Shape Up for Success: Revolutionize Your Workout Routine and Environmental Impact in 3 Steps
'What? You don't eat meat? When did you stop? How do you get your protein?'
Most people react that way when they ask about my lifestyle, but today's article isn't about quitting meat or going vegan.
I'm not vegan, and even though I quit meat more than eight years ago, I've never told anyone to do the same. Today's article isn't about what you shouldn't eat or about forcing you my beliefs, but about showing you how you can do certain things differently to get better results for yourself while also supporting the health of our planet.
Last but not least, my clients are business owners—people with minimal time, high stress, and busy lifestyles. Those principles below take minimal or no extra time and offer a plethora of benefits for your health and performance.
1st Principle - Eat Fewer Ingredients
Example - an omelette from 4 eggs, a bowl of mozzarella and one tomato VS an all english breakfast with egg, sausages, mushroom, hashbrowns.
Whole oats with greek yoghurt and berries VS cornflakes with milk (most morning cereals are generally pretty awful, I wouldn't eat them regularly)
Benefits for the planet - fewer ingredients mean less travelling, producing less waste and less packaging.
Benefits for your body - whole foods are, in general, lower in calories and bigger in volume.
This means that they stretch your stomach more, which sends a signal to your brain that you're full. You'll be satisfied faster and stay full for longer. They're also much higher in nutrients, which will support your energy, hormonal, and immune systems.
Make it happen - write down ONE whole meal/dish you'll introduce next week. Even better, batch prepare it so you can eat it 2-4 times.
2nd Principle - Eat Better Protein
You didn't expect this one in a planet-friendly article, did you?
But I also encourage you to explore BIO options and support free-range fish and eggs. Even when it comes to meat, you can make better choices by supporting small farms.
Last but not least, there is a huge difference between fried chicken nuggets from a fast-food restaurant or freezer and grilled chicken breasts you bought from a farmer. The first one has much more ingredients (remember - more travelling, production, waste, and packaging), contains much more trans fats, is higher in calories, and is lower in nutrients.
I have a 20-minute webinar on this topic I use to coach my clients. You can watch it here.
There are popular Netflix shows that force people their beliefs with taken-out-of-context studies, which often results in people doing the exact opposite. I personally disagree with such an approach. If you one day decide to change your diet, good, I'm happy for you. So today it's about offering you a few things you can do to improve your lifestyle while helping the planet, one step at a time.
3rd Principle - move more and utilise public transport
Nothing new here, but here's how you can make it work while being busy with running your business and/or being a parent.
- Park further from your workplace and walk the rest.
- Instead of driving to do groceries, walk there.
- Take your kids to the playground that is a 20-minute walk.
- When you're travelling, walk to the train/bus/tube station.
Do you have a bike? It can completely replace your car. In fact, my car has been parked for two months. We haven't used it. I cycle everywhere, I walk or run with the kids. I take a bus if I go further.
I was speaking in Barcelona last week, and I walked 1.5 hours to the train station instead of taking a bus, both ways. Those were my workouts as I was too busy to do my regular training.
Your NEAT (Non-exercise activity) has a bigger impact on your overall calorie consumption than your training. In other words, making walking a part of your life will make a much bigger impact on fat loss than training.
Options are everywhere. If you decide to see them, you'll find many of them. Alternatively, if you don't really want to make changes, you can find a thousand and one reasons why not to do it and how you can't.
Tip from a coach
If you feel you can improve in all 3 areas, don't just jump into them and change it all from tomorrow. You'll end up at a square one in a few weeks, means no benefits for you, nor for the planet. If you really want to make a difference, choose one point and focus on that one point for at least two weeks, before taking the next step. I hope you found it valuable and if you ever want to chat or you have a question, e-mail me at adrian@fitnat.co.uk or message me on LinkedIn.
