by Dr. Adam Fraser

No one can argue that the world has gotten faster. We used to date, now we speed date, we used to read now we speed read and we used walk now we speed walk. The world has gotten fast and the fall out is that we are all busy, time poor and exhausted.

The energy we bring to our day, our work and our lives, is the difference between elite performance and mediocrity. Energy is infectious to the people around you and you have to ask yourself what are you infecting your environment with.

There are 3 levels to energy management physical, emotional and mental.

Here are 20 tips to get more of each:

Physical Energy

1. Cut out caffeine after 3pm, it stimulates the brain and makes it difficult to get into deep relaxing sleep.

2. Dim the lights 1 hour before bed, this stimulates the release of melatonin a hormone that helps us get to sleep and stay asleep.

3. Decrease stimulation 1 hour before bed such as TV, work, computers, etc. wind down and relax before bed.

4. Have the same bed time and wake up time each day, helps your body anticipate when it needs to be asleep and awake.

5. Get 10 – 15 minutes of sun exposure each day, this regulates your circadian rhythm and helps you get more rejuvenating deep sleep.

6. Stay away from sugary foods, they pick you up briefly but then drop you. Soft drinks, biscuits, muffins and sugary snacks briefly energize you but then leave you feeling flat. If you need a snack aim for some protein, good grains and fruit.

7. Stay hydrated – drink at least 2 litres of water a day, when we are dehydrated our brain function slows and we feel tired.

8. Get 30 minutes of physical activity a day. Exercise increases our energy levels and also increases the efficiency of the body and the brain.

9. Eat every 3 to 4 hours. People often feel tired and drowsy at 3pm. At 3pm we have a natural drop in our glucose levels, when this happens we see a massive decrease in our energy levels. Regular meals help prevent this.

10. When eating out limit alcohol to 2-3 glasses, avoid fried food, creamy sauces and large serves of carbohydrates. These all reduce energy.

11. Picture it up. An energising meal is one where the plate is made up of half vegetables, a quarter protein, and a quarter carbohydrates.

12. At work take a short break (about 5 minutes) every 2 hours, where you get up from your desk move around, relax your brain and focus on something other than work. After about 90 minutes to 2 hours of work our brain fatigues and needs a rest.

Emotional Energy

Negative emotions such as anger, fear and frustration drain the energy out of us due to the stress response they produce.
13. Breathe out and slow your breathing. When we take a slow deep breath we reduce the release of stress hormones such as adrenaline that burn off our energy.

14. Talk to yourself more. Listen to the conversation you are having in your head and check that it is Accurate, Realistic and Optimistic. So often our thinking is irrational during the day leading to negative emotions and stress.

15. Choose your battles. Check to see if this is something you want to spend your emotional energy on. Too often we spend our emotional energy on things that aren’t important. Ask yourself am I being a drama queen.

16. Choose your mood. When you feel these negative emotions replace them with more positive ones. This sounds impossible, however we have more control over our mood than we think. If we are feeling sad and apathetic can we reflect on something joyous or something we are grateful for. A coaching client of mine has been going through some difficult times and is feeling a high percentage of negative emotions. When he feels like that he thinks of his 6 year old daughter doing ballet and he soon snaps out of it.

17. Do something each day that tops up your emotional energy, like a hobby or something you are passionate about.

Mental Energy

18. Touch it once. Often we procrastinate and fail to complete tasks; uncompleted tasks take up valuable mental energy. Don’t just touch a task, finish it!

19. Cut down on Multitasking – when we multi task we overload our brain with too many data points, causing mental fatigue.

20. Take time each day to focus and calm your mind on a single activity, such as meditation, art, playing a musical instrument, reading, cross word or sodoku. This will improve your ability to focus and reduce your stress levels.

Dr Adam Fraser appears on ABC radio 702 and is a regular presenter on TV, most recently appearing on Channel 7’s Sunrise. In addition, Adam’s exercise training business “the energy factory” has trained celebrity clients such as “Guy Sebastian” and “Tammin Sursok”.

