GUEST BLOGGER: Cooking with Ashleigh from Master Chef

 

For a treat today, our first guest blogger and friend of SCH&F Ashleigh Bareham has dropped in with an amazingly yummy, but not so naughty raw cheesecake recipe. You might recognise kitchen whizz Ash from the latest round of Masterchef. The 24 year old Buderim local did amazingly well, and is now establishing herself in the industry with plans to open a desert bar in the future. Affectionately labelled the desert queen, we issued the challenge to create us a healthy, but delicious treat heading into the festive season. Check out what she has come up with...

Raw Blueberry, Lavender and Chocolate Cheesecake

Base:
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup dates
1/2 - 1tbsp water as needed

Blend the almonds and dates to a rough crumb. Gradually add the water if needed so that the crumb will hold together when squeezed between your fingers. Press the mixture into the base of a 20cm round cake tin, and place in the freezer.

Filling:
150g cashews, soaked for 4-6 hours
125mL maple syrup
60mL coconut oil, melted
250g blueberries, fresh or frozen and thawed
1/2 tsp dried lavender

Blend all of the ingredients until very smooth. (this works best in a thermomix, vitamix or other high power blender, but can be done without. It won't be quite as smooth but will still taste delicious!) Pour over the base and freeze until set.

Topping:
40mL coconut oil
35mL maple syrup
30g cacao powder

Melt all ingredients together. Pour over the top of the cheesecake and return to the freezer to set.

It's easiest to cut the cheesecake into portions whilst frozen, but leave it to thaw in the fridge before serving.

 
Thanks so much for your contribution Ash, cant wait to get in the kitchen and try it!

Accelerate Health and Fitness: 7 Reasons Why The World Is More Pissed Off With Network Marketers Than Network Marketing Itself.

As someone with a (very small and local) social media presence in the Fitness Industry I have been approached by every network marketing company/mainline marketing business/ "not a pyramid scheme" known to man. I'm not going to name them. I don't need to. We have all got the one friend or co-worker who is using or has used one of them before and we know how much they like to talk about it ALLLLL the time! There are a butt load of them out there and there are new ones every three months that are "totally different to anything else on the market".
I have no objection to how anyone chooses to spend their money or the actions which to they to improve their health and fitness. If I see something dangerous or unethical I'm the first to speak up but at the end of the day if it gets you where you want to be, more power to you!
What I do object to are some of that "sales techniques" used to try to recruit me! I object to those BIG TIME!

First of all let me start by saying this, If you're going to copy and paste your approach to me be sure to get my name right.
My name isn't "Joe" and it sure as hell isn't "Sarah". No, these are not random names. They are just two examples of the dozen or so wrong names I have been approached with. This is so obvious but it really does happen a lot more than you might think. Take the time to address the person you're contacting by their actual name and save yourself coming across like an idiot!
　

 

Secondly, don't tell me that you think this would be an "amazing opportunity" for me to spread my business further, or that you did it and now you don't have to do face to face Personal Training anymore.
You don't know a thing about my business. How do I know that? Because the only person who knows where my business is and where I want it to be in the future is ME! The "marketing gurus" who came up with that line use it to try and trick me into thinking that I need you. I don't. Im doing fine by myself. If I needed you I would have searched you out! Talk to me like an equal instead of like my lifesaver.
Furthermore, 'scuse my French, but I fucking LOVE my job and I fucking LOVE that I get to do face to face PT. The fact that you see not doing face to face as a positive means you were either not suited to being a trainer or you were probably a shit trainer. It is a tough industry to crack and if you don't love it with every fibre of your body then it just isn't for you. Talk to your "target" and ask them if they are even looking for a side income or want to get into something different. And use those words. Don't tell them you have an "amazing opportunity" for them. I'm well aware that you stand to gain plenty if I sign up.

Objection Number 3 ...If I am sceptical don't get abusive.
Dialogue...
Mitch - "Do you have any research to back your product or explain the product and it's ingredients?"
Approacher - "Look Mitch, I'm offering you a great opportunity. Take it or leave it.
Mitch - "I really just want to know more about that product. I wouldn't take random substances off a bloke at the pub without knowing what it was so I'm not just going to blindly take it off you."
Approacher - "You're obviously not a very good Personal Trainer because you clearly don't have an open mind and you obviously don't want to help your clients because my substance cures cancers, walks your dog and can clean the grime marks from your shower."
I may have embellished what the product can do a little, but I tend to shut down when someone says I'm not open minded for trying to learn more about the product they're trying to sell to me and to have me sell to my clients. I started my business with $10 to my name and have worked on it every day of my life for six years. I'm protective of my reputation and the product I sell to my clients. I trust my training whole heartedly. I've earned that. You don't earn the same trust after a two paragraph sales pitch. If you don't have the answers, say so. I'll find them for you if you don't act like a jerk!

