So, how are your resolutions for 2012 going?
Forgotten them? (Going great guns?)
Only bothered with part of it? (Feeling energised by success!)
Want to start over? (Need to start over?)
OK – your time starts (again) NOW! (If you need it to).
What resolution do you want to restart and why?
(Or what resolution has been going great for you?)
Tell me on Twitter (@KineticL) or on Facebook (www.facebook.com/KineticLifestyle).
Everyone deserves a second chance 
Personally, I feel that the next step that I am going to outline to you is extremely important in terms of being able to manage our food to improve how our mood is over the course of the day. By having the knowledge to deal with what I am about to outline will allow you to be able to improve your mood, maintain your energy levels and possibly even lose weight (should you need or wish to).
This method is important for many reasons besides maintaining mood, as it can help the body with other functions that are necessary for good health. I am looking here at maintaining blood sugar levels within the body.
Blood sugar is important as it is our energy supply line throughout the day. Carbohydrate provides us with our energy source – but not all carbohydrates are the same!
Have you ever felt any of the following during the day at some point:
If you have, then chances are your blood sugar is not being controlled as well as it should be, and feelings like the ones listed above can often come down to this one element.
Personally, I find that when I have not eaten something for a long time I get quite short tempered and irritable. If I go for a really long time I get shaky and I can’t focus on what I am doing – which takes me a lot longer to get things done. Everyone’s experiences are different, but if the blood sugar is low, then your performance will suffer – and if you go back to the list you will see that those feelings are usually ones that people do not want to feel on a regular basis.
Blood sugar is derived from the food that we eat, and the body tries to keep the amount of sugar that is carried around the body as a fairly constant figure. When the amount is too high the body produces insulin from the pancreas in order to allow the sugar to be stored away in the body – but this takes time to do, so whilst this is happening your body will perhaps get a bit hyperactive, and you might feel a buzz. However, then when the supply runs out you will then possibly feel tired, or shaky as your blood sugar gets lower.
Think about when you have lunch – especially if you work in an office. Many people have lunch and then feel that they could quite happily crawl under their desk and have a nap. Productivity slumps and people just watch the clock tick around to 5pm when they can go home, with real effort having to go into meeting post-lunch deadlines because of it.
Think of the lunch that you might have if working in an office. Unless you prepare your lunch yourself you might pop out to get something – a sandwich, maybe a bag of crisps, and a can of pop. Quite often these will be what we call ‘simple carbohydrates’. These get into the blood stream quickly, raise the blood sugar, briefly heighten the energy levels – making you feel like you could take on the world! – and then you come crashing back down to earth. You feel tired, energy levels are gone, and you couldn’t fight your way out of a paper bag, let alone take on the world.
Do you find your mood swings up and down over the course of a day? Do you find that your energy levels go up and down? If the answer to either of these is ‘Yes’ then there is a chance that your blood sugar levels are up and down too often.
The best way to assist in keeping blood sugar levels stable is to remove as many simple carbohydrates from the diet and introduce plenty of ‘complex carbohydrates’ into the diet instead. A quick way of telling a simple carbohydrate from a complex carbohydrate is that if it is white in colour (e.g. white bread, white pasta) then it is simple in nature, and easily digested. If it is easily digested then blood sugar will rocket upward as the sugar from the carbohydrate breaks down. This puts pressure on the pancreas to make insulin to remove some of the blood sugar from the blood stream.
By changing these simple carbohydrates to complex carbohydrates – swapping the white foods for brown (granary bread, whole wheat pasta, brown rice), these foods are unrefined and in a more natural state. This causes the food to take longer to break down in the digestive system, meaning that the blood sugar levels are more constant and you have energy available to you over a longer period of time. This means that your energy levels will stay on an even keel – giving you the chance to get more done and have a much more productive time. There will most likely be less high and low mood and you have more chance of getting through the afternoon in one piece!
Add fruits and vegetables to your diet too – whilst fruits can be seen more as simple carbohydrate due to the sugars involved, eating the fruit or vegetables can offer extra water into the diet, and the more natural the state the fruit/vegetable is in, the more fibre will be found too, and again this will slow down the digestion and keep you feeling fuller for longer as well providing you with extra vitamins and minerals!
