Mary’s Lent plans & some healthy tips for you
Mary has decided to use Lent as her kick for being healthy again and as of today she will be quitting Chocolate, Coffee and Tea! 
What are your plans for keeping or getting fit, healthy and active?
Healthy tips for Lent
The 40 days of Lent are a good time to give up unhealthy habits and cultivate a few healthy ones.
Here are our top tips to have you feeling fitter by Easter:
• Move More: Commit to being active for at least 20 minutes every day. (10 minutes twice per day works too!) Take up walking. Even a few minutes a day can make a difference, so cut out lifts and escalators and leave the car behind.
• Drink More: Water that is. Commit to drinking 8 glasses of water every day and avoiding fizzy drinks. Keeping yourself properly hydrated reduces your craving for unhealthy drinks and food. If you want to take it one step further, give up alcohol. It will make you thinner, fitter and improve your sleep.
• Sleep More: Back away from the gadgets and get to bed earlier. Commit to sleeping at least 7 hours (more if you can) each night. Give up late nights. Sleep is good for you in so many ways, so substitute late night TV or computer games for a relaxing decaf tea and a good book (nothing too exciting – the idea is to send you gently to sleep!) To take it to the next level, give up your lie-in. Get up, get a shower, get moving and get things done. Lying in can leave you feeling listless.
• Eat More: Healthily. Eat a healthy breakfast. Starting the day the right way can give you the energy you need. Try to ensure that 1/3 of very plate is filled with fruit or vegetables. The next step would be to follow the current trend and give up sugar – refined sugar in fizzy drinks is one of the major causes of obesity and is linked to a range of health problems such as type 2 diabetes. Eat more fruit. This is a great substitute for sugar as well as a vital source of vitamins.
• Reflect More: It is easy to take what we have for granted. Commit to being truly grateful for at least one thing each day. Preventative physiotherapy – Regular visits to an expert physiotherapist will enable you to achieve the most out of your life and avoid unnecessary aches and pains. Start off from a pain-free/injury-free status. This is often overlooked in our quest to become fit. Ensure that any aches and pains that you do have are not exacerbated by any new exercise regime you start. Sometimes, the aches and pains may be a result of being inactive and therefore starting some gentle exercise programme will help relieve those aches and pains. Note the word gentle. A common mistake people make is to start a vigorous and intense exercise programme from Day 1 having not even walked to the local shops in the last few years. It wouldn’t be a real surprise therefore when aches and pains increase and even potential injury to muscles and joints will likely occur as a result of this. So if you do have some pre-existing injury or health condition and want to start a fitness programme, begin slow and gentle and always seek professional advice from a chartered physiotherapist to ensure that you are undertaking suitable exercise in a sensible manner. The last thing you want is to aggravate any existing injuries or acquire new ones due to inappropriate exercising.
