Top 10 tips for a fit 2014
EVERY year we dive head-first into January with the best of intentions but all too often we don’t see the lasting changes we promise ourselves and deserve.
Here are my top 10 tips for making 2014 a game-changer for your health and wellness.
You need clear goals that have a deadline and a definite end result. I!f you keep changing your fitness goals you’ll never achieve any of them. Decide what you want, figure out how you can get there, and get to work.!
The diet industry is one that is very competitive and makes a lot of money. For that reason it makes sense for supplement companies and weight loss experts to overcomplicate the area of nutrition and supplementation.
In reality most of us will see massive improvements to the way we look, feel and move when we get back to basics with our nutrition. 100 years ago in Ireland obesity wasn’t an epidemic.
People weren’t obsessed with calorie counting, weighing and measuring foods, they just ate real food.! When we focus on cutting out processed ‘foods’ and instead rely on meats, seafood, fish, vegetables, nuts, seeds and other ‘single ingredient foods’ we optimise our hormones for health and optimal body composition.
The quality of the foods you consume is much more important than the quantities. Diet and low calorie foods are actually detrimental in that they are heavily processed.
A ‘low fat’ food will generally be higher in sugar which is the real culprit for our modern day health and wellness problems.
When you are dehydrated it’s impossible to function at your best and it’s also impossible to drop unwanted body fat.
Look to take in one litre of water per 25kg bodyweight.
This may seem a lot at first, but in conjunction with a clean diet of ‘real food’ it will help flush toxins out of the body and in turn stubborn body fat will disappear.
Most of us spend our days in a seated position, which leads to shortened muscles, lower back problems and rounded shoulders.
One of the things we all need to work on daily is mobility and flexibility.
Most will have a vague goal and working on some basic stretches and ‘foam rolling’ will loosen out the body which in turn will help improve performance and prevent injury.
When we see athletes or models on the television working out we’d often love to be able to mimic their intense workout routines, but we first need to look at our base levels of fitness.
If you’ve been sedentary for a long time, you need to build up to doing these advanced routines.
Progressive overload is key. This means you start at a comfortable pace, and build upon this each day. Small improvements over time lead to lasting change.
Far too often, and particularly in January, you see ‘eager beavers’ throwing themselves in at the deep end and either becoming burnt-out or injured, from doing too much too soon.
A 20-minute brisk walk might be your starting point for improving your general fitness. Add a few minutes a week and before long you will work up to a jog, then a run.
Consistency is key.
I’m a massive advocate of strength training. This helps to maintain muscle mass, which begins to disappear as we age.
The more muscle we can hold on to, the more calories we will burn in everyday living.
Strength training also results in a great hormonal effect on the body. Our anabolic hormones that leave us looking, feeling and moving better, become optimised, and the catabolic hormones that leave us feeling burnt-out are diminished. Ladies — take note, weight training will not make you bulky.
Women just don’t have the hormones to pack on a lot of muscle. It will, however, give you the athletic feminine look you’ve been chasing.
Take at least 20 minutes a day to relax and unwind. Read a book, meditate, go for a walk, have a massage, whatever it is that makes you happy and lets you ‘switch off’ and relax.
Coming up to bedtime is a great time to do this. Try to switch off the television and laptop an hour before bed. Remember being exposed to these artificial lights late will make it harder to unwind. Dim the lights if you can, have a cup of tulsi tea, unwind and just relax.
This could be a coach or a training partner, someone who is going to keep you accountable to your goal. Let them know exactly what you are trying to do and have them promise you they will do everything they can to help you on your way toward your goal. If completing your first triathlon is a goal, then find someone who’s done it before you. This will take out the guesswork and instil you with confidence. Success leaves clues. No point reinventing the wheel, work with someone who’s already done what you are looking to do.
If all the fat loss pills and potions out there did what they promised, we’d all be walking around looking like models. Nutrition, sleep and training are key to optimal body composition. Supplements add an extra few per cent to the overall picture if you are doing everything else right, but most supplements are garbage or ‘expensive urine’.! I would recommend supplementing with a ‘green’ drink like wheatgrass, which helps alkalise the body and provide key nutrients.
If you join the gym every January and hate it, then don’t join the gym this year. Far too many people get stressed out by having to go to the gym and are under enough stress in everyday life without having to add to it. Find something you enjoy. As long as you are getting out and getting active, you will see improvements to the way you look, move and feel. I would encourage people to find a form of training with a social element. When making changes it’s important that we are around like-minded individuals who will help move us forward.
- Pat Divilly is a gym owner, author and motivational speaker from Galway. His book 21 Day Jump Start — a training and nutrition plan — is available in Easons nationwide and at easons.ie.
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