Together with the point I make above, Your marketing material is NOT science. No business is going to use all the shit things about their product to advertise itself! Coke doesn't advertise the fact that when I was a cook we used to use it to soak burnt sauce pots overnight to save ourselves a lot of hard work and about twenty minutes per pot. If it is a pamphlet with a before and after photo of one person or the blog of another seller this is purely anecdotal and is not science.

If you know me don't bullshit me with small talk. If you don't know me talk to me before you try to sell to me. You will soon realise not to bullshit me. This is more for my benefit than yours.

This one is a bit obvious too however it needs to be said, Don't use a line like "How do you know until you try it?" I've never used heroin but I've heard it's pretty bad for me. This will be my response every time and will only persuade a fool.

 

Finally, Know your product. If you tell me it is better for me than Red Bull...
A) So is kicking my shin on a toe ball. Big deal.
B) Be able to explain how and why IN DETAIL.
C) Be sure that is actually true. You will approach someone who already knows that what you're saying is bullshit or will do their research and prove you wrong.

* If you don't know why this meme is funny message me and I will dispel the myth of the evil Glutenz.

Like I said above, I have no issue with anyone buying any product or training method if it genuinely makes them healthier and fitter. That said, for the most part, I don't have much objection to anyone selling those products either. It's really none of my business. But when you approach me, do it the right why. It won't help your chances with me, I'm all set, but I won't think you're a dickhead and we will both have a much better day.

Thanks for reading and please send all hate mail to the admin of this page.

Mitch, Accelerate Health and Performance
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/acceleratehealthandperformance/
Instagram: @mitchellknightpt

MAB Adventures: Why Choose Adventure?

"Why adventure?

Adventure is fun, adventure is free, and adventure is The Sunshine Coast's biggest asset.

The Sunshine Coast is like a big play ground! We have endless amounts of hiking tracks, mountains to climb, beaches to swim, passages and rivers to kayak, and many adventure businesses to enjoy. The great thing about adventure is that it gets you outdoors into nature, when you’re in nature you get to connect to mother earth, you get to connect to you, it is one of the biggest tools to creating contentment and balance within your life. Feel the sunshine on your face, breathe in the fresh air, and wake up every cell in your body.

Keeping active should be fun, it will help you stay motivated! The great thing about adventure it is FUN, adventure allows you to wake up the inner child, be playful, it makes life way more awesome and it wakes up your creative fearless fun you that is waiting inside to have permission to come out. Plus get out of your comfort zone, we all have one. Spice up your training with adventure and it will allow you to get out of your comfort zone, this is where growth occurs, especially if you spice adventure up on a mountain, the unknown, you may have some fear to face….

Here is a challenge for you, try it, watch your world change in a positive way, watch your life light up, watch the people around you want more of what you’re having, adventure is contagious adventure is waiting for you.

Here are 10 adventures you could try as summer approaches
1. Mount Coolum
2. Mount Ngungun
3. Hike Kondalilla Falls Circuit or challenge yourself to Baroon Pocket
4. Noosa National Park
5. Kayak through Pumicestone Passage on a glassy winters day
6. Bike ride or Walk Caloundra foreshore
7. Bike ride or Walk Mooloolaba to Maroochydore
8. Go bush and get mountain biking riding, try Sugarbag Trails
9. Try SUP in Noosa River
10. Trachyte circuit 6km at Mount Tibrogargan

A lot of people may see this list and think 'I can't do any of that, I am not fit enough' just give it a go, who cares how long it takes, it is not a race, it is your adventure, have fun with it, also use it as a incentive to get fit and healthy. Owner of MAB Melinda Bingley quotes "The strength training I do in my studio gives me the strength and the confidence to have the freedom to enjoy the adventures that I love to enjoy, it allows me to have the opportunity of spontaneity".

What MAB loves most about adventure, it allows opportunity to see and do awesome things all around the world, instead of doing a bus trip, get your hiking pack and hike a country and see places on a level you never thought was possible, meet people that you would have no hope meeting on a bus.

