Hello to all the personal trainers out there, I need to tell you something.

Quite frankly a lot of you are making a massive mistake and doing your customers a disservice.

I am guessing you do this job because you want to help people get fitter, feel healthier and happier, right?

All of that stuff?

I have seen quite a few blogs and posts recently from different trainers advising how to incorporate alcohol into your fitness programme.  I mean seriously, come on.

Just read that sentence. Yes, Personal Trainers and Fitness Experts teaching their customers how to still drink alcohol and achieve their fitness goals.  I wonder if they would say its ok to eat a cream cake everyday if you want to lose weight?

Personal trainers listen up.  There is nothing in alcohol that has any use for us.

I know you have heard about the anti-oxidants in the red wine and you have been telling your customers its ok to drink red wine because of this.

Let’s get this straight. For you to...

When you stop drinking or take a break from booze, if you are not careful it can feel like you are depriving yourself.

This is not the point.

I know for some, there will be a period of time when you may need to just stay away from the action and get your head down.  That’s ok for a few weeks, well even a few months if it’s been a big issue.  In fact, if it’s a big issue. You know, a big health scare, serious depression, anxiety, affected relationship or criminal record. I would advise that you do stay away from alcohol altogether for as long as possible.

That’s doesn’t mean you can’t have treats though, reward yourself.

This is so important.

The “I have had a hard day with the kids, a hard day at work, I need a drink” feeling. I deserve it I have worked hard, this Is for me. You know the type of thinking.

You’ve taken the booze away so what are you going to do instead.

If you don’t put anything else in, trust me,...

I recently I asked my audience what can I help you with the most?

The biggest thing you want is more top tips for quitting.

I know I go on about booze a lot, for so many reasons, but essentially these tips can be translated for any substance that is causing you a problem in your life today.

I have many favourites as you know.

Eat healthy foods, don’t drink or take drugs, exercise, sleep, spend time with the people you love, laugh, be in nature.  You know all the simple things that we know work.  Fundamentals I call them.  Get your basics in place.

If you have trouble getting your basics in please work with a suitably experienced and qualified coach.  Seriously it will really help and save you so much time.

Are you ready, drum roll………

My number 1 tip for when you take a break, or stop using anything is get out there and do something different.

I mean it really.

I know it’s tough when you first stop and the last thing you want to do...

Have you have been thinking about getting help to stop drinking? Or reducing or controlling your drinking?

Or maybe it’s your partying or drug use that has got out of hand.

You don’t want to tell your doctor or maybe you have spoken to them but it wasn’t really that helpful.

Some people will just be able to stop, gain control or reduce.  There is so much information out there on how to stop drinking, but it’s hard to know who and what to listen to.

What if you can’t do it on your own, what then? There is lots of help to stop drinking available, but you have to know where to look.

When I wanted to make a change and find help to stop drinking, I was lucky there was a great trainer and therapist in my life that had already spotted me coming a mile off, so they were ready for the call.  Also, in some weird way I was trying to help myself.  The want was there, I wanted my life to be different I just didn’t know how.

If that person...

Everyone keeps banging on about alcohol……. What’s the big deal?

I am going to go straight in with this. Alcohol is a drug (yes, it is).  A drug is something you put into your system (take, drink) that effects how you think and feel. And alcohol definitely does that.

It can make you feel relaxed, sleepy, excited, disinhibited, more sociable, loud, aggressive, slur your words, have trouble walking, suffer from incontinence, vomit, have hallucinations, paranoia, anxiety, sweating, shaking and the list goes on.  It has many effects on the body.

Alcohol is - a colourless volatile flammable liquid which is produced by the natural fermentation of sugars and is the intoxicating constituent of wine, beer, spirits, and other drinks, and is also used as an industrial solvent and as fuel.

If alcohol was re classified today it would be a class A drug up there with heroin and cocaine.

Apart from the obvious serious issues, there are many reasons why alcohol...

