet soon so you feel better. You then get about 2 weeks looking and feeling good and you trick yourself into thinking you have finally cracked it and you can eat carbs and look the same and then one morning you wake up and boom, its back, lower back fat, love handles and good old chunky thighs. Yo Mr and Mrs Yo-Yo you have just done the same as last year just using different foods and you always end up back at square one. It's like you have a spring attached to your back and the harder you run away the faster it pulls you back. It's all about balance and getting the formula right from the start without rushing and learning slow and steady wins the race - you didn't put the weight on over night and having a face like a slapped arse just cos you only lost a pound with all the hard work you put in won't get you out of this vicious cycle you have been in for years.

Just for a change lets take time to look at how you put weight on and how to get out of shape and it may become clearer to see how we try to deceive oneself into thinking you are the odd one out and every one around you can eat what they want and not put weight on. How much alcohol do you drink - the dreaded happy time flavoured water that is full of empty calories, makes you wear what you drink and gives you the hang over from hell that is only eased by Mc Donalds, Dominos or any other junk food you can shovel in. You see the thing is with drinking it makes you feel good so you have another one, then another, then your hungry and all of a sudden you have had a few thousand calories late at night and your off to bed with all the weeks diet out the window and to be honest your not arced til Monday when the guilt gets you. Think before you drink. Plan what your limit is and what your going to have to eat later on, this can allow you to still turn out but with minimal damage. Have water while you out and use diet mixers. Im am sure in the next twenty years we will see 1 cal lager and wine zero but until that time if you are trying to shape up cut back on the drink.

Take a way tea, its fast, it tastes good and yes you have guessed it - it's loaded with crap, but that's ok cos you don't have it all the time?? Or do you. Look at the meals you make at home and what's on your plate, are you cooking a meal but in reality its just home made take a way. If you have gained the pounds it came from some where and 9 times out of 10 it's because of all the extras you add to the meals and all the afters. The 3 slices of buttered bread, all the different sauces and mayo you have on the side, the sneaky biscuits or chocolate you have after or worst of all the snacks you have in-between meals. Unwanted body fat can not just appear over night, it is a result of some thing you have consumed over a period of time and on a regular basis. It's the time you are not on the diet that makes it come back and if you are honest with yourself you spend more time off a diet then on one. That's the reason when you diet you can't be in too much of a rush to lose the weight and if you make big changes all at once in your life style after  a while the old habits will start coming back and so will the weight. So your happy at meal times but sad when you look in the mirror or your sad when you eat but happy with the weight loss. Stop thinking of you and start thinking of what effects all this is having on your body and your health, your immune system, your skin, your heart, kidneys and over all well being. It's ok being massive and ripped or slim and toned if your fully healthy and working at 100%. You need to be happy at meal times, healthy body and mind and happy in the mirror - all this can be achieved with total success with a good balance of food, supplementation, exercise and rest. Get all these 4 components right and you are one happy, healthy bunny!!

First it was FAT FREE, then CARB FREE, and now you have tried and failed lets get back to the one thing that really works for all round health and that's a good balanced healthy diet, full of carbs, fats, protein and fibre. Foods that are bursting with vitamins, minerals and anti oxidants, foods that will give you energy to train and have all the goodness of healthy digestion. One of the lads in the gym was getting ready to have a professional fight and his training was going great, his diet was very low carb and was time restricted. His will to fight was what was making him train so hard and because the weight was falling off he thought he was on the right path, then things started to change. He realised one day he had not been the toilet for a week and although he had a good tan it was only the sun bed that was masking the fact he was looking very pail and his immune system was vastly going down hill. His skin was suffering and he had low concentration. His mood would swing from good to bad and when out of a social atmosphere the suffering would become quite apparent to him, but the weight was coming off and the training was good so he must be on the right path. He lost muscle tissue through lack of good wholesome food and was open to infection and viruses because of a poor immune system.His calcium levels dropped in his bones and skeletal frame so back problems started to rear its ugly head, muscle cramps started due to a sodium/potassium imbalance and he suffered with a bloated stomach. His diet was lacking in essential fatty acids, energy giving carbohydrates and more vitamins and minerals than you can think of - he was using fat burning pills to give him the energy to train but at the same time dehydrating his body severely. The weight loss he saw on the scales was part fat and muscle loss but a huge percentage was due to a lack of water in his system and dehydration which impaired his kidney functions - in general he was heading for a total body crash. A swift education was needed and a massive change in diet, any fool can starve the body and lose weight but it's all about losing the weight and feeling good. The fighter listened to the advice he got and finally give in to the fact that carbs are needed and in abundance in a healthy diet - good wholesome energy giving carbs and good fats were the turning point and the saving factor in the fighters diet and with an increase of fruit, veg, brown wholemeal bread, oily fish, brown pasta, brown rice and pearl barley, nuts and lentils. Sports supplements were added and taken every day at the same time without missing, Vitamin C to boost the immune system, whey protein to supply the muscles with the protein they need to repair but in a easy digestible form. A high carb recovery drink was added for before and straight after training to load the body with fast burning carbs so he didn't flag during the hard training sessions and to ensure his body has everything to aid recovery. If you give your body all the nutrients it requires after a training session including protein, carbs and a rehydration it has everything it needs to carry on with other jobs like growth and with rest repair, preparing for the next day.

