Creating Life Long Memories with Sally & Noah…

So last week me and the family stayed in Criccieth, a small town in Wales. It’s a beautiful little place, and we were lucky enough to have some sunshine – one day it was 26 degrees! We stayed in a beautiful apartment, built on a cliff edge, which overlooked the sea….

Overworked! Overtrained! and PlanetBurnout.com…

12 weeks prior to our holiday (basically since Noah arrived!) I’d been working like a SHANGHAI WARRIOR (that’s another way of saying…OVERWORKED!)

During this time I was doing on average 35 personal training sessions per week, and training like a mad man possessed in the gym! For the last 4 weeks prior to the holiday I should have taken a mini break to re-charge the batteries but like a ‘DONUT’ I continued to push through!

Although I was going to the gym 3x per week, eating pretty good and being productive with my personal training business, I wasn’t being healthy. My sleep was poor, and I was heavily relying on stimulants such as caffeine to help me get through each day.

Sometimes it’s hard to recognise when you’re tired and stressed. From my personal experience I often find it creeps up insidiously. It’s like you gradually get more and more tired, without noticing… until finally your body completely packs in!

Burgers, Sleep, Sunburn and Fun Times…

Wales was a very much needed break, and a chance to spend time with people I care for the most. During our time there we had lots of fun and ate out pretty much every day. I’m not going to lie I think I had about 5 burgers and a couple of ice cream (ok maybe 5!) haha.

One day we headed to Abersoch, to spend the day on the beach but like a LEMON I forgot to pack shorts…

It’s safe to say that I was the only person on the beach in jeans lol! To make matters worse I also forgot to wear sunscreen, which consquently made my face the same colour as a baboons rear end!

Unfortunately, after 3 days I got poorly! It started off with a bad throat but then turned into a vicious chest infection – so I spent the rest of my time in Wales either flat out in bed or sprawled out on the sofa feeling very sorry for myself. I couldn’t leave the house, and ended up watching Jeremy Kyle and Loose Women haha!

To make matters worse…Sally, Mum and Meg got poorly too! It was like a comedy sketch! The last few days of the holiday we all had a sofa each, barely able to move, debating over who should get the next round of water and paracetamols!

Changing My Approach…

In my opinion the illness I experienced in Wales was likely due to being run down. Now that i’m back i’ve made some changes and will aim to prevent this from happening again. Here’s what i’ve done…

#1 Invested in Magnesium – Magnesium glycinate is a great pre bed supplement to help your central nervous system relax and to help you get a good nights sleep. This week i’ve taken 600mg before bed and it’s helped me enormously.

#2 Eating more like a Vegan – I never thought i’d say this, but i’ve eaten far less meat and fish than usual, in fact I think i’ve only had 3 portions this week (compared to 3 a day!). I watched an interesting documentary on Netflix called What the Health and i’m going to be trying a new approach with my own personal nutrition. I will be discussing this over the next few months and reporting my progress on my blog page – so if you’re interested stay tuned!

#3 New Gym Routine – I’ve mixed up my gym routine and will be focusing more on recovery strategies, things like stretching, and foam rolling. I have planned out my new training program, which I will probably follow until Christmas. Again i’ll be sharing how this has gone over the next few months.

#4 No Caffeine – I haven’t had caffeine for 2 weeks now, as soon as I got to Wales I stopped. I feel much better for it, although the first few days were pretty challenging.

#5 Priorotising – I’ve decided to take on less and re-structure my business slightly. Before Wales I was getting involved in too many outside projects which were detracting me from the core of my personal training business. I have therefore decided to prioritise and stick to what I enjoy the most.

Anyhow thanks for reading, i’ll leave you with some holiday pictures…