by thinkmarsh | Oct 25, 2018 | health, holistic, outdoors, product review
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| Urban forest |
This weekend I had the pleasure of attending Wild and Well Festival in Bristol. It offered four different themes: Move, Explore, Connect and Eat, with workshops, panel discussion, fitness classes, and demonstrations across five venues. For me, the theme of nature and being outdoors kept cropping up as I thought about my happiest moments, what calms me, and why I take on crazy fitness challenges. I also learned about the Blue Mind movement, which has sparked my interest as marine biologist, personal trainer and health coach. After the NYC Marathon, I will be reading up on these in my down time and sharing the highlights with you here on the blog and on social media (click on pink circle to the right to follow me).
It absolutely makes sense to me that being outside and connecting with nature can have healing powers. This really became clear to me after visiting Cape Town in February 2017. Two weeks in the sunshine and one week along the sea changed my outlook on life. I now know I need to be outside as much as possible, with a good dose of Vitamin Sea to be content, as well as ample sunshine. I found a sense of calm and enjoyed being alone in my thoughts while visiting South Africa. Part of this was due to a semi-digital detox without a SIM card to stay connected when away from my hotel. Think about how much time you spend each day being bombarded with emails, phone calls, text messages, meetings, and personal space invasions while on public transport. Removing technology can make a big difference in how you experience your free time.
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| Taking the path less traveled |
As I spent Sunday outside in the chilly sun of along Bristol’s harbor side, I realized how hard it can be for people living in cities to find ways to be in nature and/or unplugged. Available green spaces in cities might be small, with audio stimulation from traffic and visual stimulation from people walking by. Areas with water, such as rivers, streams, canals or reservoirs, are even harder to come by when landlocked. When was the last time you sat alone in the woods or a field and took in your surroundings?
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| Walking wild |
If you make an effort though to visit nature, maybe not daily, but at least once a week, (and leave the phone at home), it will help calm your body and mind. City life is overstimulating. Being alone in nature can help combat the effects. Here are some tips on how to find and enjoy the experience of nature healing:
- When you get to an open green (or blue) space, turn off any music you might be listening to and silence your phone. Listen to wind, trees and birds around you. Breathe deeply and listen to your breath.
- If you live in London, walk along the towpath in the early morning when it is least busy. Look at your surroundings rather than down in front of your feet.
- Flotation therapy, such as that offered by Floatworks in London, is where you float in super salty water in a pod which allows for sensory deprivation in a meditative state. You will experience physical and mental relief of life’s stressors that occur outside the tank. This is a great option to try if you cannot find green space or water near where you live.
- Consider a train or bus journey to the woods or coast for a day trip off the grid.
- Book an active holiday where you bike, hike, swim, run, or camp.
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| Capri length can be a good options in the spring and autumn |
- Dress appropriately so you enjoy the moment rather than worry about rain or temperatures. I know I can be miserable if I am too hot or too cold! The Jack Wolfskin tank show in the photos is great for warm days and for layering in the autumn. The cut is very flattering for someone who has wider hips, like me. Capri length trousers (such as the ones in the photos by Jack Wolfskin) are helpful too when the seasons are changing and you aren’t sure if the temps will be the same in the afternoon as they were in the morning. You never know what will happen so have some layering options in your bag if you can, including hat, gloves and rain jacket.
- Look at the plants and wildlife as you explore. See what you recognize and what you need to learn more about. You might want to pick up a flora or fauna guide to help you identify what you saw during your time in nature.
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| I love having my dog with me on my walks |
Do you ever feel the urge to be explore in green space? How do you feel when your phone is off and you are alone in your thoughts? What is your favorite part of being out in nature? Leave a comment below and let me know.
Thanks to Simply Hike for providing me with the Jack Wolfskin kit to review. All opinion are honest and my own.
by thinkmarsh | Oct 16, 2018 | health, product review, running
When you start running bigger and more challenging races, the organizers want to ensure you are in tip top shape to compete. Some countries, such as France, will ask for a doctor to sign a release form stating you are fit for each and every race you run. I had to do it for the Paris Half Marathon, which meant an appointment with my GP, taking time off work, and a £30 fee for a signature on a form.
