Video Transcription

Hi Ant & Ali here with our Wellbeing Words of Wisdom.

Today we want to discuss stress.

Stress can be defined as any type of change that causes physical, emotional or psychological strain and we all experience stress to some degree.

The word “stress” is often used to describe a negative situation, which leads people to believe that all stress is bad for you.

However, this is not the case.

There are two types of stress – Distress, which is negative and eustress, which is positive.

When it comes to creating a list of stressors for each category it can be quite difficult because all stress is perception based.

A situation that might cause one person anxiety or concern, might excite and motivate another.

Take for example a job promotion.

One person might relish the opportunity, while another might feel it’s too much pressure.

Let’s delve a little deeper into eustress.

Eustress is generally short term and some of its characteristics are: Motivation, focus, increased performance or feelings of excitement.

Examples of eustress are: going on a rollercoaster, watching a scary movie, getting married, having a baby, buying a house, going on vacation

starting a new hobby or signing up for a new educational course.

As mentioned before, stress is perception based.

When a person feels confident in their ability to overcome the stressor, they are more likely to experience eustress.

Although it may challenge us, we relish the task at hand and with it comes a sense of satisfaction and motivation.

You may feel out of your comfort zone, but in a good way. This positive stress can lead to great personal growth.

In contrast to eustress, we have distress. Now distress can be short or long term and some of its characteristics are:

Anxiety, lack of motivation, feelings of unpleasantness or decreased performance.

Examples of distress are: Excessive job demands, job insecurity, divorce, conflicts with friends, family or colleagues, injury or illness or death of a loved one.

It’s important to note that the examples we gave for eustress could very well cause distress for some people.

Distress is caused when a person assumes the stressor is not within their control.

People who experience distress tend to feel overwhelmed and anxious.

They can also experience physical and psychological symptoms such as headaches, tension, insomnia, inattentiveness or irritability.

Stressors are not always external situations.

Internal events such as feelings or thoughts can also cause negative stress, such as a fear of flying

or public speaking, worrying about the future or unrealistic expectations.

It may be helpful to talk to someone if you’re finding you’re always stressed.

On a final note, there’s no progress without stress!

For any system to improve, it needs to be stressed or taxed.

For example, if we want to get stronger or fitter, we need to stress our body by progressively overloading the muscles

or increasing the intensity of our cardio workouts, respectively.

Video Transcript

Hi Ant & Ali here with our Wellbeing Words of Wisdom. 

Today we want to discuss foods that help keep you feeling fuller for longer.

Which is something people ask us about all the time. 

In a nutshell, you want to eat foods high in protein, good fats or fibre, to help keep you feeling full. 

Let’s look at protein first.

The reason protein helps keep you feeling fuller for longer is that protein actually reduces your levels of the hormone ghrelin.

Ghrelin is known as the hunger hormone because it stimulates appetite.

The higher your levels of ghrelin, the hungrier you get, the lower your levels, the more full you feel.

So protein is pretty important to help keep you feeling full.

High protein foods include chicken, turkey, white fish and Greek yoghurt. 

Your plant-based proteins generally contain less protein than the meat or fish options, but they normally have a high fibre content.

Some examples of plant-based proteins are quinoa and legumes, such as lentils, beans or peas.

There are some foods that contain both protein and fats such as eggs, oily fish like salmon or mackerel and steak.

Nuts and seeds are a great option as they contain protein, fats & fibre, so you are getting all 3 in one handy food.

Nut butters are great too, but make sure you are eating natural nut butter, rather than the ones with added sugar or palm oil. 

Now let’s look at foods high in fibre.

Wholegrain items such as breads, cereals and oats are good sources of fibre.

Fruit and vegetables also contain fibre and a high amount of water, which obviously helps with hydration too.

High fibre vegetables include artichokes, parsnips, butternut squash, broccoli and leafy greens to name a few.

High fibre fruits to add into your diet include berries, apples, pears, mango and avocados.

Avocados also contain good fats. 

One fibre rich food you guys might be interested in is dark chocolate.

Just make sure you chose a cocoa content of 70% or above.

