Our Top 6 Most Read Blog Posts of 2013

As we approach the end of the year we thought you might be interested to look back on our most read blog posts of the last 12-months:

1) Manage your energy levels while traveling with Healthy Hotel Eating: a new perspective

2) Learn how to optimise your early morning exercise and food routines by reading Start The Day Right

3) Understand how to make the best use of your time with Beat Burnout: 7 Ways to Create an Extra Hour in the Day

4) Manage pressure and build resilience with National Work Life Week: Improving personal effectiveness forever

5) Stay calm and keep your heart healthy with 5 Instant Fixes to Ensure Perfect Blood Pressure

6) Read everything you need to know to guarantee a fantastic wellbeing programme in your business; 47 Tips for Corporate Wellbeing Programme Success

We also ran a hugely popular series of case studies entitled Inspiring Wellness Success Stories.  These tales of wellbeing triumph are a guaranteed source of motivation for your wellness objectives in 2014.

We wish you well for the New Year and if you're looking for some new ways to raise energy and engagement levels in your business with some targeted wellness initiatives, just let us know.

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A Simple Way to Commit to Great Wellness Results in 2014

In a recent Press Release from Employee Benefits Magazine you can read how we're helping Roffey Park Institute keep their staff healthy and engaged.

Remember, if you want to help your staff stay on track with their wellness objectives for 2014, some simple motivation and accountability can go a long way.  Here's how it can work:

EXCLUSIVE: Roffey Park Institute has launched a series of half-day wellbeing workshops for its employees.

The first three events, which were rolled out in September and October, were attended by around 60 of the organisation’s 80 staff.

Roffey Park Institute creates programmes on leadership, organisational development, HR and coaching, so it is keen to ensure its employees are also developed, engaged and happy.

Caroline Disano, head of programme delivery and HR projects at Roffey Park Institute, said: “We’re quite aware that employees are going to be asked to do more with less, and will be busy, so we wanted to be very mindful of the health and wellbeing angle.”

The organisation partnered corporate wellness organisation The Tonic to introduce the workshops. The Tonic’s owner, Jeff Archer, encouraged all attendees to choose three wellbeing commitments.

Disano added: “Mine, for instance, were to make sure I got into the gym for a half-hour session once a week, to try to drink more water and to try to spend a bit more me time.”

Roffey Park Institute offers a range of health and wellbeing initiatives to employees, including flexible-working arrangements, eye tests, enhanced paid annual leave above the statutory minimum, free fruit, herbal teas and refreshments, healthy options in itson-site restaurant, use of its on-site gym, sauna and steam room, use of the grounds and access to the forest for exercise and recreation.

“We have a super site here,” said Disano. “We’ve got 65 bedrooms onsite, a pool and a gym, and beautiful grounds. We do an awful lot around health and wellbeing. We wanted to tie [the workshops] in to complement our existing initiatives that we do around health and wellbeing.”

The organisation communicates its health and wellbeing strategy using a noticeboard, quarterly staff updates and management meetings.

Roffey Park Institute intends to follow its 2013 workshops with an event in the first part of 2014. Disano added: “It will cover content again, but also revisit people’s commitment and giving them the space to have a discussion in their break-up groups about how successful they have been and what hurdles they have encountered.

“People walk around the building asking colleagues if they’ve done their commitments this week. It’s created quite a lot of energy with members of staff. We want to keep that momentum going.” 

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Christmas Survival Guide

It's that time of year when the combination of work deadlines, social events and family commitments can leave you feeling exhausted.

The danger is that when you finally get to Christmas, the worst case is that you become ill, or maybe that you just end up too tired to enjoy your well-earned break.

So here's how to get through the festive season feeling healthy and with enough energy to enjoy the break:

Select a few nights to catch up on some 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 for a break rather than feeling rested and ready for action in 2014.

Get some fresh air
Too much time indoors will leave you feeling sluggish, particularly when days are short, so aim to get outside, ideally in some 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 tip the balance from the right amount to help you enjoy yourself, and into the territory where the amount of alcohol you're consuming is reducing the quality of your sleep, leaving you dehydrated and adding unnecessary calories.

A little bit of everything does you good
It's fine to deviate from your regular food routine at Christmas but aim to maintain the quantity of food and portion sizes that suit you and your weight management objectives, and that help you ensure you have consistent energy levels.  Try a little bit of everything, eat slowly and save some for leftovers.

Plan ahead
With just under a week to go, you still have time to make Christmas work for you.  Grab a few minutes today to give some thought to these tips and your festive season will be as enjoyable as you deserve it to be.

Image by paparutzi Flickr

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The Essential Guide to Winter Wellness

To help everyone stay on track with positive lifestyle choices through the winter, we've put together 'The Essential Guide to Winter Wellness' containing tips and advice that will ensure great health and energy for December, January and February, and also guarantee that 2014 gets off to a flying start.

Boost Your Immunity for Winter

Winter is the prime time for coughs and colds, so make sure you eat plenty of leafy green vegetables and fruit that is packed with vitamin C. Blueberries, blackberries, broccoli, green cabbage, spinach, raspberries, tangerines and grapefruit are all great sources of vitamin C.

Stay Hydrated All Year Round

It may be cold outside but indoor heating can leave you feeling tired and sluggish.  Make sure you continue to drink your 2-litres of water a day. You may not fancy water in the colder weather, so experiment with green tea, Red Bush or peppermint tea.  Good hydration will boost energy in all weathers.