Eating smaller meals more frequently can also help to keep blood sugar even as there is less chance of your fuel tank running on empty if you are eating every 3-4 hours (or every 2-3 if you are active). You won’t be having a full 3-course meal every 3-4 hours, but it should be something small yet nutritious. An example of this would be:
07:30 Breakfast
10:30 Mid-morning Snack
13:00 Lunch
16:30 Afternoon Snack
19:00 Evening Meal
This is only an example and would obviously depend upon what time you got up, and what time you went to bed each day. Ideally the digestive system performs best with an hour to wake up before the first food (thus assuming here that waking up would be around 06:30) and that you would not be going to bed on an empty stomach (so perhaps bedtime here would be between 22:00 and 23:00).
The phrase that should sum up most people’s eating guidelines should be “Breakfast like a King, Lunch like a Prince and Dine like a Pauper.” Most people do not follow these guidelines though. The theory behind it is that your breakfast should be the best meal of the day – designed to set you up for the day ahead after 6-8 hours of fasting whilst asleep. The meal at Lunchtime should not be as big as breakfast, but should be designed to be moderate size and enable you to keep going over the rest of the working day, with your evening meal being modest, and light – nothing too heavy to sit on the stomach before going to bed. Most people do this the other way round, with the meal starting off small at breakfast and getting bigger – until the evening meal is sitting heavy on the belly and leaving us sluggish and aimless in front of the TV.
Think of your body as being like a fine car, such as a Ferrari. With a car that is crafted so specifically, you would not put any old stuff into it – you look after it, service it regularly and make sure it has fuel in it. We need to look at ourselves as being like fine automobiles – if we don’t look after ourselves, and fuel ourselves properly, then we aren’t going to go anywhere and will just sit and rust away through lack of use. Eating to maintain blood sugar will allow us to keep the engine ticking over throughout the day so that we can get the best out of ourselves every day.
If you would like further advice on how to maintain, or manage blood sugar better, feel free to e-mail info@kinetic-lifestyle.com or find me on Twitter: @KineticL
©2012 Kinetic Lifestyle/Vixx Thompson. Please do not reproduce this document in whole or in part without permission.
Where we looked at certain foods to help enhance serotonin and help our moods in the last blog, there is something else that has been found to play a huge part in helping our brains and moods, and many people do not have much of these particular items in their diets at all.
These particular items have many different functions within the body, including assisting in reducing inflammation within the body, as well as possibly helping to reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as coronary heart disease and cancer. They are also being researched as to its function in improving memory and learning, and having possible benefits for people with depression and mood disorders, Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia to name a few.
So what are these wonder nutrients?
The answer is Omega 3, and Omega 6 – essential fatty acids that we need to take in through our diets as our bodies do not make it, and which the majority of the population do not eat in a quantity large enough to have the benefits that we are looking for. We hear a lot about Omega 3 and Omega 6 and how beneficial they can be for us, but the majority of people get too much Omega 6 in the diet and nowhere near enough Omega 3. A deficiency of either (or both) is thought to contribute to issues regarding the brain, such as poor memory function, difficulty with learning, mood imbalances and issues with depression and anxiety.
Omega 6 can be found in plant foods, and oils such as sunflower oil, evening primrose oil, nuts such as cashews, eggs, cereals and avocados. It is eaten more often than Omega 3 – where the recommended ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 is 3:1 or 4:1, it can be found to be as high as 24:1 in some people! This imbalance will not help benefit any of the issues already noted, and can actually cause a likelihood of some diseases rather than helping improve them. The better the balance between these two essential fatty acids, then the more chance there is of assisting the improvement of the conditions listed below:
Deficiencies in Omega 3 are much more common (which is why I will focus mainly on Omega 3 deficiency) and are thought to contribute to or exacerbate issues with:
The best sources of Omega 3 are found in oily fish – which many people don’t eat, or eat enough of. Thus many people are deficient in this particular nutrient, and it can be detrimental to health in the long term. A lot of studies have been done to look at performance in memory and learning with children and the results have shown that children have improved in their schoolwork and their ability to learn and concentrate when they have been given Omega 3 supplements.
Two-thirds of our brain are made up of essential fatty acids, thus it makes sense that in order to help maintain our brains we should ensure that we are resupplying the brain with what it needs to function best. There is a substance that protects the neurons in the brain called myelin sheath. It is made up of 30% protein and a whopping 70% fat! Omega 3 and 6 are different to what we perceive as ‘fat’ as they actually perform these functions within the body, unlike the fat we are more familiar with that is just stored around the body as a back-up energy source. Our synapses have been found to be central to functions like learning and memory, and have a beneficial ‘plasticity’ that allows these functions to occur effectively. Omega 3 essential fatty acids have been found to help these synapses in the brain to function better, and studies are starting to look at how these essential fatty acids may help to ease symptoms of depression and other mood disorders.
