It’s been awhile…

I’ve just realised that it has been two years since I have written anything here. I bet you won’t believe that I have written so much in my head and thought that it would make a good blog, and never got around to actually writing anything?

Life is busy, and if you don’t make time for what is important to you, then it won’t happen – no surprises there either. However, I hear this so often from clients. I don’t have time to workout, I don’t have time to prep my meals for the week etc etc, I am sure you can add your own in here.

I want to know why? Why are you not putting yourself first to achieve the goals that you set out when you started working with me? Why are you sabotaging being a better you? Why are you letting others take over you and your time? Only you can answer these questions, no one else knows what is going on in your head or life, except you. Isn’t it about time that you came first?

Have a think about those whys? In the end they are only excuses.

Now that you have taken time to ponder what the answers are to those questions…. what are you going you to about it? How can you make the right choices for you? Let’s think about how you can make some time to get some regular exercise. You know that you feel good once you have done it. You know that it helps you sleep better. You know that your body is going to appreciate that walk, run, functional movement programe, stretching or whatever it is that you enjoy doing to get your heart rate up and maybe even a wee glow on. So how do you fit it in with all the other things you need to do, work, look after the family, etc?

What about changing the time when you workout? I know that for me a morning workout works best – it is done and dusted for the day and if work priorities come up or I just don’t feel like working out after work then it is done. Even better, I may even be slightly asleep when I’m doing it and the body is as surprised as I am that an hour has flown by.

Lockdown in New Zealand was great for me and exercise. I am part of a great gym that loaned us some equipment and I worked out most lunchtimes. It helped break up the day, otherwise I would have sat at my desk all day! It was easier to fit in exercise, I wasn’t driving anywhere, I had no where else to be except at home – it was the law. Once lockdown was over it was back to reality and juggling how to fit everything in, it seemed busier than before!

What about trying a new exercise, take yourself out of your comfort zone? Ask a friend to join you so you won’t feel like the newbie and that everyone is looking at you. Go out and try some of our fabulous walks around NZ, there are tracks for every fitness level and you can choose a short or long (days) walk. If you are not sure what to do, then a walk is a great start, but feel free to reach out and I can help you work out what might suit you.

Anyway, what I am trying to say is, you need to figure out what works best for you. Find something that you enjoy and get out and do it, at least 30 minutes a day, or longer. Put yourself first, make that time, schedule it in to your day!

The deadball lift -Photo courtesy of Kirsty Prentice

I promise to not let two years go by before I write again – I may even make it a priority!!! But of course for me the exercise is first.

Reflections – A lot can happen in a year

Funny how a year can fly by without you realising. It has been almost 12 months since I started writing this blog. Initially I thought I might write every few weeks. At that stage I was going through some turbulent times and trying to figure out how I fit in the world. Putting things down in writing seemed to help.

My last post was a few months ago now and life has been very busy. I am working full time as a Senior Advisor, HR for the Department of Conservation. I get to travel around our beautiful country on a regular basis. That has its good and bad points. But overall, I enjoy the work and the people are amazing. We have common values and motives for wanting to make NZ a better place for the future.

I coach Crossfit at a great wee box called FRF in Lyall Bay, Wellington. I really enjoy doing this. And the other day I realised that being a coach has helped me in my work life too – I am not so freaked out about standing up in front of a group of people anymore. I still like to make sure I know what I am speaking about, but I no longer have dripping armpits when I do (sorry for the visuals there).

Yesterday I ran my first workout for women only. I had to write the programme i.e. figure out what I was going to coach. This was a little hard, as I didn’t know how many ladies I would be coaching. So I came up with a scheme that would work for both a small class and a very big class. Luckily the total class was 17 ladies. I think everyone had a good time. I know that I enjoyed coaching them. They knew that what they put in was what they got out. Hopefully their bodies aren’t too sore today and they will come back again next month.

My last post spoke about the nutrition programme I run. Since then I have had 12 clients complete my eight-week programme. There have been some great successes and I check in occasionally to see how they are doing. Most have managed to keep to the program overall and have said it is the easiest to follow with the best results. But we all know that changing or initiating a new habit takes a lot of effort. We all fall off the wagon and have to give ourselves a good talking to and try again. Me included! Hubby and I have a trip planned for Bali in a few weeks and I am going to wear a bikini, so I am more aware of what I am putting in my body than normal.

I have enjoyed reading some interesting books in the last few months and two have stood out for very different reasons. One was called “Sorry I am late – I didn’t want to come’ by Jessica Pan. It was a book about an introvert trying out extrovert things for a year. And boy did she put herself out there – Improv, meeting random strangers, to see if they would become friends. She did it because she realised that her friends were all around the world and she had no one in London. As I am mainly an extrovert, I purchased the book as I wanted some insight into what the world is like for an introvert. It was a great read and made me realise that maybe I am not that much of an extrovert after all?

The other book was by Dr Paul Wood called ‘How to escape from prison’. It is an inspiring read of a boy who became a man while in prison and turned his life around. He is very lucky he is alive to write the book really. Some of the book can be quite confronting, but the five principles to get you our of your own mental model and how you view the world are thought provoking.

