Why not start this progressive 5 week fitness challenge I ran back in 2014? People who completed this found it easy to lose up to a stone following my "Freedom Diet" guidelines (i.e. eat whatever you want as long as you log it all on MyFitnessPal - but find out your TDEE [total daily energy expenditure] so know how many kcals you burn in a day)
Hello community! Today, I want to talk about an important topic that is often overlooked but holds tremendous potential in transforming lives: the profound impact of exercise on mental health. As professionals, we often prioritice career goals and professional development, but taking care of our mental well-being is equally vital to achieving overall success and happiness.
In today's fast-paced world, stress, anxiety, and burnout have become commonplace. Thankfully, exercise offers a holistic approach to support mental health and promote well-being. Beyond the physical benefits of staying fit, exercise has a remarkable ability to positively impact our minds and emotions.
The Science Behind It: Exercise and Endorphins
When we exercise, our bodies release endorphins, often referred to as "feel-good" hormones. These chemicals interact with our brain's receptors, reducing pain perception and inducing a sense of euphoria and well-being. This natural high not only helps in reducing stress but also plays a pivotal role in alleviating symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Stress Reduction and Improved Sleep
As working professionals, stress is an inevitable part of our lives. Regular exercise acts as a powerful stress-reliever by lowering the body's stress hormones and increasing the production of neurotransmitters that promote relaxation. Moreover, incorporating exercise into our daily routine helps improve sleep quality, leaving us refreshed and ready to face the challenges of the day.
Building Resilience and Boosting Confidence
Exercise often involves setting and achieving fitness goals, whether it's running a certain distance, lifting a heavier weight, or mastering a new yoga pose. These achievements, no matter how small, contribute to a sense of accomplishment, increasing our self-esteem and confidence. In turn, this newfound resilience translates to our professional lives, helping us tackle obstacles with a positive mindset.
Social Connection and Support
Participating in group activities or fitness classes fosters social connections and a sense of community. Engaging in shared experiences, like group workouts, allows us to forge meaningful relationships and build a support system. These connections offer a buffer against feelings of isolation and loneliness, which are detrimental to mental health.
Enhanced Cognitive Function and Productivity
Exercise has been shown to boost cognitive function, improve memory, and enhance overall brain health. Regular physical activity increases blood flow to the brain, promoting neuroplasticity and facilitating the growth of new brain cells. As a result, our ability to concentrate, problem-solve, and think creatively is heightened, leading to increased productivity and efficiency at work.
Coping Mechanism and Emotional Regulation
Life is full of ups and downs, and challenges can be overwhelming. Exercise provides a healthy outlet for pent-up emotions, acting as a coping mechanism to manage stress and anxiety. Physical activity helps regulate our emotional responses, allowing us to navigate difficult situations with more clarity and emotional stability.
In conclusion, as we strive for professional success, it is imperative not to neglect our mental well-being. Incorporating regular exercise into our lives can work wonders in fostering a positive mindset, reducing stress, building resilience, and enhancing overall cognitive function.
Let's pledge to prioritise our mental health just as we prioritise our careers. Together, we can create a workplace culture that values well-being and encourages a healthy work-life balance. So, let's take that first step towards a happier, healthier future - let's move, let's exercise, and let's embrace the transformative power it holds for our minds and bodies.
#MentalHealthMatters #ExerciseForWellbeing #WorkLifeBalance #HealthyMindHealthyLife
Go to the supermarket and buy only items on this shopping list to rev up your engine (that is your body) to the max. I mean follow the guidelines underneath too for a fabulously balanced diet. We weren't designed to eat hyper-processed foods all the time đ¤ˇââď¸ (at all)
Info notes:
GUIDELINES:
Only eat items on the shopping list, with the following rules:
The Freedom Diet guarantees weight control success. To lose weight, I'd advice a max 500 kcal daily deficit (or 10-20% reduction in calories). You can find out how many calories you need in a day here. Every single working diet out there is based on a caloric deficit. Might as well eat the foods you truly enjoy as you won't achieve long term success following someone else's monotonous, strict food plan.
Recipes
Freedom Diet example meal plan for you to get started with:
Freezer
Label whatâs in the freezer. Use glass containers & food bags
Make a shopping list - plan what youâre eating
Rule for selecting meat: Choose local, low fat quality meats that haven't been processed.
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Make sure your always have the following items handy to whizz up a delicious, healthy meal any time
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Freezer
I've created an account on Instagram for my PT studio and conveniently called it @tynePTstudio
On this account I'll be posting pics of clients, myself, and also useful nutrition and training tips
So don't be a stranger, give the account a follow and hit me up with a DM if you have any questions :)
/Erika
When you treat exercise as something 'you should' be doing, you could soon be in trouble.