The reason fibre helps keep you feeling fuller for longer is that our bodies don’t have the enzymes needed to break fibre down and digest it.

so when you ingest it and it goes through your body, it collects water as it goes and turns into a gloopy substance, slowing down digestion.

Slower digestion means you feel fuller for longer. 

Think about what happens when you add water to chia seeds.

The seeds absorb the water and create a gel like gloopy substance.

This is similar to what happens with fibre inside your body. 

Ok, so we pretty much covered most of the good fats in the proteins and fibre list of foods.

What we haven’t mentioned though are oils, which are also good fats.

Things like olive oil and rapeseed oil, which you cook with, or maybe drizzle over your salads.

It’s not a food so we haven’t mentioned it but it’s so important to stay hydrated.

Sometimes we think we’re hungry, when in actual fact, we’re just thirsty.

Video Transcript

GYMTIMIDATION 

Hi Ant & Ali here with our Wellbeing Words of Wisdom. 

Today we want to discuss Gymtimidation. For those of you who have never heard of the term before, it’s basically being intimidated by the gym. This can be: 

A fear of working out in front of others.  

Feeling insecure about yourself while in the gym. 

Thinking people are looking at you or judging you. 

Feeling embarrassed about not knowing what to do or how to use the equipment. 

Or feeling intimidated by others in the gym. 

Ok, I’m going to start by telling you a little story. About 13 years ago Ant opened up a gym and at the start, I was pretty much the only girl in there. 

Now the gym itself was quite hardcore and the weights section was full of big muscly men, which made me feel intimated to go in and do my workout. 

I would only go into the weights section when Ant went with me. But after a while, I realised that nobody was even looking at me. Everyone was too busy doing their own workout, to care about what I was actually doing. 

Plus, these big scary looking muscly guys were really friendly and only too willing to help if I ever needed it. Once I got to know them, we had some really good fun and I made some great friends.  

So, if you are new to the gym, don’t think that the regular gym goers are making fun of you, or looking at you thinking you shouldn’t be there.

If they are in fact looking at you, it might be because they actually want to help you. Maybe you are doing something wrong and they are worried you may hurt yourself, or maybe they see you struggling with how to use a machine and are wondering themselves if they should go and offer help.  

Here’s a few things to bear in mind: 

• Everyone was a beginner at some stage. That person who you feel is intimidating now was once a newbie like you.   
• Be kind to yourself. You are taking steps to better yourself and work on your overall wellbeing. 
• Focus on you – This is your journey. Push aside the negative thoughts of “they think I don’t belong here” or “they think I look silly”. You have no idea what other people are thinking. 

• There is always going to be someone who is fitter, stronger or with more muscles, so be inspired rather than intimidated. 
• Social Media can show a very warped view of the fitness world. Not everyone in your local gym looks like a fitness influencer.  

If you are still not comfortable going to the gym here are a few suggestions: 

• Start working out at home first and build up your fitness and confidence before joining the gym. 

• Enlist a personal trainer. They will guide you through your workouts and help build up your confidence. 
• Get a friend to sign up to the gym with you. They can be your safety net. You will feel more comfortable knowing they are there and in the same boat as you. Plus, it’s more fun to have a training buddy.  
• Don’t skip your gym induction. It shows you how to use the equipment. 

And remember, the secret to success in the gym is consistency. You have the power to be consistent by continuing to show up to each workout. Let that be your focus. The fear will disappear and you will be a pro in no time. 

Video Transcript

Hi Ant & Ali here with our Wellbeing Words of Wisdom. 

Today we want to discuss how you can keep your energy levels constant throughout the day, whether you are in the office, working from home, a stay at home parent or whatever else it is you get up to on a daily basis.  

A lot of people wake up and straight away have that habitual coffee. More often than not they forego breakfast because they don’t have time or feel coffee is all they need. You have given yourself an energy boost to kickstart your day but the problem here is, what goes up must come down. Once this quick spike of energy falls, it causes a crash and you either reach for a sugary snack or another coffee to replenish it and the energy rollercoaster continues. 

