Fit File Support Newsletter July 2011
Fit File Support Newsletter June 2011
Fit File Support Newsletter March 2011
Fit File Support Newsletter February 2011
Fit File Support Newsletter July 2011
You are receiving this email newsletter as a registered user of the Fit File software. If you do not want to receive this, please email a message with the subject 'Unsubscribe FF newsletter' to info@istekuk.com.
Welcome to our support newsletter :-) The aim of the newsletter is to keep you up to date with Fit File developments and features, offer information and provide feedback on any important support issues that have come up. If there is anything you would like added in future issues, or if you have any feedback of your own, we would be delighted to hear your comments.
If you cannot see any of this email, the entire contents is available online – click here.
In this issue of the Fit File support newsletter:
Fit File Masterclass – printing forms for your initial consultation
Body Measurement Feedback Graphs
Adding your own meal plans
It’s so important to exude professionalism when you first meet a new or potential client for an assessment. Having clear, concise, consistent-looking paperwork is valuable here, and Fit File can help provide this quickly and easily.
First of all a PARQ can be printed by going to the TOOLS menu across the top, and then down the left buttons to the one also marked TOOLS – Click on PARQ. This will print out the desired form, with your logo at the top left. At the bottom is an area for the client to sign and date, so you can keep the form for your records.
Now print a Fitness Assessment proforma – go to the SETUP menu, and at the bottom left click on FITNESS ASSESSMENT PROFORMA – click on Print. This again has your logo in the top left, and all the boxes needed to record client details, as well as targets/goals and general notes.
2. Body Measurement Feedback Graphs
A new client of mine is getting married next May and has already bought her dream wedding dress. It is amazing! It is also a size 10, and my client is a generous size 16 but she is determined to fit into that dress. Now I would rather she swapped the dress quite honestly, and rejoiced in the fact she is a gorgeous, beautiful, stunningly attractive, intelligent and vivacious woman exactly as she is, but that’s not what she wants. So for this client, body measurements are the key.
So, I set up her starting measurements in the SETUP screen – we just recorded Chest, Waist and Hips, and once a fortnight we record her updated stats in DIARY area under VITALS.
And once a month, I go to the REPORTS area and print a MEASUREMENTS graph for her. It has my logo in the top left hand corner, yet again, and shows the downwards line for each measurement as she slowly approaches her target.
It’s a long slog and sometimes she’s pretty cheesed off, but the graph on the fridge door does make a difference.
3. Adding Your Own meal plans
I had an email this week from a PT asking how I could provide meal plans that include Mars bars and Curly Wurlys? Did I have no understanding of nutrition whatsoever? I wanted to tell her about my qualifications in nutrition and more importantly those in psychotherapy that tell me exactly why there has to be the choice of things like Mars bars. But instead I told her this – amend the meal plan and take out what you don’t like, or better still add you own!
It’s pretty straightforward to amend meal plans – go to NUTRITION – and select MEAL PLANS. Get one that you generally like the look of, depending on your requirements, then change it on screen. If your change affects the calorie / carb etc., levels, amend the value in the far right hand column which will automatically amend the total. The click on SAVE MEAL PLAN.
To add your own from scratch, click on ADD MEAL PLAN and enter all your own details and calorie/carb etc., counts.
To print meal plans for clients click on PRINT MEAL PLAN and it appears on the page (with your logo top left as usual) for the client to follow.
Anything that helps clients increase their physical activity without a massive change in lifestyle, has got to be worth a look.
Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have found that the use of a pedometer can help a person lose weight. These small devices record the amount of steps taken in a day. Prior research has shown that taking 10,000 steps a day helps greatly with weight loss, and a pedometer will ensure that daily requirement is met. In the study, the researchers found that pedometer users increased their physical activity by 2,491 steps per day more than participants who did not use one, resulting in weight loss, a decrease in body mass index and a decline in their systolic blood pressure
Fit File Support Newsletter June 2011
You are receiving this email newsletter as a registered user of the Fit File software. If you do not want to receive this, please email a message with the subject 'Unsubscribe FF newsletter' to info@istekuk.com.
Welcome to our support newsletter :-) The aim of the newsletter is to keep you up to date with Fit File developments and features, offer information and provide feedback on any important support issues that have come up. If there is anything you would like added in future issues, or if you have any feedback of your own, we would be delighted to hear your comments.
If you cannot see any of this email, the entire contents is available online – click here.
In this issue of the Fit File support newsletter:
Fit File Masterclass – adding your own exercises
The Overall Summary Report
Finding answers to Frequently Asked Questions
I was asked a couple of weeks ago why Fit File does have any Kettle Bell exercises included. The PT reasoned that this was a useful option to offer and that clients could quite inexpensively purchase their own be bells and use them in their own home. I agree, Kettle Bells can be a great option and being a bit ‘different’ can encourage clients who might be a little bored with existing routines. And of course there are many, many more such options – steps, bands and tubes, chin up bars, Swiss balls, flexibars etc. We do hope to add new exercises to the Fit File upgrade this year, but it’s unlikely we’ll be able to add everything that anyone will want, so a better option might be to add your own. It’s quite a simple process and here’s an example of adding Kettle bell Cleans to Fit File.
