Health & Fitness Archives - Page 30 of 34

Happy New Year!

Posted on December 31, 2020

Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope you are making the best of things. Whatever the future brings, I’d like to wish you a Happy New Year!

Although 2020 will be long remembered for many things, we know what the main one, world-wide, will be. Covid-19 and it’s many challenges, including physical, financial and mental health related.

This next year, 2021, will come in with some similar challenges. In addition to masks, social distancing, lockdowns, and tiers, there will be the added component of a vaccine.

Hopefully this will allow us to have a major shift in getting back to regular life.

This time last year, we did not know this major health and economic challenge was going to be impacting us. Now we do know. We still don’t know how it ends, as no one can accurately predict the future at any time.

However, this year, you start by knowing it will be a part of your life in various ways. How will you play the 12 months that you will have in 2021? Knowing what you know, how will you think, what will you do and what things will you focus on?

I hope you have found ways to successfully navigate the challenges you’ll find in the year ahead. May you have peace, prosperity and good health, both mental and physical.

Happy New Year! ?

Gratitude Health & Fitness Reframe your thoughts Time

Pause And Reflect

Posted on December 27, 2020

This is a great time of year to consider what you have going on and what you have achieved. You should pause and reflect on whether you like the destination that your current path is taking you to.

With our eyes open, we can see where our actions are sending us. Are you positive or negative in your thoughts and communications? Do you search for the argument or the peace? Whose life will you be shadowing if you continue down this road?

Sometimes our goals change due to a different perspective. It is good to keep checking in with ourselves. If you no longer want to arrive in Paris, it would be good to get off the motorway sooner rather than later.

You may save yourself a lot of time if you take a few moments now to consider your direction and destination. It’s not only that this is a good time of year due to the holidays and being the year end. In addition, you probably have a little more time between Christmas and New Year as things generally slow down.

Take some time and get a feel for where you are. You can also write out your major and minor achievements for the year. Where are these taking you? Did you hit the relevant goals you set out for 2020?

Pause and reflect on your past and future.

Gratitude Health & Fitness Observe Reframe your thoughts Time

Early Morning Benefits

Posted on December 3, 2020

It’s a brilliant time to be awake. Sometimes I forget how nice it is to start a day so peacefully. Early morning benefits include hearing the birds sing and the calmness of the house.

I was up earlier than usual this morning. Something to do with a very large cardboard box, the top bunk and gravity. Let’s just say having an unexpected conversation with my daughter a little after 4 am has brought about a lovely, though unintended, consequence today.

With a dark and calm house, my senses were heightened. Not only could I hear the lovely singing from the birds, but I noticed our kitchen clock ticking away with every second. I also noticed some headphones were not shut off as they made a sound every so often. Not often enough to track them down, but just enough to remind me I still hadn’t found them.

I’m enjoying this calm before the storm. I’ve been able to read, write and consider some things without one interruption. No need to do something, prepare anything, respond to someone or go somewhere. It is great to have this time to wake up and start the day at a pace often reserved for the fourth day of a holiday.

By 06:50, I have written my blog and the kids are heading down to the kitchen for breakfast.

Enjoy your early morning benefits.

Action Health & Fitness Progress Reframe your thoughts Time Weight

Up Your Game

Posted on November 25, 2020

Whatever you are doing is not good enough. Your potential is well beyond your current activity. It is definitely time to up your game.

On Sunday I went for a run and it was a gorgeous day for it. I decided to go around the whole of Richmond Park. By the time I’d returned back home, I had completed 16 kilometres (10 miles). It was a great run. I felt good, the scenery was excellent, the air was fresh and clean, not too many people out and I listened to a great book called Psycho-Cybernetics.

Ten Years ago I ran in a race called the Cabbage Patch 10 – a 10 mile flat race. As a sprinter with forays into 5 km and occasionally 10 km, that 16 kilometres was very tough. My legs were aching for days. I even had an ice bath after to reduce swelling.

However, in the intervening period I have upped my distance, stamina and perception of the distance. So much so, I was simply running along on Sunday, enjoying the experience, and decided I would stretch my run from 10 km to 16 km. In addition, a couple hours after I returned, I went for a family walk for almost two hours.

This is just one area I have built resilience and made a definite improvement in my life. I am working on others.

It’s time to up your game.

Action Health & Fitness Reframe your thoughts Weight loss

Why It Is So Hard To Change

Posted on November 6, 2020

Common phrases like, “I keep trying”, “I can’t lose weight”, and “I’m not good enough”, hold people back. In part, this is why it is so hard to change.

When you want to change something in your life, you need to move from uncomfortable to unstoppable as quickly as you can. Part of the problem is wanting to have different results without doing things differently. Improvement usually requires a change in thoughts and actions. And these tend to make us uncomfortable, so we stop.

Think of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly. It doesn’t stick a couple of wings on and fly off. It fully commits to its transformation. The caterpillar has to leave its old life behind to emerge into its new life. It is still the same ‘me’ once it is a butterfly. Though it is a different ‘me’ from before.

The butterfly has shifted from a creepy crawler to a beautiful, slim, flying machine. That is the power of the growth mindset – the will to grow into something magical and willing to leave their old life behind, never to return to it. I know it is uncomfortable at first when going through any change. However, as you shift your mindset and your body, the sooner you will be transformed.

Allow yourself to leave the the old you behind. Commit to the new you and fully embrace it.

Eliminate the number one reason why it is so hard to change.

