NHS Fundraiser - Quarantine 101

This lecture highlights some good habits and practices that can maximise your achievements while following this course.

The idea is that the more we structure our journey the more we manage to keep ourselves in check, although it’s important to not become too rigid.

Basic structures like creating a schedule and writing down goals can really help us along the way and although these methods are sometimes tedious to lay out, they can very quickly become an important asset to avoid unplanned detours and falling back into habits we want to improve.

This lecture focuses on creating the perfect conditions for us to operate optimally, covering basic household practices and developing a healthy relationship with sleep.

Although some people manage to operate well in a chaotic environment, most of us really do so when the space around us is tidy and in tiptop shape and the homes we live in are often an area that gets neglected when working on ourselves.

See the home as a physical representation of your emotional state and you’ll often find that in times of distress we tend to let go of tidiness at home, so it’s time to change that and make your home a sanctuary of cleanliness and tidiness.

In the second part we go through some night-time habits and practices that can improve our sleep, and although most things covered are nothing new they can really be effective when combined with all the habits covered throughout this course.

Often we are so overly stimulated throughout the day that we are still buzzing right before going to bed and this prevents us from getting that well deserved good night sleep, so it’s important to really treat this moment of the day as a time of peace, serenity and detachment from the problems and hassles of the day (including phones/laptops). This way we allow our body to truly distinguish between daytime and night-time, a distinction made more and more slight by technology with lights well into the early hours of the night and being connected with the world 24/7.

In this section we navigate through some great practices to help us get the most out of our meals and nutrition.

Through accurate monitoring of the body’s response to foods we can really tailor the best possible diet, and an effective way to do so is through journalling and practicing the elimination diet for at least 10 days (although it is recommended to stick with it for at least 21). By doing so we allow our body to re-calibrate itself and we can then see what foods we should consume in moderation or less of.

We also cover the topic of intermittent fasting, and this practice can be beneficial if done gradually both from a nutritional and physiological point of view as it reduces the strain of constant digestion and allows our body to focus on healing and regenerating.

The combination of increasing growth hormone and fat burning can really be an important asset to achieving your fitness goals much quicker, although it's important to note that every body responds differently and any sudden change of diet should be introduced gradually and without force.

Lastly we cover hydration and tips on how to get the recommended amount of fluids every day without having to stress about it.

*please note that I am speaking from my own experience and what works for me and am in no way trained or qualified to advise on nutrition, so please follow the advice with reason and consult your doctor if you have underlying medical conditions. I expressly disclaim responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss, or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application or interpretation of any material provided to you as the purchaser of this course*

Brief introduction to the practical section of the food lectures.

We will go through:

2 starters/sides

2 first course dishes

2 second course dishes

2 desserts

1 drink

Al the recipes are simple and not time consuming, and the quantities of ingredients are very flexible and can be tailored to your personal preference.

In this section we look at ways of improving our relationship with fitness and creating the right framework to achieve your desired fitness goals.

Much like the majority of this course we initially go through the importance of writing down clear intentions before embarking on a fitness journey, as this lets your mind know that you are taking this process seriously and have a real, tangible asset to refer to in times of motivational struggle.

We then go through the main aspects of training: stretching, strengthening and endurance.

I can’t stress the importance of stretching enough as I discovered this only later on in my fitness journey, and this is truly the foundation of a healthy body as it allows us to extend our muscles to our maximum capability which in turn prevents us from injury and muscle damage, both often caused by tight muscles.

Try and fit in 20 minutes of stretching a day always at the same time and you’ll soon get over the initial resistance and see incredible benefits posture wise too.

With regards to strengthening I decided to include a training method that I have practiced in the past months which involves lifting smaller weights for more reps, as I often got injured when pushing myself to extremes and several people that I look up to have shared this view as well. It’s important to mention that muscle growth only happens when the muscle tissue is damaged to some extent, and if you decide to go ahead with the lower weight/higher rep count method the same applies.

With regards to endurance I wanted to make sure to include a variety of suggestions, as part of the beauty of cardio is that the same result can be achieved in different ways that suit your needs.

And lastly it’s important to note that nutrition plays a huge role in muscle growth, you only need to look at actors’ body transformation videos and the majority of them will say that that following such an intense or strict diet was the hardest part of the journey. So make sure you read into this as there is a great amount of literature on this topic online.

