Having access to vast amounts of knowledge has many advantages. But it has a big downside as well. The amount of health and fitness information shows that more is not always better.

Unfortunately the internet has more than its fair share of Keyboard Warriors. These so-called “experts” often give advice with very little experience or qualifications.

This type of information has been called “Broscience.”  It’s often based on opinions and mis-understanding instead of scientific research and real-world experience.

But Broscience isn’t the only problem. Scientific research has often given confusing results.

For years we were told that consuming fat in the diet was a recipe for weight-gain and heart disease. Then the Atkins Diet seemed to suggest the exact opposite. It said that fat loss was the result of fewer carbohydrates and more protein and dietary fat!

Training can be just as confusing: aerobic exercise used to be the main weight-loss and conditioning tool. This now seems to be replaced by weight-training and High Intensity Intervals.

In many cases the amount of information has led to what’s known as Paralysis by Analysis. I have seen this on many occasions with my clients and have suffered from it myself.

With so many options, it can be difficult to know which one is “the best”. The end result is that you feel more confused than ever, and decide to do nothing. Most people will take no action rather than make the wrong choice.

To avoid this situation I use the following quote from Kahlil Gibran:

“A little knowledge that acts is worth infinitely more that much knowledge that is idle”

So let’s look at some basic action items that can help us with health and fitness.

Decide What You Really Want: Sometimes we confuse ourselves by wanting to have everything at once: reduced body fat, increased strength, improved sports performance, speed and endurance.

You can improve these aspects of fitness at the same time because there is some carry-over between them. However, it works best if you focus on one item at a time. When working with clients who don’t know where to start, I usually suggest reducing body fat first.

Identify Your Main Obstacle: This is probably the easiest part. After hundreds of nutrition consultations, I believe that most people have enough information to get started. And they also know what’s stopping them from doing it.

In some cases it can be work or family commitments. Sometimes it’s down to confusion or information overload. By removing, or working around the obstacle, you can free up time and energy to start taking action.

Get The Necessary Support.  Everything is easier when you get a bit of help. It may be as simple as asking your spouse to hide the biscuits and other “goodies” in the house. Or inviting a friend or family member to go training with you.

If you decide to hire a trainer, make sure that the person has the qualifications and experience to get the results that you’re looking for.

There’s a saying that Success Leaves Clues. Therefore your gym or trainer should have a proven track record of achieving success with clients like you.

Take Action! Even taking small steps towards your goal can be a great motivator. Start small and as you begin to see signs of progress, your confidence will grow and allow you to be a little more ambitious.

You won’t see results from a new fitness programme overnight. A large amount of consistency with healthy habits is required. So just be patient and keep taking action to guarantee success.

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Any time we make big changes in our lives, it’s natural to be a little bit nervous. Starting a new training programme isn’t quite as dramatic as buying your first house, getting married or having your first baby. But for some people, it can be just as confusing. So today we’ll look at What to Expect When You’re Expecting To Train Regularly!

I’ll start by stating that there are many different  training programmes and nutrition plans that will achieve excellent results. As long as you or your trainer stick to the general principles outlined below, the specific methods won’t matter too much. As I’ve mentioned previously, training for fat loss, muscle gain or improved fitness is not rocket science. But it does require effort, consistency and a certain degree of willpower.

The following items are based on what I believe are Best Practice for achieving Health & Fitness goals. They are what my clients can expect when they start a new training programme. If you train alone or with friends, feel free to adapt the methods to suit. The first 3 items constitute the planning stage and are agreed at the initial consultation

Decide your goals.

Without an inspiring goal to motivate you, training can become boring and pointless. It works best if the goal is Specific, Measurable, Action-based, Realistic and Time-based. Avoid saying you want to get “fitter”, “tone-up” or “lose weight”. These terms are too vague. Picking a specific weight, clothes size or body fat % and declaring when you will achieve it is much more inspiring.

Make the target tough enough that you’ll have to work to achieve it but realistic enough to be achieved. This technique also applies to improving sports performance or strength levels.

Record your starting point.

In order to make your goal realistic, it is best to assess where you currently are in relation to it. If body composition is your target, have your current body fat % measured. You can also take waist/hip/thigh measurements or even record your scale weight. If improved performance is your goal, then what is your current best effort at that sport or activity?

Put A Plan In Place.

