Nutrition for Brain Health

“The research makes it clear: Diet plays a clear and determinant role in every aspect of brain function, literally shaping our thoughts, actions, emotions, and behaviors...If your job depends on your brain, it depends on your diet.”

— Dr Lisa Mosconi

Previously I talked about how to use exercise to improve your cognitive health, today we will have a look for the ways you can heal and rejuvenate your brain with diet.

But, before we talk broccoli and chicken, lets have a quick look at what happens to the brain as we age.

The brain depends on blood flow to deliver oxygen and nutrients for neuroplastcicty, and neurogenesis. This cerebral blood flow is delivered through tiny capillaries that surround the neurons . As we age, the brain naturally experiences hypoprefusion, which is a slowing of cerebral blood flow (interestingly ... women a little less so, heheh). This diminished blood flow is associated with cell injury, cognitive impairment and alzheimers. To quickly even the gender bias above, unfortunately women are more susceptible to alzheimers than men….damn! Scientists are still hypothesising why this is…….

…… Now, when there is any kind of interruption to this flow, your neurons can be killed or injured and that causes nerve damage and restricts blood flow.

Things like any kind of head trauma can hasten this hypoperfusion and damage. Aging can thicken veins, degrade capillaries, and a poor diet will hasten this degradation further. A poor diet causes high blood glucose, and high inflammation with an intake of vegetable oils, foods you may be allergic to, processed sugars and commercially raised meat.

What can diet do for your brain?

The brain is a very hungry organ.

It uses approx 25-30% of our daily energy intake. Its made of lipids (fats) and water, and it relies on what we eat to heal and rebuild itself. If your diet is low in fats for example, the brain is unable to build new cells and facilitate its neural pathway processes. Dehydration is also very important to avoid as well.

A lot of us are eating foods that inflame our bodies, such as processed starches and grain fed meat.

Putting petrol in first is a more efficient idea

To compound this we also tend to eat diets low in anti-inflammatory foods such as oily fish and green leafy vegetable. Like persistently putting vegetable juice in your petrol tank and getting frustrated that the car is not driving like it should. To state the obvious, cars need petrol (or electricity, thank you Tesla), and humans need a range of nutrients.

Most of us and yet looking at many diets you can see that this is not happening.

Fortunately a little know how and motivation to subtly change what we eat, should be all thats needed to give our brains the best chance of getting healthy and staying healthy.

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Special mention to our second brain - THE GUT

The gut’s microbiome is basically our second brain, and more and more are we finding how important it is to our brain health. Many hormones and processes we thought were initiated by the brain are actually done by the microbiota in the gut. No wonder everyone is getting on the pre and pro biotic bandwagon. We need a healthy gut (happy bug colonies abounding) to have a healthy brain. The one influences the other.

“These hundred trillion bacteria that live within your gut are so intimately involved in your brain at a number of levels. They manufacture neurochemicals, for example. Things like dopamine and serotonin. They manufacture important vitamins that are important to keep your brain healthy. They also maintain the integrity of the lining of your gut.” - Dr D Perrlmutter

Feed the gut microbiome with fermented foods such as kimchi, kefir, sauerkraut, kombucha and prebiotic foods, those high in fibre, garlic, dandelion greens, jerusalem artichoke.

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What to eat for your brain

Fortunately its not that complicated to eat for brain health. If you make some small changes, you won’t have to wait till you are in the midst of a major health issue like onset dementia. If you wait till then, adjusting your diet will still make a vast difference.

If you aren’t interested in much detail, let me put this in a nutshell:

Vegetables good ………….

………….. Sugar bad

Why Vegetables?

Dr. Martha Clare Morris is an interesting lady. She is Professor of Epidemiology, Director of the Section of Nutrition and Nutritional Epidemiology in the Department of Internal Medicine, and Assistant Provost of Community Research at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago……….what a mouthful!

For the last twenty years she has been researching factors involved in the development of alzheimers as well as other health concerns for older adults. Her research found that people who ate the least amount of vegetables had the fastest cognitive decline, but that this slowed and cognition was even protected with higher intakes of vegetables.

Her research found that eating two or more servings of vegetables per day offered a statistically significant reduction in cognitive decline. Green leafy vegetables, in particular, were associated with slower decline, and people who ate green leafy vegetables at least six times a week exhibited much slower cognitive decline — researchers estimated it was like being 11 years younger in age…

Greens such as spinach and kale contain lutein and zeaxanthin. These two carotenoids are associated with faster learning speeds and applying learning and knowledge in older adults. This study showed that lutein increased thickness in areas of the brain associated with learning and slows cognitive decline in older adults.

Spinach and eggs anyone?

What about Fruit?

In her studies Dr Morris found fruit did not offer this protection, but berries did. Dr Richard Isaacs, Director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic, Memory Disorders Program, and Neurology Residency Training Program at Weill Cornell Medical College, also is a firm proponent of eating a diet full of vegetables and blueberries …thank goodness…I love a blueberry!

So all kinds of berries were protective with strawberries being the gold standard for Dr Morris and blueberries for Dr Isaacs.

Shingos Coffee Lounge - Shepparton Victoria, Australia.

Coffee

Coffee appears to play a protective role in the risk for MS, alzheimers, Parkinson’s and perhaps even early mortality. This maybe partly due to its role in reducing inflammation that is associated with reduced cognition. We certainly are all aware of its stimulating effects which is in its ability to block an inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain, adenosine. Adenosine can reduce mental stamina and make you feel tired. It also activates our Nrf2 pathways that fight off oxidative stress and protectactivate our Nrf2 pathways, helping to fight off oxidative stress and protect against neurodegenerative diseases,

This study showed that by drinking 3-5 cups a day in midlife had a significantly lowered chance of getting Alzheimers and dementia by a HUGE 65%.

The sweet spot seems to be 2-5 cups a day. So make it organic and put that kettle on!

Green Tea

High-dose green tea extract was found to scavenge oxygen free radicals, enhance antioxidant potential, decrease lipid peroxide production, and reduce oxidative DNA damage. The high-dose group had better spatial learning and memory than saline-treated rats.

Eggs

Eggs contain lutein and choline. Choline is of particular importance for your neuronal membranes and is the precursor to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.

Acetylcholine is important for learning and memory, as well as deep sleep. Some of the drugs approved to treat the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, a fatal memory disorder, work by boosting levels of acetylcholine in the brain.

Unfortunately our bodies are only able to produce a small amount of choline so its very dependant on dietary intake.

Chocolate

The theobromine and polyphenols in chocolate correlate to better cerebral blood flow, improved cognition. Just make sure you eat a quality chocolate source at least 70% cacao bean and preferably higher, like 85% with low sugar.

