The Blog
Overcoming Overwhelm
Most people know about overwhelm.
In fact, most people are best mates with overwhelm because they hang out with it often. Trouble is… overwhelm is crappy company. Now I’m pleased and relieved to say that I don’t do overwhelm even a fraction as much as I used to, because I used to be a bit of an expert at it.
And there’s a reason I say ‘do overwhelm’.
Because it’s not something that happens to us. It’s something we do. To ourselves. Totally self-inflicted.
In fact, I can even teach you how to ‘do’ overwhelm, because there’s a tried and tested strategy that I’m pretty sure you’ve used yourself … maybe more than once if you’re reading this… It goes something like this:
Step 1. Think of everything that you possibly have to do or how ‘big’ the situation is.
Step 2. Think about how you can’t possibly get it all done right now or all the ways in which it could go wrong.
Step 3. Fall into stressed and/or paralysed and/or soggy mess.
Step 4. Ta-da! Overwhelmed.
So let’s nip this in the bud. Let’s stop doing this horrible thing to ourselves!
Here are 4 tips that can assist you to overcome overwhelm every time (unless of course you like it so much that you want to keep doing it? Hmmm… I didn’t think so):
Tip 1. Get It All Out
Often overwhelm can hit (after you’ve done those key steps) because your mind keeps jumping between all the things that you’re mentally keeping track of and thinking are urgent and important, or all the important aspects of a certain situation, and there seems to be so many of them!
Write everything out on a piece of paper, so you can mentally de-clutter, and have an objective look at what you’ve listed. I was speaking to a client earlier this week who did exactly that because she was feeling so stressed and it actually made her laugh – it was simply ridiculous the amount she was thinking she had to get done in a certain time period! Ask yourself:
1. What is urgent and must be done today (not what would I like to get done today)?
2. What is urgent and when does it really need to be done by (not when would I like it done by)?
3. What can I plan for right now?
In most cases those three questions will give you clarity and direction, as well as a plan for getting a big chunk and certainly the most pressing things dealt with.
Tip 2. Get Some Perspective
Sometimes simply asking yourself whether what you’re stressing about will matter in 1 year or 5 years’ time can be a real leveller. It’s easy to blow things out of proportion when everything else seems to be falling in your lap and quite often we’ll work ourselves into a state about stuff that is really… just ‘stuff’.
Tip 3. Get Some Air
This is a really good one, although it can often be a challenge to do because we’re either wallowing in overwhelm and therefore feel disinclined to do anything (notice the irony here?) or we think that if we take time away from being able to ‘get things done’ that we’re wasting time or being ineffective.
The reality is that getting out for a quick walk around the block or 10 minutes of deep breathing on the deck will, if you spend the time simply focusing on the sounds around you (people chatting, children playing, traffic, bird calls and so on) or on your breathing, quieten your ‘monkey brain’, giving your mind a well-deserved rest. Even better if you do a longer session with some movement (research has shown that exercise is the most powerful method to reduce stress as it deals directly with our primal ‘fight or flight’ stress response). You’ll then be better equipped to re-enter your situation with more detachment and the ability to think more clearly, as well as feel more energised about taking action!
If you’d like to join some scheduled classes, check out PrimalFit’s latest fitness timetable here!
Tip 4. Get A Purpose
If we’re focusing on all of our choices, or on everything we have to do or on the intricacies of a potentially stressful situation then we’re getting lost in the detail and the action, and focusing on what we fear or what seems ‘hard’. Shifting our focus to ‘the big picture’, to what we want to achieve, or how we want to feel, or what a successful outcome is going to give us puts a completely different and non-overwhelming spin on things, enabling them to feel fun, inspiring, exciting, challenging or anything else that we’d rather feel than overwhelmed.
So if you have a project or presentation that is occupying your every thought, focus instead on the impact that you want your contribution to make overall, or how you want to engage and connect with your audience in order to educate or create positive change perhaps, and how you feel about achieving that outcome. If seemingly endless home duties are ‘doing your head in’, focus instead on how these things enable you to look after and nurture the people you love most, and how knowing that makes you feel.
I’d love to know how you get on with these tips, and if you liked this then you’ll love our Lighten for Life 10-week online program that removes the overwhelm and gives you all of the nutrition, exercise and mindset tools you need to get the body, energy and fitness you want! Register here before Monday 20th February for our current special offer!
To your health,
Amber
In fact, most people are best mates with overwhelm because they hang out with it often. Trouble is… overwhelm is crappy company. Now I’m pleased and relieved to say that I don’t do overwhelm even a fraction as much as I used to, because I used to be a bit of an expert at it.
And there’s a reason I say ‘do overwhelm’.
Because it’s not something that happens to us. It’s something we do. To ourselves. Totally self-inflicted.
In fact, I can even teach you how to ‘do’ overwhelm, because there’s a tried and tested strategy that I’m pretty sure you’ve used yourself … maybe more than once if you’re reading this… It goes something like this:
Step 1. Think of everything that you possibly have to do or how ‘big’ the situation is.
Step 2. Think about how you can’t possibly get it all done right now or all the ways in which it could go wrong.
Step 3. Fall into stressed and/or paralysed and/or soggy mess.
Step 4. Ta-da! Overwhelmed.
So let’s nip this in the bud. Let’s stop doing this horrible thing to ourselves!
Here are 4 tips that can assist you to overcome overwhelm every time (unless of course you like it so much that you want to keep doing it? Hmmm… I didn’t think so):
Tip 1. Get It All Out
Often overwhelm can hit (after you’ve done those key steps) because your mind keeps jumping between all the things that you’re mentally keeping track of and thinking are urgent and important, or all the important aspects of a certain situation, and there seems to be so many of them!
Write everything out on a piece of paper, so you can mentally de-clutter, and have an objective look at what you’ve listed. I was speaking to a client earlier this week who did exactly that because she was feeling so stressed and it actually made her laugh – it was simply ridiculous the amount she was thinking she had to get done in a certain time period! Ask yourself:
1. What is urgent and must be done today (not what would I like to get done today)?
2. What is urgent and when does it really need to be done by (not when would I like it done by)?
3. What can I plan for right now?
In most cases those three questions will give you clarity and direction, as well as a plan for getting a big chunk and certainly the most pressing things dealt with.
Tip 2. Get Some Perspective
Sometimes simply asking yourself whether what you’re stressing about will matter in 1 year or 5 years’ time can be a real leveller. It’s easy to blow things out of proportion when everything else seems to be falling in your lap and quite often we’ll work ourselves into a state about stuff that is really… just ‘stuff’.
Tip 3. Get Some Air
This is a really good one, although it can often be a challenge to do because we’re either wallowing in overwhelm and therefore feel disinclined to do anything (notice the irony here?) or we think that if we take time away from being able to ‘get things done’ that we’re wasting time or being ineffective.
The reality is that getting out for a quick walk around the block or 10 minutes of deep breathing on the deck will, if you spend the time simply focusing on the sounds around you (people chatting, children playing, traffic, bird calls and so on) or on your breathing, quieten your ‘monkey brain’, giving your mind a well-deserved rest. Even better if you do a longer session with some movement (research has shown that exercise is the most powerful method to reduce stress as it deals directly with our primal ‘fight or flight’ stress response). You’ll then be better equipped to re-enter your situation with more detachment and the ability to think more clearly, as well as feel more energised about taking action!
If you’d like to join some scheduled classes, check out PrimalFit’s latest fitness timetable here!
Tip 4. Get A Purpose
If we’re focusing on all of our choices, or on everything we have to do or on the intricacies of a potentially stressful situation then we’re getting lost in the detail and the action, and focusing on what we fear or what seems ‘hard’. Shifting our focus to ‘the big picture’, to what we want to achieve, or how we want to feel, or what a successful outcome is going to give us puts a completely different and non-overwhelming spin on things, enabling them to feel fun, inspiring, exciting, challenging or anything else that we’d rather feel than overwhelmed.
So if you have a project or presentation that is occupying your every thought, focus instead on the impact that you want your contribution to make overall, or how you want to engage and connect with your audience in order to educate or create positive change perhaps, and how you feel about achieving that outcome. If seemingly endless home duties are ‘doing your head in’, focus instead on how these things enable you to look after and nurture the people you love most, and how knowing that makes you feel.
I’d love to know how you get on with these tips, and if you liked this then you’ll love our Lighten for Life 10-week online program that removes the overwhelm and gives you all of the nutrition, exercise and mindset tools you need to get the body, energy and fitness you want! Register here before Monday 20th February for our current special offer!