Now, we’re not trying to ruin coffee for anyone but here are a few things you may not have been aware of. 

No.1 – Drinking coffee first thing in the morning on an empty stomach can create gut health issues, as it stimulates acid production. Added to this, the acids in the coffee itself can lead to feelings of nausea. 

No.2 – Upon waking your cortisol levels are at a peak, which helps with increased alertness. Having coffee on top of this, increases the production of cortisol. When we have too much cortisol in the body it can lead to insulin resistance, weight gain, high blood pressure and a compromised immune system. 

You’re probably wondering if your cortisol levels are high in the morning, why do you still feel groggy? Well, this could be because your body may have become accustomed to the caffeine and is using it as a crutch, so it’s natural wake up mechanism is thrown off. 

A better time to have your morning coffee is mid to late morning, as the cortisol levels will have dropped from their early morning peak and by then you will ideally have some food in your stomach. 

So, what should you do to keep your energy levels constant throughout the day?  

• First up is sleep. Good quality sleep is imperative to make us feel refreshed and reenergised.  

• Eat a balanced breakfast, with slow releasing carbs and protein. Here’s a few examples – oats with nuts and berries, wholemeal bread with eggs or nut butter and banana on wholemeal toast. 

• As food is energy, don’t go too long without it. Snack smart throughout the day, avoiding snacks high in sugar or highly processed foods. The more nutrients in your diet, the better you will feel. 

• Don’t eat too heavy a meal at lunchtime as this will cause a mid-afternoon slump. 

• Stay hydrated – dehydration is a major cause for fatigue and is something we don’t even realise. Just 5-8% dehydration can cause fatigue and dizziness. Keep a water bottle near you at all times reminding you to drink throughout the day. 

• Move more – Sitting too long can cause fatigue, so get up and move about.  

• Get some daylight – this will help with your circadian rhythm and make you feel awake. 

Each one of these tips will help with balancing your energy levels. Implementing them all will have you feeling fantastic, so give them a go. 

Video Transcript

Hi, Ant and Ali here with our wellbeing words of wisdom.

Today we want to talk about the importance of YOU time.

OK! You can stop laughing now.

We know everyone is busy and you’re probably wondering where you’re going to find this time for yourself.

The demands of modern day life can be overwhelming from running a business, working, taking care of family and socialising.

We tend to prioritise everyone else’s needs before our own.

When it comes to taking time for ourselves, we often feel guilty or selfish.

But taking care of yourself will actually make you better at your job and improve your life.

Taking some YOU time can help reduce stress, recharge, refocus, increase concentration, create a work life balance

which in turn helps improve relationships and make you feel overall healthier and happier.

One of the best places to start at creating YOU time is first thing in the morning.

Ok, let’s paint a picture

Your alarm goes off, which is probably on your phone.

You turn the phone on and immediately get a barrage of notifications from emails, messages and social media.

Now, you’re not even awake one minute and already you’ve so many things vying for your attention.

This often creates feelings of stress and anxiety, which prevents you from starting your day in a calm manner.

You may even start responding to some of these emails, which puts you into work mode

and you haven’t even gotten out of bed yet.

Now you’re focused on other people’s agendas and not your own.

Now maybe you go down the social media rabbit hole and before you know it, half an hour is lost leaving you running late and stressed.

Ask yourself this.

Would you allow hundreds of people into your house every morning

asking for things, showing you things, taking up your time and energy.

Well, that’s exactly what happens when you use your phone in the morning.

How about this for a crazy idea?

Don’t turn your phone on as soon as you wake up.

What that’s crazy!!!

Yep.

All those emails, messages and notifications will still be there later.

Now, you have extra time to spend on you by simply changing this one thing.

We didn’t actually have to create more time.

It was already there.

We just needed to make it available. Try to leave your phone off for as long as possible

or have it on do not disturb if you use it for exercise, music or meditation.

The important thing is to be in the moment.

Enjoy your coffee, your breakfast, your workout or spending time with your kids and give those things your full attention.

You’ll be amazed at how much more productive and focused your day will be when it starts from a place of calmness rather than a place of stress.