We only have one life, so live it big and why your at it, do some starjumps because life is totally worth celebrating #mabstarjump

SPECIAL OFFER FOR SCH&F: 
1. Try a one on one private MAB Adventure for a SCH&F special $99 or
2. Unlimited Bootcamps for one month $99
CODE---- SCH&FOFFER

www.mabpersonaltraining.com.au
facebook.com/MABPT
@mabptadventures
Melinda Bingley 0401286200

Primal Influence: Using Nature as Your Gym

Our business is based on getting people re-integrated with nature, quality food and a good mindset. Part of this approach includes "working out" outdoors. Simply because we love every aspect of the outdoors, even the cold wet miserable days! Nature has so many lessons to teach us. Every day, every foot step, every movement in nature is different to the last. It is the greatest teacher you will ever have. It’s part of what makes us human and is also part of us.

The world we live in has developed at a frightening pace and whilst we are getting smarter in some aspects, we are actually becoming dumber in others. Even though we are essentially the same human species that walked the earth some 10 000 years ago, most of us have forgotten how to use our body and unfortunately our health is suffering as a result. Our ancestors didn’t work out to stay fit; they just lived. They didn’t do interval sprints, tabata workouts, Pilate’s, yoga or even crunches. Heck I bet they didn’t even worry about safe lifting practices. The reason they didn’t train in these ways is simple... They achieved the same benefits from these exercises through their general lifestyle.

I think if we were to meet our ancestors today you could safely bet they could run faster, climb higher, jump further, carry and lift more than us, and to top it all off, walk and walk and walk.

Now I am not a deluded fool and know things now are very different, but there is nothing to say we can’t spend our time moving, playing and interacting like they did, like the species before - before we became heavily influenced by products and gadgets we've been told we need to own.

For the perfect example of how we should be moving… just look at children playing and take note. Watch how they interact with their surrounds and different environments and watch how they interact with each other. There are no sets or no reps, just exploration and joy.

Many of you may be currently attending gyms or boot camps, and it’s great you’re doing something, but I highly recommend you give nature-based training a go. It can be done by yourself, with a partner or in a group.

Some ideas on how to integrate Natural Movement into your day include:

Practice balancing: Using any objects or structures that are around you. E.g. Balance on logs, rocks, railing or branches of trees.

Balancing is too easy? Try it when it’s raining or windy outside. Try standing on one leg, lunging and squatting. Change the environment and you change the level of difficulty and mindfulness.

Lift Heavy Things: Find objects that you can lift. They can be rocks, logs or even people. You may deadlift 200kgs in the gym but how do you go lifting a 50kg rock from the ground? It’s more challenging because of the size and shape! And each object, even if all similar in weight, will feel different to lift and move.
Then try lifting the objects in awkward postures and positions (some common sense is required here) so every posture and position becomes stronger and therefore more applicable to day-to-day life movements.

 

Crawling: Crawl on your hands and knees, or hands and toes (with a flat-ish back, not bum in the air). Practice crawling forwards, backwards and reverses crawling. Try crawling on uneven surfaces such as soft sand at the beach or over and around rocks. Try practicing in different environmental conditions like when the grass is wet.

Wrestling: Draw a big circle on the ground (use chalk for pavement, your foot to mark a circle in the sand at the beach, or leaves, sticks etc to mark out a circle on the grass) and then play a game where you have to push, pull or drag the other person out of the circle. The first person who steps out is out! This is a great game that tests your body in all angles and postures and is a great cardio workout. It’s really not as scary as it sounds and it’s a lot of fun!

Forget about sets, reps or time. You don’t need those burdening your thoughts. Just get outside and move your body the way nature intended it to be used.

You’ll find that getting outside and using nature as your gym is a total body workout all of the time because your body parts work together in unison to get the job done; from your little toe to your brain. It may not give you instant abs or an instant beach body to die for, but it will make you a stronger and a more capable person, the type of person that can adapt to ever changing surroundings and circumstances. For a human to thrive not just survive this is a skill that is a must in today’s world.

These are just a few small sample ideas of opportunities to get outside and play. There are so many more! We would love to hear some of your ideas and things you do.

If you want to learn more about what we do just head to www.primalinfluence.com or attend our outdoor classes.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/primalinfluence/
Instagram: @primalinfluence