It’s resolutions time….

With Christmas over and New Year on the horizon, it’s that time when people start to make resolutions. Maybe you find yourself annually writing the following:

  • lose weight
  • get fit
  • give up alcohol
  • join a gym

And so on…

How do those lists pan out, usually? I know for me they fail every single time! And not because I can’t lose weight, or I can’t get fit, or I can’t give up alcohol, or I can’t join a gym; rather it’s always because I set the bar too high. A goal to lose weight and to get fit is so intangible that it’s set up for failure. There is no measure for what losing weight or getting fit will look like. Further to that, we have all been bombarded with the message for so many years that to lose weight or to get fit somehow involves restricting ourselves, punishing ourselves, relying on “will power”.

So how about we look at it from a different view-point? How about taking a look at where you are now, taking stock, then finding all the positives about where you are RIGHT NOW. Look at all the ways your body already serves you well. The reasons your friends and family love you. The things you excel at.

Then, how about being kind to yourself? So, rather than restricting your food and ultimately ending up bingeing (did you know that 97% of people who diet ultimately put the weight back on after 2 years – surely with a success rate of only 3% it’s worth looking at alternatives…), why not start to move more, start to listen to what your body really wants from you.

Listening to your body is huge. It knows. It is really clever. It knows when you need veggies and when you need protein, it knows when you need sleep and when you need to move. But we’ve got so used to ignoring the messages that we flit between pushing too hard on the food or movement side (just me who has tried to “punish” themselves for eating something yummy by doing an extra however many minutes of an exercise I hate?) to then “failing” and giving up on it.

Now, it doesn’t come quickly to start listening to your body, but I will bet you any amount that if you really tune in to it, it doesn’t want another diet starting on January 1st. It doesn’t want any more punishment.

Let’s resolve to make 2019 the year we are kind to our bodies.

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Stop! Look, listen, smell

We all have a huge playground just waiting for us outside the house. Depending on the season and where in the world you live, there is just so much to see, hear, smell. But so often we all get caught up in our day to day life and forget to just look.

How is this about being more active, Emily? Well, sometimes it isn’t all about moving. Sometimes it’s about putting your mental health on a par with your physical health. Going outside and being in nature does wonders for mental health. (Quick disclaimer, at this point I’m talking about mild to moderate anxiety, stress and depression; I’m not purporting to cure all mental health illnesses).

When you really lose yourself in the world around you it is very hard to stay wound up and worried about the hustle and bustle. If you stop and watch a bird, or walk through autumn leaves kicking and laughing, or smell the scent of fresh flowers, in that brief moment you have no choice but to be present. And once you’re present, the worries and stresses of life can’t get a look in.

Of course we can’t go through life being present all the time, for one we’d have no ability to plan ahead or look back; however, finding your safe place outdoors where you can stop, be still, be calm and just let nature embrace you is a very powerful thing.

Try it. Take a photo of your place, and share it in my Embracing Fitness community on Facebook.

For support, hints and tips, sign up to my mailing list.

 

What did you enjoy as a child?

As we get older, we can very easily become fixated on this idea that fitness has to be hard work. It has to take place in a gym or other confined space, it has to have a purpose. And as such, it can seem a pretty daunting prospect. What if I don’t enjoy it? What if I’m no good? What if… What if… What if…

How about we look at it from a different angle? When you were little, I will hazard a guess you played outside a lot. You rushed about the place. You created games that were full of physical activity. Maybe you loved playing Tag or Kiss Chase, perhaps you were more of a pretend horses type, you could have chosen handstands and cartwheels. Whichever you spent hours of play time doing, I’ll guarantee you now that if you go and try it you’ll realise how exhausting it is!

When we’re little we don’t worry about being fit or not, we just do what is fun. How about we bring that attitude into adult life? How about we step away from fitness plans and gyms and we just do what we enjoy?

I bet if you were to make a list of all the active passtimes you enjoyed as a child you’d find some sort of common theme that you could extricate and use as an adult in your activity.

For me, I have great memories of loving hanging upside down on those rings in the park and playing on the monkey bars. Can I do that now? Not a chance! But I’m working on it. I’m working on getting stronger so I can do that sort of thing again, because I loved it.

