Suffering from an afternoon slump…

Do you regularly suffer from an afternoon slump? Confused as to why? Perhaps you’re not putting the right things in your body…

No you don’t need another coffee!

Before studying foundation nutrition with Shaw Academy I was confused as to what/how much of things I should be consuming, what I needed to keep going or be healthy and what would give me more energy.

Afternoon slumps happened pretty much daily for me.

But it’s all changed, now I’m bubbly and energetic – ok not if I had a bad nights sleep – but you get what I mean.

Heres some top tips to get you thinking about what you could do to banish your afternoon slumps, after all I’m sure we could all use some extra energy and motivation:

Diet – are you eating enough? Low calorie diets will give your body less energy. Make sure all your nutritional needs are met and that you’re getting sufficient minerals and vitamins. Carbs are also needed by the body, these form glucose which crosses the blood brain barrier to provide you with energy. Without carbs your brain won’t get this energy, therefore try not to cut carbs out of your diet.

Eat breakfast – breakfast kick starts your metabolism. It improves memory, concentration and mods as it stabilises your blood sugars. Breakfast stands for ‘breaking the fast’, if you don’t eat it your body is essentially running on empty – now think about what a car does on empty….nothing!

Eat regularly – eating regularly throughout the day helps to maintain blood sugar levels, giving you that much needed energy to get through the day. Perhaps split your daily allowance between meals and snacks, you can always have health snacks such as a piece of fruit mid morning! Eating regularly has been proven to improve concentration levels. It also helps to control binge eating.

Watch alcohol intake – alcohol drinks your energy. It’s a depressant and slows down your brain, lowers your blood sugar levels (the reason we crave sugary foods after) and affects the number of sleep cycles your body goes through. Try to avoid drinking regularly, although that doesn’t mean save up your units for one night, that’s bad too. Just be mindful and careful.

Avoid too much caffeine – can make you feel like it’s alleviated fatigue but excessive consumption can cause insomnia, restlessness, irritability as well as other things such as a fast heartbeat. You may also feel the effects of a caffeine drop after. Try reduce consumption slowly.

Water – this is a big one. Drinking enough water helps maintain balance of bodily fluids, improves energy levels and energises muscles. Dehydration can be confused with lack of energy and hunger. Water is the best way to hydrate yourself. I found drinking more water really helps maintain my energy levels through the mid-afternoon!

Reduce sugar – eating foods high in sugar will give blood sugar levels a sharp rise followed by a sharp drop, which will make you feel energy less as well as crave more sugary foods making a vicious cycle. Natural sugars like honey are ok but try cut down on super sugary foods, it will help!

And there you have it. Apart from obviously getting a good nights sleep, I hope these tips help you stay chirpier in the office!

Let me know how you get on.

Chloe xx

How to keep your New Year fitness mojo burning bright

In December I posted about my early new years resolution planning (read here) and told you all about Jantastic – Have you joined yet? 

I know it’s only the 2nd January but start as we mean to go on right?

With only a few days left before the start of the Jantastic challenge I thought you might like some tips for keeping your New Years Motivation burning. I did promise these were coming too! 

Here are a few tricks to keep your fitness mojo firing from Martin Yelling, PhD. He is a performance expert and works alongside his wife Liz, who is a 2 time Olympic marathon runner. He is also founder of New Year health and fitness challenge www.jantastic.me.

1. Make your goals a stretch but not out of reach. Stop and slow down when it comes to lofty New Year resolutions. Sure, there’s nothing wrong with dreaming big yet at the same time don’t over commit and under deliver. Setting your sights too high can mean you’ll end up disappointed when things don’t go to plan.  Disappointment leads to disenchantment with your goal and before you know it you’ve missed another run, skipped another stretch and binned a swim.

2. Share your goals. When you keep your goals to yourself if you go ‘goal AWOL’ it’s only you who notices.  This isn’t great for keeping you on track with your aspirations and only the strongest self-motivated people succeed. When you share your goals and make them public you suddenly become more accountable for it and take greater ownership.  The increased awareness of your targets by others around you really can help you stay on track.  Start a blog, post notes on the fridge and share the goal love.

3. No i in team! Sticking with something solo challenges even the most dedicated.  Joining a community or team of other people with similar aspirations helps you stay motivated and on track.  Sign up for an exercise class, join a group, persuade your friends and get a fitness buddy. It’s easier to get off the sofa when you’ve committed to an exercise rendezvous.  It doesn’t have to be face to face either.  Set up your own team in the New Year online fitness challenge Jantastic and invite your friends to join you.  Before you know it you’ll all be on the train to motivation central!

4. Protect your time.We’re all busy people and protecting time for our health, fitness and exercise is really important. Find slots in your day (early morning, lunchtime?) when you can prioritise time for your workout and commit to it.  Miss that opportunity window and it’s really hard to carve out a new one.

5. Be on top of your motivation.  It sounds clichéd but to be motivated you’ve got to know what floats your boat in terms of giving you that vital energy and enthusiasm boost when you need it most, when the weather is at its worst during the spring, when you’re feeling on a particularly low ebb, when your goal just seems so far off it’s almost unreachable.  Try getting a personal reason to exercise and reminding yourself of this. The memory of a loved one?  Raising money for charitable cause close to your heart? To drop a dress size?  Whatever your reason/s draw on them to drive you onwards.

 

I hope these help, they sure got me thinking about my drive this January and how to be on top of my motivation.

Good luck and most of all I hope you have fun! Fitness is good in so many ways, also giving you energy and relieving stress. You could even get to know new people taking part in a group class you might not have before!

