Breaking the mould

The 10 foods to avoid this Christmas, Top tips to avoid massive weight gain this Christmas make for common reading this time of year. So I am sorry to disappoint but I am going to change tack a little and come at Christmas from a completely different angle. I want to play around with the concept of taking the emotions out of Christmas. Stay with me, I’ll explain.

I don't mean to sound heartless and cold but I feel a lot of over indulging and excessive behavior occurring over Christmas and the festive season may be due to the huge emotional highs caused by the sense of freedom this time of year brings. This sense of freedom leads to huge doses of happiness, no thoughts for tomorrow and the desire to keep that big high on overdrive is fueled by excessive behaviors such as alcohol, food, sugar and even drugs which all effect the states of our brain and hormones in some capacity. Any time your happy hormone is sparked into action the brain gets a little high. So mix the freedom of the festive season with the little highs received from rich, delicious yet naughty foods, alcohol and whatever else is going you can start to see where the excessive behavior fueled by our emotions can start to take hold. What's my solution?

Don’t get too happy!!! Get grateful. Instead of chasing the highest of highs why not look for all the reasons to be grateful for what we have this Christmas. If that means comparing your life to others so be it. But I am thinking being grateful for the quality of life you have, the people around you and the love and admiration they have for you and you for them, your health, your financial status, the opportunities you are regularly presented with in this lucky country and the luxury we are afforded to be able to stop, relax and enjoy this time of year without the constant threat of disease, war, crime or wondering where your next meal is coming from.

Stay in Balance!!! Life has an uncanny way of bringing you back into balance. You only have to look at nature and how balance always seems to occur eventually. Bush fires bring new growth; the extinction of a species brings life to another and the list goes on. Same with us this time of year, excessive behavior will be matched with a balancing action such as a hangover, energy loss due to the body trying to cope with too much food and what is commonly reported is festive season or holiday blues caused by the high associated with freedom and time off routine then good old life bringing you back into balance and into a routine. See you can't go too far past neutral or the balance point (equilibrium) without getting drawn back, it's nature’s way. So don't go too far either way is my advice.

So in summary what I think, for what it's worth, is you would be well served this Christmas and New Year period to get excessively grateful and enjoy the period for what it is and not for the emotional roller coaster that it often is and can be. Sorry to be boring but I have a sneaky feeling your memories and recollections of this Christmas will be held in higher regard than all of the others if you treat it this way.

Which way will you fall this season?

Today's discussion is all about balance. Especially relevant as the festive season is less than a month ago. What is the most worrying aspect from my point of view from a balance and festive season perspective is the way that balance after this period rarely seems to be recaptured.

The damning evidence that swayed me to get this message out, is every festive season an average of 3 kilograms of weight is put on. That doesn't surprise me as it is an over indulgent time of the year and if there was ever an excuse to over indulge this may slip in as one of them. The problem is the majority of us never balance up the scales and lose the added baggage accumulated at these times of the year. So adding it up over 5 or 10 years you can see why someone you haven't seen for 10 years is now 30 - 40 kilos heavier can't you? Scary stuff but relatively simple to fix. Just get a little unbalanced in the activity and nutrition stakes immediately after the festive season and equilibrium should create the necessary correction needed.

As an example of how to increase the activity scales over Christmas or New Year check out this seemingly innocuous and fun half hour or hour activity and the benefits it can produce. 36 healthy untrained men were randomised into a soccer group, a running group and a control group.Training was performed for 1 hour two or three times per week for 12 weeks; at an average heart rate of 82% of HRmax for both training groups.During the 12 week program, the soccer group improved fitness 62% more than the running group. The soccer group also lost an average of 50% more fat than the running group. The soccer group had an increase in lean body mass of 3.75lbs, an increase in lower extremity bone mass, a greater decrease in LDL-cholesterol and an increase in fat oxidation during running at 9.5 km/h. The running group saw none of these changes.The number of capillaries per muscle fibre was also almost 50% higher in the soccer training group than in running. Both groups reduced blood pressure equally.The researchers concluded that participation in recreational soccer training, has significant beneficial effects on health profile and physical capacity and in some aspects it is superior to frequent moderate-intensity running

So what this is saying is a simple run around the soccer, football or even rugby field with stop start activity or high intensity interval training is a very effective and efficient way of losing weight and getting healthier plus having fun with your mates. Sounds easy eh, well the reality is losing weight and getting back into balance isn't hard to do but it is a commitment. Are you ready to commit?