As a child I didn’t love running. Not one bit. I have clear memories of school cross country. Pure hell. It took me until my mid 30s to give running a chance. And, yep, I’m still pretty rubbish at it. The difference now is that I enjoy the feeling of getting outdoors and filling my lungs, and I’m never competing against anyone else. Also there’s never a PE teacher shouting at me!

So, look to what you loved as a child, but don’t write off everything you hated – establish WHY you hated it, and remove that aspect (the PE teacher is pretty easy to remove as an adult!).

For support, hints and tips, sign up to my mailing list or head over to my Embracing Fitness community Facebook group.

Will I lose weight?

Anyone who knows me, or who has read much of my blog, will know I am not a supporter of diets (because they are short term, involve depriving yourself and ultimately fail, in case you wanted to know!). To this end it surprises me when nearly every client who signs up with me tells me exactly how much weight they “need” to lose.

I have to admit this chase for some perfect number on the scales baffles me somewhat, but that’s not the point right now. The point is will you lose weight if you exercise more?

Well, maybe. Yep the answer is that wishy washy, I’m afraid.

If you exercise your body will likely use food more effectively, which can lead to weight loss. Exercising uses extra calories, which can lead to weight loss. Moving more can bring about better food choices, which can lead to weight loss.

But does exercise = weight loss? No, ‘fraid not.

And does this matter? No, it absolutely doesn’t.

Exercise does has so many benefits above and beyond the number on the scale:

  • Increased energy
  • Improved mood
  • Better sleep
  • Better muscle tone
  • Change of body shape
  • Improved concentration
  • Lower stress
  • Reduced anxiety and depression
  • Increased confidence
  • Improved body image

And the list goes on. Diet alone won’t give you all that. Exercise alone won’t give you guaranteed weight loss.

Personally I have only once in my life lost weight only by exercising more. And that was when I was working as a ski rep so I was skiing 4-6 hours a day 4-5 times a week. I ate whatever I wanted. I drank a lot of beer. I lost weight. I have no idea how much, because I didn’t see a set of scales in over 6 months, all I know is I needed new clothes!!

Conversely, I have put on weight while training 12+ hours a week for a long distance triathlon. Why? Because I would rather eat when my body needs fuel and I would rather be strong than skinny.

So what’s my point? Well, if your ONLY reason for exercising more is to lose weight, I’m afraid I have to be the bearer of bad tidings. However, if you want your chance at the things listed in the bullet points above, get moving. Get jumping around. Dance to your favourite song. Go for a long walk. Play on the swings. Anything that gets you moving and feeling good. Go for it!

Join my Embracing Fitness community on Facebook for more hints and tips.

The danger of the comfort zone

Comfort zones. They’re there to keep us safe. Our mind wants to protect us from injury and death, and the comfort zone is where the mind is happy because we’re wrapped in metaphorical bubble wrap. Unfortunately, nothing great comes from the comfort zone.

Think about it, did any of the great explorers let their mind get in the way when heading off into unchartered territories? No. I bet they still had concerns and bad days, but they wouldn’t let those stop them.

And how about top sports people? They know they can fail. They know their mind is what stands between them and success (they’ve done the physical training, their coach is happy they’ve got it) – what do they do? Work with sports psychologists to make sure the comfort zone gremlin doesn’t stop them.

So, where’s your “safe”? Does your comfort zone keep you on the sofa? Does it keep you doing the same routines every day, week, month? Does the gremlin not like the idea of you changing and getting stronger and bolder? The gremlin tends not to like that.

My personal gremlin likes to remind me from time to time that I am a non-sporty, I wasn’t in the school teams, why do I think I can be a PT and advise other people on being active. My gremlin has been SHOUTED at on long bike rides (never when other people have been around to witness my unique levels of crazy!). My gremlin keeps me constantly looking for the next activity I can do, so I can prove it wrong.

This drive to get away from the comfort zone has seen me sign up to triathlons and other challenges that scare me. It’s also seen me work in different countries and take on projects others might not. Currently the gremlin is trying to work out how to tell me I can’t do weight lifting.  So far it hasn’t managed to find a way to keep me “safe”, but I’m sure it’ll try! It always does.

