CHAPTER 4
CHANGE THE SIMPLE THINGS
Sometimes it’s the very basic things we have far more control over changing that can offer us the biggest impact on how we feel. It is these small changes that make a profound and lasting difference.
Good health generates many things, and what I want to make perfectly clear is that I do not profess to know everything there is to know about nutrition. It is a minefield out there and information changes every day, as I am sure you are aware if you’ve ever tried to search something health related on Google. Quite frankly it could scare you to death just reading that stuff! One minute there are trends and everyone’s on the bandwagon for a certain type of diet that is a cure for all, and then a year later it’s going to kill you! I have so many confused clients who say they don’t know what to eat and what not to eat.
What I can share is over 15 years’ clinical experience with clients from all over the world, with just about every ailment known to man, and the basic ingredients to gain better health the way I know it. One of the most important lessons I know to be true and one that I share regularly is do not wait for your alarm call! Do not wait for something to go wrong in your body before you start really taking care of your beautiful brilliant self. Prevention is far better than cure and the slope to wellness is a small incline rather than Mount Everest. On the other hand, if you are suffering and you have the drive and/or need to get well, there is so much hope. When you have hope you have everything, and one of the reasons I love talking to large audiences is because so many people do not realize how possible – and sometimes dare I even say ‘easy’ – it is to get themselves back on track.
The question I ask everyone is this: ‘How would you like to look and feel every day?’ Energetic, happy, glowing, calm, healthy, focused, vibrant, and in control are amongst the many words that get thrown back at me. We all want to look and feel our best all the time, so why not create a life where you can be just as you wish. You will have down days, hard days, feel not so well days, but if you knew the basic ingredients to gain back your health, correct your hormones, make your digestive system function normally again, rid yourself of migraines, diabetes, and muscle aches and pains, then surely you would do whatever it takes?
Often new clients they can be quite resistant to change. The number of people that are completely terrified to sacrifice what they love to get well is surprising. In my experience it is not so much down to willpower, but addiction, be it sugar, alcohol, bad fats, etc. It’s not necessarily the person’s fault, well not directly anyway. You see they are often so deficient in minerals and vitamins that the only way they think they can feel any better is to eat what they love. So when they eat five chocolate bars a day, initially they get a high and feel better, and then they crash. I will explain more about the importance of maintaining balanced blood sugar levels later. The way I would work with a client that has these types of deficiencies and addictions is to remove very little from their diet in the beginning but add the good stuff instead. When I do eventually ask them to cut down or remove completely a food that they thought they adored, it is then less of a struggle to take away that particular food because they are nutrient rich, and their bodies are feeling naturally more satisfied.
I am guessing you realize that the body system is pretty complex? If you sit down and think about every process that’s going on in your body right this very second it will probably freak you out. The human body is literally a miracle and I find it incredibly fascinating. Almost 99% of the mass of the human body is made up of six elements: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus. Only about 0.85% is composed of another five elements: potassium, sulphur, sodium, chlorine, and magnesium.
The human body is made up of over a 100 trillion cells and each and every one of those beauties wants to do its best to look after you.
Cells are the basic building blocks of all living things. They provide structure for the body, take in nutrients in the form of food, convert those nutrients into energy, and each one carries out specialist functions. They also protect the body from toxic invaders and try to keep us safe from harm. Your cells are amazing! And you need to look after them.
Being well equipped with good fuel is essential before you can start to feel improvements in your willpower and va‐va‐voom. There are some extremely easy things you can do almost instantly to change your mood. If you implemented these few things into your daily regime the difference it could make is enormous. Also, if you are going to do something and you fully understand why you are doing it then that particular thing is going to be so much easier and less challenging. Remember knowledge is power!
Hydrate Yourself with Water
Yes, I know you know this. It’s obvious and everyone talks about it, but do you actually know why we need to stay hydrated? Even a small decline in your body’s hydration can make things very difficult for you. Straight away your focus starts to weaken, you can feel dizzy and confused, your heart can beat in weird rhythms, and you can begin to feel tired. Your concentration levels decline, and you can feel low in mood and energy. Some people experience headaches, and a dry mouth, but whatever your symptoms, you need to know that being dehydrated is bad for anyone and everyone. If you suffer from allergies such as asthma or hay fever you need to take even more care of hydration. Dehydration causes the body to produce more histamine and asthmatics have excessive levels of histamine in their lung tissue which can cause bronchoconstriction and increased mucus build‐up in the lungs, making the airways more restricted.
If you suffer from allergies, being dehydrated will also make symptoms such as coughing, sneezing, and runny eyes and nose worse.
Water is God’s wine! Whatever your beliefs it’s as natural as it comes and water is really the only drink we should be having throughout the day if we want gorgeous skin, incredible brain power, better circulation, fabulous digestion, greater absorption, and more excretion. Yes, if you are constipated it’s quite possible this is why. You don’t have to reach for over‐the‐counter medication. You simply drink more water and eat more fruits and vegetables. I’ve seen so many people in my clinics over the years that are chronically constipated when all they need is more fluids (fruits and vegetables are sometimes as much as 96% water). Not having regular bowel habits can cause all sorts of havoc in your gorgeous systems. Your skin can get breakouts as the toxins back up in your body, you can get puffiness around your eyes and even skin rashes. You become bloated and uncomfortable and lose your healthy appetite. It can also give you bad breath and a bad taste in your mouth resulting from overgrowth of toxic gut bacteria which work their way back up right into your mouth. Yuk! Stress is also a major factor for constipation but staying well hydrated can really help.