Go to the EXERCISE section – choose Cardio/Strength/Other down the left and then click on the ADD EXERCISE button at the bottom.
Enter a name
Enter instructions on how to perform
Enter calories per minute
Enter video and picture name (see below)
Tick as needed and enter default targets such as reps and sets SAVE
Pictures and videos
First, you will of course need photos and/or videos for each exercise required. A standard digital camera will be fine for this, as the images are fairly small anyway.
Once photos or videos have been recorded, download them to your computer in the usual way. Then each one needs to be RENAMED appropriately. This involves adding a L or P to the end of the name, depending on whether then photo is Landscape or Portrait 0 Ours might be called KettleCleanP.jpg for example.
Once renamed, use a photo editing program to ensure that any portrait photos are about 120x150 pixels in size, and landscape photos 180 x 120 in size. (If you aren’t sure how to do this, Fit File can assist)
Once named correctly, please COPY the pictures to the Fit File folder (usually C:\Program Files\Blue)
The exercise can now be used in all exercise programs.
2. The Overall Summary Report
This is a great report for giving clients an overview of their intake/output, particularly if the client has weight loss as a goal. The Intake is calculated from entering in the Food Diary, the BMR is calculated and the calories expended calculated from the Exercise diary. The client can see in this example that they have a net calorie loss for the week of over 5000 calories and should be able to see a correlation to weight loss. It can also give the client encouragement if an increase in activity would be beneficial.
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3. Frequently Asked Questions
You can access the log of FAQs from the Fit File software by going to the HELP menu. These can be viewed as a Word document or as a PDF.
A new research report appearing online in the FASEB Journal shows that what someone drinks after exercise plays a critical role in maximizing the effects of exercise. Specifically, the report shows that protein drinks after aerobic activity increases the training effect after six weeks, when compared to carbohydrate drinks. Additionally, this study suggests that this effect can be seen using as little as 20 grams of protein.
"It is not a mystery that exercise and nutrition help slow the aging process," said Benjamin F. Miller, Ph.D., a researcher involved in the work from the Department of Health and Exercise Science at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. "Studies such as ours help to explain how exercise and nutrition work so that we can better take advantage of those pathways to slow the aging process."
To make this discovery, scientists recruited 16 participants age 37 and older and instructed them to exercise on treadmills for 45 minutes three times a week for six weeks. After each bout of exercise, one group was given a protein drink and another group was given a carbohydrate drink. To measure the making of new structures in the muscle, metabolic pathways were measured using heavy water labelling. Subjects consumed heavy water, which becomes incorporated into many synthetic processes allowing measurement of the rates at which different components of the muscle are being made. Using ultra-sensitive mass spectrometry methods, scientists took muscle samples at the end of the six weeks and were able to determine how much of the muscle and its component pieces were new. In this case, new proteins, DNA, and membranes were measured. This showed that endurance exercise, commonly prescribed for older people for a healthful lifestyle, induces positive changes in skeletal muscle structure.
"If you want to age gracefully, this study shows that proteins taken after exercise keep your muscles strong and fit," Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of the FASEB Journal. "You've got to feed your body with the proper nutrients after a work-out. Fortunately, protein shakes are cheap, readily available and some say taste good."
The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations) from materials provided by Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology,
Fit File Support Newsletter March 2011
You are receiving this email newsletter as a registered user of the Fit File software. If you do not want to receive this, please email a message with the subject 'Unsubscribe FF newsletter' to info@istekuk.com.
Welcome to our support newsletter :-) The aim of the newsletter is to keep you up to date with Fit File developments and features, offer information and provide feedback on any important support issues that have come up. If there is anything you would like added in future issues, or if you have any feedback of your own, we would be delighted to hear your comments.
If you cannot see any of this email, the entire contents is available online – click here.
In this issue of the Fit File support newsletter:
Fit File Masterclass – setting up regular meals
The Weight Management Questionnaire
Changing portion sizes in the Food Database
I often find that clients tend to have the same sorts of meals on a rolling basis – every couple of weeks they’ll have Spaghetti bolognaise or Curry made the same way, with the same accompaniments. It might even be more regular than that – they might have say Bran Flakes with a few raisins and semi skimmed milk EVERY day.
If that’s the case, I find it easiest to create that meal as a ‘Recipe’ on Fit File which can then be selected as a single item on the Food Diary to make data entry much quicker and easier.
Here’s how I might add their regular Spaghetti Bolognaise meal. I got to NUTRITION and then down to RECIPES on the left. I click ADD OWN RECIPE and ‘tick’ all the ingredients by typing in the first few letters and finding the item. Once all are ticked I click on NEXT and fill in the quantities for each.