Get moving again

by Rosemary Marchese

Are you struggling to find the time to exercise? You are not alone! But a routine that involves regular exercise is part of the solution to reenergising your body so it is vital to find some time in your day to make it happen. The National Physical Activity Guidelines for Australians recommend that you ‘put together at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most, preferably all, days’. Although more vigorous exercise is needed for physical fitness improvements, it is now known that following these guidelines can improve blood pressure, blood cholesterol and body weight! The other good news is that this does not have to be 30 continuous minutes to produce significant health benefits. Nor does it have to be all at the same intensity. Recent research is showing that interval training (interspersing lower intensity exercise with short bouts of higher intensity exercise) can also have some great benefits!

For many of you it may be that fitting in exercise means just another thing to add to your day. You need to change your mindset and think of physical activity as an opportunity rather than a chore. So, here are some physical activity tips to help those of you who are super busy.

1. Find bursts of 10-15 minute intervals to exercise. Be creative – run up and down your stairs at home (even the fittest of you will struggle as you get closer to the 10th flight!).

2. Don’t use your car as much! We are all complaining about the rising cost of fuel so limit your car use as much as possible. For mums with bubs that may mean making more use of the pram, for example do more frequent and smaller grocery shops by walking to the store and using the pram basket to carry a small load of groceries. For those of you at work get out at lunch time. “What lunch?” I hear you say. If you are not getting out at least once in your work day then chances are you are not being productive anyway. Work smarter, not longer hours. Catching public transport? Get off at an earlier stop – a ten minute walk suddenly becomes 100 extra minutes of extra physical activity per week if you do this on your way to and from work every day!

3. If you can find the time to fit in a 30 minute exercise session, make it productive. After a five minute warm-up walk pick up the pace a little for four and a half minutes, and then run for 30 seconds. Repeat this four times and then cool down with a slower walk for five minutes at the end.

4. Intersperse your cardiovascular exercise (such as walking, swimming, running, and cycling) with some resistance exercises to help increase your lean body mass. More lean body mass means that you will have a higher resting metabolic rate – burning up more energy when you sleep compared to when you have a lower resting metabolic rate. Find a local park to stop at during your lunch time walk or run and include exercises such as push ups and lunges. Of course if you are new at all this you will need to seek the advice of a fitness instructor first for some tips on correct technique.
5. Find active leisure activities – meet a friend for a walk rather than a coffee, join a tennis club, and take your kids to the zoo rather than a playhouse where you sit and watch the kids exercise!

6. Get up more at work and home! Get out of the car to open the garage, use the stairs not the lifts at work (or even the shops), get up to change the TV channel and use the clothes line, not the dryer.

Overall it is crucial that you find the time to exercise if you want to live longer. Exercise can add years to your life, whereas a sedentary lifestyle can reduce your life expectancy! These are all simple ways to help reenergise your exercise routine and your life!

Rosemary is a registered physiotherapist who has combined her expertise in health with fitness. She has over 15 years of experience teaching and consulting in the fitness industry. She is the co-author of the best-selling text book ‘The Essential Guide to Fitness: For the Fitness Instructor’, which was specifically written for those people wanting to start a career in the fitness industry. She is also Editor for Ultra Fit Magazine, which presents the fitness industry (experts and participants) up-to-the minute fitness industry research and workouts. For more information on Ultra Fit Magazine or Rosemary’s book, visit www.ultrafit.com.au.

Article from:

I WISH I was going to have sex this weekend. All the conditions will be ripe for it.

I’ll be in Florida. I’ll be out on the town toasting a friend’s 40th birthday. I’ll be basking in the sun, with a couple of my closest gorgeous girlfriends, all of us sipping our favorite girlie drinks. And I’m 99.9 percent sure we’ll talk about sex.

But that will be the extent of it - the sex, that is. We’re not the “Girls Gone Wild” type. So, thanks to our “no men” rule, we’re in for a sexless weekend, which kind of stinks, because vacation sex can work wonders for the heart, mind, and soul - at least if you’re going about it as a couple.

Few terms can rev up and relax the body at the same time as easily as “vacation sex.” It’s many a lover’s favorite passion pastime. One’s libido and sex life come alive at the mere thought of being in an Eros-inducing elsewhere. Vacation sex makes for some of the best sex because …You get away from the daily grind.

In cutting off your “lifelines” (for example, cell phones and e-mail access), you escape the temptation to work. This allows you to get away from pressures, distractions, worries and responsibilities — basically, any of those libido-killers that affect your love life most days of the year.