Try not to reach for drinks that will dehydrate you further, such as fizzy soda, beer, wine and spirits, hot chocolate, coffee, sweet tea, and energy drinks. If you don’t like plain water, then why not add something healthy to make it taste more refreshing, such as lemons, limes, mint, ginger, or cucumber? Lemon in water provides extra health benefits such as adding vitamin C which is a primary antioxidant that helps protect cells from damaging free radicals. It helps reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke and lowers blood pressure. It aids your digestion, flushes out your kidneys, and helps prevent kidney stones. It can also help keep your liver clean, which is essential for the optimal functioning of your body. It can improve muscle and joint pain and encourage natural bowel movements, which will make you automatically feel lighter and more energized.
NOTE: Never add extra sugar to your water with citrus fruits, as this is a potential dental disaster! If you are worried about the enamel on your teeth try drinking through a straw.
Limes have virtually the same benefits as lemons; it’s just a case of personal preference. Both are acidic outside of the body but help to balance our bodies’ natural pH when consumed internally. How much you have depends on personal taste, but the juice of even one a day will have benefits such as reducing the risk of some types of cancers. Recent studies have shown links between citrus fruit consumption and diminished risk of oesophageal cancer, although more research is required but it’s definitely food for thought. Limes are also high in antioxidants and can help with the appearance of your skin. The limonin found in limes can help prevent the accumulation of streptococcal bacteria, so including limes in your daily water may help stop these harmful organisms from developing and prevent bacterial illnesses.
Cucumber in water is not just for your spa day anymore. It has real health benefits and if you are not slicing these green gems daily and adding them to your H2O then it’s time to start. It helps prevent cell damage as it’s rich in vitamin C, beta‐carotene, manganese, vitamin K, magnesium and vitamin B1. It’s great for your muscles, helps transport calcium to your bones, amazing for your skin as it contains silica, and helps lower blood pressure due to the potassium content. It boosts weight loss as it can curb your appetite due to the high number of vitamins and minerals it contains; therefore it can leave you feeling more satisfied than just water on its own.
Not only does mint add a great flavour to water, but it has many health benefits which extend much further than just digestive help, although the benefits for this are immense. Mint is thought to increase bile secretion and encourage bile flow, which not only speeds up and eases digestion, but also supports healthy cholesterol levels. It can also help relieve pain and discomfort from gas and bloating; in addition, it contains an anti‐inflammatory agent called rosmarinic acid which helps with pain and inflammation, both topically and internally, and can also improve allergy symptoms.
Fresh ginger root contains active enzymes, so helps massively in relieving nausea and settling most stomach complaints including vomiting. It helps to regulate high sugar levels, soothes the stomach, and improves absorption of the nutrients and minerals.
You can even have a ‘flat tummy water’ recipe!
- For 6 cups of filtered water –
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- 1 cucumber sliced
- 1 lemon sliced
- 1/3 cup mint leaves
Let the mixture infuse overnight and drink the next day!
Water is amazing! Your 100 trillion cells need it.
There are no hard and fast rules on how much you need as there are differences of opinion. I would say it depends on your size and weight, your activity level, and where you live – if the climate is hot or cold, etc. The general rule of thumb is that 8 x 8 ounce glasses (which equals about 2 litres per day, or half a gallon) can be consumed. This is called the 8 x 8 rule and is very easy to remember, although if you know you are the type of person that drinks nothing, then build up slowly increasing your amount week by week. It is a fantastic habit to get into though. Try it today. If you get that afternoon slump, instead of reaching for the biscuits, reach for the water and drink a full glass. The difference it will make to how you feel and how your brain functions is extraordinary. You become alert, awake, and brain‐energized once more. So, add those lovely natural flavours to your water, and do anything you can to get it down the hatch!
NOTE: Try to always drink water from a glass bottle and not plastic. Plastic is dangerous and harmful to your health because BPA (a component found in plastics) is a hormone disrupter that has been linked to hormone imbalances, toxicity, inflammation, and even cancer. There are dozens of other chemicals that are potentially dangerous too, affecting the endocrine system and fertility and increasing toxicity within your body. You can buy glass bottles from all major supermarkets now and it’s the safest way. Normally, when your bottle undergoes any type of temperature change, whether it’s in the car and the car gets hot, or it’s put in a fridge to get really cold, that’s when the chemicals can leach out. Everything is about choice, and not only is glass a better choice for your health, it’s also a good environmental decision.
Eat Some Fats!
Think Mediterranean! Olive oil drenched over tomatoes and garlic! Mmmm! No wonder people who live there, live so long! Let’s get one thing clear … eating fat does not make you fat. At least not the good fats. Let’s get a good perspective on what is a good fat and what isn’t. For years I have had people telling me they cannot eat nuts or avocados because they are on a diet, but they can eat some no‐nutrient slimming bar with a heap of rubbish in. The message is so wrong! You know as well as I do that if you sat there night after night gorging yourself on bacon, sausages, burgers, pies, cheese, cream, butter, pastries, cakes, and biscuits you would feel sluggish and gain weight, not to mention raise your chances of a heart attack. The reason that that men over 45 and women over 55 are far more likely to have a heart attack than their younger counterparts is because, over time, plaque build‐up thickens and stiffens artery walls, which can inhibit blood flow through your arteries to your organs and tissues. The most common cause of heart disease is atherosclerosis, and it is correctable.
