Christmas is fast approaching and with it the prospect of a New Year following swiftly on its heels. Prepare yourself for an endless stream of “New Year, New You!” promotions and adverts, all promising a quick and easy way to lose weight, or be healthier, but they are usually focussed on the losing weight part. Cue this health and fitness professional’s blood pressure rising, and the odd snort of derision.

An earlier edition of this newsletter, entitled “Beware the Hack!”(worth another read!) implored the reader to be aware of anything in the health and fitness industry that sounded too good to be true, and to remember that everyone selling a quick fix, hack, detox or cleanse does not have your best interests or your health at heart. They are only after your money. 

However, as James Clear points out in the quote at the top of this edition, there are some cheat codes, or health hacks, that you have access to. The trouble is they are not bright and new and shiny. They don’t cost a lot of money. And they are so easy to do that you have probably overlooked them.

Being human seems to involve looking for a newer, brighter, spanglier version of whatever we already do or have, in the hope that things might become easier and so we won’t have to work so hard to be healthy. We will spend a lot of time and effort trying to find an easier way of doing something that most likely isn’t there.

So please don’t fall for the glossy adverts promising a new sleek and svelte you in a few short weeks. 

Instead, just do the “boring” stuff and use the cheat codes that you already know will be beneficial for you: move more than you are doing already, incorporate some strength (resistance) training into your week and try to eat as healthily as you can whenever you can.

It is really simple stuff, and won’t cost you much at all, unlike what is being advertised across whatever media channels you happen to be watching or scrolling through.

There are no quick fixes. 

You have been warned! 

If you’d like help with the movement or the strength training (which is really important for all of us, male or female, especially as we age), then please get in touch for a no-nonsense chat about where you are now and where you’d like to get to, and how we could work together to get you there. I’d love to hear from you. 😀