There’s never been a time in history when there have been MORE services dedicated to health and well-being than there are now.

We have more Physiotherapists, Nutritionists, Chiropractors, Personal Trainers, Private Health clinics and hospitals than ever before…

Yet, despite this rapid increase in health care services, there has never been a time in history when we as a nation, have been MORE unfit, overweight, unhealthy and generally unwell.

We’re all trying hard to live more healthy lives, yet it just doesn’t seem to be working.

What is going on?

The Three Saboteurs – What You Could Be Missing

In my opinion, there’s three things contributing to the rapidly declining health of the modern person that are often over-looked.

I’m not going to be talking about the ‘usual suspects’ exercise, nutrition and sleep, in this blog post.

Instead I’m going to reveal the ‘little known saboteurs’ that could well be sabotaging your weight loss efforts (and contributing to the overall decline of health in modern society).

In no particular order, these are:

1) Chronic STRESS

Problem: Chronic stress literally affects every system in your body, and not in a good way.

Chronic stress can negatively impact your weight, body shape, energy levels, and mood, and make it very difficult to follow the simple habits you know you could be taking towards improving your health and body shape.

Solution: Firstly, it’s important to realise stress isn’t ‘done’ to you, it’s created from within in response to your thoughts about an event or situation.

For example, your boss isn’t making you stressed. You are manifesting a stress reaction within yourself in response to what your boss has said or done.

Once you truly grasp this concept you can begin to change your stress response. This process can take some time, as it’s a radically different way of thinking, and it’s not going to happen overnight. If you’d like help with this, please contact us here and we can coach you through the process or point you in the direction of resources that will help.

In the meantime, short-term stress-busting strategies include deep breathing, massage and relaxation and meditation exercises.

2) A Diet High In Refined SUGAR

Problem: The staple of the modern diet. A high intake of refined sugar will wreak havoc with your blood sugar levels, energy levels, hormones and ultimately you waist line. Repeated, chronic exposure over a long period can even eventually lead to diabetes and other nasty health conditions.

Solution: Eliminate or at least minimise your intake of refined sugar.

Base the majority of your meals around lean proteins and fibrous vegetables. Add sensible fats (such as olive oil, avocado, nuts & seeds or coconut oil) and/or carbohydrates (rice, sweet potato, quinoa) to these meals based around your activity levels and you’ll be on the right track.

If you’re confused about nutrition, we offer a nutrition coaching package to help you gain confidence and clarity about your eating habits.

3) Being SEDENTARY 

Problem: Drive to work -> sit at your desk all day -> drive home -> sit at your desk or on the couch all night.

So…exactly how many steps did you take today?! This is a metabolism’s worst nightmare and will massively impact your ability to lose weight.

It’ll also make you stiffer than a plank – say bye-bye to your flexibility and say hello to terrible posture and painful joints and muscles!

Solution: Build regular movement into your day and ensure you’re not sitting for any longer than an hour. Whether it’s a toilet break or water break it doesn’t matter – just schedule it into your day.

Are The Three Saboteurs Impacting Your Results?

The aim of this blog post was to make you aware there is often more factors involved in a health and weight loss programme than just exercise and nutrition.

Three of the major factors have been discussed in this blog post and if you’ve identified that any or all of these ‘saboteurs’ could secretly be keeping you ‘stuck’ in a cycle of poor health and being out-of-shape, take action today to begin eliminating them.

To avoid overwhelm, I suggest picking just one of these factors to begin with. Follow through with that objective until you’ve completed correcting the problem (e.g. eliminated sugar or reduced your stress response). Then you can move on to number 2 and then number 3.