why daily movement is as essential as water
It’s easy to believe that with three bursts of exercise of 20-30 minutes per week that all of our fitness, weight and health issues will suddenly disappear. That’s what we’ve been led to believe along with encouragement to eat 5 portions of fruit and vegetables per day. If only if it were that easy!
We are actually designed to move around all the time. We don’t do well sitting – constant movement and activity, interspersed with periods of rest and sleep are actually what our DNA has prepared us for – if you have any doubts, look at the natural behaviour of pre-school children. Our genetic heritage expects us to run, hunt, forage, gather, climb, swim, run, crawl and generally be active with our bodies. Our programming also expects us to have periods of feast and famine and to store excess energy whenever we can in preparation for the next famine.
It’s not difficult to see why sitting around all day over-eating is going to land us in trouble with our fitness levels, our weight and our health. And exercise alone is not the answer.
The trouble with “sport”, or “exercise” or “working out” is that many of us view it as something else to fit into the day – a nice to have, not a need to have. It’s a luxury activity that we can barely afford, financially or in time, or it’s something to be dreaded. How bad is the phrase “work out”?
Being comfortable in our body and feeling invigorated using it, is not something that should be equated to work (that’s earning a living) or luxury (like owning a car, tickets to the theatre, restaurant meals). Being comfortable in and using our body is something that is essential to life – vigorous, healthy life that is. Movement should be thought of as necessary: as necessary as breathing, as eating, or as drinking water. Without movement we stagnate and die – and just like breathing or drinking water, movement is something that we require every week, every day, every hour.
Many of us do need to reprioritise our lives and find the time to put our bodies and our health first. It’s more important than any other thing in our lives be that our family, our home, our car or the clothes we wear. A dysfunctional body impacts on every aspect of our lives including our family. Being or becoming healthy is totally within your control, either with or without support and guidance.
Checklist
- Think movement not exercise
- Remember movement is as essential as breath or food
- Enjoy the sensation that movement brings and feel the energy liberated through moving about
- If movement brings discomfort be aware that this is a sign that your life is out of balance and that corrective measures are necessary and essential
- As you renew your house insurance or book your car in for it’s next service, ask yourself what preventative measures you have carried out for your own body, your own health. Have you insured your life or just the consequences of illness and death?
- Instead of buying bigger clothes or more food, think about investing in a healthier you.
- Delight in self care.
now get your new habit going
Have your New Year’s Resolutions crashed and burned?Now is the time to examine what you want for your health and wellbeing. Now is the time to develop some new habits. Resolutions lack commitment and are often fuelled by New Year’s hangovers or guilt. They generally don’t work.
Developing a new habit however does work. There are many ways to achieve this and Leo Babauta does stirling work in the advice stakes over at Zen Habits, with his article “A Compact Guide to Creating the Fitness Habit.”
I don’t agree with everything he says about diet (I advocate a paleo dietary regime) but the principles are good and sensible. However, it is my experience that many of us lack the necessary motivation and drive to maintain a new habit completely on our own.
That is where I come in. I am passionate about helping you get back to wellness. I’m a personal trainer today, but I wasn’t always well. For a long time I wasn’t fit and for a few years I felt that something awful was going to happen to me. But I took action – I’ve done the hard work and now I want to share it with you – not by writing about it but by working with you one to one.
If you live in St Albans or Harpenden and the surrounding area, or even Buckingham or Leighton Buzzard and you need help then I’d like to hear from you. I work with a range of clients, but weight management is my specialty.
Call me on 0800 612 5870 for an initial consultation. Or get in touch via the contact page
want a recipe for surviving Christmas?
Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a single recipe for surviving the challenges of the Christmas period or for achieving wellness! In reality each of us needs to find the combination of lifestyle choices and eating habits that works for us.
It took years for me to realise that grains really upset my stomach and what I thought was IBS was simply a poor tolerance for wheat and similar grains. My (seven) years as a vegetarian and vegan were my most uncomfortable, not because I was consuming too many vegetables but because of an increased consumption of grains, sugars and soya protein.
Choosing to be well is simply that: a choice. Most of us know what we are doing wrong or perhaps that we are doing something wrong. Making the choice to be well is relatively easy but we do need support along the way as so much of our culture is hell bent on making us fail.
My choices
The way I keep well is through a combination of movement and diet that I set out below. This is my personal combination and it works for me. Why does it work? Simply because I enjoy each of the components individually and I like the likestyle that the combination yields for me. It doesn’t feel like a hair shirt thing at all and I have a level of fitness, strength and health that has only been surpassed in my teenage years.
This combination works for me. The paleo diet has eliminated bloating and any traces of IBS. I feel hungry less and I really enjoy my food. Yoga and Pilates are fantastic for strength through flexibility – I love these activities and intend to pursue them in the long term. Next year I will train as a Pilates instructor with a longer term aim of training as a yoga teacher too.
Kettlebells provide phenomenal strength and conditioning. Proper use is essential which is why I added Kettlebell and Medicine Ball training to my studies as a (REPs) Personal Trainer. For most of my clients, medicine ball, kettlebell and bodyweight exercises are all I need to use with occasional core stability exercises using the swiss ball, the pilates ball and a wobble board for good measure. I love the work I do and it never ceases to amaze me how quickly clients make differences to their physical strength, fitness and posture with these interventions.
