When change is made.

Intentions are funny things...we all have them...except sometimes things go awry and we lose track.Why is that? We started out with a goal in mind, and we had the will to accomplish this goal and succeed at what we set out to do. One word...willpower. It went...it dissapeared. That is what happened. Willpower is not a constant in our lives. Willpower is on a par with motivation, it ebbs and it flows, sometimes it is stronger than other times. Why is this?

Often in our lives we will have a goal in mind that we want to achieve, or there is something that we set out to do. We are pumped and excited about this goal, we can't wait to get started on the road to achieving it! This goal could be anything...it could be losing weight, it could be gaining lean muscle, it could be running faster or further. The thing is that in reality, if we do not have the lasting motivation to reach these goals, they won't be met.
Motivation is fleeting , when we are motivated we feel like nothing can stop us from meeting our goal, we are ready for this challenge! Although, when results don't come immediately, we can lose motivation quickly. This happens all too often. There is a way around this though, and that is to form a habit.              



Habits are formed when motivation becomes a constant in our lives. Habits are formed by repeating the same thing repetitively on a daily basis. These things literally become a part of our lives. If you want to succeed at something, do it again and again and again. If you do this, you will shave that time off your PB, or you will lose that weight that you wanted to, get better at that jumpshot or run that extra mile.

According to an article in Forbes magazine, there are three stages in the formation of a habit, and these are The Honeymoon, The Fight Through and finally Second Nature.
The Honeymoon is the first few days in the formation of a new habit where you are motivated and change seems relatively easy. Then comes The Fight Through (I wouldn't choose this name, although let's go with it!), where our initial motivation fades and the reality of the situation sets in. We feel that this isn't going to be as easy as we initially thought. We begin to struggle and want to slip back into old (bad) habits because that is the easy option! We need to realise what is happening here to move beyond this phase and make this habit stick. What is your trigger? Realise why you feel this way, and through this recognition you will strengthen your resolve to move on through this temporary storm.
The final stage is Second Nature. This is rather self-explanatory,  but this is where we have created a new habit, and it becomes...you guessed it, second nature.

New habits take time to be created. Stick with a new behavior change and it will become a lasting change.





Yours in Health,

Ben. :-)

Resources
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonselk/2013/04/15/habit-formation-the-21-day-myth
images.google.com

The Connection.

The Mind-Body-Spirit connection is the definition of holistic health.When these three elements are balanced and operating together in harmony, we as beings will be able to work at our optimum capacity physically and mentally.
The reason for this is because these elements are balanced and are working together which allows a perfect working environment. If you can imagine a circle which is divided evenly into thirds, this is the blueprint of what should be achieved.

Many people are too focused on just one of these three elements which therefore puts the harmony of their life out of balance. Some people live too much in their heads (Mind), which left unchecked could lead to problems in that particular area, they could become too engrossed in their work for instance and through this lose touch with their emotional connections with others. Others could be too focused on their Body and their physical being, which leads to an inflated Ego or becoming selfish. Others again could live too much in the realm of Spirit and seem as though they are 'away with the fairies'. Too much of any one of these is not good for our overall well-being; a balance needs to be found.

In his book 'The essence of health-the seven pillars of well-being',Dr Craig Hassed lists seven elements which lead to our overall health.
Namely these are:

1. Education
2. Stress management
3. Spirituality
4. Exercise
5. Nutrition
6. Connectedness
7. Environment

Each of these things list can be related back directly to the three elements of mind, body or spirit. Exercise and Nutrition come under the heading of Body, Education and Stress Management come under Mind and Spirituality, Connectedness and Environment come under... yep... Spirit. Environment can really also go under Mind if we want to be pedantic, as the beauty of nature allows us to feel the connection with the environment, which can give us clarity of mind.

So, with all this in mind (pun intended), we need to understand how to get the most out of these elements so we can lead the well-balanced and lively lifestyle that we want to lead! In order to achieve this balance, and to exercise our mind, body and spirit, we need to make these three things a part of our lives.
We need to make exercise and proper eating a mainstay in our lives to satisfy the body. When our body is healthy, our mind is also healthy. This is because through exercise, chemicals are released in our brain that improve our mood. We feel more relaxed and happier! To target the function of our mind, we need to seek knowledge. Read a book, do a crossword...give a quiz a go! Last but not least, we need to get in touch with our Spirit. This means we should meditate, or at least get into nature, and feel the energy that it provides us with.

When we satisfy these elements -Mind, Body and Spirit- we are a happy, and well-balanced individual. Of course there are many external influences in our lives which impact on our happiness, but on an individual basis we feel balanced and energised more so than we ever have been!

Yours in Health,

Ben. :-)


Resources:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/exercise/

Dr. H Craig, The Essence of Health- The seven pillars of Wellbeing, 2008.

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=images

To cleanse or not to cleanse..

For our bodies to perform at their optimum, strangely enough we need to look after them. This doesn't just extend to exercising or the types of foods that we put into our bodies, but the way in which we flush them out to avoid a build-up of toxins within them. Regardless of the foods that we eat, even if they are the best types of foods imaginable, we will begin to get a build-up of toxins in our stomach, that if something is not done about can cause problems in our digestive system later on down the track!
It is a worthwhile idea for anyone, no matter where they are at in regards to their health and fitness, to cleanse their system now and again...or better yet to include a cleansing drink into their daily meal plan.
 Cleansing or detoxifying drinks do not consist of 'special' ingredients, they are very quick and easy to make. The point of these is to alkalise our digestive systems, which is the opposite of the acidic ingredients that regularly enter our stomachs. What we need to know here is that alkaline is god, and acidic is bad! The list of acidic ingredients is long. Almost everything that we eat, has an acidic component within it, hence the need why cleansing is so important. To get an idea, here is a short list of alkaline vs. acidic foods.

Alkaline                                                                 Acidic

Lemon                                                             Meat
Avocado                                                          Processed Meat
Cruciferous vegetables(Leafy Greens)            Beer
Kale                                                                 Fried Food
Garlic                                                               Soft Drink
Water                                                               Pre-packaged food

As you can see from the list of acidic ingredients, it is pretty easy to toxify our systems.
A quick and easy detox drink that is great to flush out our systems is lemon water. It is simple to prepare and it is easy to fit into our day. Some people add ground pepper or cayenne pepper to their lemon water as this increases our metabolism also.
Cruciferous vegetables or leafy greens are great for our systems also because the leaves of the greens actually massage any toxins or stray bits of food that may be laying in our digestive system out into our colon. Essentially they act as a sweeper or a garbageman for our stomach.
 Also, make sure you drink an adequate amount of water each day, as this doesn't just hydrate you, it helps to flush any foreign bodies out of your system that aren't supposed to be there.

If we have acidic food left in our stomach, and it just sits there without being digested, this can lead to ulcers or severe stomach pain which can lead to more severe symptoms later on that may require hospitalisation. Prevention is always better than cure, and in this case when the method of prevention is only of benefit to us as individuals, why not do a cleanse now and again!

We can include these detoxifying ingredients into our daily lives by perhaps having a lemon juice in the morning, or we could do a whole-day cleanse once every couple of weeks. A whole day cleanse would consist of eating or drinking only alkaline ingredients to completely rid the digestive system of any toxins. Personally, I find the method of including a cleansing drink in my daily diet a much easier way of maintaining my digestive health.

Whatever method you opt for, make sure you choose one!Your body will thank you.

Yours in health,

Ben :-)