IRONMAN FRANKFURT – LENT

The Lent of Ironman approaches, small sacrifices of desire not need will become increasingly important to ensure readiness on race day in June.
At 20 weeks to go which is in a couple of weeks, deserts, treasures and snacks shift to dark chocolate or red grapes. No added cream or biscuits, but full fat Jersey milk for both the protein and calcium. No point in denial, replacement is a better option. Nutritional strategy will be based on fueling and recovery with a little beer or wine for pure pleasure with four days off booze which means 39-42 hours twice a week without. Should help with overall health and waistline. Diet generally omnivorous, home made and simple. Ample water plus salts and supplementary greens powder. Nitrates will be important so carrot and beet juices or powders as supplements. Magnesium and Vitamin D plus Omega 3 from fish and olive oil by the spoonful.
Training nutrition only as necessary for longer training sessions.
As of early February, regarding pains, only a right foot chronic condition and continuing tightness in the post crash right shoulder encapsulitis. Working on traction, stretching and Upper body strength building with 2 gym visits weekly.
Swim Smooth sessions 1 and 2 are complete and received Andrea’s video analysis, for me to work on. Lots of issues to fix
Excited about training right now, can’t wait for tomorrow 

SOME CALENDAR LATE JANUARY EVENTS

Jan 21 – after a 9.15pm swim drills session it is clear I have far to go with swimming well so I’m back to the video analysis, self analysis. Kick is strange and twisted so have to resolve. When I showed the videos and still pics to the kiddos there split their sides laughing at dad’s crazy legs, strange when they work really well running and cycling !

Jan 27 – thinking about sports drink and 90g/hr so 360 cal/hour. If I can get 720 cal or 800 in a bottle with 2 g sodium plus mg, k, ca 1:1 maltodextrin : fructose

Jan 29 – was time for first 2 hour indoor ride. Great fun an hour with what’s app chat and an hour TDZ stage 6 feeling good

Feb 1 – and one week of taper to go before it is IM commitment time. Tapering deserts, alcohol, don’t feel like it days, reverse taper recovery, nutrition, hydration, training. Looking forward to 19 weeks training and focus.

As we are on the Eve of IMF 2022 training it’s time to consider my baselines for all aspects. health, equipment, training, mindset, nutrition, injuries, logistics. More on baselines once spreadsheet is created.

IRONMAN 2022 Frankfurt

£565 entry cost
£582 Hotel cost
£400 est Travel cost
£500 est Logistics cost
Total : est £2200

THE START – AND HOW TO BE READY FOR JUNE 26

Oct 14 2021 – Frankfurt 2022 was chosen today for water temp and lake swim.
Now to get the pieces together. Right shoulder still recovering from bike crash with limited ROM. Have not swum since 2019 in the Florida Keys.
Oct 13 – Raised saddle 2mm and saddle fwd 10mm on the road bike, a Litespeed conversion
Oct 17 – ran 3 and rode 3 also. A good starter week, consistency is key.
INJ: Right foot under toes still a bit sore. Foot roller, BSPOT and NIKE Invincible shoes. Not much sleep as we are doing 3 long nights with Brian, we are full time carers for my father in law.
Oct 18 – Poor weather and very tired. Ate well and started work on swim training with Effortless Swim video series. Final PT session for the broken shoulder, down to me now.
Oct 20 – Shiela’s book. Using “stroke data” to improve swim times. Ran 10k slowly.
Oct 20 Ride with Mike Borza going to ride Wednesdays together across the ocean.
Oct 22 Rode 60 mins for the first time. Also arranging for Swim Smooth session on Dec 4.
Oct 24 – Joined Tenby leisure center from Thursday Oct 28. Aim use free bus pass to get there and train hard, rehabilitation and strength regain for upperbody and shoulder.
Oct 26 – Indoc session with Tom at leisure center. Took the free bus, for over 60’s, to Narberth Road stop then warm up run 1.2km to gym and ran 3.5 miles home uphill for half of it!
Oct 27 planning to recce 8k Oktober Saundersfoot Runners run and ride Kickr. Well did ride 70 mins but no run.
Oct 28 going for recce 8k then group run today. Gym at 1130. All done in the cold and rain, Epsom salts arrived today so 500gm plus Radox and a 40 min soak. TWISTED ankle running.
Oct 30 – biking Wahoo feeling down with so much rain and shit weather. Signed up for 3 days gym in Tenby. Group run tomorrow 8k test. Gaining weight up to 73+ kg Oct 31 a Sunday and an 8k group run, slowly with the group. Monthly challenge achieved for all. Next month an event, Park run.