While on vacation, you can totally devote yourself to nurturing your sexual needs and desires — and to attending to those of your lover. This is one of the reasons the vast majority of American marriage counselors recommend a regular weekend away as the one thing that can help a marriage, especially a struggling one.

Novelty makes for more nookie.

People love having sex in new places. This is in large part because of the neurotransmitter dopamine. When people have new experiences, dopamine spikes in the brain, triggering lust. And with that, many are willing to try something new and exciting. What better place to get “sexperimental” than on vacation?

Romance gets reconstructed.

In a new, romantic, or exotic place, lovers can rediscover one another. In trying different restaurants or embarking on a variety of nightlife activities, every evening that you’re away feels like a date night, each with its own distinct backdrop. All of this enhances lovers’ moods, helping them to feel better about one another and more connected.

You “get lucky” a lot.

When you make the time for nothing but lovin’, that’s hopefully what you’re going to get – and lots of it. Sex will breed the desire for more sex, making both partners feel better about their sex life and the relationship. This is both for couples already content with their sex life and those hoping their vacation will make for some romance repair.

Obviously, most of the aforementioned benefits of vacation sex are realized by monogamous couples. That’s not to say that singles can’t get randy and have rebel-rousing vacation sex as well. Many of them go on vacation hoping for sexual adventure, with single women letting their hair down even more.

Studies have shown that when single women are on vacation, they are more willing to lower their standards for sex than when they are in their home environment. Vacations are the times when women are most likely to have one-night stands or hook-ups and feel good about it.

At the same time, however, men shouldn’t assume that a gal they fancy is going to be easy prey. In general, women have a harder time than men lowering their standards for sex, because women are more complex when it comes to the pre-conditions for desire. This bump in the road is probably a good thing, given the increased risk of getting infected with a sexually transmitted disease or conceiving while on vacation.

Research published in the British-based medical journal Sexually Transmitted Infections reveals that a substantial number of people visiting international nightlife resorts have sex with people they meet while abroad. For example, more than half of travelers visiting Ibiza, Spain — an international dance resort — had sex with at least one person, with more than 26 percent of males and almost 15 percent of females having sex with more than one individual.

Factors that influence one’s decision to shag while on vacation include: Alcohol and/or drug use, fearlessness in anonymity, peer pressure, loss of inhibition in a foreign place, and the perception that sex is accessible. The end result: Increased STDs and pregnancy rates.

So if you’re single or the sort to be unfaithful, make sure you’re looking out for yourself in planning for even the potential of vacation sex. Before going anywhere, do a risk assessment of your destination and sexual intentions. Geographic distribution maps provided by the World Health Organization can help you assess how widespread HIV/AIDS and hepatitis are in your travel destination.

Regardless, common sense would be to assume risk everywhere, which means always practice safe sex if you’re not planning to abstain. Furthermore, consider well and honestly who you may sleep with. Commercial sex workers, for example, pose an increased risk of infection due to their own greater opportunities for exposure. If you can, get immunized against hepatitis B and pack condoms before you travel.

Read Original Article here

Dr. Yvonne Kristín Fulbright is a sex educator, relationship expert, columnist and founder of Sexuality Source Inc. She is the author of several books including, “Touch Me There! A Hands-On Guide to Your Orgasmic Hot Spots.”

by Andrew May

Ahhh, the perfect holiday - you lie stretched out on a hammock between two gently swaying palm tress. There’s no traffic and no noise apart from the rhythmic lapping of waves on the shore. With a great book and a cool drink in hand, you take a deep breath and drift away.

Sounds idyllic, but now for the real story. At the end of a frantic week’s work, you stay up till 2am packing bags and trying to find your passport. You then picked up the Blackberry and spent another hour returning emails. The alarm clock screamed at 4.45am and you jumped into a last minute cab to the airport. Four hours later you’re in a two hour customs queue. Finally, you arrive at your hotel just as the local telephone network connects with your roaming Blackberry… Beep! You have mail.

Sound familiar? You’re not alone. A recent survey by American Express revealed that 40% of British holidaymakers find travel stress more unbearable than a visit to the dentist. And to describe our relaxing holidays we’ve had to invent new terms like trolley rage, air rage and check-in rage to explain what happens when wired up workers try and hit the off button.