The largest survey has been conducted in Norway, where 22,000 people were studied and it was found that those who took regular doses of Cod Liver Oil were 30% less likely to suffer from mood disorders – particularly symptoms of depression – than those who did not take Cod Liver Oil. That’s not to say it was a magic cure – but 30% less symptoms can be quite significant for people. The study also found that the longer the participants had taken the oil, the less likely it was that any symptoms would be indicating high depressive levels, allowing the possibility that depressive symptoms would be more manageable.
Another study, this time in Ireland, looked at the effects of taking Omega 3’s on a small group of people who self-harmed. One group were given a high dose of Omega 3 essential fatty acids, and the other group were given a placebo. The group with the Omega 3’s reported better improvements in scores for depression, suicidality and coping with daily stress.
As well as these more specific studies, other studies, using people who are still suffering the effects of mood disorders despite taking anti-depressants, have reported decreased intensity of feelings of depression and anxiety, less sleep disturbances and reduced issues of sexual dysfunction when supplementing with Omega 3 fatty acids as well as taking their medication.
The best way to get Omega 3 and 6 into the body is through the food we eat, and in the main, Omega 6 is not usually deficient in most people’s diet, but supplementation of Omega 3 is a good method, in case getting the amount of food required is proving difficult. Supplementation (with Cod Liver Oil or Fish Oil supplements) should be avoided if you are taking blood thinners such as warfarin or aspirin as it can cause problems. If that’s the situation that you are in, then try to increase the amounts of Omega 3 foods in your diet.
Omega 6, if taken in too high an amount can actually increase inflammation, and it has been recommended that should you suffer from epilepsy or seizures’, discussing your situation with a medical professional before supplementing extra Omega 6 into the diet is important, as it is possible that you are already getting a sufficient amount.
So, what foods should we be eating to ensure we are getting Omega 3 and 6 into our diets?
As stated before, Omega 3 foods tend to be mainly oily-fish based. Omega 6 foods tend to be plant/seed based. Oils play a big part in both Omega 3 and 6. Let’s have a look at what is best for both.
Omega 3:
Omega 6:
A lot of the oils that we cook with or use in our diets today contain Omega 6, and they are often used in processed products, and this is often why our ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 is out of kilter in many people as they are more readily found in our diet.
If the Omega 6 and Omega 3 ratio can be brought back into balance then this is where we may see more of the health benefits that have been mentioned. It is when these two are out of balance that we can see negative impact such as inflammation occurring.
Other health benefits can include:
Omega 3:
Omega 6:
This is only a small look at a big subject, and a lot of the Omega 3 and 6 benefits are still being researched to finds out what other benefits they may have upon the body, but these are some of the things that having a correct balance of Omega 3/6 can assist in improving.
It will not be an overnight improvement, but by looking at the foods listed above, you will be able to see if you are likely to be getting too much or too little of these essential fats and make adjustments accordingly to help you to start improving YOU.
Nutritional Therapy is available with Kinetic Lifestyle. Please check out www.kinetic-lifestyle.com to find out more.
©2012. Kinetic Lifestyle/Vixx Thompson. Please do not reproduce part or all of this document without permission.
There are many reasons that we eat – some people use food for comfort, some people use food for nourishment and for fuel, and some people find it hard to acknowledge food for various reasons. We all have our own relationship with it, but ultimately we can use food to help improve our moods. Different foods have different qualities, and by using the right foods, and combining them in the best ways – we can help ourselves feel better and in a healthy manner too!
A lot of our moods can depend upon what we eat. Too much sugar (and caffeine) and we can become hyperactive. Then, when the sugar high runs out we crash, and feel low, tired and maybe headachy or grumpy. If we don’t eat enough food we can feel tired and sluggish, and maybe find it hard to concentrate on the task at hand.
Some moods don’t always come about from what we eat, but from the circumstances of our day to day lives. Some are chemical imbalances, such as some cases of depression. There is more research being done into how food can help assist a person suffering from things such as anxiety or depression in conjunction with any medical assistance that they may be getting. Some foods have been found to aid and improve mood, and one of these is what I would like to share with you today.
A lot of research is being done into something called Tryptophan. Tryptophan is an essential amino acid, which means that it cannot be made by our bodies – we must find it in the foods that we eat. It is also a precursor to Serotonin (a neurotransmitter), which helps the brain to perform various functions. Serotonin helps with control of many various functions within the body, such as hunger, thirst, confidence, mood and self-esteem. A low amount of serotonin has been linked with depression, so by eating foods containing a serotonin booster such as tryptophan, we can start giving ourselves a little mental lift. B vitamins also help to boost serotonin and so the two together can be very beneficial.
