 Recently, I've been feeling more resistant to exericise. I concluded that the change in the season and the darker days were to blame for my lack of motivation but I've realised its not really that at all! (ok, well maybe its a little bit of that!). During the weekends with my family, I make sure we do something active each day. A walk in the woods, a bike ride, a walk into town for a coffee, and in the pre-covid world a whole lot more! During the week we scoot, walk or cycle to school most days too and the boys have football training/matches. When we do these activites we pop on our shoes and coats and are out the door. However when I look at when I exercise just for myself, its a whole other affair! I need to get changed into sports clothes, specific trainers, water bottle filled, hair tied up and playlist selected, plan out the session (weights? cardio?) It can take me 15 minutes just to be READY to exercise!! I've realised the the thought of getting ready to exercise is more off putting than the exercsie itself ! Its made me wonder why my habits are so different from my family activities? Children dont do this, they run and jump and play outside in their school shoes, run around the park in whatever they're wearing, kick a ball around in their jeans (and even play badminton in the garden in ther pants!!) I appreciate your sport may use equipment or have a uniform so you cant just rock up in your jeans, and its always good to put on the right footwear for your activity...but is all the other stuff necesssary? Particularly if its stoping us from being active? Is there really a difference betweeen being active and exercising? Are they mutually exclusive? Is it awful if I'm only 'active' one week and dont 'exercise' ? I think not! Given that sendentary lifeyles are more prevalent than ever, ANY activity we can squeeze in is a good thing! I actually think that if we focus on being more active over specific exercising (which for most people is no more than 3 hours a week, if that) it opens up a whole world of things that we might be more willing to do...gardening and sweeping leaves, decorating, meeting a friend for a walk, hand washing the car etc I'm not suggesting that you give up your zumba class or pump session if you enjoy it...but if, like me, you're feeling a lack of motivation for it, then trying to focus on adding more activity in your day can be really beneficial. So recently I've been challenging my ideas about all this and if the mood takes me to exercise, I go straight to it. This has resulted in some quite comical visions of me on the treadmill in my pyjama's or doing squats in a skirt while watching tv! I've also raked up leaves for an hour and washed out the kitchen cupboards! tx
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First of all, happy new year to you all!
Every year I watch the world go a little bit crazy in January as the new year fitness buzz begins. Newspaper ads, Facebook posts, live feeds, bootcamps, shitty meal replacement diets, Instagram, Twitter, new DVDs.... Catchphrases like 'new year new you' 'clean eating' 'detox' 'eat less move more' and so on... I have deliberately refrained from putting up a post here on the first of the month as I don't subscribe to any of the above. So much of it is temporary, faddy, half hearted cliched, or so over exerted that it's not sustainable. I'm not a complete killjoy ....I do think it's great that people are focusing on their health and reigniting their desire to be fit and healthy but I feel like this at anytime of the year - not just January. My whole ethos is helping people to unpick the mass of information out there, guide them towards HEALTH, happiness & balance through knowledge, behaviour change, preparation,stillness, motivation, exercise and hopefully a little bit of laughter along the way. I want to help remove the overwhelm and make it simple. So today's blog is about that....simple stats. Before you go head long into any health plan you need to ask yourself some key questions to make sure you know what you want, and are doing the things you need to be doing, to achieve your goals. It's no good being flippant about it saying 'I wanna get fit' 'I wanna lose weight' .....because how fit? How much weight? This way of thinking puts you in a mindset for failure...you drop a couple of pounds and go to the gym for a few weeks and your brain says...'I've lost weight, I can stop now' and subconsciously the exercise routine slips, the healthy diet drifts etc etc. So ask yourself: What is it you really want? (Weight loss? Heart health? Look good? Clothes to fit? More toned? Feel great? More energy? Better skin? Insert your own.....) How will I measure if I'm successful? (Before and after measurements of body fat or tape measure? clothing size changes? Wobble test? (!) fitness testing (can run further, lift more weights etc). Before and after photos, diary keeping etc) Where I am now? (Weight, height, age, body type, energy levels, fitness levels, what do I eat, how do I sleep, how much fluid do I drink, how's my skin, energy, mood) What do I need to do to get from here to there? ....and you need to list it out...for you...specifically... e.g I need to drink 2-3ltrs water per day I'm going to eat 3 meals and two snack per day of fresh unprocessed foods I'm going to exercise 3x per week at xxx location doing xxx class I'm going to get 8 hours sleep per night Etc etc etc Add to this whatever you need to do to get all factors in. Then ask yourself this last question...and be really honest with yourself.... 'What challenges are facing me (to stop me achieving my goals) and what can I do to overcome them? Once you have these questions answered you are almost ready to begin.... You know what you want, and how you are going to do it..... The last thing you need to do is make sure you are completely organised to see it through....meals planned, food shop done, packed lunches/snacks, water bottles/flasks ready to take with you, vitamins in a prominent place, gym bag in car or by the door, sessions diarised and made important, products for beauty routine in prominent place, bedroom set up as relaxing space etc etc) The process of becoming healthy and happy HAS to be a calculated mindful one. We need to practice all of the above until it becomes second nature.....this is the bit that takes time. We will all get it wrong sometimes but it's that conscious decision to get straight back to it is what will separate you from those that achieve and those that don't. When you have balanced nutrition and a healthy lifestyle, life's obstacles are so much easier to deal with. We have energy, a much more positive outlook, and a clear mind to work through the problems that life throws at us.  I was talking to a customer recently about their diet and was surprised that they had never heard of measuring cups.
