Pauline Caswell is the owner of Love Pilates Wirral, and this is her latest column for West Kirby Today…
Happy New Year! Don’t go to the gym to start your fitness journey!
It’s a new year and another new you… or is it?
Did you overindulge? Good, it probably brought you here! Even if you didn’t, you might find your fitness commitment harder through a dark, wet winter. So, where should we start with our fitness? NOT the gym!
If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll see who featured again this week… this Mo Salah bloke (not easy for an Evertonian, but he is something isn’t he?).
“My fitness starts in the kitchen!” – Mo Salah
He’s spot on, here’s why. You are a walking bag of living cells. We need to eat other cells (not junk) to feed our own cells. Just think about your own “bag of cells” for a moment. The energy and mechanics needed by your body, just to lift itself out of bed each morning and do your day, depends on the health of each specific group of your cells. Muscle cells, that move your bones. Bone cells that stop you looking like a jellyfish. Brain and nerve cells, to tell both what and how to move (and this is just the start!).
So why would you skip this bit and head off to join a gym first? It makes no sense! Of course, you can “do both” I hear the gym bunnies cry, but I disagree. If you are trying to start out, do one thing at a time, it’s easier to fail if you set yourself too many goals. The effect of sorting out your diet first is what will make you feel better and more motivated to do the rest!
Back to cells. Cells are EVERYTHING. Everything that is YOU. Cells copy themselves and die all the time, some faster than others. They each have their own life cycle and struggle on regardless, whether you eat the burger or the bean burrito, (no prizes for guessing which of these your cells will enjoy getting the most nutrients from). Cells won’t work well for you if you don’t give them what they need. So, give your cells what they need by starting your fitness regime in the kitchen, from what you put in your mouth. When your cells are healthy, they will do their best for you, whether that’s in the gym, doing Pilates, taking a hike up Moel Famau, clubbing until 4am and even sleeping!
So, before you even think about that push up, feed your cells the right stuff – healthy whole foods – and just ask yourself if they have come from the land, the sea or from a tree; reduce your intake of ultra processed foods; start small and you will already be on your fitness journey before you have closed the fridge each morning! That’s just before you set off to a Pilates class of course! Maybe it’s that Pilates class you are about to book? The one you are about to receive £48 OFF for being a new customer in January! Yes, £48 OFF Reformer Pilates classes with me if you have read this to the end!
DISCOUNT CODE: “MOSAYS” This offer is only available in JANUARY. Visit www.lovepilateswirral.co.uk or find me on Instagram & Facebook.
Pauline X
Pauline Caswell is the owner of Love Pilates Wirral. Pauline is a skilled 2nd Generation teacher with a direct lineage to Joseph Pilates. She’s also a qualified teacher of Education in Biology, Psychology, Science & Health. Her practice is about helping people to feel good about movement and the body you live in, whatever your lifestyle, age or ability.
This article is sponsored and has been paid for by Love Pilates Wirral.
