It is said that you don’t ‘overtrain’ you simply ‘under-recover’.  This means that as a busy, stressed person with a ‘normal’ job and not quite enough time in the day, you will seem to overtrain earlier than someone who gets to sleep more, chill more and have daily massages!

There are a few important things to consider, when you are training regularly.

One is getting enough sleep, and good quality sleep, which we will cover in a separate article (and is covered in the Fit Body Fix Manual).  Another is getting enough water and good quality nutrition (again, covered in the Fit Body Fix Nutrition Guide).

Daily massage would be another recommendation, but, of course, not many of us have the time or finances to achieve that!  The benefits of massage are increasing mobility in tight or restricted muscles, flushing the natural metabolic waste materials that accumulate from training (or from having over-tight muscles in the first place) and increasing the speed of recovery.   The overall effect is that you get more out of your training sessions as you can train more often & better.

There is an alternative to actual massage though!  It is named ‘Self-Myofascial Release’ and for those of you to whom that sounds total gibberish, it is more simply referred to as ‘Foam Rolling’ and is basically a way to massage yourself – releasing the muscles & connective tissues, with much the same effect as a massage.

You can pick up a foam roller for about £15 (I get mine from Physique Management: ) and it is well worth it!

You can use the foam roller every day, and it is especially good when used on restricted or overly tight muscles before training (calves are often tight, as well as the ITB along the side of the thigh) as well as being used every day for recovery purposes.  If you have a niggle it is often that tight muscles are pulling things out of alignment, and rolling the tight bits can really help reduce niggles and reduce the chances of getting them.

You apply pressure to your body by placing the roller on the floor, and then rolling around on it!  You find the tender or tight spots, making sure you relax the muscles (if you hold them tense you cannot get the full effect, in the same was as if you had a massage and sat there completely rigid!) and then hold, or gently roll, on those spots, until you can feel the tension ease.

Some very tender areas require hardly any pressure at all, especially to start with, so you have to build it up.  The calves and ITB (outer thigh) can be particularly tender, and you don’t want to cause actual pain.

After a session you will feel lighter and wonderful, as well as having increased recovery and reduced the chances of injury, so it is worth the initial discomfort – plus as you persist you will see the tenderness decrease.

There are harder rollers you can then progress to, and you can use other methods such as tennis balls or golf balls on smaller areas such as the feet.

Those of you at Fit Body Fix can get a roller from me if you haven’t already, and you get a manual explaining the techniques in more detail, plus I can show you them at the end of a session or at some other time as convenient to check you are doing it right.  I can also help to point out which areas are in particular need for you!

For videos (when I get my videoing mojo back I will shoot one to replace this!) check this out: FOAM ROLLIN’ VID

Head to the forum if you have any questions and get rollin’!

Strangely enough, the place most people start is what sets them up for failure!  Have you ever got stuck into a new fitness or diet plan, only to see it dwindle soon afterwards?  Especially in the New Year, when all the resolutions go down the drain!

The good thing is, you can get rid of the guilt now!  It’s not your lack of willpower that is the problem, it’s just that you haven’t quite taken the necessary steps that will guarantee you stay on the programme for good.

Twelve steps might sound like a lot, but they can be very small steps that will give everything else way more power – give them a go!

1.  Learn to love & accept yourself as you are now!

Most people go into a fitness or diet plan with a feeling of ‘I am not good enough’ and that the fat loss will result in you becoming good enough.  It won’t!

You are a wonderful, beautiful and loveable being RIGHT NOW and you need to realise that.  As soon as you do, the loving thing to do is to treat yourself with respect, which means healthier eating and incorporating fitness into your daily routine.  If you don’t, the inner self sabotage mechanism works on full tilt to stop you!

If you lose weight or get fit without this step you may achieve your goal, but it will not make you feel any better about yourself.  This is often where people rebound and yo yo.  The self love and acceptance has to come first.

Start right now with some positive, present tense affirmations: I am beautiful, I am strong, I am healthy…  Ask your friends and loved ones for help if you can’t think of any – they will see things about you that you choose not to see!

2.  Repeat step 1. Seriously.  Go and write a list of all the good things about yourself and stick it on your mirror / fridge etc…

3.  Be clear on what you want. Do you want to fit into a certain dress on a certain occasion?  Or do you want to get a compliment from a special someone?  Be clear about what you want, and then think a bit more about it, to get even clearer!

4.  Be clear on WHY you want what you want. Is the truth that you really want to feel fit and healthy, whereas at the moment you feel overweight and unfit?  There are usually reasons that run more deeply than pure aesthetics – be clear on these and remind yourself when you run into the inevitable obstacles along the way!

5.  Set a date in your diary every 4 weeks to repeat steps 3 & 4. Make it a habit to take stock of where you are and where you want to be, and then you can see how well you are going on your journey, tweaking as you need to.  Remember, though, steps 1 & 2 apply throughout – goals are fantastic but the journey, the now, the process is where the beauty really is!