Your comfort zone escape doesn’t need to be as extreme. It might be a few small changes in your daily routine so that moving and being active become part of life. And once they’re part of life, who knows what might be on the horizon… Dare to think big…. Go on.

Drop me a reply below with what your gremlin wants to stop you doing, and what you’re doing to overcome it. And let me know what you’d love to do if you dared think big…

Join my Embracing Fitness community on Facebook for mini challenges and oodles of support.

The mystery of the missing mojo

Where does motivation go? I mean we have all had those amazing weeks/months at the start of a new “healthy living” kick when we’re on it. We’re sharing all these amazing posts about cycling to work and drinking loads of water and saying no to cake. People compliment us on our achievements and so we carry on for a while longer (at this point I won’t address the frustrating habit people have of only complimenting us on looks, not on other achievements, that’s for another day).

Then something changes. Maybe the restrictions of our “healthy living” start to feel too tight. Maybe we get a cold. Maybe work, life, something else gets in the way, and suddenly it’s been weeks since we last saw our trainers.

How do we find the missing mojo when it’s gone AWOL?

Well, there are two things to address here, I think.

First up is this “healthy living” ideal.

“Healthy living” seems to have become a new synonym for diet. Diets don’t last. They fail. That is their job. They help you lose weight in the short term, and then they fail because they are time limited. Unfortunately “healthy living” seems to have become the new name for diet. But, Emily, healthy living sounds so positive? How can you say it’s just another diet? Well, it’s still full of restriction and guilt. The cornerstones of any diet. If you find yourself saying “oh no, I can’t have that slice of cake, I’m being healthy” YOU ARE STILL RESTRICTING. If you find yourself saying “I don’t fancy any cake at the moment because I’m not hungry” you’re actually listening to your body. Meaning you aren’t dieting, or “healthy living”, you’re living.

Now don’t get me wrong, getting to the point of understanding exactly what your body wants AND then providing it, can take a long time. We have any number of ingrained habits and beliefs that can easily get in the way. We can look at intuitive eating and its benefits another time, but for now, if you’re swapping one set of diet language for another, please don’t. Your motivation doesn’t live in a pile of kale any more than it does in a Muller Light.

Secondly, the exercise mojo.

You have been jumping around to an exercise DVD every morning for 2 weeks and trying to cram in a walk every lunchtime. After doing nothing for months. By the end of the 2 weeks you’re exhausted. It’s too much. And the guilt cycle starts again. “Oh I can’t get more active, I tried but I was too tired”, “oh I don’t have the discipline to keep up my exercise regime”. Hang on a sec. This sounds just like the diet language but in exercise form.

MOTIVATION DOES NOT LIVE WITH DENIAL. That’s the biggie here. Motivation comes from a place of happiness and wanting to achieve. Denial comes from a place of misery and wanting to change from some perceived “bad” thing. Going back to the diet mentality – you deny yourself because you believe you need to be thinner and that your current self is “bad”. And on the exercise front – you deny yourself any self love, choosing instead to slog your guts out in an act of self hatred.

OK, so where is motivation? It’s in listening to your body, in doing what is right for you right now, in striving for the best, happiest YOU, not the media version of some soulless perfection.

Thanks Emily, I’ll just stay on the sofa with some chocolate in that case, cos I don’t want to deny myself this Netflix series.

Well, OK, if you’re knackered and you need to recharge your batteries, do have as much rest as you need. But… if you’re feeling ready to start moving but just can’t quite find the oomph to get out of the door or put on your exercise gear, why not catch yourself unawares – dance along to a favourite song, play on the swings in the park, go for a long walk. In doing whatever you decide, be aware of what in that activity is making you feel awesome. Is it the fact that you’re singing and dancing? Is it that you’re embracing your inner child? Is it that you’re in nature? Remember this awesome. This awesome is your motivation. This awesome is the thing that feeds your soul and makes moving more make you feel better.

Everyone’s awesome is different. I love running (very slowly) with my friend and our dogs. We chat and put the world to rights. The running is almost secondary to the “therapy”. It’s all about putting me first, not denying myself anything. I love skiing (why do I live in Norfolk?!), because it’s about being in stunning scenary while getting my legs and lungs working.