To your health,
Amber
PrimalFit’s Dry February Challenge!
If you’re familiar with the PrimalFit philosophy then you’ll know that we don’t subscribe to having to live like a monk to get healthy! We believe in 80/20 living – if you do things right 80% of the time then you can enjoy some treats (like alcohol) and still get great results.
So you might be wondering, if this is the case, why we need a dry February – surely its better just to drink in moderation? Well the chances are that over the last few weeks, with holidays, Christmas and New Year, you were treating yourself considerably more than 20% of the time. So it’s now time to get back on track and to even things up a bit!
February is the shortest month of the year and using this month to give your body a break from alcohol is a great way to recharge your energy levels, lose a few unwanted kilos and to give the body a well-earned detox!
So the challenge is to go alcohol-free for the month of February. Now, it’s highly likely that you have some big event to attend this month e.g. a best friend’s birthday or a wedding etc so to account for this the challenge will allow for one alcohol evening/day to be used when you most need it.
How do I enter the challenge? Now I believe that to give yourself the best chance of succeeding with a challenge that it’s really important to show some commitment and to create a bit of pressure on yourself. So, I’m proposing that to take up this challenge you email me to show your commitment and then you make a donation of $20 to the Umbrella Orphanage (this is a fantastic charity that looks after disadvantaged children in Asia’s poorest country, Nepal that we’ve supported for a number of years). You can find out more about Umbrella and make your donation here – http://www.umbrellanepal.org
If you make it through February without drinking alcohol (apart from your one permitted evening) then you don’t need to make any further payment (although you may choose to!). If you don’t reach your target then you agree to donate an additional $50 to Umbrella.
The challenge starts on Thursday 1st February. If you’d like to sign up then please email alex@primalfit.com.au by Tuesday lunchtime.
I hope you decide to take part – it’s a great way to start the year, to get into shape and to help a fantastic cause!
To your health!
Alex
So you might be wondering, if this is the case, why we need a dry February – surely its better just to drink in moderation? Well the chances are that over the last few weeks, with holidays, Christmas and New Year, you were treating yourself considerably more than 20% of the time. So it’s now time to get back on track and to even things up a bit!
February is the shortest month of the year and using this month to give your body a break from alcohol is a great way to recharge your energy levels, lose a few unwanted kilos and to give the body a well-earned detox!
So the challenge is to go alcohol-free for the month of February. Now, it’s highly likely that you have some big event to attend this month e.g. a best friend’s birthday or a wedding etc so to account for this the challenge will allow for one alcohol evening/day to be used when you most need it.
How do I enter the challenge? Now I believe that to give yourself the best chance of succeeding with a challenge that it’s really important to show some commitment and to create a bit of pressure on yourself. So, I’m proposing that to take up this challenge you email me to show your commitment and then you make a donation of $20 to the Umbrella Orphanage (this is a fantastic charity that looks after disadvantaged children in Asia’s poorest country, Nepal that we’ve supported for a number of years). You can find out more about Umbrella and make your donation here – http://www.umbrellanepal.org
If you make it through February without drinking alcohol (apart from your one permitted evening) then you don’t need to make any further payment (although you may choose to!). If you don’t reach your target then you agree to donate an additional $50 to Umbrella.
The challenge starts on Thursday 1st February. If you’d like to sign up then please email alex@primalfit.com.au by Tuesday lunchtime.
I hope you decide to take part – it’s a great way to start the year, to get into shape and to help a fantastic cause!
To your health!
Alex
Parents – get fit/toned with our park circuit!
We all lead busy lives and sometimes it can be a struggle to find time to exercise, especially if you have kids – today I’m going to show you an easy way to create some extra time so that you can exercise and have fun with the children and that’s through our park circuit. This will tone and strengthen your body and boost your metabolism to help you reach or maintain a healthy body weight. I explain everything in the short video below!
To summarise:
1. Row/Pull Up (10-15 reps)
2. Squat (wall/pole/normal/weighted/with push, 10-15 reps)
3. Push Up (knees/normal/weighted/swing, 10-15 reps)
4. Lunge (stationary/step-back/bulgarian, 10-15 reps)
5. Dips (knees bent/normal/leg lift, 10-15 reps)
Repeat above 2-5 times with rest of 90 seconds in between circuits
Cool down with Plank/Jack Knife
Remember to always ensure that your children are safe and have fun!
