MUMS ALWAYS RIGHT!

I used to think that the pinnacle of life was staying up late, eating bad food and doing whatever Mum would tell me not to do. Fast forward and I quickly discovered this was not the pinnacle of life and Mum was right. Mum’s are always right.

So what did Mum say? Move always, eat well, stay hydrated and get plenty of sleep. Simple. If only that was the case. We all know it yet we have all struggled with it at some point. 

So why does this happen? I’m sure there is a Harvard psychologist somewhere who could give you the exact answer behind human behaviour, however I like to keep things simple. LIFE. Life is what happens. We all get off track due to life, Chad decides to throw a Chamber party so we get off track for the weekend, the Eagles have beaten Freo for the 31st time and we decide to celebrate, the cake at the nieces birthday is too good to deny, work deadlines keep you up doing an all nighter, Royals release a new burger or any other occasion that crosses our path throughout life. These things happen and it’s OK.   

However we all know that if we stay off track for too long we will get lost. Physically, and more importantly mentally we can fall off track and not quite feel ourselves whatever that may be. So how do we get back on track? I’m no expert or Harvard grad with all the scientific answers however it’s not my first rodeo of falling off the horse, and these are some ways I’ve gotten back on.

Movement

If we are at The Chamber most of us have this dialed in however motivation ebbs and flows, and some days we just can’t be bothered. There’s a few things we can do to get into the gym. Book your classes in advance and don’t look at the workout. Set small performance goals, let the coaches know and reflect on them regularly. Get a workout buddy and stay accountable. If you still don’t want to go to the gym this is okay, go for a walk, play with the kids, take the stairs not the elevator, park far away from the shopping centre, just try to make small conscious decisions of how you can get a small amount of movement in each day something is better than nothing and these small moments compound over time.

Eat Well

It’s easy to get caught up in the world of nutrition, there’s always a new diet to try, one day it’s paleo, the next it’s cave man and the day after its keto, it’s exhausting just keeping up. But we all generally know what’s bad and what’s good. Try to stick to the 80/20 rule, 80% of the time eat well and 20% of the time indulge, if this is too hard try 70/30 and slowly transition. This may look like having a few chocolates throughout the day whilst the rest of the day is clean eating, not having one “cheat” day where you smash 10,000 calories and feel sick for days to come. I can guarantee you if you try to go 100%, eating chicken and broccoli will get pretty old quickly and you will soon be back where you started. Try to meal prep and plan ahead this will save the trips to the drive thru and money! If you’re not too sure of what is a good diet the Australian guide to healthy eating is a good start, with plenty of resources.

https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/guidelines/australian-guide-healthy-eating

Stay Hydrated

60% of the body is made up of water, it’s vital to how we function and aids with recovery. Yet a lot of us struggle to get it in, you should be aiming for at least 2 – 3 liters a day! This shouldn’t be too hard, personally as I said before I keep it simple and take a water bottle everywhere I go. Get a water bottle that meets the required intake, sip on it throughout the day and once it’s finished you’ve hit your target. If you’re not a big water drinker this may seem unnatural at first but give it a go and you’ll quickly adjust. If waters are not appealing to you, dress it up; add some light or diet rite cordial to it to make it more palatable, it’s better than no water.

Sleep

A lot of us love it, a lot of us don’t get enough of it. Most adults need 8 hours of sleep a night, and a lack of sleep can affect our overall health and make us prone to serious medical conditions, such as obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure and a whole list more I wont get into. To get a good sleep we can start to change our sleeping environment and activities we do around bed time. The bed is for sleep and love making, not screens. Eliminate all screens including your phone from bed. Try to get to sleep and wake up at the same time. Switch off and try to relax before bed, put the phone down and take your mind off things, if you need your phone use it to your advantage with an app like headspace to calm you down before sleeping. If you’re not tired try not to sit in bed aimlessly staring at the clock. Make yourself comfortable, the best thing I did was invest in some egyptian cotton sheets. Bedtime is a breeze now that I’m sleeping like an egyptian king. Whatever you need to find your zen and relax before bed do it, if you haven’t found it yet try these different techniques and keep on trying until you find what works. If you do suffer from sleep deprivation see a specialist or consult your gp. 

I could write at length on each of these points however these are some simple strategies I try to implement to make sure I stay on track. We are not all going to get it right 100% of the time and this is ok. If you need to change up your routine, keep it simple and make small improvements every day that will gradually lead to the change you want, 1% better every day is 365 % better over the year.

I hope you got something from this and if you didn’t at least call your Mum and tell her she’s always right and that you love her. If you’re a Mum of The Chamber well done you’re always right, keep at it.

Except for that one hour you’re in class…then the coach is always right.

Have a great day!

Connor