Barefoot running is relatively new for me. I’ve been wearing minimalist shoes (only) for 2 years now and started running in them during the past year. Come the Spring/Summer I will venture into full barefoot (no shoes) running. I love the freedom in running – it can be truly exhilarating, something I never thought I’d hear myself say having struggled with running for years!
Jado Kuin Do is my chosen martial art. Starting this was life changing for me and I’ve been incredibly lucky to be able to work at close hand with Master Jake Ogden founder of the World Jado Kuin Do Organisation and recently inducted into the Martial Arts Hall of Fame. I came to Jado relatively late in life, starting in my early 40s. I’d last studied a martial art in my early 20s so it was a bit of a shock coming back to one. But it has been fantastic and now I teach many children and adults on a weekly basis through my own Jado Kuin Do academies.
My chosen combination provides endurance, flexibility, strength, power and balance supported by high quality food. Nothing feels like an exercise or workout, it’s all just fun and challenge. I work with amazing colleagues, clients and students and feel blessed every day!
Failings and Compromises
It’s not all roses though. We all have a bad day sometimes and there are days when I just don’t want to go out for that run. So I just don’t. I never force myself into an activity – it’s not about willpower, but about tapping into what makes us tick. For me five years ago, feeling unwell was the thing that I was least happy about so I knew that my lifestyle had to change. And it has, but I still occasionally eat a cake, or skip a training session or drink a bit too much wine.
You have to live the life you want to live and look back on it and be happy. For me that is about feeling well in myself, being there and being a good Dad for my children, and enjoying great relationships and experiences with family and friends. The compromise is that my life can’t be about material success and huge wealth – there seems to be an inherent conflict to me in doing all the things I do want to do and career success. So I choose a more minimalist approach to life and I’m happy with that.
Future
I’m on a mission to feel in the best condition of my life by the age of 50 and keep it there as long as I can. Im going to help as many people as I can do the same. I enjoy working with all ages from 4 to 84. A lot of what I do is really about play which I feel has huge validity for both children and adults. Learning or re-learning to enjoy moving around and being comfortable in our bodies is hugely related to being at peace with ourselves.
I look forward to adding to my life experience in a way I can share through my pilates and yoga training and MovNat training later in the coming year. I don’t have any New Year resolutions so much as a list of a few exciting new things to try out with the people I engage with.
I hope you find your way in the coming year and enjoy the festive period. If you want some tips for getting started please do sign up and download the Christmas Survival guide, or if you missed it, download the Weightloss factsheet here.
Happy Christmas!
Make it through Christmas, sign up and download the Christmas factsheet!
how not to be one of the 24%…
Obesity Leaders
This week Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency reported that 23.9% of British women and 22.1% of British men are clinically obese making us the most obese women and second most obese men in Europe (across 19 measured states). More disturbing is that the growth rate of obesity suggests that things are likely to get worse before they get better. The Lancet medical journal indicates that the population of obese people in the UK, some 15 million today, will increase by another 11 million over the next 20 years unless there is a radical change of direction. This is going to put an unprecedented, and possibly unmanageable, loading on the health service.
We read about diets and weight loss all the time and have a burgeoning “low-fat” market and yet we in the UK have a serious problem with our weight and particularly with our body composition particularly excess body fat.
The Old Model is Broken
For 50 years we’ve had a growing problem and throughout that time the government and others have tried to encourage us to follow a low-fat diet. But this strategy isn’t working. Neither is calorie counting, points, weight loss clubs …..
A new approach is needed and it’s rooted in our ancestral heritage. We need to move more, we need to sleep more and we need to eat an ancestral diet.
Eating real food need not cost more than the cost of eating junk food added to the cost of eating convenience food added to the cost of drinking and smoking. And yes it may take extra time to prepare food. But this is time we are going to reap back when we avoid a curtailed life or at least a very poor quality ill life. The health service will not be able to repair the damage that long-term obesity causes – no matter how angry we may get later in life, it is now that action needs to be taken.
Take Personal Action Today
This action needs to be taken on a personal basis; nobody but you can make this decision – no-one else is going to take responsibility for your health and wellness. But there is plenty of guidance along the way.
As we prepare for 2012 and the Olympics, why not think about making this your Olympic year to deal with your weight problem?
New Habit will be producing an Olympic Weightloss Programme to help anyone that wants to lose weight succeed in 2012. Signing up today will give you access to first free factsheet and more factsheets will be published throughout the coming 9-10 months to help you. The basics will focus on a paleo based approach to eating, simple movement and exercises and tips and hints to support you on your journey. The second factsheet will be published in early December to help you through the seasonal period and get you started before New Year.
Beat Obesity and Save Our Children
If nothing else, we must tackle obesity for the sake of our children. It’s one thing to make ourselves obese, but is it right for children to suffer as a consequence. As parents and adults we act as role models for children so if nothing but for them, we need to take some action and get the UK back on track to a healthier lifestyle. It starts with each of us.
Get started today, sign up and download the first factsheet!
Lose weight – melt body fat – look great!
Happy with your body?
Want to shed the love handles or move a beer belly?
Do you need to get into that little black number for a Christmas party?
If you haven’t already got it, head over to this page and grab your free e-factsheet. It’s perfect to get your pre-New Year weight loss campaign kick started!
Today!
Do it now…
Yes I want to lose body fat today!
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