To summarise:
1. Row/Pull Up (10-15 reps)
2. Squat (wall/pole/normal/weighted/with push, 10-15 reps)
3. Push Up (knees/normal/weighted/swing, 10-15 reps)
4. Lunge (stationary/step-back/bulgarian, 10-15 reps)
5. Dips (knees bent/normal/leg lift, 10-15 reps)
Repeat above 2-5 times with rest of 90 seconds in between circuits
Cool down with Plank/Jack Knife
Remember to always ensure that your children are safe and have fun!
Tone your body with this simple walking circuit!
If you’re looking to tone your body and boost your metabolism then use this simple but effective outdoor session. The beauty of it is that you can do it virtually anywhere, you don’t need any equipment and it will give you great results!
I take you through the circuit in the video below – it involves simply walking for 30 minutes and at some point during the walk you carry out 30 Squats, 30 Lunges, 30 Step Ups and 30 Push Ups (you can do these in one set or break each exercise into sets e.g. 2 sets of 15 or 3 sets of 10). If you want to take your fitness to the next level then also add in 3 steep hills or 3 x 200-400 metre fast bursts.
This circuit will build lean muscle, help you lose weight and improve your body shape.
For best results carry out the circuit 2 to 3 times each week – but doing it once is still worthwhile! As always, it’s important to keep varying your workout as your body quickly adapts. If you enjoy this then you will love our new Lighten For Life program – our comprehensive online wellness program designed to give busy people the body and health that they want with less time, less effort and less frustration. You can find out more here.
I take you through the circuit in the video below – it involves simply walking for 30 minutes and at some point during the walk you carry out 30 Squats, 30 Lunges, 30 Step Ups and 30 Push Ups (you can do these in one set or break each exercise into sets e.g. 2 sets of 15 or 3 sets of 10). If you want to take your fitness to the next level then also add in 3 steep hills or 3 x 200-400 metre fast bursts.
This circuit will build lean muscle, help you lose weight and improve your body shape.
For best results carry out the circuit 2 to 3 times each week – but doing it once is still worthwhile! As always, it’s important to keep varying your workout as your body quickly adapts. If you enjoy this then you will love our new Lighten For Life program – our comprehensive online wellness program designed to give busy people the body and health that they want with less time, less effort and less frustration. You can find out more here.
Feeling Stressed? Use this easy, free tool to start feeling better straightaway…
With the holidays approaching, end-of-year deadlines, presents to buy and parties to attend, it’s not surprising that many of us are feeling stressed at the moment. The good news is that there’s a really simple tool that you can quickly apply that will instantly reduce your stress levels and Amber demonstrates it in this short 5-minute video. It’s worth watching because you will feel much better (and it’s free!):
To purchase our Relax and Revive Guided Meditation (available for a limited time for just $9.95) please use the paypal button below:
Find out more about our Lighten For Life Program!
To purchase our Relax and Revive Guided Meditation (available for a limited time for just $9.95) please use the paypal button below:
Find out more about our Lighten For Life Program!
PrimalFit Weekly Challenge – Gluten Free
This week’s challenge is to go Gluten Free for one week. It is estimated that a large proportion of the population (especially white skinned people) are gluten intolerant to some extent. Symptoms include feeling tired, feeling bloated, abdominal cramps, an upset stomach, gas and dry skin.
Gluten is a protein that is found in Barley, Rye, Oats and Wheat (remember this with the acronym “BROW”!).
To avoid gluten choose gluten-free grains such as quinoa, buckwheat, rice, millet and amaranth. It would be even better if you can avoid grains altogether – grains are generally much higher in energy than vegetables and also less nutritious (vegetables are also high in fibre). Instead of having a chicken sandwich for lunch you could have a chicken salad and instead of cereal for breakfast go for free-range eggs or organic yoghurt and fruit. If you are struggling for ideas then go to google and search for “gluten free recipes” – there are thousands out there!
I trust you decide to take up this challenge – you will feel great for it!
Welcome!
Do you lead a busy life and want to focus more on your health and fitness? Would you prefer to train outside using effective and enjoyable exercise? PrimalFit is about training the way nature intended:
- outside in beautiful settings
- balanced, functional movement patterns
- natural, healthy living
- working as a team to push mental and physical boundaries….