Top tips from others on how to live a happy healthy life, free from bad habits and addictions.

Most of my learning comes from working with and listening to thousands of people.  Yes, I have read the research and the books and taken part in a lot of training.  But nothing really compares to working with and listening to people that have done it.

People who have stopped and reduced: their drinking, their partying or their drug use and have changed their lives.  It doesn’t have to be people that have come back from the dead.  Everyone I have worked with has a story.  These are people from all walks of life: rich, poor, old, young. Getting into trouble with booze, drugs, food or gambling doesn’t discriminate. It doesn’t care if you work, whether you have money or where you come from.  It can effect anyone and everyone.

Here is a collection of some of my favourite little pieces of wisdom from those that have been there and are still doing...

The Rules for Moderation, after a break. 

Maybe you have taken a break. Stopped for a while. Done dry January or even given up for a year.  It’s been great, interesting, you have learnt a lot and you feel healthier and happier.  However, now you want to have a drink, just the one. “Ones ok, right?”

I get asked this question a lot.  People can take a break or give up.  They can change their lives so things are working.  But then what?

Do you start drinking again?

Is it ok to drink again?

Questions, questions.

Hopefully you know by now I am not the fun police. I am all about helping you to live a life that works for you. Its cheesy but true – live the life of your dreams.  And we all know if you are drinking or using drugs that’s not really going to work.

You don’t have to be abstinent forever unless you want to. Or it would cause significant problems if you started drinking or partying again.  Some people...

I have quite a few people telling me in their early days that they are really struggling with being sober/alcohol free or taking a break.  It doesn’t matter what you call it. The issues are generally the same.

What happens is people come to me when something isn’t working in their life. 9 times out of 10 people are usually drinking too much, partying too much or taking too many drugs.

And it doesn’t necessarily mean there is a problem with that, it’s just something isn’t working.  Maybe they can’t sleep, their relationships not working, are feeling anxious and so on.  Alcohol, drugs, caffeine all these things can be a contributing factor.

We start by stripping it back.  Stop the drinking, the drug use, the excessive caffeine consumption, (I can hear you say why caffeine?) the thing with coffee and I mean weapons grade coffee which more of us our drinking now is, it’s a stimulant. It also comes in variable strengths, so...

What is a Binge Anyway?

Technically a binge drinking session is when you consume anything from 6-8 units or more.

In simple terms, it’s when we drink a large amount of alcohol in a short space of time.

6-8 Units could be: 3 x 175ml glasses of wine = 6.9 units.

Or 4 pints of lager = 8 units

This depends on the strength of the lager and wine.  Also, the size of your wine glass.

It’s easier to think of a binge more in terms of drinking a lot in one go over a short period.  So, you go out and you get drunk within a couple of hours.  I think we all know whether we binge or not.

It’s the nights out that we can’t quite remember, when we spend the day after piecing together what happened.  The weekend spent feeling terrible: ill, sick, headache, bad stomach, embarrassed and eating way too much comfort food to get through the hangover.

Maybe these feelings even tip into feeling depressed and anxious into Monday and Tuesday.

What Can You Do to Help...

Cravings 

A powerful desire for something, a hunger, a thirst, want, urge, need.

There are lots of different words that sum up how we feel about cravings.

People ask me about cravings all the time. When will they stop? When will they go? People seem to worry and panic about them.

Let’s get a few things straight.

People have cravings all the time for many different things and many different reasons.  I would go so  far as to say there is no rhyme or reason to them. 

Its ok, don’t panic, a craving won’t kill you.  It’s just a feeling, something that pops into your mind, a thought.

Think of it like an emotion.  You feel many different emotions throughout the day.  Happy, sad, thoughtful, angry, frustrated, elated, love.  The list is endless.

Most of us don’t react to every single feeling we have.  If you do then please get some help, you don’t need to be a slave to your emotions.

So, you are going to have...