More frequent chocolate consumption was significantly associated with better performance on the Global Composite score, Visual-Spatial Memory and Organisation, Working Memory, Scanning and Tracking, Abstract Reasoning.

Water

Our brain is mostly water, with fat coming a close second…enough said!

Kind of. Being an electrical system, the brain needs adequate water to function efficiently. The brain will react to even the smallest amount of dehydration which can cause brain fog, faitgue, dizziness, confusion and brain shrinkage. So drink those 8 glasses at least, a day. Go for quality water high in minerals and natural electrolytes where possible.

Fats

Here we need the good oils found in avocado, olive oil, MCT oil, quality fish oil. The brain can only rebuild itself with the right equipment and that is fats. Make sure your fats are from good sources and bear in mind the change that some fats go through if they become overheated such as olive oil. It will quickly become rancid and inflammatory when heated, so just save it for salads and dressings.

Protein

Quality protein is important and as we age we need a little more. It doesn’t appear as important before the age of 65 (check the research of Dr Longo), but after that, make sure to get a few serves in a day. Animal protein should be grass fed and free range. This is particularly important with red meat. Grain fed cows have meet that contains a large amount of omega 6 which is essential but not in large amounts. Grass fed cows have meat that is rich in th perfect ratio of 6 to omega 3.

“... you are what you eat ate. Yes, that’s right: you better think twice about whether your steak ate grass vs. GMO corn, your chicken ate bugs vs. herbicide-laden grains or your fish ate worms vs. pieces of other dead fish ground up with fish farm meal. Nowhere is this truer and more applicable than when it comes to fueling your brain”

— B.GreenField

Now its very important to know……

……… What to Avoid

Ideally you would want make sure your diet has none of the following:

• Vegetable oils

• Heated nuts and seeds

• Processed sugar (always check the sugar levels in the ingredients of foods. There are a lot of hidden sugars lurking around)

• Grain fed meat and farmed fish (full of omega 6, have an omega 3 capsule with these if you must eat them to balance the 6:3 ratio)

• Processed starches and grains

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I hope this article will inspire you to take control of your brain health and those around you.

Knowledge is power.

Don’t let the above doesn’t overwhelm you with information and do’s and don’ts. Keep it simple, its never to soon to increase your brain health. Remember Alzheimers starts more than 10 years before diagnosis is made.

Have a look through your pantry and fridge. Take note of what you are regularly eating and see how many of the mentioned foods you are there. Try writing down it down in two columns and see how it measures up. Are there more ‘avoid’ foods? More ‘eat more’ foods?

The beauty with that little exercise is we that we know where you and your household are at now. Each day,

incorporate more brain health foods and less of those to’ avoid’ foods.

Especially if you are currently feeling in a healthy state, you can take your time with this and not be too militant. If you or a loved one is experiencing brain fog, early signs of cognitive difficulty, or is right in the midst of dementia, then try everything you can to improve the food choices you make for yourself and others. Please bear in mind I am no doctor and please run any major changes past a doctor and get an ok first. For example, if you are on blood thinners then increasing fish oil can be hazardous as that also thins the blood. So you need to make sure.

I’ve included an easy PDF printout you can stick on your fridge to help remind you of what choices are best. Please download and use that if you would find that helpful.

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If you have any questions at all contact me or comment below. Check out my regular updates and tips on my Facebook page too and its another great place to message me :-).

Next blog will be on supplements that have been shown to improve brain health.

Further Good References:

Ben Greenfield Fitness

Alzheimers Universe

Max Lugavere

Books that may interest you:

Genius Foods, Max Lugavere

You Can Fix Your Brain, Tom O’Bryan

Deep Nutrition, Dr Cate Shannahan

Longevity Diet, Dr Valter Longo

Brain Maker, Dr David Perlmutter

Brain Food: The Surprising Science of Eating for Cognitive Power, Dr Lisa Moscow

Blog Snack: Dairy lowers heart risk

This was too good not to share. A study was done on individuals aged 35-70 between Jan 1, 2003, and July 14, 2018. The individuals were multinational as they were recruited from 21 countries. The study grouped individuals into dairy and non dairy intake. The idea was to see if the intake had any significance to heart disease, stroke, cardiac conditions.

Dairy intake, greater than 2 a day as opposed to no intake, was shown to be associated with a lowered risk of total mortality and non cardiac and cardiac issues (stroke, heart disease). Greater than 1 serve versus no intake of milk and yoghurt rather than cheese and butter, was also associated with lowered risk of mortality by cardiac issues. There was no association with with myocardial infarction (heart attack) in either groups.

Takeaway :

Don’t be afraid of dairy IF you like it and are able to digest it. Most people stop producing as many lactose digestive enzymes as they had when they were young, the exception are many of those from Northern European descent. Pro tip: find a good digestive enzyme and take a couple before you eat the dairy for maximum digestion of the nutrients.

How exercise can improve brain health

Researchers say one new case of dementia is detected every four seconds globally. They estimate that by the year 2050, more than 115 million people will have dementia worldwide.

Thats a little scary….

Dementia, alzheimers, losing brain cognition……its all around us. We ALL know someone directly or indirectly who is stricken some form of it. There are signs, posters,tv and radio shows ad nauseam regarding this epidemic.

A few weeks ago I was having a conversation with my 80 yr old aunt after our workout session. She was talking about looking into things to stimulate and help keep and even improve her brain health. Ah ha! I thought…..I’ll write some stuff down for her…..and before I knew it I was neck deep in study upon study that shows us that we can indeed have a positive effect on the health of our brain. Whether you feel terrifically cognitive, are struggling with brain fog, have onset cognitive decline or are in the middle of serious case of it, it is worth devoting bit of time to the health of your brain. I can’t think of a lot worse than going down the slippery slop of mental decline. Only fairly recently, studies have emerged showing, that as adults, we can do plenty to change the state of our brain. Previously it was thought that only children experienced could grow new brain cells. Now we know that adults are able to direct increases in neuroplasticity (changes in the brain) and neurogenesis (birth of new brain cells)

We are the only species to direct our own plasticity as adults -

Dr Andrew Huberman

Thats a huge thing! We all have the power to increase our brain capacity and repair it too …… and so do the loved ones around you …. best of all, it is FREE!

The brain is a wonderful, mysterious organ. It communicates with the entire body. It regulates our hormones and therefore our energy, movements, emotions/ mental state. It is composed of fat predominantly. Its current state is mainly due to all our PAST dietary intake, movements (physical and mental), and emotional states. Its wellbeing and future is directed by what you choose to do now in each of those things, and also its affected by our age (thats a little harder to control, but people are working on it!)

Pic from FactDr

Lets address each of those areas that we have control over.

First -

Exercise.

Exercise helps the brain directly and indirectly. During exercise, blood flow, oxygen, the growth of new blood cells and neurogenesis increases, insulin sensitivity increases, the release of growth factors is stimulated and chemicals affecting the abundance and survival of new brain cells is increased

Indirectly, exercise improves mood and sleep, and reduces stress and anxiety and improves your ability to deal with stresses.

So what kind of exercise?

Aerobic

Aerobic style training like walking, and running, is shown to have a positive affect on the regions of memory and retention.

In fact walking, 30-45 minutes three times a week, is enough to delay the onset of dementia as shown by a 6 month 2006 study with sedentary people aged 60-79 years. The walking increased to increase brain volume even more than stretches and toning.

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Dancing also has been found to improve cognition and neural-plasticity. If the thought of your two left feet make you shudder a little, the linked study showed that the benefits were regardless of how naturally talented or not these people were, in fact, those less gifted showed the most gain, I’m surmising that is due to increased demand on the brain to learn the moves. So no excuse, turn some music on and get movin n groovin!

Stretching

Stress, depression, traumatic brain brain injuries all shrink the hippocampus, the centre for memory and emotional regulation. Exercise has been shown to be, slightly more effective than other modalities such as medication and counselling at relieving depression. A wonderful body stretching session of yoga will increase overall brain wave activity, brain volume and activation in both the amygdala and frontal cortex.

Studies measuring mental health outcomes have shown decreases in anxiety, and increases in cognitive performance after yoga interventions

When you feel sad or stressed, try a walk or some stretches combined with deep breathing

Lifting heavy things

A 12 month study was done to see if strength training could also have significant effects to neural-plasticity. They found that training twice a week had a significant effect on this whereas training just once a week did not…..interesting

For your best brain health, it needs stimulation from a variety of movements as each part of the body is connects and communicates with various areas of the brain. As the Chinese use meridian points to influence related parts of the body, so this applies to our brain. Small movements like finger wriggling will influence certain brain neurons, and these neurons won’t be influenced without those movements. In a real world example, people confined suddenly to bed and no longer moving their lower bodies very much tend to suddenly show steep cognitive declines. This recent study found that limited physical activity decreased the number of neural stem cells by 70 % and cells that are supportive and protective to nerve cells were no longer able to fully mature. In particular it found that weight bearing leg exercises were shown to have the most benefit. Leg weighted exercise sends signals to the brain that are vital for the production of healthy neural cells, essential for the brain and nervous system.

But, is getting hot and sweaty necessary? …. kinda ….

Beta Amyloid is a protein that comprises the plaque that is found to be built up in the brains of Alzheimers sufferers This build up is caused by proteins becoming disfigured and clumping together. Something that is able to break down and prevent this build up are heat shock proteins. These heat shock proteins are activated by the heat stress that you feel during saunas and during a decent exercise session. When activated, they can be used as structural scaffolding to other proteins and prevent the beta amyloid form clumping together.

It is clear,

purposeful exercise is a vital way to keep your brain healthy. It increases neural plasticity, blood flow, increases dopamine and endorphins, increases brain volume, memory, focus. It can help the brain self regulate and calm down from stressful events. PLUS you’re burning calories at the same time! Exercise, a gift that keeps giving

Bring this into your world

Try to incorporate a variety of purposeful movement in everyday for 30-60 minutes. Get in a bit of each of the following:

Aerobic:

Long walks, riding, rowing, jogging etc

Strength:

1. Lift some heavy things at the gym

2. Do body weight moves like lunging, squatting, twisting, pushups, pulling.

Stretch.

Yoga is terrific and is also very adaptive it can be made as strong or gentle as you need it to be. There's also Tai Chi, dance, pilates and many other options available. Get inspiration from animals and see how they stretch constantly throughout the day.

A typical day might be …..

• Wakeup and go for a walk for 30 mins. Then stretch, maybe some sun salutations (link) which stretch the whole body.

• Later in the day either before lunch or before dinner (as this has a great effect on insulin levels) do 10 each of the following, squats, pushups, lateral lunge with shoulder press, deadlifts, calf raises, rows (link). Repeat this for 2 to 4 times through and increase weights when it feels a little easy.

• Before bed do some foam rolling……

…….. Voila!

Next, coming up as soon as possible ...

….. Nutrition!

More Brain Exercise Links:

• https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/health-fitness/exercise/how-exercise-affects-your-brain?

• https://www.brainmdhealth.com/blog/best-ways-to-take-care-of-your-brain

• https://www.brainmdhealth.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015-02-13_MW_Infographic.jpeg

• https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/putting-exercise-test-people-risk-alzheimers

• https://scienceblog.com/486023/study-mental-physical-exercises-produce-distinct-brain-benefits/

• https://eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-05/f-lei051718.php#

Spotlight: Interview with John, 71 yrs

“One of the things with old age setting in is how all the natural body movements one has taken for granted all ones life are now either missing or just plan hard work to get functioning.”

— John

How long have you been doing exercise classes?

About three years now

What made you start?

i was finding i was very limited in what I could do without being too weak, to sore, or out of breath. If I wanted to do any normal activities such as walking or gardening I would unwittingly injure myself and cause more pain and discomfort. It seemed that I was forever in some sort of pain.

Tell me about your youth, were you active? Did you ever get injured?

The fact is I have always been a physically active person. Played a lot of tennis, surfing, swimming and regular running.

Have you gone through any health issues in the last 20 or so years that impact you now?

Generally I have been healthy. A lot of early age jumping and tennis resulted in torn cartilage to both knees with one having most of the cartilage removed.

That and then going for runs at least 3 times a week caused a lot of knee pain. A ski accident resulted in a knee reconstruction with torn cruciate ligaments. This all lead up to me only being able to walk a hundred meters without severe pain in one knee. Having that knee joint replaced 2 years ago has enabled me to stand straight and walk again. Prior to that if I sat at a table for a coffee then stood up to go I would have to stand for a minute or two to ease the pain in the leg and actually be able to move away without limping.

Sounds extreme but it was. Also my grand daughter jumped up in an excited greeting one cold morning and as I had a bag in one arm I caught her with my other arm and that caused the bicep tendon in that arm to snap! A funny feeling and no real pain but forever now I can't bend my arm and ‘make a muscle’.  Thinking about it I also had a lower back injury, I received in my lower spine in my late 20’s, that ensured I would forever have pain issues in my back. I have found darling ‘rolling’ and soft stretching exercises you have given me have made those problems fade away.

What difference to the quality of your life are you feeling since including purposeful, regular exercises in it?

The daily exercises you have given me for stretching including hip raises, side stretching, down dog etc and shoulder stretching rotator cuff exercises are keeping me pain free, I have better posture and don’t stoop and wobble like an old man when i walk. Also I can now sit and stand on my surf paddle board.

“My overall stability muscles are getting stronger and I feel better and confident with body movement”

— John

One of the things with old age setting in is how all the natural body movements one has taken for granted all ones life are now either missing or just plan hard work to get functioning.

Doing the simple group of mobility exercises you have given us to do daily - which only take say ten minutes - is still something we have to motivate  ourselves into doing. It is so much easier to sit and have another nice cup of coffee and read.

Can you give me more specifics how you are able to incorporate healthy eating into your life?

I really like Museli  mixed with fruit, yogurt and whey powder for Breakfast. The fruits are nearly always Blueberries and Banana.

We grow our own strawberries so if they are available i will include a couple in the mix. That and a cup of coffee before and after starts my day.

Mind you i drink water when I wake up and only have coffee and breakfast after 9.00am. I like to have at least 12 hours plus from when I last had food the previous day. That 12 hour fasting break has helped me control my eating habits. Especially in the evening after dinner. When i am very tempted to snack; particularly on any available sweet thing! So between 8.00 and 8.30 is ‘end of eating’ time for me each day.

That said i look forward to eggs and bacon or something similar for breakfast once a week. Often Sunday breakfast is the time when i want to chill out, sit on the porch and look at the ocean. Life doesn’t get much better than that.

Lunch is usually a raid of the refrigerator and a reheat of yesterdays Leftovers. Not a big meal. Sort of Sandwich size.

Afternoon tea and biscuits  gets me through to dinner.

Now Dinner. Totally in the hands of my wife. She is the Menu-maker. The chef and 'Keeper of the gate’ that ensures i receive a nutritious and tasty meal once a day. How lucky am I! Left to my own devices, dinner is usually solved by takeaway. Not a pretty solution or one I like and fortunately it is fairly rare. I am not that interested in food. Especially for dinner. I just want to stop feeling hungry so whatever is available goes down. Without getting to serious about the meal, my wife always wants a delicious tasting dinner and scours her cook book library for something ’different’ each night. So I am spoilt for taste healthy meals!!

 By the way I do like to Barbecue and take much care and pride in cooking meats and roasting veggies etc during the summer months. 

The secret - my Weber! Gas fired. No Heatbeads or Charcoal. Use those fuels regularly and you have a never ending filthy mess to clean up after each cook, which for me destroys the effort and pleasure of preparing the meal.

Do you have any tricks to hep you include exercise in your life?

I like physical activity. In my younger years that translated to playing various sports and building activities.

The body is too sore and achey now for anything more strenuous than paddling or golf. So to get the day off I go for a walk then bounce on a mini tramp to shake things up and lubricate the joints. This then brings on the idea that some stretching and light weights will help too.

I do not want to feel that I am going to spend much time on all of this because the sheer thought sends me back to bed to rest.

If I think it is all just a couple of these and a few of those then i can go off and have a cup of coffee and a read - I am good to ‘exercise’.

Usually all this movement just spurs things along and I think of more parts to stretch or ’train’.  Before I know it I have done most if not all the exercises on my list and am good to head off and enjoy the day.

Finally, any advice you would give your 40 year old self

The message I would give to my 40 year old self is to:-

• Do all mobility stretches everyday no matter how easy they feel because that is what you want to keep going.
• Combined with it -  Rolling as required.
• The other thing is not to do daily running. Take up rowing or cycling instead. (non impact) I believe my knees would have lasted the distance if I did.
• Wear sunglasses when out and apply suncream.
• Watch your diet to maintain a healthy weight.

Thanks so much for sharing with us John :-)

Exercise and Diet around your Monthly Cycle

The monthly madness...... Ahh the things we women have to deal with.

....... Do you just go about your life and when that time of the month comes, you experience irritability/ pain and then the blood flow, which is just a damn inconvenience. Then you brush it aside and go back about your life forgetting about it until a months time when your feeling irritable again.

 ……. did you either groan, or sigh “oh yeah”, or, “yep, in the middle of it now, tell me something I don't know” …..

Did you?

…. maybe like me, you could be facing its disappearance, or is it long gone …….. in which case may feel a little little nostalgic? and perhaps, “oh, SO glad I don’t have to deal with that anymore”

…… The monthly flow is a big connection we ladies have with each other, …… and probably the only one the men aren’t trying to also have ….. ha ha 

But really…. 

Although the whole of humankind is affected by hormones it is predominantly women, who are reminded on a monthly basis, that we really are at the mercy of hormones. We have this crazed tyrant living inside of us, sometimes loving, other times….run and hide!

Sometimes you crave carbs, sometimes you don’t, sometimes you have energy and flow, and other times everything is having a hissy fit. If you are aware of your cycle, you have probably noticed that certain emotions and cravings occur around particular times of the cycle. You may or may not already be making lifestyle adjustments around it. For example, when I start suddenly feeling very down just before my period, I remind myself why I’m feeling this way, that it isn't me, and I allow myself to have a gentler workout or a rest day without feeling guilty (...most of the time..).This is making your cycle work for you, or at least a step toward it.

Today I’m going to show you how to make it work even better for you. If you are menopausal or postmenopausal, this could still be quite relevant. Studies show our hormones apparently still continue cycling after menopause, its less messy, but you still have a hormonal high and low. If you are and want to try this, I recommend using the lunar cycle as a guide and see how that works for you. To do this, use the full moon as your 'ovulation day' and the new moon as day 1 of a new cycle.

The Menstrual cycle

A very quick recap of the cycle. Visit here a more detailed version.

Day 1 is generally considered the first day of bleeding as the uterus sheds its lining. Soon a rise in Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH)  and Lutenizing Hormone (LH), stimulate ovarian follicles in readiness to secrete an egg. Oestrogen's and estradiol are secreted which create an endometrium lining in the uterus to hold the egg. This phase is nearly always about 14 days long. An egg is created on or around day 14 (ovulation) and released. The rest of the follicle that produced the ova will breakdown to form the corpus luteum which will produce progesterone. Theres a little boost of oestrogen production due to this, FSH and LH production is suppressed  and their levels fall quickly. This causes the corpus luteum to atrophy, oestrogen and progesterone fall and this triggers the lining to shed and menstruation and a new cycle commence. This phase can be 14 days or shorter, it tends to be more variable in each person.

The Benefits of Exercise

Theres no doubt, women who are more physically active enjoy better health than those who are sedentary. The benefits are extensive, Dr Christiane Northrup is a GP specialising in Womens health, she lists:

• Better immune system functioning and increased levels of immunoglobulins
• Lower overall cancer rate
• Decreased risk of heart disease
• Decreased risk of breast cancer
• Longer life expectancy
• Less depression and anxiety, better mental efficiency and speed
• More relaxation, more assertiveness, more spontaneity and enthusiasm
• Stronger bones
• More restful sleep
• Higher self-esteem
• Decreased insulin sensitivity
• More energy
• Decreased PMS symptoms
• Weight control

“Studies also show that repetitive movement increases the alpha waves in the brain — and the alpha state is associated with enhanced intuition. The mind pervades the body, and I find that when I move my body repetitively and rhythmically, more of my mind’s power becomes available to me, and insights often arise during my work-outs.”

— Dr Christiane Northrup

How the cycle influences you

I’ve broken this down into phases.

Follicular Phase Days 1- 14

• Estrogen is increases
• Insulin sensitivity increased
• Metabolism is slower 
• Anaerobic / intense work is great to increase the metabolism
• Great time to go for personal bests and have some healthy carbs in your diet
• The American Journal of Nutrition stated that basal metabolic rate decreases at the beginning of menstruation and reaches the lowest point a week before ovulation.
• Another study found soccer athletes had more endurance and greater lean body mass gain  during this time

Ovulation Phase around Day 14

• Estrogen starts to fall
• Progesterone increases
• Cravings increase
• Serotonin decreases a little
• Insulin sensitivity increases
• Metabolism starts climbing
• Best day to go for a PB but due to also being more prone to injuries make sure technique is absolutely perfect
• Joints and limbs can be a bit lax
• American Journal of Sports Medicine found that due to joint laxity and estrogen-induced changes in collagen structure, ACL tears are four to eight times more likely to happen during this phase.

Luteal Phase Days 15 - 28

• Energy is not really there for power workouts
• Aerobic workouts at a conversational pace. A study showed aerobic exercise and taking a fennel supplement reduced premenstrual pain and anxiety
  • Your insulin sensitivity is decreased
• Body has a preference to use fat for energy rather than glycogen
• Motivation is a bit lower
• May hold fluid and feel heavier at this time
• Metabolism kicks up so you may feel hungrier, try to stick to healthier whole foods and not over eat
• Same 2017 study as above found it wasn’t a good time for maximal endurance efforts at this time but sprints and jumps were unaffected
• You are more prone to higher cortisol response to stress , and more likely to feel stressed , so try a lower carb style of diet
• Things start to track back to ‘normal’ during the last few days of the cycle

Putting it into Real World Practice

Follicular Phase

Exercise

You may want a day or 2 off at the start of your cycle (or the entire time you are menstruating), if you feel uncomfortable, and not up to it. Respect your intuition and use this time to stretch more, meditate. Try yoga (recommended to avoid inversion poses during this time) or pilates, whatever you are leaning to, but keep moving.

If you feel well, there is no reason not to exercise, but respect that you may have looser joints and are therefore prone to injury.

Try this intense cardio session: 20 rounds of 1 min max intensity with 30 seconds recovery. Ouch!

In the gym

4 (6 sets)-8 (4 sets) reps. Heavy weights that you could only push one other rep out. A back move, a chest move, a Leg move, a hamstring specific move and a calf move

For example: Latpulldown; Incline Chest Press, Back Squat, Romanian Deadlift and Calf Raises

Nutrition

Always stick to whole foods and remove sugar where possible. This is the case for all diets really. Extra sugar sources during menstruation may contribute to bloating and pain, so leave the bread, cookies etc if you can.

After that for the remainder of the 14 days eat a balance of protein, vegetables and fruit, and fat, with a little extra if you need it. During the days you exercise add in a wholegrain source of carbohydrates if you want some more oomph, such as quinoa, millet, oatmeal, amaranth, and beans

Ovulation

If you are one of those people who know when they ovulate 

Exercise

Make this a tough intense day, go do that crossfit wod you have been wondering about.

In the gym, do some 5 x 5 reps and sets and finish with a solid tabata or HIIT session

Nutrition

IF you have done some decent exercise, reseed your body with a big plate of meat, vegetables or salad, some olive oil and rice, or any grains mentioned above. Enjoy!

Luteal phase

Exercise

Get some steady state endurance work in 2-3 times a week for 30-60 minutes pending on your level. Use that time to put an audio book on, ponder the world, or focus on your breathing in a meditative fashion.

“you can perform 8 sets of 5 minutes at 60-70% of your VO2 max of running, biking, swimming, rowing, hiking, brisk walking or elliptical, with 3 minutes of easy movement between each”

— Ben Greenfield

In the gym

Try some higher volume. Lower the sets and increase the reps. For example

• 2-3 Sets of 15-25 reps
• 2 Day Split with a day between

Wkout 1: KB Pullover, seated row, reverse fly, biceps curls and back squat, pistol squat and Step tap ups, Side Plank pulses

Wkout 2: Flat Chest Press, Shoulder Press, Lateral Raise, Tricep Dips, Fitball Hamstring Curls, Fitball ab curls, Hip Thrust, Fitball rollouts

Finish each session with some steady cardio and a good stretch ensuring that you consciously breathe and relax during this time and bring your attention back to the body and cast your mind around the muscles you worked and how they are feeling, and which need more attention.

Nutrition

A great time to try intermittent fasting or low carb diets (get some good advice if you are unsure how to do this)

Keep as far away from sugar as possible and try very hard to have a good 7.5 plus hours sleep every night.

---

Regardless of whatever phase you are in make sure you move everyday. Incorporating movement, 10,000 steps, or a more formal workout, will release endorphins and that will make you feel good, increase insulin sensitivity, increase metabolism and reduce period pain (although, if you are like me, mine hurts a lot, admittedly its more painful if I have had increased sugar in my diet). Daily movement will also reduce cravings and help you sleep better. Even if you don’t feel up to it you can move with yoga like stretches. Just keep extending the body (I have simple, VERY easy stretch ideas here on youTube).

The best workout in the world is the one you actually do every day. We can analyse things too much and go off on tangents (I do it to myself ALL the time), so if in doubt, just move. Change it if you like when you like, just do it…..hey...... that would be a great slogan … hmmm

….oh, and eat whole foods where possible. Studies show that women are very affected by food choices, the difference between a stressed out day and one where you feel you can cope with the ups and downs. You don’t have to be religious about it, just consistent, like the exercise. Try to make 80% of your intake healthy. Does it have more than 3 ingredients on the label? Put it back and make your own. If you need help, just ask. This should be a pleasant part of your life not a burden.

Extra References used for this article

• https://www.t-nation.com/training/hormone-cycle-and-female-lifters
• https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/article/fitness-articles/planning-your-exercise-around-your-menstruation-cycle/
• https://www.precisionnutrition.com/fitness-menstrual-health

Mobility - Lets move and groove

Mobility is not a glamorous topic by any stretch. It doesn’t sound cool and tough like weightlifting for gainz, crossfit, marathon running for dummies, or the ultimate weightloss diet…..BUT….we sure know about it when we don’t have it, whether through injury, age, or natural selection.