There are some herbal supplements that contain serotonin, or are designed to help boost serotonin, such as 5HTP or St John’s Wort and they can be utilised also – but you should always discuss taking these with your GP, and they should never be taken if you are already on an anti-depressant without discussing your medication with your GP. Some antidepressants can affect serotonin uptake in the body so ensuring that you are eating good, nutritious food that contains plenty of vitamins and minerals as well as serotonin can help you to help yourself.
The benefits of serotonin can include better sleep, increase in self confidence and lowered hunger levels. Too much serotonin can be bad for you though, hence discussing medication with your GP before starting any extra supplementation or medication. A multi-vitamin is always a good choice also in case there are any nutritional gaps in your diet.
So, what tryptophan containing foods should we be eating to help us improve our mood? There are a few different ones to look at, and hopefully there should be something for everyone to enjoy. The list includes:
Eating tryptophan-rich foods is not a guarantee for instant improvement, and depression is often a multi-pronged illness, which may need many different things to help improve it. But this can assist improvement in depression, and is worth considering.
Please feel free to message me, either on Twitter (@KineticL), or e-mail me (vixx@kinetic-lifestyle.com) if there is anything further you would like to know on this subject.
I will be looking at other nutritional aspects to help improve mood and mental function so please keep an eye out for further blogs!
Over the Christmas period, a new online phenomenon was born. Utilising the speed of Twitter, the hashtag #notaloneatxmas was designed to help connect those who were feeling lonely and isolated over the festive period, and bring them together over the world wide web.
It became a popular hashtag, with people contacting others from all over the world to lend an ear and have a friendly chat at a time when most people were celebrating with families and opening presents. People even took a break from family time to be able to spend time chatting and helping others feel a little less lonely. It might have been minutes, it might have been hours, but people had the opportunity to make others feel less lonely, and many were generous with their time.
Once Christmas was over, the popularity of #notaloneatxmas did not wane. In fact, it increased as word of what was happening via Twitter spread further across the internet. Thus, @notaloneatxmas, decided to evolve into @notalone365, and the hashtag evolved with it. There are a number of volunteers available throughout the day (and night), helping people who need to feel a little less lonely.
This phenomenon continues to grow across Twitter, and now Facebook, offering an opportunity to those feeling lonely or depressed to chat to understanding people in an informal environment. Facilities are being put into place to allow for people to be given further information should they need to explore their feelings further – and your help is required to spread the word!
For further information about how you can help to give people the chance to become less isolated, please get in touch with us at: info@notalone365.com, or alternatively, come and join in, using the hashtag #notalone365.
It’s coming up to that time of year again when people are making their New Year Resolutions after a period of over indulgence and inactivity. What are you going to make for your Resolution? Are you making any at all?
If you do make them, how long do they last? A day? Two? Maybe a week or a month? When they do finally fall by the wayside, do you care? If you don’t care about the Resolution when you ditch it, what was it that caused you to make it in the first place?
Many of us feel pressured into making Resolutions at the start of a New Year because traditionally we see it as a time for a fresh start, and a chance to turn over a new leaf. Many of our friends are doing it and it becomes a habitual social question. The more often it is asked the more we subconsciously think “Maybe I should have one too”. It takes a strong character to turn around and say that they don’t have a Resolution, or that they don’t believe in making them.
The one problem with New Year Resolutions is that it is rare that anyone actually plans to stick it out past February 1st. Somewhere between making the resolution and this time, it quietly gets filed away in the subconscious where you can forget that you even made it. No-one remembers what it was, and more importantly, NO-ONE asks. You are never expected to keep it, so you don’t.
However, New Year’s Resolutions can be effective if thought out properly, and the beauty of it is – they don’t have to start on January 1st – they can start RIGHT NOW. Or in a couple of days. Or even when you have had a chance to think about what it is that you actually want to achieve. Any promise that you make to yourself can be considered a Resolution. Personally I prefer the term Revolution, as you are potentially planning to turn your life around (depending upon what you are choosing to do).
A Revolution can be made voluntarily, at any time and in any place, and you do not have to answer to anyone – you don’t even have to tell anyone if you don’t feel like it. It is all down to you.
Revolutions can be small things that matter to you, or they can highlight an aim that you would like to achieve in a certain time period – in any area of your life. The important thing is that you think about what it is that you want to gain from this. The Revolution has a powerful quality in that it will help you look at your life and determine what exactly you want from it.