*please note that I am speaking from my own experience and what works for me and am in no way trained or qualified to advise on nutrition, so please follow the advice with reason and consult your doctor if you have underlying medical conditions. I expressly disclaim responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss, or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application or interpretation of any material provided to you as the purchaser of this course*

This section was supposed to cover the practical side of training, and just before filming it I came to the conclusion that due to the abundance of material online of people with oceans of experience more than me, it’s best to let this section go and be upfront about it.

As the whole idea behind this course is to help the NHS through charitable donations, I openly express how I am not an expert in any of the topics covered and even more so with fitness, but I know two people that are real professionals and that have material online that is accessible and free: Jeff Cavaliere (Athlean-X) and Shona Vertue.

By sticking to the exercise and plans outlined in these two channels you really invest in some quality tuition and gain some invaluable assets in reaching the fitness goals of your dreams.

In this section we take a look at meditation and how it can positively influence our life.

The goal of this lecture is to spike interest in the practice so that you can look into it in more detail ad perhaps incorporate it in your daily routine.

We begin by covering the more practical aspects including what position you want to take, I highly recommend trying the one with bent knees and a pillow to support you as this is very comfortable and allows us to be fully relaxed when starting out.

We then take a look at how much time we should meditate for and stress how vital it is to start slow with 5-10 minutes and then work your way up as this practice can be off-putting at first due to how subtle the improvements are, and if we set our target too high from the get-go we risk loosing motivation and dropping out.

The method we look at is focused on the breath, but there are several other ones including body scan where we connect with every part of our body and be aware of it, or sound-based meditation with neural beats or nature sounds in the background.

If you decide to try out the Wim Hof method (next section) I recommend you try meditating straight after the breathing exercises as this will really enhance the feeling of connection with your breath and give you an incredible sense of elation.

In this section we take a look at the engine behind any prepositive action in our lives, willpower.

This topic encompasses every aspect of the course and is the key to maximising your potential and reach your goals one after the other, and the difficulty of learning how to master this mindset shows us just how important it is (things that are good for us are not often easy!)

The goal of this section is to strengthen our willpower and train it to follow where our mind leads, and a growing body of research shows that when we stick to something for around 2 months we start exercising zero to no effort in making that thing happen, so say you decide to undertake Yoga every other day and there is a point after the initial enthusiasm where you feel like quitting, keep on reminding yourself to power through for the initial 2 months and more likely than not Yoga will be part of your weekly routine for good.

We then look at how to strengthen willpower much like a muscle, and I mention the Wim Hof method. This ever-growingly popular practice has been created to give us the tools to achieve exactly what we want and get the most out of our body, and from personal experience I can say that this was the spark that initiated a more structured approach to life.

It can be daunting to undertake such an extreme practice on your own, so if you decide that you are curious and want to try it out I highly suggest trying with a friend for the breathing part as you can share views on the practice after trying it out. It is key to document yourself properly when starting the method as it can be physically and mentally quite taxing and the official Wim Hof website is a good way to learn, although the best would be to attend one of the dozens of workshops organised every month to get an idea of what you’re putting yourself into (I attended one in London, it lasted 6 hours and cost £150 but prices vary, make sure you read reviews of the workshop beforehand).

We then delve into the importance of limiting our screen time and instead direct that energy on proactive and meaningful activities, and it’s truly remarkable how much time we can gain and how much knowledge we can acquire just by waking up an hour earlier, limiting screen time and learning something new.

*please note that I am speaking from my own experience and what works for me and am in no way trained or qualified to advise on nutrition, so please follow the advice with reason and consult your doctor if you have underlying medical conditions. I expressly disclaim responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss, or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application or interpretation of any material provided to you as the purchaser of this course*

In this final section we round up everything covered in this course and go through some great go-to experts that will enrich your journey and make it come to life.

Again as this course has been created for charity I thought it was important to point you towards people that can have a meaningful impact on your daily lives, and really hope that something that I talked about in this time resonated with you and stimulated you to go and find out more.

The amount of material online on any given topic is definitely overwhelming, but if we really crave for more information after our curiosity has been triggered the internet can really be a blessing and a great aid to achieving our goals.

I take this chance to THANK YOU one more time for your support and for watching, and wish you a beautiful and fulfilled life.