Stockpiling holidays

According to a recent Tourism Australia survey, the Australian workforce has accrued more than 70 million days of annual leave. That equates to 14 million weeks or nearly $11 billion in holiday pay.

The study also found that almost 60% of Australian workers don’t take their full annual leave entitlement! When questioned why, the majority responded with “I’m too busy to take a lot of time out”.

It’s just unsustainable. The key to performing at your peak is high intensity effort interspersed with regular recharge and renewal periods.

Seven holiday tips to refresh, renew and recharge

1. Plan your break - many people plan their working day to the last second but fail to give any thought to their time off. Look for relaxing locations and fun activities for your next break. Pack early, keep important paper work including passports and travel documents in the same place, and get a good night’s sleep before you leave.

2. Leave your work behind - don’t take anything to finish on your next break except a good book. Be disciplined and leave your work in the office.

3. Bury the laptop - leave your laptop in the office too. If that sounds hard, you might find you are addicted to your laptop, mobile or PDA. Try turning them off for a week – seriously!

4. Prune your schedule - don’t pack your holiday diary like your average working week; leave some time to just chill and relax. This will do wonders for your creative thinking when you get back to the office.

5. Try something new - try something totally left field to give your brain a rest from the normal grind. Go windsurfing, paddle a kayak, learn French, try yoga, or book in for a massage.

6. Get up at the same time every day - a big trap on holidays is the circadian rhythm free-running cycle. You go to bed a little later each night and by the end of the holiday you’re sleeping in till lunchtime. Go to bed and get up at your normal times. If you feel sleep deprived, go to bed an hour earlier or enjoy an afternoon siesta.

7. Learn to relax - as a reformed workaholic, I honestly had to learn to do this. When it’s time to switch off, set boundaries that force you to relax. Try turning off your mobile phone and ditching the watch.

Relaxing and switching off may not come easily at first, but persist. It is impossible to be productive when you are switched on 24/7.

Andrew May is is considered Australia’s leading expert on performance and productivity and is the author of the bestselling book, Flip the Switch. Andrew speaks at conferences across the globe, mentors CEO’s and senior managers. He is published throughout national and international media, with regular segments on 2UE radio, Mix 106.5 Body and Soul and Channel Nine’s TODAY show.

by Justin Hooper

When we think about the Sydney Olympics eight years ago, for each of us there are one or two stand out memories. It could be Cathy Freeman’s 400m victory, Ian Thorpes’s gold medals or the wonderful work of the volunteers. What will your memory be of the Beijing Olympics?

Will it be Phelps 8 gold medals, the opening ceremony or something more universal? For me, in 8 or 10 years time I would hope I would have a more pleasant answer to the current impressions I have of the games. At the moment, I can’t get past the pollution! I can’t believe that after all the hype and money spent, and the wonderful facilities, the Chinese were unable to do much about the pollution. I couldn’t help think that no amount of money would encourage me to want to live in an environment where I struggle to breathe, ran risks of permanent health damage and potentially shorten my life significantly and could hardly ever see blue sky or any decent views.

Wow, for me the overwhelming impressions of the Olympics are my gratitude of living in Australia.

It made me think too of the saying “be careful what you wish for, because you may just get it”. How true that is.

I recently helped a client who a number of years ago had a goal to reduce his tax significantly.  He had (and still has) very high income from employment and decided that above all he wanted to pay as little tax as possible. Years later he has achieved his objective but is now desperately unhappy and stressed. The reason? He’s borrowed significantly, bought commercial properties, interest rates have gone up, new developments have been built, his tenants haven’t renewed and the property values have fallen. He is paying no tax but his life is desperately unhappy.

His financial situation is affecting his marriage, his job and his health. Be careful what you aim at.

I have always thought the Chinese plan in centuries not even in decades. These Olympics have made me wonder whether this is still true. Have they became equally short term focused with a desperate desire to “catch up” at the risk of losing themselves and their ultimate happiness in materialism?

Unfortunately, my overwhelming impression at this stage of the Beijing Olympics is the Chinese are desperately trying to create an identity of technological, construction and sporting brilliance rather than a great society. We in the West can’t criticize; we have done that so well ourselves that most of us think were successful but something inside of us tells us different.

