Flip the script.
Don’t think what is a good or bad food. Other than chewing asbestos or drinking brake fluid, most things we consume are not intrinsically bad for us.
Your body doesn’t see a burger with added cheese and a plate of chips as unhealthy, it sees it as a huge stack of macro and micronutrients. (Macronutients – Fat, Carbohydrates, Proteins. Micronutrients – vitamins, minerals, other compounds). Neither does it see an avocado and salmon salad as healthy. Again, it rapidly reduces it to things it needs and things it doesn’t.
The difference is that the burger probably contains more things that the body doesn’t need, whilst the salad probably contains more that it does.
And herein lies the crux of the matter. If you consume too much of anything, there are detrimental effects. And if you consume too little, ditto. Both lead to poor health, in different ways.
In a modern western society, for the majority of us, we are fortunate that a lack of macronutrients is not an issue. The quality of those macronutrients become a matter for debate and education, but not one for here. So, we mostly suffer from an excess, with the consequential effects of excess weight, poor health and reduced healthspan.
So flip the script. Concentrate less on what you eat, whether it is a “good or bad” food. Eat to move.
If you want to lose weight, eat a little less and move a little more.
If you want to gain weight, eat a little more and move to stimulate the body.
Simple in principle, challenging in practice.
If in doubt, or if you want a more detailed discussion, please do contact us or another qualified professional.
Make a start, the journey ends at the end, but is worth it every day.
Reflections
New year, old you.
My new calendar is shiny and beautiful, from a science communication group called Kurzgesagt. (a fabulous YouTube channel). But it is just a graphical representation of another year, and a tool to help me track and organise my time.
Therefore, the concept “new year, new you” is fundamentally pointless, since all you have done is turn a page. Subsequently expecting old habits, entrenched patterns and routines to change overnight will lead to probable failure, disappointment and for some, loss of internal esteem (“I have failed at this task therefore I am a failure”). Expecting to lose weight, exercise more, eat better, drink less, learn a language and read a book a week, all at the same time, is likely to prove impossible, especially when turning off the TV and getting to bed on time is a challenge.
I propose we drop this charade. Rather than starting afresh on a specific day, especially one often immediately following a period of excess, we would perhaps benefit from spending time first reflecting on what we want the outcomes to be, then look at what will lead to those, then pick a specific single goal and work towards that.
To help with this, I will be doing a sequence of posts covering simple tools and techniques that may help you first assess your goals, then progress towards achieving them.
Of course, none of this is specific medical or theraputic advice, it is all general, and if you feel that you need professional support, then please seek it, either via your GP, or the appropriate trained expert.
On: Growth
A period of termoil can be used as a point of growth, and development.
All things must change.
An opportunity to pause, reflect and learn.
Find that silence within the chaos and noise, breathe and listen.
Grow.
New Year, New Choice, New Chance.
A new year dawns, and we awake to new opportunities and choices.
A new day dawns and we awake to new opportunities and choices.
We get to choose, all the time.
Don’t wait for a calendar to tell you that now you can change, start today.
Don’t try and add a new thing to your life, cut something out.
Leave space for the universe to gift you.
Less TV, more learning. Less procrastination, more momentum. Less commitments, more breathing space.
Hodie Est Tempus Felix.
These are the good days.
On: Breathing
We all do it, 16 times a minute, it’s been written about on here before. But how much attention do you pay to it, as a messenger of your current internal state?
Start by putting your hands on your abdomen, and sniffing. You should feel your diaphragm move. If you have difficulty initiating belly breathing, this is a great technique to find it.
Breathe 10 slow breaths, in through the nose, controlled and slow out through the mouth. Focus on your diaphragm moving smoothly.
If you use this to do a quick body scan, you may find all sorts of areas of tension and holding that you were otherwise oblivious to. You can then note these to work on later, when you have mobility and movement practice.
As you become more adept, you will also notice when your breathing shifts, a cue to your internal stress levels, and a hint that your body is shifting gears for some reason. If you can pause, reflect and assess, it may help you focus on a message your body has been trying to tell you.
If you really want a challenge, pause your normal training for a week, and just focus on breath and mobility work. You may notice a significant improvement in your training when you return, not just from the rest and recovery you have allowed yourself, but in the way you are able to access other underlying systems.
Of course, if you find any areas of restriction or concern, see your general medical practitioner and come to us for further support, education and intervention.
