Getting back on track after set backs

Have you ever experienced a time when things didn’t go as you wanted them to, or you got distracted and it was ages before you got back on track?

How did you react? 

Did you get frustrated or even angry with yourself? Did you just want to give up and just forget all about trying to achieve your goals?

When things do not go to plan we can all become irritated and frustrated. You may have some internal dialogue going on, a little voice in your head saying negative things and putting you down. This can cause your confidence to dip and you may even lose motivation to keep going.

The key is to accept whatever has happened. Acknowledge that setbacks are part of life and they can sometimes happen. Life happens!

Don’t take a negative approach and dwell on what happened, take a more positive approach and say, ‘Ok, what’s my next step to move forward again.’ Or, ‘What can I do to make the most of the situation?’ 

This means you can revise your goal and adjust your expectations. What is important is that you are taking action. 

Think ACE. Action Cures Everything!



The simple answer to helping yourself bounce back is to let it go. Accept that there is nothing you can do to change the past. Otherwise it will be like trying to run forwards dragging a sled of heavy weights behind you. It will weigh you down so off load and focus on moving ahead and what you need to do next.

You could also examine what happened in an attempt to identify the factors that contributed towards you getting off course. What was within your control and what could you do in the future to minimise it occurring again? 

Could you get more support from your family and friends? Could you delegate tasks to give you more time to plan and get organised?

We all experience setbacks in our lives so recognising them when they happen, accepting them and learning to bounce back will help you develop the strength to be more effective in how you deal with things in the future.

Yes you CAN change!

Are you or do you know people that seem ‘set in their ways’ and believe that’s that, they will always be like that? 

Do you believe that you can’t change anything about yourself or things that you have ‘always’ done?

Well you weren’t born with the behaviours and beliefs you have now. They have all been learned as you grew up and got older. This means that any behaviour can be changed or new one ‘learned’. 

It’s not too late!



Many psychologists believe that it takes 21 consecutive days of doing something different for it to become a habit. When we do something over and over again, a neural pathway is formed in our brain until it becomes hardwired. 

Once the behaviour is ingrained, our brain starts to see this as the clearest and easiest route to take. The more times we do something, the more we re-programme our brain so it becomes second nature. 

So the more we practice doing things differently, then the more chance we have of changing our behaviour.

So, what would you like to change? Grab some paper and a pen and take a moment to do this following exercise:

1. If someone could wave a magic wand and change you into the you that you want to be, what would you look like? How would you feel? Is there anything you would like to do but feel you can’t? Why is that? Write it down.

2. Now imagine you have achieved these goals. Try and visualise it. How would it make you feel? Why do you think it would make you feel that way? Write it down.

3. So where are you right now? How do you feel about yourself right now? Write it down.

4. What do you think and feel you need to do now in order to achieve what you would like? What barriers are holding you back and what can you do about them? Write it down.

Ok, now that you’ve done this, write a list of the steps you need to take in order to start making the changes that you want. 

Then break those steps down even more, into monthly and daily tasks. Focusing on smaller goals or tasks makes the end goal more achievable.

So keep focused and stay determined!

Good luck!


If you would like some help and support shedding excess pounds and gaining more energy, check out our 777 Challenge which kicks off next Monday 9th Feb.

It's just £7 until 6pm on the 5th Feb, then the price increases to £27. Registration will close on Friday 6th at 6pm so you can start getting organised over the weekend ready to start on Monday.

Go on...go take a look...

We will refund you your money if it's not for you or you are not completely satisfied with the results!

www.777Challenge.co.uk

 

