I’ve been a PT for over 20 years now and a lifestyle and nutrition coach for the last ten of those, and I love my job for numerous reasons. One of the main reasons is the variety of people I work with, the different goals they have, their different start points in terms of their fitness level and experience, their character and how all these things impact how we work together in order to get to that goal. I love putting all the pieces of the jigsaw together and working out which bits of the puzzle need work and will have the most impact in improving a person’s health or fitness.

I’ve been a PT for over 20 years now and a lifestyle and nutrition coach for the last ten of those, and I love my job for numerous reasons. One of the main reasons is the variety of people I work with, the different goals they have, their different start points in terms of their fitness level and experience, their character and how all these things impact how we work together in order to get to that goal. I love putting all the pieces of the jigsaw together and working out which bits of the puzzle need work and will have the most impact in improving a person’s health or fitness.

In my last blog, I was extoling the virtues of self-care in January, a month when we could perhaps take things a little more slowly, sleep more, enjoy the simple things in life - a walk in nature, hot chocolate in front of a warm fire, reading a book wrapped in a cosy blanket, a massage. Well, I hope that's gone well for you, but it all went to pot for me when…

In my last blog, I was extoling the virtues of self-care in January, a month when we could perhaps take things a little more slowly, sleep more, enjoy the simple things in life - a walk in nature, hot chocolate in front of a warm fire, reading a book wrapped in a cosy blanket, a massage. Well, I hope that's gone well for you, but it all went to pot for me when…

There are a lot of reasons January should be a time to rest, recuperate, heal, take time out, engage in self-care etc rather than putting ourselves under pressure or rushing around. In historical times, we wouldn’t have had electric lighting or heating. The short days would have been forced upon us and we would have taken to our beds to stay warm through the long evenings, doing what our bodies are often telling us to do during the winter - sleep longer and work with our circadian rhythm, rest as nature does - so we have energy to work hard through the longer summer days.

Beetroot - a root vegetable which has a bad rap. It stains your chopping board, stains pretty much anything else you cook it with, stains your fingers and makes your pee purple! It seems you either love it or hate it. But why should those of us who hate it learn to love it? Isn’t it just something cyclists and runners use to improve their times when they are racing? What’s the big deal?