Tag Archive for: destress

Easing Stress at The Shoulders – How to Relax at Your Desk

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This bonus length Charlene’s Wellness Bite features @CJMindBody yoga & meditation teacher taking us through four movements and stretches to ease stress around our shoulders and neck.
Plus…a simple breathing technique to help us calm our minds and bodies.

Easing stress at the shoulders from Charlene Hutsebaut on Vimeo.

See more from Chris at chrisjamesmindbody.com

Also find Chris on twitter & facebook – @CJMindBody

3 Tips to Cope During Stressful Times at Work with @cwnutritionyoga

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Nutritional Therapist & Yoga Teacher Charlotte Watts shares 3 nutrition tips to cope during stressful times at work. Following our natural body rhythms throughout a day while meshing them with healthy, nurturing choices can be very beneficial.

3 Tips to Cope During Stressful Times at Work from Charlene Hutsebaut on Vimeo.

9 Hot Ideas to Keep Fit at Work!

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  1. Walk to or from work…This is a simple and effective solution to time being an issue and I have seen this bring results for so many clients! Start out with ten minutes and build up to a half hour at either end of your day. Get off the tube or bus earlier and walk the rest of the journey in to work.
  2. Walk or jog at lunchtime with a work pal. Not a new concept but have you been using it?!
  3. Use the work kitchen for press-ups at the counter top. While making your coffee, tea or heating up your healthy lunch place the heels of your hands securely on the edge of the counter top, shoulder width apart…bend your elbows as you guide your chest towards the counter. Keep your abs gently engaged and eyes looking at the counter. For beginners try 2-6 repetitions in a row for advanced folks do 20-25 repetitions and even try being on one foot while keeping body square.
  4. Do you have stairs in your building? Use them for quick, effective fitness blasts! Either do a lunchtime 2-20 minute workout going up and down or hand deliver documents to colleagues on other floors. Check out my rainy day workout which is a stairs workout here… http://www.charlenehutsebaut.com/rainy-day-workout/
  5. Does your business offer a gym or classes during the days? Yes….start using them!
  6. Stand more often while working. You will burn more energy and work your postural muscles without realizing. And….as recent studies show this is better for our overall health.
  7. Use body weight training moves in the office to tone and strengthen your body! Squats, lunges, planks, vsits and tricep dips are the most common and effective. Set the tone in your office for what it is to be healthy and fit!
  8. Ride your bike to work….again….not a new concept but have you been doing it?! When you arrive to a bike rack to lock up get underneath the bike rack first to do some back pull ups! http://www.charlenehutsebaut.com/bike-rack-pull-ups/
  9. Do you sit on a therapy ball at work? Practice this move to improve your posture and work your core….

Want more Office Workouts??? Check out my Office Wellness Digest Library…

Click HERE…

 

Therapy Ball Roll Down

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Use this pilates move to engage your abs, stretch your back & hamstrings & improve your posture.

6 Sneaky steps to slim your tummy – Week 3 – Stress

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How was week two of your “6 Sneaky steps to slim your tummy”?

  • Were you able to decrease your alcohol intake? – How did this make you feel each day?
  • Were you brighter on the mornings where you had no alcohol the night before?
  • Did you tummy feel a bit better?

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I would love to know! Share your stories with me on any of…

twitter – facebook – instagram

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Week 3:

Stress:

We now know that stress plays a big part in holding weight around our waists.

This has to do with our stress hormones being pushed out of balance when we are under constant stress with no time for adequate rest.

Do any of the following statements resonate with you?

  • “No matter how hard I exercise I still have a belly.”
  • “I work long hours and work out hard and still can’t shift my belly.”
  • “I am exhausted all the time to the point that my legs always feel heavy and I have no energy to work out.”
  • “When I wake up in the morning, even after a good amount of sleep, I still feel wiped out.”

These are just several statements I have heard from new personal training clients who are totally frustrated.

Some stress is fine and our bodies are capable of dealing with it but problems arise when we can’t recover and recharge.

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Insights:

Getting stress levels down, therefore balancing our hormone results in:

  • a healthier body shape, including your tummy
  • improved moods
  • better feeling, regulated energy levels throughout a day
  • less inflammation in our bodies, meaning less chances of injuries and future disease

Do you notice that these insights are the same for week 1 (decreasing sugar)?