Make Christmas healthier by including basil

Now that summer is on the way and the days are heating up. I am excited to report I can smell Basil in the air. There is something about Basil that really excites me. Says a lot about my life doesn’t it. But just to justify my exuberance about the health properties of the humble herb basil I am going to let you in on a few of the many health benefits of the essential oils found in basil.

It turns out its qualities play a huge part in reducing inflammation. This is important when we are fighting or trying to reduce the chances of developing cancers and cardio vascular disease. Basil helps stop inflammation by blocking the cells excretion of proteins called cytokines and also a chemical called nitric oxide which when cells are able to exchange these two components, inflammation results.

Also essential oils found in basil can effectively inhibit bacterial growth especially disease causing bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Shigella species, Salmonella species, Mycobacterium species and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Pathogenic strains of these bacteria can cause illnesses like food poisoning, urinary tract infections, pneumonia and dysentery. Just the names themselves sound bad enough don’t they?

Anyway you get my point and if you don’t I will spell it out. Basil is good for you and you should be making the most of it right now and all through summer. In fact researchers say it is worth noting that herbs and spices contribute significantly to the total antioxidants obtained from the diet. Basil is virtually calorie-free and, in addition to antioxidant vitamins and phenolics, is a rich source of vitamin K, zinc, calcium, magnesium, potassium and dietary fibre. It adds a lot of flavour in a way that’s waistline-friendly.

I can see it now on your Christmas lunch table in a pesto dip, maybe a tomato salad or even in the marinara or Neapolitan pasta sauce.

Take a leaf out of a cow's habitSSS.

Don't worry I aren't saying you should follow a cow to the letter, or you are a cow. What I do like about a cow is it chews it's food up so well and then re chews again and again. The irony is all they are eating is grass compared to us meat eaters (most of us). We need to look at what they are doing and reap the health benefits of their actions.

Next time you eat just take note of how quickly the meal has gone. Unfortunately the majority are time poor individuals so eating is fast and furious, just like your lives. The only problem is by the time any food has touched the sides it has gone and you are still hungry aren't you? So you feel like you need more but make it quick. Sound familiar? Then about 20 minutes later you are full, bloated and feeling lethargic. Still sounding familiar? Well let's look at ways to fix this.

You need to get conscious and follow this formula to allow the digestion process to start in your mouth rather than in your stomach with half eaten foods.

1. Sit down to eat away from computers, papers or books. Just have your food and eating utensils. Mine is usually my hands - typical bloke.
2. Slow down and chew your food to smithereens. Try chewing every bite of food 30 times and see how the food ends up before you swallow. It is harder than it sounds to count 30 chews when you are used to bite, chew a couple of times and then swallow.
3. Stop eating when you are slightly full. Because in ten minutes or so you will be satisfied and ready to go. The energy saved listening to your stomach will astound you. Plus you will actually enjoy the taste, texture and flavours your food offers. As long as it is natural and unprocessed.

So following the SSS model will be very hard to follow, trust me I struggled and continue to do so but like everything if it was easy everyone would be doing it. But the rewards will be remarkable. Energy, amount eaten, regularity, stomach bloating and yes the main one everyone is concerned with; fat loss due to calorie restriction and a metabolism kickstart.

Size does matter, even for the ladies

We have all heard of the term thunder thighs right. And some of you unfortunately would of been ridiculed by others by being called thunder thighs. Well I am here to tell you the size of your thighs could help determine how long you live. It seems that small thighs under a certain size are linked to heart disease and premature death.

A study found on the British Medical Journal (BMJ) website has revealed having thighs around the 60cm measurement mark means you are less susceptible to disease and premature death. Providing you are carrying out a healthy lifestyle of course. The Copenhagen Uni Hospital revealed that after twelve years of research thigh size is an even bigger risk factor than waist circumference. In measures if you have thighs less than 55cm you may be at risk.

What does this mean for you? Most people equate big thighs to fat but this study may highlight the bigger the thighs the more muscle content which in turn means better metabolism. More lean muscle stores we have the more blood supply needed and nutrition to feed it. So why not take the studies advice, it can't do you any harm. Focus on doing more lower body activity such as walk, ride, resistance training focusing on lower body (squats, lunges and so on).