That’s the problem with being focussed on goals. We convince ourselves that they are what we want. But in reality, we are often just living out of our identities – we convince ourselves that our goals are what we should be aiming at but for some reason, even when we achieve them we’re no happier. There’s an empty feeling which we can’t explain.

If you don’t believe me, ask yourself these questions:

-    do I compare myself to others even though I know I have been reasonably successful?
-    am I striving for financial freedom so that one day I can be truly myself?
-    do I feel chained to a job that limits me ability to express myself/

In a world fast changing to one of more authenticity, I wonder whether the Chinese would have preferred to have left a lasting legacy.

If you’re not completely conscious in life, you can’t be completely conscious in financial matters.

Justin Hooper,CEO, Sentinel Wealth Management, www.sentinelwealth.com.au

by Tony Wilson

Sleep’s Performance Impact:

In your most hectic times, do you know how much your lack of quality sleep and sustained chaos affects your performance?  Maintaining your hectic schedule to get more done, could actually prove to be a false economy, substantially affecting decision making, energy, concentration, cognitive speed and memory.  How do you maximise your productivity during your busiest work and travel schedules?

Athletes in particular know the importance of rest as a tool to make sure that their training and competition performances are of the best quality; this can also be applied to corporate performance.

Many studies have been done regarding sleep deprivation and the results are fairly compelling: Stay awake longer than 18 consecutive hours and reaction speed, memory, problem solving, cognitive speed and spatial orientation all start to suffer.  People that have been working for 24 hours straight are 61% more likely to make mistakes on routine tasks and 460% more likely to have a near-miss accident while driving home.

But this doesn’t apply to you, right?  Except for maybe the odd all-nighter getting that report in, or the Friday/Saturday night bender, you are never really in sleep deficit – or are you?

Are you Getting Enough (Sleep, that is):

Research from Harvard Medical School shows that when you sleep less than eight hours a night for several days, sleep deficit starts to kick in; if you average four hours of sleep a night for four to five days, you develop the same level of deficit as if you have been awake for a period of 24 hours.  The level of cognitive impairment that arises from being awake for 24 hours is the same as having a blood alcohol level of .05!

The crazy thing is that we probably get the least sleep when we travel and yet this is often when we need to function at our best; deliver that great presentation, impress the clients, make vital decisions that impact strategy etc etc.

How can you Combat Sleep Deficit?

The key is obviously getting a longer night’s sleep, or at least being able to break the cycle of continuously working around the clock.  There are also implications for travel and scheduling:

1.    Have a work-free night at home 2-3 nights a week minimum (Monday to Friday that is).  You might be amazed at how this makes you prioritise your working hours and fires up your productivity.  I am sure you will also be amazed at the impact this will have on your home-life.  Get to bed earlier on these nights

2.    Remove all electronic devices from your bedroom, so that you are not interrupted.

3.    Avoid caffeine from six hours before you aim to go to bed

4.    Avoid taking red-eye flights where possible, especially if you are expected to perform at the destination immediately

5.    When traveling internationally, try to take a day to adapt to the interrupted sleep from the flight as well as the new time zone before scheduling important business

I know that these strategies might sound like they are eating into your schedule, but I firmly believe that the increases in productivity will be well worth it.

What about when you simply HAVE to Perform on little or No Sleep?

There are a number of short-term solutions that you can implement to get you going when you simply have to perform, but have had little sleep.

Caffeine is the most widely used strategy to perk up performance, and while this is a good short-term fix, you need to avoid the ‘down-cycle’ that this creates also (incidentally, caffeine is the second most widely sold commodity in the world next to oil)

Exposure to sunlight is one of the major drivers of our natural sleep/wake patterns, so this is a great source of ‘fooling’ our body clock into thinking we are supposed to be awake.

Exercise is also a good way of ‘waking up’, especially if you are used to doing this first thing in the morning.  Even a good walk outside can help your energy levels greatly.

Take a nap.  This can also be effective in sustaining performance for a short time.  However, keep these to less than half an hour so that the ‘grogginess’ effect is minimised.

Summary:

You can only perform your best when you are properly rested - the impact of fatigue on performance can be drastic, and this extends to your attitude and moods.  The notion that many high performers get limited sleep is getting less applicable in today’s society, and is definitely the exception rather than the rule.