This is just one example of a person who is dedicated to training but without the right nutrition was heading to total burn out. Don't forget the basics when you train no matter what sport you are into, it's your body that will give you the performance and you that will feed your body. Whey protein is well documented to be the best amino acid profile protein for building and repairing muscle tissue. Creatine will increase the amount of energy released when you contract a muscle making it stronger - from a bench press to a sprint to a high kick - creatine will produce the power you need. L-Glutamine is 50% make up of the muscle tissue in the human body and so to grow lean muscle tissue it is an essential amino acid to take on a daily basis. Vitamins and trace mineral elements can so easily be taken in a tablet form every day ensuring that when your body requires them they are there and in the right amounts that you need. Don't have your body on stand by waiting for you to put the right nutrition in as it is time lost and a deficiency is formed. With todays standard in sports nutrition you have no excuse but to feed your body with the perfect balance of hi fibre carbohydrates, protein, essential fats and all the vitamins and minerals needed as well as having a good healthy balanced diet.

THE HIGH CARB DIET

High carb diet, have I lost my marbles in this day and age of zero carb living!!!

Breakfasts

Porridge oats (50g) mixed with Powerbeck Whey protein (2 scoops), mix with water or skimmed milk

2 slices stone ground wholemeal bread with 2 bananas squished on top, 2 scoops power beck diet whey mixed with 400ml water

Mixed fruit with activia or natural yogurt with mixed nuts and Powerbeck whey protein (2 scoops)

Blend mixed berries with frozen yogurt 400ml water, 2 scoops Powerbeck whey protein, 1 actimel and a cup of oats

2 stone ground wholemeal toast, 1/2 tin low sugar beans, 2 poached eggs, Powerbeck diet whey

Lunch

Chicken, peppers, onion on a wholemeal wrap

Jacket potato with beans and salad

Chicken with brown wholegrain rice

Vegetable home made soup with lentils and barley (chicken, white fish, turkey)

Cod fillets with wholemeal rice and steamed veg

Dinner

Chicken, sprouts, carrots, cabbage, brocoli, cauliflower with chicken stock

Salmon, cous cous, beetroot and carrot salad

Mackerel, brown whole grain rice

Soya mince chilli, brown wholemeal pasta

Low fat curry, chicken, whole grain rice

Supper

Bran-flakes with skimmed milk

4 egg white omelette, ground peppercorns, sweetcorn

Protein flat cakes

Sardines on wholemeal toast

All the above meals are just a few examples of the types of meals you should be having and it all depends on the level of cooking you do at home, it can range from a slow cooked chicken stew with pluses and veg to a five minuet quick meal such as curried chicken with wholegrain rice in a whole grain wrap. All the meals are based on a well balanced diet and included plenty of fibre. Remember fibre as no or very little calorie content as we can't digest it so it is something you can eat to fill you up and clean you out, as it takes longer to chew and absorbs water in the mouth it will swell in the stomach giving you a fuller feeling for longer - a massive part of dieting is making sure you feel full and satisfied which in turn will stop you from snacking.Having spent a long time in the stomach, fibre moves through the large intestine relatively quickly and health experts believe this helps to keep the digestive system healthy, preventing bowel problems such as constipation, diverticular disease and haemorrhoids (piles), as well as reducing the risk of bowel cancer. Interestingly, all these conditions tend to be uncommon in undeveloped countries where intakes of fibre are high, compared to Western societies where these medical problems are widespread and fibre intakes are low.Furthermore, most fibre-rich foods are also low in fat and packed with vitamins and minerals – and when it comes to preventing disease, it seems that it’s this whole package of nutrients that’s important. For example, wholegrains like wheat, barley, oats, rye and rice contain not just fibre, but a number of nutrients that may reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, certain cancers and diabetes by as much as 30 per cent. These include antioxidant nutrients vitamin E, zinc and selenium and a range of plant compounds called phytochemicals.

Supplements are essential when you are losing weight to make sure you are creating the right environment to allow your body to function properly and work to the maximum. Simple little things like a multi vitamin everyday can make massive changes in the way we think and feel. Sports nutrition was first designed to make athletes perform better and made eating simple and more efective with pre digested protein and concentrated singled out energy sources. Eating food is all well and good if your  diet is perfect but can you say for sure if you have the right amount of vitamin c in your system every day or Iron, Zinc and the full spectrum of amino acids. Supplements take the guess work out of all of this and as we are not linked to blood testing machines every day it's the best way to make sure your getting maximum performance. As advances in nutrition went from strength to strength (especaily flavours) the general public and more to the point the dieting people soon caught on to the fact that dieting can be made loads eaiser and with better results. All in one perfect meals could be made as a drink making it quick and convienant, Powerbeck Pro-tech plus or Advanced whey, a breakfast drink containing protein and oats - Anabolic Protein Brek - the perfect after training drink like Cell Surge and fat burning drinks like whey protein and diet whey. Easy to swallow tablets and capsules giving a daily dose of vitamins, minerals and amino acids and then more refined products like creatine for more strength and L-G Max to feed the muscle tissue. The Beast was designed for people who want to increase weight as the word diet is not just about losing body fat and reducing the weight, it also is to increase some peoples muscular weight and benifit from a healthy eating pattern.

This is by no means a new diet or a fad or another twist of starving your body into losing weight - it the only way to acheive the body you want forever. For more help on all aspects of nutrition, training and diet either join us on facebook (powerbeck brand) or email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .