I've been in my head lately and I've been trying to find my way out. After excessive thought chaos a solution to my mental stress presented itself in the form of meditation. I've had an on and off relationship with meditation and I know I haven't been loyal, but I need it. So do you. I'll tell you why.

The why
Focus and mental clarity🧠
Daily meditation, without question, levels 🆙 my mental game. I feel sharp, fluid and calm. The mental energy I derive from morning meditation feels just as good as Starbucks coffee on a cold winter morning🥶. It picks me up and provides me with supreme verve and focus.  

Anxiety suppression 😌
Meditation has helped me channel my inner Bruce Lee -  'Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend.' My interpretation of this quote is go with the flow, be flexible and adaptable to whatever situation you find yourself in. I try not to be anxious about about anything because if it's meant to happen, it will. If it isn't, it won't. In-between all of that I remain formless, shapeless, like water.

Impulse control
That urge to respond when you feel verbally provoked? Consistent meditation will reign in that impulse. You're less likely to have an emotional outburst when your mind has been decluttered. You'll become fully aware of what it really means to think before you talk.

The how
It's simple; sit down and keep your mind quiet for 20 minutes per day. That's it. Well, that's the summary of it all but there's various forms of meditation and many make it out to be more complicated than it really is. What works for me and likely anyone else yet to attain monk status is sitting down somewhere dark and quiet, back upright, chin up, eyes closed and you taking deep, long breaths into your belly and slowly releasing your breath out through your nose. Rinse, repeat. Maintain focus on your breathing, and only your breathing for 20 minutes straight. The idea behind meditating like this is to quiet the mind and this approach was concisely explained by J.J. Connolly — 'Meditation is concentrating the front of the mind with a mundane task so the rest of the mind can find peace.' It's simple, but it's not easy and those that find the practice unbearably boring have the untamed minds that actually need it the most.

Why 20 minutes? Because that's the sweet spot to derive any real benefits from the practice. 1 minute, 2 minute, 5 minute 'mini' meditation does the same for your mental wellbeing as jogging from your front door to your backdoor does for your physical wellbeing. Next to nothing. Put in the time if you want results.

The where
Anywhere dark, quiet with a firm and comfortable surface. I typically meditate on a stool. This works for me and I'm sticking to it. If you're in the zone and you can handle it, then please, by all means, do what you see monks and other meditation enthusiasts do 🧘🏾‍♂️.


📖Side note: The first book I ever read and appreciated on the topic of meditation was Success Through Stillness by Russell Simmons. If you can get your hands on it then you'll learn a lot more about transformative potential meditation has.

Remember my bout with gastritis? What I didn't tell you about that experience was my interaction with the lab technician at the hospital. To figure out what was wrong with me, or rather confirm, I had to get my blood work checked and this meant stripping down and taking my shirt off. As he proceeded to draw blood he asked me, "How often do you go to the gym?", I told him every day. He was amused by that and suggested that gym for me was what food is to an ordinary human being; it just has to be had daily! 😄 "How do you sustain it? How do you 'eat' so much so often?" He asked. This is what I shared with him:

I don't think, I just do
Alarm ⏰ goes off and it's time to rumble 🥊. How I feel doesn't matter, and what I think about the weather doesn't matter either -- it's time to 'eat'. Eliminate thinking and ruthlessly execute day in and day out before kaja ka voice has an opportunity to discourage you. I don’t think, I just do.

It's not optional, it's mandatory
It doesn't matter what's going on around me, I'M GOING TO THE GYM. This advice can be applied to anything that's important to you. There's no debate, there's no multiple choice and it's not left to a democratic vote. I am going to do what I need to do to get stuff done. At the end of the day there's really only two things in life; results or excuses.

It's about a system*
"Hard work isn't the problem, it's the consistency of the hard work that's difficult." Key word is consistency, and you can't be consistent without a system. Build a system that consolidates the little things required to get the job done. I pack my gym bag and all gym essentials the night before while my lovely wife sorts out my dietary requirements and ensures the beast will be fed. I plan my training and visualize the end goal... me cracking the sidewalk with each step I take and standing out as the evolution of my species. The objective is to clear the path for nothing but execution the next day.

You cannot progress with a chipante pante approach to the goals you set for yourself. Be methodical.

*I highly recommend the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. You’ll learn everything there is to know about developing habits and systems that set you up for success.

I spent the better part of last week grappling with stomach trouble. A bad bout of gastritis pumped my brakes and forced me into sobriety. It’s been two weeks and refraining from alcohol in this short period has me feeling very different and I like it. I think I'm going to stay this way, at least in the short term. Let me share my sobriety experience with you.

Sweet sleep 💤
I sleep through the night and I’m not drooling by the time I wake up. I don’t wake up to pee and the struggle to get out of bed isn't as bad. For those that say "I'm not a morning person", sobering up might just convert you.

Ready, aim, fire 💩
I cut the booze and now I go to war in the bathroom twice daily. I'm a human grenade launcher and I feel fantastic. I'm lighter on my feet and unburdened. I haven't experienced a digestive process as efficient as this since I was a toddler.

Flu vibes and the throat itch 🤧
Ice cold beer and other chilled drinks before bed can trigger mini flus that aren’t serious but noticeable enough to irritate you and others. If you're unfortunate, mid-conversation mucus 😪 might roll down your upper lip to help smoothen the discussion.

Itchy fingers and loose lips 🤳🏿 🫵🏿🗣️
Ever said something after a couple drinks and regretted it? Or decided to tell someone how you really feel, good or bad, after a couple shots of liquid courage? Sobriety maintains impulse control and gives whatever base of wisdom you might have some solid support. Resist impulse and you'll save yourself a lot of headaches with a properly fitted head to mouth filter and text resistant fingers.

My appeal today is for others to try and incorporate an 'alcohol fast' for a week (as a start) and see how you feel. You can do this voluntarily or wait until you end up like me; experiencing pain akin to going into labor but without the joy of a baby. 

​This morning as I braved the cold weather to make my way to the gym I asked and answered the question “What does a summer body look like?” Answer: Beach Body. Most will agree that a summer body is often thought of as a leaner, more aesthetic physique. The whole beach body at a pool party kind of thing - Well defined 6 pack, chiseled chest, toned arms filya, and for the ladies small waist, flat tummy with other more pronounced features. What do they all have in common? Fat loss. The follow up questions of 'How do I get it?' and 'What should I be doing?' is something I pondered upon and my conclusions are what I wish to share with others.

Alcohol
Cut (or reduce) this vice and watch your weight disappear. I’m serious 😐 most people will see big results if they just turn away from the bottle. Think about it. Late night drive throughs or drive bys for michopo, hotdogs 🌭 and/or chips 🍟 ? ⛔️ Hangover junk food? ⛔️ Excess sugar from mixers and cocktails? ⛔️ Missed morning gym sessions? ⛔️ Sloth 🦥 tendencies and reduced activity the morning after? ⛔️. Disrupted sleep because you need to pee as often as you snore? ⛔️. When all these things are eliminated and improved upon you’re easily a better, slimmer you.

Food
You can eat much of what you want but delay when you do so. Intermittent fasting is the least annoying way to ‘diet’. Another is one meal a day (OMAD). It's simple: open your mouth for solids once every 24 hours. If you can pull it off, you’ll see tremendous results and quickly. You'd be wise to make your one meal count by making it a nutritious feast akin to what you'd receive or be presented with at your chilanga mulilo. OMAD exempts water, so please drink as much as you need whenever you need to not wa bwela wagwa ati ba roadrunner said one cup a day🤨. Anyway, a lot of people eating multiple meals a day don't engage in enough activity to justify the piles of food they place on their plates. Sounds like you?  Give OMAD a try, or at least try to earn your plate through sweat. Thinking doesn't count so pretending to be an intellectual at the office doesn't qualify.