You now know where you are and you’ve decided where you want to go. All that remains is putting a plan in place that will help you complete your journey. This plan can be like a contract that you make with yourself.

Decide on how many training sessions per week you can do, how long each one will last and what type of activity will be involved. You can also decide what type of food you will eat to support this training, as well as what food and drink will need to be removed.

Once the initial planning phase is complete, it’s time to put it into action. Here’s what you can expect to do on a weekly basis:

Train at an intensity that challenges you.

This is relative to your current strength and fitness level. Total beginners or anybody who has an illness or injury is advised to get clearance from their doctor. Getting uncomfortable while training will cause changes in your body that will make you leaner, stronger and fitter.

As you get stronger, the training will start to feel easier and when that happens, it’s time to increase the intensity again!

Adjust your eating based on your goal.

As a general rule, if you want to lose weight you’ll need to eat less food. Individuals looking to increase muscle mass may need to take in more calories, especially in the form of protein and carbohydrates.

Rest.

In order to see the results of your hard training, you will need to give yourself time to rest and recover. Sleep is the best and most under-rated form of recovery. Aim for 7-9 hours sleep per night, ideally between the hours of 10pm and 7am. Remember that you cannot train at your best if your body hasn’t recovered from the previous session.

There is no great mystery about improving body shape or fitness. All that it requires is a bit of structure and discipline. Put these steps into each of your training programmes and expect great results!

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There are 2 important factors that will dictate what and when you eat pre-training. The first factor is your training goal and the second one is your own individual taste and digestive system.We’ll look at the individual aspect today and while we’re doing it we can also have a very basic look at how the body uses fuel for energy.

When you’re training really hard in short, explosive bursts (like sprints, high intensity intervals or lifting close to maximum weight) the body prefers to use creatine phosphate as fuel.For high intensity work lasting between 10 and approximately 90 seconds, the body will then switch to glycogen (stored sugar in the muscles and liver) to fuel the workout.

These fuel sources get transferred into usable energy relatively quickly but don’t last too long. That’s why you can only sprint at top speed for about 10 seconds before the pace starts to drop off.

However when the intensity is much lower (steady jogging, slower cycling or even walking), the body will use oxygen to break down carbohydrate and stored fat as its fuel of choice. This process takes a lot longer and it doesn’t generate as much power. However most people have a LOT of stored energy and therefore it can last a very long time providing we keep the intensity low.

For strength and performance improvements, and also to promote fat loss, high intensity intervals and weight training sessions have been shown to work best. Therefore if you wish to train at this intensity, it is crucial that your sugar (glycogen) and creatine stores are full, and that means eating at some stage before training.

And this is where it can get confusing. Many years ago, I attended a Fat Loss Seminar where World Class Strength & Conditioning Coach Charles Poliquin said that if you don’t feel nauseous after about 20 minutes of your training session, then you’re not training hard enough.

The reasoning behind the statement is that high-intensity work creates a lot of lactic acid which can lead to feelings of nausea.  However, this lactic acid is very important because it stimulates the release of Growth Hormone, which in turn encourages muscle growth and fat loss.

But although you’ll need your fuel tank full, it should be obvious that if you’ve had a feed of bacon, spuds and cabbage 20 minutes before doing some High Intensity Interval Training, the chances are that the meal is not going to stay down for too long.

On the other hand if you starve yourself pre-training in order to avoid talking to God on the Big White Phone, then you simply won’t have the energy to complete the session.

Unfortunately there are no hard and fast rules that will suit everybody, and this applies to most aspects of nutrition and training. The best bet is to make note of the following options and tweak them according to what works best for you.

Allow enough time to properly digest your food. For most people, one and a half to two hours before training should do the trick.

Include some protein in your meal. Eggs and fish will digest faster than a large beef steak, so they are a better solid protein option. If you’re tight for time, a whey protein shake will do the job.

Avoid High Sugar Foods Before Training. These foods tend to give a fast boost of energy followed by an equally fast slump. For a more prolonged release of energy, go for some vegetables with your protein meal. Where fruit is concerned, it is generally better eaten after your session, but berries are probably the best pre-workout fruit option.

Stay Hydrated.  There’s no point eating the best food in the world if you forget to take on board some fluids before and during training. For sessions under 60 minutes, water will do the job – especially when fat loss is the goal. Sports drinks are usually only required for long distance endurance events or when the goal is improved strength or performance.