Anytime our mobility is challenged….and it will be challenged at some stage….life gets hard….often a lack of mobility also has pain attached to it…and when that happens it is just natural to avoid the pain like the plague or stepping in dog poo and the local dog park….you know its there and you have no intention of going near it!

Unfortunately avoiding pain, or avoiding any motion will cause tissue fibres to build up in the area which makes subsequent movement there a bit harder, then bit harder…until…..ever noticed those people that walk with a bit of a limp or can’t turn their head around?…that may even be you….poor mobility means the body will adjust accordingly and a new style of walking or turning your head will develop as you basic motor pattern….the body’s natural, subconscious go to movement. Once learned, the only way is unlearning and reforming a new skill, which may be as simple as walking straight and tall. Very unglamorous, but if you can’t walk straight, then other patterns change that incorporate walking, shopping, sitting, standing, making dinner in the kitchen. All these moves will have adjusted to cope with the limping walking pattern, and in a few years you will be forward leaning, turtle necked with chronic neck, shoulder, hip, back, knee, foot pain……

I wonder why?…. hmmmmm …...

The Why

Our joints are contained in a fibrous tissue sac called a joint capsule. This capsule is filled with synovial fluid that provides lubrication to the tissues inside. When a joint becomes immobile the fluid can build up and the tissue inside can’t move properly. This can lead to cartilage breakdown, tears, sharp pain, swelling, inflammation and so on

Not only do the joints suffer with lack of mobility but so does the musculature. The muscles are really a fibrous tissue thats surrounded and connected to your body by a honey comb like web called the fascia (check my Fasica blog for more information).

When a joint or muscle becomes immobile the body starts to compensate and use the joints and ligaments above and below to take up the slack and perform actions they were not really created to do. Like a cyclist’s knee doing an odd in and out movement which is caused by a faulty hip pattern. They may experience knee or back pain from this and focus on fixing that over and over again, not realising the actual cause of the knee pain is from a lack of external rotation in the hip. Its interesting isn’t it. The pain you feel is probably caused by another area and not the one you think it is.

What is mobility really?

Mobility is your ability to be able to move your body and limbs freely and painlessly through your desired movement. Pain is actually a good thing. It is the body asking you to stop a motion that is dysfunctional. You weren’t born dysfunctional in this way (most of us, so its a clue

Imagine that! Painless, free movement. 

Just imagine your life, for a moment, if you were able to not have to think about aches and pains and just do what you wanted to do. You move free and there is no compromise you need to make to pick up rubbish from the floor, garden, play with the kids and grandkids.

Ahhhhhh…what a dream........

......... Ever watched a dog or cat stretch?

The animal world stretches without thinking. Make it a goal today to notice a cat, dog, bird, etc. Watch it stretch effortlessly. We can learn so much from these lovely animals.

So, when you stretch…in fact, do it now. Grab the kitchen counter and stretch your arms, back, legs, or do the moves in the video below

A gentle flow for those unused to many stretches

...... Do you feel good? Do you feel looser?

As you get older, if you haven’t worked on mobility your body will tell you all about it. It not only affects your ability to move but also your mental health. Studies have shown improvement on depressive states with specific movement and patients with Parkinson’s and alzheimers have also shown marked improvement with moving their bodies in full range. Mobility also is correlated with longevity and balance control, shown here, here and here 

What can you do?

Start mobilising now, even if you are young and aren’t feeling sore, stiff or in pain. Studies show physical exercise will keep any future movement disabilities at bay. Here is a study showing regular physical activity in your 40’s can lead to a decreased risk of developing issues like osteoarthritis.

Make sure you move in fullest range you are capable of in each joint, ie; ankles, knees, toes, hips, fingers, spine, shoulders, wrists, head. The human body was created to reach, extend, grab, push, pull and rotate in many ways and if we don’t work on keeping these abilities, we will lose them. Pending on your current status, this preventative or remedial measure will be one of the best investments you could ever make for your body’s health, PLUS, you KNOW how good you feel afterwards.

Obviously someone like myself can help and diagnose faulty movement patterns in a person and recommend what to do specific to your condition, but thats not always possible and affordable for people. So let me give you some ideas.

Everyday

Start while you are still in bed or just out of bed.

Either on an empty stomach or after a glass of water.

Stretch and wriggle your:

• Toes
• Feet
• ankles
• Knees
• Hips
• Lower back
• Twist your back
• Waist
• Shoulders
• Elbows
• Wrists
• Neck
• Head
• Stretch to the ceiling

Move your joints every morning

I have posted several other videos to facebook and YouTube. Have a look at those for ideas. My videos are aimed at those needing help and potentially haven’t got a lot of mobility. Feedback is very welcome, they are unavoidably amateurish at the moment, but I’d love to adjust the content to suit you.

Have a wonderful and movement filled day :-)

Posture Perfect

Who here has tight shoulders?

Maybe headaches?

..... Backpain?

.............. Just plain tired?

(Who doesn't)

Now ...

FREEZE!

…….yep just hold still, don’t move for a moment. I want you to cast your mind around your body and notice where your head is relative to your neck. From there, note where your back is, shoulders forward?, spine shape maybe curled, tummy out (ooops bet it went in just then!).

So take note of these areas and lets move one.

Whether you are reading this, sitting or standing, position you are currently in is one you would be revisiting dozens and dozens of times during the day. Day in day out, month, year in and out. This is your natural, go to, learned position. Our body tis such an amazing machine that it will accept being pout in any position pretty much and try to work with that. Even if the spine is being compressed in an awkward way that stops the fluids passing through well. Even if we are hunched over and putting pressure on the internal organs that isn’t best for them to work perfectly in keeping the body alive and thriving. If stressed, and the above causes stress, the body will just focus on survival and sacrifice what it needs to to ensure that. Its pretty impressive really, but unfortunately we can cause the body angst in its normal functions and not even realise we are.

Posture affects everything:

Digestion (the organs are not squashed in a hunched seated position and are able to freely move the food through the digestion pathways)

Deeper breathing ( as the diaphragm is not squashed in) 

Blood and oxygen circulation and most of us are less than optimal with it. Fortunately its a simple thing to adjust, and it all starts with the head. Place that in the right position and it will start straightening the entire body immediately.

Less wear and tear (=pain) on the muscles, ligaments and joints, when pressure is paced on them in a sub-optimal position. This doesn't just mean weight lifting poorly, this means carrying shopping, picking up kids, gardening, housework. All those things place weight strain on the body, which is fine when the body is in alignment.