I was at a seminar recently listening to a cardiologist talk about the problems we face as a society in relation to heart disease, and how preventable so many heart conditions are. People could avoid life‐threatening surgery if they only addressed a few things such as unhealthy diet, being overweight, smoking, or lack of exercise. Four things! That’s it! This is not rocket science and it’s not hard to know what contains bad fats. Have you ever cooked bacon, and left some on the kitchen side for a few hours where the dripping fat hardens to room temperature? It’s a solid white mass of yuck. And that is what is settling in your beautiful artery walls, when they should be free flowing … just like the river I told you about. Without flow, we do not go!! Did you know that the World Health Organization has classified processed meats – including bacon, salami, ham, and frankfurters – as a group 1 carcinogen. In other words, there is strong evidence that processed meats cause cancer. At last, after years of research they have finally come to a conclusion that people may listen to. The government is now under pressure to add labels to these types of meat in the same way they had to put warnings on packets of cigarettes about the dangers of smoking.
There are so many things I could say that are important if you are going to start making changes to your diet in order to improve your health. Taking away the bad fats and including good fats in your regime is one of the very best things you can do. Fat is a crucial part of your diet and this should be one of your health goals every day. If you avoid fat altogether you will cause damage. Each and every beautiful cell in your body is crying out for you to ingest fat! But so often, day after day, it’s deprived and depleted. I see it with my clients all the time. The good fats are known as essential fatty acids and are beneficial and vital for our well‐being.
Have you ever suffered from any of the following?
Constipation, dry skin, weight gain, low energy levels, brittle hair and hair loss, poor nail growth, deterioration of liver and kidneys, depression, inability to sleep, low immune system, digestive issues, inflammation and bloating, allergies, and low libido? The chances are you are very deficient in good fats.
The human body cannot make omega 3 on its own so you’ve got to lend it a helping hand. Without it, you will not function properly. The 100 trillion cells I keep banging on about rely on omega 3 in order to do their job properly in forming a healthy membrane that surrounds each cell. Your cells have to be permeable in order to let the good stuff in and the bad stuff out, and also to perform millions of other functions in your heart, blood vessels, lungs, immune system, hormones, endocrine system, brain, retina, and sperm cells. I treat more people now than ever before for infertility issues, and this is one of the first things I will talk to them about.
Remember, if you have healthy cells, you have a healthy body. Simple!
It is suggested that we need between 250 and 500 milligrams daily of omega 3 to function optimally. It’s found naturally in fish such as salmon, tuna, herring, sardines, and mackerel, and other seafoods, but we have a massive problem with polluted water, which makes fish perhaps not the best choice anymore. So you need to find healthier alternatives. Fats are found in abundance in nuts and seeds, such as flaxseeds, chia seeds, and walnuts. Also plant oils such as flaxseed oil, soybean oil, and canola oil. Algae supplements also have good supplies. It’s essential to get a good supply of these fats because so much can be affected in your body if you don’t. If you include omega 3 in your diet it’s going to be a huge help in protecting you from cardiovascular disease, cancer prevention, Alzheimer’s disease, age‐related macular degeneration, dry eye disease, and rheumatoid arthritis, plus many other ailments.
Omega 6 fatty acids are also essential, so you need to obtain these from your diet too. These fats are primarily used for energy. Although omega 6 fats are essential we have to be careful not to consume too much of them. I know, it’s so confusing! The reason for this is that these fats have been known to increase inflammation if you consume too much in comparison to omega 3. The recommended omega 6 to omega 3 ratio is 4:1. Before we relied so heavily on processed foods, we consumed them both in equal measures. When we eat from nature, as we were intended to, we got what we needed from the plants, algae, nuts, and seeds and our bodies were clever enough to distribute it as they saw fit. I think our deficiencies and incorrect ratios have a great deal to do with the rise in asthma, coronary heart disease, cancer, autoimmunity, and neurological disease, as they are all believed to stem from inappropriate inflammation in the body.
I would suggest that the best plan is to follow an anti‐inflammatory diet, based on plants and wholefoods that are more alkalizing to our systems. Our bodies are super smart but need help if we are to survive in this Western culture. We walk into a supermarket and everything is presented so nicely, and the packaging tells us that its ‘healthy’ and ‘good for us’, and the dieters amongst us see ‘low calorie’ this, and ‘sugar‐free’ that. It’s like showing a magpie shiny objects continuously.
We are drawn to things that look great, when actually what we really need to be doing is taking everything back to basics.
If we want to eat fish, go catch it; if we want to eat cake, go bake it; if we want to eat fruit, grow it; if we want to eat vegetables, plant them. This is something I am very passionate about. So many people that I have seen over the years have turned their health around simply by eating what our grandparents and their parents before them were eating. Cut out the fast food, the take‐aways, the white bread, the crisps and chocolate, and voila … your body could just start functioning properly again!
Omega 6 is just as important for our body functioning as omega 3 – protecting the heart, for example – we simply don’t need quite so much of it. The healthiest food choices to get omega 6 are flaxseed oil, hempseed oil, grapeseed oil, and pumpkin and sunflower seeds. Also pistachios, pine nuts, borage oil, evening primrose oil, and acai berries.
