287: Let's Get Moving Now!

Introduction to Cheshire Tour

0:00Turn it up, turn it up, turn it up to 11. Some people will know what that means. Okay. Now then, we're continuing our great tour of Cheshire. Can you just, this is my dream to walk through. Gravel.

0:31Oh, is it? Do you like us a gravel sound? Do you know, I've always wanted a gravel driveway. I just feel I want a kitchen island and a gravel driveway. And like my life will be made. I love the sound of gravel. Do you not like the sound of gravel? Sorry, guys. Come and listen to me feet walking through gravel in the Cheshire countryside. Well, maybe you want to grab your trainers as well, actually, and move with us whilst you listen to this. We are outside and the sun is shining. We're continuing our grand tour of Knuttsford.

1:03I've actually brought Anna to what is quite a cool place, actually. We've parked up. Hang on a sec. There's something. I went, 11 was too loud. What is it? That we've parked up. So last week we were in the cafe. We drove around the corner and actually, I mean, it's not open, but there is a bird of prey, eagle and vulture park. We're not going in. Thank, thank, thank goodness. Yeah. Imagine if we ended this podcast where you just held a buzzard or an eagle on your arm.

1:39Do you know, we've done many things on this podcast, but I never thought birds of prey was going to be something that we didn't encounter. But it just goes to show you, you go where you go, don't you? And the unexpected is always waiting just for you. So at any point we could be hunted down. Um, uh, yeah, so we'll, we'll see what happens there, but we are literally just walking, uh, some of the, the paths along the side of a vulture park. I mean, I have to say we've never done that. And the sparrows are chirping.

2:10The dog is barking. Beware of the dog. It says dogs running free. Yep. Let's take a left. I mean, you've never seen someone circle so quickly as Claire. I'm more scared of the bird. She's scared of the dog. But you know what, we're getting outside and that's what this podcast is all about. Moving more and getting outside, isn't it? One of the questions we wanted to ask you was what if the habits you started today or over the next few weeks, whilst the weather is fairer, um, could become ingrained. Yes. Yep.

2:40Could be something that you just learned to do without really thinking about it. Um, and I've been thinking a lot about this actually, as one of the things I've really wanted to, um, do is just start to get out. Get my heart rate up a little bit more. I've, um, been doing my gold and now platinum, uh, activity lifestyle, uh, awards alongside going to group to maintain my target weight. And, um, one of the things I realised I was missing was getting my heart rate up. So I've, I've started to get back running and it's, I think it's always easier to learn, uh, the habit of running when it's a bit sunnier than when it's wetter, snowier, darker.

3:19Yeah, so how this came up is we were talking, weren't we, about actually, if we got into activity now, while the sun is shining, allegedly we're in, you know, that time of year, actually it will become ingrained by the time winter sets in. So it will be like a habit that just reflects because starting some, starting running in the freezing cold rain and snow is not something that would motivate you. But if it's something that's just now in your calendar, that's something you do, it's going to be much more easy to stick with. So we were thinking about how could you get those things going? Like for me, I'm a water baby.

3:51We talk about this, don't we, Claire? You're not a fan of water, but it's my happy place. Actually getting into the pool three, four times a week is something that is much easier for me to make sure I sustain in the summer. Because, you know, when you come out of the pool and it's freezing and you've got wet hair and you're a bit damp, it's horrible when it's cold. But actually in the summer, you don't mind it so much. But if I keep doing it, by the time I get to the winter, I'll just be like, oh, it's all right. Just stick a hat on. Do you see what I mean? So it's getting those things into autopilot by the time the snow is coming down.

4:22The thing for me is with weight loss in mind, and obviously so many people listen to this podcast on that journey of losing weight. It's a little bit like why? Yeah. Because often so many of us, when we do, you know, this weight loss journey, we're often thinking about food first and foremost, which is obviously a massive, important part of this. But I think there can sometimes be that stress of, well, why do I need to move? What are the benefits? And for people who haven't got any movement versus those who are doing some movement,

4:56what do the next steps really look like? I mean, should we come back to why is it important to have movement? Yeah, I mean, for me, the top one is really my overall general health. You know, I want to have lots and lots of lean muscle so that, you know, my bones are healthy. I've got a strong body. My body's burning fat at rest. Rest? Rest even. You know, being active consistently, we know, reduces rates of things like cholesterol, heart disease, certain types of diabetes.

