10 Ways to Show Your Body Some Love!

Valentine’s Day is coming right up, and in its honour, I thought it would be good to share a list of things you can do to pamper yourself …
…. for free (or almost free!)
When you do any of these things with intention and purpose, they will help you feel better: mind, body, and spirit.
And you definitely deserve that!
10 Ways to Love Your Body Today (& Every Day)
1. Get outside for some fresh air and sunshine.
Being outdoors helps you relax, lightens your mood, boosts your vitamin D, and even helps with healing. Even better: find a park or other tree-filled area, and spend at least 15 minutes enjoying nature.
2. Read a book.
Let us count the ways reading a book is good for you: it strengthens your brain and prevents cognitive decline, builds empathy, improves your vocabulary, reduces stress, fights depression, and helps you sleep better.
Plus, it’s linked to a longer lifespan! If you need a book idea, check out Jay Shetty, Think Like a Monk.
3. Get in your workout.
You already know why 🙂 It helps lower your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. It lifts your mood, helps reduce depression and stress, and is great for your brain.
Plus … it strengthens your bones and muscles and can keep you feeling active and strong. It helps you sleep better; it’s linked with a better love life, and it boosts your chances of living longer.
4. Put your hand on your heart and tell yourself, “I love you!”
Seriously, try this. Put your hand on the left side of your chest and feel your heart beating. It’s working so hard to keep you strong and alive.
Take a moment to feel gratitude for that. Then tell yourself, “I love you!” (Do it even if it feels weird.)
5. Make time for a 10-minute stretch session.
Stretching helps you feel better in so many different ways: it improves your circulation, activates the part of your body’s nervous system that helps controls rest & relaxation; and triggers the release of feel-good endorphins,
6. Listen to your favourite music.
Music has a powerful influence on our bodies AND our moods – which is why it’s important to choose upbeat songs that make you FEEL good.
For many people, music can lead to better learning, it can improve your memory, help you focus, boost your mood, ease depression and anxiety, up your energy, and help you workout longer/harder!
7. Treat yourself to a warm bath.
Studies show that a warm (not hot) bath can help you relax by reducing stress hormones in your body. Plus it’s great to help you get to sleep afterward.
But that’s just the start of it. A warm bath also can help reduce tension in your muscles and relieve aches & pains (try adding 300 grams of Epsom salts for even more benefit).
Note: a hot soak sounds appealing but it can actually leave some people feeling dizzy and weak. This is NOT what we are aiming for.
8. Look through old pics that make you smile.
A little visual walk down memory lane can give you perspective and help you feel gratitude for all the amazing people you’ve met along the way (and all the adventures you’ve had).
9. Cook a delicious dinner of your healthy favourites.
When was the last time you treated yourself to your favorite meal? If you’re the cook in your household, chances are you usually choose foods that other people will enjoy.
Tonight, choose something YOU want. 🙂
10. Schedule a massage.
They’re great to reduce stress, improve circulation and energy, and even boost your immune system. Plus … you DESERVE IT!
Let’s take a little extra time to show our bodies how much we LOVE them this weekend.
Make it an amazing day and weekend,
Rich

PS: My Stronger to the Core Challenge begins this Monday 15th February and the challenge is 100% free as my gift to you. I hope you join us!

Strong to the Core

Your core works hard 24/7 to keep your body balanced and aligned.

But often, our daily lives conspire against it and make our core’s job even harder!

Your core is FAR more than just your ab muscles.

It also includes your spine, pelvic girdle, abdomen, and hip joints. Some definitions even include your lats (upper back) muscles.

Plus, your shoulders and chest play a role in your core stability and strength! That means it’s helpful to think about your entire TRUNK comprising your core muscles.

When all of these muscles are aligned and working together, your core is stable and strong. And when your core is stable, your entire body benefits! You’re stronger, more balanced, and can generate more power when needed – helping to prevent injuries and falls!

But when your muscles are out of balance … it can lead to instability and core weakness, contributing to pain, lack of flexibility, and injuries.

Here’s an example: If you sit hunched over a computer for hours a day at work, it can cause your chest, shoulder, abdominal, and hip flexor muscles to become short, tight, and “activated,” while your back and glute muscles lengthen and become less active.

You can see how it wouldn’t take very long for this to affect the stability and strength of your core.

t’ll help you activate and isolate your deepest layer of abdominal muscles, called your transverse abdominis muscles (TVA).

These muscles run between your ribs and pelvis, horizontally from front to back. When they are activated, they form a natural “girdle” around your internal organs and your lower spine, supporting them.

They help stabilize your spine while you use your arms and legs.

Here are a few simple exercises to help build awareness of those muscles, and also learn how it feels to engage them.

Plank

Side plank

Glutei bridge

opposite arm to leg lift

 

Rich 😉

3 Quick Fire Tips To Help You Stay On Track Over The Christmas Period

It’s exactly 2 weeks today until Christmas 😉

This time of year is full of tasty temptations, nights out, Christmas parties, alcohol consumption, chocolates and desserts, but overdoing it can lead to stubborn weight gain that’s difficult to lose.

Did you know that most people will put on around 7lbs over the Christmas period!!!

Here are 3 quick fire ways to help you stay on track this year:-

1 – Manage your weekly calories, not your daily calories.

If you have a night out or Christmas party arranged a good idea is to slightly reduce your calorie intake over the week leading up to it so your are ‘banking calories’ that you can then use for your night out. This could just be cutting out your snacks or having a slightly smaller portion size for a few days.

2 – Eat before you go out.

Have a good nutritious meal before you go out so that you aren’t going out hungry and will stop you from over eating or picking at the wrong foods.

3 – Be careful with your drinks

If you’re going to be drinking alcohol, be mindful of what you’re drinking. Cocktails are full of sugar and syrup and can have several hundred calories per drink!! Try going for a gin and tonic or clear spirit which will keep calories lower. Also try alternating your drinks with water to stay hydrated. 

Helping YOU to a fitter, healthier body!

Rich 😉

 

Up Your NEAT!!

Losing weight can be a frustrating battle, you eat well and train hard but still don’t seem to be getting the results that you are looking for and it can quite simply be that you are not getting the maths right with calories in vs calories out.

A simple way to burn more calories is to up your NEAT (Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis)

Basically this means all the energy expended during the day which isn’t official training or exercise.

Mowing the lawn, walking up a flight of stairs even fidgeting can up your NEAT!

They all burn calories, and more than we would expect.

Literally every movement your body makes contributes to NEAT.

According to Dr James Levine, the Mayo Clinic researcher who first described the phenomenon of NEAT, it can vary by up to 2,000 calories a day between two people of the same size.

Studies show shocking differences in people’s NEAT – some people burn 2000+ more calories than others just from daily movement. Your daily activity, lifestyle, and occupation will all contribute. Think of an office worker vs manual labourer, or someone who takes the stairs  vs someone who takes the elevator.

It’s hard to believe, but simply moving more throughout the day can burn 2,000 calories,

NEAT is the single biggest contributor to your daily calorie burn – far more than official training sessions.

So when your slogging away for an hour on the treadmill or stationary bike to only burn 300 to 400 calories remember if you also up your Neat that could be the missing piece to unlocking your weight loss puzzle 😉

Rich