I click on NEXT and bypass the instruction – NEXT – give the recipe a name such as Mandy’s Spag Bol - choose Category etc., and then the serving size – in this case I go for BY SERVING and enter the number of servings as 5. FINISH.
Now, whenever Spaghetti Bolognaise comes up to be entered in the Food Diary, I simply type in Mandy’s and select the item. All the nutritional figures are correct because they are derived from the food database.
2. The Weight Management Questionnaire
TOOLS – TOOLS
The Weight Management tool is a useful way of helping a client decide which weight loss methodology might be best for them. It looks at things like the clients sweet tooth, which could be an indicator of a degree of insulin resistance that would respond better to a regime that limit the carbohydrate intake. It takes into account digestive issues that can react to changes in fibre intake, as well as past diet history.
3. Changing Portion Sizes on the Food Database
Do you/ your clients actually have a 40g bowl of bran flakes? Is 4oz/100g of chips too small a portion r too big? Do you have your Greek yoghurt by the tablespoon rather than by the pot?
If you don’t find the portion sizes we have used helpful, then don’t worry – you can change them very easily.
Go to NUTRITION - FOOD DATABASE and locate the item, eg Bran Flakes. Click on the line and then choose EDIT. Change the portion size from 40g bowl to 50g bowl, and then go through amending ALL the nutrient levels as required. In this case increase them by 25% (adding 10g to 40g is a 25% increase) Click on SAVE.
Fit File Support Newsletter February 2011
You are receiving this email newsletter as a registered user of the Fit File software. If you do not want to receive this, please email a message with the subject 'Unsubscribe FF newsletter' to info@istekuk.com.
Welcome to our support newsletter :-) The aim of the newsletter is to keep you up to date with Fit File developments and features, offer information and provide feedback on any important support issues that have come up. If there is anything you would like added in future issues, or if you have any feedback of your own, we would be delighted to hear your comments.
If you cannot see any of this email, the entire contents is available online – click here.
In this issue of the Fit File support newsletter:
Fit File Masterclass – setting up special targets and tracking progress
The Fit File Information Sheets
Adding your own logo
New features for upgrade – what we’re planning – what else would you like?
1. Fit File Masterclass – setting up special targets and tracking progress
I often take on new clients who have a very specific goal in mind – maybe fitting into a wedding dress, preparing for an adventure or activity holiday or participating in a particular physical event. A regular one is clients who want to do a run – from the 5k Race for Life all the way up to a full marathon.
I can use the ‘Create your own’ fields in the Fit File setup area, to record and track their progress in this area, providing feedback graphs for added incentive!. Here’s how...
I go to the Setup screen and at the bottom in the ‘Create your own’ section I enter a title of 5k run. In the value I enter the starting point – currently it takes them 60 mins to complete (walking mainly) and in the units I enter ‘mins’.
Once a month I record their time as it improves with training in the Vitals Diary.
I can then use the automatic facility in Reports to provide a graphical illustration of their improvement. With your own logo in the top left hand corner, it provides a useful reminder of your value and professional approach.
2. The Fit File Information Sheets
The information sheets on the TOOLS menu of Fitfile, provide some really useful notes for your clients and again reinforce your professionalism and knowledge. For example the sheets in the Exercise section relating to Exercising during pregnancy, with Asthma, with Arthritis etc., can provide essential advice.
3. Adding your own logo
It’s a good idea to add your own logo to FitFile, so that on all the reports, graphs etc., it’s your brand image that keeps reinforcing your value and professionalism to the client.
If you don’t already have one, there are loads of sites on the internet that will create a logo for you, from about £20. Or, if you are good with the computer, you can create your own. To add it to FitFile, you will need 2 sizes of the logo – one 400x200 and the other 200x100., ideally as a JPEG file. But don’t worry if you don’t have that! Email us whatever you have and we will modify it as needed for import, free of charge.
Then, it’s just a case of going into File – Add your Logo – then click on the browse buttons to add the small and large version. Click on SAVE.
4. New Features
An update to FitFile is planned this year – to be honest it’s overdue, but we have had problems getting a consensus on what should be added or changed. So here’s what we think needs doing – please let us know if you would like anything different.
More flexibility on the SETUP screen to add your own fitness tests and other measurement options.
Ability to export the Fitness Assessment (and all other reports) to a word processor / spreadsheet for amendment and emailing to clients.
Ability to overwrite suggested calorie/fat/carb etc., levels for individual clients
Analysis of food diary for whole week / month rather than just daily option
Additional meal plans for wider range of client
Additional food items plus addition of Sat / Unsaturated fat values
Additional exercises to reflect more recent exercise trends
Reports – all exportable and amendable.
Additional Information sheets – with users own logo added instead of Fit File