25 things you may not know about me

Wow I had quite a few replies following my email about the menopause last month. It seems many of you are in that place right now too! I promise to come back to you with any nuggets of information as and when I learn it :) One person thanked me for sending it and said it was quite a personal thing to share. It got me thinking about a list that I'd written a couple of months ago. I'd been challenged to make a list of 25 things people may not know about me. It was quite challenging, but now I'm going to share it with you. But before I add my list in, I want to challenge you to do the same. Make a list of 25 things people may not know about you, you don't have to share it, but you can if you want, on Facebook, send it to your friends, maybe even just write it down for a friend. If you want you can email it to me.    You will be amazed at it's power. Anyway, here's mine... 1) I was born a month early on the 22nd December 1970 and named Emma Louise Boffo. I spent my first day of life in an incubator. I'm 43 now. 2) My Italian father Luigi, who was from Naples, was tragically killed in a car accident when I was a year old. 3) My mum met my step father Ken when I was 6 and had my brother when I was 12 and sister when I was 15. 4) My Italian grandfather was a very talented glass blower who came over to the UK to work at Whitefriars Glass. The year before I was born he relocated to Malta to work as head designer for the then newly started Mdina Glass. Some of his work is quite collectible now. Just google Boffo Penguin! 5) My Italian Aunt, who also relocated to Malta, met her beau and settled there. I visit them, my cousins and their children every summer. 6) My other cousins on the Italian side of my family are half Italian half German and live in Romford, Essex...shuuut uuuuup! ;) 7) I briefly had guitar lessons at middle school using my dad's classical guitar. Unfortunately when I went to high school there were no tutors so I never continued. 8) I somehow managed to end up in the top maths group at school and took my O'level a year early. I'm actually glad I didn't quite pass as the next exam was pure and applied maths which was insanely hard. Despite being in the top group I still need a calculator to do basic sums :D 9) I went to Saturday morning music school for a few years. I played 3 different size recorders and the flute. I had private lessons and played in band and orchestra. 10) I stayed on at school into the 6th form and took A level art and graphical communication (technical drawing). I then went to art college for 4 years and did a B-TEC Diploma in General Art & Design, and a HND in Graphic Design and Advertising. 11) Fitness is my second career. After leaving college I worked in graphic design in Central London for 15 years, first at a small company in Soho for 3 years, then for Hays, the recruitment company, in their marketing department for 12 years. 12) In 2001 I went travelling for five and a half months. I went to Singapore, Malaysia, Bali, Australia and Thailand. It's easily the best thing I have ever done! 13) I didn't learn to drive until I was 22. I've only ever had 2 cars. The first an old Fiesta and the Peugeot 206 I am still driving now. 14) I have a fear of heights and hate the feeling of falling, hence I would never go on a sky high roller coaster or jump out of a plane, for no amount of money! 15) I love dance music of all kinds of genres and used to go raving in the early 1990's. Top haunts were Trax at Camden Palace, Crazy Club at the Astoria, Rage at Heaven, the Slough Centre, Raindance, Dungeons in Hackney and Clink Street London Bridge. Definitely a major contributor to my noisy crunchy knees! 16) I started ballet when I was 5 years old and then tap and modern dance up till I was 18. Another contributor to my knees! 17) My love of dance music still continues and although I don't go clubbing anymore I still go dancing when I can...street dancing. I have gained many like-minded friends over the last 5 years or so and fitness presenter friends who teach various styles of dance as a class. I try and get to as many events as I can, and have even been to fitness weeks away in Fueteventura, Turkey and Germany. The styles I love doing are hip hop, street jazz, house, lyrical jazz and ragga. 18) I love stand up comedy and have been to see Billy Connolly twice, Lee Evans 5 times, Eddie Izzard, Michael McIntyre, Peter Kay and John Bishop. I'm off to see Billy Bailey later this year. They all appeal to my daft and sarcastic sense of humour. 19) I was single for many years until the start of last year when I met Patrick, a 6 foot 5 plasterer from East London ;) 20) I adore animals, especially dogs, and would be in my element with a pile of puppies! There are 4 dogs in our family, 2 lab/labradoodles, a jack russell and now a new staffy pup. 21) I used to be a volunteer at the Dog's Trust in Harefield where I'd spend a morning cleaning kennels and walking the dogs (or they'd often walk me!). Every time I'd mentally adopt about 5 and want to bring them home. I also go and help out at a sanctuary in Malta where I take them money that I've raised throughout the year. 22) I have a serious life-threatening nut allergy and have to carry epi-pens. I had my first anaphylactic shock in 1995 at my first work black tie Christmas party after eating walnut bread and spent most of the night at Royal London A&E. I've had a few more visits to casualty since then but with milder reactions. 23) I've never been stick thin and was quite chubby as a child. I put that down to developing an early sweet tooth, something which I still struggle with today even though I know all about its negative effects. I honestly believe in its addictive properties which is why it's so hard to resist sometimes. 24) I'm a bit OCD and love having things organised and tidy...the complete opposite to my family, boyfriend and work colleague! ;) 25) I love the beauty and serenity of nature. I love not meeting anyone when I walk the dog. It's a great way to be calm (except when she's diving through puddles and rolling in something hideous) and find some head clearing space. Just me, doggy and nature :)

Emma 'no secrets' Boffo emma@emmabfitness.com 07956 315851 Join our new Facebook group for tips on getting healthy, being happy and getting yourself looking hot! If you are interested in coming for a taster week to try out our fitness sessions, please reply to this email for more information.