Less depression and fatigue. Not only does good posture take away a huge amount of pain you may think is just normal everyday aches you suffer through but it also gives a psychological benefit. Positive, happy people stand straighter, sadder ones slump. Sit or stand straight, breathe deeply and see how you feel. Good huh!? In fact just that simple change is one of the recommendations made for people who are depressed to help alleviate their mood. It works.

You can cope with pain better. This study showed that a good posture helps cope with pain. So chin up when you are feel physical or emotional pain. It also showed that if we coddle and dominate people too much it reinforces a submissive "curled in" posture which did not help the recipient deal with their issues better, it made it worse for them. So uncurl and stand tall with a deep breath.

More energy. Because you are in a better position the body doesn't have to work as hard to support you with your everyday movements. The result is less fatigue and more energy.

You look better. You really do :-)

 Do you have any weights?

Pick up a 5 kilo weight (11lbs) 

Thats how much your head weighs on average. Thats how much weight this slender rod called our spine, has to hold. You can understand why the spine is curved can’t you, as a curved structure holds weight easier than a straight one. So we want curves in the spine, but not over done 🙂

Now not only is it 5 kg’s when sat directly on top, but when we lean the head forward, the angle of the lean markedly increases the load, it can from your neck feeling 5 kgs of weight to a huge 25kg (60lbs).

Wow….

https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2014/11/this-is-what-looking-down-at-your-mobile-phone-does-to-your-spine/

Remember the old, book on the head and ruler down your back to sit and stand tall? Not so silly really….

Case Study

Have a look at my photos below. A bit amateurish but I think you can see, first with the straightened one, How the head is stacked on top of the neck, which stacks on the tailbone and the line continues down (ideally pretty straight), to my feet. Now Its still not perfect. I had hoped to show you the perfect posture but I can see my mid back is not activated properly as my shoulders are slightly forward and palms are not forward facing.

I'm still working out how to edit photos!

Now have a look at my other posture, here I feel relaxed and pretty normal, but look at how bent I am. Head is forward, the yellow lines show the angles, turtle neck is starting, shoulders forward, chest caved, belly sticking out, hands are in a forward position with the palms facing back and my back is swayed naturally, and now even more so. I was impressed that my legs were fairly well stacked under, but what you can’t see is my knees are compensating naturally by becoming more knocked. The body responds to being put in this posture daily by tightening areas and weakening others from our neck, back, hips, thighs, calves and feet

A recipe for chronic pain if I ever saw one!

Just standing straight is terrific, BUT your muscles have had to compensate for so long they don’t know what to do anymore. They need to be reminded and retrained, stretch the over tightened muscles and strengthen the postural lax ones, otherwise you have nothing solid holding you in a better position, just sheer willpower.... until you are distracted, ....... oh look, a facebook message……..

…..hmmm mmm...

…..ooops…….where was I?

A recent study of adults aged 60-89 showed poor posture correlated closely with poor balance and falls....

“This research shows, though, that posture does in fact seem to hold great significance in terms of healthy living especially for geriatrics. Increased thoracic kyphosis leads to numerous problems including a higher risk for falls.”

... and that ....

... posture correction strategies worked to stop it!

A study first, in 2016, showed a direct link to the effect poor posture had on decreased cognitive function in older adults (50-89). They found that a forward head and neck lean was associated with decreased verbal memory function and high BMI with low ‘get up and go’ was associated with poor movement and visual coordination.

“Upright posture and mobility were associated with different cognitive processes, suggesting different underlying neural mechanisms. These results provide the first evidence for a link between postural alignment and cognitive functioning in healthy older adults.”

The American Posture Institute (theres actually and institute for it!) lists the following consequences of poor posture:

• Decreased Life Span (up to 14 years).
• Headaches.
• Chronic Fatigue.
• Neck & Back Pain.
• Increased blood pressure.
• Digestive Problems.
• Problems Sleeping.
• Circulatory Problems.
• Respiratory Issues.
• Increase in Falls.
• Vertigo/dizziness.
• Attention/concentration problems.
• Muscle fatigue.
• Decrease in overall health.
• Spinal degeneration.
• Arthritis.
• Herniated discs.
• Sciatica.
• Knee and ankle problems.
• Carpal Tunnel.
• Plantar fasciitis.
• and a partridge in a pear tree

---

Takeaways

Try Dancing

Recently the Queensland Union Technology and Queensland Ballet did a study showing, amongst a variety of benefits that dancing greatly benefited posture. Have a look at the study here.

Incorporate Yoga and Pilates

Add yoga AND pilates moves in your everyday routine. Your body needs the strength and flexibility it will gain from these types of exercises, plus you get fantastic body awareness from any exercise.

Lift Weights

OK I'm biased but weight lifting will lock in your new posture so well and works beautifully with yoga, dancing, pilates, anything. Just please have your form checked. No point doing the weights with poor form, thats a disaster!

At Home

• Pull your chin in, not up (triple chin at least)
• Shoulders are lowered and tensed around the shoulder blades
• Chest gently elevated
• Belly button pulls into spine with the pelvic floor tightened
• Bottom is tucked under after the above
• Feel the hips open, this widens the knees 
• Place each foot under the corresponding hip bone
• Take a deep breath through the abdomen 
• Check yourself in the mirror

OR

Have a look at the couple of videos I have linked below, they give a few examples of what to look at and try. If you have a trainer, get them to have a look and they can advise you exactly what you need to do to align properly.

Just get started being aware of your body and the position you are putting it in

Postural awareness and exercises for you www.vashtischulz.com

If all else fails.....

grab a thick book, pop it on your head and walk around for a while.

Is my pony tail helping me?

A little bit everyday, and reap the benefits for ever

Habits - The magical way to be aWesomE!

What gets you out of bed in the morning?

The alarm? The dog? Kids? $1000 ( I think that was an 80’s supermodel actually)…do you snooze till the last minute before getting up and racing through the motions to get to work on time, or the family up and ready. Then what do you do on the weekend? Stuff the alarm? You were thinking it would be good to get a morning walk in the sunshine before breakfast, butttttttt its so cosy…….zzzzzz you sleep in…ahhhhhh

What do you do at night after dinner? Is that when the munchies set in? That mindless time when you weren’t going to eat the biscuits or chocolate tonight….buuuutttt….argh…I need it…or your brain conveniently fuzzes over any logic about weight-loss and suddenly the block of chocolate or biscuits or, insert “food” here, are all gone. Damn! you think, I’ll resist tomorrow night.

All these are habits. 

The thing that makes us get out of bed, brush our teeth, or not, exercise , or not, binge on facebook, or not (is there anyone out there that can actually resist that magnetic pull to check your posts likes?, sigh)

Habits rule our lives. 