Experiment. Try some different food and timing options and decide which combination allows you to train at your best. Make note of it and then make it part of your training ritual!

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Today we’ll look at some ways that will make your fitness programme less scary.

Take Responsibility.

One of the most important aspects of starting a new regime is taking responsibility for the results. This can be a little scary for some people but I believe that it can actually be very encouraging.

In most cases a person’s state of health is the direct result of their lifestyle. There are of course obvious cases where people are unfortunate enough to have diseases or disabilities that are nobody’s fault.

However, in a paper published in the Journal of Medical Ethics, E. Feiring writes that “unhealthy lifestyle contributes significantly to the burden of disease.”

The paper also quotes the World Health Organisation as saying that the obesity epidemic leads to increased risks of coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, and several cancers.

More importantly, the WHO also states that obesity cannot be blamed on either environment or genetics alone. And although family medical history and socioeconomic status are important, “increase in caloric intake and decrease in physical activity are primarily responsible for it.”

In other words if you want to increase your chances of being healthy, eat less and move more! And I think it’s very re-assuring that we have total control over how much we eat and move.

Ready, Fire, Aim.

In many cases, people wait for the ideal situation and the perfect plan until they take action. I have been guilty of this way of thinking in the past. And, although I firmly believe in having a well thought-out plan with specific, measurable goals, there is no substitute for taking action.

The “perfect plan” should be a motivation to get moving, not a reason to avoid it. “Ready, Fire, Aim” is a business strategy that can be adapted to your health and fitness goals.

Rather than the traditional “ready, aim, fire” approach of planning everything to the tiniest detail and waiting until circumstances are perfect, you simply take the action that brings you in the general direction, and then fine-tune it based on how you’re doing.

The very act of starting a new project or programme is the most important part. Each small success you achieve will create the momentum and motivation to keep going, and you can alter your target so that your perfect plan becomes a reality.

Develop Good Habits.

A wise man once told me that life is a series of habits.  And the secret of success in any aspect of life was to avoid the bad habits and practice the good ones. Most of us, when we’re honest with ourselves, know exactly what actions make us feel happier and healthier, and also what actions makes us feel wrecked.

Being more energetic and having a better level of health does not require us to turn into full-time athletes living on a diet of cabbage soup and multivitamins.

Doing some form of physical activity that you enjoy for approximately 20-30 minutes per day will raise your energy levels and your mood. Replacing junk, processed “food” with vegetables, proteins, and plenty of clean water will also help you to look and feel much better.

The two habits that are really important to developing good health and a smaller waistline are probably the two most under-rated: sleep and stress management. Increased stress levels combined with reduced quality and quantity of sleep can result in many types of negative physical and mental health outcomes.

Research has shown, and I can vouch for it from personal experience, that setting aside a little time every day to meditate, pray, or even just be quiet can have huge positive effects on your overall health and sense of well-being. The same is true of getting seven to nine hours of unbroken sleep every night. It sounds crazy, but the more you sleep at night, the leaner you’ll be!

If you’re unhappy with your current shape or state of health, then simply take the responsibility to change it for the better, take some action to get the ball rolling. And then practice the good habits that will have you feeling and looking your best.

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We will discuss various recovery strategies over the coming weeks, but it makes sense to start with the most important one – sleep.

Sleep is important because it is during this time that hormones are released which help with muscle growth, tissue repair and recovery from training.

It’s also been suggested that the brain uses this downtime to process information and motor skills, and stores this information in long-term memory. Therefore, a good night’s sleep may also help to improve technical skill.

Sports Medicine Expert, Elizabeth Quinn quotes a study from the University of Chicago Medical School by Eve Van Cauter Ph.D., which showed the effects of reduced sleep in eleven men aged 18 to 27.

Results showed that after a period of sleep deprivation, their body’s ability to manage sugar efficiently was reduced and their stress hormones increased. There was also reduced activity of Human Growth Hormone (HGH), which is vital for muscle repair and growth.

Other research studies have demonstrated links between reduced sleep and reductions in testosterone levels of between 10 and 15%.

Apart from beneficial effects on sexual function and reproduction, testosterone has important positive effects on muscle mass and strength, bone density, energy levels and general well-being.