6.  Use your goals to create intentions. These are like affirmations, being positive and in the present tense.  I am committed to exercising 3 times every week.  I eat healthily most of the time and love the way it makes me feel…  Review these often – what you think about expands so make sure you are thinking about the positive things you want!

7.  Catch yourself! Learn to spot the negative words and phrases as they creep into your mind – as they will!  Awareness is key.  Once you learn to spot them it can surprise you just how often we can talk to ourselves negatively.  Catch it and flip it into a positive.  ‘I’m so tired’ can be converted to ‘I want to create more energy!’ which is an incentive to get moving or do something healthy.

8.  Create a plan to get to your goals. Pick some exercise that you want to do and choose a nutrition plan.  Action is required, on the foundation of self love & acceptance & positivity.  Plan how you will fit it in, plan your shopping, plan your menus and even plan for the inevitable obstacles along the way!  Get social support from others with similar goals or from a coach who can help guide you along the way.

9.  Follow your plan! Plans that aren’t followed can’t work, can they?!  High compliance & consistency is more important than perfection, though, so avoid the ‘all or nothing’ trap!

10.  Journal as much as you can. This really helps you create awareness which is the only way we can make real changes – it is so illuminating when you begin to write down what you really eat in a day / week.   Then you can begin to spot the easy things to change, and also spot patterns – having a poor breakfast choice may not be the end of the world, but if it always leads to a mid-morning craving you know that rather that fighting the craving, you actually need to ‘repair’ the breakfast choice!

11. Learn to learn from the slip ups! Every time you go off plan it is part of the learning process.  Make sure you always ask what you can learn from that experience and how better to deal with it in future.  Never let guilt play its self-sabotaging role and instead practice forgiveness.  This relates to step 1 & 2 and is made easier when you are journalling.

12. Create an Upward Spiral. Remember that small things can add up to big things – that can work both ways, which is why days can often go ‘from bad to worse’ as things spiral the wrong way.  Make sure your next action is a positive one – smiling rather than scowling at someone, let someone pull out in front of you rather than muscling your way through, perform a random act of kindness, look out at the sky and notice how very beautiful it is – even if it is grey and murky!  You have the power to take yourself spiralling upwards!

These are all things you can action NOW, and these steps will ensure that you stay on your journey for the long haul, and therefore get results that last a lifetime.  You have to enjoy the journey – lifestyle choices and habit changes are the only way you will get lasting results in terms of health, fitness and changing your body shape for good.  You can’t live off willpower alone!  These steps will ensure you act from an internal sense of inspiration and true desire to live a healthy and fit life.

How secure are your 4 Pillars?!

We are well in to the New Year now, and your resolutions may or may not be intact, but I am getting the feeling that people are actually getting to the stage where they are ready to take real action – the false promises of January 1st have faded and we are into the good stuff and the lasting results.

But it can be hard to know where to start, or we can simply feel let down and demotivated by failed previous attempts to get in shape, that have either delivered slow progress, or set us up for rebound:  the dreaded ‘yo-yo’ effect that sees you worse off than when you started.  Looking back on these experiences is not a great way to boost your motivation!

In order to break out of this cycle, we need to go back to basics, and challenge some of our well established beliefs that are holding us back.  Unfortunately, the media are busy trying to sell us magazines and marketers are trying to sell us processed, packaged foods, and as a result we are being led to believe things that aren’t actually helping our long term health, fitness & physique goals.

The first thing to think about is what are we designed to be eating and how are we designed to be moving?

Although we live in a technological world, we have to remember that we are animals not machines, and that real, natural, unprocessed foods are what we are designed to be eating.   The so-called ‘healthy’ food products out there are just tapping into the huge market for health & fitness, appealing to our desires to make healthy choices, but delivering highly processed and nutritionally devoid products.  Low sugar, low carb, low fat – it’s all the same really.  Something else will have been put in to make up for it!

The reality is staring us in the face but can be easy to miss amidst the noise of food product marketing: vegetables!

Vegetables are so wonderful and varied, but many people think they are boring, as they stick to a few boring basics.  If you get a few methods under your belt and start playing with new veg you can reap the health rewards as well as enjoying wonderfully delicious food.  Stir-fries, roasted veggies, colourful salads are just the start!

The whole concept of dieting is completely flawed – as it implies a temporary strategy, which will then be discarded as soon as it has achieved it’s desired effect.   This is very short-term thinking -  the real ‘desired effect’ is long term health & wellness. Fat loss (as well as improved energy, skin, sleep and more) will happen a whole lot more easily if you get that mindset straight.