The following statements would not be classed as anything remotely like a Revolution:
Looking at these statements they look reasonable to the naked eye, after all, these are common Resolutions to make. But they are typical, and very nondescript. They are brief statements of intent that show no thought behind how or why these are being chosen. If you look at the sentences, they are just that – 1 line sentences. They tell you what the person is planning to give up, or cut back on, or make better. What it does not tell you is HOW they intend to do this – and this is where Resolutions fail before they start.
In order to be successful at anything that you are choosing to do within your life, it is important first of all to know WHY you are planning to do this. People who are successful at achieving their aims nearly always know why they are doing what they do, and where it is going to take them.
After you have thought about why you are planning to make a Revolution, looking at HOW you want to go about creating this change adds more weight to your plans. Looking at your options empowers you to feel more confident about yourself and your ability to achieve this.
For example, if someone were to make a Resolution to get fit, and leave it at that, then they would be more likely to fail, as on the surface this does not tell us why they are doing this, or how they are going to achieve this. WHY do they want to get fit – are they overweight? Do they feel that their life would be better if they were more active? HOW are they going to go about getting fitter – will they join a gym? Find a local walking group?
Knowing WHY you are doing something and HOW you intend to achieve it will help you when it comes to looking at the range of CHOICE you have in carrying your Revolution out. Being different is what makes us an individual – and what works well for one person may not be what you need in order to get where you need to go. For every problem there is often more than one solution and the trick is to look at them all, and see which one you think will be the best for you. Going back to the fitness Revolution – if you are looking to get fitter, what would work for you? Do you like the gym? If not, then there is no point wasting money on a membership fee that will tie you in for 12 months if you are not going to go. You can spend the money on something that is more suited to your goal.
People making the fitness Resolution that is just one sentence will usually just join a gym as it appeases their need to be seen to be doing something – but it doesn’t help in the long term if you hate going to the gym and only had a half-hearted intention of going anyway. It shows that the Resolution was not a serious intention.
The fitness Revolution that is more in-depth is more likely to succeed as by investigating the options, you stand more chance of finding one that you enjoy. If you don’t like the gym, you should think about why you don’t like it? Is it something that could change with a little more knowledge, or encouragement? For example, many people are put off going to a gym as it can look too ‘technical’ – but many gyms have Induction sessions as standard to help you orient yourselves around a gym environment, and you can ask as many questions as you like. A good gym will have friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help you feel at home when you are there. Feel as though gyms are just for toned, muscular people? Not at all. Go and investigate a few gyms at their peak trading times, and you should be able to see people of all shapes and sizes working out. And who is to say that the toned people weren’t overweight and flabby to begin with?
If the gym really isn’t for you, take time to think about what you do like doing. Many people start off their new exercise lifestyles by simply putting one foot in front of the other – and walking. It doesn’t need to be done in a specific place, and can be undertaken wherever and whenever you like. It doesn’t cost anything except maybe a pair of sturdy shoes or trainers, and it can get you from A to B as quickly or as slowly as you like. It can be done alone, or with a friend or two. The opportunities are endless.
Companionship is also an option. Want to make new friends along with your ‘new you’? The local papers and Yellow Pages are often full of different groups for all ages and activities, often at very little cost for you to undertake. These are often worth a try, and although groups can often feel like ‘cliques’, that is usually just an impression we put on them to avoid approaching them in the first place, and once you go, you find that impression is wrong – but you could have missed an ideal opportunity to meet new people.
When investigating any new options, time may have to be invested for a while in order to determine whether it is right for you, so patience is key. Don’t try something once and dismiss it as not being right for you – regardless of what your Revolution is. Working through your options will give you something extra to try should it turn out that one option really is not for you. It also allows you to continue working at achieving your Revolution. A Resolution at this point is likely to be ditched quickly, with no further thought. A Revolution can help you push to continue as you have put effort into making this become an on-going work in progress.
It should be pointed out that Revolutions work best if focussed on one at a time – that way there are no interruptions. The Revolution you are making should be one that is important to you. If it isn’t – it isn’t worth it.
To see how I can possibly help you:
Visit the website at www.kinetic-lifestyle.com,
E:mail vixx@kinetic-lifestyle.com
A happy, healthy and prosperous 2012 to you all.
©Vic Thompson & Kinetic Lifestyle 2011. All rights reserved. Please do not reproduce part or all of this document without permission.
Occasionally I like to challenge my clients to improve their healthy eating habits with this little challenge:
Can you get your 5 a day in every day for a month?
The rules:
Can you manage your 5 a day? Feedback can be given via the Kinetic Lifestyle Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/KineticLifestyle
I think most people are starting on January 1st…. 
