3 Tips to Cope During Stressful Times at Work with @cwnutritionyoga

Nutritional Therapist & Yoga Teacher Charlotte Watts shares 3 nutrition tips to cope during stressful times at work. Following our natural body rhythms throughout a day while meshing them with healthy, nurturing choices can be very beneficial.

3 Tips to Cope During Stressful Times at Work from Charlene Hutsebaut on Vimeo.

Understanding Research in the Media with @VicMetcalf_NZ

Watch my interview with New Zealand scientist Dr. Victoria Metcalf as she tells us the processes scientists go through when doing research and how we can decipher & understand research we see mentioned in the media.

Understanding research in the media from Charlene Hutsebaut on Vimeo.

Find Dr. Metcalf on twitter @VicMetcalf_NZ or on her blog sciblogs.co.nz/icedoctor/

9 Hot Ideas to Keep Fit at Work!

  1. Walk to or from work…This is a simple and effective solution to time being an issue and I have seen this bring results for so many clients! Start out with ten minutes and build up to a half hour at either end of your day. Get off the tube or bus earlier and walk the rest of the journey in to work.
  2. Walk or jog at lunchtime with a work pal. Not a new concept but have you been using it?!
  3. Use the work kitchen for press-ups at the counter top. While making your coffee, tea or heating up your healthy lunch place the heels of your hands securely on the edge of the counter top, shoulder width apart…bend your elbows as you guide your chest towards the counter. Keep your abs gently engaged and eyes looking at the counter. For beginners try 2-6 repetitions in a row for advanced folks do 20-25 repetitions and even try being on one foot while keeping body square.
  4. Do you have stairs in your building? Use them for quick, effective fitness blasts! Either do a lunchtime 2-20 minute workout going up and down or hand deliver documents to colleagues on other floors. Check out my rainy day workout which is a stairs workout here… http://www.charlenehutsebaut.com/rainy-day-workout/
  5. Does your business offer a gym or classes during the days? Yes….start using them!
  6. Stand more often while working. You will burn more energy and work your postural muscles without realizing. And….as recent studies show this is better for our overall health.
  7. Use body weight training moves in the office to tone and strengthen your body! Squats, lunges, planks, vsits and tricep dips are the most common and effective. Set the tone in your office for what it is to be healthy and fit!
  8. Ride your bike to work….again….not a new concept but have you been doing it?! When you arrive to a bike rack to lock up get underneath the bike rack first to do some back pull ups! http://www.charlenehutsebaut.com/bike-rack-pull-ups/
  9. Do you sit on a therapy ball at work? Practice this move to improve your posture and work your core….

Want more Office Workouts??? Check out my Office Wellness Digest Library…

Click HERE…

 

Bike rack pull-ups

Use these pull-ups at bars in a park or a bike rack for a quick effective back, arms and core workout.

Lifestyle Tips to Recover From Viral Meningitis

This is my experience of recovery. I am not a doctor or nurse but someone who has gone through viral meningitis and has an education in health & fitness. Here is my story and my tips on recovery from my professional point of view. Please always seek the support of your Doctors & health care professionals.

I contracted viral meningitis in the Spring of 2010.  I went from being an active, healthy and vibrant personal trainer to someone who had no energy, gained 2 stone and had almost died.

I feel it all started at the beginning of 2010 when I was making a move out of my first home in London.  I had been there for almost nine years with the same lovely flatmates.  Along with the stresses of running my own personal training business I found I was quite exhausted.  Once the move had happened I then took a trip for Easter to Canada to see my family.  Within two weeks of my return to London I had contracted viral meningitis and was in Kings College Hospital.  When I was admitted to Emergency I had seen at least five doctors within 12 hours as they were not sure what my illness was.  They suspected Lyme Disease as I had just been to Canada and could have been bitten by a deer tick.  I went through two lumbar punctures before a diagnosis was made.  These were not fun, I can assure you.

Signs & Symptoms of meningitis

What I didn’t realise at the time was actually how sick I was.  The consultant along with her student doctors were very clear that I was to rest once I left hospital or I would take longer to recover if not be back with them again.  It was when one of my close friends said she had lost a friend in her twenties to meningitis that I realised how serious my situation was.

As a personal trainer and someone who had been active her entire life I found not being able to carry out my usual exercise routines very difficult.  I took the time off from work which I thought was sufficient as I needed to find a balance because I needed to work to get paid.  I spent about four weeks at home doing what I could from the computer and then got back out to see around six clients per week for about six weeks.  I increased my hours from there as I was feeling better.  It was my formal exercise and fitness that took the longest to regain. I had to be patient and find a way to accept that my body had changed.

Through the process of having been sick, my inactivity and perhaps the drugs I had to take hospital I quickly gained about 2 stone (28lbs).  This was very unlike me as I had been about the same body shape and weight since my teens.  It was very disconcerting to not only be heavier and not feeling myself but also that I had to hold back on doing anything about it.

In the end it took me around 2 years to gain my fitness levels back to where I was before and feel strong in my work and activities.  It took me three years to lose the 2 stone (although overall it only took 8 months once my fitness levels allowed me to be active).

My tips for recovery from my own experience and as a health professional are:

    • take things slowly, you will need more rest and recovery than you used to
    • accept that your body has changed
    • find strategies to deal with stress in your life (meditation, walks in nature, quiet time, breathe)
    • get enough sleep for you
    • ease back into work if you can (tell your employer what you need or if you run your own business get some help)
    • strategically plan your return to exercise – small steps are best (the good thing is your body will immediately tell you when you have had enough because you will feel knackered)
    • Choose exercise which supports your calming parasympathetic nervous system such as grounding forms of yoga, pilates, weight training
    • nurture yourself with healing food
    • discover mindfulness – be in the moment

I strongly feel that my stress levels at the time of contracting viral meningitis were a key factor for me personally.  I realise this is controversial in the medical community.  I would like to see more research into this.  I feel this as well because after many tests while in hospital and in the weeks after no doctor could tell me why I had gotten viral meningitis or how to recover other than resting.

I am happy to say I am back to my old active self now and must thank my wonderful partner Jez, my family and my amazing personal training clients for sticking by me through a very scary period of my life.  Despite not being as fit as them for some time they knew I still had the knowledge and enthusiasm to guide them in being healthy and fit.

Visit Meningitis Now for more information

What The Heck Are Free Sugars with @sr_nutrition

In this interview with Registered Nutrition Consultant Charlotte Stirling-Reed I ask….”What the heck are free sugars and how many should we have?”

 

What The Heck Are Free Sugars from Charlene Hutsebaut on Vimeo.

Therapy Ball Roll Down

Use this pilates move to engage your abs, stretch your back & hamstrings & improve your posture.

3 Simple Self-Care Strategies with @suzyreading

Charlene’s Wellness Bites:

Psychologist & Yoga Teacher Suzy Reading & I discuss 3 Simple Self-Care Strategies for everyday life.
Self-Care is Health Care!


Watch the Video here:

Home & Office – Movement & Calming Plan 🧘‍♀️🧘‍♀️🧘‍♀️

Use this online movement & calming plan to get active & calm your mind from the comfort & safety of your own home or office. 🧘‍♀️🧘‍♀️🧘‍♀️

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My health journey to the Life Fitness – Personal Trainers to Watch Competition

Read about my journey to the Life Fitness – Personal Trainers to Watch Competition with twists and turns including viral meningitis and a family tragedy.

Click here to read.