Wellness Determination and a Great Result

On the day when experts are saying that current exercise recommendations are 'unrealistic for most', I received a great note from a lady who attended a programme we worked on a couple of years ago:

'Back in the old days when I was a participant, fresh from having a baby, you may recall me mentioning I couldn’t run 100m and wanted to work on that.  

WELL, while it took longer than I had hoped, thanks to the joys of an overfull workday, I DID run my first 10K this past weekend at the Standard Chartered marathon in Dubai.  Slow as hell but hey, I have a time to beat now J'

Brilliant.  It just goes to show that with a clear goal and a bit of determination, great things are possible.  Take a moment today to check that your wellness goals are specific, exciting and framed with a deadline.  Plan what you will do this week to move closer to your goals and you'll be amazed at what you can achieve.

Good luck.

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Forget Blue Monday: Top tips to boost wellbeing for 2015

Monday 19th January is 'Blue Monday' - supposedly the most depressing day of the year.  Well, let's not dwell on that.  We prefer to be optimistic.

So for all those in need of some inspiration, motivation and practical advice to sharpen up their health, wellbeing and performance for 2015, here are 9 top wellness tips that will benefit any organisation.  Feel free to share these with your colleagues and if you'd like any help with designing a fantastic wellbeing programme for your business we'd be happy to help.

Be clear on individual objectives and specific deadlines
Most people have vague ideas about what they’d like to achieve with their wellbeing. Providing staff with regular coaching and advice will really help them firm up these vague ideas, get to the heart of why they want to make changes, inject motivation, add accountability, and ensure they put together an effective plan to achieve lasting success.

For dramatic results, be consistent
Remind everyone that even a small amount of daily activity will create a positive mind-set, and that completing just a couple of exercise sessions each week will add up to 100 workouts a year. That’s enough to keep anyone feeling positive about their fitness routine, and achieve great results.

Fuel yourself regularly
Grazing throughout the day on well-chosen meals and snacks stabilises energy levels and is the most effective strategy for weight management. Encourage the habit of healthy choices, little and often.

Make a plan and follow it
Help individuals establish what a specific healthy eating plan looks like for their routine and their objectives, and then provide the resources they need to follow this plan. Simple information on how to plan recipes, prepare a selection of meals, and shop effectively can save staff time, anxiety and money.

Take regular breaks throughout the day
Many people run through their day at a million miles an hour only to find that by the end of it they feel exhausted and have spent valuable time in the wrong areas. Regular review moments ensure attention is focused on appropriate priorities and create time to refuel, recharge and ensure consistent energy. Prioritising time for yourself can minimise stress and maximise effectiveness in all areas.

Set boundaries
Every individual needs to establish what work-life balance means for them so they can plan their schedule and set their priorities. Without an idea of what you’re aiming for with your time management and life balance, you risk a lack of focus and tasks taking longer than they need to. Be proactive in this area. Decide how much time you want each week for yourself, your family, exercise, sleep, hobbies, socialising etc and also be very clear on how much time you feel is optimum for you to spend working. Without a plan work may encroach onto other areas and leave you frustrated. Knowing your boundaries also helps you operate most effectively during your work time and ensures you plan and delegate efficiently.

Take charge of technology
Technology can make our lives easier or it can take over our routine and eat time. It’s up to each individual to design an approach to making the best use of their phone, email and the internet. And remember, there is an off switch!

Prioritise sleep and recovery
Our mind and body need recovery time so rather than stealing time from sleep to pack more into each day, prioritise your rest and recovery. You’ll become more efficient at using time wisely when you’re well rested rather than tasks taking longer than necessary because you feel fatigued.

Make fitness a resolution for the year, not just for January
For busy workers it’s far better to be realistic and complete 1 or 2 quality workouts per week, every week, than to aim to exercise 4-5 times a week and then end up squeezing activity in when you’re distracted, wasting energy on ineffective training time, or feeling that you’ve let yourself down if you don’t manage to fit in everything you planned. Bear this in mind when thinking about New Year resolutions and plan to feel great for the entire year, not just for the first two weeks of January! 

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Health, Wellness & Personal Performance: A strategic business advantage

In a fast-paced world there's a distinct risk for professionals that looking after themselves can slip down the priority list. The danger is that while we live in a high energy environment, our personal energy can sometimes feel challenged or compromised. 

But, make no mistake, our ability to perform at any level, in any sector, is directly determined by how we feel physically and mentally every day.  With a number of recent high profile cases of stress and burnout affecting senior business leaders, it's more important than ever that we all invest in our health and our energy. 

The Tonic is a corporate wellness company which specialises in helping professionals understand what it takes to perform at their peak.  We deliver a very successful life-changing workshop designed to enable individuals and organisations take their health, energy and effectiveness to the next level.

Over the course of the 90-minute workshop, we will ensure participants are equipped with everything they need to optimise their personal and professional performance by enhancing their lifestyle choices.  

Everyone will have the opportunity to design a bespoke plan for health, energy and performance; a plan they can put into action immediately as they are guided through a simple 7-step framework: 

• Personal wellness and performance: where are you now?
• What good wellness looks like for you
• How to eat for optimum energy, no matter how busy your schedule
• How to design an effective exercise routine for quick and lasting results
• The secrets of a great night's sleep
• Key lifestyle choices to help you manage pressure and build resilience
• How to maintain wellness as a short, medium and long-term priority

The workshop is suitable for up to 25 participants.  Larger numbers can be catered for as a presentation format.

