Flourish fit and well

18/10/2021

Did you know that today is World Menopause Day, the theme is Bone Health?

Bone Health perhaps doesn't get quite as much attention as hot flushes, weight gain and low energy. It's one of those hidden symptoms that starts off as pain in our joints which we live with and which, often doesn't manifest itself fully we're older, often as hip replacements, arthritis or back pain.

Here are my top tips for reducing your risk of bone issues whether that's osteoporosis, arthritis or back pain (These are good for men too!)

1. Keep moving - make sure you include load bearing exercises in your routine - that includes walking, running, jumping and resistance exercises. Don't forget to include movements to improve your mobility, core strength and balance as well.

2. Are you getting enough Vitamin D? We need vitamin D to keep our bones healthy and joints mobile - sunshine is the best source but from now until April, you won't be getting enough. You can include oily fish, liver, eggs and mushrooms in your diet but the NHS guidelines are that we should all be supplementing at this time of year. 10 micrograms (or 400IU) / day is what you should be aiming for.

3. We know that calcium is important for bone health but did you know you need magnesium, boron and phosphorous as well? Making sure you have a diet rich in a variety of fruit and veg along with nuts, seeds and root veg will help you up your levels of these micronutrients.

4. Include plenty of healthy fats in your diet - oily fish, avocados, walnuts, olive oil, eggs, olive oil all contain fats which can help calm inflammation and keep your joints healthy.

5. Manage your sleep, stress, sugar and alcohol - these can all increase the amount of inflammation in your body and where there's inflammation there's usually pain.

Joint aches and pains don't have to be a normal part of ageing. Taking proactive action before, during and after menopause can help reduce the risk of relying on daily painkillers and a reduced quality of life.

Get in touch if you want to learn more about how you can "menopause-proof" your bones and joints!

05/10/2021

On Friday I had a great night celebrating friend and former Tesco colleague Peter Shuttleworth 's retirement. It was great to meet people I'd worked with but I realised that, despite connecting with many of them online, most of them had no idea what I'd been doing since I left Tesco over 6 years ago. It came as a surprise to most of them that I'd stopped working in IT 3 years ago and had retrained as a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and Exercise Professional.

So it felt like it would be a good idea to get back online and get my face back out there, connect with some new people and let people know what I'm all about now I don't really do much IT!

To kick things off .... here are 5 fun (ish) facts about me!

1. A move to the health and wellbeing sector was a return to my first career "love" - my degree is in Sports Science, I ran from the age of 11 (and still try to!) and have always been interested in how our bodies work

2. I ran the London Marathon in the year 2000 and managed to overtake Doctor Fox from Capital FM (remember him?) and Frank Bruno in the home stretch.

3. I have a Hungarian Vizsla called Beau who makes sure I get out in the fresh air everyday (come rain, shine, mud, wind, sleet and sometimes sun)

4. I hail from the North West but migrated to the South East in 1995 to start as a grad at Tesco

5. I have a long held ambition to go sky diving although the thought of jumping out of a plane does terrify me as well!

30/07/2021

After a morning spent battling with my website, getting out in the fresh air for a run with Beau helped me get my head back in the right place 😆

Feel so grateful to live so close to some great trails and of course having a willing training partner always helps!

What do you do when your head has run out of space?!

29/07/2021

Good Morning everyone!

Yesterday I talked about the increasing number of people in their mid to late 40's who are presenting with 2 or more chronic issues e.g. diabetes, high blood pressure, mental health issues

I'm sure that lockdown hasn't helped and I know that many of us (including me) have got into the habit of having a glass or 2 of wine or beer midweek, we move less and ache more, perhaps we're having more crisps or biscuits.

Like many people I've been striving to change my habits - have more fruit and veg, go to the gym or for a run and get back into a healthy sleeping habit.

But change is hard and like many people, I've started and stopped more than once.

I keep putting off introducing the new habit
Me: "I'm going alcohol free in July"
My brain "Haven't you got book club on the 15th and your birthday later in the month? Perhaps start in August?"

The truth is - we can always find a "good" reason not to change.

Change is hard and changing habits which we actually quite like is even harder.

Here are the 5 steps which I've found work for me and my clients: -

1. Figure out WHY changing my behaviours would be good thing :-

e.g. I'm fed up of feeling achey and sluggish, my brain doesn't seem to be as quick as usual and I'm not as confident as I was. I'd like to have more energy, confidence and get my brain working again so that I can do a good job at work, be on the ball with the kids and have fun.

2. Consider what I'm doing now that may be making me feel less than great

e.g. Am I getting enough sleep / drinking more / moving less / eating less veg / eating more processed food etc

3. Pick one thing I feel I could change e.g. eat more veg, exercise more

4. Make it really small so that I can stick with it each day - I will have one portion of fruit or veg with each meal, do 5 squats whilst the kettle boils.

5. Pat myself on the back every time I include that extra portion or finish my squats. (It's important to celebrate!)

Tiny daily habits can have a far greater impact on your life than massive unsustainable change.

What tiny change could you make today?

28/07/2021

I wanted to share this news article which appeared on the BBC this morning

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-57982476

The headline is "Chronic health issues for a 1/3 in their late 40's - study".