So, to set this straight, the body needs omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids, but cannot make them, which is why we need to eat foods which contain them and why they are called ‘essential’. Omega 9, on the other hand, is described as ‘non‐essential’, because our bodies can synthesize it from other things that we eat. Omega 9 may benefit your health by helping to lower the bad cholesterol and raise the good and may also play a role in helping to control blood sugar. The foods these fats can be found in are olives, extra virgin olive oil, sesame oil, avocados, and nuts such as almonds, pecans, cashews, pistachios, hazelnuts, and macadamia nuts. All these help to keep the body in good balance.
The benefits of including omegas 3, 6, and 9 are endless. They can increase our energy and stamina, help decrease cravings, and burn calories. They prevent heart disease and decrease inflammatory disease such as arthritis. They can massively help with inflammatory bowel disease, hormonal function and PMS. Your brain is over 60%, so what do you think is going to happen if you increase your consumption of the right fats? It’s going to improve your nervous system, help alleviate any feelings of depression and memory lapses, and make you feel alert and positively clever! They also assist in transporting minerals that keep bones and teeth strong, helping to prevent osteoporosis, and have antifungal properties, staving off infections. Not only that, they regulate gene expression which in turn inhibits tumour growth. And as far as beauty goes, if you want to stay looking young, get on the omega‐popping bandwagon, because without it you may gain a few more wrinkles! It has been proven to give you clearer, younger looking skin, strong nails and shiny hair. And it’s a lot cheaper than Botox!
Quick Fact About Fats
Fats such as butter, margarine, and lard become toxic once heated or exposed to light or air. It is suggested that coconut oil is perhaps the safest fat to cook with, but it’s debatable whether there are any other oils that are meant to be solid. It’s also worrying that many oils are sold in plastic containers, which have been proven to leak toxins from the plastics into the oils. The containers do not protect the oils from the light or the heat either, making them extremely unhealthy. Research has been done on this subject that suggests this could be contributing to degenerative disease. At the same time, other research has been done linking high‐quality, cold pressed omega oil blends with the prevention and recovery from degenerative disease.
These are some other recommended oils:
Udos Choice: this is a carefully chosen blend of omegas 3, 6, and 9 in the correct ratios. It contains active lignans, antioxidants, and anti‐inflammatory elements and benefits every cell in the body.
Coconut oil: this has undergone quite a bit of scrutiny recently. Personally, I love it, but it’s like everything, use in moderation. If you are an athlete, you can consume more; if you have a very sedentary life, you need very little per day. I think it has many health benefits, such as helping to lose fat, better brain function, killing bacteria and viruses, and it can be used as a beauty product to moisturize the skin. It helps the absorption of other nutrients, although I would not suggest you eat it to excess, as it does contain a type of fat that can increase cholesterol levels, but at the same time it does have fabulous antioxidant properties. Coconut oil helps boost your metabolism, giving you more energy throughout the day and eating it straight from the jar can actually help anti‐inflammatory issues such as arthritis. It is classed as a superfood because of its many benefits. You can also use it to cleanse the mouth and treat gum disease by a method called ‘pulling’. This involves swishing a tablespoon of oil in your mouth on an empty stomach for up to 20 minutes. This action supposedly draws toxins out to improve oral health, but it is said to be beneficial for general health too.
Blue/green algae: when you consume algae foods such as chlorella, spirulina, and E3Live you are essentially eating what fish eat and therefore getting all the minerals, enzymes, and vitamins you need as well as an abundance of the essential omega 3 and 6 fatty acids. This is a much more natural food for you to consume, and due to the high chlorophyll content in the E3Live product, it helps to combat many diseases and supports the immune system in an amazing way. E3Live is said to be one of nature’s most complete and nutrient‐dense superfoods, and a great supplier of the fats that you need to support your body in order to have a long healthy life.
Feed Your Body with Oxygen – It’s Called Exercise!
Every disease known to man can be helped and possibly successfully battled (am I allowed to say that?) by increasing circulation, body temperature, and adding oxygen. The body has two circulation systems, one for the lymphatic system, which helps to provide nutrients including oxygen and carries off wastes. The other system is for the blood, which is lucky enough to have a pump called your heart. Your lymphatic system needs your help in the form of exercise. It needs jigging about like a human shaker to get everything moving and stimulated. If the lymph does not circulate then the tissues suffocate by sitting in the stagnation of their own acidic waste products.
If your health is below par, try and gather whatever energy you can, get outside, and get moving. I hope that doesn’t sound too harsh, but less than a third of the population exercises adequately, and I have seen first‐hand that this not only affects your waistline, but your emotions, biochemistry, immune system, and rate of ageing. Stagnation and lack of movement can lead to disease. It has been proven over time that aerobic exercise, due to inhaling increased amounts of oxygen, will dramatically increase the pace of recovery for most patients who are suffering from a disease, let alone provide enormous benefits to those of you that are blessed with good health already. Resistance exercise such as weightlifting, or using your own body weight, as in yoga, not only forms a healthy functional muscular structure, but also solidifies and strengthens the skeletal system. In both cases the positive effects are numerous, extending mental functionality and feelings of good mood.
