Newsletter #4

I am over the moon to be writing this newsletter from my new kitchen, and more importantly from our new kitchen table 🙂 

My wife and I have lived in 7 different homes across our 15yrs together, and now for the first time we have a beautiful kitchen big enough for a lovely table and chairs. I am so looking forward to all the food eaten, stories told and drinks shared around this table in the years to come 🙂 

So, the bread and butter of this weeks newsletter. I thought I would keep this newsletter to the point, and brief, and explain that however busy we are, I have 3 non-negotiables that I try and achieve everyday.

Daily dog walk

I mentioned in my previous newsletter (https://greenacres.beehiiv.com/p/just-keep-moving) that 10k steps was a daily challenge to me. Its inevitable that the dogs feature in achieving the 10k steps. My dogs, after my wife and baby girl of course, are everything to me. They are rescue dogs from the amazing Spaniel Aid UK (https://spanielaid.co.uk/), that we ended up keeping after fostering them and they all have very different characters (especially the ginger one) and they all get me out walking every day.

It is genuinely a privilege of mine to be able to walk my dogs, in the beautiful countryside everyday. To be absorbed by nature, its the release I need everyday. Its my time, normally on my own, where I do most of my thinking. It doesn’t really matter to me, or the dogs, if its a 20min walk or a 2hr slog - we get out in all weathers and get it done. I owe my dogs alot, in dark days gone by they have always been there - by my side and as loyal as ever!

I certainly won’t preach about leaving the phone at home whilst out walking, although if I am having a particularly testing day then I will leave it behind. But on some walks, I will check in with my coach Chris (https://www.fatherfitpt.com/home), reply to emails and jot thoughts and ideas down in the notes section etc.

150grams of Protein

Consuming, or at least aiming too, 150 grams of protein a day has literally been a life changer for me.

I have known the importance of protein in the diet for a long time, but never really focused on it or understood the benefits of it when it comes to weight loss. But after some detailed conversations with Chris and my physical fitness coach Ben (https://vivooutdoorfitness.com/), we established a level to aim for and I embraced the focus of hitting a protein target and have never looked back.

I aim for around 30/40grams per meal and 30/40grams in a snack version. Doing this keeps me feeling fuller for longer, cravings almost disappeared and I am sure it helps my body recover quicker from work outs and sports etc.

Loosing 14kgs in the last 18 months has been mainly down to eating better, and that in turn is mainly down to eating more protein. If you are really focused on hitting a protein target, then you will struggle to do that by eating rubbish food! That’s the key for me!

7hrs Sleep

A no brainer this one really, sleep is the foundation to everything we do.

I have always been very naive about getting enough sleep or enough QUALITY sleep. But now I have educated myself more on just how important sleep is, I don’t neglect it quite so much and have started to put a nightime routine in place so to enhance the quality of the sleep I get.

Of course its easy for me too preach about getting enough sleep and its another thing actually doing it, but I think I can shout about this quite loudly coming from a house that has a 3yr toddler and a work life that is seeing me regularly do long hours and also setting up my business from scratch.

So there we are, sleep, protein and a daily dog walk are the 3 key components to my day that if I get them right, then it sets me up for the rest of the day nicely.

Hopefully this has made you think about what you do, or should be doing, everyday that is making you a better version of yourself. If you want to chat more about anything I have mentioned above then please just drop me a line 🙂 

Thanks and take care

Ben

^{*The content above does not constitute direct advice, I am just sharing my experiences and what works for me}

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