October the month of harvesting all of your hard work in the garden, fruit and vegetables! Freezing some to be kept for later in the winter.

Flowers - cut down, collecting all of the dead leaves to compost.

What have you achieved this year? Time to look back and evaluate what your accomplishments are?

Our lives are the sum of the decisions we make....Patrick Morley

Wish you were healthier and fitter?
 

What motivates you to be happy? Could it be your health that helps you be a happy person? If you're not happy with yourself, what is the most neglected part of your life? Health and fitness often come close to the top. So let's explore!!

How have you felt about your health recently? Is it the last thing on your mind, in between juggling life? Has it been forgotten? Isn't it time you focused on your health for the time being? What can you do to improve your health in the next few months? What would you do differently? Ok, you tell me that you're eating more healthy food, and are exercising (ok walking a bit) but what can you do differently then?

A combination of factors determines our weight, and that's why it's difficult to set an exact ideal weight that applies to everyone. It's important to remember there's a range of healthy body weights. Aiming to keep within this means an end to aspiring to one magic weight you think you should be. Many people have a distorted perception of what constitutes a healthy body weight - BBC Health website.

Where does time go?
 Excersise, excersise, excersise!!!

A few of my clients say that they don't have enough time for focusing on their health, but they would like to have more emphasis it as it is this that will keep you on this very earth for longer. My clients have a mixture of lifestyles between them, and most are juggling life's pressures of work and home life balance. So health comes bottom of the list. My clients are aware of their health, but seem to have no time to do anything about it.

The most important thing in finding time to do a bit of exercise is to structure it into your day to day activities. It can be only 30 minutes a day, maybe even split 10 minutes in the morning, evening and lunch time.

Do whatever it is you know you need to do to move yourself toward health. Do you need more exercise? Do you just need more quiet time?

What activity did you get involved with when you were younger? What did you enjoy doing - group activities or more things on your own? E.g. play football, play netball, fishing? What motivated you to try and be the very best at this sport? What did you enjoy about the sport - meeting people or just the physical part of it?

There are lots of positive reasons for getting fitter, including meeting new people, discovering new interests and generally feeling better. But regular activity is especially important as you age because it has beneficial effects on conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, and helps you maintain mobility and mental well-being and, consequently, your independence.

Regular exercise can help you achieve and maintain an ideal weight, which can be important in managing many health conditions, or may just make you feel happier about your appearance.

All exercise helps strengthen bones and muscles to some degree, but weight- bearing exercise, such as running, is especially good in promoting bone density and protecting against osteoporosis, which affects men as well as women.

Tips on boosting your health

• Eat More Fruit and Veg - Eat less junk food, and have more vegetables and fruit in your diet. Increase your intake of fruit and veg by each week. Make an effort now so in the future you will not have to even think about it or doing it. . A general rule is to go for different coloured fruit and veg when you can, rather than having all fruit and veg of one colour. Instead of unhealthy snacks, take some extra fruit with you to eat throughout the day.
• Get More Sleep - Are you one of those people who can survive on as little sleep as possible? That means that your body is not getting enough time to recover from the day before. Sleep plays a significant role in brain development. There's no fixed amount that works for everyone, experts believe we need somewhere between 7 and 9 hours sleep per night - so make sure you get an amount similar to this.
• Drink Plenty of Water - Everyone has been told in the press for the past few years to keep drinking water, as it keeps us hydrated, and flushes out the system. We all need around two litres of fluid a day to keep our bodies properly hydrated.
• Stick to your units - Drinking too much can increase your risk of heart problems, stroke, obesity and some cancers, and also make you vulnerable to accidents. However, if you stick to the recommended amount per week - and don't drink it all at the same time! - You can enjoy alcohol without harming your health. The recommended amount is no more than four units per day (no more than 21 per week) for men and three units per day (no more than 14 per week) for women.
• Keep using your brain - The brain isn't a muscle, but the old 'use it or lose it' adage still applies. By the time you reach 45, your brain will be losing 50,000 cells a day from the cerebral cortex - but keeping your mind stimulated can help to preserve your cognitive function. Challenges such as learning a new language, always continue to pitch your brain against fresh challenges.
• Stretch More - So you sometimes strain yourself getting out of the car or getting up from the sofa? Do you feel as flexible as you did when you were younger? Possibly not. Some gentle daily stretching and mobilising - such as doing some circling, bending and extending movements - will help keep you mobile. Do it when you are by your desk - nobody will even know!!

There can be no happiness, if the things we believe in are different from the things we do. - Freya Madeline Stark

Have a great October!