Tea 
Keep warm this winter 🥶 with multiple cups of green tea 🍵. No sugar, no honey 🍯 - just a green teabag and hot water over and over again. You’ll get used it 😌 and two things will happen; one is you'll loosen your bowels and poop more and the other is you'll give your metabolism and mental alertness a boost.

Increase activity
This means increasing activity outside a gym or sports facility. It’s simple: take the stairs every chance you get and take walks as often as you can. Those of you with office jobs must make a conscious effort to get up and move every so often. Simple ways to do this are: fetch your own documents from the printer, go and buy your own tumbuwas if you insist on having them in the morning and step out to grab your own lunch rather than waiting to be served. Many of us disguise laziness as productivity when we don’t want to leave our reclining leather office chairs. I want to assure you that those few extra steps add up to big results over time so move more.

Gym ➡️ Beast ➡️ Puppy Eyes ➡️ Elevate
First, find a gym. Second, identify a beast/alpha at the gym. Third, feed the beast’s ego. Usually, the whole ‘I want to be like you when I grow up…’ works reasonably well. The point is, compliments make people more accommodating and helpful in general, and YOU need help stripping the fat off. Fourth and final tip, is request to train with the beast. You’ll elevate your level of training and accelerate your fat loss by hanging with the big boys and girls at the gym.

"Nick, gym ipasa njala!" A friend of mine lamented. He went on to blame the gym for his rapid weight gain and every other physical feature he didn't like 😃. I was greatly amused by this but I felt his overall approach to things, not just gym, was off. Here's what I suggested to him:

Sleep deep, sleep long 😴
Deep & long = at least 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night in a room with similar features to a cave. I have an alarm for when I should be in bed and I try to be consistent with it. Alarm goes off, so does my phone and the lights. For nights when maganizo 💭 ya paka I opt for a melatonin supplement to help me shut down. It often works very well for me. Poor sleep throws your hormones (especially the ones controlling hunger) off balance and before you know it, your desire for sugary and junk products become insatiable. 
⚠️ bathroom breaks can be disruptive to trying to go deep and long with your sleep so you might want to drastically reduce fluid intake an hour or so before bed.

Water is your friend 💧
Hydrate early, preferably upon rising with a combination of water and coffee ☕️. 500 mls of water and a cup or two of black coffee is my morning fix soon after waking up. It literally picks me up and gets me going.  For the coffee protesters among us, I'd like to suggest you consider spending a bit more money on the coffee you buy before you write it off completely. I've found caffeine to be a cheat code in this game called life, and it might just help you level up as well in the gym and at work.

Get moving 🏃🏿‍♂️
Front-loading your exercise program is a great way to manage hunger. If you're hydrated and you push yourself first thing in the morning all that activity and dopamine will sustain you for several hours. Leave every gym session feeling like a lion or lioness and you're well on your way to dominating your appetite and managing what you devour.

Diet? Intermittently fast instead
It's common for people determined to look better to radically change their eating ways while they hit the gym. They'll both read and be told many things of how this diet works better for fat loss and that one for muscle gain. We'll stick to the most common goal; fat loss. Deprivation of the things you like, as is the case with fad diets, often yields short term results with mid to long term consequences. Whatever weight you lose is coming back with interest. Intermittent fasting, for those unaccustomed to it, can be uncomfortable but not as miserable as most 'get skinny quick' diets. Sleep well, hydrate and exercise early and you'll be able to stave off hunger until late morning. Do this often enough and you'll look and feel better in the long run.

Nshaba 🥜 
Plug any gaps between meals with a handful of nuts. Don't like nuts? Other salty cousins such as popcorn 🍿 or pieces of fruit (specifically apples and pears) are great fillers and appetite suppressors to consider. 