Damn my menopausal hormones!

You may have been here... You did a new diet or healthy eating regime, put loads of effort into it but when you jumped on the scales at the end, it only showed you'd lost a pound or two. I bet you thought, 'What was the point?" and then you feel totally deflated and go and eat something stodgy or sugary. I had a small bout of this at the start of last week. The previous week was our 777 Challenge, our non faddy, real food, get healthy quick plan. We had quite a big uptake after the break with everyone looking to shed their extra Christmas pounds, myself included. Now I've done these weeks before and I typically lose 3-5lbs in the 7 days, fairly easily. (Yes I can eat a little too much of the wrong stuff too and lose my way now and then. I'm still human!) But...this time, when I jumped onto the scales I'd only lost about 2lbs! A huge wave of disappointment came over me even though I know that the number is only a reflection of my body weight against gravity. I know that scales don't tell you all the positive changes that happen internally when you eat real food.  I know that scales don't tell you that your energy levels improve.  I know that scales don't tell you how much better your skin looks. I KNOW! But I still felt really down and disappointed. Why hadn't I been as successful this time? I then thought about each element of the week in turn... Food  I'd stuck to 3 meals a day of real and fresh food and not had any wobbles - but with a sore throat I'd had turned to throat sweets which contained sugar Exercise  I'd completed about 85% of the workouts and been walking Water  I'd only reached about two thirds of my water target - key for flushing out stored water and toxins from fat cells Sleep  I had been in bed by 10.30pm on 6 of the 7 nights, but several of the nights had very poor quality sleep due to barking foxes and an unwell dog. This would have really hindered my results.   But then I realised, I now have an additional hindrance, my changed hormones! I'm now 44 and I have been going through an early menopause. My hormones and mindset have been knocked a little sideways in the last few years. Sleep is key to help hormones re balance, plus give us the repair and regeneration we need. Physical repair generally takes place between 10pm and 2am, and psychological repair for the mind takes place between 2am and 6am. Not getting to bed early enough and not getting enough good sleep regularly enough affects this and our ability to lose weight. So, with all the changes my body has been going through, I now won't find it quite so easy to shed extra pounds, in fact, my body will be trying hard to prevent it happening! Why? Well, in the menopause our ovaries stop producing estrogen. We have estrogen in our fat cells but not as much, so our bodies become very reluctant to give them up, hence making it harder to lose weight. Other hormones like cortisol and adreneline are also much higher (and part of the cause of hot flushes). These stress hormones also hinder weight loss, which is why we need to find time to slow down and relax each week. Now I don't have all the answers yet (I am looking into doing a course all about it so I can help myself then help others), but here are my top tips for now if you are going through a similar experience. Don't do just a little bit of healthy eating, drinking water or exercise, give it your all in order to get better results.   Don't jump straight onto the HRT band wagon. There are no one size fits all drugs and not everyone needs them in the same quantities. Our bodies were designed to cope with all hormonal processes for life, including menopause. Most menopausal symptoms can be managed through diet and exercise alone. Look into alternative and natural supplements first. I've just started taking soy isoflavones supplements (good brands are Solgar and Higher Nature). Other supplements to consider are evening primrose and magnesium citrate (or any ending in 'ate')   Most importantly accept yourself as you are NOW and accept that change WILL happen. And never give up trying. For more information on peri and menopause, two 'guru's' to check out are Dr Christiane Northrup and Dr Sara Gottfried. Re-balance your hormones, re-balance your health... If you would like a hand re-balancing your hormones starting with nutrition and lifestyle, our Project Recharge has just kicked off and will be going on until 19th April. It will have 4 phases, and you can join at any time. Phase 1 = Reboot: reset your body Phase 2 = Plug in: boost your energy and motivation Phase 3 = Turn it up: ramp up your metabolism Phase 4 = Retain: maintain your momentum If you would like more information, or to come and try our training sessions and all we have to offer by coming to a taster week, then please reply to this email.

Emma 'never giving up' Boffo emma@emmabfitness.com 07956 315851 Join our new Facebook group for tips on getting healthy, being happy and getting yourself looking hot!

Are you getting a good signal?

Are you getting a good signal?

Balancing hormones naturally for optimal health

 

What does it really mean to be ‘healthy’?

‘Healthy’ means getting our bodies to function ‘naturally’, as nature intended, with no signs of being ill or over-weight. If you have medical conditions then your body is not functioning naturally, and if you are over-weight, you are malnourished.