SO WE ARRIVE IN NOVEMBER 2021

Nov 1 Added a Monday gym/run to gain the needed miles as a slow build up begins. And RALK back from gym on Tuesday. Slowly does it. RALK is going to be key. Result was a 9 min pace RALK Tenby to home, uphill half the way.
Nov 3 – 10min pace is 4.20 and 10.30 is 4.40 so I would be very happy with that for IM. Aim to practice RALK building distance by end May.
Nov 7 first longer run 8 miles with Rachel from the shop. Nice and easy average 9 min/mile or so but finished at 6.30 ish. Riding at 2.00 first time ZWIFT after months off.
Nov 9 – felt good running to gym and can feel shoulder ROM and STRENGTH gains.
Feeling excited, feeling stronger and training feels better already.
Nov 12 – feeling quite good and strong. FTP indoors now 203w. Less aches still some pains like right foot but working on it. Weight seems to have plateaued at 74kg and now coming off. Training has increased a bit and consistent. Strength work and right shoulder rehab going well with better ROM but still weak.
Nov 14 – longest run for ages 16km left ankle sore where I twisted it a week ago. Will do cold water and Epsom plus ibuprofen cream.
Nov 21 sunny cold but beautiful day for 16k with Rachel and then Mark. Finished with 1.39 Strand 400m. Feeling strong today, aches in left ankle, right foot under toes and right knee. Shoulder mobility increasing. Start swimming soon beginning of Dec. Just one more week of shoulder traction and mobility work.
Nov 27 – our run group anniversary party and 1 mile fun event. Park Run cancelled during storm Arwen.

END OF THE YEAR AND HOW ARE WE DOING

Dec 6 – swam for the first time. 
Dec 8 – “There are no shortcuts, no magic spells and no free rides”
Dec 12 – a long night watch with Brian. Swam and now riding ZWIFT.
Dec 19 feeling good as the sun is shining. Ran 10k at Llys y Fran with the group. Lovely day and a good training week
Dec 26 – a decent week. Longer rides and more swimming needed

Jan 3 – slow start after a short swim and gym session on Monday.
Jan 7 – used new snorkel and got out smiling after 975y.
Jan 8 – is Swim Smooth program at Atlantic college with Andrea for video analysis.
Jan 9 – great fun group run 14k finished sub 7. Then ZWIFT Group ride 90 mins with the VB crew. Feeling very good.
Jan 9 – need to buy aero bars for road bike, probably Decathlon Sports ones
Jan 11 – for weight management only dark chocolate or fruit for sweet treats from week 20. Then with 4 weeks to go will reconsider diet shape. Jan 23 – after tooth out no swims for a few days so it’s swim video watching and analysis for several days. Gaining a better understanding.
Jan 23 – ran 9.5 miles getting ready for a half marathon Feb 19th Jan 24 – almost last desert. It was fruit crumble and custard, no cream  Jan 25 – cold few days running slow. Feel good riding indoors and working through the swim videos. Jan 26 – decided to fly with BA from LHR and back in business class gives 2 bags including the bike

Cold Air Immersion Therapy

If cold water immersion is, anecdotally, deemed beneficial, then can cold air therapy have the same or better effects on the human. Now by the same or better I mean performance improvements and/or health improvements. Lets first look at the facts.

Cold water immersion at 12C or 53.6F is very cold at least for normal swimmers, for example in ITU triathlons water temp below 14C or 57.2F means the swim portion is wetsuit mandatory due to risk of hyperthermia, even though immersion times are from 8-60 mins. In cold air of similar temperatures no such rule exists and riding a bike for 30 mins to 5 hours following a swim is not uncommon and in much lower temperatures, so cold air immersion is likely to last for much longer than cold water immersion.

