5 Tips for a Healthier and much Happier 2017

1.  Book in a trainer for at least 12 weeks... actually, make it a year!

A very biased statement by me? Yes. I'm a trainer, of course I am going to say that. What I am also going to say is that you need to invest as much as possible into your training too. I hear you scoff, but this is why.

My personal observations over the last 12 months were that the clients who decided to train more got more out of their training; the clients who decided to cut back pretty much disappeared from the gym, but those that made the weekly commitment to performing at least 2 sessions per week had the greatest gains.

It's not to say that you can't get results from training once a week, but if you know yourself well and you lack motivation, then you need to dive head first into some decent training.

Observe a few trainers, see what results they are getting with their clients or if their focus fits in with your goals, and then don't muck around. Call them up, book in your sessions and start training.

If you want to be successful, then you have to make the commitment. If you continue to make excuses about time, money, whether you think you are ready and all the other stuff that you repeatedly tell yourself to get out of training, then another year will go by and once again you'll have done... nothing

2. Get some counselling or attend a personal development workshop

Here are some of my personal observations and recommendations. We all want to build tall pyramids, but I feel we lack the right foundations to do so. If you struggle with creating a healthy pattern of eating and exercise, if you have tried every diet, consulted your doctor and still had no success in staying “on track”, then get some help.

You need to better understand YOURSELF before any diet or beautifully written exercise program is going to get you results.

It has been and will always be about your mindset. It is time that you and everyone else come to terms with the idea that there is something holding you back from the success that you desire, but you just haven’t figured it out yet.

Again I’ll repeat, get some help, build the solid foundations and you will build tall and strong “pyramids” and reap the benefits both physically and mentally.

3. Practice or perform breathing exercises or learn to meditate

You get stressed right? Your job is full on and it seems that you have a million other things that need doing all the time. Life for all of us just seems to get busier and busier. The stress involved in completing day to day tasks can have a terrible effect on our health. The question is what to do about it.

There is evidence to suggest that diaphragmatic breathing and/or meditation can do a lot to reduce the overstimulation of our sympathetic nervous system or our “fight or flight mode”. Without delving into our sympathetic nervous system (SNS) too much, basically the overstimulation of the SNS can lead to weight gain, amongst other undesirable health issues. That’s not what you want, right? So it is worth engaging in a daily practice of breathing or booking in some sessions on how to meditate.

You’re too busy you say? Then you need to do it more than anyone else. Make the time. Five minutes before you go to sleep at night. You’ll probably have the best sleep that you have ever had after doing it. Here is a very short video from the amazing Perry Nickelston on breathing. Enjoy :)

4. Plan your meals on your days off

Not all plans work, but having something in place is better than nothing at all. If you can plan your meals at least from Monday to Friday, or whatever days of the week that you work, there is a higher likelihood that you are going to have a better week of nutrition. I’m also quite sure that you are going to save money and time too.

I get that the initial preparation of food is quite time consuming, but if you aim to cook meals that you can use for dinners for a couple of nights or lunches at work, then it is definitely a productive exercise.

Freezing meals is also what I like to call a “nutritional backup plan”. If you have had that “crappy” day at the office or worked a tonne of over time, then sometimes the thought of cooking is just too much. Reaching for a frozen meal made from your leftovers is the perfect option!

5. GO TO BED!

Do I sound like your mother or father now? Well, you need your sleep. Do you keep binging on My House Rules or Netflix rather than getting some decent sleep?

There is a correlation between certain health factors and sleep. For instance, weight management is tied in with quality of sleep. A lack of sleep can produce a hormone called Ghrelin, and to put it quite simply, the more this hormone gets produced, the greater the chance that your appetite increases.

So here’s a choice that you need to make daily; go to bed and get that 8 hours of sleep or sit up and watch some more TV while finishing off another packet of Cheetos. You know EXACTLY what’s going to happen if you eat another packet of Cheetos!

If you reckon your health is as important to you as you say it is, then switch off the ‘tele’, tear yourself away from Facebook and Instagram and get some sleep. You don’t realise how much you are sacrificing when you sit up for just one more episode of The Walking Dead.

So where to from here? It’s time you took action. If you put it off for another moment, it’s almost guaranteed that you will be EXACTLY where you are right now or even WORSE! And another 12 months will have flown by.

Talk to us. Send us your details and we can give you a call to see how we can help you.

 

“Action is the foundational key to success.” - Pablo Picasso

Scott Jenkins