What’s your awesome? I’d love to know in the comments.

Want more ideas on how to move more without needing lycra or gyms? Come and join my Embracing Fitness Community on Facebook.

Moving for mental health

As it’s Mental Heath Awareness Week, I thought it was a good moment to write about how being active can have a huge impact on mental health.

Before I go any further, I must point out that I absolutely understand how frustrating it is when someone blithely says “oh, exercise will help you feel better” or words to that effect. If you’re in the depths of a bout of depression, or at the height of a stress wave someone saying that probably prompts a pretty strong “punch repeatedly in the face” reaction in you, but please bear with me.

It is, however, widely acknowledged that getting more active can help manage the symptoms of some mental illnesses. Sufferers of stress, depression and anxiety can often find solace in exercise. When we exercise, our body releases endorphins, which make us feel good about life; when exercising, one is generally focusing on what to do now and next so there is less space to worry; if you exercise outdoors, the mindful aspect of absorbing nature can also help.

All this still sounds pretty simplistic – get moving and you’ll feel better. Of course it’s not as simple as that, but just as seeing a good friend can help lift the symptoms for a time, so can exercise. Better yet if you can get active with a friend who understands and will let you chat. The simple act of moving forwards side by side, and chatting, rather than trying to talk while face to face can remove some of the reservations about saying what you feel. If you overhear some of the conversations that occur in running and cycling clubs, you’d know what I mean (quite blush-worthy sometimes!).

Give it a try. Don’t ditch the medication – it is definitely doing a job, but try being a bit more active. If work is stressful, try a 10 minute walk when you get home. If you suffer with depression, try getting outdoors and being active. If it’s anxiety, put on your favourite song and have a dance around the kitchen. And let me know how you get on. I’m rooting for you.

The right activity at the right time

This week I am doing a course. It’s the GP referral course which will allow me to work with people with various medical conditions, and is also the gateway to several further courses that I want to do. It’s 4 days of pretty full on learning, and so far seems really useful.

However, it’s got me thinking about exercise guidelines vs personal capability. Over the last couple of years, for whatever reasons, my body has spent a lot too much time in the fight or flight mode, and as such I’ve been “stressed” (intentionally in inverted commas – I haven’t felt stressed, not in the way you do when there’s a deadline to meet, or a million things vying for your attention) for much of that time. Funnily enough existing like this takes its toll eventually, and right now I find myself in a sort of chronic fatigue type situation. If I plan ahead, I can find energy for what I need to do, but that’s all. This week, for example, I am finding the energy for this course but it will be at the expense of next weekend, when I will likely collapse; I spent much of last week gearing myself up for it, too.

Enough of the pity party, Emily, what’s the point?

OK, sorry! The point is on this course we are told the guideline amounts of exercise for people with various different conditions. Many of these conditions are attributed to sedentary lifestyles, among other things, so it makes very good sense that moving more will help. However, the guidelines seem to state that for each one ideally the person should be doing some sort of cardio exercise 3-5 times a week for 30 minutes (there are variations on this theme – I’m not for a second suggesting the guidelines are exactly the same for every condition).

Now, from my new position of understanding what it is too need to eek out your energy, and from having been told that cardio exercise is one of the big stressors for my body, I am finding this all very interesting. Yes, I absolutely agree that we all should be moving more. Yes, I 100% on board that my role is to encourage people to get more active.

What I am taking from these guidelines each time we get to that slide for a new condition is that getting active is the key here. It isn’t going and training for a 5k, a half marathon, a triathlon, whatever; it is moving more. For anyone with any of the conditions we are studying being more active WILL HELP. For me currently, being active HELPS, it’s just a different level of active to previously.

I’m really excited to learn more and to see how I can couple this learning with my experience to better support people who are inactive to take those first steps, to find their “thing”. We all have a thing. At the moment mine is walking. I walk with the dogs, I take in the sights and sounds of nature. I used to run to achieve the same, but not for now.

If you’re reading this wondering if maybe just maybe there’s an activity you could try that you just might enjoy, let me help you find it.

