What will it take??

I've been thinking this week about what will get people to make lifestyle changes. Particularly men. As we all know men's health is in most cases worse than that of our female counterparts. There are probably lots of different reasons for this - many of which science probably is not yet aware of. Whatever the reason the issue still remains.

What we need to do is find out what the motivator is for men to have healthy lifestyles. Clients of mine seem to be so busy being busy that they forget that life isn't all about "busyness". You've probably heard of the 4 hour workweek - the book that outlines how we can aim to be more effective in what we do, thus freeing up time to do more of what we want to do. It's a great book to read - even better if you actually apply some of it!

Anyway after reading that and doing some thinking I've decided to focus the work I do more on men's health. Today I read this article today which highlighted for me what happens when we don't make the changes we need to make - and this guy is only 39! Pretty sad really. It is said that sudden death is usually the first sign of cardiovascular disease - too late to know obviously. This guy was lucky.

So the question is what will motivate our men to do make lifestyle changes they need to make? Surely it doesn't have to get to the point that they have a cardiac arrest! Any ideas? I would love to hear from you about the men in your life and what motivates them or what you think would motivate them...

Sugar Free Family!!

It started with my wife deciding that she would give no sugar a go for 21 days! While not a new thing for her to cut out sugar, this was longer than any other attempt.

By about days 4 and 5, it was starting to get tough. Everything with sugar in it all of sudden seemed to stand out and say "Eat me!"

Measures needed to be taken like moving the brown sugar container (previously used for morning porridge) to a less prominent spot in the pantry and was promptly banished to the back! Visuals were also required and so the fridge became the count down calendar.

Most important though was the mental struggle to get through the 21 days - initially this required a fixed vision of the ideal figure she was after. With that firmly in mind she was able to avoid sugar temptation for the first week or so. Later on in the challenge however the motivation turned to the health aspects of cutting back on the sugar. Reduced inflammation around the belly, less afternoon crashes and increased energy levels! Of course she got through the 21 days without sugar which is awesome! As a "reward" for herself she went and ate a magnum and had some Dr Pepper and felt sick the rest of the day....lesson learnt....

One of the cool things that came out of it though was that her example meant that our oldest daughter Liahona also joined in. She started about day 14 with Mum and did really well in her little 4 day challenge she gave herself.

It might seem stupid that people deprive themselves of something. When you take a closer look at it, you realise that actually you are just cutting out foods that are good for us anyway. These are foods that make us feel tired, sick, bloated and overweight. If cutting them out means that I feel healthier, more alert, have increased energy then why would I feel deprived?

So now there are a few of us in the FitPro Clinic doing a 12 week no sugar challenge (although fruit and honey are allowed). This one allows a 24 hour window each week of eating whatever you like, and also has a 100 burpee penalty for any slip ups on the other days (someone is actually doing burpees as I write lol...)

I also know another 152kg guy who just by eating real foods (no processed foods) for the last 3 weeks has already lost 16kg! His goal is to get to 86kg by the end of the year! Imagine what that will do for his diabetes and cardiovascular health! He has now introduced a bit of walking on the treadmill to get some more movement happening in his life and he is feeling great. Just takes a step to get started - or a challenge with a group of others around you.

Find a few others close to you that are keen and give a no sugar challenge a go and see how you feel. Do it for as any days as you like, there are no rules as far as I'm concerned. ANY reduction in the amount of sugar you consume will be of benefit. There really is no other way to find out if it works for you or not - you have to actually give it a go....