sheree's top tips for winter wellness

Recently, I attended a seminar at my gym Les Mills Howick on winter wellness.  The presenter was a very experienced personal trainer called Sheree Beaumont, who is also a qualified nutritionist.  We’re in the middle of winter at the moment and a lot of people suffer from the winter blues.  I have been feeling unmotivated lately and lost my passion for training.  Getting through my daily work out was a struggle and something which I really didn’t enjoy doing.  As you may recall me mentioning in my post about how to beat procrastination, lately I have been putting off my morning work out until the afternoon and I often didn’t feel like doing it then, either.  I knew that if I didn’t develop a better attitude to my fitness soon, there would be no hope of competing in the North Harbour Triathlon Club’s Swim and Run series this summer, which remains my fitness goal for 2019.  At the moment, I can swim 1000m continuous freestyle at the local pool and run 5k, which is the maximum required for the races.  However, braving the elements outdoors and swimming in the ocean is another matter entirely. I also need to improve on my speed if I want to keep up with the other competitors, most of whom are triathletes and are even fitter than the runners at the YMCA.  Sheree’s seminar was just what I needed to motivate me and two weeks on, it has already helped me tremendously to get back on track.  Here’s a summary of the points she made:

1.       Look at your body like a house
It will be your home for the rest of your life, so you have to look after it.  Sheree’s house metaphor resonated with me on another level. With Auckland house prices at an all time high, a lot of people are understandably worried about investing in property before it’s too late.  But don’t forget that you also need to invest in yourself, and this isn’t something you should put off until later in life.  You need to work on improving your health and fitness every day of your life.  A lot of people feel that gym memberships and personal training are luxuries, but to me, they’re not as they’re necessary to looking after my health.  If you don’t look after your health first, you won’t be well enough to work and provide for anyone in your care. It’s all very circular. A simple point but one that many people tend to forget.

2.       Remember the 5 Ss
                    i.            Sleep

•          If you are dieting and sleep deficient, 70% of the weight you lose will come from lean muscle mass!
•          The less you sleep, the more you will eat
•          Use the bedroom as a place for sleeping only. Don’t turn it into a lounge, office or living room
•          Have a night time routine.  Plan for the following day by preparing your clothes and prepping meals. Switch off all electronic devices.  Aim to be in bed by 10 pm

                   ii.            Stress

•          Some stress in our lives is good to keep us adapting and changing, but too much leads to a high level of cortisol.  This will result in the body storing more fat
•          Practising diaphragmatic breathing can help with stress
•          Cut down on coffee because it stays in the system for 12 hours, affecting the quality of our sleep
•          Exercise can cause stress.  Avoid overdoing cardio and HIIT to allow the body to rest and recover.  Keep your workouts varied, with some strength training, group fitness classes and walking outdoors.  Aim for one class like yoga or body balance every week to calm the nervous system

                 iii.            Self-love

•          It’s important to protect what’s inside, so you can relax and recharge
•          Try to do something for yourself for 10-15 minutes every day. It could be reading a book, writing a journal, taking a bath or meditating

                 iv.            Sugar and processed foods

•          Sugar is a toxin and should be kept to a minimum
•          Try to stick to a wholefoods diet 80-90% of the time
•          Avoid foods in packets and processed foods.  Stick to fruit, veggies, meat, poultry, fish, eggs and dairy.  Good sources of carbs are brown rice, quinoa and oats

                   v.            Supplements

•          Try to drink at least 2-3 litres of water per day to keep the cells working effectively and flush out toxins
•          Our soil lacks the nutrients needed to keep our bodies functioning optimally, such as selenium, zinc, magnesium and iodine.  If it isn’t in our soil, it isn’t in our food!
•          Check your nails for white spots and if they bend or break easily, as they’re a sign of zinc deficiency.    Zinc is needed to strengthen our hair, nails, give us healthy skin and strengthen the immune system
•          A sign that you are deficient in Omega 3s or good fats is if you have red spots on the back of your arms.  They are essential for reducing inflammation, improving cognitive functioning, healthy hormones and skin health.  It may be beneficial to add fish oil supplements to your diet like I have, as it’s hard to source all the Omega 3 you need in fish itself
•          Magnesium is essential and we need more of it when we are stressed. Magnesium calms down the body’s level of stress by relaxing our central nervous system
•          Make sure your level of Vitamin C is adequate.  We need it not only to help combat viruses and colds, but also to reduce cortisol levels
•          We don’t get enough of these in our diets so adding a high quality multi-vitamin can really help to make you feel energetic, along with perhaps an additional magnesium supplement

3.       Some final points
Sheree finished by emphasising that we don’t achieve anything by trying to do everything.  Take things a step at a time and focus on one of the 5 Ss that you need to address most.  Once you have made progress, you can start on the next one.

A big thank you again to Sheree for putting this presentation together and delivering such a dynamic seminar.  As I told her, not many people would take the time to do this and I do appreciate it.  We hope this write up of the excellent points she made will help others, too.

Sheree can be reached at sheree@strengthenhealnourish.com​