Spring is coming - get ready!

 

With spring in the air and the knowledge that we are fast approaching what will be the one-year anniversary of when we realised that Covid would be a “thing”, there feels to me like an inertia rather than drive to believe that change is coming. February to me always seems so dead in the garden and I ever wonder if things are going to grow again. We have to have faith that we will  - and likewise a faith that our lives will too.

Much like any good gardener, it is worth preparing for the summer ahead, and so here are 3 basics to help you blossom this summer after a winter of lockdown x.

1.       Daily activity has a significant impact on physical and mental health. The rate of activity has directly influences your mood, your resilience to stress, pain, and anxiety. The length of time that you are active for can change your fitness level but more importantly, affect what is know as BDNF (the happy neurotransmitters). My RBHFitness tip:

a.       2 x daily activity sessions a day – one am, one pm

b.       One session to be over 30 mins

c.       Try to get breathless at some point – walk up a hill, jump a little etc

2.       Much like good compost, your body is always governed by the nutrients you give it.  To help your mental health and improve your body you will need to eat all the rainbow colours you can find. A healthy amount of plant-based foods alongside  a reduction in processed sugar will reduce lethargy, increase concentration and memory as well as build a stronger body. My RBHFitness tip:

a.       “Superfoods”  - that boost energy include, blueberries, dark greens, olive oil etc

b.       Anti-inflammatory foods to reduce bloating include ginger and turmeric which you can add to your cooking

c.       Any fat you eat gets stored as fat on your body. If you want to reduce body fat, try cutting  fat down in the first instance.

3.       Rest – like the flowers and trees that have lain dormant for many months, you too need to give your body chance to repair.  Sleep can be elusive for some, anxiety for others mean that they can’t unwind.  My RBHFitness tip:

a.       Melatonin –  this hormone is your “biological night”.  Help your body to understand the difference between “night and day” by boosting your exposure to natural sunlight in the day, and reducing your light in the evening by switching off blue light (phone, tv, pc etc), have candles and a quiet 30 mins before bed

b.       Try to reduce your food intake as you approach bedtime. Or even consider a specific time in the evening to stop eating e.g. 8pm. You can still have water or herbal tea, but not ones that include caffeine.

#springiscoming #changeisontheway #prepare #health&wellbeing #lookafteryourself #cadwnheini #cadwniachsa

 

Why yo-yo dieting might actually be good for you...

Intuitive Eating

 

Like many other people, lockdown has resulted in less daily activity - and I am not talking about exercise, but simply those little steps that you don't notice about where you walk from your car to the office or walk around the office. That coupled with the fact that being at home is like being on an all-inclusive holiday meal deal....where food is always within arm’s reach...has added up to extra luggage on the hips.

 

This is always tough because for some strange reason, humans find it much easier to put on weight than lose it - an evolutionary throwback that must have saved our lives at some point.

The "going on a diet" thing is something that most people will try to force themselves to do at certain points in their life - some motivation is usually needed, and things like a holiday, wedding, or even summer can be a driver. There can be some negative comments around "dieting" and the accepted fact for many years was that you will just put it all back on, or that yo-yo dieting was 🙄 and a waste of time.

 

I have recently been looking at what's known as "intuitive eating"  - where acceptance of weight fluctuation is natural and also how, going back to the evolutionary issue, that this is quite a normal, sustainable, and healthy way for humans to be. This does of course include times of calorie restriction - whether that was from a previous natural starvation due to lack of food, to a more conscious control of either calorie intake or intermittent fasting. I shall certainly be trying this in 2021 as although weight gain can be seen as a nuisance, for many it holds with its high health risk.

 

It was therefore brilliant to find this new piece of research by Willis, et.al (2020) which examined the impact on health of people to went on cyclical diets – i.e., they lost weight, put it back on and went on a diet again. The study took data collected in 2004 – 2006 from adults taking part in a national diet scheme in America. Over 160,000 people did this. The 7 yr follow up looked at how many deaths occurred due to cardiovascular disease and cancer mortality. And this was the amazing conclusion:

 

“discovered that more frequent intentional weight loss attempts over a 20-year period in mid-life was associated with a reduced risk of death, even among those who ultimately gained weight. The benefits were more evident among those who lost moderate amounts of weight frequently as opposed to those who underwent a few very large weight losses”.

 

So, please please please don’t give yourself a hard time if you are trying to lose weight, and then you put it back on – this is how the human works.  Keep going. Keep trying. Keep improving your health.

 

“Our results suggest that frequent intentional weight loss attempts are not harmful and may provide long-term benefit.”

 

The best advice I can give you is this – research shows that in order to lose weight you first need to increase your daily activity to ONE hour a day (double the current recommendation for health) – which can be split up into sections, but one section needs to be sustained for a minimum of 20 minutes. And secondly, to reduce calories it is most significant if you can reduce your fat intake in your daily diet and increase your plant-based foods.  ( I will be covering this in more detail in the Café for those of you who have signed up x)

So, great result that lifts your heart and gives you confidence, rather than a stick to beat yourself with for “failing” at a diet again. Aim for about a 5lbs, 9kg loss for greatest benefit, and as always, check with your GP if you have any concerns especially if you have other medical issues that need to be considered.

Hope that cheers your day up caveman

X

https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-020-01716-5

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