The goal is to improve your health for good, so the changes you make and the foods you start to eat on a daily basis need to be incorporated as part of your lifestyle.  You can keep tweaking as you go, but ditching the diet mentality is vital.   Quality first.  You may need to tweak quantity to achieve your goals at your desired rate as calories do count, but the simplistic equation that it is just calories in vs calories out misses a vital part of the picture and merely encourages us to choose ‘low calorie’ options and read the calorie count on a machine in the gym.
The body is not a machine – we are a complex hormonal (and emotional!) system.  The quality of food, and the quality of exercise, balances your hormones, reduces cravings, stabilises blood sugar, and means you will naturally reduce your total calorie intake (and increase your overall calorie output) while maximising your actual nutritional intake.  You can eat more quality calories than junk calories and can exercise for less overall time if you get it right – it’s a win-win!

The calorie & energy concepts need turning on their head!  We have plenty of actual energy stored, after all.  To release that stored, stagnant energy we need what I call ‘The Four Pillars’.  Like four legs of a table – without any one of these, your perceived energy levels will be low – in terms of how much energy you have to get through day-to-day life.

These Four Pillars are breathing, hydration, nutrients & movement.  Try it – take some long, deep breaths and see how much more energised you feel.  Slurp some water (you do have a bottle nearby?!).  Get moving – go outside for a brisk walk to get the double benefit of breathing fresh air at the same time!  Complement these with a nutrient-rich diet (meaning vegetables, lean proteins, good fats (not vegetable oils), lower sugar fruits, nuts, seeds) and you have the recipe for increased energy, vitality, improved mood & wellbeing and as a result, an improvement in body composition – meaning less bodyfat and a lean, toned body.

To try out the training side of things, and learn the way you should be training to get maximum results, you can come along to Fit Body Fix trial week from Monday 7th Feb, including the coaching meeting (6pm Friday 4th Feb) to discuss the nutrition side of things in more detail, and ask any questions – simply register at: http://www.fitbodyfix.com/freebies.  Places are limited to ensure 121 attention so you will need to reconfirm after registering to secure your place!

You can also sign up for the next free seminar (date TBC, probably early March), which will cover all this in more detail (and more!) and gives you chance to ask me any questions you have in person, via the site:  http://www.fitbodyfix.com/freebies.

To make sure you don’t miss out on future articles, you can sign up at the website:  http://www.fitbodyfix.com or check out the Facebook Fan Page:  www.facebook.com/fitbodyfix

It is still an indulgent dessert, and if you were to eat a bucket a day it would likely take you over your energy needs for the day (and it was soooo hard to make this split into 2 portions, especially once you have licked the utensils, blender blades (ouch) and had a few chef’s tasters!!!

Chocolate in it’s usual form is not great for us, but that is mainly due to the fact it has been roasted and combined with sugar and dairy and other stuff that isn’t so good…

Raw cacao is the pure bean and is a SUPER FOOD!  Organic raw chocolate, also known as cacao, is higher in magnesium than any other food on the planet. Most of us are highly deficient in magnesium, and a deficiency is linked to chocolate cravings (see, your body knows what is needs!).

Raw cacao is also a very potent source of antioxidants as well as iron and chromium.

Raw cacao comes in a few different forms:  the actual beans broken into ‘nibs’, cacao powder, and also the cacao licquor. The cacao powder is convenient, but it has the cacao butter removed, so you are losing that healthy fat. I usually use a combination of the cacao powder and the nibs but you can grind the nibs into a powder if you like.  You can get them from good health food shops and loads of places online – I love Detox Your World, where you can also find more awesome recipes.

So, here goes….

Indulgent Chocolate Mousse

1 ripe medium avocado

1 banana – I like to use frozen bananas as it makes it more chilled and it is a great way to avoid wasting bananas – chuck ‘em whole into the freezer before they turn.  Place the frozen banana in a bowl of lukewarm water for a few minutes then the skin can be easily slipped off, just chop the frozen banana and use (you can also blend frozen bananas alone, or with a few other ingredients, such as tahini or lemon juice, for an awesome ice cream!

1 tbsp agave or yacon syrup, or you can use soaked pitted dates (I used agave as that is what I had)

2-3 tbsp raw cacao & 1-2 tbsp nibs (adjust this to suit your taste, worth experiementing!)

1 tsp natural vanilla

0.5 – 1 tsp ground cinnamon

A dash of Himalayan pink or Celtic grey sea salt

How to:

Add all the ingredients to your blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Add a little water, if necessary to keep the ingredients moving so they blend thoroughly.

I added the cacao nibs as they were, so they added a crunch to the mousse.  If you want it smooth, either grind them before adding to a powder or use just the cacao powder…

Serves 2 (even 3!), honest!  Be nice – share the love!

A bonus treat!

Do you ever find that thinking about something makes you want something similar?  The power of suggestion in action!

Well, as I was writing this recipe out, I had an urge for some raw cacao, which I decided to indulge.  Using all good quality ingredients of course, but this was a lovely treat that is a great alternative to a bar of low quality chocolate but not quite as indulgent as the recipe above – plus it’s very easy to do a single portion (the one above serves 2-3!).  Plus, I used this to deliver my daily dose of Omega 3…

1 tsp Tahini

10ml Aliment orange flavoured fish oil

0.5 – 1 tsp raw cacao powder

0.25 – 0.5tsp cinnamon

10 ish frozen cherries – could use any fresh or frozen fruit, I like it still frozen!

