Do you want to lose weight, get healthy and be happy? It can be simple to achieve. I gave a talk yesterday to a business group on the basics of health and I just thought I’d share those points with you now.
So many people get confused by all the messages that are out there but it’s basically very, very simple.
1. Think Well –
Everything we do starts with a thought. Well what kind of stimulus and thoughts are we subjecting ourselves to. For a start turn off the news. Use your car or workout time to do some Personal Development.
Get some CDs by Anthony Robbins or another Personal growth Guru and listen to them whilst you drive or when your working out. Surround yourself with positive vibes not negative ones.
Also take time out for yourself, “Me time” to be truly by yourself even if it just 5 minutes at the start of the day and plan the good things you are going to do to help yourself that day.
2. Breath Well –
We won’t survive long without breathing and yet we pay it so little attention. Focus on breathing nasally and from the diaphragm. Breath slowly and deeply, maybe focus on it whilst your doing your 5 minutes of “me time”.
This will slow you down, help you focus and importantly can help keep Cortisol levels (stress hormone) down… which in turn can help with weight loss and just general well being.
3. Drink Well –
Keep the system flushed. Drink good water, that is either filtered or pure. You can add a small amount of Himalayan Salt to add to the bodies mineral content. Everybody is different. I’m 90Kg my wife is 55kg. We have different requirements.
So times your bodyweight in Kilograms by 0.03 and that is the minimum you should be drinking each day. For every cup of coffee or drink of alcohol replace it with double the amount of water.
Just by drinking the right amount of water and cutting out excess coffee and alcohol you can see an almost instant change to yoru well being.
4. Eat Well –
Food and nutrition is a passion of mine and I could write for ages but this is not the post. I want to keep this brief and simple. So here goes. Joes answer to the worlds dietary problems in a nutshell:
Eat plenty of Garden Veggies, Nuts and seeds and meats. Cut out Sugar and flour and most grains (high glycemic carbs*). Eat 5-6 small meals per day to keep your metabolism amped. Eat as many green leafy veggies as you can, preferably raw.
Live food high in phytochemicals (green stuff) is the source of life! and eat protein at every meal. If the cavemen didn’t eat it…. neither should you!
If you follow this advice I promise you, you will make a massive change to your health and well being. You will be able to lose weight and get healthier, easier.
*The problem with high-glycemic carbs is that they give an elevated insulin response.
Insulin is an essential hormone for life, yet acute, chronic elevation of insulin leads to hyperinsulinism, which has been linked to obesity, elevated cholesterol levels, blood pressure, mood dysfunction and a whole host of disease and disability.
A low-glycemic diet consequently severely blunts the negative insulin response.
5. Move Well –
Just get out there and get amongst it. No excuses. Our general daily movements are decreasing year after year with the development of technology. Pre-second world war it was nothing for somebody to average 15Km per day.
Now our governments recommend a measly 10000 steps as a healthy recommendation. A study in UK showed that as recent as between 1995 and 2005 walking trips fell by 16%.
Think about the ways we are designed to move. Look at how we developed as a species before all these machines came along.
Get Back To The Basics.
1.Squat
2.Lunge
3.Push
4.Pull
5.Bend
6.Twist
7.Gait (moving over terrain, walking, running, sprinting)
All of the above 7 “Primal Movement Patterns” should be incorporated into your exercise program and you should be exercising 5 times a week…. Just walking by itself does not cut the mustard. Increase the amount you walk and get more structured exercise.
6. Rest Well –
We need to sleep and we need to recover. We get alot better quality sleep if we are in bed before 10:30. In the last 100 years the average amount of sleep we take has halved!!!
For a creature that has fine tuned itself over a couple of hundred thousand years that is horrific. GET TO BED!!!
I’d also advise focused relaxation, meditation. Just 20 minutes a day of sitting and breathing through your nose, counting your out breaths can make a fantastic difference to your stress levels.
You need 1 or 2 days rest from exercise a week depending on what kind of program your on. On your rest days, still get some fresh air, go for a stroll, sit in a park, walk on the beach.
So that’s it. Joe’s guide to life!!! I hope you like it. Do it and it will make a massive difference to you and your well being. Take care, have fun and be healthy.
You can find much more information on living a holistic lifestyle in these free magazines and on our YouTube channel.
Joe Bonington
