How Today’s Habits Will Impact Your Health Tomorrow

Many people think that the reason for my energy levels, my health and fitness condition, my mobility and strength is the young age. Yes, age is important and it does make a difference.

However, I ask you this: do all young people my age have high energy levels, strength, fitness and no health conditions, no vitamin deficiency etc? No, actually many people my age have big health problems. And in many cases they are caused by poor habits repeated on a regular basis over an extended period of time.

For years I haven’t taken supplements and every year I do all my tests and nothing changes, no deficiencies, no internal organ problems. Just by being consistent with my habits and making exceptions very seldom. That is no necessarily true for everyone. Some need supplements and vitamins.

Remember this Food Discipline™ lesson: exceptions should be just that, exceptions. If you make too many exceptions they will become habits.

The real reason I am this way is because I have created habits for myself when I came out of eating fast food and drinking fizzy drinks. Read here about my story.

Since then I’ve been consistent in nurturing my body, keeping it strong and fit inside and out. Sure I cannot claim to be perfect and I make my exceptions, but I have rules and I respect my own rules. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Don’t think now that I struggle and force myself into eating only certain types of food. No, not at all. I just go used to not having them that I never need them so it’s very easy for me to ignore them as food altogether. There is not struggle, no craving or strict regime.

Age does matter. But what you do when you are young matters even more. The things you do in your 20’s, 30’s and 40’s, those daily, weekly and monthly (un)healthy habits will impact our life in your 50’s, 60’s and 70’s.

I’m not saying that this is the case for every single person, but in many cases it’s long term small, damaging and overlooked habits that cause the greatest health problems.

Thus, stop postponing changing your habits. Stop finding excuses and making exceptions every day and every week. You only hurt yourself and no one else.

Of course you will not see the damage this year or next, look further into the future, you might feel the damage 10 years from now.
Build strong, lasting foundations which you can keep for a lifetime. This what I stand for.
And if you cannot do it alone then seek guidance.

March 13, 2015

How To Use Triggers To Effortlessly Create Healthy Habits

I love this part of Habits Transformation principles of The Merisoiu Technique simply because it’s like a game and it can be very creative and enjoyable.

Many clients who seek my guidance come to me struggling to reach a healthy or healthier lifestyle. Achieving a healthier lifestyle is just a matter of detail.

It’s the details make the whole so cutting out all your favourite foods and going to the gym 5 days a week all of a sudden will not necessarily work for building healthy habits leading to a healthier lifestyle.

Those details are tiny habits we overlook. Depending on how much my clients allow me to know about their lifestyle we address the smallest habits first. From there the big picture changes for the better as well.

One of the many ways I do this is by using triggers to create or transform habits.

How triggers work

The triggers have to be habits which you automatically do without thinking about them. Such as brushing your teeth, food shopping or even walking, waiting at a red light or changing your clothes before going to bed.

So this is how it works. We take a trigger and associate a habit to it. Every time you do one thing the other one automatically follows.

For example:

– every time you wait at a red light you stand on one leg (if balance exercises are in your program)
– every time you brush your teeth you first do 5 squats (if moving more is a habit you want to build into your life)
– or every time you pour coffee in your cup you also pour water in a glass (if you need to build the habit of drinking more water)

These are simple examples yet the system works for any habit you want to create. And it makes things so much easier without getting you overwhelmed. You are probably busy enough just as it is.

However remember to take one habit and one trigger at a time. Trying to transform more than one habit will again lead to overwhelm.

Post your comments below with the habits you are trying to create and the associated triggers. I will give you some ideas to help you.

And if you need extra help please book a FREE call with me to discuss your current habits transformation journey and give you some idea moving forward.

February 19, 2015March 8, 2015

How Does The Merisoiu Technique Really Work

The Merisoiu Technique or TMT is based on Six Guiding Principles of a Healthier Lifestyle:

1. Earthing or Reconnecting With The Earth
2. Natural Movement or Reclaiming Your Nature
3. Zanshin or Awareness and Mindfulness
4. Nutrition
5. Personal Development
6. Habits Transformation

TMT is not a step by step plan, you cannot do one principle and then go to the next.

All principles blend into each other creating a bigger picture which gives you a better understanding of how health really works and stop seeing health as a goal in your life.

Health is something we should not have to think about, and I should not write about…. but I do for some reason. We should not make a life purpose out of it, a milestone or a goal.

How I came about it

The simple answer is 20 years of sweat, blood and tears. Ha ha, seriously it’s everything I’ve learnt and applied from my coaches and mentors from the age of 8 to this day. And I am still learning of course.

TMT has strong roots in Japanese Martial Arts, particularly Karate Shotokan, but Daito Ryu and Ninjutsu as well. I also apply some of the internal Chinese Martial Arts philosophies of Tai Chi and Chi Gong.

Everyone sees Martial Arts as fighting methods. I agree and disagree with this.

Martial Arts, when the students is wise enough to take the essence of the art, can be a powerful Personal Development journey.

This is a different story of how Martial Arts planted the seeds of discipline, determination and motivation in me from a very early age. A story I will talk about in another blog.

For now it is enough to say that The Merisoiu Technique brings together everything I learnt and applied in six pillar which are the Six Guiding Principles.

Here’s how TMT principles intertwine:

Natural movement if the physical part of the program which takes place outdoors.

But it’s not just Natural Movement you are practicing because another principle is involved as well, Earthing.

You may do natural movement training indoors but then you are missing a very important element of your health: reconnecting with nature, with the organic matter of which you and me are formed. Break that connection and you suffer the consequences.

Natural movement in the outdoors challenges your body in so many different ways, from flexibility to strength, power and physical fluidity and balance to mental focus and emotional stability.

Zanshin is an essential part of natural movement.

When they hear about outdoors training most people think about bootcamps. Natural movement is NOT bootcamp, it’s technique. Technique requires awareness and mindfulness, energy and focus.

This does not mean that your training will not be challenging. They will be more challenging than you imagine. And no, you do not need machines to get results. Training outdoors is more challenging that indoors.

Nutrition is what gives you the energy, focus and strength for your training.

You cannot train the body on the outside and forget about the inside or the other way around. They come together to form the whole. Only then you can say your body is healthy.

Personal development is continuous learning and growing.

It’s about rewiring your brain, doing things you haven’t done before and explore your true potential. Through natural movement and Zanshin you develop, learn and grow.

Habits transformation is the principle that brings everything together.

No matter how much you study, apply and you are coached on if you do not address your habits you will not be consistent and you will not get the results you seek.

However, it is not easy to wake up and go training at 6 am. It’s not easy to put your training kit on in less than 1 min and run out the door to meet your coach (that’s discipline). It is not easy to say no to ice-cream when we love it so much. It is not easy to do anything.

That’s why the habits transformation principles in The Merisoiu Technique takes you through a series of steps which you can apply to any habit to create and make it stick long term without so much struggle.

So here’s another benefit of The Merisoiu Technique: IT SAVES YOU TIME…. and money.

So instead of going to the gym, then doing earthing separate because science has proven to be beneficial, then of course you need Yoga and some fluidity so you go to Tai Chi lessons. But then you want to practice mindfulness and awareness so you go to yet another class where you spend more time searching for it and travelling to it and of course more money.

So stop spending time and money and embrace The Merisoiu Technique.

This is a brief intro to The Merisoiu Technique so if you really want to know how it works and how it works for you in particular, book a FREE call with me and let’s chat.

And read more about the technique by downloading the free ebook