You go through a cycle of 'being motivated' and start training obsessively. Then you miss a training session and feel bad about yourself. You've failed. After that you punish yourself by exercising more intensely. Of course this cannot last, and ultimately you'll come to a halt again and pretty much stop exercising altogether. Until you feel that motivation again.
I had a client in the past who was training a lot. She lost over 5 stone. I have a degree in psychology and very much use that to my advantage in dealing with clients, but sometimes it's hard to know whether they are training because they genuinely enjoy it so much, or whether it's become an obsession that's going to lead to bad things.
I found out this client tried to kill herself not so long back. Training had become an obsession. No matter how much she achieved, she never felt truly happy.
Important note: Nobody is ever going to be 100 % happy with their bodies. That's just something we need to try and live with. So if you strive for perfection, you'll never get there. Those Instagram babes only show their best sides, and sometimes cry themselves to sleep because they're not 'good enough' (to who?).
In a way my old client's fitness journey was a true success story. She lost all that weight and looked absolutely incredible after having been overweight for so long. But that's of course just the snippet of her best possible fitness achievements. On the other hand it's a tragic story of how any extreme behaviour nearly always ends up in what we percieve as failure. During her recovery she's had to work with really understanding that being as thin as possible is not a route to happiness. Now she's put all the weight back on, and then some.
So when you see incredible weight loss transformations, don't assume they've 'done really well'. It should be so much more important to understand that getting to true fitness and eating healthily should be about feeling better, not worse about yourself.
Only then, even if you're still classed as 'overweight' by the rubbish official BMI standards, you can truly be happy. Just strive to be a little better.
Eat when you're hungry. Chew your food well. Notice how good you can feel after a balanced healthy meal. And how terrible and lethargic you can feel for days after eating too much crap. When you eat better, your body will reward you with more energy and a better hormonal profile, which will automatically lead to a healthy weight as a side product. Focus on adding good things to your diet, not taking anything away.
Weight loss is nothing more complicated than eating fewer calories than what your body burns. Whether you exercise or not, you'll lose weight if you're in a calorie deficit. So use exercise as a tool to feel better -- choose a sport you truly enjoy, or even just get out for a walk to get some fresh air to burn a few calories. Anything helps. And seriously, training less than 10 minutes a day a few times a week can get you in the best shape of your life. Move little and often, and don't use exercise as some sort of punishment. Humans were born to move. I don't believe in wasting your life doing something you don't enjoy (like going to the gym for many people), so choose to do nice things. Try out a new sport, you might love it.
Exercising too much can destroy you. But more importantly, exercising can also truly heal you. Just enjoy it. That's a great start.
If your answer is 'yes' then read on
I'm currently doing a squat challenge: 100 squats a day for 30 days
Any kind of squats count - you can do them with a barbell, some dumbbells, even a kettlebell or the TRX... Or like I have done, the simplest form of them all, bodyweight squats.
Doing a hundred squats a day takes only a few minutes to complete when you're doing them with your own body weight only, so I'd like to think everyone who don't have physical limitations can take part in this challenge
I've been happy to see some of my PT clients take on the challenge too
Myself, like probably many others, I struggled with motivation about 10 days in, but I've started so I'll finish what I set out to do. After all, it's not difficult
Some days I've purely forgotten to do all of my squats (you don't need to do them all at once), but instead of regarding that as a failure I've just added what I didn't complete to the next day's total
Simples
You'll get a firmer bum, thighs and your metabolism will automatically increase because of the extra work you're doing with your muscles every day
Do 10 sets of 10 repetitions to begin with, of if that's easy, do more at once. Maybe you're already fit enough to do all 100 at once?! By the end of the challenge you could be!
Get on it! I'd love to hear about your experiences, you can always get in touch with me through my Facebook page or Instagram account
Here's my favourite guacamole recipe for you to try out - it's simple, super healthy and ready in 10 minutes.
Guacamole is high in monounsaturated fats, which are the healthiest kinds of fats in the world and actually help your body get rid of bad fats. Half an avocado a day can have amazing health benefits, just be aware of the calories that quickly add up!
1 ripe avocado (cut in half, remove the stone and spoon out the flesh)
1/2 red onion (finely chopped)
1 clove of garlic (minced or chopped very finely)
1 ripe tomato (finely chopped)
1 lime (cut in half, squeeze all the juice out)
Fresh coriander (torn), to taste
Pinch of salt and pepper
HOW-TO:
Add all ingredients in a bowl, mix together by mashing the avocado with a fork. Enjoy with corn chips, in a wrap with chicken and salads or as a sandwich filler.
Fats.... lovely fats. Including good fats in your diet is so important for your body to function properly. It also helps your body get rid of bad fats. I made a simple list of my favourite sources of good fats -- make sure to include some in your everyday diet.
There you have it! Do you think there's anything missing from this list? Just comment below. You can also add yourself to my team's Facebook group for all fat loss nutrition and exercise related support xx