If a person exercises, they will naturally have increased positivity and less tendency to procrastinate. Their self‐esteem will be higher because they feel good in themselves and it can quickly change and improve your body shape. The strength that you gain makes you stand taller, have fewer aches and pains, and will enhance movement. Exercise also makes you feel sexier and more alive. It’s so important in this age of busy lifestyles to help our bodies manage stress. We as humans are not meant to lead sedentary lifestyles. We are limiting the body so much, on a daily basis, that when some of us do eventually try to do things without the correct preparation, we end up getting injured … and so we give up. Joint operations on knees, shoulders, and hips are at an all‐time high. I have a friend that has had over 13 operations on his knee, just to correct surgery. I am not for one moment knocking the amazing surgeons for the jobs they do. They improve people’s quality of life every day and it’s wonderful. What I am concerned with is the lack of knowledge and sporadic training that I see with many clients. They have great intentions, but the stop‐start approach is dangerous as its doesn’t build up the muscles well enough to be able to cope with the activity. Plus, if we are not getting the correct nutritional intake, and the body is challenged by malnutrition, it’s a recipe for disaster.
Centuries ago we would be moving every day, farming, digging, sewing, baking, making … this offered us the full spectrum of aerobic and weightlifting exercise that is a prerequisite for health. Abnormal standing, leaning, sitting, and resting increased as the Industrial Revolution began in the nineteenth century. Many people started to migrate to cities and work situations began to change. Our world began to restrict the use of our bodies, making us weaker. Lack of body use, eating more processed foods and ready meals, gaining weight, and feeling depressed have paralysed the population, including the young.
I am at massive risk of sounding like a crazy old person here, but it breaks my heart when I see and hear of kids spending endless hours, days, months, years of their precious time playing sedentary computer games. It’s criminal that they have no idea that they are being robbed of their childhood … their true imagination, the art of make‐believe, and the lack of violence. I sincerely believe it is behind many of the mental health issues that we see amongst our young. Never before in my clinics have I seen so many depressed teenagers and young children. I know the pressure on them is enormous right now, and the pressure of obtaining good grades in exams is partly to blame. As is the endless pressure of celebrity ‘perfect bodies’ and social media, with its ‘got to live up to that perfect life’ existence. It’s coming at them from all angles, so if you have children, you’ve got to play your part in helping to break this cycle.
It’s not that they have to stop completely, or that they need to drop out of conforming to society. I love to watch a good film with my children and snuggle up on the sofa. We all spend a considerable amount of time on social media both for business and keeping up with friends, and my son plays Xbox from time to time. But … I always make sure that they are doing some form of exercise every day, even if it is just an hour’s walk with our little dog. The basic fact is we all need to spend time outdoors. It’s not just about going to the gym and working out in artificial lighting and air‐conditioned rooms. I have worked in many hot climates over the last few years and I still can’t believe how many people are deficient in vitamin D. They can live in one of the most sun‐drenched places on the planet and are still deficient in the very vitamin they could get the most of. Why? Because many of them spend hours in air‐conditioned homes, then get into their air‐conditioned cars, and go to air‐conditioned gyms. So they are not getting the chance to absorb this life‐enhancing vitamin. And that is exactly what’s happening to our children, and to us adults that work at office computers all day sitting on our butts.
We need to move! And shake it all about! When the body is not fuelled with oxygen and has no movement it gets stagnant, like a dirty old pond! You know, at first it looks clear and rich in health. Then, slowly, a build‐up of algae starts to happen, the water becomes murky and toxic‐looking, and before you know it not much can live in there. When your body is stagnant it is a prime environment for dis‐ease to manifest! Yes dis‐ease, meaning disharmony within our bodies. Things start to go wrong, you feel pain or discomfort somewhere, you feel lifeless and lethargic, and you don’t want to do much.
If I were to tell you there is a drug I can give you that is free, and will help prevent sleep disorders, memory malfunctions, heart disease, blood pressure, infertility, erectile dysfunction, cancers, obesity, diabetes, fatigue, depression, and so much more, what would you do? Take it? Yes of course you would. This drug is called exercise! We spend billions of dollars and pounds worldwide on health care dispensing medicines, running tests, researching illnesses. What about this simple prevention method? All you need is a starting base of 30 mins per day five times a week. I know for some people that may be a lot, but in the grand scheme of hours in your day it’s nothing. It has to be a priority because exercise can help prevent, alleviate, or treat almost every disease state. You also need to be doing at least one and a half hours of weight training per week as a minimum. And if you are over 40 you need to be stretching for at least 30 minutes every single day! Without exception.
Take depression as a classic example. If you are exercising it produces changes in the part of the brain that regulates stress and anxiety. It also increases brain sensitivity for the hormones serotonin and norepinephrine, which relieves feelings of low mood. It increases the production of endorphins, which are known to help produce positive feelings and reduce the perception of pain. In the film Legally Blonde, when Elle is becoming a lawyer and is trying to prove her client’s innocence, she says, in some of the most memorable lines in the movie: ‘Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy and happy people just don’t shoot their husbands.’ Classic! Hilarious, but many a true word is spoken in jest!
Weight loss is easier when reducing calorie intake because it increases your metabolic rate which in turn burns more calories, helping you to lose weight. Combining aerobic exercise or cardiovascular exercise with resistance training, such a push‐ups, sit‐ups, or weights can maximize fat loss and help tone and strengthen muscles. Having better conditioned muscles gives you stronger bones, preventing osteoporosis. It gives you a better posture, which allows the body to flow properly! Not stagnate. Exercise can significantly improve energy levels, even for those suffering from fatigue. It reduces your risk of chronic disease and it can help you look amazing. Regular moderate exercise can also increase your body’s production of natural antioxidants which help protect your cells. It helps stimulate blood flow, improves brain function, and protects memory and thinking skills. To begin with it increases your heart rate, which promotes the flow of blood and oxygen to your brain. Then it stimulates the production of hormones, that can enhance the growth of brain cells and causes the hippocampus (a part of the brain that’s vital for memory and learning) to grow in size.