5:29So it's really thinking about that overall general health. But we know in terms of weight loss or weight maintenance that we need to integrate activity to be able to maintain weight loss long term, don't we? And another really, really important thing, I know that this is why both of us are active, is for our mental health and our mental well-being and being out and about and moving our bodies actually can really, really help to feel better psychologically. And I know when I feel better psychologically, my eating is much better too.

5:59Yeah, I never forget, I can't remember, was it last year or the year before, to be honest, all these podcasts, they all blur into one. We've done a podcast every single week for seven and a half years. It's quite a lot. But there was one where we were talking to, I don't know how you say the word, Emeritus, it's basically a retired professor. Oh, yes. Ken Fox, who worked with Slimming World and Margaret Miles Bramwell when something which is now known as the Activity Lifestyle Program, which used to formerly be called Body Magic, was first kind of put into place.

6:33And he really talked about how, if we really think about how our lives are today, how different they are to, say, lives 50 years ago, and that it's very normal for us to drive to a supermarket or drive to pick up the kids from school, drive to work. Like, you know, just that we often spend, our lives are naturally more sedentary. We sit down to watch telly, not everyone had a telly, you know, 60 years ago or whatever. Or phone, walk to the phone. Or a phone, exactly.

7:04So, actually, I think it's thinking about what he really brought to my attention was that lifestyles have changed. And so we deliberately need to bring in that activity to create that balance a little bit easier. And, you know, people talk about calories in, calories out. Calories isn't always something that we talk about that much in Slim World, but of course it plays a part in it. There's no denying that. But that balance, I think, of the in and out and how we kind of manage our energy and all of that stuff, I think that is, it kind of made sense to me.

7:43You know, that I was like, of course, actually, I do spend quite many hours sat down. So how can I kind of build in this activity that feels fun, enjoyable, and it kind of works for me and my ability. Because the activity that I do today was not the activity that I did when I first joined Slimming World. Also, it's that, how can I make sure that it's something that I will keep up with? And many times in previous lives, I like to think of, I would try and do too much too quick, not form a strong habit.

8:19So I would feel like I couldn't keep it up. And actually, it was building that just five minutes, just 10 minutes, 15 minutes that allowed me to take the pressure off, that then allowed me to stay consistent and then see results. I was the type of girl, well, I've joined the gym and I've joined Slimming World, I should be three stone lighter by next Tuesday and be able to run a marathon. Didn't give it the time, the commitment. What the active lifestyle framework gives you is the ability to be active continuously and build it up, doesn't it? And another thing that really hooked me into becoming active is how we know that activity can help adjust your appetite for a better adjusted appetite.

8:57So actually, for a few hours after you've been active, your appetite, sorry, is much lower. So that really helped me to time my activity around where I naturally kind of craved things that weren't great for my weight loss. So for me, it was finding the hook. Why is this a benefit? Why do I need to do this? How am I going to do it? And how am I going to have some fun doing it? Like, I don't know about you, there are things in life that just bring me utter joy. And one of those is a good old kitchen disco. Do you like a kitchen disco?

9:28Yes, I do. I know you won't probably expect me to say that, but a kitchen disco is one of the ways that my family and I are able to be active together. Have you got special lights? Have you got a disco ball? Yeah, we've got a disco ball. We've got lights. We've got microphones so we can do kitchen disco and karaoke. But you know what? It's something that we found. My daughter has ADHD and it was one of the things that we found helps regulate her. So we just got into it. And now we love a little rave in the kitchen. But actually, what that meant is that we were all getting up, we were all being active, we were raising our heart rate for 10, 15, 20 minutes, having a blinking good time.

10:06There was no formal activity in that. There was no gym membership needed. But it was something that's just become a regular habit. You know, on a Wednesday night, you will see my husband in his pants bopping around to Barbie Girl.

Making Activity a Habit

10:17Flipping it. What a picture that is. Sorry, Phil. But again, it's really thinking about if someone had said to me, right, you need to become active. You know, you've got to do this for your mind, your body, your soul, your weight loss, your weight maintenance. Get to the gym or go running. To me, there are many stoppers in that. But actually, having a good old party in the kitchen in my pants, nothing better. Wow. See, you know, one of the things that I suppose we chose to do quite early on was we've nearly always factored in some kind of movement to our podcast.