I recently discovered and fell in love 😍 with what I thought was a ‘health drink’…it was relatively cheap, tasted great and more importantly identified as a ‘smoothie’. Everything was fine and dandy until one of the smoothie flavors offended my taste buds with an overwhelming taste of sweetness 🤨. The nutritionist in me swung into action and belatedly started reading the nutrition label. I was shocked! This item served up in excess of 50 grams of sugar per bottle😳 🤯 it was a sugar smoothie! How many of us have fallen for a sugar trap expertly disguised as a health fix? Ginger this, ginger that, health shot this, health shot that 🤦🏾‍♂️ How can you identify a sugar trap? The simple answer is read the label. The how part is what needs further discussion.

The general rule of thumb if you can’t be bothered to dig deeper papa is this: anything with 10 or more grams per serving of sugar is a sugar trap 🪤. If you have a keen interest in your sugar intake then you’re looking at about 10 grams or less of sugar per serving in anything that you put in your mouth. Biscuits, snacks, juice etc - basically everything.

Integrity Check for Alcohol drinkers 🍷 🍺 🥃
Read labels and opt for low sugar mixers that serve less than 10 grams per serving. These usually cost more but your waistline will thank you. If your preference is beer find love in ‘lite’ beers 🍻. Alcohol is empty calories and I’ll translate what this means using words my brother Saviour threw at me: “You can’t decide to have a beer for energy when you start to feel tired.” Easy enough to understand, yes? The only energy alcohol gives you is in the form of liquid courage.
💡A tip for the lazy drinkers among us: use the fat secret website to check the calories of your favorite poison and know that every 100 calories you gulp will demand 20 minutes of walking on average. For more context, this means 6 pack castle lite drinkers need to put one leg in front of the other for roughly 2 hours to burn that off before belly dancing becomes a full time gig.

Integrity Check for Regular lads
Low sugar, diet and zero drinks 🥤 are better bets for your love handles. Most lower sugar drinks tend to have the tag of ‘low kilojoule’ soft drink. Look out for this. It won’t taste as sweet as ordinary soda but it has an acceptable level of sweetness that you can adjust to.

Integrity Basics for Nutrition Labels
You get one or all three of carbohydrates, protein and fat in varying quantities in whatever you put in your mouth. Get your eyes on the label and appreciate what’s written there. My beef today is with sugar so that’s what I want you to look for specifically and apply the 10 gram rule. If that’s under control then more often than not you’re not doing too badly.

💡Health gangster tip 😎: I’ve adopted a ‘small bottle, few sips’ approach. I only buy low sugar drinks in minis and I never finish the full contents of a drink in one sitting. I’ll tease my taste buds and then shut down the party till the next meal session. This hack alone has prevented me from using my belt as a waist trainer. It might help you do the same.

Conclusion
If anything purporting a myriad of health benefits tastes great or is labeled in a manner that suggest ‘health’ in a bottle or packet you should be suspicious.  It’s all a bunch of marketing gimmicks. Lastly, remember to check expiry dates of products and if something tastes off, it probably is. Don’t turn yourself into a human grenade launcher 💩 🚀 or wonder why you gain weight when all you consume is ‘smoothies’.

I was meditating one night and minutes into my session something hit me. Year in year out we find ourselves in the same position this time of the year where we make all these resolutions that we seldom stick to, particularly when the novelty of new beginnings starts to wear off. What could we do differently? I asked and answered this question as follows…

Decide 😐
Decide where you’re going and then decide who’s going with you. In that order. The birds you choose to fly with will determine your altitude so surround yourself with high flyers.

Tell people 🗣
Once you’ve said it out loud, you’re bonded to it. Make the goal so BIG that other people get uncomfortable just hearing it 🤯 🙉. The desire to not look like failure will propel you to a higher level. Whether you hit your mark or not is irrelevant, the real question is - will the experience and effort you put in evolve you? 9 times out of 10 the answer will be yes, so let people know what's up then get after it and evolve.