So what’s the best way to get healthier and leaner? Well it all starts with the liver and reducing the burden. The liver needs to be clean and working optimally before hormones will work properly, so a clean diet free from toxins is essential.

When you eat toxic, highly processed and hard to digest food, it places not only a massive stress on the digestive system but overloads the liver, which has to deal with and detoxify everything before it will allow it into your blood stream.

The liver cleans the blood, as well as having many other functions. If you have an overloaded liver then it will affect all of these processes. Circulatory problems such as gas, IBS, bloating and diverticulitis (where waste gets into the bloodstream via splits in the colon wall), are all signs that nutrients are not being absorbed properly.

When your liver is over burdened it makes you ‘bigger’ and in turn heavier as it has to dilute and house these toxins to make them less harmful to you. This is why after a weekend of indulgence you can be several pounds heavier come Monday morning!

One of the first things you can do to help flush out these toxins is drink water! Yes, an easy solution I know but how many people actually drink any, let alone enough water each day. Every single process in your body, including hormone production is affected by hydration. Your blood is thicker and more syrupy when you are dehydrated and slows all processes down. It’s like trying to run in glue.

One of the first places your body takes water from when you are dehydrated is the upper part of your colon. This means you are more likely to be constipated or find it harder to eliminate. If you are not regular, ie go every single day, then eating all the time is not recommended as it will just back up and your body will be under too much stress. Food is treated as an invader, a stressor, until it has met the liver. If you eat 6 times then that’s 6 times your body will be under digestive stress. Eat no more than 2-3 times a day.

Drinking plenty of water also decreases the risk of kidney stones, cystitis and in turn low back pain. Water thins your bodies liquids, makes them less syrupy and therefore contain less bacteria.

Our hormones are created from the nutrients we get from food. If you are eating poor quality and nutrient deficient food then our bodies systems become compromised and can lead to problems such as thyroid issues.

Our glands, found in seven sites in the body including the neck, groin and under arms, become overburdened and undernourished and don’t work efficiently. Glands release hormones into the bloodstream and receptors need to be available to catch them and take them to where they are needed. If you are eating nutrient poor food or food that doesn’t suit you then this process doesn’t happen 100%

Think about an aerial and your tv. When the weather is good the signal gets to your tv 100% and the picture and quality is great. When the weather is poor the picture starts breaking up and quality is compromised. 

If all our circulatory pathways are compromised our hormones cannot act properly. Our bodies will not be working ‘naturally’ as nature intended. So even if you eat something good like broccoli, all the goodness won’t get there as with messed up hormones, you cannot absorb the nutrients in their entirety. You basically are what you digest.

Our body’s functions can be affected by the following:

-       Inflammation

-       Poor red blood cell production

-       Blood pressure issues

-       Toxicity

-       Dehydration

When inflammation is present in the body then cortisol, our ‘get up and go’ stress hormone is elevated which means fat burning is reduced or switched off completely.

Cortisol isn’t all bad though. It is naturally present in the body in the first part of the day, which is when we need it. Then it should start decreasing from mid afternoon onwards when our growth and repair hormones take over.

However, this is not the case for many of us as we carry on rushing about from the morning at 100 miles per hour picking up the kids etc and working late into the night on our computers. 

So again, if our cortisol levels are high then fat burning hormones don’t get a look in. Have you ever wondered why that even when you throw ‘going to the gym’ into the hectic evening mix that you STILL don’t get results? You need to empty your stress bucket!

Too much cortisol can lead to decreased memory, focus, clarity and increased moodiness. It can also lead to fatigue, depression, low sex drive, increased abdominal fat, impaired immune system and loss of lean tissue. When you don’t sleep well cortisol increases and your repair hormones decrease. Is it any wonder why the nation gets sick so much?

So, here are the top four things you need to do to get your hormones balanced and reduce disease:

1.    Clean up the liver through a good, clean diet

2.    See point 1

3.    Reduce stress

4.    Drink water – 1 litre for every 50lbs body weight

If you clean up your diet overall, everything will start to function ‘naturally’ and will often remove the need for medication, or at least reduce the doses.

