Win or Loose – You choose! Boxing a great metaphor for life!

Billy Schwer spent 20 years at the top of his field in arguably the most gruelling and demanding sport there is – Boxing.  During his professional career he won British, Commonwealth, European and IBO World Boxing Titles. I had the pleasure in listening to a motivational presentation last night by Billy, he said the game of boxing is 80% mental and 20% physical, doesn’t that apply to life?

Image credit:
http://www.pureleverage.com/

Life is about choices, you can choose how you react to events, it’s a conscious choice! Here are some areas that you can focus on for the choices in your life:

• You can choose where to be.
• You can choose how to act.
• You can choose who to trust.
• You can choose who to avoid.
•  You can choose what to say and what to do.
• You can choose what to believe and choose what to say about yourself.
• You can choose what to say about others.
• You can choose what behaviour to have day-to-day

 

I have included below an extract from Billy’s blog on how to survive and thrive :  http://www.billyschwer.com/blog.php?blog_id=25

For those who are new to this – this is the first of my Seven Principles, of how to Survive and Thrive, especially in today’s tough times, What does that mean to you?  How can you choose to win when things don’t go your way?

When I was five years old my two older sisters Mandy and Lisa (11 and 8) used to torment me, slap me around and overpower me. They would sit on me and pin me down to the floor.

I used to get so upset, I would kick and scream trying to break free that I would hyperventilate and turn blue, I thought I was going to die.  It was in that moment, I decided nobody was going to beat me, dominate me, hurt me or get on top of me – ever again; especially women.  It was in that same moment I made an unconscious decision about myself; I’m weak, I can’t fight my sisters off so I must be weak – right?

So I then decided to become really tough to cover up and survive being weak, that is why I became a boxer, a fighter – someone everyone would see as strong and powerful.

Many people don’t think about the choices they make every day of their lives.  They suffer a setback and they let it affect the rest of their day – sometimes the rest of their life.  They don’t know that they have made an unconscious choice.

You always have a choice about the actions you take or indeed don’t take, the thoughts that affect you.  So your partner had the hump this morning – do you spend the day resenting the way they treated you or decide that they deserve a treat to cheer them up?  It’s a choice.

Every one of us makes choices throughout the day – you are the designer of your day; you create the day by consciously taking responsibility for your thoughts and actions – and results.  Life by design, live a life that you have created.

If you let yourself create negative images of yourself, you’ll end up being who you think you are.  Can you interrupt those thought patterns?  Every entrepreneur has a belief in themselves and their abilities – and every person has the ability to believe in themselves – just choose.

Catch yourself at each moment when negative thoughts creep in and decide to succeed – no matter what.

Billy Schwer

Performance expert

Specialist in Mental – Physical – Nutritional Fitness 

 

 

Are you ready to make life your sparring partner?

Combat stress through better nutrition!

We will all experience stress to some degree through our lives, some more than others. We have developed various coping strategies to deal with stress, some effective, some less so. Some of us exercise, while others listen to music. Some people like to take time out for a hobby, or to play with their children. We have to accept that stress is all around us, in our work lives, at home, in our relationships. Some people are innately and genetically better at dealing with stress. Others can teach and train themselves to handle stress more efficiently, what most people don’t realise is the right food choices can dramatically assist the body in better handling stress.

Therefore, we have more control over stress than we might realise; that’s good news!!

We have total control over what we put in our bodies, typically when people are stressed they make bad nutritional choices such as caffeine, alcohol and fast foods. Every cell in the body needs good nutrition to work optimally; stress depletes the body of vitamins, minerals and nutrients. It can degrade digestive function and slows the metabolism resulting in you feeling more tried, irritable and angry. Very quickly we can see a vicious circle beginning where we make poor choices which will compound our ability to deal with the stressful situation in the first place.

The hormonal chaos prolonged stress causes can increase your risk of blood sugar problems, high blood pressure, fatigue and weight gain. A well-balanced diet is crucial in combating stress.  Stay away from the usual culprit’s caffeine, alcohol, salty foods, fatty foods, sugar, refined and processed foods.

When the body is under stress, it has been proven that he body uses up its resources until they are bare.

The following are the main nutrients that he body will use up under stress:

• B vitamins: These help the body cope with stress (build your metabolism) and control the whole nervous system
• Proteins: Assist in growth and tissue repair
• A vitamins: Essential for normal vision
• C vitamins: Protection of the immune system (antioxidants, diabetes protection etc.). Lowers the amount of cortisol in your body (Stress hormone
• Magnesium: Needed for a variety of tasks such as muscle relaxation, fatty acid formation, making new cells and heartbeat regulation.

source: http://www.stress.org.uk/files/Combat-Nutritional-Stress.pdf

Let’s take a look at some stress reducing foods:

Celery– contains nutrients that clam, including niacinimide. It’s an old folk recipe to lower blood pressure.

Sunflower seeds – rich source of potassium, B Vitamins and zinc which play a critical role in the health of the adrenal glands.

Brown rice is a slowly absorbed carbohydrate that can help trigger the release of the body’s feel good chemicals

Cabbage is a good stress busting source of the antioxidants vitamins A, C and E, beta-carotene and mineral selenium

Berries – are rich in magnesium and vitamin C. Insufficient vitamin C can weaken your immune system and make you feel generally stressed and run down.

 

Read more stress busting foods in – “You are what you eat” by Dr Gillian McKeith

 

I personally used to juice for 8 years after learning just how important a good diet rich in fruits and vegetables is to keep us performing at our top-level. The effects of stress on the body should not be underestimated, I was very fortunate to be introduced to a whole food nutrition supplement which is the essence of 26 fruits, vegetables and berries which I take every day; I have said goodbye to time consuming, messy juicing! For more information visit www.energisejuiceplus.com

Simple steps to much less Stress

I also recommend you take a look at this book by Ann Peckham “Simple steps to much less stress”. A wonderful book full of easy to implement strategies to combat stress. Anne has transformed her own health, reducing her weight, lowering blood pressure and cholesterol and all without dieting or medication. And is passionate about helping others to do the same!

 

Finding ways to reduce the level of stress in your life will open up reserves of energy and determination you may not know you had!