How to:

Stir the orange scented oil (it really doesn’t taste of fish so it not as wierd as it sounds, plus is thins the tahini down nicely) into the tahini.  Add the cacao powder and cinnamon and stir well.  Then add the frozen cherries, stir well to coat the cherries and eat!  I love frozen berries when they are still pretty frozen, but you can also let them thaw…

Enjoy!

A few of you are hotel based this week, so here is a new workout you can do, not quite the Jack Bauer Special 24 challenge but similar!

Set a timer for 20 minutes (more if you have it) after you have done the warm up (as per the vid on the member page).

See how many times you can get through the following full body, fat blasting, heart pumping circuit:

20 Squats
10 Burpees
10 Press Ups
15 each side Mountain Climbers
15 each side Jumbo Hops
10 each side Reverse Lunges
15 Warrior Jumps

Add a side plank 45 s each side, a 60 – 90 s plank and some skydivers at the end, and job done!

Let me know how it goes! Feel free to send me photographic evidence!

For more online support check out the Nutrition Guide, Recipe Books and Online Coaching options: http://www.fitbodyfix.com/virtual-coaching/

To be honest, now the evenings are drawing in and the temperatures are dropping you should ALL have a slow cooker! We will have a spare for someone soon as we have put a super-cool one on our wedding list! The first person to report trying this recipe who wants it can have it in Nov!

This is being added to the huge recipe bible that is being put together as we speak, that all members and those who have purchased the Fit Body Fix Nutrition Support pack will get a copy of as soon as it is finished – thereafter you will be able to get the support pack and all the nutrition guides, worksheets and materials but not at the super cheap current price: http://www.fitbodyfix.com/virtual-coaching/
Venison & Beetroot Deluxe with Spaghetti!

Saute a diced red onion in butter or coconut oil till softened.
Add 150g diced venison per person (we used 400g and it did 3 servings – lush lunch for me the next day, yay!)
Dice a large raw beetroot and add this, then add a tablespoon or so of Ras El Hanout – a Moroccan spice you can get from Waitrose – comes in a sliver tin, Barts spices. Has rose petals in and is fab! Add a little celtic sea salt and black pepper to taste.
Stir so that the spices infuse, keep heating on a moderate heat for a few mins then remove from the heat – you don’t need to cook the venison, just browning everything….
If you have a slow cooker, transfer the mixture into it, add a tin of chopped tomatoes and stir it all up. Set to low and cook for 8 h.
If you don’t have a slow cooker, you can cook for as long as you have time for on the hob, the longer and lower the better, but would be done in 40 mins on a moderate heat. If cooking on the hob, make sure the liquid doesn’t reduce too much, maybe add some water. No need to worry about this with a slow cooker.

I like to add a dash of balsamic vinegar at the end.

The BEST way to serve this is with spaghetti, but not your glue-like flour and water based rubbish! No, the best way to serve this is with spaghetti squash! We were lucky enough to find some in Cornwall (it was while on holiday there that I invented this recipe!) but it is hard to get hold of. If you can get one, you halve it, remove the seeds and roast it in the oven skin side up at about 180 degrees for 40 minutes. You simply scoop out the innards that, once cooked, are in strands, like spaghetti!

Alternatively good old cauliflower mash is fab, as it absorbs all the juicy flavours.

Serve with a green vegetable also – some steamed sugar snap peas or courgettes are a great accompaniment.

Enjoy!

There is something so wrong with all of that, and in our hearts we all know it! All we are doing is propagating a cycle of all or nothing, of on or off a ‘diet’, of ‘good’ and ‘bad’, of ‘should’ and ‘can’t be bothered’.

I have suffered from this kind of behaviour and it is a cycle I am now pretty much out of, and one I encourage my clients to avoid at all costs.

So many clients come to me proudly exclaiming ‘I’m very all or nothing’. Which means they are 100% committed to everything, to perfection, or, they are, well, 100% off the wagon. This is so NOT a good thing!

The analogy I love to use is that of a flat tyre – what do you do when you get one? Well, of course, you, or someone more adept at replacing tyres, fixes it, puts a new one on, so you can drive off merrily on your journey to your destination.

What you definitely DON’T do, is get a sharp implement and go and flatten all the other tyres, do you?

But that’s as sensible as the ‘all or nothing’ approach! You really DO have a problem then.

So, let’s make this year the year we all get rid of such self-destructive mindsets!

The important thing in getting in great shape, getting healthy, improving your energy and wellbeing, is to develop consistent HABITS that are part of your ongoing lifestyle. You can build these habits over time and if you ‘slip up’ on occasion it really is not a huge drama, and no excuse to let it all slide.

What does that looks like?