Right, I’m off for a snooze before today’s learning…

Language we use

I hope I’m not alone in having my external language – you know, how you speak to friends and family, the nice, censored version of stuff, the one that filters the appropriateness of what you’re saying most of the time to the situation you’re in, so you don’t start screeching at the little old lady in Sainsburys; and my internal language – you know, the one that has a very different filter as all the good stuff seems to get fined out, leaving just the negative versions of any story.

In our external language we tend to find a nice way to say things. We worry that we might offend with a poor choice of words. We sometimes walk on eggshells to avoid upsetting others.

Internal language? None of that. We beat ourselves with the worst of it. “You’re a failure”, “you’ll never achieve that”, “why even start?”. Would you EVER say these things to your friends? Almost certainly not.

OK, so we know we can speak nicely. We do it externally every day. So the next step is to start speaking nicely internally as well as externally. Rather than always going to the negative, start looking to find positives. Think about how you’re phrasing things. For example, “you’re a failure” can become “that didn’t work out quite as I planned, but I can learn from it”; “why even start?” can become “give it a try, it’ll be fun”; and so on.

What I find interesting is when internal and external language sort of meet up. I hear it a lot “I should get fitter”, “I should lose weight”. Should is a failure term – it’s using someone else’s external language to justify our internal failure. How about “I want to get fitter”, “I am going to lose weight”? Suddenly they sound so much more positive, so much more achievable.

Have a listen to what your internal language usage is. See if you can play around with it. See how much better you feel when you start using the positive language internally… Go on… Try it…

A few lunch suggestions

With many clients, we talk about how food can work with us rather than against us. I love really simple yet effective lunch ideas, so here are a few of them:

 

Easy Humous

Ingredients: 1 can chick peas, 1 tub cream cheese, 1 teaspoon tahini

Method: blend together

Serve as: dip for carrot sticks, sandwich filling, wrap filling

 

Easy fish pate

Ingredients: 2 smoked mackerel fillets (or hot smoked salmon), 1 tub cream cheese, 1 dessert spoon drained capers

Method: blend together

Serve as: spread on Melba toasts or oat cakes, dip for sliced cucumber, wrap filling, sandwich filling

 

Quick salmon pasta

Ingredients: pasta, courgette, smoked salmon, crème fraiche

Method: while the pasta is boiling, fry the sliced courgette until it is lightly browned on both sides. Drain the pasta. Mix the pasta, chopped smoked salmon and crème fraiche into the courgettes and quickly warm through

Serve as: main dish

 

Chorizo spinach mix

Ingredients: chorizo, cherry tomatoes, pine nuts, spinach, mozzarella

Method: fry the sliced chorizo, when it’s cooked add the halved cherry tomatoes and pine nuts, after a minute, stir through the spinach until it wilts, make dents in the mix and divide the mozzarella into them. Serve when the mozzarella has gone gooey

Serve as: main dish

 

Chilli, garlic and prawn linguine

Ingredients: 1 bird eye chilli, 1 clove garlic, raw prawns, 1 dessert spoon olive oil, linguine

Method: while the linguine is cooking, lightly fry the chopped chilli, and add the finely chopped garlic. Before either browns, add the prawns and mix the cooked pasta through

Serve as: main dish

 

Simple salmon

Ingredients: salmon fillet, bag of stir fry veg, lime juice, soy sauce

Method: put the salmon fillet in tin foil with some lime juice and soy sauce, make the foil into a parcel around the salmon and cook in the oven for about 15 mins. In the man time, heat some oil in a pan and stir fry the veg. As it’s nearly done (takes about 5 mins in total to stir fry, usually) add some lemon juice and soy sauce. Serve the veg with the salmon fillet on top

Serve as: main dish

 

Avocado and salmon open sandwich

Ingredients: hot smoked salmon, avocado, sour dough bread, rocket

Method: toast the bread, mash the avocado and spread it onto the toast, sprinkle hot smoked salmon and rocket on top. If you’re feeling really indulgent, add a poached egg.

Serve as: main dish

 

Pesto

Ingredients: basil, pine nuts, roasted garlic, olive oil, cheese (ideally parmesan)

Method: blend all the ingredients together to taste

Serve as: a pasta sauce, a topping on salmon fillet, an alternative to butter in a mozzarella and tomato sandwich, a drizzle on a salad.

 

If you’d like help with your food ideas, please do contact me.