These days, it is an act of rebellion to be truly connected to our bodies, when denial and restriction are praised as a form of martyrhood. Hustle culture, 'no-pain-no-gain' mentality, diet culture, purity culture, xenophobia, homophobia and transphobia are the external forces that tell us to suppress what we truly desire to meet the demands of a society that expects us to fit a certain mould of being.

Of course, it is a struggle to 'listen to our bodies', like we are so often told to when in so many other aspects of our lives we are essentially told the opposite.

Whilst nervous system regulation, breath work, yoga and somatic exercises are ways that we can practice embodiment and re-claim autonomy over our sensational experiences, it's ironic when they are somehow marketed as tools to make us 'hotter' and 'more efficient workers' when the pressure to be such things is what dysregulated our nervous systems in the first place.

When it comes to making long lasting behaviour changes with nutrition, I tend to believe that the issue isn’t usually a lack of knowledge around nutrition, it’s more likely that there’s a struggle with finding balance.

What even is ‘balance’?

It’s this term that keeps getting thrown around that seems to mean discovering the elusive ‘right amount’ of work and play, or sinful and saintly.

Is being cool and laid back all the time cultivating the opposite for our mental health?

Perhaps we do need more avenues to share, express, connect, and be a little OTT.

Let’s talk about what the heck we’re supposed to be doing between now and the end of the year.

Based on conversations with my clients, I’m hearing two different types of fitness goals.

There’s a group of you who are wanting to smash it before Christmas, knuckle down and really make some serious progress before you give yourselves a bit of a break over the holiday period…

And then there’s those of you who are just trying to make it to the end of the year fighting the urge to throw a heavy, breakable object at a very annoying person. Hopefully not me. Although that sounds extremely therapeutic, and it’s kind of fair - tbh.

You may have learnt that HDL = ‘good’ and LDL = ‘bad’, therefore, if your total cholesterol or your LDL-cholesterol is high, it can be ‘cancelled out’ by either having lots of ‘good’ HDL-cholesterol, OR having a good ratio of total cholesterol to HDL-cholesterol.

Unfortunately, this formula may have been giving some of us a false sense of security (and some of us unnecessary panic), because there’s actually a little bit more nuance to it all, and this narrative doesn’t actually hold true in all scenarios.

Having a personal trainer means making a commitment to yourself and requires self reflection and discipline on your part outside of the sessions as well.

On top of that, it’s important to make sure you hire the right personal trainer for YOU. This list of Do’s and Don’ts will help you make sure that you land upon a PT who you work best with, and really get the most out of working with them.

Personal training is actually a lot more common these days than you might think. More so now than ever before, people from all walks of life are recognising the value in prioritising health, well being and exercise. With more and more research that shows us how big of a difference a regular exercise routine makes in everyday life for mental and physical well being, it’s great that so many people are now wanting to get themselves into the gym