Therefore, to improve recovery from training and to maintain general health and well-being, the proper quality and quantity of sleep is required. It’s often mentioned that the ideal amount of sleep is somewhere between 7 and 9 hours per night, although I’ve seen people (especially parents of newborns) who probably don’t get this amount of sleep in a week!  Most people get around 7 hours sleep per night, with a substantial portion of the population surviving on 6.5 hours or less.

The following are some simple ways to get more sleep.

Go to bed earlier! It’s not rocket science. For the majority of people, staying up late is a choice rather than a necessity. Nowadays there are many distractions that prevent us from getting our quota of sleep: work patterns, 24 hour television, internet and social media.

If you are serious about maximising your health and fitness, it would be a good idea to make getting a good night’s sleep a bigger priority than checking how many people liked your latest Facebook Post. Aim to be asleep around 11pm for best results.

Be Consistent. In an ideal world, it works best if you can go to sleep and get up at around the same time 7 days a week. The more consistent your sleep and wake times are, the less hormonal disruption you’ll experience. This in turn can make it easier to stay on track with nutrition and training.

Obviously, it can be a little more challenging if you’re a Party Animal who tends to crawl home at 4am at the weekend. Crawling home at 4am 7 days a week would be consistent although I’m not convinced it would be as effective.

Wind Down. Television and computer screens, as well as stressful situations can stimulate the brain, resulting in the release of stress hormones that are designed to keep us alert.

Replace these with a relaxing night-time ritual and let yourself unwind. Reading, listening to relaxing music, prayer or meditation can all help to de-stress at bed-time.

Avoid Sleeping on a Full Stomach. If your body is trying to digest a meal eaten just before bedtime, it is quite likely that it will disturb your sleep. Aim to stop eating approximately 2-2.5 hours before bedtime.

Sleep in a “Bat Cave” Light, noise, and electro-magnetic energy in your bedroom can all disturb sleep quality. Use black-out blinds, or an eye mask, remove or un-plug as many electric/electronic items as possible, use a battery-operated clock instead of a mobile phone as an alarm clock, and get that phone as far away from your head as possible while you sleep!

Sweet Dreams!

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At some point in time most people who have tried an exercise or diet plan will have experienced something along the following lines:

The initial part of the programme which is characterized by great enthusiasm and a lot of optimism. In this phase it is fairly easy to stay motivated and to stick to the plan of regular exercise and “healthy eating”. During this time it is quite normal to see some reduction in body weight, and in some cases this can be quite dramatic. This in turn increases the levels of motivation.

Phase 2 tends to see a reduction in these motivation levels. At this point, the weight loss may not be as spectacular and the food plan and training programme may start to feel a little monotonous. When this happens, many people will abandon the plan because they feel that the benefits are not worth the effort they’re putting in.

If you manage to make it this far, Phase 3 is what is commonly known as the Plateau. When you’re here, it feels like an exercise and nutrition Groundhog Day. Although you’re still eating the same food and doing the same training sessions at the same intensity, you’re not seeing any changes.

This is a very frustrating and puzzling situation for most people. How could a diet and training plan that served you so well for so long suddenly stop working?

The answer lies in the S.A.I.D principle, which I’ve discussed in previous articles. In order for us to see strength or body composition improvements, our training must make use of this Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands Principle. This merely says that our body will adapt to whatever demands are placed upon it. So in order to grow stronger or to lose body fat, these demands must increase gradually but continuously.

If your current plan has allowed you to lose body fat and drop a dress size, congratulations! It has worked. However if you continue on the same plan, you will merely get the same results: the same body shape, the same weight and the same fitness levels. Welcome to the Plateau!

If you want to see better results, you’ll have to use a different and better programme. Let’s look at some ways to mix it up and ensure that your progress continues.

Change that Programme!

It’s the simplest way to kick-start some changes in body shape. Too many people have been doing the exact same programme for years and contributing to Einstein’s (alleged) Definition of Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Making changes to your training is not rocket science. Let’s look at the example of someone who has done the same walk at the same pace every day for years. This individual can change the training effect by doing any of the following:

1. Walking faster and doing the same route in less time.
2. Increasing the distance of the walk.
3. Changing the route to something more challenging.
4. Alternating jogging and walking.
5. Alternating sprinting, jogging and walking.
6. Getting a bike and going for a cycle instead!

For the gym-based trainee there are probably thousands of variations that can be introduced to keep the body interested: different exercises, different grips on machines and free weights, different set, repetition and weight combinations. You can even alter the speed of movement or even the rest/recovery period between exercises. All of these changes are simple but are vital in ensuring continuous progress.