Chloe xx

Give Your Body the Break it Deserves!

We all know how beneficial exercise is for well-being and the feeling it gives you after can get quite addictive! That “I can take on the world”, extra energy and positive thought which can be obtained after a great gym session is very moreish, but just as important as exercising is taking a break! Your body needs to rest too!

Before last night, everyday this week from Sunday onwards I had taken part in some sort of exercise, either gym or dance, before or after work – i know, go me eh? Last night I really wanted to go to the gym again! No, I’m not crazy…well maybe…

Sometimes I go with friends making it a social event too, and Ally yesterday had asked me if I fancied it. But no matter how much I wanted to go in my mind, I knew deep down I needed to rest. My body may have made it through yet another fitness slog at the gym but I don’t want to wear myself out, run myself down and make my body too physically tired to do anything else.

One rest day a week is just what your body needs! If you don’t give yourself adequate rest between exerting your muscles it can be detrimental to progress as it can increase the risk of muscle strain and injury. Muscles need time to recover before working them again, this actually works better at helping them to build, obviously along with the correct nutrients including protein.

A rest day is also a great reward for the rest of the week’s hard work and a way to keep you motivated – you can use this to concentrate on working towards if you struggle to gain the willpower to get to the gym halfway through your scheduled days for working out!

But I’m not saying you should only have one day rest a week, it completely depends on you as an individual and how much exercise and rest your body needs. You should listen to your body but also you need to remember to live your life too, so a balance is essential as in all aspects of life!

I’m learning to listen to my body, how much exercise I can manage without making myself run-down and how much rest I need to. I’m also working on my sleep as this really helps with energy levels, alertness and helps to keep your heart healthy – did you know lack of sleep makes you hungrier and likely to eat more? It also makes you more likely to catch a cold!

After really looking into looking after your body I’m trying so hard to keep my body healthy, after all we do only get one!

If anyone has extra tips, I’d love to hear about them.

Chloe xx

 

Water – Why so important? My mission to drink more…

A few weeks ago now, I fainted on the tube.

Yes you heard me right – How embarrassing!

I had to tap the guy in front of me, a complete stranger, and say very calmly “Excuse me, I’m really sorry but I think I’m going to faint”. The next thing I remember is the lovely man asking someone to give me their seat….and then I don’t remember anything until I was almost at the bench on a tube station platform.

Was it scary?! Not really. I mean due to there being lots of people around as it was rush hour I thought someone was bound to help. I had also previously fainted due to heat and pain, so it’s not necessarily unusual, and it was just after I’d been off work ill so I think my body just gave up with standing, the heat and my stomach pain. Silly me! And I wasn’t carrying water with me – Uh Oh!

But it got me thinking about how important water is. I know this sounds silly – but really. How many of us listen to the TFL posters and tube announcements about carrying water with us? How many of us really drink the 2 litres of water recommended a day (1.6l for us lucky women)?

I didn’t know that water actually makes up two thirds of the weight of a healthy body, and we obviously have to replenish the water lost through all our daily bodily activities, including breathing (I didn’t even think of this being a way we lost water!). If you’re more active you need to drink more too which is well known – I drink a lot more on gym and dance days so I am already doing this.

Good news for us tea drinkers too, hot drinks do actually count towards the water consumption! wahooo!

Dehydration can lead to headaches, lack of energy and feeling weak (which I regularly get in the afternoon!). Drinking enough not only makes these less likely, it also helps keep your skin healthy and helps with the function of your digestive system. SO many positives to keeping hydrated!

So I am on a mission. To drink atleast 2 litres of water a day! (This is going to be a tricky one, I’m not a fan of plain water!) I want to feel empowered, full of energy, hopefully a little less bloated and way more motivated for doing things after work!

I’ll let you all know how it goes…

Chloe xx

My New Purchase for Running – Phillips Sport Headphones

Shaped to fit nicely in your ear. Sweat proof and rain proof. Powerful bass. What else do you need from a set of headphones for running?

I bought my new headphones off amazon a few weeks ago. I love them.

Not only do they fit nicely and stay in my ears (I have little ear syndrome – and don’t like the bud earphones, so others normally feel uncomfortable or fall out – not fun whilst running! Trying to fumble for the lost headphone), with the clip that’s on the wire they don’t flap about and whack me in the face whilst out on a jog.

The sound is amazing and helps keep me motivated.. sometimes you just really need that power tune! For all family reading…don’t worry I’m super careful when out on a run!

Sweat proof and rain proof just tops it off. No one can help getting sweaty on a long run.

AND they also come with their own little breathable storage pouch to keep them safe whilst transporting. No tangled cables, and less damage whilst in your Mary poppins style handbag!

Fab set of headphones. Definitely recommend to any runner or anyone looking for headphones for sports!

A big thumbs up from me!

Morning Run-tivation

This morning I dragged myself out of bed at 6.40am to go for a run. I say dragged, but it wasn’t too hard to get up once I’d woken up properly, and I wanted to run in the morning to keep my evening free and to give me a good start to my day (The first part of my morning run-tivation)

Time for my first tempo run of the week (part of my training for half marathon) I left the house at 6.50 and slowly jogged to my nearest park. With distance set I started my run – But had to take a quick pause at one point to take some photos to share with everyone. The weather was gorgeous this morning which made my run even more enjoyable, and the way the sun was rising, shining through the trees and lighting the park…

This in itself is total Run-tivation. Running this morning was great! Mornings like this make it so much easier to get up for the morning sesh.