Healthy seems to be a bit of a catch-all buzz word at the moment, doesn’t it?  It’s all about fancy gym memberships, superfoods, expensive ingredients, no pain no gain style workouts and it’s complicated right?

But what if it isn’t?

Often my clients haven’t thought about their health properly in years.  They’re going to the gym, eating “clean” and doing what they’re supposed to be doing – but actually what they’re focussed on is how they look, not how they feel or what’s going on in their body.

One of the biggest areas we have to overcome on their journey to health is the belief that there is a “right way” to do health.  That going to the gym should be glossy and in colour coordinated outfits.  Water bottles need to be a certain type.  Meals should be homemade, cooked from scratch with multiple ingredients you had to look up on Google and that Waitrose never even heard of.  That somehow if you don’t meet the standards of whatever fad is the latest craze, that you’re failing.

My good friend Rachel McGuinnes created a movement to combat not just the unhealthy expectations we set ourselves, but crucially to combat the incredible burden unhealthy lifestyles and the subsequent preventable illnesses and diseases put on our health system.

Did you know that 80% of premature deaths caused by heart disease are actually preventable?  Or that only 1 in 5 children in the UK eat the recommended amount of fruit and veg daily?

Those are scary stats indeed, but scarier still are the people behind those stats.

My father being one of them, which is why this movement is SO important to me personally.  I lost my father when I was 18 months old and he was just 36 from heart disease and diabetes.  I know there are hundreds more children, wives, fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters that lose someone daily from something that could have been prevented.

And that’s why Zestember is so important. It shows you that health isn’t fancy gym memberships and all “no pain no gain”, it’s not just what you eat (or don’t eat).  Health is multi-faceted and includes mental health, emotional health, spiritual health, self-care and physical health.  It’s not about big grand fancy things, it’s simple, every-day actions that cumulatively make a HUGE difference.

Download your FREE guide here.

Here are 5 reasons to join the movement and get involved in the challenges:

It’s FREE!

What?  Wait?  Free?  There must be a catch?

No, there really isn’t.  There’s no catch, it’s a FREE health awareness campaign with common sense advice set up by a couple of crazy, healthy chicks who want to help you have a bit more va va voom.

If you’re healthier, you’re going to reduce your risk of what we call the ‘nasties’ – type 2 diabetes, heart disease, strokes, and some cancers and that’s better for you, for your hopes and dreams, for your family, for the health system and ultimately for the world.

We’re totally independent.  We’re not sponsored by the government or the NHS, we just started with an idea that’s grown into a health awareness movement.  That’s all there is to it!

You can get as involved as you like

Don’t be put off by the word “challenge”.  We’re not going to make you do 22 push ups a day or run a marathon, it’s just a fun way of getting people thinking about their health and wellbeing, because having no energy and feeling yuk, just sucks, doesn’t it?

Every day Rachel and I will be posting healthy tips on social media channels and sharing practical advice you can integrate into your life. You can do all of them, some of them, one a week – or just the ones you find fun.  We’re here to inspire you, provide support and encouragement and to make it fun.

You can go it alone or with friends or family 

Some of us are lone rangers, others like to move in packs.  How you “do” healthy is up to you.  These tips and challenges are designed so you can do them in a way that feels good for you.  Use it with your family and kids, take it into work, use it at the gym or do it secretly on your own.

Totally up to you.

You’ll have a handy guide you can refer to all the year through 

The FREE guide is yours to download and keep.  So perhaps Zestember is busy for you, you’ve got a busy schedule and you’re not really able to commit or interact as much as you’d like to.

No problem.

You can use the guide to inspire you when you do have time and space – because health isn’t for Zestember, it’s for life.

Because health is the greatest gift we have

I’m not going to labour the point, but you know it right?

The elephant in the room is the fact that we’re not here forever.  You and I, we want to make the most of our years on this incredible planet we call home, right?  Your health is a HUGE component in that, and the opportunity to have a long and happy life starts with making a decision to look after yourself – because no one else can do that for you.

Big shout out to the amazing and ridiculously addictive Moorish Houmus who also happens to be the awesome Sponsor of Zestember 2016.

To your health.