Practices for this week:

  1. Think about your stress levels.
    1. Rate yourself on a scale of 1 (totally relaxed man!) through 10 (exhausted and not able to deal with stressors)
  2. What is your optimum number of hours sleep in a night?
    1. Aim to get these hours regularly
    2. Create a calming bedtime routine starting about an hour before you want to be asleep
      1. For some people this includes turning technologies off, packing their lunch and bag for the morning, bath, reading a book, sleep
    3. Notice how you deal with stressors each day.
      1. Be mindful when finding yourself in a stressful situation
      2. Take some deep breaths
      3. Focus on the moment – remember you will be fine
    4. Exercise.
      1. Yep, exercise does cause stress and breakdown of our tissues in our bodies. This is meant to happen and is healthy when we get enough rest and recovery between sessions.
      2. Genetically some people need more rest than others. If you know from past experience that you are regularly very sore post workout or take days to recover then you may be one of these people. It is beneficial for you to take more time to rest. If you still want to be active then make your next day of movement an “active recovery” such as a very light bike ride, walk, swim, core or stretch session. You will find your workouts and energy eventually swing back up therefore allowing you to feel and see better results from your performance and body.  And remember you are reading this because you are interested in your tummy feeling better. More rest will help.
      3. Your genes may not be a factor but your stress levels can be!
        1. More is not better when you are feeling stressed and exhausted.
        2. Rest and recovery are even more important to you right now.
        3. Shorter, quality workouts are key with ample rest.
      4. Feeling stressed? But haven’t been working out then start out slow.
        1. Be sure you are sleeping enough each night.
        2. Start with 10 minute quality workouts every other day.
          1. Weight training and walking are a great options.
        3. Find 10-20 minutes each day to sit quietly with no noise or technology.

Press here for Week 4

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Need some helping planning your rest and recovery?

healthessentials

Check out my EBOOK – “Simple Healthy Living – A Guide for Busy People”

You will find lots of tools and tricks to guide you!

 

 

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Remember each week keep the practices from the previous week going.

So, sugar will be taken out for all six weeks…..

Alcohol is being decreased.

Now we are decreasing stress through adequate rest, being in the moment, taking some time to ourselves and choosing quality (not thoroughly exhausting) exercise.

Press any of the above points to review that week.

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Want to really get to the causes of your stress?

I recommend the book “The De-Stress Effect” by my friend and colleague Nutritional Therapist Charlotte Watts.  See my contributions in the exercise chapter!

Press on the book cover below to find it!

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I would love to know how you are doing over our six weeks so…..

Chat with me on twitter – facebook – instagram

Let’s have some fun!!!

Find other great workout & wellness stuff on my shop!

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6 Sneaky steps to slim your tummy – Week 2 – Alcohol

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I hope you enjoyed your first week of “6 Sneaky steps to slim your tummy”!

  • How did you find decreasing your sugar intake?
  • Was it easy or difficult?

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I would love to know! Share your stories with me on any of…

twitter – facebook – instagram

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Week 2!!!

pint of beer, slim your tummy

Alcohol is our focus this time around.

As many of you know I am a very realistic and nurturing personal trainer. I never tell anyone they need to completely give up alcohol unless they know they have an all or nothing type personality.

I do believe that less alcohol is better when trying to slim a tummy, or at least get rid of a bloating feeling.

Who out there feels lethargic and bloated after a night of drinking?

Trousers a bit tight? Belly pinching on the waist line?

I personally can’t stand that feeling!

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Alcohol can affect our bellies for two reasons

Glass of water, stay hydrated

 

It is high in sugar, which we discussed last week in the post here and it is a diuretic which means it can cause your body to flush out too much water.

In a weird way this means that because your body is losing water it will hang on to whatever is left in the body and cause you to look and feel bloated.

The latter can also be caused by the stomach lining becoming inflammed or irritated by the alcohol. Because the stomach then doesn’t do it’s job properly there is a cascade of irritation all the way through the intestinal tract.

 

Staying hydrated

Drinking less alcohol and more water is also important because we are then keeping our cells hydrated and functioning optimally.

When our cells can do their jobs they flush out toxins better which means a healthier and slimmer feeling body.

The reality is you can help yourself feel better all around when you decrease alcohol intake.

 

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Insights:

Less alcohol each week can:

  • slim your tummy because of less bloating from the stomach and intestinal tract being irritated
  • allow for increased energy
  • keep you hydrated which allows for overall optimal body functioning

Practices for this week:

  • if you know you are an all or nothing person then take out alcohol completely for the next 5 weeks
  • for those who can have a little bit of alcohol and stay at those guidelines then choose a block of days each week to go alcohol free
    • ie: Sun-Thurs – no alcohol
  • do allow for any functions or parties you have coming up and adjust your alcohol intake days accordingly
    • ie: if you are taking Sun-Thurs off alcohol but have a party on a Thursday then have a bit but then take Friday off | In other words ebb and flow with any given week
  • swap water for alcohol
  • eat before you drink – most likely you won’t want that glass of wine once you have eaten
  • the less you have the better you and your lovely tummy will feel!

Press here for Week 3

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Recommendations:

Review from last week…

Alcohol is high glycemic so last week’s recommendations are still relevant.

If you want more information and guidance on sugar I highly recommend the following from a few colleagues of mine:

VIDEO: by Nutritional Therapist – Angelique Panagos – “Can I eat sugar and still be healthy” – find it on her homepage

Book: by Nutritional Therapist – Amelia Freer – “Eat.Nourish.Glow”

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Get in touch!

LisbonCHutsebaut015

I would love to know how you are doing over our six weeks so…..

Chat with me on twitter – facebook – instagram

Let’s have some fun!!!

Find other great workout & wellness stuff on my shop!

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