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Fit2loveLife Blog

Writer's pictureAnn de Jongh

Back to Basics - Getting the foundations right

For a lot of people we spend time cycling through different “diets” , workout trends, lifestyle habits trying to find that miraculous answer that makes it all really easy. We see something on social media, or our friends are doing something new which is “better” than anything else so we give it a go, but inevitably it is not sustainable.


I believe it is about getting the foundations right , going back to basics, addressing the foundations of our health and building on those.


Going back to basics doesn't mean that it is easy, or that we shouldn't do it, no matter how advanced our training / nutrition / health approach is , it is always worth stripping it back and checking that our foundations are still solid.


I believe our foundations for health are:


Sleep

Nutrition

Movement

Mindfulness

Laughter


Stripping them back and approaching all of these areas with a simple back to basics approach is the best way of creating a strong foundation.


Sleep

Sleep is crucial , this is when our body rests and repairs without enough of this it can affect everything else. If we are lacking in sleep it can have a major impact on our day to day lives and our overall health. Making sure we get 7-8 hours of sleep every night is something we should all strive to do.


Nutrition

We need to fuel our body as well as we can so that we can feel full of energy and awesome ! To do this, we need to peel it back to the basics. Ensure we eat plenty of colourful vegetables, eating some carbohydrates and removing processed foods and including in our protein of choice , whether that is plant based meat or fish. Eating when we are hungry and where possible getting our nutrients from actual food rather than shakes, pills and other processed means.


Movement

It does not need to be anything fancy - going for a walk is one of the best exercises we can do for our health, we don't need special clothes or shoes, we just put one foot in front of the other and see where it takes us !

in the gym going back to basic movement patterns , working on mobility where needed to make sure our movement pattern is functioning correctly before we load it with weights.

In Yoga I love to go back to the basic postures, spending time to ensure alignment is good and that we take time to feel the postures, and it is often when we are not trying to be a pretzel when we are breathing and moving through the more “simple” postures that we find that connection with the breath and then movement that allows us to find the space and stillness .


Mindfulness

By this I am talking about stripping this right back to the basics of just breathing, observing the breath-taking the time to find stillness in the mind, feeling gratitude and just allowing ourselves to be.


Laughter

Life can get very hectic and we can sometimes go through a day without laughing. Laughter is so good for our soul and our mind, it can change our mood. I often call this Vitamin L - it truly is one of our foundations to leading an awesome life.


During March I will be sharing ways to go back to basics across all these areas, so check out fit2lovelife to learn more.


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