Know when to change.

Most people, if they change their training at all, will usually wait too long before doing so. The ideal time to do it is when you’re in “Phase 2”. In other words when your progress is slowing down. Not when it has stopped completely (“Phase 3”).

How will you know when to change? The answer is easy: by constantly monitoring your progress. This can be done by having regular body fat measurements or by recording your workouts in a training diary. As soon as you see that your progress is starting to slow down, then take some action to get things moving in the right direction.

Although that’s the more scientific way of achieving best results, a simpler rule of thumb is to change your exercise routine every 3-5 weeks, depending on how often you train.

Avoiding the dreaded Plateau is much simpler than many people realize. Just shake up your programme on a regular basis and enjoy the improvements!

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As I’ve mentioned previously, this is a fairly simple process. At its most basic level it’s a case of “Eat Less, Move More.” Although most people accept the “move more” part of the equation, the “eat less” side tends to cause problems.

While there are hundreds of different fat loss diets and nutrition plans, the underlying principle of all of them is that there is some degree of calorie control: in other words, you are usually required to eat less food than you’ve become used to.

Calories are important, but quality of food, and timing of meals also play a crucial part in the success of a healthy nutrition programme.

There are lots of clichés that try to highlight the importance of good nutrition compared to regular exercise: “You can’t out-train a bad diet” and “Abs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym” are 2 of the most common and they certainly contain an element of truth.

Over the last 14 years I have worked with many hundreds of people in group classes, as members of sports teams, and as individual personal training clients. My own experience backs up what all the research states: physical training, without a healthy nutrition plan to support it, is a very poor method of weight-loss.

I’ve lost count of the number of people who train hard but who refuse to address their poor food choices and eating habits. They may become fitter and stronger, but their body shape rarely changes to any significant degree. This can be very frustrating for both the client and the trainer.

However, I’ve also worked with many clients who could not train regularly due to illness or injury, but who lost a significant amount of body fat simply by improving the quality and quantity of their food.

The following are some of the methods that I use with clients who want to shape up. If weight loss is your goal, try them out. They work!

Record What you Eat.

It’s the item that I’ve found causes most resistance, but it’s also the item that is the greatest indicator of success. The clients who consistently complete a food and lifestyle diary get the best results. I see it all the time and research backs it up. The biggest advantage of keeping a food diary is that it creates awareness of our eating habits. Most people overeat due to the fact that they are distracted, and are almost on autopilot while eating. In a situation like this it’s very easy to over-eat. It’s also very easy to forget how much junk food you’ve consumed, and to convince yourself that you actually eat a very healthy diet!

For the hi-tech clients, there are lots of apps that can be downloaded to help you record what you eat, or you could take photos of each meal. Alternatively you can simply write it down in a notebook. Awareness of what you eat – compared to what you think you eat- is the first step to improving your diet.

Remember Beradi’s Law of Nutrition.

According to Dr. John Beradi of Precision Nutrition: “If a food is in your house, you will eventually eat it!” Most people realize that in order to lose weight and improve their health and fitness, they need to eat less processed and junk food and eat more protein, vegetables and fruit. That being the case, it would make a lot of sense to clear your cupboards and fridge of the junk, and replace it with all the healthier options. After all, you only ate that packet of biscuits and 3 chocolate bars last night “because they were there!”

Change One Thing At A Time.

It can take a while to develop a habit. Eating a healthy diet is not one single habit but rather a series of habits, which include planning, grocery shopping, food preparation and cooking. It can be overwhelming to try and do everything at once, so pick one item that you feel confident you can do successfully, and when that becomes a habit, move onto the next item. It may take a little longer, but this method will achieve more long-term success than any “crash diet”.

These simple strategies are a great first step to achieving long term health and fitness through nutrition. Starting with any one of them will also help you get the most from your training.

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However, even if your current diet doesn’t fit that ideal, there are still some ways that you can get the most from your food without piling on the pounds.

Chew Your Food. There’s a saying that “You Are What You Eat”. This is not quite true. A better version is “You Are What You Digest and Absorb.” Although it’s not quite as catchy, this saying is far more accurate.

Digestion, which is the breaking down of food, actually begins even before you start eating. In many cases the mere thought of eating can cause the release of saliva in the mouth which helps to break down food.

