Stop normalising sugar!

So many people struggle with their weight, and diabetes has been on the rise for many years now with no signs of slowing down any time soon.

What do I think the main (but not only) culprit is for this?

Sugar.

The problem is, it’s become so normal to eat sugar all day long that we don’t even think about it.

If someone smoked some weed or cracked open a beer as soon as they woke up, people would think they have a problem.

But if you wake up and dose yourself with caffeine (a stimulant/drug) and stick a couple of sugars in it, no-one bats an eyelid. In fact, people think you’re strange if you don’t do this?! 

Maybe you’ll have a biscuit with it, then a bowl of cereal… 

You then continue to repeat this multiple times throughout the day. Multiple teas/coffees and usually “snacks” between meals.

At lunch time it’s normal to have a little treat and a can of soda, but again, if you had an alcoholic drink on your lunch break it’d be frowned upon.

This is killing us. And not even that slowly!

And when it comes to kids – take a look around. Obesity is becoming more and more common amongst youngsters too.

Why is it ok to give a kid a sweet when they’ve had a haircut?

Why would you offer OTHER PEOPLES’ kids sweets and soft drinks by default when they come around?! (seriously, stop doing this!)

Why do grandparents (and parents) give their kids sweets daily?

…something you KNOW is bad for them?! (Though maybe you don’t know quite how bad)

Yes, they like them, but that doesn’t mean give it to them!

You’re not being kind by giving kids sweets, no matter how much they want them. You’re actually doing them harm! 

I believe it should be limited to small treats every now and then, not a regular part of their diet (this includes ALL sweets and sugary drinks). 

And the same goes for adults (ouch!).

Stop avoiding [healthy] fats (you need them in your diet), and start avoiding sugar like the plague.

If you’re at all serious about your own health, or the health of your children, you should probably have a little review of how much sugar you’re all consuming and see what you can do to reduce that.

I’d also avoid just replacing it with artificial sweeteners (“Diet” anything). They have their own issues and you’re best off just beating the sugar addiction without them.

There are so many things that you can do to improve your health, but it’s probably best to start by plugging the holes and getting rid of the things that are doing the most harm.

Sugar is one of them.

It’ll require a bit of discipline, some planning ahead, and a learning curve to master this, but it’ll be worth it.

And as for the kids, just tell them no! You’re in charge. Whilst you can control (at least in part) what they eat, why would you feed them stuff that’s bad for them?

There’ll probably be some tantrums (especially if they’re used to eating this junk every day) but it’s your responsibility as a parent/adult not to damage their health.

I realise I may receive some blowback from this, but someone’s got to say it. Don’t shoot the messenger. 

And before you say it, yes, I have kids. They have a “sweetie day” on a Friday with the occasional treat at other times, and they drink water. It’s not cruel, it’s kind, because I know that all they’re really missing out on is a lifetime of sugar addiction.

If you’re interested in getting control of your diet and lifestyle and living a healthier life, check out www.MoveBetter.Club or get in touch.

Mark

Barefoot shoes and back pain...

I was in the gym yesterday, and one of the members came and started talking to me.

He was wearing some vibram fivefingers shoes.

Apparently we'd spoken about it a few months ago and he went off and looked into it a bit more, then ordered some.

Anyway, the guy's in his late 40's/early 50's and had been suffering with back pain for a long time.

But yesterday, he told me his back pain has almost completely gone since getting the barefoot shoes!

Something THAT simple!

It makes sense though.

Your feet are your foundations. The only part of you in contact with the ground.

If your feet are out of alignment (because of shoes or for any other reason), everything above them will be out of alignment too.

Set up a Jenga tower and take out the bottom brick first... see what happens.

If you don't look after your feet, then it will affect everything.

Ankles, knees, hips, lower back, upper back, neck, shoulders...

Your foundations need to be solid and functional for everything else above to work properly.

I'm not saying your back (or any other) pain will go if you just switch to barefoot shoes, but you stand a much better chance of fixing it if you do!

My favourites are Vivobarefoot - they have lots of options to choose from and they're worth the investment (and apparently, I'm out of touch with the cost of things these days so they're not that expensive compared to other, shit shoes either. I just haven't bought any regular shoes for about 10 years!)

If you use the link above, you can get 20% off your first order. On me!

I'd also sign up and keep an eye out on Sport Pursuit as they sometimes have them on there and they're the BEST price you'll find for them anywhere. I've had a couple of pairs from them as have many of my clients.

So free your feet and let me know how it feels!

Mark

P.S. A quick word of warning, if your feet are used to being in foot coffins, you may need to ease yourself into barefoot shoes as your feet will have to get used to them and strengthen up (a good thing!). So just don't overdo it straight away.

Start with short walks and wearing them (or being completely barefoot) around the house as much as you can.

Replace your squats with these...

You've probably heard me say before that squats ARE NOT the king of exercises.

Most people can't even sit into a full, deep squat so they certainly shouldn't be loading up the weight and doing it for reps.

I've seen too many awful squats over the years to count, and every time, I just wait for the "POP" and the scream, waiting for their back or knees to give out.

Luckily, I've only witnessed this once or twice, but for most, it's just a matter of time before it starts to take its toll in their bodies.

People don't tend to relate aches and pains to a particular exercise unless it happens whilst they're doing that exercise.

But that back and knee pain you have may well be from the squats you've been doing for years.

That's also a common argument: "It can't be that, I've been doing it for years without a problem"

It's a bit like someone claiming that smoking can't have caused any issues because they've been doing it for years without a problem... Or eating junk can't have caused any issues because they've been doing it for years...

You see where I'm going with this!

Just because something seems to be ok now, doesn't mean it's not adding a little more damage each time that'll build up over time.

Your body is quite resilient, but it can only take so much.

So what should you do instead of squats?

Something more natural.

An unloaded, bodyweight squat should be accessible to everyone with a little work and is definitely something to practice, but if you want to build strength or size in your legs, yes, you'll need to use some resistance.

My personal favourites for building stronger, ore functional legs, with far less risk of injury are:

• Sled Pushes (just load up a sled, and push!)

• Walking Lunges

• Step-Ups

• Multi-Directional Lunges

Essentially, pick a movement that you encounter in every day life, and add some resistance to it.

DON'T sit yourself on a machine designed to 'target' muscle groups because they almost certainly won't make you move in a natural way.

Try swapping these out in your training and replace the squats, leg extensions, hamstring curls etc.

See how you get on and let me know.

Mark