When we look at cold immersion in water or air, we need to consider the reason or purpose of the immersion, whether for therapeutic reasons or force of circumstance such as in races or training and understand the effects on the human of such immersion. But setting aside races, training and other possible circumstances we can focus on purely therapeutic modalities to determine if there are benefits for cold immersion and the big question is can cold air immersion deliver any therapeutic benefits?

Cold air immersion can easily be achieved in colder or temperate climates where natural conditions often offer air temperature of 5 Celsius and below so that cold air immersion can be managed for any desired length of time. But in tropical or similar climates cold air immersion may not be practical except through a purpose built climatic simulation chamber.

Question is, are there benefits from simple whole body skin exposure to cold temperatures? The variables would be air temperature, airflow, exposure time. Other variables could include altitude and acclimation but these are not considered here. See ref A.

It seems from the research that cold water immersion beneficial effects come about for several reasons, enhance calorie usage due to shivering, hormonal changes with an increase in adrenalin and other hormones that could help with depression and also the anti-inflammatory effects of cold temperatures just as ice does. Now these benefits have been studied and many people are convinced of their efficacy, but there are clear variables such as temperature and time of immersion and with this comes risks especially for the unwary. Hypothermia and cold damage to cells and skin are exacerbated with total immersion in cold water and clearly this can be dangerous, after all we know the Titanic story too well.

The risks associated with cold air immersion are much less than cold open water swimming or plunging, a short walk in 5 degree air could have the same benefits, certainly shivering occurs, mitochondrial increase in energy must also occur as it does in water and the effects on brown fat are probably the same. But the risks are much lower in air and could be even more beneficial for people looking for health benefits.

References :

A. Cold air immersion https://www.nature.com/articles/ejcn2016223

POST SEASON training, HEALTH, fitness and RECOVERY for your best 2022 triathlon season

Let’s look into the demands of the post season phases for age group multisport athletes. If you want more successes in 2022 then we need to prioritise activities, training, balance and health in these post season phases. I always describe the post season as a time to work on weaknesses and for mental and physical recovery. Continuing to do more of the same from your competition phases wont optimally help you for the big 2022 season.

No matter your goals for 2022, post season begins immediately after competition season and starts with a BREAK, physical, familial, mental recovery are most important for that all important BALANCE. How long of a break is personal in my view and could be a week or a month of LIMITED healthy exercise with no structure, healthy and relaxed eating and adjusting the balance to one of a more relaxed approach to gain that all important recovery and feeling of wellbeing plus the desire to restart structured training.

Without balance we get burnout and dread of the coming season and without a break, we get into that competition season rut and triathletes can often end up doing the same training year round. My opinion is not to sign up for that fall marathon but to unwind, refocus and determine 2022 goals during this first post season phase where the FOCUS is on WEAKNESSES, and maybe do that spring marathon instead. As I said this can be a week or a few weeks. To some extent the length of the break has to do with personal circumstances, family and social life. But the aim is to recover, determine weaknesses and decide on 2022 goals.

Post season phase two then starts as we begin to get back into training, having determined our goals, had enough of a break, feel ready to train again and understand that this phase is all about working on what went wrong in 2021, 2020, 2019…. so that you come out faster for 2022.

WEAKNESSES – what do I mean by this? Maybe skills, speed, stamina, strength, mobility, health, nutrition, hydration, transitions. Of course for us multisport athletes, we have differing needs for the many aspects of each event; swim efficiency, bike power, run economy are examples and these need to be broken down into the components to be worked on to elicit change, such as specific strength, body position, equipment changes, transitions. Once we determine these together we can plan what to do to address these weaker aspects of your racing from previous seasons. The what needs to be done is then translated into a plan of action and a specific personal program developed. In my view based on pre-competition and competition phases between May and October we have from November to January/February to work on weaknesses and March/April pre-season to work on strengths, then we work on RACE SPECIFIC aspects for our 2022 season. So specifics for sprints, olympics long course and IRONMAN events, plus specifics for each course for A races.