This may help if you are such for ideas to increase lower body activity.

1. Increase steps taken in a day . In essence get your legs moving and carrying your body weight around
2. Bend your knees more when you are standing up. This may mean focusing on correctly bending to pick things up or sitting down. Stop falling into the lounge, picking objects up with a straight back.
3. Use your hips more by whenever bending or lifting occurs learn to activate your gluteals (butt muscles) to save you loading up your back and increasing the weight taken by your legs.

Hopefully these tips can start you off. If you require any more assistance lease feel free to contact me anytime, it may lengthen your life.

Busy? You need some EPA in your life

Placing extra and inflexible fitness regimes on already busy people is setting everyone concerned up for failure. In my experience you need to resist a one size fits all approach and try the individualised approach. The only way to do this is empower the busy and often out of balanced individual to look for a way that he can employ into his routine and then offer professional fitness advice from there. It flips the thinking but has massive results in terms of you the busy person’s conformance. Use EPA to get you to this point.

1. Get Emotional. Empower yourself to see why it is you need or want to fit in or keep a fitness regime into your already busy lifestyle. What is most important to you, health, six pack abs, performance in your career, family (if you don’t keep fit and overwork, sickness and disease may take you away from your family). Also find out what it is you enjoy in an activity sense. Again what are your values; do you like adventure, weights, running etc

2. Prioritise fitness. If you are already busy you will perceive there is no time for exercise or activity. Once you feel you want to do it for the right reasons (Point 1) then you would be well advised to book it into your weekly schedule or make a date with yourself. Just like a meeting, book in another meeting only this time it is to invest in yourself. Put it in a diary; tell your Personal assistant that you will be busy for these times in the week.

3. Be Accountable. Now you are emotionally charged and want to keep fit and healthy for all the right reasons and you have booked it in your diary. All that is missing is accountability. It is too easy to say when the time comes I am too busy. So getting accountable means getting a personal trainer, a fellow worker or a mate to meet you and even do the run or the training session with you. You will feel less inclined to let someone else down than yourself. And don’t think paying for a gym membership will solve the problem – you only have to look at the drop out rates for gyms.

We are all time poor which make us all time poor so the last thing we need to do is force ourselves to do something that is going to make us busier. But if you associate the benefits of an activity to your deep inner core values then you may stand half a chance of making it a priority and factoring it into your weekly routine.

What's up with this alcohol thing?

In my local neighbourhood recently I saw a hotel building that had been revamped ready for business again but there was no indication as to what the new venture would be. There was shopping trolleys out the front so I automatically presumed it would be a mini super market or something to that effect. 2 weeks later I saw it had opened as a discount liquor store outlet. The car park was full and a steady trickle of people coming in and out with purchases.

What is my point? Why can a new shop instantly create a mild sense of hysteria selling alcohol and yet a gym which is a mini version of a discount liquor store except the product is health, fitness and wellness not have that mini hysteria effect? The only reasoning I can put it down to is the sensation and release alcohol gives the user. But exercise and activity can offer the same effects just not as quickly. Maybe it is the huge marketing dollars the alcohol industry spends but again the Government, the media and the fitness industry itself also spends big dollars on marketing and actually gets lots of free publicity. So I can only put it down to the fact that alcohol is a quick fix release that people perceive will take them away from their troubles and create happiness for them.

Now please don't judge me as a wowser as I enjoy a drink, in moderation of course, as much as anyone. But it was just something that made my little brain start working overtime. And I also don't begrudge operators from making money out of selling alcohol. But what is the attraction?

I want to leave you with a pitch and a plea for your health and wellbeing. Please try and get as passionate about your health and wellbeing as the masses and maybe you get about alcohol. Remember these important points.

1. Physical activity stimulates your feel good hormones and can give you the feeling of euphoria afterwards without the hangover
2. Physical activity will improve your performance and will be cheaper in the long run. If you add up health compared to medical complications, accident costs etc as a result of excess alcohol consumption.
3. You will look and feel better in the real world rather than looking and feeling invincible in an alcohol fueled haze.

Something to think about and I would love to hear your views. Maybe I am way off the mark here and don't mind being told so.