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| Pre-race weigh in |
Wadi Rum Ultra, race 3 in my 4×4 challenge upped the ante a bit and asked for an electrocaridogram (ECG), in addition to a doctor’s note saying I was fit and healthy. The race didn’t provide an official form for the doctor to complete so I looked at what the Marathon des Sables form covered. Included was a medical history, blood pressure, resting heart rate, allergies, and current medications. I forwarded the link over to the Walk-In Clinic when they invited me in for my medical sign off.
I thought it would just be an ECG because that was included in my original
wellwomen appointment in 2017 as that is all the race asked for. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised for a full physical, ECG, and urine analysis which in total lasted just under an hour. The Walk-In Clinic have their own sports physical form which made it a bit easier to send the required info over to the race organizers.
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| Low blood pressure |
The doctor is the one I have met in my past visits (including travel vaccination) so we have already built up a bit of a rapport. She asked relevant questions about the race (how far, how long, what is the environment, how have you been preparing). We had plenty of time to discuss these answers and much more. I asked her about hydration strategies as I was still trying to figure that one out. She talked to.me about my anxiety medication and how I might experience hallucinations under these extreme conditions.
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| Hooked up for my ECG |
The ECG was painless although a bit of a faff to connect to all of the wires. I think I moved or took a deep breath during the first measurement because my graphs showed a bit dip. We repeated the process and my resulting ECG was normal. Hurrah!
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| ECG results |
The clinic receptionist offered to scan across my letter and ECG for me even though also they give me the original. The team is always helpful and efficient. I love visiting their clinic as the appointments run to time, are long enough that you don’t have to rush any conversations with the GP you see, and the customer service is superb. If you ever need something for a race (ECG, physical, travel vaccination, etc), I recommend booking in. This private practice offers more flexibility than a GP office with a central London location, next to the Gherkin.
Thanks the City Walk-In Clinic for the complementary service. All opinions are honest and my own.
by Mollie Millington | Oct 16, 2018 | health, product review, running
When you start running bigger and more challenging races, the organizers want to ensure you are in tip top shape to compete. Some countries, such as France, will ask for a doctor to sign a release form stating you are fit for each and every race you run. I had to do it for the Paris Half Marathon, which meant an appointment with my GP, taking time off work, and a £30 fee for a signature on a form.
|
| Pre-race weigh in |
Wadi Rum Ultra, race 3 in my 4×4 challenge upped the ante a bit and asked for an electrocaridogram (ECG), in addition to a doctor’s note saying I was fit and healthy. The race didn’t provide an official form for the doctor to complete so I looked at what the Marathon des Sables form covered. Included was a medical history, blood pressure, resting heart rate, allergies, and current medications. I forwarded the link over to the Walk-In Clinic when they invited me in for my medical sign off.
I thought it would just be an ECG because that was included in my original
wellwomen appointment in 2017 as that is all the race asked for. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised for a full physical, ECG, and urine analysis which in total lasted just under an hour. The Walk-In Clinic have their own sports physical form which made it a bit easier to send the required info over to the race organizers.
|
| Low blood pressure |
The doctor is the one I have met in my past visits (including travel vaccination) so we have already built up a bit of a rapport. She asked relevant questions about the race (how far, how long, what is the environment, how have you been preparing). We had plenty of time to discuss these answers and much more. I asked her about hydration strategies as I was still trying to figure that one out. She talked to.me about my anxiety medication and how I might experience hallucinations under these extreme conditions.
|
| Hooked up for my ECG |
The ECG was painless although a bit of a faff to connect to all of the wires. I think I moved or took a deep breath during the first measurement because my graphs showed a bit dip. We repeated the process and my resulting ECG was normal. Hurrah!
|
| ECG results |
The clinic receptionist offered to scan across my letter and ECG for me even though also they give me the original. The team is always helpful and efficient. I love visiting their clinic as the appointments run to time, are long enough that you don’t have to rush any conversations with the GP you see, and the customer service is superb. If you ever need something for a race (ECG, physical, travel vaccination, etc), I recommend booking in. This private practice offers more flexibility than a GP office with a central London location, next to the Gherkin.
Thanks the City Walk-In Clinic for the complementary service. All opinions are honest and my own.
by thinkmarsh | Aug 13, 2018 | eating, education, product review
Back in October, I began the first of five modules of my Future Fit Advanced Nutrition and Weight Management online course. After running the Chicago Marathon, I had a few days with my feet up recovering so I started chipping away at it.