When i first heard about them didnt like them. I thought they sounded too vague and old fashioned to be of any use in my life. Then in 2011 I moved to Texas for 6mths and found myself without my usual home comforts. I was forced to make recipes using cup measurements and ive got to tell you....it was a revelation! So easy and not at all as vague as i'd previously thought. They save massive amounts of time and energy and you can pretty much ditch the scales. These days i have several sets (which can be purchased from as little as £1 up to around £10 for fancy metal ones) and keep certain sizes in with everyday foods i measure. To date i really have found no quicker way to keep track of my portion size. A qtr cup is the perfect size for dry porridge oats or rice, or use a full cup to measure a portion or bran flakes or cooked pasta and so on. So convinced am i on their convenience i have even converted my favouite recipes into cup measurements! I realise this is not the most riveting of subjects, but for those struggling with time and portion control its a massive tip. What about myfitnesspal app? i hear you ask? Well, for some things you may need to search for American versions of things like 'oatmeal' instead of 'porridge' but you'll find most things in cup measurements there. Sure, you may need to weight things out the first time but thats got to be better than having to do it every time or worse, guestimating and slowly increasing portion size without realising it? So there you have it...give it a go. I'm confident you'll be converted just like i was!  I actually hate this phrase...it's so vague. Eat how much less? Less than what? Or move how much more?
It's the same thing when people say they want to lose 'some' weight.....you're setting yourself up to fail even before your first celery stick! When you are vague with your goals, the mind takes the path of least resistance....you'll lose a few pounds, then give up feeling virtuous that you have indeed lost 'some' weight... You need to get really specific when it comes to weight loss. Imagine it was a project at work. You'd make a plan: Where you are, where you want to be..you'd get really detailed with timelines and deadlines, you'd have data and a list of 'to do's' Why wouldn't you treat yourself with the same care and attention? For many of us food, eating,and losing weight are so emotionally fuelled that if we can get the practicalities in place we only need concentrate on our emotions and dealing with the real life stuff and the rest will take care of itself. So, I've written a list of questions to help get you started your own action plan. Where you are now: My height My weight My age What is the highest recommended weight for my height? (http://www.little-black-dress-fitness-tips.com/images/HealthyWeightChartForWomen.jpg) How much do I need to lose? What are my measurements? Bust Waist Hips (bone) Seat (widest part around bum) Above knees Fullest part of bicep Neck What size clothes do I wear? (on average) How many kcals do I need to maintain my weight (http://walking.about.com/cs/calories/l/blcalcalc.htm enter that you are sedentary to get a true figure without exercise) How many kcals do I need to lose weight? (500kcals less than the above figure to lose 1lb per week) or calculate your bmr What's my bmr kcals? (http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/) What did I eat on: Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 How many kcals? How am I going to reduce that? Write a 7 day menu plan Write a shopping list What are the barriers to me sticking to this plan? How can I overcome them? Who can help me? What exercise am I going to do? What day(s) am I going to do it? What are the barriers that will stop me doing it? How can I overcome these problems? Who can help me? Now you have a plan, you can tweak and change it as you go to make sure it still fits with you but for now, write it up, stick it somewhere (everywhere!) to remind you and Good luck!! If you would like more information on ways i can help please drop me a line and ill be happy to help  In just 8 minutes we can:
Make an appt Go to the loo Put on the laundry Put on your make up Paint your nails Peel and prep vegetables or take out the rubbish I was going to put 'catch up on facebook' but i think most of us spend far longer than 8 minutes on there!! Finding time to exercise can be tough, but if you can set aside just 8 minutes a day (which i'm sure most of us could do if we were really honest with ourseves) you can be on the road to really improving your health, tone and general fitness All you need is a space large enough to lay down and a timer. You dont need special equiptment or clothing either (i have even been known to do it in my pj's!) There are loads of exercises to choose from but if you want a good place to start, have a go at the one below. Starting with 2 and build up to 5 days per week. Adapt the level as you need to for you but give it 110% 40 secs work 10 secs to change to next exercise Plank (full or knees) Mountain climbers (walking or running) or step ups lying scissor kicks (or seated) low squat into high kick (alternate leg) press up (full or knees) or wall push ups Repeat for a second round There, you're done! Now that wasnt so bad was it! So my thoughts today have turned to vegetables. For years I stuck with the same |
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