Examples of post season training can be BASIC strength, CORE strength, swim lessons to improve your body position and speed in the water, big gear bike sessions for improved power, or higher cadence sessions, interval or fartlek runs, hill runs or longer runs all depending on the weaknesses identified earlier. Of course some of our weaknesses might be mental limitations for example GRIT – DETERMINATION – SKILLS. These can be worked on using hard training sessions in the pool, indoors on the bike, and winter races like cross country, 5k-10k road racing and of course if you live with snow, then cross country skiing or ERG rowing can be fantastic to build grit. Learning to suffer and push through in racing is an essential skill if you want to win, but can also be vital for those aiming to complete their IRONMAN or their first open water triathlon.

More later as we can delve into specifics, but as those are vey personal to each athlete, it is for each of us to determine our weaknesses and with determination, work on them.

More on Independence for Wales

Following on from a previous post, I wonder how much industry or revenue generating business is needed to be a viable independent country? How much investment from outside or how much borrowing? We will get onto this later and in other notes. But reading the information published by Yes Cymru and Plaid Cymru it seems there are of course a variety of versions of independence. Labour, the socialist or left wing party have ruled Wales for 20 years and have a distinct view of “home rule” and use this term vice independence, very wisely or I think Labour would lose voters and after having lost a large number of seats to the conservatives the right wingers at the last election, there is a risk that by being too pro independence they could alienate even more voters who only see negatives from absolute culturally or emotionally driven independence. Mr Drakeford said, “We need a more powerful devolution settlement, one in which we secure home rule for Wales in a successful United Kingdom – internationalist, not nationalist; outward facing, not inward looking.” So clearly the Drakeford-Labour view is of a Wales within the United kingdom not without it as perhaps espoused by YesCyrmu. This Drakeford view is aiming for votes from a wider base than just the nationalists who see absolute independence and a return to a completely self governed Wales that has a seat at the UN, membership of the European Union and so a separate country away from the shackles of Great Britain, maybe a socialist republic or possibly a Welsh monarchy again as their aim. Their published manifesto and point papers are not completely clear on the details of what this actually would look like or how to achieve this and their share of votes is VERY small so maybe nothing for the bigger more internationalist parties to concern themselves with after all.

“Yes for Wales, of course – that’s what I have been throughout my whole life – but yes to a Wales that takes ownership of its own destiny alongside working people in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland who share our progressive values”. Mark Drakeford

“We are so lucky, in our country, to have all the natural resources we need to put Wales at the forefront of the global energy revolution which the world will need,” Mr Drakeford said.

“Wind, water and wave – the next Welsh Labour Government will make those assets work to create the jobs of the future and, in doing so, make our contribution to securing the future of our beautiful but fragile planet.” Mr Drakeford said

“Yes to a Wales which has the confidence of knowing that we are at our best when we break down barriers, not build them up, where we create our future alongside others, not despite or against them.” “Yes for Wales” to tell left-wing voters thinking of turning to Plaid or the Greens that he wants to get more powers for Welsh home rule but he balances that by referencing traditional socialist concerns about working class solidarity across the UK.

And finally, Drakeford turns his fire power on the Conservative government in Westminster, presenting Welsh Labour as a bulwark against “inequality and austerity”.

But we come back to the question of is Welsh independence of the model sought by YesCymru and Plaid Cymru a realistic option without funding from effectively English tax revenues after all Wales has 3 million souls and England 45 million. How much tax revenue can be squeezed out of a mostly rural nation to pay the collective costs of nationhood? What does it cost to run a country, there’s defence, policing, health, social welfare, care, local communities and their councils and probably a myriad of other costs. On the surface independence sounds great but absolute nationhood is not cheap. So is a federation better, maybe, but why would the residents of England want to pay for a renegade state with low incomes and little hope of surviving as an independent country. There are few truly functional states of 3 million population, maybe Lithuania is an example? But the first minister suggests a “voluntary association of four nations” but again why would England want to be paying the bills for Wales?