However, a much more significant way of breaking down food in the mouth is by chewing it well. The idea is to chew your food until it has a soup-like quality and this has a number of advantages: The very act of chewing will work your jaw muscles a little harder and burn a few extra calories.

By breaking down the food into smaller pieces, your stomach and intestines will then have an easier job breaking it into even smaller molecules. This extra chewing will also slow the time it takes to eat your meal and will usually result in your feeling full by the end of the meal.

Relax While Eating. This is another way to support the absorption of nutrients from food. Natural foods contain vitamins and minerals to help support our health. But they can only be released from food and taken into the body’s cells if the food has been properly broken down and we are in a relaxed state of mind.

Unfortunately the tendency nowadays is to eat on the go, while we are trying to do 3 or 4 other things at the same time. This leads to food being wolfed down, which tends to cause a stress response and means that the digestive system can’t function properly.

A better option is to take approximately 20 minutes to eat in a relaxed setting, where the focus is entirely on the meal. By allowing time to eat properly, the chances are that you will feel better and more refreshed to carry out your other tasks.

Slow Down. This is closely linked to the previous 2 points but it’s main purpose is to avoid over-eating. It’s been estimated that it takes approximately 20 minutes for the signal that you are full, to go from your stomach to your brain. If you are eating like your mouth is a vacuum cleaner, then the chances are that you will eat a lot more calories than you need before your brain gets the signal to walk away from the table.

A simple way of applying this method is to put your knife and fork down in between every mouthful. Eating in relaxed company (not a business lunch) can also help reduce the amount of calories consumed.

Choose Smaller Plates. Most of us were taught as kids to finish what was on our plates, and this type of conditioning can last into adulthood. By putting your food on smaller plates, you can reduce the amount of food you eat without feeling like you’re a disgrace to your Mammy.

Avoid Eating in front of a screen. These days it has become the norm to munch away while staring at a laptop, tv or mobile phone screen. The problem with this type of mindless eating is that our attention is captured by the screen and it almost guarantees that we will eat too much and too quickly. A much better option is to switch off, have your snack or meal and then resume your emailing/surfing or tv viewing.

All of the above are very easy to include in your daily eating habits and can help you get the most from your current diet, regardless of its quality.

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In the last twenty years the rate of change has increased at a mind-blowing pace, and technology is now moving so fast that phones and laptops seem to be out of date within weeks of being purchased.

The health and fitness industry has also been affected by this continuous evolution. It feels like we are bombarded on a weekly basis by claims that somebody has discovered the “ultimate” diet, exercise programme, or weight-loss supplement.

There have undoubtedly been huge improvements in training and nutrition strategies, especially at elite athlete level, but I sometimes feel that the constant search for the Holy Grail of weight-loss or training leads us to overlook what has worked in the past and will still work today.

In order to get better results for my clients – and because I’m a bit of a training/nutrition geek – I read lots of books, articles and research papers and attend many seminars and training courses. While most of the subject material is the very latest research, I also like to go “Old Skool” every now and again and read about methods that were employed by previous generations.

One of the books I’ve just finished reading is called “The Science of Being Well” written by a man called Wallace D. Wattles. This book was part of his “Science of” Trilogy which also included “The Science of Being Great” and “The Science of Getting Rich”. Wattles wrote the books in 1910 and although he died a year later relatively unknown, Rhonda Byrne has credited him as being one of the inspirations behind her hit film and book “The Secret.”

Even though he had no specific qualifications in nutrition, physical training or psychotherapy, many of the ideas that he put forward would now be considered as the basis of a healthy lifestyle and have been validated by recent research studies.

So let’s look at some of Wallace’s theories and see how information that’s over 100 years old can be applied to our modern lives.

Positive Thinking
As might be expected from the man who was a major influence on the writer of “the Secret”, Wattles was a big believer in the power of the mind to help create a healthy body. He believed that we are all created healthy and that it is through “unhealthy thoughts” that we create illness and disease. While this may be considered controversial and a little bit “out there”, it is interesting to note that modern science is now seeing a direct connection between how we think and our state of physical health.

It has been shown that “unhealthy”, negative thinking can increase stress levels. If this is allowed to continue on a long-term basis, it can cause dysfunction in many of the body’s systems, most notably the digestive system, and can also impair the immune system.