It has also been shown to reduce changes in the brain that can cause Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia. When you exercise your sleep quality is better because the energy depletion that occurs during exercise stimulates recuperative processes during sleep. Just 150 minutes of light to moderate exercise per week has been shown to provide up to a 65 per cent improvement in sleep quality. For many years the recommendation for chronic pain was rest. Now, exercise is being used to help control pain such as a lower back pain, fibromyalgia, and soft tissue disorders, partly because it can raise pain tolerance and reduce pain perception.
Engaging in regular exercise has a benefit that I don’t think any of us will argue with. Due to strengthening the cardiovascular system, improving blood circulation, toning muscles, and enhancing flexibility, it can not only improve your sexual performance and sexual pleasure, it increases the frequency of sexual activity. So what’s not to love?
The bottom line is this: exercising regularly is one of the best things you can do for your health. Within days of starting to exercise you will notice a difference in how you feel. Work out a way that you can incorporate regular exercise into your daily routine and try to create a plan that is realistic for you. Having an exercise buddy (I have three girlfriends that I regularly run with – without them I would stay in bed on dark winter days, but they would literally freak out! Having them in my ear on days when I feel like I just want an extra 10 minutes in bed is beyond brilliant. I am grateful for them every day as we spur each other on, not only to get to the starting point of the run, but to do more mileage, different routes, longer runs, etc.). If you have someone to be accountable to if you don’t turn up, it’s a far greater incentive than being a lone wolf. On the other hand, if you have a crazy busy job, and exercise is your solitude, then it’s probably best you work out alone.
You need to work out what is better suited to your lifestyle and what your own needs are. The other key factor to regular successful exercising is making it a routine … part of your daily life. I always do my cardio workout first thing in the morning. I like it because I feel it sets me up mentally for the day and makes me feel vibrant and energized. Some people can’t do it until later in the day because of time restraints, but whatever you do, try to get your regular routine going so each week you know where you are and when you are going to be doing it. Your body will begin to crave more, because it feels soooo good! Last, but by no means least, make it fun. The more you love it, the more likely you are to do it. If you love music and dancing, then go for that. Whatever takes your fancy. Experiment with different exercises and see what brings you the most joy and happiness and embrace it. It could just save your life.
Mindful Exercise
Resting and creating peace with meditation and yoga can have a profound and transformative effect on your health. I think a lot of us, and I included myself in this category for many years, think that if we are charging around and getting a million things achieved in one day, we are completely brilliant. Well, yes, on one hand we are, but on the other hand it’s going to have consequences eventually. Resting the mind and the body is just as important as the food that we eat, the exercise we take part in, and the company we surround ourselves with.
It also makes me wonder why most of the classes I attend are female dominated. Men that do yoga have amazing physiques, and personally I don’t think there is anything sexier than seeing a man lay down his tools after work, get a pair of sweatpants on, and perform yoga for two hours. There are plenty of macho guys that are taking up yoga as a regular practice, because they can see and feel the benefits this amazing sport can bring them, but if you are a guy reading this book and you haven’t given yoga a chance, go check it out, because if you think it’s just for girls, it really isn’t. The physique you can get from regular yoga is incredible and powerful. Using your own body weight to create muscle is probably the safest and most effective way to tone up, but the peace that it creates in your headspace is the bit that I want to focus on. Things are changing rapidly in society, and certain practices are becoming more mainstream and acceptable.
Teaching yoga in schools, for example, is becoming more widely accepted; and in prisons for both inmates and officers it’s producing incredibly positive results. Can you imagine a world where everyone had to start their day off with an hour of yoga? I believe that if it was mandatory to go to work and be forced to take part in 30 minutes of stretching and weight‐bearing yoga and half an hour of guided meditation on lifting your own vibration and positivity the world would be an extremely different place to live. So, I get down on my knees and beg you, please just have a go. Maybe try at least four different types of yoga before you settle on a class that you love. There are many different styles and types, and some may suit you more than others.
Hatha yoga: this is a classic approach to breathing and exercise and is a great entry point for beginners.
Iyengar yoga: this focuses on alignment as well as detailed practice movements whilst controlling the breath. It’s great for people with injuries who need to work slowly and methodically.
Kundalini yoga: this is equal parts spiritual and physical. It’s about releasing the kundalini energy said to be trapped in the body. These classes are perhaps more intense and can involve quite a bit of chanting, mantras, and meditation. I personally love kundalini and feel completely invigorated and peaceful after a class. I have taken my children to all varieties of yoga and this was to be honest the one they struggled with the most, getting a complete fit of the giggles when asked to pant like a dog for five minutes and snore like an old man for two. It was a small disaster, but luckily, I know the very lovely instructor well and she was forgiving of the outbursts. Needless to say, they didn’t come back to these classes with me, although they do take part in hatha, and it’s helping exam pressure enormously. Maybe when they are adults, they might go back to the more spiritual type. Let’s see!
Ashtanga yoga: this involves physically demanding sequences of postures, and may be not quite so suited to beginners, but great for you fit bods who require more demanding stuff!
Vinyasa yoga: this is perhaps the most athletic style. It was adapted from ashtanga in the 1980s and in classes the movement is coordinated with your breath and movement to flow from one pose to another. Many types of yoga can also be considered vinyasa flows, such as ashtanga, power yoga, and prana and the styles can vary depending upon the teacher. I have been to many classes that combine styles and it’s great.
