Thought: “My life is SO STRESSFUL, I just don’t have time to prepare food in advance – this would make me even more stressed!” Solution: Failing to prepare is planning to fail. All it takes to correctly plan an entire week’s worth of meals is around 60 minutes in one day - there are 24 hours in 1 day, whats your excuse? Another way to reduce failure is to create an emergency food box at home and one for work which contains healthy snacks so you can stay in control of eating during busy times. This will assist in reducing your stress and keep your energy levels high helping you to think and perform better. When implementing a lifestyle change and transforming your body you have to introduce new behaviours "make healthy eating a priority" Thought: “ I have had a rubbish day and I am upset, I deserve this cake and glass of wine” Solution: If I had £100 for every person that said this to me in the past 5 years, I would be able to open up my own gym! The problem is once you are finished eating you won’t feel any better, the problem that caused you to eat rubbish is still there, but now you will feel even worse for having gone off plan. Exercise is the most potent underutilized anti-depressant and stress buster. Hit the gym take out your emotions on the gym floor or exercise studio - not your mouth. Thought: “I am bored, tired and can’t be bothered” Solution: Before reaching for that glass of wine, chocolate bar or the deliveroo app ask yourself where the urge is coming from and why? Perhaps you’re not eating frequently enough during the day, which has made you feel tired and hungry. This often leads to us reaching for fast food and sugary snacks. If your bored and procrastinating find a better way to make use of your time. Go out for a walk, hit the gym, start preparing food for the week ahead! Thought: “When offered food you don’t put up much of a fight because in reality you want the food” Solution: Yes I have heard it all, “I ate that cake because my granny would be offended if I didn’t. Okay so we all know that granny’s love is usually through food, but would your granny really be disappointed if you passed on the cake? I doubt it! In order for you to achieve your goals you have to have self-control and discipline this means being firm with pushy people. You don’t have to offend and you don’t have to give a reason to why you don’t want that extra slice “no thank you” is a sufficient explanation. Remember its you who will feel guilty when you go home after over eating things you never wanted in the first place – they will most likely be happy that they got rid of the food and aren’t eating it themselves! Thought: “I travel with work and have no control over my eating habits whilst travelling” Solution: Counting macros and weighing food doesn’t work when travelling, but relinquishing all control just because you don’t have your scales, blender, or tupperware is self-sabotage. Remember prepare to succeed! Bring snacks with you, (instant oats, protein bars, shakes, nut seed mix etc) , call the hotel ahead of time and verify if there is an in-room fridge, then stop by a convenience store on your way and fill up with healthy perishables M&S do small packets of seasoned precooked chicken, sushi, falafel and couscous. If you’re staying with friends, you may not have control over what is served for dinner, but you do have control over portions – you don’t have to eat everything on the plate. Thought: “You can’t avoid the office treats” Solution: I use to work in the Oil & Gas industry, I have first hand experience of the types of food that is brought into the office for any reason - holidays, birthday pie’s, leaving doo’s, a new puppy, celebrating someone’s uncle getting a new leg or just bacon roll Fridays - we take in treats for the most pathetic reasons. The office treats are a dieter’s downfall. “No treats ever” is probably not realistic—especially around the holidays when there appears to be an endless supply of celebrations and heroes. Give yourself one free small treat a week in the office and make sure you track it – failing to track is cheating yourself. Small treats can fit both calorie and macro controlled diets. Thought: “I am going on holiday and I want to eat and drink what I can” Solution: SO many clients believe that their holiday will be rubbish if they don’t get to eat or drink whatever they want, but at the same time they are asking me how they can stop weight gain on holiday! There is a huge difference between not getting to eating anything you want and eating everything you want. You are in control of your portion sizes and what goes in your mouth..... Remember last years holiday where you over ate and half way through you started to become self-critical after going overboard, noticing that tummy bloat, feeling groggy or not looking as lean in that bikini? - then starving yourself? Overeating can actually ruin the holiday because you become self-critical after going overboard. Eat the same types of foods you would normally eat at home – after all you must enjoy it before you eat it every day! Then have a little of the naughty stuff in a controlled way. Most importantly stay active! Walks along the beach actually give you a much more even tan than lying on a sun lounger, and swimming for 10 minutes every 45 minutes to cool off from the suns rays all helps burn off the additional calories. Don't feel guilty if you want to work out on holiday - we go on holiday to do things we enjoy doing, if you enjoy training then keep it up! Thought: “I hate being on a diet and having to constantly watch what I eat” Solution: Truthfully you can eat anything you want, whenever you want—or you can keep the weight off, stay lean and feel healthy. You can’t have it both ways. For most clients I find its all down to mindset… if your restricting yourself and then telling yourself your missing out you will only feel worse and more likely to binge. It comes down to control again and having a small amount of the naughty stuff and tracking it to form part of your daily diet - hitting the calories or macros. I recommend to my clients that they ensure 80% of their daily diet comes from whole foods and the remaining 20% comes from convenience foods or a little bit of the naughty stuff. Thought: “I completed a plan in the past and looked amazing, then I went off track and struggling to restart my diet” Solution: The hardest part of any diet is starting—or restarting. I find that clients who come back to Nemesis a second or third time really struggle. You have to push past the initial hump and keep pushing for the end goal. Once you’re in control and back on track, you’ll never question whether or not it’s worth it because the results will do the talking.
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As a kid I had no issues with the water. Sharon and I were taught to swim by our mother who had won several swimming competitions. We also went swimming on a weekly basis throughout our teenage years with our friends. My issues with water started when I was 21 years old and was asked by my employer at the time to undertake my offshore survival course to allow me to go offshore and do audits. It was the first year they brought out the rebreather air pocket and the Maersk assets were one of the first to make the use of the airpocket compulsory. I had several issues with the air pocket in the pool, gagging when it was in my mouth which made me frustrated. As part of the survival at the time we had to do 4 helicopter escape simulations. This is where you are strapped into the helicopter and lowered into the pool turned upside down and made to escape. The first 2 escapes I managed with no issues. The 3rd escape when using air pocket was okay but as mentioned I found keeping the air pocket mouth piece in my mouth really difficult. The fourth escape was a complete disaster. I was in the back and in the centre chair. On my left I had a very nervous older woman and on my right a non swimmer who could barely speak any English and had been struggling throughout the course. The helicopter was lowered and turned upside down and both of them couldn’t pop the windows open, which resulted in me panicking, running out of air and then being pulled from the helicopter by a diver. These days the layout of the simulation helicopter has changed with single seats so nobody is stuck in the middle. It was a horrific experience and after which I started to develop issues with water. I wouldn’t swim in the sea or snorkel on holidays and even in swimming pools I would not go under the water and hated jumping into the pool or flumes. Then I met Graham who showed me all his scuba diving videos.... swimming with whale sharks, tropical fish, shark feeding dives and it looked amazing! I knew I wanted to give it a go, realising I was missing out on so many amazing sights and experiences. The first thing I did was booked myself on a discover scuba course in Aberdeen which was held in RGU swimming pool on a Friday night. This allowed me to get use to using the regulator and swimming under water. They also taught us how to use the snorkel properly and basic buoyancy skills. Although extremely nervous my group was small consisting of three other females. At the end of the session I started to really enjoy the diving, the only draw back was that my mask flooded several times which made me panic returning to the surface. Four months later Graham and I went to Zanzibar as part of our Africa trip and I booked myself on the discover scuba course again. This time it was 2 dives out in the ocean. The mask issue really concerned me along with learning some of the skills. I was trying to stay calm for the entire boat trip out to the reef, but once we started gearing up the nerves kicked in, more so having to do a backwards tumble into the ocean. When I hit the surface I was starting to panic. Every time I kept going under I kept panicking and returning to he surface. I kept thinking it was the mask, and the instructor played about with it and then said to me that this was my last attempt and if I couldn’t go down then I wouldn’t be able to scuba. This was what I needed an ultimatum and I managed to get to the end of the line 3 metres down and kneel on the sea bed. Next he wanted me to flood my mask slightly with water and clear it. I let in the smallest amount of water I could and managed. Next was taking the regulator out and blowing bubbles. I managed this but I wasn’t keen on doing it. Next was to remove the regulator throw it away and locate it again. This was a definite no-no for me. Which he accepted given that I felt anxious. After these exercises I got to enjoy the dive being pulled around by the dive instructor where I concentrated on my breathing and trying to enjoy the dive. On the second dive I descended on the first go - a huge improvement. The dive master also allowed me to hold onto graham and having him as a comfort and security blanket allowed me to look around and enjoy the dive... it was amazing seeing all the coral and fish that surrounded me this time. After the introduction to scuba I decided I wanted to do my open water qualification. Yes I was still extremely anxious and scared, but Graham explained that the course teaches you and explains everything. I am one of those people who likes to understand what I am doing rather than just do it. So I knew that under taking the proper training and education would reduce my anxiety and help build my confidence. Graham booked me on the open water course with Pro Dive in Cairns Australia. Where my training dives would take place in the Great Barrier Reef - WOW. He also bought me a proper mask and snorkel which would prevent flooding and also swallowing sea water when snorkling. The first 2 days of the course was classroom, theory and pool work skills and at the end of day 2 a 50 question exam. Upon successful completion we would then undertake the 4 training dives in the Great Barrier Reef followed by another 5 recreational dives once qualified. I had no issues with the theory or exam and a lot of what we learnt did receive my anxiety. Understanding the BCD, how it worked what each part was and did made it less scary for me. It always scared me gearing up as I didn’t know what the equipment did. In the pool I managed the removal and throw away of the regulator fine and find it again - I don’t understand why I couldn’t do this in Zanzibar! There was so many skills including rescuing someone, blowing up you bcd manually on the surface and underwater, protocols for running out of air etc. Then the dreaded moment came at the end of day 1.. exercise 1 a partial flood of the mask and clearing it, exercise 2 full flood of the mask and clearing it and exercise 3 removal of the mask under water and then re fitting it and clearing it. Exercise 1 was fine as graham spent some time in the morning explaining how to do this. Exercise 2 just wasn’t happening which meant I couldn’t move to exercise 3. Lucy the instructor decided to end the training and said we would try the next day on a 1-2-1 basis. As soon as I arrived at the training centre on day 2 Lucy asked me to gear up and that me and her would spend the first hour together to build my confidence with the mask and complete the exercises. The flooding of the mask in its entirety took several attempts, but Lucy made it so much easier by slowing down the process into steps. 