Brain scans have shown that when thinking positive or happy thoughts, the brain and nervous system are much more relaxed and the body works in a far healthier manner. Wallace’s advice to form a mental image of yourself as being in perfect health with abundant energy, is remarkably similar to “visualization” methods used by modern Sports Psychologists to help athletes to achieve their best performance.

Take Action
This is the slightly less “airy-fairy” part of the advice that can often be forgotten! Something similar happened when “The Secret” was released back in 2006. A lot of people thought it was simply a case of writing down what they wanted in life, thinking about it for 5 minutes a day and then expecting the items on their shopping list to simply arrive at their doorstep.

So thinking healthy thoughts is all well and good but as Wattles writes: “this healthy functioning will not continue unless a person performs the external, or voluntary functions of living in a healthy manner”.

Putting It Together
The 100 year old recipe for good health contains no surprises: eat natural whole foods including animal, fish, natural wholegrains, and plant-based foods. Drink only water and avoid sweetened and processed foods. He recommends that physical exercise should be done for enjoyment and to help energize the body. Add in a good night’s sleep to re-build the body and mind and you can see that what was good for Wattles a century ago still holds true today.

It’s been said that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Good health is timeless, so stick with what works!

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Allegedly, a mother brought her young son to see Gandhi because she wanted the Mahatma to tell him to stop eating sugar. After hearing her story, Gandhi sent them away and told them to come back in 2 week’s time.

2 weeks later the mother and son returned, and Gandhi said to the boy: “Stop eating sugar”. The mother was a bit annoyed at having to make 2 journeys to hear this basic instruction and asked him why he could not have said this to the boy 2 weeks ago.

Gandhi replied “Because 2 weeks ago I was eating sugar”. Even if the story is not 100% accurate, I believe that if you “Talk the Talk” you have to “Walk the Walk”.

Today, I’ll go through some aspects of training, nutrition, motivation and lifestyle that have worked for me over the years but, most importantly, I am using them now.

Motivation
 You could have the best nutrition and training programme in the world, but if you’re not motivated to use them, then they are useless to you. My main motivation in life is to stay energetic, healthy, fit and strong enough to be able to run a business, provide for my family and see my young daughters grow up.

In order to do all of the above, I have goals for work, strength/fitness and a list of things that I want to do and see with my family. These goals are written down, and I read them every morning and evening. As each item is achieved it is replaced by something else to aim for.

This is a fairly simple method that you can complete by taking a little time to think about what is really important in your life. Using this process I’ve discovered that some items that I thought were important to me, were not important at all and I was easily able to discard them. This in turn gave me the time and energy to concentrate on what is meaningful to me.

Training
My current training goals are to improve my strength in the squat, deadlift, bench press and chin-up, while maintaining my current body fat levels. In order to do that I weight-train 4 times per week and also do some high-intensity interval training. However, I let my recovery dictate the intensity and amount of training I do. I no longer beat myself up about missing a training session if I’m sick or feeling that the energy levels aren’t there to support a good workout. On days like that, I will simply do a lighter session, go for a walk, do some stretching/core work or have a day off if I’m really tired.

Nutrition
I tend to keep weight and body fat levels within a fairly narrow range. Although, like most people, I put on a certain amount of excess weight after holidays and “blow-outs”, my main motivation for eating as healthily as possible is not related to body composition.

When I eat well and avoid junk food, I feel better, I sleep better, I have more energy, more concentration, more motivation and tend to be in much better mood. These are far more important to me than mere numbers on a scales or a body fat calipers.

Healthy eating for me means 2-3 litres of filtered water per day, green vegetables with EVERY meal (yes breakfast as well!), some form of lean protein with every meal (breakfast again) and the absolute minimum amount of processed food.  My “treats”, which usually only happen at the weekends, consist of red wine, cheesecake, dark chocolate and, when I’m on a different type of “session,” Cider.

Lifestyle
The best and most under-used form of recovery is sleep. For a long time I was looking for the magic food or supplement that would give me more energy. The real reason I was tired was because I wasn’t sleeping enough. Now, I’m asleep most nights before 10.45pm and I get up between 5.45 and 6am feeling energetic enough to face the day.  I’ve also been meditating on a daily basis for the last number of months and have found it to be a great way to reduce stress levels and take the edge off the madness.

Try some or all of the above and see if they’ll work for you!

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