If you would like to know more about eating clean you can download our 28 day nutrition for health plan completely free from www.OptimisationPlan.com

 

 

How to beat eating triggers

How to beat eating triggers

Does this sound familiar…

You are at work and your boss has dropped a rush job on you, putting you under immense pressure. As you try and get through it the phones are ringing off the hook making things extremely difficult. You get through it by working through your break then rush off to pick up the kids from the child minder. They start acting up in the car ride home and continue when you get home. While you are trying to make their tea they are running riot. Once they are finally in bed you collapse on the sofa with a glass of wine and bar of chocolate and say to yourself that you’ll ‘be good’ starting tomorrow. And, as you’ve had a glass you may as well finish off the bottle!

We eat for many different reasons other than physiological hunger, and emotional reasons such as stress, is pretty high up on the list. After a stressful day we reach for certain food and drink to help us relax and unwind. It’s our treat after a hard day. When we stop our brain’s trigger ‘reward’ and we all too commonly reach for comfort food that will trigger a feel good response, even though that feeling is short-lived.

Eating can also happen in the evening to beat night time boredom. Identifying a stress or boredom food link is the first step, followed by establishing an alternative, non food-related reward. Easier said than done I know but it is a very important aspect of successful fat loss and improving your health.

There are four types of triggers. Let’s look at them below:

Physical sensations

These can be internal physiological sensations to do with blood sugar or external stimuli such as the smell of food. Tips to manage these would be:

-       Avoid going past tempting shops

-       Keep tempting food out of the house

-       Eat protein and good fats with every meal to keep you fuller for longer

-       Eat enough at each meal so you don’t get hungry quickly

-       Eat real and natural food to get your quota of vitamins, minerals and fibre, then you won’t get the signal to eat

Locations

It can be challenging eating when you are away from home, whether just shopping, with friends or travelling.

Tips to manage these would be:

-       Don’t go to the supermarket when you are hungry

-       Eat before going to a social event so you don’t ‘have’ to eat what is on offer, such as brown and yellow buffet food!

-       Take your own food with you

-       If it’s not in your house you can’t eat it!

Emotions

We already mentioned stress and boredom, but emotions can be very real and powerful feelings that cause us to turn to food or drink for comfort. Other emotional triggers include loneliness, low self-esteem, anger, tiredness.

When you recognise that you are about to self-sabotage your own efforts just STOP! Think…are you actually hungry?

Do you physiologically need it? Will it help you with your goals? Probably not. So, take a few deep breaths and go and do something else instead.

Here are some ideas:

-       Go for a walk

-       Phone a friend

-       Drink a glass of water and brush your teeth

-       Clean/tidy up something

-       Play with the kids

-       Dance to your favorite music

-       Go to the gym or class

-       Have a bubble bath

-       Read a book or watch a dvd

-       Do your nails

-       Go on Facebook!

Relationships

Other people can provide an enormous challenge when trying to stay on the healthy eating path. They themselves may not be ready to make such a change so will do their utmost to sabotage your efforts so they don’t have to change themselves.

You could just say nothing to anyone about your quest to be healthier, then when offered something you can say you’ve already eaten or just not hungry. Alternatively if you have a gathering or social occasion coming up, eat really well all that week so you can relax and have a little of what you fancy and REALLY enjoy it without feeling guilty.

You may be able to eat healthily until you are amongst other people. You may feel obliged to eat everything that is served to you by your caring partner, mother, aunt or friend. You may be worried about hurting their feelings especially if they have made a huge effort. This is a difficult situation but at the end of the day it is YOUR body and if it doesn’t need the extra food there is only one place it will go…into FAT STORAGE!

But, getting the support of your friends and family is really important. You can explain to them firmly that you are fed up of feeling tired, sluggish and fat in all of your clothes and need them to support you in your quest to be slimmer and healthier, even if they themselves are not ready. The chances are they will soon see how much better you will start looking and feeling about yourself that they will end up joining you eventually anyway.

Need a hand?

Myself and my colleague Matt Murphy know how hard it is to stay on track sometimes, and that it can be very lonely when no one seems to be there to support you.

We wanted to help as many people as possible, which is why we created our nutrition plan and even gave it away for free! (You can get yours too from www.OptimisationPlan.com)

But, we found when our clients started communicating with each other, they were much more successful, dropped pounds of body fat and gained bags more energy.

This is why we have created an online support program to go alongside our plan called The Optimisation Journey. It combines all the great information from our Optimisation Plan given to gradually on a daily basis so you are not overwhelmed and can concentrate on a bit at a time.

There will be motivational videos and optional workouts to do and also a support group where all members can chat, share ideas, recipes and all support each other on their own journeys. This is actually the best part of the plan.

Our next journey is due to kick off on Monday 17^th September. For more information click here www.optimisationplan.com/journey