Well, if you are all or nothing, you might do a month on a strict training and nutrition plan, drop a load of weight and inches and feel great, and then ‘blow it all’ with one (really fun) night out, then become depressed and miserable as you watch all your hard work go down the drain as you have ‘lost your motivation’.

However, if you realise you don’t have to be perfect, and that you have a healthy lifestyle but can also enjoy the odd treat without falling off anything (unless you start dancing on tables – be very careful then as it’s hard to train with an injury…) then your mindset becomes more positive. You repeat the habits because you see how they improve your life, you know that you don’t feel as good without them.

You won’t struggle for ‘motivation’ as you understand what you want to achieve and how you want to feel, the steps to get there are part of the journey – but you also realise that the journey is the point so you actually enjoy healthier food and regular training.

We live in the present moment – constantly thinking about ‘when I lose this weight’ or ‘when I am fitter’ things will be wonderful is the worst possible thing we can do – and often at the root of every failed attempt. Things won’t necessarily be better, your boss might still be awful, your commute might never be any better. So it is vital to give yourself some love and acceptance NOW. You can achieve great things, but it needs to come from a place of love and positivity – NOT from a place of guilt, denial and low self-esteem.

We all need to cultivate a loving, ‘winner’s’ mindset. And then take the positive actions that reflect that.

There is a big difference between the ‘Winner’s mindset’ and a ‘loser’s’ mindset, yet it really is only a simple shift between the two! A winner is simply ‘prepared to do what a loser isn’t’.

The person who gets results, takes the required ACTION, without second guessing, searching for motivation, or taking the supposedly ‘easy’ option.

A winner, let’s call her Winnie for now, gets up anyway – the alarm has gone off, the training has to be done if she wants to get results and feel great, so it gets done. Simple.

Her alter-ego, Ms Neverlast, ‘can’t be bothered’ to get up and train, because she (same goes for Mr Neverlast…) just can’t find that elusive ‘motivation’. Once she has missed her training session, she finally gets up feeling sluggish, and reaches for the ‘healthy’ option of Special K and skimmed milk on a ‘good’ day, and on a really ‘good’ day skips breakfast altogether, then bails at about 11am and has a pastry with her mocha choca latte. If she’s feeling really naughty (missing training always sets her up for an ‘off the wagon’ day), she’ll have a bacon sarnie…

Winnie, on the other hand, is feeling AWESOME after getting out in the fresh air and moving her body, taking in the scenery – even though it was dark it was a beautiful starry morning and the birds were singing!

She goes home, jumps in the shower, then serves up a delicious and nutritious breakfast, that has not come out of a packet and contains the nutrients (not just ‘slow release energy’ – she actually got energy from her workout!) she needs to set her body, mind and metabolism up for yet another great day.
Ms Neverlast doesn’t feel too bad for missing her workout – she will go to the next session, as soon as she’s found her motivation.

Winnie hasn’t even considered motivation, she just did it. Winnie understands that her training and nutrition is part of what makes her feel great on a daily basis. It’s also what means she is now, or soon will be, in really great shape, and will maintain that by continuing her great habits.

She won’t be on last-ditch attempts to get that bikini body before her next holiday, and then gain it all back on day one, hiding in a sarong the rest of the trip! She looks and feels body confident as she is fit and healthy, and she knows exactly what needs to be done to get to where she wants to be. If she does something not consistent with that, she understands the consequences, and will get straight back on it without guilt, as she is always moving forwards. As she comes from a loving place, not a place of self-hatred and denial, she exudes an air of confidence.

Winnie also knows that having a support network it a major key to success and keeps a daily food journal, which she sends to her trainer each week to review. This keeps her accountable in those moments when temptation strikes and also means she is getting feedback about how well she is doing, and any areas that could be tweaked to get her even better results.

Ms Neverlast has a guilt moment after the latest bacon sarnie and decides to join a weight loss club, as that worked last time, and means she can still eat all her ‘favourite’ foods, buying processed ready meals to keep her within her calorie budget. She doesn’t manage to find time to keep a food journal, and isn’t aware of most of the food she is actually eating while watching TV in the evening. Calories are all that matters to her, so she makes sure she reads every packet, and only eats things under 100 calories, so will have a few chocolate coated sugary cereal bars as her evening treat, after being so good all day.

Winnie has prepared a delicious and colourful salad so come lunchtime she doesn’t have to brave the canteen queue and fork out for a substandard plate of stodge or a soggie sandwich. It took less time to prepare than it would take in the queue, too, so she has a few moments of smugness (she tries not to make her smugness known as there are plenty of Mr & Ms Neverlasts out there who might take umbrage).

Winnie has drunk her fill of lovely clean water, Ms Neverlast remembers that Diet Coke has zero calories so has a few of those – calories are all that matter, right? And water is so BORING, plus she just can’t stand the taste of it.