Plaid Cymru wants to hold a referendum on independence if it wins May’s Senedd election. Also speaking on Politics Wales, Plaid leader Adam Price said: “We sincerely believe that independence is ultimately the only sustainable way whereby Wales can achieve its incredible potential as a nation that isn’t being delivered at the moment and whereby we can achieve social and economic justice for everyone that lives in Wales.” Ok boys lets see some clear criteria and specifics on finances for a “new Wales”, a Wales independent and free from the shackles of English rule from Westminster and then maybe people will know what they are voting for, a bit like the lies and obfuscation for the BREXIT vote by Farrage and co that destroyed our integration and union with the EU. On the other hand a federation of independent states each a member of any groups or bodies they see fit to join, that are self financing, self policing, self healing without border controls and with successful independent economies joined only for mutual self defence, might be more appealing but where is the money coming from for the smaller nations?

Lots more to follow as the elections approach and maybe some actual policies emerge.

FUNCTIONAL FEEDING

When choosing a car, whether replacement, first car, new car, used car or a vehicle of a different style, what is it that we use for aid decision making? When buying a new swim wetsuit, a new bike, new running shoes for that all important 2021 triathlon season or the first Park Run of the year or maybe your London Marathon debut, how do we choose and why?

Does the same apply to food, supplements and drink?

Question is do we make choices based on functionality required? Or is it more of a desire for a specific item, based on emotion rather than logic or real needs? After all any car will get you there, wont it? Well as a starter for functionality what if the car is mechanically deficient, maybe it wont get you there after all, the functionality just wasn’t there after all! So we already have some criteria developing, the item must be functional and fit for purpose. After all a 20 year old saloon car probably wont win you that coveted hill climb in the Alps but might get you home and to work daily. Same applies for triathlon as an example, will that old mountain bike get you to the finish, sure as long as the maintenance is good and you can ride and you get nutrition and hydration, but will you win? If that is the desire, functional need or goal then maybe a racing bike is a better option for winning.

Does the same apply to feeding?

Let’s try to apply some criteria to feeding and see what comes of it. After all we humans are a biomechanical system with a cognitive ability, does this system need specific feeding or will anything do? Using the car analogy and the hill climb race, we as humans can continue to live/exist on almost nothing eaten or drunk, so there is a level of minimum that we need to even barely function but what of optimal functioning and who doesn’t want optimal function for optimal performance? I know that I prefer that to sub-optimal functioning, question is am I prepared to do what it takes for the mythical optimal?

Sub optimal or optimal functionality for the human, reality or myth?

Are there criteria for optimal functionality? I think so, but the challenge for humans is our very long lives and very short attention span, oh and the number of cells in our bodies and possibly the number of other biologics that live within and on us, bacteria of course play a big role in our optimal health, but that’s for another story. Two of these three factors play a big part in our decisions which are often not optimal for us but after all we are free to make our own decisions even if these result in sub-optimal health outcomes, strange that eh? But most people have a short term mindset, single day decisions to drink too much or eat too much on any given day in our mind has no impact on our overall lifespan or healthspan and is not really even considered, but should we? This doesn’t even take into account our external environment as highlighted in the previous post concerning air quality, water quality and stresses.

Criteria for human optimal functionality. Regarding feeding the human mind and body, are there optimal ways to do so? Clearly this is a huge industry and clearly there is little agreement AT ALL! This weekend is the Low Carb Conference in South Africa and they are talking about optimal nutrition and then the vegan movements are saying it’s all plants and nothing more for optimal feeding. So who is right? I think these two extremes LCHF and vegan are not so far apart in wanting optimal feeding but will never agree, well maybe one day with luck. So how about looking at essentials for optimal nutrition and see where that leads us; what do we absolutely need to LIVE and what do we absolutely need to THRIVE? I think the arguments between the two sides are not about functional feeding but about sources for optimal functional feeding (OFF). One side says low carbohydrates and healthy fats and the other says low fat with mostly carbohydrates. But everyone agrees that we need Amino acids, essential fats, essential vitamins and minerals plus water and some sat fibre to SURVIVE, so what we have to figure out is what are the criteria needed to THRIVE that demand these essentials? And can we do this based on a simple functional analysis of perhaps movement pattern recording (FitBit style for example) or do we need to measure more details such as pulse rate, blood pressure, height, weight, body fat mass, bone density? These easy to take measures can quite simply lead to a part of a functional analysis of individual needs. Add to these age, gender, ethnicity (genes) and we can see that a functional approach will enable individuals to determine their own functional needs and therefore self prescribe everything from the amount of water drunk to the right feeding patterns to THRIVE. This functional feeding is just a step to a functional lifestyle that can lead to a much healthier nation without lots of work or cost to the individual but will require the monitoring of parameters as mentioned.