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| Studying in my office with help from my personal assistant |
I started off with the longest module, Nutrition and Weight Management. I figured it would give me a good review of nutrition topics I had covered in my personal training course with more detail. There were 16 lessons all together in this module, each of which took 20-30 minutes to complete. For this course, I had to be online to play each lesson, which features an audio track of the text. There are knowledge checks periodically within the lesson to see if you retained key bits of information or to see if you have prior knowledge about the next topic. The information delivered so far is simply put and broken down into little chunks that were easy to digest. If I didn’t finish a lesson, it would save my place and offer me an option to resume where I had finished or to start at the beginning of the module. Before passing each lesson, you must complete a five question quiz and score 100%. You can repeat the test immediately of you missed one or two questions but if you take too long to pass, you will have to log out and back in to restart.
Each lesson also has a resource folder which includes a transcript, relevant forms, and sometimes a glossary. Any time I had a question, I could either email my tutor or submit a question through the website. Most of my questions were around the technology side of things, rather than the course material, because computers are not my forte. The Future Fit Training team were always quick to respond and very helpful.
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| No joke, this cookie is as big as my head. And when I get stressed, I eat the whole thing. |
Part of the course is a case study working with a client to help them learn more about their food habits and emotional links to eating. It was actually hard to find a volunteer that was willing to work with me for eight weeks. Through Twitter, I found two competitive male cyclists who wanted to drop some weight to improve their cycling performance. One of them was travelling a lot of work and was unable to check in with me on a regular basis. I am happy to say the other client was able to check in regularly and found the accountability very helpful. He tracked his food three to four days a week for me and started choosing fruits and vegetables over convenient processed foods. He didn’t loose any weight but he was sleeping better and feeling more energized during the day.
My tips for online study success? Give yourself deadlines to complete each lesson or modules by writing them in your diary. Think of them as exam dates that you cannot change. Set aside studying time in your diary each week too. I prefer to have the same slot every week (although that hasn’t be possible with marathon training the last two months) and keep plugging along but your schedule might be better to spend one day every other week. Set up a place to study that is free from distractions- no TV, no music, no kids (or dogs) interrupting you. You are taking this course to improve your health and knowledge, as well as to help your clients. Make it a priority. Have a notepad to take notes or print out the resource info to annotate as you go along.
Most of all, enjoy it! All of the information will help you fuel your body properly, feel energized and maintain a healthy weight that is appropriate for you. As they say, “health is wealth”.
Thanks to Future Fit Training for their support of furthering my nutritional education. All opinions are honest and my own.
by Mollie Millington | Aug 13, 2018 | eating, education, product review
Back in October, I began the first of five modules of my Future Fit Advanced Nutrition and Weight Management online course. After running the Chicago Marathon, I had a few days with my feet up recovering so I started chipping away at it.
|
| Studying in my office with help from my personal assistant |
I started off with the longest module, Nutrition and Weight Management. I figured it would give me a good review of nutrition topics I had covered in my personal training course with more detail. There were 16 lessons all together in this module, each of which took 20-30 minutes to complete. For this course, I had to be online to play each lesson, which features an audio track of the text. There are knowledge checks periodically within the lesson to see if you retained key bits of information or to see if you have prior knowledge about the next topic. The information delivered so far is simply put and broken down into little chunks that were easy to digest. If I didn’t finish a lesson, it would save my place and offer me an option to resume where I had finished or to start at the beginning of the module. Before passing each lesson, you must complete a five question quiz and score 100%. You can repeat the test immediately of you missed one or two questions but if you take too long to pass, you will have to log out and back in to restart.
Each lesson also has a resource folder which includes a transcript, relevant forms, and sometimes a glossary. Any time I had a question, I could either email my tutor or submit a question through the website. Most of my questions were around the technology side of things, rather than the course material, because computers are not my forte. The Future Fit Training team were always quick to respond and very helpful.
|
| No joke, this cookie is as big as my head. And when I get stressed, I eat the whole thing. |
Part of the course is a case study working with a client to help them learn more about their food habits and emotional links to eating. It was actually hard to find a volunteer that was willing to work with me for eight weeks. Through Twitter, I found two competitive male cyclists who wanted to drop some weight to improve their cycling performance. One of them was travelling a lot of work and was unable to check in with me on a regular basis. I am happy to say the other client was able to check in regularly and found the accountability very helpful. He tracked his food three to four days a week for me and started choosing fruits and vegetables over convenient processed foods. He didn’t loose any weight but he was sleeping better and feeling more energized during the day.