We talk a certain way, we say please, thankyou…or we don’t!, we always put salt on our food at night without thinking, we put shoes on right foot first, we get home and put the tv, or heater on, or something else all without thinking. We may kiss our spouse/ kids/ dogs when we leave for work, or we may always forget.

All habits.

The habits make us what and who we are.

So who are you? 

I think one of the only things I heard Dr Phil say that I actually benefited from, was when he counselled a couple that every interaction, no matter what, either benefits your relationship, or it doesn’t. I liked that.

If you think about it, every single thing we say or do has an impact. Positive or negative. It impacts us, impacts people at work, home, strangers, pets, plants…..everything… either positively or its negatively……its never neutral….is it? I found a lot of value in that way of thinking…. Although I don’t remember it as often as I should to help guide me to more positive interactions…its not a habit yet (doh!)…but when I DO, I feel empowered and ready to improve my life.

You may think its selfish to focus on yourself like this…I hope not, but improving your life is the most important thing you can do and focusing on you and your habits are the magical key to enable your dreams to come true.

 Imagine yourself at your very best, your most happiest…...

……what would that look like? How would you feel? How would you act? How would everyone else around you act and feel? Its the ripple effect…everyone, everything is a part of this cycle. You're happy, everyone is happy

I’ve gone a little philosophical…okay…quite philosophical…..this was meant to be just about making good habits and getting healthier and fitter….but really, those things are just one inevitable part of the rewards/ benefits of having a series of good, productive habits.

Lets try something

It won’t take long I promise

Okay so you know what a happy, productive YOU looks like (doesn’t matter if its vague, don’t judge)….. Note that down.`What things do you need to do to achieve it or at lest some of it. List those down as well. Like a 20 km run, finish a course, increase typing speed, learn to cook great Indian dishes, etc. 

Now write two lists. One is the habits that you feel are of benefit to you and the goals, and the other, a list of habits that do not benefit you or the goals.

Some of you are happily trotting off with pencil and paper/ iPad/ mud and stick in hand doing this, and I know others are thinking “urgh…I know it already, no point writing it down”

YES there IS

Just do it (thankyou Nike)…. The most common thing I hear from people who fail to make a change is, “I know what to do, I’ll just do that”…. I’ve never met anyone yet, myself included, that that has worked for.

So humour me….please….I’ll even humour you and write mine down…. (Yes..I was thinking nahhh, I know already, why bother…this is for others)….hmm…hello pot…the kettle is boiling….

If you find it a little tricky to think of positive and negative habits you do, or if you really want to go deep with work on yourself, ask a work mate, family member, friend or coach, what they would put in those columns for you. You get fantastic insights this way.

Right.

Now pick one of those negative ones. Don’t try more than one. Some people can multi-change, but really, its harder than you think. 

So for this example, I’ve picked my snacking one…now thats pretty hard for me, trust me! I know if I didn’t snack after dinner I would definitely be a few kilos lighter in fat, absolutely no doubt…..and the body weight thing and health is a concern for me. This is something I know I do that is not the best for me and yet haven't I managed to change it…ever…I know what to do…….and I’ve adjusted for a few weeks/ days/ months at a time…and yet I still head back there.

So I’ve picked that. Now I start thinking of some ways to change it to the ultimate….NO EATING AFTER DINNER (please note, this is not just a vanity goal, this is also a very healthy habit to acquire that has a ream of health benefits from mitochondria health, insulin sensitivity, good nights sleep, more serotonin production…I could go on)

Here I  have:

• Snacking non stop after dinner with pretzels, crackers, choc drink etc
•  
• NO eating after dinner

Next the goal now is to fill in the blanks. Give an easy path to the end goal. Make those links the babiest of steps. IMPORTANT, don’t question it, just make them the smallest of steps, each logically progressing slightly from the other. Mine now looks like:

• Snacking non stop after dinner with pretzels, crackers, choc drink etc
• Snacking non stop with just the choc drink (why? Its low calorie and in my case it helps me feel full and I find the crackers really call to me, so they are the hardest thing to stop)
• Non Stop with the choc drink but with a cup of hot water and lemon juice before hand (herbal tea just doesn’t motivate me…feels to hard to make at that time of night. The lemon helps my insulin sensitivity and it makes me pause for a moment before diving into the choc drink)
• Same as above, but I make another hot water lemon drink to have while I’m having my choc drink
• Now I will either stop the choc drink half an hour before bed OR I will finish with the hot water and lemon
• Now I will limit my choc drinks to one less than  I was having
• I will continue in this fashion till the below happens

NO eating after dinner

I know me…..the above should work. They are logical easy steps that I apply for one week each at least and only move ahead to the next when I feel confident.

There will be evenings when I feel completely lost and inadequate to not eat but with my list above, already written out, I will make my unreasonable mind look at it and go up the list till I reach the one that I can actually do at that time.

So even a ‘bad night’ is still a win. I won’t plague myself the next day and the next night I should be able to hop straight back to the level I was at previously. If not, I go to the level I can manage that night and probably sit there for a week before progressing again.

A year from now……eating after dinner when I don’t need it, out the window, gone! I’ll be a able to have the occasional dessert night without then sliding back into my old habit of NEEDING to eat and eat after dinner. I will be the one IN CONTROL of that.

Seriously….think about it….

How empowering!

Have you made your list?

Look at it

How can you fail?

You can’t. 

Yes discipline IS involved, however, you have taken into account your ups and downs, your mood swings, good days and bad. Put that list out there, put it on the fridge. See it everyday. When you are motivated and positive you will NOT need to have it there…fantastic! Awesome!

BUT

You KNOW you will need it at some stage. Thats the way it works. Until something is second nature, and this takes about a month, (a month per step is ideal, but I know you want results faster than that) you will almost definitely fail.

This is why most diets don’t work

Why most plans don’t work

We all have the best of intentions, but we must plan the through the failing times, else thats what we will do. Better still, we do it with baby steps so its actually PAINLESS and pretty STRESSFREE :-)

I have set so many goals in the past, and failed most of them, for this very reason of not planning properly. I’m sure I’m not alone.

So give it a go and let me know what happens, what you achieved, even if its small. Like doing the dishes before bed, or making the bed on rising. Whatever….its all a win

You KNOW you will be happier

Because

…..You will become the person you want to be, the person you know you CAN be.

Go out and conquer!

A shameless plug for my services now

The above is how I prefer to coach. I can help you set the most productive ones for your health and fitness goals. I can help you stick to them and be accountable. Imagine yourself one year from now if you started those changes today

Seriously

IMAGINE

How awesome would you be!

My answer is, VERY