A friend recently wrote to me asking how I was while sharing her progress with a recently adopted eating plan. After congratulating her on her discipline and good intentions (I was being most sincere) I suggested that I only partake in one diet, once a year. That is the Christmas diet, incredible effective at putting on weight.

Now that I am back to eating normally (for me) I feel a whole lot better. Since diet, or lifestyle eating, has been on my mind more than usual I’m compelled to share further interesting observations from the web.

Diet type depends on your 'over-eater' type

Obesity researcher Zoë Harcombe challenges yet again the efforts of main stream media. This time it is BBC’s Horizon programme and their study on personalised approaches to dieting based on genetics, hormones and psychology.

Although I didn’t completely lose all sense of self-control during the recent festive period, I have had to drop back a notch on my belt. I’m sure I am not the only person to have gained some additional weight over Christmas. As expected, the media is full of tips and ideas for getting back on a healthy track. I have recently come across a few tips that I feel are worth sharing.

A nutritionist specialising in women’s health and hormonal balance, Marilyn Glenville, shares these top tips:

• Stop eating sugar!
• Balance your omega-3 and omega-6 (choose krill oil)
• Take vitamin D
• Eat foods high in B vitamins and magnesium to support the adrenal glands

In my own experience, cutting out sugar will be the single most effective habit for aiding fat loss. Read the reasons behind these tips here - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/11320561/Health-and-fitness-advice-Simple-nutrition-advice.html

Health Hacks

Cancer researcher and professor or medicine, David B Angus, shares his top tips:

We’ve been told that sitting for prolonged periods is detrimental to our health, in fact I’ve seen infographics saying that our sedentary sitting habits will kill us. Well, you might have to drive to work but now you can spend your day walking without ever leaving your desk.

One ingenious solution to this common dilemma is the ‘walking work station’ - a treadmill type setup at your desk. There seems to be a logical progression happening here - from sitting to standing and now walking. The standing work station, simply an elevated desk that requires you to stand instead of sit, has been around for some time and I have even tried it myself for some months. Now I read that standing, although better than sitting, is still sedentary and not going to provide the counter benefits worthy of the change in setup. The next step (excuse the pun) is the walking work station.

An assessment and review of 180 participants, conducted at a University in the States, found walking work stations improve engagement during computer based activities; improving satisfaction, reducing stress and boredom and even varied levels of arousal (whatever that is supposed to mean).

Study findings here - http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141029124618.htm

It is that time of year again when we are delighted to wish everyone a very happy New Year!

Are you committing to any New Year Resolutions? I sure am.

Each year I come across gloomy news headlines claiming the majority of people who commit to change in the coming year will fail miserably at their goals, even before the end of January.

I am not going to offer the supposed ‘ultimate method’ for goal planning and execution because if the process itself is too arduous then compliance becomes the goal, not the intended outcome. When you lose sight of the end result, the benefit to be gained, it is all too easy to become distracted and fall back into old habits.

Christmas is only a few days ahead and that means the festivities are well underway. They certainly are in my house with the mince pies coming out a week ago already. Instead of residing to the belief that I will simply put on unwanted weight during this period and then want to work it off in the New Year, I have chosen to take a smarter approach.

I will share with you

• Simply holiday eating tips
• 3 cunning strategies to avoid putting on weight
• How emotional awareness can help you make better choices

My smarter approach does not mean going without. Yep, I do view food as one of life’s pleasures, especially when enjoyed in a joyous and friendly social setting.

So, I’m going to enjoy the naughty treats for sure. I have to be careful though because I do put on weight easily, specifically belly fat (it’s a man thing), and I have become quite sensitive to excess sugar as a result of mostly cutting out refined sugars completely from my diet.

I believe we all need to figure out our own approach and what works for me might not work for you. I therefore will offer insights and ideas, sourced from others more ‘educated’ than I on the topics, who have influenced my strategy.

I hope they offer some inspiration.

You may have noticed a lot of news in recent years about rising obesity levels and apparently decreasing activity levels. Sugar and carbohydrates continue to be scrutinised for their weight-gain effects while the debate between the contrasting low-fat vs the low-carb-high-fat diets continue.

Understandably, alcohol is gaining more attention in this regards too and is considered to contain 7 calories per gram. In our more health-conscious society today it makes sense we could benefit from knowing the calorie content of our frequent tipple.

Due to the fact that alcoholic drinks are not recognised as food they are exempt from food labelling. However, before the end of 2014 the EU commission is due to make a decision about extending nutrition labelling, including calorie labelling, on alcohol.

Despite the clocks having changed for the so-called purpose of ‘daylight saving’, it hasn’t done much for me personally in obscuring the noticeable onset of the shorter, darker days of the coming winter.

This seasonal change has brought to my attention once more the important consideration about sleep. Specifically how our sleep duration and quality affects not only our physical performance but all aspects of our lives.

The other night I noticed I was starting to feel sleepier and ready for bed earlier than usual. I justified to myself (as we do) it was due to the earlier onset of darkness in the evening, that’s all. It got me thinking - should I consider going to bed earlier in line with this shift in season?

Such a change in routine doesn’t really suit me because despite the change in season my daily routine and commitments have not changed. Therefore how would it benefit me, or be possible, to try and live more in rhythm with the environment. That is the ‘natural world’ environment, not my local in-home environment where multiple devices are contributing to the excess of ‘blue light’ in our living room. Such light in the blue end of the spectrum just so happens to be the type that does an effective job at disrupting our natural body clocks.

How would you define healthy? Perhaps being an XS or skinny size trouser type person. Maybe you perceive healthy as a diet restricted to leafy greens and fruit, perhaps combined with a hyper-disciplined exercise regime demanding many hours each day in the hot and sweaty zone. Such pursuits don't conjure up a sense of 'balance' and in my view are more likely to result in long-term inconsistencies, both in your commitment and motivation.

'Consistency' is the key factor here, as is the concept of 'lifestyle'

When a way of being becomes very much a part of your way of life - it becomes easier to sustain in the long run. This is the major problem with crash diets or fitness fads - resulting benefits don't seem to last because the commitment required is either not sustainable or are too extreme that they are unable to become integrated lifestyle habits.

Our next Pilates course schedule starts on the 3rd November and includes Beginner, Improver and Advanced level classes. We also have a new class called Aerobilates which includes a more aerobic element to the class for a higher intensity workout.

We have just added an additional Beginner class due to demand which currently has 4 places left. This class is a Thursday evening class between 7pm-8pm, running for 7 weeks from the 6th November.

To view our course schedule please visit our website here - http://mmphysiopilates.com/dublin/join-a-class.html

How to join a class

Dr Mike Evans presents another of his usually wonderful videos. This video's subject - Save Brains.

Dr Mike focuses specifically on young brains so if you have children this video will be of great interest to you.

Some of the key messages are provided here plus the video:

• The first 1000 days is best time to stimulate a young brain
• A combination of health, good nutrition and play-based responsive stimulation are the best ways to stimulate a young brain
• Stress and adversity is a part of life and a child is more likely to have a healthy response to such stress if well supported by family and a community

Different types of stresses include: