Following a morning session with one of my clients this week and hearing of his intense migraines, digestive issues and energy slumps I thought I’d send out a few general tips.

Firstly, it is important to point out that YOU are all in charge of a very technical & intelligent piece of apparatus, your body! And even with age, it still wants to regulate and move itself just as it did when you were aged 20 BUT that depends upon how YOU treat it! How you may have treated it over the last 5 years may have taken its toll but being the smart piece of kit that it is, if you follow these 12 Common Sense tips that most of us are aware of, then within a matter of weeks, I guarantee that you will already be feeling a whole lot better, give them a try.

1. Sleep: Often overlooked by many, we live in a world that places us under much stress and too often we take that stress to bed causing disturbed and unsettled sleeping patterns. Everyone feels that they function on a certain amount, I’d recommend 7-8 hours sleep and in the hour preceding bed omit the use of electronic screens and do something relaxing instead.

2. Water: I often hear the phrase, “I drink plenty of water.” However when the facts are discussed, many people have no idea how much water they drink or how much they actually should. As a guide, I weigh 95kg therefore I aim to drink 95fl/oz Water a day, thats roughly 5 pints of Water. When I wake up I drink 1 Pint to off set overnight dehydration, I drink 3 pints throughout the day and then another pint before bed.

3. Protein & Fat based Breakfast: I hope that by now, many of us realise that cereal is one of the worst breakfasts that we can eat? It spikes blood sugar and sets us up for a midmorning energy crash. A Protein & Fat based breakfast will better set you up for the day and also assist the body in handling Carbs for the rest of the day. Eggs are a great breakfast ingredient and your choice of cooking them is endless. They provide great Cholesterol & Protein.

4. Animal Protein, Carbs & Healthy Fat based diet:Most of you will now know my beliefs and the secret to sustained Fat Loss. Its a healthy diet. The ratio of Carbs, Fats & Protein can all be altered to provide differing physical responses but whatever your physical target and for general health, they all need to be present. My Carbs come from Fruit, Veg, Pulses, Potato, Bread & Rice etc. My Protein comes in the form of Organic Meat, Chicken & Fish and Fats from Nuts, Oils, Avocado, Olives & Cheese. Protein should be ingested at every meal, along with either Fats or Carbs.

5. Apple Cider Vinegar: Is a great tonic that I use in Green Tea. It has great health healing compounds that support Fat Loss. It can work as a natural probiotic also assisting in stomach acid control. Just a few drops in an expresso sized Green Tea.

6. Exercise: As much as I understand it when people say that they have had a busy day and that they were too tired to exercise, I also KNOW that if they’d just push through for 45-60 minutes a day, they would feel SO much better. Exercise breeds energy, it reinvigorates the body by pumping oxygenated blood around the body. The mind is often the tired party and with it you convince the body not to exercise. The body WANTS to exercise, it was designed to do so and when it does, the MIND feels so much BETTER! Can you see the revolving pattern?

7. Supplementation: A tough area to get across to people as there are many misconceptions about supplements. Firstly, lets get it straight, they are supplements, not a staple diet, they are designed to fit into a balanced dietary plan, NOT replace it. The list is endless but if you stick to the following as a base guide, you won’t go far wrong. And were always talking high quality, you pay for what you get!

Multi Vitamin, Vitamin D, Fish Oil, Amino Acids, L-Glutamine, Whey Protein.

8. Sugar: I think its the biggest detriment to health thats out there. We’re not talking about 2 sugars in our coffee anymore, its all the hidden sugar that foods now contain. I deal with so many people still blinded by the 80′s low fat epidemic where we were told to trim the fat from our meat, eat 1 egg a day etc etc, IT’s dated. It was never the fat that was making us Fat, The Low Fat phase that introduced hidden carbs and sugars was brought Obesity & Diabetes to record highs. Look out for it. Eat whole foods and you won’t have to worry about sugar anymore.

9. Processed Food: All the hidden sugar you’d ever want to eat is here. Tinned foods, Frozen foods, Packaged foods, Pastries, Junk Food, Sweets. Stay away from it.

10. Regular Fuelling: If we say that the longest period without eating should be when we sleep, 7-8 hours, how many of us go longer than that when we’re awake? So many people out there are starving themselves! I eat 5 meals a day. So does everyone who I help to shift Kg’s of weight from their bodies! On a gym day I’d go as follows:

6am Protein & Fat, 10am Protein & Carbs, 1pm Protein & Carbs, 4pm Protein & Carbs, 7pm Protein & Fat. I’d have a couple of coffee’s in there, 5 pints of water and some supplements.

Many people I deal with are more like this:

6am Nothing, 9am Cereal, 1pm Sandwich, 4pm Nothing, 8pm Salad

Bearing in mind I am not trying to gain or lose weight presently, draw the comparison on the 2 food intakes. One is well fuelled whilst the other is blatant starvation and your body will only run on that for a limited time before it breaks and gets ill. As we get older its more important to maintain strength rather than give it away freely!

11. Alcohol: A glass of wine isn’t going to kill anyone unless you’re really trying to shed the remaining last few pounds of Fat but understand the effect of alcohol. If you’re already dehydrated from too much caffeine or not enough water or both, then the alcohol is only going to add to that. Limit it for a couple of weeks, see how better your sleep & energy levels are.

12. Caffeine: Same as alcohol really, its not killing you unless you’re drinking Starbucks super sweetened varieties etc but it will dehydrate you more if you’re already dehydrated so be sensible. Try your morning coffee just after breakfast with a good coconut oil instead of sugar!

Give it a try for a couple of weeks, you’ll feel much better!