Breathe. Live. Move.
On: The path to mastery
First there is apprenticeship. A period of learning the basics, preferably from a master. Often boring, often hard work, apparently pointless if you don’t understand the process.
Eventually, you move on, the masters think that you have learned enough to be safe, to go and independently continue to develop your skills. This is the journeyman phase, and can last many more years.
Eventually, you may achieve mastery of your chosen craft and are a craftsman. This doesn’t mean you can stop learning, merely that you are at an expert level.
However, within this is the fact that there are levels even in the mastery and many do not make it beyond journeyman.
You can see this is almost any domain, from programming to medicine, artist to bricklayer. There are a multitude of journeymen who can do a good job, competent, safe, knowledgeable. These people will provide the backbone, the core of work. They should be working toward mastery, honing, polishing, reflecting.
But you will know when you meet a true craftsman. There is the extra moment, the way they handle themselves and their tools, the way they can see a problem and frame a solution.
Aim to be a craftsman in all you do, and aim to work with as many craftsmen as you can. Find the best and mirror, watch not just what they do but what they don’t do. How they hold their hands, and how they hold their body. Listen to your own body and see if it is allowing you to do the job as efficiently. If you’re studying a more cerebral skill, such as programming or an art, look at the surrounding inputs, their environment and their basic toolset.
And then realise that that final element is a gift, one that they have succeeded in realising. But realise also that few find that final boundary, any hard work is rewarded.
Work hard, explore the boundaries and maximise your skills.
Optimise the body, upgrade the mind.
On: Consistency
You are what you do.
Not what you think, read, talk about or present online. They all play a role in your self talk, but they are not you.
You are what you do. Just as your body is made up of what you consume, your mind is as well.
Choose your inputs for your desired outputs.
Want to be functionally more effective? Model those who are, with applied thought. Want a different path? Observe, reflect, change and do.
Not everyone has the physiology to be an Olympic athlete, not everyone has the mental capacity to be a theoretical physicist, but you are far more capable than you think.
So find those current boundaries and explore them, supporting yourself with good inputs, solid relationships and measurable outputs.
We are here to help you start that journey, from physical therapies to starter PT concepts.
Upgrade the mind, optimise the body.
On: The cost of entry
You can do anything you put your mind to. Dream, believe, achieve. Hustle and grind. All of these are worthy motivational statements. And all ignore the cost of entry and the cost of continuation.
This is the effort, time and material required to even start on the path, and maintain momentum. If you want to set up a small business, there is the initial outlay for kit and materials, even if you are working from your kitchen table (often things you don’t expect), as well as the energy required to become proficient and the time required to learn business management. If you want to become a personal trainer, first you need to get qualified then find a stable clientbase. Become an astronaut or surgeon? Start planning from as young as possible because the baseline requirements are so high.
How does this apply to movement and motivation? If you want to start doing something active, the cost of entry doesn’t have to be high. You probably already have a pair of shorts, leggings, trainers and a top that will start and if you find something you enjoy, the cost of continuation will be low, since the cost / benefit equation is biased favourably.
Remove the roadblocks one by one and you will get there, wherever you define there to be.
On: Finishing
Start with the end in mind. Easily said, not always easily carried out. And sometimes you will never finish.
Putting up a shelf, yes. It may be technically challenging, if you don’t have the requisite skills, but it is specific and attainable.
When it comes to health and longevity, there is no endgame before death.
Instead, flip the problem.
Check in with each decision to see if it will contribute to the desired outcome (not dying early / staying healthy for longer). Smoking / Vaping? No. A third beer? No. A walk during your lunch break? Yes. Salad over chips? Yes. Making art over scrolling mindlessly? Yes.
We cannot change our genes, we can’t avoid the end, but we can influence the small things that add up.
Choose life every day, simplify and allow space for the universe to give you things.
We can get better
Because we’re not dead yet (Turner et al 2015)
You cannot remain in stasis. Even that requires the expenditure of energy, so with no input you will slip into slow decay.
Therefore, choose wisely. Put your shoes on. Expend energy in a positive direction. Get better at something. Move more, eat fewer junk snacks, spend less time scrolling mindlessly, spend more time reading and learning.
Make that choice every day. It’ll be worth it.
The Camford Clinic 
You must be logged in to post a comment.