Bikram yoga: this is better known now as hot yoga. It features a sequence of set poses in a sauna/hot‐style room of about 105 degrees and 40% humidity. The first time I attended a hot yoga class I went with my sports shorts on and a t‐shirt and felt completely overdressed. I was greeted in the yoga room by a man with only a G‐string on and girls in bikinis. Not that I have any issues with nudity at all, it was just a little unexpected on my first experience. However, when doing a downward dog I was standing directly behind the aforementioned gentleman in the tiny briefs, his left testicle popped out of his pants and remained there for the entire rest of the class. I did wonder momentarily if this was the class for me.
Yin yoga: this is a slow‐paced style with seated postures that are held for long periods of time. This is a great class for beginners. It’s also a meditative yoga, helping the participant to find inner peace.
Restorative yoga: this focuses on chilling out after the day and relaxing your mind. It focuses mostly on body relaxation and is such a wonderful thing to do at the end of a busy week.
Prenatal yoga: this is carefully adapted for ‘mums to be’ and is for all trimesters throughout the pregnancy. It’s great for pelvic floor work, and fantastic for breathing and bonding with the growing baby. It can also help mothers prepare for the delivery and labour.
Anusara yoga: this is a modern‐day version of hatha yoga and focuses on alignment, with more focus on the mind, body, and heart connection.
Jivamukti yoga: this is mainly vinyasa flow‐style classes with spiritual teachings. Starting with a series of chants followed by a series of poses that align with the five tenets of jivamukti yoga and philosophy. This style emphasizes its connection to the earth as a living being.
You know some nights when you get home and there are so many other things to do apart from yoga and you force yourself to turn around and go? What if that turned out to be the best hour and a half of your day and worth every second you are there for your physical, emotional, and mental well‐being. The times you are resistant to going are when you probably need it the most! As you can see, there are many types, and probably more still as I don’t profess to be the expert on yoga, so do your research and find out what classes are near you and if you haven’t already taken part in a class, go and see what it’s all about. There are so many health benefits in incorporating this into your life, it’s almost insane not to.
As we get older, flexibility becomes more important. There was a lady on the news recently that starting practising yoga at the age of 90! And now at the age of 99 she is still going strong and is more flexible than ever. This is a great lesson showing quite clearly that it’s never too late to start anything. When you first begin you may feel completely immobile and not be able to go anywhere near touching your toes, but stick with it and you will notice how amazingly reactive your body is. Your aches and pains start to disappear because your tight, stiff hips, once loosened, will improve your knee and ankle joints, as well as improving alignment for your back, arms, legs, and entire posture. When you build strength in your body, it can help prevent conditions such as arthritis, heal injuries, and improve your balance, which is crucial at any age. Taking your joints through a full range of movement helps them to receive fresh nutrients, keeping them healthy. That’s why putting yoga and amazing nutrition together could add another 10 years to your life. Stronger muscles create stronger bones – that’s a fact. This is beneficial for every bone in your body but particularly your spine, helping to protect you from osteoporosis, back problems, and pain related to weakness.
Remember I mentioned before, getting your blood flowing properly is key to sustaining great health? Well, yoga is perfect for pumping more oxygen into your cells and boosting haemoglobin and red blood cells. It thins the blood by making platelets less sticky (I always refer to it as tomato ketchup blood). This can lead to a decrease in heart attacks and strokes since blood clots are often the cause of these killers. Because your circulation is stimulated it helps clean and drain your precious lymphatic system, keeping you free from toxins, and making you more resilient when it comes to fighting infection. It can protect you massively and destroys cancerous cells, due to the nutrients and goodness being delivered. Remind yourself often that it’s almost impossible for disease to manifest in a nutrient‐rich, relaxed, and oxygenated body.
Improving the strength of your heart is an added bonus from yoga, as well as helping lift feelings of low mood and depression. Yoga also contributes to balancing your blood pressure and regulating your exhausted adrenal glands due to its ability to lower cortisol levels in your body. The overproduction of cortisol is poisonous to you and we need to get rid of it in excess. But better still, yoga increases your levels of serotonin which help you feel happy, and this has a knock‐on effect, creating the cycle for better sleep, and in turn helping to maintain a healthy nervous system. As yoga teaches you to relax, your whole system will thank you for it. When you slow your breath and concentrate only on being present in this very moment, you immediately shift the balance from your sympathetic nervous system (the fight or flight, ready‐to‐kill stage) to the parasympathetic nervous system, which is calming and restorative to all organs in the body, including your intestines and reproductive organs.
It’s a fact: meditation can literally change your life. If you wake up at 4 a.m. and your mind is buzzing with things you need to do the next day then you need to listen up. Or if you lack confidence, get anxious, feel overwhelmed, or have no direction in life … then where have you been? A ton of celebrities speak openly about their daily meditation and how it rewires the brain. Celebrities such as Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, Paul McCartney, Richard Branson, Eva Mendez, Arnold Schwarzenegger and many more have all been vocal about how effective this practice is and how much it has helped in their lives. Whether it’s part of your yoga session, or a separate practice, find time to fit it into your day. Personally, I love guided meditation on subjects such as love, success, creating abundance, happiness, peace, tranquillity and calming the mind. If you don’t want to go to a class, then go on YouTube. There are so many self‐help guided meditations that you can do night after night, or first thing in the morning, or preferably both if you can.