The article is a summary of a study which has been published today, the key points are:-

34% of people aged 46 - 48 years have 2 or more chronic health problems. Including:-

> drinking problems - 26%
> recurring back problems - 21%
> mental-health problems - 19%
> high blood pressure - 16%

Arthritis, diabetes and cancer, are amongst those also mentioned.

The study author expresses surprise and worry that a relatively large number have these health issues at this age - whilst I'm worried too - I'm not surprised (see below)

The data for the study was taken over a 2 year period from 2016 - 2018 (pre-COVID). If a third of people in this age group were struggling with chronic health issues before COVID, it's likely even more are suffering now.

The paper focusses on how changes made during childhood can reduce the risk of issues in later life. Helpful for those of us who have children and want to help them to be healthy and resilient.

But what about our health if we're in our 40's and beyond?

Firstly, don't panic or think your need a life makeover

Please don't think you have to overhaul your life, enduring hours of exercise, restrictive diets and start meditating for an hour a day.

Focus on the small changes - those which you can start today and stick with, they'll have a far bigger impact.

Here's my top 5

1. Drink more water - just one glass when you get up is a good place.
2. Add one portion of fruit or veg to your meal
3. Do 5 press-ups (whichever version is right for you) whilst you wait for the kettle to boil.
4. Check how much sleep you get, how do you feel? If you always feel tire and it's less that 7 hours, could you go to bed slightly earlier?
5. Check how much sugar you add to your drinks - could you reduce, remove or replace that fizzy drink with something else?

That's it for today - I'll be back tomorrow with some practical ways you can sneak healthy into your life without feeling like overwhelmed.

01/06/2021

Looks like it’s going to be a gorgeous day 😁 Time to get out and start topping up the vitamin D me thinks.

05/05/2021

Have you made a daily walk part of your new routine over the last 12 months of lockdown? Certainly whilst out walking our dog we've noticed many more "dogless" people out in the countryside although it's fair to say the wind and the rain of the winter months wasn't ideal for enjoying nature!

You may be well aware of the benefits of getting out into the fresh air and in particular getting somewhere green. There's lots of research which has shown benefits to our immune, mental and emotional, metabolic, cardiovascular and digestive health.

As we hopefully start to see a slow return to normal, you may be thinking about a return to your office, a commute and more of a routine. Which may mean less time in nature for you - there are things you can do though to continue to read the benefits of some greenery in your life.

1. Can you orient your desk so that you can see outside, even the view of a tree or a green space can be helpful

2. if you can - add a green pot plant to your desk or perhaps a photo of you or your family or friends in nature.

3. Could you get out for a short walk each day? Even just 5 mins in your garden with your morning coffee or a short walk from your car to your office can be beneficial.

4. Slow down - if you can only get outside for 5 mins then really appreciate those 5 minutes by taking a look around, breathing deeply and not looking at your phone!

How could you get outside today?

04/05/2021

Often we confuse health and wellness with fitness and body weight but in reality being healthy and well is so much more than this.

Not only that, health for one person may be something completely different for another.

What does healthy mean to you? Does being super fit and at a "healthy" weight equate to wellness?

03/05/2021

We’ve all been told over the past 12 months that being sedentary can lead to poorer outcomes for those who get COVID. This large study found that moving for just 10 minutes or more a week can lead to improved outcomes - worth knowing I think?

https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2021/04/07/bjsports-2021-104080

The benefits of activity are wide and varied including improved immune, cardiovascular, metabolic and mental health.

Start with something small and see where it takes you! My current favourite is press ups whilst I make a coffee - even just one will get you moving in a positive direction. What could you do today?

Objectives To compare hospitalisation rates, intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and mortality for patients with COVID-19 who were consistently inactive, doing some activity or consistently meeting physical activity guidelines. Methods We identified 48 440 adult patients with a COVID-19 diagnosis.....

19/03/2021

Hi everyone,
I hope you're well and enjoying the lovely weather today.
Just some more information about my FREE webinar coming up on the 24th March @ 8pm
"Balancing your Body & Brain in your 40's and beyond"
If you're struggling with brain fog, anxiety, aches and pains, irregular cycles and just generally like you're not yourself anymore, this is for you.
I'll be talking you through what happens to your body, brain and hormones as we transition through our 40's and beyond so that you have a better understanding of what's going on and importantly what can you do to feel like you can gain some control over those roller coaster hormones.
Before the event I'll be sending out workbooks and additional information so that you can capture notes and have time to come up with a plan which makes sense for you and your life.
If you're interested but you're worried you can't make the time - do accept the invite anyway - I will be recording the event and will send a copy of the recording and key takeaways out after the session along with some freebies.
Hope to see you there! Here's the link 🙂
https://fb.me/e/3woWHT1Jl

12/03/2021

Cupboard Salvage Soup!

End of the week and wasn’t sure what to make for lunch so, I ended up going on a scavenger hunt through the cupboards and fridge.

So here we have Roast Sweet Potato, Carrot, Chilli and bean soup. It’s drizzled with Chipotle sauce for a bit of extra spice and olive oil for some healthy fats.

Stuffed full of phytonutrients and probably around 3 portions of veg, I think I’ve made at least 4 portions.

Effort level was minimal - veg was roasted and the blitzed with the beans and some stock.

Yum!! Recipe in comments if you fancy having a go.

What end of the week inventions have you come up with?