Volume, quality, calories are the essentials of any healthy human feeding.

We have been provided with many formulae for how much we need in calorie terms and many studies show what the minimum RDA is for minerals and vitamins, but minimum wont cut it when we are looking for OPTIMAL feeding, will it? As each human is unique so must be our optimal functional feeding guidelines and the criteria for optimal will depend on living location, activity level, performance desires, travel, stresses from life, gender, size and most likely age.

Wales and Independence

A thought paper, part 1 – As we crawl our way towards independence for all, the independence to meet family, to not stay indoors, to not wear a mask, to visit the pub lets consider that in a few months there will be elections in Wales. One of the questions becoming slightly louder in public is for the Welsh to decide if they desire independence from a union in place since the 1500’s, an act by King Henry VIII that gave the Welsh citizens a voice in London and granted the same rights as the English. Now 500 years later we are looking at a regaining of Welsh sovereign powers from the administration in London, but what indeed would that look like? I am sure that we all have a different view of what independence means or looks like, from a sovereign state with border fences a national military, and a Welsh monarchy to another extreme with a common purpose but autonomy in governance and funding. In 2021 Wales stands in a position of semi autonomy with self government, a Senedd in a capital city deciding on policy matters from health care to transportation to education and social welfare, to fisheries and agriculture and environment but importantly still funded primarily by the United Kingdom government and parliament.

IS IT POSSIBLE FOR A NATION OF 3 MILLION PEOPLE TO FUNCTION WELL?

“We don’t want to win independence just for independence’s sake, but for the sake of the thousands of families whose futures depend on Wales becoming a better, fairer, more equal nation.” The Party of Wales (Plaid Cymru)

To be honest about the subject, until the studies are completed about what independence means in reality, I cannot say if it’s a good or a bad idea for us people living in Wales. These questions remain and are as yet unanswered despite Plaid Cymru, Yes Cymru and others saying they desperately want it, what could independence look like? What are the options, the choices for the people and notwithstanding the greater politics, what would be the benefits to the people of Wales of whatever nationality? I want to study these questions and more to see what type of independence is likely to be positive for all the people of Wales, or not.

1. Has any country of 3 million inhabitants been successfully independent?
2. What could independence look like?
3. What would be the cost of independence?
4. What would be the funding sources for different versions of independence?
5. Which form of government would suit a country of 3 million?
6. As a former monarchy is a monarchy still desired by the people of wales?
7. What type of a written constitution and defined laws would be necessary?

One of the key issues is that of a cultural demand for a state free of the shackles of a UK government, being Welsh is a mindset, a culture, a feeling, one people in one country not overseen by London politicians or absent landlords. I will attempt to describe this cultural pressure for independence as I study the issues. This will help to answer questions 1 and 2 and possibly 6. But first lets take a look at finances.

Financial – Questions 3 and 4. Here I want to focus on sources of income and budgets. I do think however that dependent on the hue of the incumbent Welsh Senedd, finances would be dealt with differently, being raised and spent in either a socialist style or a capitalist style. As of today we have a Labour majority in the Senedd and two other almost equal parties, we might get a nationalist or a Conservative or possibly a coalition of the Independence minded Senedd when it comes to deciding on independence. The bargains made in politics may mean a coalition of the left who do seem to favour independence more so than the right and this will have a serious impact on finances, budgets and taxes, especially if money is no longer provided from London iaw the Barnett Formula. Today the Welsh budget has 3 sources of income as the 4th source dries up when the United Kingdom leaves all the European Union funding by 2023, even though the UK government agreed to fund Wales to the same extent, that is unlikely to continue for long and would clearly stop if an independent status was reached. Leaving just a single source from the list below plus borrowing and I would add investment, unless of course new sources were to be found by appeal to EU27, Qatar, Canada for example. An interesting point at which to pause, but before doing so the paper below highlights just how much Wales relies on funding from England and the EU, as an independent nation, that funding would have to be found from somewhere or social programs cut dramatically. Before getting ahead of ourselves though, the arrangements for an independent Wales could be very different. More to follow.