I couldn’t believe the mind‐blowing effect that meditation had on me when I first started. It’s mighty powerful and changes your whole outlook on everything. Don’t worry, you’re not going to become some ganja‐smoking hippie because you started to meditate (and if you do that’s your choice!). And it’s not going to turn you into a bore … far from it my gorgeousnesses! You are going to become quite the Adonis or the Aphrodite! The most significant thing I have noticed since meditating is the ability to manifest what I really want. So, you end up attracting the right people, have space in your head for more creativity, draw strength to leave situations that no longer serve you, and gain knowledge and brain power like never before. It allows you to draw away from certain topics or people that feel negative, make better decisions, have more patience, more tolerance, more laughter, richer relationships, and generally more time. The list goes on and on and there is real science behind it for those sceptics out there. Meditation really does increase your psychological functioning and in the process improves your sense of well‐being. According to studies, meditation, yoga, and tai chi have all been found to have such therapeutic effects when practised regularly that they can increase healthy lifespan by years. Meditation can also connect you better to others, and I am not just talking about your loved ones, although this is a wonderful part of your meditation experience. Relationships improve throughout. Work colleagues, gym buddies, friends, associates, the stranger walking their dog, the dustman emptying your rubbish, the shop assistant who serves you.
Meditation can reach areas of your brain that are associated with mental processing and empathy and increases your sense of social connectedness and ability to relate to others. It improves your ability to read how others are feeling, due to your increased focus, emotional stability, and sense of calm. When we strengthen the connection between the heart and the mind with regular practice, we allow ourselves to feel the beauty, joy, and wonder of the world that surrounds us. The mind is more powerful than perhaps we could ever know. One of the most amazing benefits of meditation is that it has the capability to reduce mental and physical pain. Yes that’s correct! Imagine, if it can do such things, how effective it can be when dealing with anxiety, stress, and depression.
Again, I am not criticizing anyone in any way, whether medical or non‐medical, but if a person goes to visit a doctor saying they are depressed, why are they not prescribed an immediate six sessions of meditation to see how they feel? Instead we have people roaming our planet so numb, so zoned out from ‘feeling’ anything at all they cannot possibly know what’s real and what’s not. Are they happy, are they sad? Can they cry when they need to? Laugh if they feel like it? I have seen clients that literally feel nothing, and giving a person other options before a lifetime of drugs must surely be a priority? If a person is given six sessions of meditation, they might just see the world in a completely different light and want to continue on that path and bring it into their daily lives forever.
The other thing is the cleaner you are living (less junk and processed food, alcohol, drugs, etc.), the more profound an effect these things are going to have on you. But you have to start somewhere: it’s another ‘chicken or egg’ situation! If you start cleaning up your diet first, you will be more inspired to get mentally strong and create the pathway in order to implement other changes. If you start meditation or yoga first, you will create a better environment and calmer brain in order to process what you need in relation to nutrition. They all lead back to each other eventually and when you start aligning in this way, it feels truly magical and you feel very much in control of your destiny.
I believe meditation can create radical changes that reduce anxiety‐related disorders and also increase your stress resilience. When we are able to switch off the fight or flight response and trigger relaxation on a regular basis, we are training our bodies – just as we do in the gym when we want to build muscle – to learn how to quickly stabilize and rapidly recover from the impact of stress. So instead of being in that cortisol‐releasing state of heightened anxiousness, we can easily move into the calm zone when facing challenges or life demands. In the same way meditation can induce feelings of calm it can also evoke positive emotions because of the reduction of stress. We are then able to become much more connected to ourselves, feeling more confident and happier in everyday situations.
Meditating also has a dramatic effect on the prefrontal cortex and how much it gets stimulated. This part of the brain involves problem‐solving, concentration, focus, and emotional intelligence. We become less reactive, less defensive, and effortlessly balanced more of the time. If you require more brain volume – in other words, you need to retain more information because you are learning something new, or studying for exams, or learning lines for a new role in a movie, whatever it is – when you meditate regularly you increase the capacity to retain information, therefore you are learning better and more efficiently. This information should be part of every school curriculum from the age of five and should be regarded as normal learning, just as good nutrition should be taught.
When my children were little, I set up a company called Fit Kids. I had loads of friends that wanted to exercise but didn’t have time because they were looking after their little ones. It was a boot camp that took parents off one way and children the other. There was an hour of exercise and then half an hour nutrition teaching and smoothie making and experimenting at the end. It was so much fun, and everyone loved it. The children were eating spinach and all sorts of other fruits and vegetables. Yoga, meditation, and good healthy food is very interesting if it is presented that way, and everyone, including the children, becomes hungry for the knowledge once it’s exposed to them. Education is everything.
From a physical perspective, meditation is very powerful when it comes to your immune system. I believe it helps it to be strong, cutting off the routes by which you catch a cold or get sick, especially when it comes to more serious diseases. It regulates blood pressure and heart rate and significantly slows down the ageing process. So don’t book your facelift just yet, just meditate more because it triggers the release of melatonin and DHEA and decreases cortisol which impacts on how you age. Remember, it’s never too late to start. If you want things to change, start making things happen and start now. Your fabulous cells are there, ready and waiting! They are renewing all the time, so anything is possible.
If you are just starting out with meditation, I would suggest you begin with anything from 5–10 minutes per day, at least five times a week. Within a two‐week period, you will start to notice significant differences and shifts in how you feel. When I first started, I honestly noticed shifts within two days.
What do you have to lose?
