Have you ever started exercising before, only to stop because you suddenly lost interest? Maybe you started off well, but as time passed by you lost the desire to continue? A physical pursuit can be difficult to follow, especially when motivation falls away. But this is where I think goal-setting comes in! Goal-setting is one thing that has always helped keep me exercising even when I don't want to. And I can honestly say that most of the time I really don't want to! So I'd like to share with you some reasons why I value goal-setting so highly and why I think we should make it more of a focus ..read more

If you've been following a keto diet for quite some time now, you've probably run into a few problems here and there. Likewise! It's perfectly normal for some issues to pop up. But the good thing about it when it does happen is that it can lead to us making tweaks and changes that improve our diet along the way. So I thought it would be worthwhile to share a few common mistakes that I think are made, as well as some things that I've come across during my own experience with keto, to help you avoid them from happening to you. Let's take a look at them! Not eating enough protein... When I fi ..read more

 I would just like to start by saying, if you are reading this because you are someone who's committed to losing weight - I have the greatest respect for you! I myself know how much discipline, dedication and persistence it takes as I've been on the same journey too, so you have every reason to be proud of yourself. And I also appreciate how difficult it can be to stay on track at times, especially when life throws some unexpected curve balls our way. But I would hate for anyone to lose hope as we've become faced with such a pervasive obstacle that's found it's way into our lives. And I w ..read more

I'd like to start off by being as honest as I can with you all - I got a little bit flexible with my diet over Christmas! OK... actually I got REALLY flexible. My dad makes the best banoffee in the world. And I didn't hold back at all! So if you fell off the wagon towards the end of the year also, don't worry about it. Almost everybody does. But perhaps you've now decided that with the coming of the new year, it's time to put down the boxes of Celebrations and get to work on your weight loss goals. So I'm here to try and help you as much as I can. Here's my tips on how to get your new year of ..read more

 When walking into the supermarket, temptation appears to be all around! With the vast majority of foods being processed, packaged and filled with sugar, it's not always easy to make the healthy purchase. Especially when these products are often placed at eye-level and at checkout areas, it's so easy to be lured towards them. But how can we resist from buying the foods we crave. but we know will hold us back from the healthy lifestyle we're wanting to lead? Write down your shopping list...    Plan ahead! Being organised and taking 5 to 10 minutes to write down your shopping li ..read more

"I can't afford to go to the gym"... "I would exercise but I just don't have the time". Are these answers we've given to ourselves or others in the past when contemplating, but deciding not to exercise? Sometimes our reasons are genuine ones, due to responsibilities such as work or family demands. Other times they're based upon our beliefs and expectations of what exercise should be and the duration we should be doing it for. And then for some of us, they have been nothing more than blatant excuses! But whatever the case may be, the truth is that at some point in our fitness journey  we'r ..read more

Having gained a lot momentum over recent years, meditation has become fairly mainstream in the west. Much of this attention can be owed to it's common prescription in many mental health treatment programmes, such as the addition of mindfulness meditation in cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT). However, meditation has also found it's way into the daily routine of many celebrities who have attributed this practice as an important element of their success, including Hugh Jackman (Rosenthal, 2016), Oprah Winfrey (Winfrey, 2016) and all-time record holding Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps (JB1 ..read more

 I love eating out! There's not many things I enjoy more than heading out for a meal and trying out a new restaurant. To me, it's an experience and sometimes i'll use it as an opportunity to allow myself to be more relaxed with my diet - being partial to some cheesecake for dessert also! If you have health and fitness goals, maybe you're on the same boat too. When I was travelling around Europe for more than 2 months last summer, there wasn't a single day I didn't eat out. Trying the local cuisine and giving myself a break from cooking was all part of the holiday. But being a health cons ..read more

Perhaps you've heard of "SMART" objectives before when referring to goal setting. I remember the first time I heard about SMART goals was back when I was working in a call centre. It's a common phrase used in the workplace with reference to how a company will seek to ensure it reaches tasks and objectives. But it's also often used as a guideline by people when working towards health and fitness goals - including weight loss. I too would agree that it's a very valuable tool in this department! The  SMART  guide indicates that goals should be  S pecific,  M easurable,  ..read more

 Diet and exercise are important ingredients for weight loss success. But so is our mindset and the attitude with which we approach. Sometimes we overcomplicate, overthink things and get stressed. Then at times we lack motivation and the desire to go on. What's important is how we deal with adversity and the problems that we face. Weight loss isn't easy, but we can make it more manageable, more straightforward to follow. We can have knowledge about the diet, but the knowledge is power only if we use it. A healthy mindset will go a long way, with which results are more likely to be seen ..read more