Click to access regional-investment-in-wales-after-brexit.pdf

WHERE WALES GETS IT’S FUNDING FROM

• money allocated by the UK Government
• money raised in Wales by means of taxation and other charges
• borrowing

https://law.gov.wales/constitution-government/government-in-wales/finance/?lang=en#/constitution-government/government-in-wales/finance/?tab=overview&lang=en

How’s your environment?

Do you really know where you live, work, travel or sleep? By where what I mean is the environment(s) in which you breathe, drink, eat, lie, sit, work, play, exercise. How optimal are these environments and do you know what is causing sub-optimality, which is to say at best that you cannot thrive and at worse you are being slowly poisoned. Sounds dramatic, but it is in fact very real.

Your internal environment is also important, in fact very important to prevent lifestyle diseases taking over life and making it a misery and in place of a healthy old age, you get an old age riddled with diseases like heart disease, vascular diseases, diabetes, dementia, pneumonia, gout, arthritis, obesity, visual problems, hearing problems, gut issues, high blood pressure and the like. So protecting and nourishing the internal environment means that not only optimising how you live, but where you live is so important for long term health. If you doubt this look around, how many people are close to you or live near you who are unhealthy?

Obesity rates and diseases from being overweight are clearly a major problem for society as well as for individuals so a proactive approach to aid their cure is vital. Government guidelines on eating healthily focus on carbohydrates and even recommend almost a kilogram of fruits/vegetables every day to get the “required” amount of nutrients based on absorption at 50% of intake which is a highly optimistic estimate. So this internal environment succored by the external environment from the places we live, work, play, exercise, sleep and relax has been corrupted over many years and demands a makeover, pronto!

But how do we change our environment? Basic human needs include air, water, companionship, a sense of purpose, essential fatty acids, essential amino acids, fibre, minerals and vitamins and possibly phytonutrients from plants. Addressing these environmental factors together will enhance our personal environments.

AIR – Breathing clean air for example seems obvious but why then do so many breathe bad air indoors and outdoors? Locations of home, work, exercising all have their own air and we need to ensure clean air to breathe well. Purifiers can clean air and deliver a good atmosphere, changing filters in air conditioning systems and exercising away from traffic, polluted air can help.

WATER – How clean is your city delivered water? It passes the tests I’m sure but what do they test for? Take a look at your city water report and decide for yourself if your water could contain pollutants such as medical waste, run off, any of the 50000 chemicals considered dangerous but not tested for or cleaned out. If the answer is YUCK then purify your water and I recommend the Berkey system as it is portable, guaranteed and tastes great.

FOOD – Nutrients from food are essential for healthy living and to prevent early death, yes they are that important. Not only early death but worse still is early decline and years spent in an unhealthy old age with few options. We cant go into food here but have covered this many times in earlier posts, but do think hard about your food and drink intakes and ask yourself is this good or bad and then make up your mind is it worth it or not. Look around at most people in their 60’s looking old, stooping, sagging faces, big bellies. These are a consequence of where you live! It doesn’t have to be that way.

Stay healthy my friends and stay involved with society in any way you can that has a positive vibe to it. Play sports, board games, cards, book clubs, knitting groups, sewing groups, quilting groups, the list is endless just get out and do something for companionship and that sense of purpose is vital to a mentally healthy life.

BEMER for Circulation

Now located in Pembrokeshire in the beautiful west of Wales, we are already sharing our BEMER experience with local people, helping with the aches and discomforts of modern life, such as sitting too long, poor home office ergonomics and not getting out or moving enough. BEMER therapy is proven over more than 20 years to resolve many of these lifestyle issues which can be caused by poor circulation.