When Ms Neverlast makes it to a training session, she avoids the hard stuff where possible, and as soon as she can feel the ‘pain’ of her muscles working, she has a quick breather. She doesn’t want to get bulky after all. Winnie, on the other hand, attacks each exercise with all she has – knowing she isn’t the fittest there, but giving her all regardless. She knows that it is by pushing her edge each time that she will progress and get great results. Ms Neverlast blames the programme when yet another thing has failed, but Winnie knows that you have to actually FOLLOW the programme to get results!

Ms Neverlast loves the phrase ‘you only live once’ but finds she is mostly too tired or too sluggish to actually live it, with a nagging sense of dissatisfaction at the life she has been ‘given’. Winnie, on the other hand, is vibrant, positive and full of energy. She seems to have more hours in the day and gets more done, and really is living her life with more energy and vigour than she did all those years ago in her 20s! Ms Neverlast feels ten years older than she is – and looks it too.

Winnie knows that we create our own reality and our own path, and keeps herself in the present moment, without stressing about the past or worrying about the future. She has moments where she doesn’t feel as energetic as others, but realises that is all part of the natural ebb and flow of life. She respects herself, accepts herself and listens to what her body needs. She realises, too, that when she isn’t feeling so good, it is usually as a result of deviating from one or more of her usual habits for a while, which serves as positive re-inforcement to resume the habit.

So, who would you rather be?

Does Winnie sound so far removed that it is an impossible scenario? It really isn’t! Life operates in spirals – a few positive actions take on a life of their own as they snowball into more positivity and fantastic results. It is easy to go the other way too, but it only takes some small positive actions to get going in the right direction.

And that is all we need – to be facing the right way on the right path, then it is just a matter of consistently taking forward steps. And enjoying the journey! Smelling the roses on the way, savouring the beauty and wonder of life, not constantly striving for more, bigger (or smaller!), better, but having faith that you are on the right road, with support where you need it.

Being on the right road is like having set your goals and intentions of what you want to achieve. All you then need to do is follow the path.

You can’t expect to get results with a negative Ms Neverlast ‘all or nothing’ (but mostly nothing) mindset. But to be Winnie does not require superhuman strength, motivation or dedication. All it requires is positive action, and that is well within your reach.

Excuses and inaction spiral downwards, but the effort of living with that is far harder than living in a positive spiral. People like to live their ‘victim’ role, or like having things to complain about. Make sure that’s not you. Stop making lame new year’s resolutions that you know you won’t stick to, but instead make a commitment to live with a winner’s mindset. Set goals and intentions of what you plan to achieve, then set the ball rolling.

If you want a great body, set that intention and honestly answer the question “What am I willing to do to get in the best shape ever?”. If you want it, then DO IT!

Don’t force yourself to want what you think you SHOULD want. Make sure you really want it, and can picture it, and are prepared to do what it takes to get there.

This may mean doing things that you feel a bit negative or unsure about to start with – but as soon as you get results, and the satisfaction that goes with it, you will realise that those negatives can become positives and actually, the fact that they weren’t so easy to start with and the results weren’t handed to you on a plate actually makes you feel EVEN BETTER! You have achieved things you never thought possible, and all it really took was taking the first step and setting yourself on the right path.

If you aren’t willing to do what’s required then you will end up in the constant cycle of negativity, ‘trying’ things that never work and feeling generally bad about yourself. At least admit that you can’t be bothered or aren’t willing and deal with it – no more complaining or victim mindset!

So, are you going to do what it takes, set yourself up with a winners’ mindset and start taking positive action, or are you going to let those excuses take you down the downward spiral, yet again?

For more on how you can create that positive spiral in your life and take forward steps in the right direction, visit http://www.fitbodyfix.com/freebies, where you can sign up for the next free seminar and even get a free week of fitness training!

This year, despite having come back from a wonderful, long honeymoon in tropical Mauritius, I have not suffered in the same way, despite it, according to the news every day, being ‘bitterly cold’.  And the only thing that has changed, thanks to some inspirational books and yoga teachers, has been my ATTITUDE!

I am using my new, improved mindset, along with some practical strategies, to make this winter (meant to be the coldest in 50 years according to an article in the paper…) the warmest ever for me personally – and I want to share the love and the warmth with all of you, so you don’t need to put life off until spring!

These are super simple but HUGELY effective strategies, not to be sniffed (or sniffled) at!  It is very easy to dismiss the simple things and not put them into practice – but, like with training and nutrition, often it is those very same simple tips and techniques, that can make the biggest difference in the long run!

1.  Attitude & Mindset

This is the TOP strategy!  Like with so many things, the attitude you bring to your daily life, with all it’s trials and tribulations sent to test us, is the one thing that determines your quality of life, and your day to day experience.   If you focus on the negatives, life is, funnily enough, a negative, grey place!  This goes in the summer too, of course!

Instead, decide to ‘let it be’.  Decide not to mind whatever the weather has in store.  Us Brits LOVE to have some weather story or other – too hot, too cold, too wet etc.  Instead, why not break the mould, and just let whatever the weather has in store just be.  If you can create a sense of inner calm and serenity, no weather can disrupt your state of mind.  This is metaphorical of course, too.  Being calm, centred, focusing on the present moment – as opposed to ruminating on the past or stressing about the future – means no matter what life throws at you, you will be OK!