Stay Warm While Staying in Shape

Beware those warming coffees don't cause your weight to creep up.  When choosing your hot drinks, bear in mind that a grande full fat milk latte contains 220 calories, 11g of fat and 4 teaspoons of sugar.  A grande skimmed milk latte contains no fat, which means a saving of 90 calories per drink.  A grande Americano has no fat, no sugar and only contains calories if you add milk.  Make your choices wisely.

Beat Winter Blues

Lack of sunshine and daylight can have a profound effect on our emotions. For some people, this causes low mood, irritability and lack of energy during autumn and winter. Winter depression, or seasonal affective disorder (SAD), affects women more than men. Symptoms include a lack of interest in socialising, daytime sleepiness, a craving for starchy foods and an increased need for sleep. Seek daylight where you can and remember that exercise is the perfect way to boost mood because it releases your body's natural feel-good hormones. 

Modify Your Winter Workouts

No matter how good your exercise routine is during the summer, it’s likely that you’ll need to modify your approach during the winter.  Even if you’re a gym regular, the thought of getting there in the cold and dark can be enough to put you off your workout.  If you’re more used to exercising outside you’ll definitely need to come up with some alternatives during adverse weather.  It’s best to acknowledge that your summer routine will need some changes and be creative with your alternatives. 

Focus on indoor activities when the weather is really bad – a quick circuit routine at home would be great – and aim to get outside when you can.  Put the emphasis on shorter, higher intensity workouts to save time and make firm plans for when you’ll fit your exercise sessions in.  Be clear on where you want to end up with your fitness levels and body shape come the Spring, and you’ll be diligent about sticking to your schedule one way or another, regardless of how cold, wet, dark or snowy it is outside.

Sleep Well, but Don’t Hibernate

Our regular advice is to be as consistent as possible with your sleep routine but the one caveat to this is just check whether or not you might need a small adjustment to your routine for the period when the clocks have changed.  Fewer hours of daylight and a shift to winter weather conditions may mean that you need a little more shut eye each night than in the summer.  Experiment to find the best bedtime and wake time for your routine both for winter and the summer.  But remember, the shift will likely be a small one and don’t be tempted to change the routine dramatically as too much sleep can be as bad for us as too little.  Once you’ve established the routine for each season, stick to it, regularly.

Remember, Christmas Should Be Fun So Make A Plan To Enjoy It

December can be a particularly busy month for work events and social gatherings, but attend everything and you’ll be exhausted.  Be selective about what you say yes to and plan in advance what you’ll be eating and how much alcohol you’ll drink at each event and over the course of each week.  Blindly hoping that you can get through the festive season intact is a risky strategy and could leave you in need of a rest in January, whereas a bit of planning will see you through Christmas and New Year feeling balanced and in control, and will dramatically increase your enjoyment of the whole period.

Get Ahead for 2014

If you anticipate you’ll be making healthy lifestyle changes for next year, get ahead of the game by ensuring one positive action each day, starting today, to help you feel good and optimise your energy.  Beginning the New Year already on the road to great healthy results is a very positive place to be.

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A Quick & Effective Treadmill Training Plan

If you're pushed for time this weekend but you'd still like to fit in some exercise, here's a quick and effective treadmill training plan for maximum results in minimum time.  We wrote it for Women's Running Magazine and it's great for a quick fitness burst for any level of fitness.

It's ideal as a kick start to the day, to re-energise at lunch time, or to help you wind down at the end of a busy Saturday or Sunday of Christmas shopping.

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The single most effective strategy for guaranteed wellness results in 2014

In our work we come across many people who feel they're a long way away from where they want to be with their fitness, food routine, sleep pattern and work-life balance.  

Usually people end up in this situation when a number of small and simple healthy living behaviours have been lost over the course of many months or even years.  Not deliberately, but more as a result of an ever-increasingly busy schedule causing people to divert their attention away from healthy living and focus their priorities on work, family or elsewhere. 

In truth, prioritising personal wellness can enhance all other important areas of life, so here's the most simple strategy for success with sharpening up personal health, wellbeing, energy and performance.  

The key is small steps and consistent action, and this is most easily achieved by making a plan for what you can do to enhance your wellness:

Daily

Think about how you can fit in some movement / activity every single day.  Plan to stay hydrated and set boundaries for coffees, sugary snacks, work hours and bed time.  Decide in advance the healthy meals and / or snacks that you will include in your routine each day to maintain your desired balance with eating for energy and performance.

Weekly

How much activity would you like to fit into each week, how does your sleep routine look over a 7-day period, how many meals do you eat out compared with the food you prepare for yourself, what's your strategy for alcohol - how much and on what nights - and how many social activities will you plan to help you enjoy your life without becoming over-tired?

Monthly

What do you need to happen each month to feel that your life is balanced?  How many work-free days do you need each month? Where does your 'me-time' feature?  How often do you spend quality time with family, and where in the month will you focus on hobbies, specific personal interests and things that help you recharge your batteries?

These suggestions are just the beginning and once you focus you mind on this approach you'll be amazed at how quickly ideas present themselves.

Don't expect overnight miracles but with regular and consistent action your ideal solution and results can be achieved in a remarkably short space of time. And if you consider that just a few weeks of positive behaviour can undo the results of years of, shall we just say, not so positive behaviour, it's actually a great investment of time and planning.  Small steps really can add up to dramatic and life-changing results.

Like this result, achieved after just 4-weeks of adopting our simple approach:

'Overall I feel the best I've ever felt, my energy levels have soared'

Image by jcantwellphoto Flickr

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