1. Keep breathing 2. Pinch nose 3. Tilt Head and let in water 4. Look up, Un Pinch Nose, blow through nose to clear. I finally did it but she knew it still worried me. Next was exercise 3 full removal of mask. Again Lucy broke it into steps and slowed the process down. 1. Keep breathing though regulator 2. Pull strap of mask overhead still holding mask onto face. Then lift mask off 2. Pinch nose 3. Return mask to face and re pinch nose 4. Tilt Head and let in water 5. Look up, Un Pinch Nose, blow through nose to clear. Funnily enough I managed this all myself in the first go! We did it several times to ensure I was happy and confident with the process and all attempts I managed no bother. Finally the day arrived where we were to on the live a board boat out into the Great Barrier Reef along with a variety of level of divers. I had to complete 5 training dives, each dive Lucy would choose exercises we had to do. The first dive went fine, I was calm and I managed all the exercises she set us. However, I started to realise that I felt most nervous on the surface of the water with the chop of the waves, made worse by the fact I had to wait for all of the trainees to enter the water before our descent. The third dive couldn’t have gone any worse! It was the exercise I had been dreading full full of the mask and then removal of the mask. I attempted it, failed it - panicked, spat out my regulator, swallowed water to the point lucy was forcing my regulator into my mouth and my eyes tightly squeezed I kept trying and trying to clear my mask - eventually I did it. I was coughing non stop into the regulator, anxiety through the roof and felt I was back to square one. Luckily for me Lucy had a great calming effect on me and said no more exercises for me on that dive and to regulate my breathing and enjoy the swim. Over night all I could think was what happened to the point that by the time I got up in the morning I couldn’t stop crying and panicking. I geared up and my breathing was uncontrollable. I was 2nd in the water and bobbing about waiting for the rest of the team to enter I tried to take deep breaths and calm down, but I ended up getting more worked up as I noticed last person entering because I wasn’t ready. Then I started hyperventilating and signalled I wanted out. I knew it was unsafe for me and on the others to go down feeling that way. On the boat there was a lot of tears. Tears from frustration, anger but also being upset with myself that I was letting my fear control me and get the better of me. I am not a quitter and when someone says I can’t do something I do it anyway! Even if it’s something I am not even bothered about doing, it’s just the way I am. Graham came back from his dive and deja vous set in from what happened in Zanzibar. “Diving isn’t for everyone if you want to quit you should because your putting yourself at risk and it’s unsafe for the people diving with you ”. Sometimes it takes someone being direct to make you see things clearly. I managed everything in the pool no bother, I was now up to 6 training dives - my mind is the one preventing me from overcoming my fears. So the next dive I was back in the water but I was now 1 training dive behind everyone else. Lucy said it would work better this way because the exercises I was having the problems with we would do them 1-2-1 again. On this last training dive with the entire group I got through all my exercises with no issues at all. It was tough going back onto the boat with everyone else receiving their certificates and round of applauses knowing I still had one more to go. Then it was time to gear up again - one more dive and I would be a certified diver. I asked Lucy if I could do all the exercises near to the end of the dive. The more I am under water the more confident I get and doing the exercises straight after descending I felt made me apprehensive. My decision paid off. I did the entire flooding of the mask, then removing the mask returning it to my face and clearing the water on the first attempt! Result = PADI Fully Certified Open Water Diver Knowing what your afraid of can help you overcome that fear if you always avoid situations or things that scare you it can prevent you doing things. My fear caused by my offshore survival lead me to having a fear of water, this included water sports and swimming in open water. Exposing yourself to your fears is an effective way of overcoming your anxiety and increasing your success.
The way to overcome fear is to have COURAGE. The courage to plan and prepare how you will overcome your fear. Setting clear goals and objectives which will also relieve stress. I did this by sound 1-3-1 scuba practice in a pool. The courage to endure! Persistence is courageous patience. The ability to see something through and the goals you set yourself even if there is set backs for example when I panicked in Zanzibar or on my training Dives in the Great Barrier Reef. You will have set backs in overcoming your fears be persistent and learn to accept it as a learning curve. Am I still afraid of water? Yes and No. I still worry and it takes me a good 5 minutes of breathing skills to relax when I initially go under. However, I love what’s under the water and I need to remember why I am trying to overcome my fear - because of the amazing sights. |
AuthorsSharon & Lainey are Online PT & Nutrition Advisors with a combined 18 years experience in the Health & Fitness Industry. Archives
August 2018
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