5 Reasons why and how you should take control of your health and fitness.

There are thousands of reasons why people join gyms. Most of them boil down to guilt. Feeling guilty that we are getting older and not looking after ourselves, feeling guilty that we cannot play with the kids, feeling guilty that we don’t have energy to spend “quality” time with our loved ones, feeling guilty that when we do spend “quality” time with our loved ones we want the light off. Maybe you are feeling guilty after that massive piece of Black Forest cake, boozy night and/ or cigarette.

So I thought that we could give you 5 good reasons why you should embrace and enjoy a healthier lifestyle whilst seeing great results. This in turn will motivate you enough to keep at it and change your life for the better. Hopefully it will also result in less gym membership cancellations. 

You can become fit whilst being lazy.

Well, not really but almost. When we think of fitness and health, we conjure up images of top athletes such as Usain Bolt or Dame Kelly Holmes and we know that to achieve those types of results (or bodies) we need to spend years pursuing high level fitness and peak health through hard work, discipline, sacrifice and… misery.

I know you would rather opt for the best results with the least amount of pain, suffering, and sacrifice. Most of us would rather want to look fit than be fit, right? But the irony is that when you actually do what it takes to look fit (eat correctly, stop the over exercising, A.K.A Death by Cardio, lift heavy things intensely two or three times a week and sprint a bit now and again) you become VERY fit. And healthy. And happy. And less stressed. And more productive.

The best thing about the fitness routine I describe above is that it should not take you longer than 1 and a half hours a week! Leaving you with more time to do the things you want to do or just to relax.

 Vanity or looking good naked.

No real person wants to look like the “new” Jodie Marsh. Or the old one for that matter, but we would all like to be able to sunbathe on holiday in that nice light blue bikini that you saw in the shop or feel like Daniel Craig when we walk out of the ocean onto a busy beach.
The general rule of thumb is that 80% of your body composition is determined by how you eat. The remaining 20% is a combination of genetics and exercise. So if you eat correctly (right food types, correctly sourced and don’t use your mouth as a vacuum cleaner) it doesn’t take very much exercise to optimise your muscle size and strength and to cut your body fat.
Be realistic though; eating well and exercising cleverly will make the best you that you can be. It will not turn you into Daniel Craig. Although you (and your loved one) will be very impressed with how good you can look…..

Stay uninjured.

 

There is nothing worse than motivating yourself to start exercising again and taking control of your lifestyle just to incur an injury and having to lose your momentum. I know; I have been there just this year when a very silly mistake (over exercise) resulted in knee surgery and took me out of my training for 4 months. Getting back on track isn’t always easy as you unlearn good habits very quickly.
As we get older, our bodies don’t recover as quickly from exercise as it used to and soreness can quickly turn into sprains or strains if you don’t pay attention to them. Our PT classes’ use the exercise system mentioned above to create a balanced, strong and functional body that will be hardened against injuries so that you are free to play harder in sport or in the park with the kids (or grand kids!) It actually focuses on injury prevention and avoidance by not over exercising, while building muscle and burning fat.


Avoid illness

We are quickly approaching winter and with that comes every nasty bug imaginable. Soon you will be making use of the 2 for 1 deals at your local pharmacy on all types of syrups, potions and nasal sprays just like you did this summer with all the allergy pills and potions and …nasal sprays. When you subscribe to no exercise (or even chronic cardio training) and high carbohydrate (comfort) food with all its sugar, you are depleting your immune system to the point that it does not stand a chance against the smallest of infections.

By following a sensible eating plan and exercising smartly, you can improve your immune system dramatically. Being a long time sufferer of extreme hay fever myself, I was surprised how quickly it all disappeared this summer after cutting grains from my diet. Even the smallest of changes to your diet such as limiting your carbohydrate intake to no more than 100grams a day and increase your protein ( fish and meats) and good fats ( nuts, seeds, olive oil, omega3) will give you great results. 

Love and enjoy good food.

Which brings us to the inevitable- your diet. It is a common myth that by living healthy you need to give up eating good food. Nothing could be further from the truth. We fall prey to the “living to eat” mantra as opposed to the more natural and sensible “eating to live” strategy. You need to understand that food fuels your body and just like with any fuel, the better the quality of the food the better your body (machine) will perform. Eating right will program your genes in a way that will take your hunger cravings away by giving you enough energy and stabilising your blood sugar levels. We have seen great results at Ozone when members (and staff) make an effort to eat the foods that we as humans are meant to eat: Fish (no batter), Meats (not processed), Poultry (not KFC), Colourful vegetables (not starchy roots), some fruit (not fruit pastels), Seeds and Nuts (not Peanuts), Olive oil (not vegetable or sunflower oil) and very little grains (not bread). You will feel satisfied for longer and will not succumb to those sugar cravings. Keep an eye on portions. If you are unsure about quantities of food you need to eat, come and have a chat with us.

Needless to say that alcohol is a major factor in weight gain and the root of most evils, although the odd glass of red wine has been proven to be beneficial. 

I’m sure there are plenty more good reasons to take control of your personal health and fitness and if you have any, please let us know by leaving a comment. 

Go get them tiger!

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