Tony Wilson is the founder of Teamcorp Australia, and has spent over a decade working with elite performers in business and in sport.  His ability to help athletes reach their potential and maintain motivation has been a large factor in their success, and many corporate leaders throughout Australia now also apply Tony’s philosophies with outstanding results.  Tony’s practical background, coupled with an MBA, give him a unique perspective on personal and team performance.

by Glenn Capelli

It seems some folk have the Hanrahan gene born into them and can always be found focusing on the dark side of life. ‘We’ll all be ruined’ said Hanrahan, no matter what the situation. These are the folk who see the glass half empty.

Other folk see the glass half full. They respond to situations with a ‘we can work it out’ mentality and whenever things are bad and can really make you sad they always look on the bright side of life. They believe that life is too short for fussing and fighting my friend.

Some others simply see that the wrong sized vessel has been chosen for the task. These are the pragmatic realists.

Personally I am B negative by blood group and B positive by effort and disposition. I normally come from a base of optimism. My hero as a teen was Anne Frank. In her diary she wrote ‘despite all that has happened’ – meaning the horrors of World War 2, the eradication of Jewish people and multitudes of others – ‘I still believe that people are good at heart’. Like Anne Frank my optimism is not a Pollyanna one that thinks that everything will be sweet and beautiful. It is more a thorough minded one.

In fact, years ago I read The Power of Optimism by Alan Loy McGinnis and it inspired a list of mind sets for a Thorough Minded Optimism:

• I am seldom surprised by trouble in my life
• I look for partial solutions all the time
• I like to share the good news not the bad
• I am cheerful even when I’m feeling sad
• I interrupt any negative trains of thought
• I accept that some things in me are sometimes fraught
• I accept what it is that cannot be changed
• Yet I know that sharing love can change my brain
• I imagine and rehearse success from the start
• I refresh my spirit and I exercise my heart

Whatever accent we have, we need to be aware of negatives, know that some things are murky in-betweens but as best as possible learn to accentuate the positives and live with a daily sense of appreciation.

Let the good times roll.

Glenn Capelli is the author of Thinking Caps book and radio pieces as well as being a top Keynote Speaker. www.glenncapelli.com. You can contact Glenn at glenn@glenncapelli.com

by Allan Bolton B.H.M.S. (Hons) MAAESS AEP SP

Many rate a workout with a non-anesthetised tooth extraction. If this is you don’t too feel down about it, you are only doing what evolution has taught you. Our genes are constantly telling us to keep still and conserve life sustaining energy. Today, these features which not so long ago were important for survival, are now a bug in the system that can lead to energy drain.

Our genetic energy conservation coding combined with winter temperatures and time pressure can make leaving your exercise bug in hibernation an easy choice.

Expend a little, recharge a lot

Working out is a great way to re-energise both mind and body. Exercising for just 30 minutes can make you feel good all day. To switch from simply thinking about exercise to doing it we need to figure ways to outsmart our genes and stimulate the brain’s do-it-again chemistry that makes us want to keep coming back for more.

Defrost you recharge button

Winter is here, who wants to freeze? A fitness centre is a great place to stay warm, workout and re-energise. Here are some suggestions to keep you on the move.

Find a body-friendly fitness centre

If you feel a little intimidated by the super-fit mirror munchers at the local fitness centre, here are some tips on how to find centre with a positive image:

•    Staff are dressed in loose rather than skin-tight, neck-high clothing

•    Staff take the time during your first few visits to discuss your needs, rather than push the benefits of the latest butt-burning machine.

•    Gym members are represented in a diverse range of sizes and shapes, not just lean and mean.

•    The walls feature posters of flowing streams or inspirational quotes rather than bikini-clad beach babes or hormone riddled muscle hulks.

•    You can choose from a wide variety of machines and equipment, not just 800kg dumbbells and 40kph treadmills.

•    There are quiet, calm areas to relax and stretch, instead of wall-to-wall mirrors and ear bashing dance beats.

•    There’s not a set of scales or a pair of skin callipers in sight!

Go for a freebie

Fitness centres will be keen for business in winter, so ask for a free trial workout or week of workouts to get you started.

Partner up

Make a commitment with a buddy to meet at the gym for “partner power” workouts. You might stand yourself up for a gym appointment, but will be less likely to sms a motivated friend with a no-show message.