Do it every day and push it 
Whatever you’ve resolved to do must be done every day and you must push it. Too often we fall short of obtaining our goals or realising our dreams because we’re not consistent and we don’t push it all the way. If it’s important enough to you, you’ll get it done. I now train every day 🏋🏿‍♂️, twice a day, and I push the envelope. Why? Because I’ve resolved to become the biggest savage in any room I find myself in. And before you think anything you’re doing is too much, consider the fact that “only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” Don't be limited by the illusion of excess.
​
Model others ✂
Model yourself alongside those you admire. Successful people always leave breadcrumbs. Do as they do, and you’ll often have what they have. Copy & paste is still a winning formula. 

The start of a new year offers an opportunity to hit the reset button. For most people this renewed motivation only lasts a couple weeks and they’re back to default settings until the next year. I’m no exception but this year I’m determined to dominate from day 1 by automating my habits and incorporating a few mental hacks to help me evolve. I think my approach could be of value to others so here it is:

Become a disciple of discipline
This means early morning wake up calls to get a head start on the day and meditate 🧘🏾‍♂️ for emotional balance and later hitting the the gym 🏋🏾‍♂️ or road running🏃🏿‍♂️ to try and stay sexy 😌How you start your day sets the tone for the rest of it. Feed your mind, body and soul before sunrise every day.

Affirm yourself
As a man thinketh, so he is. Who do you want to be? You’re already that guy. Affirm yourself until your thoughts transcend your reality as often as you can. A simple trick I use to remember to engage in this practice is doing so in every mirror I find. I’ve gotten to a point where all I see in the mirror is a lion. 🗣️ The only thing that matters is what you think and tell yourself. Shower yourself with positivity and encouragement no matter what’s happening around you because oftentimes the only good things you'll hear about you are the things you say about you. Learn to be your own booster.

Detach yourself from outcomes
Ambition is everything but it’s often linked (and wrongly so) to tangible results only. This year is about who you become regardless of whether you hit your mark or not. Evolution is intrinsic; embrace the development of character and all the courage you had to muster to chase after your goals. Embrace failure and keep at it until you win. Constant effort is what separates the sheep from the goats.

Show love
Do this every chance you get and lift people’s spirits to a higher level than the one you found. Why? The energy you put out is the energy you get back. Don’t be misled by social media flexing abena “2023 I’m not taking any nonsense.” Be good to people. Be patient. Show love.

It’s my birthday again 🥳 and this time around I am my own superhero 🦸🏿‍♂️! I put the mask on and transformed into the Black Panther at 31! I’m going to share what I did in my final 6 weeks before stripping down for photos and putting up back bacon for viewing purposes.
​
Cardio 🏃🏿‍♂️
5 kms daily. I’d either run this distance (8 mins per kilometer - turtle gang 🐢) or walk it uphill on a treadmill (5 km/h @ 10-15% incline). All that mattered was covering the distance on a daily basis and keeping my body in motion.

Abs
100 reps minimum of sit-ups daily. No days off. It's amazing how after a couple weeks of this practice you start see your stomach compartmentalise itself starting with the top shelf 😅. The belly must go was the motivation behind this.

Gym work 🏋🏿‍♂️
Changed my lifting formula to sets of 15 - 30 repetitions at a time. I’d pick a weight that would allow me to complete a higher number reps per set till it burns 🔥. The only exercise I moved heavy weight on was deadlift (400lbs +), the rest was lightweight with high intensity and short rest periods not exceeding 1 min. I trained everyday without exception, sometimes twice a day.

Nutrition 🍱
I adopted an 16:8 intermittent fasting protocol so my first meal was an early lunch at 11 am and last meal was at 7 pm.