Take a look at some of the earlier BLOGs about BEMER use and results and then contact us when you are ready to try. Until end Feb BEMER systems can be rented direct from the makers in Lichtenstein for £440 and that is for 8 full weeks with no added costs for delivery or taxes. What’s not to like about that, 8 weeks of BEMER treatment in your home and if you like what you experience in your health then pay the remainder and keep it, if not just ship it back at no cost.

Now BEMER has been around for a long time, over 20 years, providing therapy in thousands of hospitals and clinics across Europe and now the USA and Canada, how about India, South Africa and more. Yes over a million sold and production is running as fast as they can in the small principality of Lichtenstein. There are so many positive personal stories, including mine and my wife’s and in laws also about how BEMER has helped that I will be very happy to share with anyone.
Here are some good links to check which explain BEMER and also some which give independent study results from around the world.

It is never too late, after all my father in law started at 80 and has benefitted with a slowing down of his symptoms from a variety of health issues including heart problems, circulation issues and discomfort.

Articles

The Health Hypothesis – Environments

ENVIRONMENTS : Internal, external, physical and psychological environments are the petri dish of life. We are both within multiple environments and also our internal environment is within us and both are subject to cross contamination and exposure to the others.
Sorting these environments into four basic blocks we have

INTERNAL-PHYSICAL, INTERNAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL and EXTERNAL-PHYSICAL EXTERNAL-PYSCHOLOGICAL.

Some of the factors associated with health will I am sure cross boundaries and we have a neat if complicated venn diagram of what affects us humans in positive, negative or not so positive ways.

With effects we are always going to have unintended consequences some are good/positive for health and some maybe not so positive. As an example, changing your external physical environment for another may lead to unexpected effects, so it is very important to do the systems analysis first before deciding to make changes. Analysis can only cover changes that you can imagine so there can always be unexpected circumstances, like a global virus for example after a decision to relocate to somewhere and now you are confronted with such a big negative and unexpected effect on your personal environment.

UNEXPECTED – PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT CHANGE

To explain health we must consider our environments as this is where we live, socialize, sleep, work, eat, play and function! I am really open to collaboration on describing the environments and so will begin with the EXTERNAL-PHYSICAL environment. Starting with AIR as a factor, that stuff we breathe, and the most essential of our needs and if only it were that simple that air was just hydrogen, oxygen, argon and CO2, as the link shows, AIR can also include organic dust, pollutants, ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, particulates like metals, even the rubber from tires and there are few inhabited places without cars, motorbikes or trucks these days! So lets consider AIR as our first and possibly most needy part of our external environment, would anyone consider that AIR quality doesnt matter for health? Recent examples from 2020 are fires in Australia causing massive dust and pollutant filled AIR to breathe, or pollution in cities as far apart as India and England. So what type of AIR ENVIROMENT do we want and how do we measure that, ensure we have it, or do we have to discover clean AIR somewhere and move, ie change one factor in our PHYSICAL-ENVIRONMENT? This could get interesting as I said the simple venn diagram begins to get complicated with the factors included. 

Other EXTERNAL-PHYSICAL environment factors which we can consider next would include WATER for drinking, bathing, washing, cleaning. BUILDINGS and MATERIALS which impact your health and BACKGROUND NOISE levels. How about PEOPLE DENSITY in proximity to you? GROUND CLEANLINESS can be a factor for example in slums or camps with a dirty environment. ELCTROMAGNETIC FIELDS and the earth’s magnetic field affect us in some way and are external factors. 

Update 1 : Other factors I just thought of while out for a run yesterday are – LIGHT and DARKNESS alongside SUNLIGHT as the impact of these on the PHYSICAL and PSCHOLOGICAL can be profound. TEMPERATURE which is really an AIR factor. And what about PLANTS and GREENERY/GREEN SPACES. 

Enough already, more to follow as we delve into these topics of the EXTERNAL-PHYSICAL environment. And of course the cross-over with the EXTERNAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL environment will need to be correlated. 

Ciao, Dai