Try what’s on offer

Take the opportunity to trial different fitness classes. You might like to try yoga, pilates, Body Combat or group personal training.

Get a trainer

Hire a personal trainer once a week to keep you on track and in good form. You’ll probably get nutritional advice and motivation as an extra bonus.

Take a challenge

Challenge yourself to visit the gym at least once a week, and give yourself a nice reward for making good on your efforts.

Catch up on your reading

Take a book to read on the stationary cycle and aim to finish it by Spring.

Go home dry

Take a change of warm clothes, so you don’t catch a chill by going outside wearing wet, sweaty workout gear.

If you don’t hibernate this winter, you won’t have to play catch-up with your fitness come spring. Take it easy, and enjoy your winter workouts.

Allan Bolton is an accredited exercise physiologist. He has worked in health, fitness and human performance over the past 28 years. Over this time Allan has featured in media including all major Australian newspapers, National commercial TV news, ABC radio and most commercial stations. He is a Scientific Advisor and Health and Fitness expert for Weight Watchers Australasia. Allan was the first person in the world with insulin dependent diabetes to complete an Ironman Triathlon. This mix of qualification and personal achievement make him a popular corporate keynote speaker and workshop presenter. For more go to Allan’s website at www.qualityhealth.com.au

Stress! Just the thought and sound of the word can get the blood pumping and the nostrils flaring. If you’ve been thinking that work and life seem to be getting more and more stressful, you’re not imagining it. Take a look at the following statistics:

* 1 in 3 adults suffer from moderate to extreme stress, a 40% increase in 4 years
* Australia has the 2nd longest working hours in the developed world, behind Korea
* Stress-related workers compensation claims have increased by 400% in the last 10 years and now cost more than $2 billion pa.
* Depression is predicted to be the leading occupational disease of the 21st century, responsible for more days lost than any other single factor
* Stress in the UK workplace has outstripped backache as the number one cause of lost productivity

The 21st Century Black Plague

Stress is a global phenomenon and has been termed the black plague of the 21st Century. In Japan they have even invented a word for burnout – karoshi. The Japanese government reports that each year more than 10,000 businessmen literally work themselves to death. Stress at work is to blame.

In Hong Kong, burnout is a relatively new phenomenon because workers are only finally feeling okay about revealing that they aren’t in control. This has previously been seen as a weakness, as it is in many cultures and countries. Workplace psychologists in Hong Kong are now booked months in advance.

Why is distress and burnout on the rise?

In the old days stress was mainly caused by environmental problems including drought, fire and floods; as well as spiraling inflation, famine and war.

Modern day distress is more due to the way we live our lives – controlled by work, debt, technology, time and other people’s demands. The end result is feeling overwhelmed and out of control Sounding familiar? Key areas identified that create stress overload include:
* Growing psychological demands with the obsession to increase productivity and work longer hours
* The need to gather and apply growing amounts of information, called data deluge or information obesity
* Media tend to report more on negative news as this has been proven to sell better than positive news
* Perfection Infection – obsession with trying to live perfect lives with the perfect job, relationships, family, house, body and so on
* Job insecurity – remember when people use to have a job for life?
* Lack of effective communication and conflict-resolution methods among workers and families
* Demographic changes such as aging workers, female participation in the workforce, and the integration of a growing population of ethnic and racial minorities into the workplace
* The need for both men and women to balance obligations between work and family
* Grid locked traffic, rising credit card bills, technology constantly binging and dinging, and the inability to draw boundaries between work and life
* Instant gratification – we have been taught to believe that we can everything right here and right now

Stress Arrester Tips

There are a couple of simple but very effective ways to manage stress such as:
* Personal organisation. Make a list of all the things that make you feel stressed. Once identified, try and relax in these situations and learn to tackle the source where possible.
* Time management. Stop trying to do more than one thing at a time, take jobs in order of importance and plan ahead. Refer to Organisation switch.
* Take regular exercise. Cycling, jogging, swimming and working out in the gym, are ideal ways of reducing tension caused by stress. Refer to Movement switch.
* Learn relaxation techniques. These can include activities like meditation or yoga, or simple things like listening to music, reading or taking the dog for a walk.
* Find ways to escape in your spare time and build in regular holidays/breaks
* Improving your communications skills

Managing stress and avoiding burnout is an essential skill to thrive in today’s frantically paced world. Invest valuable time towards managing stress and building resilience. And please seek additional help through a psychologist or counselor if you still feel overwhelmed after trying these strategies.