• Lunch - pretty standard x3 Chicken 🍗 (breast or thigh)/fish fillet 🐟/eggs 🥚/t-bone 🥩 with frozen vegetables 🥗, beans 🫘 and white rice 🍚/ pasta 🍝 /noodles. Every now and then I’d have a matebeto style lunch when I felt like it. Fitness & nutrition te punishment.
• Afternoon Snack - 2 small low fat fruit yoghurt + 3 pieces of fruits usually an apple 🍎 , banana 🍌 and chopped up watermelon chunks 🍉 + a handful of groundnuts bought off the street.
• Dinner - Popcorn 🍿, fruit based muesli taken with fat free milk 🥛 with extra toppings such as banana 🍌 and blueberries 🫐 . Alternative dinner was frozen pizza 🍕 from Woolworths topped off with slices of tbone and frozen veggies 🥗.

⚠️ I completely abstained from bread 🍞 and pastry related products and the preferred method of cooking was grilled for the protein options.

Supplements 💊

• Pro nutrition ‘pump & cut’ pre-workout. Used primarily for a pump, energy and focus 🦍
• Pro nutrition ‘six pack’ fat burner. Used to spike my metabolism and heat my body up🥵 so I could sweat more, cut water weight and stimulate my metabolism for more calories burnt per session and throughout the day.
• NPL water cuts post-workout. Used to cut water weight.

Everything worked like a treat and Supplement World Zambia was the plug 🔌. Call Patrick for the best deals on products 📞 0962-212157.

Hydration 💧
5 - 6 liters of fluid a day, which was 50 - 60 mls x my body weight in kilograms. I peed often but generally felt good and ready to go at a moment’s notice 🫡. I tried to, and sometimes failed to avoid juice 🥤 but I did try to limit my overall intake. I’d opt for sugar free cokes and sprite where possible. I’d drink alcohol 🥃 but only on weekends where I’d take a multivitamin before bed to prevent a hangover 😵 the next day. You should try it!

Apps 📲
I used the free Life app to track my fasting and eating windows and the free nutritionix app to log my food intake, hydration and daily weight. I believe that what gets measured gets improved so I’d track everything and make adjustments where required.

Photo credit 📸 Ryan J Banda 📞 0974-101553

Supplementary blogs
African King
Supplements for gym goers
Restarting your fitness journey
Weight-loss toolbox
4 kilos down and counting
Intermittent fasting 101
The belly must go!

I was at the gym 5 am sharp as per usual and a friend asked me “Nick. How’re you doing?” I cheekily responded with “The way you see me bro - I’m GOOD!” 😎. Wrapped up my session and proceeded to work 👨🏾‍💻 for another Q&A of how I am. 👉🏾 Same questions, same answers. When you’re in shape, in tailored fitting clothing that presents your body of work you’re high on confidence. Let’s explore what else you can gain from going to a gym.

Elevated self esteem & confidence 🦸🏿‍♂️
My brother Bongani said it best - “At the end of the day, you only feel as good as you look.”Engaging in gym activities will change your body composition and make you look better with and without clothes. You can ride that wave of confidence and achieve great things in other areas of your life.

Improved health 🫀, mental clarity 💭 & mood 😊
When you work out frequently you’ll unlock boundless energy, a better mood, fat loss and mental sharpness. Consistent exercise eradicates a spirit of laziness and gets you primed to dominate your day. If you have any ailments you’ll likely see improvements in your health markers at your next doctor’s appointment.

Better eating habits 🍱
Exercising often makes you a lot more conscious of your food choices. You’ll discover that you’re less willing to sabotage your efforts by bingeing on doughnuts 🍩 and cake 🎂. You’ll start wanting to feed yourself properly. In my case, I find that exercise is a fantastic appetite suppressant and cravings killer. It could be the same for you too.

Networking 🤝🏾
Professional opportunities aren’t reserved for the golf course ⛳️, the gym has big boys and girls too! You can leverage that and land yourself something big if you’re a focused and pleasant individual with something offer.

🗣 Go to the gym and stay sexy!