10:54You know, lately, yeah, a lot of them have been online, which is just the circumstance of how we've managed to keep going. But from very early days, we've we tried to kind of do our podcast on the move. And that was for us as much as you guys listening. And, you know, it's just this simple activity of almost distracting yourself whilst you move. And the difference, you know, we could just be sat down in a really posh studio doing a podcast. But mostly we've sat on floors with soggy bottoms having walked around the park three times.

11:27We walked out the car park once doing a number of podcasts and we did over 10,000 steps just walking in circles. But actually, what we found is that movement, just that everyday movement was something that we could do without thinking about. Like, actually, do you remember when we climbed, was it a mountain? What did we climb? I mean, its nickname is the Shivering Mountain, but it's called Mum Tour in the Peak District. I've never forgotten that. Well, it's incredible. But do you know what? We did a podcast going out there. I would have never have done that unless I was having to record a podcast. It was grim as well. It was awful, wasn't it?

11:57It was the worst place to do a podcast because it was so windy. I felt like I'd been punished. I didn't feel like that was a joyous job. But what I'm saying is we got engaged on the top of that mountain in a much more beautiful day than we did. It was Christmas Day, so it wasn't. But again, what it's allowed us to do, doing things together, and you've always found this, you've taken on challenges with other people or had support of other people or joined groups. It allows you to maybe do activity that you wouldn't have. I would have never have gone up Mum Tour if Claire hadn't a baby. Do you know what I mean? So again, what I'm saying in that is to be active and consistently be active, do you need a buddy?

12:32Do you need other people? Do you need to join a class? Like, if you know that actually going to the gym, you're not going to do that on your own, but actually joining a Zumba group is going to be really brilliant. Or, you know, I've had a few members that will do the activity videos that are part of their membership, and they'll all do it at the same time. So they all know that they're doing a stretch video at 10.15 on Sunday morning together. They're all in different homes. But it's that buddying up that can give you that motivation to be consistent as well, isn't it? If you think about it like weight loss, how many of us have done weight loss?

13:08When there's a deadline, there's an event or a birthday or something, we're working towards a holiday, maybe. And I'm not saying it's easier, but I'm saying there's a kind of focal point there. When you do weight loss just for yourself, that's for me when I found it harder. And so actually, I started applying the same kind of principle, I suppose, for movement. And one of the things that Zumba is excellent at in kind of supporting people and building this activity up

13:40is the Activity Lifestyle Programme moves through Magic Mover, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum. And really, it's about building this in as a habit. They're either four weeks or eight weeks. It starts even from just five minutes. And building that in as a habit. But for me, I've done something crazy this year, which I don't even know if my body is going to allow me to do, but I'm just turning up on each training session today, tomorrow, this week,

14:11just focusing where I'm at. And that's to do a half marathon on my birthday, which I've never, ever done, ever, anything like that. The most I've ran is 10k. And I don't even know if I can do it. No, you can do it. But I'm just turning up and seeing how I feel, what that looks like. And I'm learning. And there's been hurdles along the way that I've had to navigate. I've had to get better at stretching. I've had to do some strength work to help my knees.

14:41I've had to go for physio. There's been all kinds of reasons that would tell me, stop, or don't do this, or you're not a runner, or this isn't for you. And I've had to really work through my mindset. Because I've still, even now, having built myself up to be a platinum activity lifestyler, I still have to navigate a real voice that's within me of, like, who do you think you are? You're not a sports person. You're a runner. You know, you were rubbish at PE.

15:13You're not a runner. Other people are faster than you. Other people are stronger than you. And it's really interesting how, like, people often talk about, well, just go out for a walk every evening. Make it a habit. But sometimes what this reveals along going through that program and building this habit is maybe some of those limited beliefs you actually have about your body and your strength and your physical ability that I have just taken a different approach where I'm like, okay, this is still a thing.

15:43I maybe need to work through this. And so I'm going to use this as an opportunity along the journey to maybe just reprogram some of those scripts and those beliefs and build the evidence to myself to say, that's an outdated belief. I am now someone who can do this. And maybe 10 years ago, there was some truth in that. But it's no longer true. And I think when it comes to physical exercise and physical ability,

16:17sometimes the mental game plays a big part, a big part in what it is that we need to work through to get there, to work through. Because, you know, they often say that, don't they? I work with people kind of working with them to teach them meditation, how to build that in as a habit for a job. And I was working with some athletes the other week. We did some sessions and talking about how often they'll have a nutrition plan or they'll have their run training plan, but they don't have a mental plan as to the psychology of what to do when they get injured

16:51or they hit that wall, you know, for something like endurance events. You're going to hit a mental wall where you become tired or fatigued or you tell yourself you can't. And in the same way that I guess with Slimming World, one of the things that's different with Slimming World as a plan is that there is that support, that psychology and understanding of will help you navigate those moments. Yeah, and there's the support. But it's still there for activity and I don't think enough people talk about that. They just think, oh, this is hard and I'm just going to quit that.