Action Gratitude Health & Fitness Think About It

Find Something To Smile About

Posted on November 4, 2020

Depressing thoughts or simply regular, everyday things can send you in the wrong direction. But you can find something to smile about and change the direction of your day!

Think about something that can make you smile. Isolate just that moment in your mind. Transport yourself there and block out all other thoughts. Savour the moment and smile.

For example, I can think of receiving a massive hug from daughter. Other times, I will go back in time to 1979 when the Pittsburgh Pirates won the World Series. As a fan of baseball, Willie Stargell, underdogs and ‘never give up, come from behind’ wins, that memory always gets a smile.

So find a few of these moments in your memory. You may have to do some searching through the past if you don’t have one easily accessible. You can also create a visualisation of a happy time you expect to have in the future. Though be careful not to create an unnecessary expectation versus reality gap that you’ll have to address later if it doesn’t happen.

Once you have those happy memories you can remember, practice accessing them every hour. This will help you develop a happiness habit that could have you smiling numerous times every day. It’s a nice circuit breaker during days that may not have the opportunity to create new smile-worthy memories.

Find something to smile about.

Gratitude Health & Fitness Observe Reframe your thoughts

Learning To Chill

Posted on November 2, 2020

People can get very wound up and full of angst. It’s not good for them. There are so many reasons for it too. Learning to chill should be a full term course when you are 12 years old with some sort of reminder course at 16, 20 and every five years thereafter.

I can understand the angst and tension for liberal-leaning citizens. For example, in the UK, the Conservatives swept to power, Brexit will be done in two months, Trump won in 2016 and may win a second term and climate change issues are not getting much better. I’m not sure if there is much bothering the right-leaning citizens.

I suppose they both share a dislike of Covid as well.

One of my favourite techniques for relaxing is to sit quietly for a few minutes and remind myself how tough other generations have had it. Remember those that lived through WWI, the 1918 Pandemic, the Great Depression, WWII and the Cold War. They endured decades of uncertainty without the modern conveniences we have today. If they could do that, then we can get through whatever lies ahead for us.

Another way to relax is to turn off the news. Since when do you need to know about a German river bursting its banks? Or an Australian farmer’s cattle challenges? Tragic? Perhaps. Required knowledge? Doubtful.

Learning to chill is an art. Get artistic.

Gratitude Health & Fitness Observe Progress Reframe your thoughts

So Much In Common

Posted on October 27, 2020

Divisive is a common word these days. Though I find it a strange word to use. People have so much in common and things will continue to get better.

Most people have the following in common: They would like peace, prosperity, kindness, low or no crime and even good and effective political policies.

Would you like to live in a calm and safe neighbourhood? I think most people would aspire to that. Should children be able to go to school to learn? Hard to imagine too much resistance to that in normal times.

Listening to people on most issues and concerns, they seem to want a similar destination for each topic. There may be some differences as to how best to get there or exactly what the final destination looks like. But there seems to be so much less to argue about. And certainly most of those things are superficial in their nature. Or they require only a minor tweak.

No matter how much some people want to focus on the high drama of negative, angry or inflammatory news reports, I am confident we are in a much better position than any previously seen.

One example of this is that the global average life expectancy in 1900 was 31 and in 2017 it was 72.2. Additionally it is very peaceful and many people’s standards of living are much higher than in 1900.

We have so much in common. Let’s focus on what those things are.

Action Health & Fitness Reframe your thoughts Time

The Power Of Waking Up Early

Posted on October 21, 2020

It can be so easy to lie in bed. Just hit snooze and pull the covers over. Drift off and dream. But the power of waking up early can be immense. There is something magical in it.

I used to be a night person. In fact, I could go through the whole night. Some days it can be so easy to be reading, watching something or chatting and find yourself still going at 2 am.

The challenge is when you then need to get up at 5 am. Getting only 3 hours sleep can be tough. Not always on the first day, but certainly on the second or third day as it catches up to you.

So over the past five years I have shifted to waking up between 04:30 am and 06:30 am. While training for a couple of marathons last spring, it was always between 04:30 and 05:00. At the moment it is between 05:00 and 06:00.

It feels great to be up when it is so quiet. There are no disruptions. I feel I am ahead of my day. Getting a few things done, including a run and shower before waking the kids at 06:40, is a great feeling.

It can be a challenge at times. But the power of waking up early makes me feel alive!

Action Financial Gratitude Health & Fitness Observe Reframe your thoughts Think About It Time

Looking Back At 80

Posted on October 19, 2020

How will you look back on your life? What will be in it? What will have been worth the price you paid? Looking back at 80 is an important exercise to do many times when you are younger.

Imagine you are 80 years old. Can you look back over the span of 80 years and be filled with joy and contentment? There are a lot of tough questions in there. You will have to face your expectations versus reality gap and hope there is positive gap (reality ended up better) rather than a negative one.

It raises some helpful thoughts that should be considered throughout our lives. You might ask yourself the following questions. Am I living a good life? Should I spend more time and energy on family, career, finances, mental health, physical fitness or my community? How can I do more for others or myself? What will I accept or be happy with?

Its going to be harder to achieve anything once you reach your 80’s. There are many that keep going like Warren Buffett. However, you’ll have to have good genes, stay healthy and have a little luck on your side.

You may wish you had worked harder, studied more, saved more money or maintained better fitness. There is still time to change the outcome but you’ll have to put the effort in.

Looking back at 80 should be a delightful experience.