When you focus on the present moment, stilling the chatter that tells you ‘it’s freezing’ or ‘I’m so cold’ (notice how your mind starts telling you these stories, and they become true!) instead shut out that voice.  Focus on the actual sensations you are experiencing right now.  There are many times in life where coldness is welcomed – cold water during a hot, summer training session, a cold beer on a summers’ evening, some fresh air when you have been stuck in traffic on a hot day….  If you can sense the cold without judgement that it is a ‘bad’ sensation, it becomes something quite different – invigorating.   It can make you feel alive, alert, vibrant!

Of course, there are some strategies that mean you can actually enjoy the sensations of cold even more!  If you spend all day long outside without adequate heating strategies you will get cold through and through, which is not good for you and to be avoided!

2.  Preparation

Again, a universal success strategy here:  preparation!  Making sure you have the right attire for the conditions is important.  It can be hard to get right in countries where daily weather can vary.  But that does not mean you can’t get it right!  Make sure you have a base layer that is close fitting, and ideally wicks moisture away, so when you warm up you don’t end up holding onto sweat!

Even a brisk walk in winter can easily increase your temperature – so if you leave the house wearing the right amount of clothing for the start you will soon be too warm.  So make sure that you wear several layers – that you can peel off as you warm up, and replace as you cool down.

A good hat and gloves are really important – if you are exercising you may find these soon become redundant, but they are a very quick way to make yourself feel warm quickly.  Don’t forget your feet, too!  Wearing ski socks, pulled up, and maybe even a second layer (I have waterproof socks that are genius – I wear them over ski socks when it is wet or cold, bearing in mind the grass is often wet in the morning even when it’s not raining).  Fur-lined boots are great for walking, I have just invested in Uggs with a heel so my feet are super warm even when I don’t want to look too scruffy!  I would avoid working out in Uggs though… Save them to put on when you get home, or for walking around.

Sealing the edges means you won’t get draughts – tucking layers in, a scarf around your neck etc! If you are exercising it won’t be long before you are happily peeling off the layers, but if you start well wrapped you will be more inclined to get out there and get stuck in!

The key is to make sure your core, or your trunk, is warm, and that you are not losing heat through the extremities.

And finally, make sure you have the house and water all warmed up, so when you get in from the cold you can take the layers off and be nice and cosy, and can truly enjoy that warm shower or bath.  Knowing when you are out in the cold that there is a warm place at the end of it all is another way to worry less about temporary sensations of cold.

These external methods help, but there are some internal heat-generation methods that are even more important.  You may have noticed that sometimes you will be wrapped up super warm, but soon you feel cold regardless.  If you are not practicing the following then you are likely to have a cold winter!

3.  Breathing (& Relaxation)

Breathing is the ultimate heat generator – but we forget about it!  We don’t literally forget to breathe, of course, but we forget to use our breathing to our advantage!

Breathing is used in yoga to generate heat, among other things.  If you notice your breathe now, it is likely to be quite shallow, hardly noticeable.  If you are feeling tense, the breath often becomes even more restricted and shallow.  If you are resisting the feeling of coldness, often we tighten up our bodies, especially our chest area, and restrict our breath further.

This has the opposite effect to what we would like!  A classic case of ‘what you resist, persists’, the more we resist the cold and tighten up, the colder you will feel!

Taking control of the breath, taking long, deep breaths in and exhaling fully, can soon warm you up!  It has the added benefit of relaxing you and this is another vital point.  When you tense up your muscles, you restrict blood flow through the tissues.  This causes you to feel even colder – you need to increase the blood flow to feel warmer!  Step one being to relax and let go.  Step two is to add a little more to the equation to get the bloody flowing even more…

4.  Movement

Sitting still for too long, even in the summer, can result in feeling a bit chilly.  Our bodies are designed to be active!

Even if you are stuck at your desk, you can move enough to improve bloody flow and encourage your body to generate heat internally.  The ‘wiggle out’ that is part of my outdoor training warm ups all year round, gets you moving every single joint, and as such gets the entire body moving and warm.  Start by rolling the shoulders, rotating the hips, circling the arms and legs, get the head going, get the arms going (think crazy 70s disco dancing moves!) and then the wrists and the ankles too.  Then get the fingers and toes involved!  If you are at your desk, you can start the other way round – wiggle the fingers and toes, progress to the wrists and ankles, and go as far as you feel comfortable in public!  This has an added benefit of reducing the risk of RSI.  Getting those joints moving will help on many levels!

This alone, especially combined with some deep, heat creating breathing, will get you feeling warm from the inside out in no time at all.

If you then use this to get moving even more, into a full workout, then of course you will be toasty and warm, peeling off those layers in no time!

