Adding in steps is becoming more and more important in our increasingly sedentary lives. In the past, we’ve heard of the phrase “incidental exercise”. This is when you go out of your way to add steps or more movement into your day. This doesn’t include doing an actual workout. What it does include is things like parking your car further from the shops, taking the stairs, walking to the bus stop or getting off one stop early, lose your remote control so you have to get up, sta
What is wellness coaching? As a wellness coach, I understand that when it comes to wellness goals, it’s not always straightforward. You and I take a whole-istic approach to your goals. Primarily, it focuses on: Nutrition Fitness Sleep Stress Relationships Work/Life balance I understand that each and every one of us is different. So, together we consider every aspect of your life, your values, dreams, desires, priorities as well as, your situation, time and money constraints.
See My Weight Loss Story: Timeline for reference (this was 2013-2014). I suppose you could say my confidence started to grow when I began a diet called Shred, which is based on the principle of “keeping your body guessing”. Each week the meal plan was different, such as high fibre, smoothies/low carb, carb cycling, high protein etc. That worked in the sense that I was able to test out different styles of eating and started to learn what my body did and didn’t respond well to.
I have struggled with this for as long as I can remember. And I still do sometimes. If you’re like me and know that your emotions trigger eating patterns… whether it’s positive or negative emotions, stick with me while I explain my thoughts. As children we were often rewarded with food. Example: be good at the shops and you get to pick a treat, don’t fight on the car trip and we’ll get McDonald’s ice creams. As adults if something good happens, our brain often wants a reward.
Here's an example of my day of eating. I've tried many diets, meal plans and ways of eating and it was when I ditched all of the diet culture bullshit, I actually made more progress. So, I thought it might help you too. First Thing when you get up have a minimum of 250ml of water - make it warm if you like, add lemon if you like (to protect your teeth, use a straw). Meal 1
Some people don’t like to eat first thing when they wake up, others love a big breaky. My recommendati
If you have tried diet after diet after diet with little success, remember this: “A well-worn path doesn’t mean that you are on the right track.” If you struggle with weight and rarely see positive changes reflected on the bathroom scales, it is important to recognise that the continual diet cycle can do more harm than good—mentally, physically, and spiritually. The diet cycle typically flows like this: We start an extreme diet. We feel restricted and deprived. The cravings c
Whenever I have a scheduled workout but seriously don’t want to do it, I always make a deal with myself. Do 20 minutes and if you don’t want to do any more, then you’re done. This way I’ve got at least some movement into my day, still making baby steps towards my goals and I don’t feel like a fat loser for bailing. 95% of the time, when that 20-minute timer goes off, I can do more, and I kinda want to. It’s like the perfect length of time for the endorphines to kick in. But i
There’s two types of people in this world, those who eat when they’re stressed, and those who don’t. I am type 1, 100%. And since you're here, I’m guessing you’re feeling that too. When we’re stressed, our body goes into a Stress Response. This means our hormones go to work and create a fight or flight response in our body. It does things like pump blood into our limbs, affects our heart rate and it also does a few things to our gut. Our body releases a hormone called Cortiso
We’ve all been there – get fired up, start going to the gym 6 times a week, adding walks, strict meal plan. And then after a while, our body starts to feel lethargic and we just can’t anymore. Here are the signs you’re overdoing it with your workouts: Your heart still feels high long after your workouts Very thirsty Muscle soreness lasting more than 3 days Depressed, moody or irritable Can’t sleep even though you’re working out hard Changes in personality – your typical trait