Improve your health while the kettle boils.....

Making tiny, barely noticeable positive changes to your daily routine can have a huge impact on your health, wellbeing and happiness.

Maybe you want to eat a more nutritious diet or get a bit fitter. Often getting started is the hardest part. It can feel like a huge mountain to climb but it doesn't have to be like that. Start with small, manageable changes that you can easily include in your routine.

Here are 3 practical tips to help you:

1. Write down your new daily habit and be specific about when you will do it. For instance "I will drink a large glass of water before my first cup of tea in the morning."
2. Link your new habit with a habit that you already do, E.g. "I will march on the spot whilst the kettle boils" or "I will brush my teeth immediately after dinner to discourage me from snacking when I watch the television"
3. Make it obvious and easy. E.g. if you want to start walking more, leave your trainers out as a visual clue. This will also make it easer to just walk out the door with minimal hassle.

It's never to late to start making positive changes to your life and it won't be long before you feel the benefits. Good luck!

Why you should stand like a flamingo and walk like a pigeon...

Having read the title of this article you may well be thinking I've lost my marbles. Well that may well be true, but we can actually learn a lot from our feathered friends. As we age, our balance naturally declines making us more susceptible to falling over.

NHS figures show that about a third of people over the age of 60 have had a fall and approximately 50% of those over the age of 80 fall at least once a year.

Many falls could be avoided and, research shows that exercise plays a significant part in prevention. However, the type of exercise you do makes a big difference.…

The NHS has clear guidelines on the amount and type of exercise we should be doing for optimum health.

Of these one of the recommendations is to do balance, co-ordination and strength exercises on at least 2 days every week.

There are hundreds of exercises you could do, but remembering to do them isn’t always easy. These 3 simple exercises can be easily incorporated into your daily routine, just think of a flamingo, a pigeon and a crab!

1. Do the flamingo stand -practise standing on one leg. Time yourself so you have a goal to try and beat. You will be amazed at how quickly your time will improve. Remember to do alternate sides and hold onto something stable if necessary.
2. Do the pigeon walk - practise walking with one foot directly in front of the other so that the heel of the front foot touches the toe of the back foot or as if you were walking on a tightrope.
3. Move like a crab - practice walking sideways in both directions and then try walking backwards.

N.B. Please consider your safety. These exercises are designed to challenge your balance so you may need to hold onto something stable such as the kitchen work top.

Good luck and remember what you do today helps improve your tomorrow.