To book your Health, Wellness and Personal Performance workshop, email Jeff Archer on jeff@the-tonic.com or call 020 8995 1302.

Join the likes of British Gas, DLKW Lowe, London Business School, Madgex, Roche Products, Sainsbury's, Tesco and many others and fast-track your teams to optimum wellbeing results.

'Your session was awesome. Thanks for the insight.  Over the last month I feel more focused and efficient in all aspects of life, not just work.'

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Get Ahead with Your Healthy Living New Year Resolutions

Given that many people set themselves New Year resolutions relating to their health and wellbeing, we thought we'd help everyone get one step ahead by thinking about some simple steps to take for the next couple of weeks to help get you through the festive season feeling great and set you up for a healthy 2015.

Here's a short report from a recent workshop participant that might motivate you to focus on the little things you can do, starting today, that will lead to dramatic wellness benefits...

‘The good news is…I am much more aware of hydration and have cut down on the amount of sugary cordials and squash I have in my water.  I carry water with me whenever I am out.

I am eating breakfast from your list every day and have migrated my snacks and dinners to be off the list 80% of the time too.

I’m doing the sleep calculation and finding that 7.5 hours is indeed better than 8 hours. Well, actually for me it is about 7 hrs 40 mins so I just set my alarm for 7 hrs and 45 mins time and wake up before it most days. Hooray.

I’m also incorporating HIITS (through circuits, hills or sprint intervals) into my workouts 2-3 times per week.

The sum total impact of these changes is that my energy in general, and especially for running, is massively improved and I have had fewer headaches.  

I have definitely reaped rewards from some small changes.  Thanks for your input and help, it has helped a whole lot.’

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Seasonal Wellbeing Survival Guide

I wrote this guide for the Institute of Leadership & Management. Check out their website for a host of great learning resources.

Seasonal Wellbeing Survival Guide
Christmas is coming (you may have noticed) and this year it feels as though stores, suppliers and advertisers have gone bigger than ever, with the result that seasonal fatigue is already setting in for many of us.  

With activities ramping up at work and at home, there’s an art to making it through Christmas and New Year in one piece and without it taking a toll on your health and wellbeing. Let’s face it; the last thing anyone wants is to blast on through the combination of office deadlines, socials and seasonal commitments only to end up shattered or, even worse, unwell when we’re supposed to be enjoying the festivities.

To help you look after yourself and balance your efforts and your energy, here’s an 8-step Christmas wellbeing survival guide.

Plan your approach

There’s a high probability that if you accept all the invites you receive to work parties, client events, family gatherings and social catch ups you’ll barely be at home for any evenings in December. Whilst it’s great to be popular, you should also be discerning about what you say yes to. You probably already know the optimum number of nights out per week that you can cope with before incurring collateral damage such as daily fatigue, loss of quality sleep and compromised mood management, so aim to stick to this schedule or you’ll end up attending lots but enjoying little.

Don’t leave good sleep to chance

At The Tonic, we usually advocate sticking to a regular sleep routine but at this time of year there’s value in grabbing a little extra recovery where you can, so check your diary every week for a few nights when you can catch up on much needed sleep. Whether you book a couple of early nights or reserve yourself some extra time in bed in the morning, a few additional hours here and there could make all the difference.

Allow yourself some quality wind-down time

You need to plan your time off work to allow some space for slowing down and recharging your batteries. Hurtling from a busy schedule in the office to a chaotic family Christmas will leave you returning to work ready for a break rather than feeling rested and ready for action in 2015.

Keep active

Set yourself some guidelines around an acceptable level of exercise for you to maintain through December that will keep your mind sharp and your body in shape. If you manage something even just once or twice a week this will still see you through the month in better shape than parking your fitness routine completely until the new year and then regretting it when your January resolutions come around to haunt you as they inevitably do. If you keep things ticking over in December you can springboard off this routine and achieve your desired results in January far more easily than if it feels as though you’re making a whole new set of workout plans for the new year. Again.

Get plenty of fresh air

When the days are short there’s a temptation to seek shelter wherever you can but too much time indoors will leave you feeling sluggish so aim to get outside for a total of at least an hour every single day, ideally when there’s still plenty of daylight, no matter how cold it might be.

Set some boundaries for alcohol

It's great to have a few drinks at Christmas but it's also easy to disrupt the balance from an acceptable level of drinking that’s part and parcel of your enjoyment of events, and tip over into the territory where the amount of alcohol you're consuming is adding unnecessary calories, leaving you dehydrated and irritable, and reducing the quality of your sleep.

A little bit of everything does you good

It's fine to deviate from your usual food routine in the run up to Christmas and through the festive period, but aim to maintain the quantity of food and the portion sizes that suit you and your weight management objectives, and that help you ensure you have consistent energy levels. Keep your food routine varied and eat little, often and regularly. Make sure you’re well hydrated at all times.  

Take control of Christmas

You’ll have noticed a theme here. Despite the fact that Christmas happens every year, too often we leave our festive wellbeing to chance, pack the diary full and hope that everything will be OK. Don’t make the same mistake this year. You still have time to make Christmas work for you so grab a few minutes today to give some thought to the lifestyle changes you can action right now that would have the greatest positive impact on your health, energy and performance, and your festive season will be as enjoyable as you deserve it to be.

Happy Christmas!

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