It is so much more invigorating working out in the fresh air than in a stinky, sweaty gym.  If you wrap up warm to get there, and warm up properly (even start your warm up indoors before leaving the house), it soon becomes the time when you can enjoy being outside more than ever.  This is when the cold sensations on your face become even more welcome, and they add to the positive experience of feeling exhilerated, alive, rejuvenated and invigorated!

In the winter we spend even more time indoors than we do in the summer, and even in the summer months most of us are stuck indoors far more than our bodies want to be!  If you miss this window of opportunity to really enjoy being outside then you are missing out on all the benefits of fresh air, and missing out on the ultimate ‘feel good’ factor.

Without even needing to focus on your fitness or physique goals to get you out of bed and into your workout, all you need to focus on is how much better you will feel for getting outside in the fresh air, and how invigorated you will feel afterwards!

So, instead of resisting the cold and hiding indoors, unless you really have to be out, why not embrace it?  And let your body do it’s awesome work of generating internal heat!

5.  Hydration & Nutrition

Hydration is not so much about warmth, but just a reminder that although you don’t seem to be sweating, you will be, even if you are walking briskly.  Make sure you drink plenty of water at this time of year – it is too easy to forget as thirst signals can be blurred and the lure of cold water is less.  Drink plenty of green teas, or herbal teas like rooibos or tulsi.  A hot water with lemon squeezed into it is a fab way to start the day – I have a fab ginger tea I make and add lemon to, ginger being warming it’s a great addition!

Nutrition is an interesting one – everyone assumes they want hot, warming foods at this time of year, not least because the ads are tempting us with roast dinners and stodge!  While a hot soup on a cold day can be wonderful, and the slow cooker is the way to make delicious and healthy casseroles and stews that are a great option, there is still place for the vibrance and colour of a gorgeous salad in the winter!  Think of it as a taste of sunshine in your day!  Getting raw veg into your diet means you are getting loads of vital nutrients in, that will help the immune system and ward off the sniffles.  You can turn them into warm salads, by adding freshly cooked meat, fish, eggs or chicken, by toasting nuts or seeds to sprinkle on top, or by adding roasted veggies.  But don’t shut salads away for winter – let them bring some sunshine to your meals instead!    Drink a warm tea alongside your meal if need be, but avoid assuming cold food can’t work in cold weather.  I often find that coming inside after being out in the cold, I feel so warm that a cold salad is actually welcome.

6.  Gratitude & Positivity

This links back to number 1, but deserves a point of it’s own!  Give thanks, every day, for all the wonderful things we are blessed with.  No ‘ifs’ or ‘buts’, just focus for a few moments (first thing in the morning and last thing at night are great times to do this) on all the things you have to be thankful for.  Notice any residual frowning soften into a slight smile as you think about these things.  Even those who have a lot of hardship can think of a lot of things to be thankful for, but the hardship can take over our thinking and become our whole lives.

Be thankful you have a heated home to return to after being out in the cold, that you can wrap up toasty and warm in your clothes and get out and enjoy a brisk walk, that you are fit and healthy, you have family and friends you love etc.  Don’t hold back – focus on all the good things, and feel the warm glow of love and contentment build inside – a subtle form of heat generation, but a really important one!

7.  Get Out There!  Play!  Have Fun!

Again, this is an attitude!

If you allow your mind to take over and remind you of all the negatives (‘I don’t like being cold, it’s dark outside, I want to stay in bed’ etc etc) then you are letting the weather and external circumstances dictate not only your experience of each day, your figure, your health, your wellbeing (if you are missing your training sessions and eating stodge) but also your enjoyment of life as a whole!

Kids are the first to get excited over snow, and they seem to play in it without even realising it’s cold!  Sometimes, (because of lack of planning) they realise far too late, but as adults we can get the best of both worlds – being prepared, using all the strategies in this article, and then taking the kids’ attitude and just getting out there and having fun!  Play with it, don’t fight it!

Exercising outdoors can be the ultimate youth-reactivating behaviour, as it reminds us of what it was like to be young, playing outside without a care in the world, when ‘sensible’ adults are all cooped up inside!

Life is far too short and precious to miss out on living every winter of each year, and your goals are too important to put on hold, too.  People who do that are the ones who never achieve their goals, who constantly bemoan the duff hand life has given them, who spend life in a constant state of negativity, chronic low-level ill health (colds all winter?!) and bring everyone else down with them.

Do you want to be one of those people?

Or do you want to be the kind of person who makes the conscious choice to enjoy each moment, living life to the fullest, embracing life and all it has to offer?  Do you want to stick with it and achieve your goals, feel as good as you can be and inspire those around you to do the same?

I know which one I want to be!  I’m guessing you do too?  So use these strategies and take the plunge, dive right in to life and get out there, whatever the weather, and ENJOY!

To find out how you can exercise in the great outdoors and get the internal fire going, check out http://www.fitbodyfix.com!

If any of you have any other tips, then comment in the blog or in the forum:  http://www.fitbodyfix.com/forum