(Reference sources: Catalyst: Workplace stress – stopping the juggernaut, ABC; Stress Reducing Milk: The Daily Telegraph; ACTU statistics; New Horizon Consulting: Stress, Workload and Job Control)

Andrew May is is considered Australia’s leading expert on performance and productivity and is the author of the bestselling book, Flip the Switch. Andrew speaks at conferences across the globe, mentors CEO’s and senior managers. He is published throughout national and international media, with regular segments on 2UE radio, Mix 106.5 Body and Soul and Channel Nine’s TODAY show.

- without going into withdrawal

By Catherine Saxelby

Overdoing the caffeine? Living from coffee to coffee? Can’t get going in the morning without your java fix? Sipping a cappuccino or short black is a common way for busy people to recharge your batteries or even wake up. But what do you do when it gets to be too much?

Like you, I too enjoy a coffee out – that aroma and adrenalin hit is just wonderful. Plus it’s a great way to catch up with friends or colleagues. Especially when you’re pressed for time.

But the caffeine trap is a slow insidious one. You start out sipping a short black in the morning. Then one day, you realise you need four of them just to get through your day (or 10 instant coffees), as one of my friends discovered. May as well put in a coffee drip!

How much is too much?

The side effects? Well, some people never notice any – that is, until they have to go without. Say if you go camping or have to fast for a blood test. Then you hit caffeine withdrawal. Been there, ain’t pleasant.

You get the massive never-goes-away headache and the incredible tiredness. Lasts for a couple of days but it’s bad enough to send you screaming back for a coffee fix remedy (which works quickly and effectively).

Other people get warning signs from caffeine habituation, which is what the experts call that addictive quality of caffeine – they pull up short from using the actual word ‘addiction’.

If you’ve got any of these symptoms:
• insomnia
• upset stomach
• heartburn
• too-rapid heartbeats (tachycardia),
• mind always in overdrive
• irritability
• over-anxious (‘coffee jitters’)
• frequent urination

you can be fairly sure it means too much caffeine.

For me, two coffees in a row is enough caffeine to get my heart beating seriously. And my stomach unhappy. I don’t go there anymore.

What amount is safe?

Caffeine acts on the central nervous system, speeding up the heartbeat and rate of breathing, dilating blood vessels and relaxing smooth muscles. It boosts alertness and concentration and overcomes the perception of fatigue – key reasons for its enduring popularity in our fast-pace world.

Most of us can handle around 300mg of caffeine a day without problems. This translates to 4 or 5 cups of instant coffee or 3 shots of espresso (one latte, short black or cappuccino all start with a shot).

Kick the habit in four gradual steps

If you figure you’re a caffeine junkie or you cut want to cut back, here’s how to do it. Don’t go cold turkey. The headache is a killer, believe me. Cut back on caffeine gradually – one less cup day by day - to allow your body to adapt. It’s the only way to go.

1. Start on a weekend or on holidays when you won’t be under pressure. Begin by dropping your afternoon coffee or energy drinks. Have your last one by 4pm so you sleep well. Instead switch to
• decaf coffee
• regular tea, which has one-half to one-third the caffeine.
• a herbal infusion, especially after dinner when you’re looking for a good night’s sleep. If you think you’ll look like a sissy, how about a rooibus (red tea) instead? It tastes almost like tea but has no caffeine.

2. Aim to cut your overall intake by half. You don’t have to give up coffee entirely (thank goodness), just enough to reduce the side effects, depending on your sensitivity.

3. Switch to lower caffeine options:
Soft drink instead of energy drink
Tea or rooibus instead of coffee (tea, both green and black, has around half to one-third the caffeine of coffee – a good lower caffeine option)
Try a coffee substitute (made from roasted barley, chicory or dandelion root eg Caro, Ecco, Dandelion tea)

4. Don’t overlook guarana. It’s just another plant that’s a source of caffeine. Yes, it’s natural but then so are coffee beans and tea leaves. Yerba mate is another drink high in caffeine.

Catherine Saxelby is an accredited nutritionist and author of 9 books including Nutrition for Life. For more tips and ideas, go to her website at www.foodwatch.com.au