I highly recommend both books, but for very different reasons.

The year had it’s ups and downs, and I wouldn’t want to do some of it again, but it has made me stronger and more confident in myself. I am a better person for the experiences. Onwards and upwards I say!

What’s been happening?

Over the last seven weeks I have been running my first health, wellness and nutrition programme. It’s not a big group, which has worked out well, as I am able to tailor the programme, to a small degree, to suit the goals of the individuals.

We have been following the low carb, healthy fat way of eating. Feedback so far has been that it is the easiest way of eating the group have done. Most of us have tried every diet under the sun, and not been able to make it stick. This one fits into your life, so if you have a life event, a birthday, wedding etc then you can have that piece of cake, that glass of bubbles and not feel guilty. Of the 21 meals per week, we are allowed if we wish, to indulge in food that would not normally be in our diets. This way we don’t feel like we are missing out and can still achieve our goals.

In addition to what food we eat, I have also introduced some habits for the group to work on and hopefully use for the rest of their lives. These are very simple in theory but can be quite difficult to implement. They are eating slowly and mindfully, eating to 80% full, regular exercise and setting good sleep habits.

To track progress, I asked each member to fill in a sheet of measurements, which they completed again halfway through and will complete again next week, at the end of the programme. I was very happy to see some amazing results, even halfway through, with one lady losing 35cm and another 24cm. I can’t wait to see their results next week!

Fortnightly catch up calls with me and regular posts on a closed Facebook page completed the programme and ensured that the members felt heard and had someone to be accountable to. And they knew that there were others that were in the same boat and could share experiences.

I will be starting another group up in the next few weeks or so, if the above sounds like it would help you achieve your health, wellbeing and nutrition goals, then please get in touch. I would love to help you, either as part of a group or one-on-one.

A new you?

It’s a new year, as if you didn’t know, and maybe you have been thinking about treating yourself better? Eating the best for you? Maybe you have over indulged in the last few weeks, months, years? Now you want to do something about it? Well, I have just the thing for you! How about an eight week programme that is going to help you make some great changes, not only to how you view what you put in your body, but with a group of like minded individuals all looking for the same thing?

The eight weeks will include one on one coaching from me, a new ‘habit’ each week, a closed Facebook group where you can share your stories, highlights, and not so great times with others going through the same programme.

There will be guidance on what you should or could be eating for you. An individual one on one call with me each fortnight and if you are not completely satisfied then I will give you your money back. But you need to want to make some changes, and you will need to check in with me regularly, otherwise I can’t help you succeed.

For more information please contact me at calder-campbell@xtra.co.nz or if you want to talk to me on 021 036 4848.

Resolutions

If you are on social media at all, or even just living, you will notice that a lot of people are talking about New Years resolutions. At our Crossfit box this morning the ice breaker question was “what is your resolution?” Over two thirds of the responses were, I don’t have one. There weren’t any reasons given for why the individual didn’t have one. So I’m going to take a guess at some of the reasons why….

• I’ve tried before and never succeeded, and I don’t want to fail again.
• I don’t want to share with you as you will hold me to it
• My resolution might sound silly compared to others
• If your reason isn’t above then put your own reason in here…….

As we know, the normal resolutions are, lose weight, give up smoking, drink less or not at all, exercise more, spend more time with the family, be kinder to myself, eat less cake, achieve more at the gym etc, etc..

According to Wikipedia (the source of all truth – not quite, but will do for this blog) …

“The most common reason for participants failing their New Years’ Resolutions was setting themselves unrealistic goals (35%), while 33% didn’t keep track of their progress and a further 23% forgot about it. About one in 10 respondents claimed they made too many resolutions.

I would like to propose some questions to you on why you fail. Did you choose wisely? Is it something that you can do? Have you chunked it out into smaller goals? Are you invested in yourself to achieve? Have you removed all the roadblocks that could stop you achieving? Have you a support crew that will help you achieve? Why did you choose that goal? i.e. was it for you or for someone else? Do you really need to achieve it – will the world stop if you don’t? What could happen if you did achieve it? How would your life be different from now? Food for thought eh? Some of these might be why you have failed, or there might be other reasons?

I remember a few years ago the only New Years resolution I made was to be happy. Sounds simple doesn’t it? At the time being happy was very hard to do. That year was difficult, but my resolution was important to me, no one wants to be sad. Try and find something each day that makes you smile. It can be the simplest of things, but it just needs to make you smile.

The year 2019 is literally just around the corner. It may seem like a hurdle to get over 2018. Some of us have had a bad 365 days, some of us have limped over the line, others have sprinted to the finish line, we have lost family and friends and we have gained family and friends. Sometimes it is good to look back and realise what we have gone through and know that it has made us stronger. Hindsight is a fabulous thing, we all have something we wish we had done different. But if we hadn’t gone through it we wouldn’t be the people we are today.

So onwards to 2019, even if you haven’t made a goal, I am sure there are some things you want to achieve? Be that more travel, a pull up (my goal – same one for the last five years), make nutritious choices for ourselves, keep in touch with friends and family and be happy.

On that note, I wish you and yours a great 2019 and thanks for reading my blog. See you in the New Year.