bythemethod.com blog

Recent research has shown that eating lots of processed foods could lead to feeling depressed.

You can read more about it in this BBC article …

It’s another reminder that there is a link between what you eat and how you feel. I’m suspicious of wonder diets and I fear people are too quick to appeal to allergies for their problems but there is little doubt that having a good – well balanced – diet is the best option for us all.

It’s sports day at my children’s school today. The school has put on non-competitive sports in the past but have now returned to a more competitive kind of sports day. Who is right? Should sports be non-competitive? What about those who are no good at sports?

Well my own feelings are that sports day should be competitive and it’s up to the school to do it properly so that those who find sport difficult understand that taking part is still very important.

I think I have quite a unique perspective on all this because I’m someone who struggled with sport at school for quite a while. You see I was always pretty average at sport in the my primary school and I was still very happy just taking part. I hadn’t yet learned that sport was supposed to be all about winning. Then at secondary school (High school) I was ill for quite a while and I ended up rubbish at sport. Sports day became a very bad day for me – struggling to finish races at the back. I stopped trying. It wasn’t until the very end of my school sports career that I managed to pull things back a bit and started to push the winners (although I never actually won).

It is possible to learn a lot from such experiences. It is important to understand what competition is and how to handle it. It’s important for winners and losers.

However, I do believe that children need to be helped to understand what I think is the golden rule of sport.

“It’s not whether you win or lose it’s how you play the game”.

Sport can teach you what it’s like to win and what it’s like to lose but above all of this it can teach you the pride of having done your best. We all need to learn that there are always going to be people who can better us at one thing or another. This doesn’t make us failures as people it tells us that we should be proud of ourselves for everything we achieve.

I admire people who overcome great odds to achieve things – sometimes things that I might take for granted. Those who battle disability to walk or talk, etc. show great determination and effort. It doesn’t matter that in a straight walking race I could probably beat them (I was a race walker for while by the way) but it does matter than they are winners in life because they did their best.

So I say children should learn about competition and especially what it means to compete against yourself. Those who struggle with sport (like those who struggle with anything) should be shown that when they make an effort everyone appreciates them taking part and if no one ever does notice their effort they will at least be able to have some self pride in knowing that it wasn’t winning or losing that mattered but how they played the game.

One of the problems with professional sports people is that they seldom understand what it feels like not to be fit. When you are not fit any amount of exercise can be painful and exhausting. I well remember the first time I went running after a long absence from the sport. I could only run about 200 yards and then I have to give in and walk back home. I felt sick, dizzy, embarrassed, unhealthy, desperate, etc. I’m glad I kept going – although even now it’s pretty hard work.

Of course sports people feel this kind of thing as well but I think there is a difference. I’ve had both experiences in my life and I know that somehow the sickness and exhaustion that comes when you are pushing yourself as a fit person is different to that of when you are unfit.

I want to encourage you if you are just starting out to get fit.

First – some of us do understand what you are going through and we know that it is not easy. I may not know you personally but believe me that I have great admiration for anyone who makes the effort to get fit – especially if you are very unfit.

Second – understand that the pain you experience is a part of the process of getting fit. Don’t give in when it hurts (if you are worried about the pain then seek medical help – it’s wise to get checked out). The pain you feel from first starting to exercise will get less. Somehow the pain can almost become a pleasure when you get past that first part.

Third – don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s great that you are now getting some exercise.  When you first start out you should be very proud that you are making those first steps – don’t be put off by any lack of progress instead be happy you are exercising.

I’m proud of you – keep it up.

My youngest son asked me the other day: “why do you go walking?” He meant why do I get pleasure out of slogging my way through an area of wilderness. You should know that I love to go walking on Dartmoor and from time to time make some of my children go with me.

At the time he asked the question we were just trying to climb a very steep hill and we didn’t seem to be getting anywhere with it.

My answer was simple enough – because I enjoy it.

I tried to explain to him that I was not saying that I liked sweating and panting up hills (this is tough for anyone) but that I had learned how to get pleasure from the experience. Some days in the wilderness life can be pretty tough. Heavy rain and driving wind with no sign of shelter is both horrible and great at the same time. There is something about being pushed and tested that can actually be pleasurable.

I guess if this were not true then no one would be involved in any kind of sport.

It’s also true that you can learn a great deal about yourself at such times. You learn that you are capable of far more than you ever believed was possible. You learn about patience and persistance. There are so many lessons to learn.

Then when you reach the top and you look down the hill and see how far you have come you feel wonderful. What a view.

Then its a quick look at the map and on to the next hill.

I’d encourage anyone to find the same kind of challenging enterprise in their own life. Find something to do where you have to push yourself to your limits and beyond. You never know you might actually enjoy it.

This time of year exercising can be extra hard. The mornings and evenings are dark and it’s cold outside. It’s a lot easier to be lazy. This is just the time of year then that we all need a little extra boost in our motivation. I got mine this weekend when I went for a walk in the countryside.

The benefits of countryside walking have been known for a long time. Just today I heard about a report that said people with dogs tend to be fitter and less stressed than those without them. Having a dog forces you to get the exercise that helps make you fitter and lower stress.

But you don’t need a dog to get exercise.

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I guess everyone would like to be more healthy. Even those of us who like to over indulge in fatty foods and sugars. We would all like to be more healthy but sometimes it seems to me that the only way to we are encouraged to become healthy  is to take the extreme route perhaps eating uncooked fruit and drinking filtered water. I have nothing against such an extreme view but it is not the way I want to live. I enjoy a good cooked breakfast and the occasional beefburger and I need a way to be healthy and still enjoy these better things of life.

Here is my suggested three stages to getting a healthier life…

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It is pretty generally believed that children are naturally fit and given an active lifestyle and the right diet they will not need to do any extra exercise. It is also pretty generally believed that exercise (other than just playing their usual games) might even be harmful for children.

As I am trying to get my own children to exercise I thought I should do some investigating and find out what the situation is.

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There are many things that children enjoy. Experience tells me that these are the very same things that we all enjoy. Playing games, laughing, hanging around with friends, computer games, just messing about, etc.

Perhaps the secret to helping children into sport is to think about the kinds of things we might enjoy and encouraging them to get involved.

Anyway today I wanted to talk about something that is easy for us all to do and which can make a big difference to our ability to enjoy sport (and life in general).

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So you’ve got your children interested in sport and athletics and now you want some information to get them started. The web should be full of it of course – but it isn’t. If I want to know about the latest sports game for the Wii or what is happening on T.V. it’s easy but trying to find something about how to get my children fit is near impossible.

There are the usual culprits of soccer training etc or products you can buy to help but in general things are pretty bad. Then if you want information about children and athletics you can pretty much forget it. I’m wanting something I can do with my children at home by the way.

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It’s easy for parents and teachers to tell children that they should get more exercise but what if the children don’t see the point? I doubt there are many children who worry about their future health. Like the rest of us I they probably assume that somehow things will be fine for them. So how can children get excited about exercise and is there any help from “the method”?

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