17:23And actually it's an opportunity to dig in. And dig deep. You know, I'm maybe a really prime example of that. I came from having very, very bad physical health, but also sustained a really life-changing spinal injury in 2009 and, you know, couldn't do anything and lost all my weight, practically bedbound. But what I've had to do is go through that process of learning to respect my body, trust my body again, because I'd lost all trust in it, but also trust my mind that I had the mental strength and resilience to become active.

17:56And the framework really helped me with that because when I say, like, just to walk to the front door was the biggest accomplishment, it was understanding that Slimming World got it, Slimming World had my back, that actually sitting still less was the best place to start. Moving just so I could stand up or walk a few feet and then trusting in my body that I was capable of doing it was something that was really, really hard. And, you know, still now on my bad days when I feel really poorly, I have to learn to respect my body and not say,

18:26well, you should be able to do this and you're a failure if you can't. Actually, maybe I can't go out and walk how I want you today, but what can I do? And I think that's what the activity kind of framework has given me is that it gives me the ability to respect my body, but also pivot and change and understand that what I did last Tuesday, I may need to do something differently. But what has never changed is the fact that I make space to be active. And if I could give anybody a piece of advice, don't put strong, you know, parameters in place that I failed if I haven't done this.

18:59Just making space to move your body and finding the things you love and what works for you because we're all so different. And also, you know, if someone had told me I needed to be active at my biggest, that terrified me. And actually, we know that if you can start to move more at the start of your weight loss journey, while you've got weight to lose, A, you'll burn more calories, but also that's when it becomes so habitual. So I think it's giving yourself grace and respect as well. What a nice way to put that. I never really thought about that because I think when I first started losing weight,

19:33me and Claire was very loud in that there was a lot of shoulds going on in my mind. Well, I should be able to do this and I have very high expectations of what that looks like and what I should look like and what I should be able to do. And it's interesting in that I think you would respect understanding that I think sometimes I realise my body is often telling me quite a lot about how it is and I don't listen. Yeah, yeah. So those moments where my back aches or my hips ache or, as I found recently, my knees ache,

20:10it's like, OK, let's just really come back to what does everyday movement look like for you? Sitting still less. Let's build some of that in. And that's going to take the pressure off being sedentary for a long time for your back and for your hips. You know, maybe building in some of that strength activity as a perimenopausal woman. I know that that muscle loss could be a thing that I've got to protect my bones. So building in some real gentle strength work and working with, you know, an expert.

20:43Like for me, I needed to go and get personal training or work with a physio because I don't have that knowledge. And the number one thing that I've got from Summer World is when you need help and you need support, go get it. You don't need to know all the answers yourself. It's totally fine to go and ask for help. And if you think about that, then over the course of the years, the learning and the knowledge that you have, that you're so right that it starts to become a little bit more intuitive. Intuitive, I think, that you're able to A, hear the signs of what your body's telling you,

21:16but B, you know what is going to help you in that moment. And I've always talked about the biggest thing for me, be that physically and mentally and emotionally and spiritually, I guess, really, is like having an idea of having a toolbox that supports me, that I'm able to navigate life's ups and downs in a way that perhaps before I would have hid away, stayed very still, and I probably would have turned to emotional eating as a crutch. Well, now I've got like a whole toolbox of different sized spanners and I've got more than one Phillips screwdriver.

21:52You've got a wrench, have you, love? I've got a wrench. I've got a plunger when things get stuck and blocked. But, you know, I think that the thing that I realise is that when you look back over that journey, and you know what, sometimes I've not been perfect. I've been to target, bounced out of target, come back. I've started activity, then I've stopped, then I've tried something else, but it all counts in the end and it's all part of that journey of learning. And I think when you think about life as that eternal journey of just constant learning

22:25and finding new things instead of this end point or this end goal that when I reach my target weight, I've completed it, mate. If you remove that way of thinking, which is what eventually I had to do, and just think about it in terms of directions, habits, you know, behaviours for an ongoing eternal journey of learning for the rest of my life, maybe. Actually, that took away the pressure. That took away the expectation that I need to do this by X or else.

22:58And I think I was always set up to be ready to prove to myself that I wasn't that person I'd fail. What I was expecting myself just wasn't realistic. Yeah, totally. And I think what I see in people and watch them when they start their activity journey is they go in with telling themselves all the things they can't do. And actually, if they stay consistent, they find out all the wonderful things they can do. And they may be never any of the things they ever envisaged. And they may find joy and consistency in things that they never thought they would.

23:31But it's having that curiosity to find out what works for me. And like a weight loss journey isn't linear, I don't think an activity journey is linear either. But I'll go back to that fact. If you remain in the mindset that you're going to be consistent and be kind to yourself with what consistency looks like and not try and do too much too soon and build sustainable habits, you will get there. You know, I was thinking last night when my little girl was out on her... She's not little. She's nine. When she was on her scooter and I was running behind her on her scooter.

24:02And if you've seen a child on a two-wheel scooter, you know how fast they can go. Actually, it was never my plan to be able to chase down a main road with my child on her scooter. But I could do it. And the only reason I could do that... What, the images you're presenting us today? But the reason I could do that is because I'd been patient and consistent with myself to get my fitness level up so that I could bolt after her as she sped down that. And I was worried she's not going to stop at the big main road. What I'm trying to say to you is that was never my plan.

24:32But that was the outcome of being consistent is that I can do things now that I wouldn't have been able to do ten years ago because I allowed myself the freedom and the understanding that it's okay to mess up. It's okay to fall down. It's okay not to be perfect. And that discovery of finding joy, not perfection, is something that's really liberated me. You know, I've got a dodgy knee and often I get into the pool and I can't swim. It just hurts too much. But can I stand in the pool and do some activity for ten minutes against the water that's strength training, resistance training?

25:05Absolutely. So sometimes I just have to pivot and change what I'm doing. Yeah. That's what it's all about, isn't it? Isn't it? Finding... I like that phrase of find what you can do. Yeah. That's a really nice place to start. And also I think it kind of presents that idea of curiosity and moves away from that should as well. My beloved dad was a double amputee and had a double bilateral hip replacement as well. And he was told he would never walk again on prosthetics. Like it was just a lost cause.

25:37And he said, but I've got to try. And he always taught me, just try. And, you know, that man on two prosthetics with two prosthetic hips walked me down the aisle when they said he'd never had a chance because he just tried and he showed up every day. So, you know, he's my inspiration to just try. So when it gets tough and you don't want to do it and it's raining and you think, I've said I'm going to go and play netball or I'm going to Zumba, just try. Yeah. Well, I don't know if any of you can grow wings. I'm flying without wings.

26:08But, oh my goodness. There's a phrase on the front of this place. It says as one door closes, another door opens. What a nice way. I think there's also a wooden carving of an eagle that will do a selfie next door. I wonder if you can climb up and then look like it's kissing you. I'm OK, thanks. I've had one spinal injury, I don't need a second. Oh, it's behind a fence anyway, probably for a reason. She's trying to kill me, guys. Yeah, they've probably got CCTV and watching us like walking along this path.

26:41I know. Oh, well, look, we, you know, we hope this has given you something to think about really because we're obviously here to, I guess, debunk a few myths around swimming world really that swimming world is not just here to tell you what to eat and when, that there is that flexibility to do that. And a lot of people don't know about the Activity Lifestyle Programme, that that's a part of the plan and the activity videos that you have access to on the Members app when you join, how many members must, like, maybe have never tried them.

27:15If it's one thing this week, if you're a member, just go try one. I tried a dance one with Matt the other day and what we discovered was he does not know his left to right. But we had a great time and a proper giggle. And just a little tip if you are going to try it, watch it first. That's what I do so I know what's coming next. Right, well, we are very pleased to say that for once in our lives, it's not rained. We haven't heard a single plane overhead. But we have heard a bird of prey and a dog. Yeah, we've also had a pied wagtail, two chaffinches dancing around us as we were walking them.

27:51Sounds like a rash, didn't even notice. Sounds like a rash. I was wondering where you were going. I was thinking, does she need some medical attention? She's talking about types of birds. Oh, well, we hope if you've got out, this has been like nearly half an hour of just movement. I feel better for it anyway. But keep exploring, keep being curious and just see what is it that you can do and maybe turn into what could become an ingrained habit for you in your lifestyle, on your route to target.

28:23Enjoy being curious and see you again. Bye for now.