When I was in Swansea a couple of weeks ago for the Phil Richards Nutrition for Health course, the very first thing he said to us was that you can eat as healthily as you like, but if your emotional state is fragile or out of balance then you simply won't get the full benefits of your efforts. The body is hampered by the stress and cannot gain its full potential whether its strength, stamina, speed or just fat loss.
He said that 'emotions are the foundation of disease' and that people who are constantly sad, angry, cynical or hostile are double the risk of disease than those who have a more balanced life. In fact did you know that cancer cells can't exist without stress?
This was not news to me as I have seen clients and colleagues with a poor or negative approach to life suffer more than others.
I however am particularly bad at applying it to myself. I can counsel and suggest all manner of wonderful ideas to clients struggling with a tricky situation or managing an overloaded schedule. However when it comes to putting what I preach into practice I forget my own wisdom.
This came as a bit of shock to me though this week. I have for several weeks now been eating a much improved diet. I was already eating healthily by most people's standards, but have been implementing Phil's guidelines for sometime now. It involves a lot of leaves. Rocket, iceberg lettuce, Cos, spinach, watercress. You name a green leaf and I've been buying it. I have cut right back on my animal protein consumption. Hardly any meat, some fish, no dairy and am eating lots of avocado, nuts, seeds, pulses, healthy oils, fruits and raw natural foods. All good stuff and I really do rather enjoy it. I am not under eating, dieting or being faddy. I am just eating as naturally as I can, drinking lots of water and eliminating toxins.
I was feeling constantly tired though. This was making me miserable and I started to question why all the effort of eating natural ( I do like leaves, but Sainsbury's only have so many varieties!) was not making the jot of difference to my energy levels.
And before you all say. 'well you silly moo, what do you expect eating like a rabbit?'. There's no need to be rude! :-) But Phil knows his stuff. He has trained professional sports teams and men to their ultimate best and has done it primarily by changing their diet and their emotional health before making them brutally brilliant in their field.
It dawned on me as I was rushing from one job to the next, to one missed phone call to the next, to one late email to the next that I have been overwhelmed with 'jobs to do'. None of the 'jobs to do' were getting done particularly well and that was making me even more frustrated as I like to complete each job as well as I can.
This isn't a cry for help. It's a warning to all of you. We aren't superhuman. We need to take a rest, to have some fun and occasionally, to just do nothing. And you know what? You might not expect me to say this, but sometimes exercise isn't always the best answer. Exercise is a stressor, it will aggravate an already highly stressed system. We need to calm the system, do something like getting outside, take a walk or a gentle jog, have a massage, read a book, do something which promotes feeling good not feeling guilty or angry.
One of Phil's quotes that day was from a very highly regarded coach he mentored with called Charlie Francis. He said 'don't train if you can't gain'. Some sound advice to all sports people, amateur sportsmen, hobby exercisers and people wanting to shift the pounds.
Calm the brain and the physical health will follow.
That's my next 'job to do'.
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