My tips for online study success? Give yourself deadlines to complete each lesson or modules by writing them in your diary. Think of them as exam dates that you cannot change. Set aside studying time in your diary each week too. I prefer to have the same slot every week (although that hasn’t be possible with marathon training the last two months) and keep plugging along but your schedule might be better to spend one day every other week. Set up a place to study that is free from distractions- no TV, no music, no kids (or dogs) interrupting you. You are taking this course to improve your health and knowledge, as well as to help your clients. Make it a priority. Have a notepad to take notes or print out the resource info to annotate as you go along.
Most of all, enjoy it! All of the information will help you fuel your body properly, feel energized and maintain a healthy weight that is appropriate for you. As they say, “health is wealth”.
Thanks to Future Fit Training for their support of furthering my nutritional education. All opinions are honest and my own.
by Mollie Millington | Aug 2, 2018 | health, product review, running
This post will quickly become TMI, so only continue reading if you dare. If words like incontinence, vagina, vibrator, fart, and poop make you uncomfortable, stop reading now. This isn’t the typical vocabulary on my blog but I want women to know they are not alone on a few embarrassing bodily functions. Mom- you have been warned.
When I go out for a run, my main objectives are not to pee or poop my pants (aka underwear or leggings, depending on where you are from. Either way- it wouldn’t be pretty.). Lots of planning goes into what I can eat in the few hours before a run. I prefer fasted runs first thing in the morning as the risk of uncontrollable bowel movements is minimized. With urination, it is a different story. Usually, I leak a little when I cough due to hay fever while running. This problem doesn’t seem to be as big an issue when a coughing fit strikes while I am on my bike. During another episode, I was climbing over a stile on a trail race when I felt a slight release.
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| Black leggings are good at hiding wet patches. |
I can never tell how much volume of urine actually leaves my body. It feels like an uncontrollable rush, which is mortifying. Questions like- “Will anyone be able to tell?” and “Does it smell?” go through my mind. When I finally get to the loo, it is always much smaller than what I originally thought. It just seems illogical that I have this issue. I have never given birth, nor do I suffer from chronic urinary tract infections. I am still on the younger side of 40, so why do I have the problem of sometimes urinating when I run?
Being a member of Run Mummy Run‘s Facebook group, I know this is a problem for many women. On the spectrum of severity, my problem isn’t bad at all. It doesn’t prevent me from being physically active and I don’t feel a need to wear an absorbent pad. But what I can’t understand is why women don’t talk about it more? As a creative problem solver, I decided to create a survey to help me gauge how much of an issue incontinence with running is and who women are turning to for help and advice.
First, I would like to thank everyone who took a few minutes out of their day to share their story with me and also those who shared my survey. You can see we had a variety of ages represented, as well as running experience.
One hundred and eighty one women and one man completed my survey. Only 25% of the respondents talk to someone about the problem (compared to 53% who keep it to themselves). Of the 98 people who answered why or why not do you talk to anyone about your incontinence problem and who if you do who, the majority said they were too embarrassed to speak about it. Another large proportion said that it wasn’t enough of a worry to bother talking to others. Those that do talk to others rely on family (mostly moms and sisters) and their running friends to confide in. I was surprised to see a few women didn’t’ know how to bring it up and another said it was “frowned upon” to discuss it in the spin community.
Ladies- let me tell you that you are not alone. Half of the women who do not have kids and completely my survey have some sort of experience with incontinence while running or playing sport. Seventy three percent of the moms who completed my survey suffer from some degree of incontinence after the kids arrived (both by vaginal birth and C-section). Yes, it is embarrassing, but know that chances are the lady next to you at Parkrun is having the same worries as you at the start line. Besides, everyone can relate to your body doing something that you cannot control (like farting when you sneeze, or is that just me?).
For those that answered my survey, 63% felt it was a minor problem that didn’t require any protection, while 23% wear thin liners or nappies. There where two big things that also stood out to me. First, that this problem keeps women from being physically active (33% in my survey will “occasionally” to “all the time” miss workouts because of their concerns). Other women purposely drink less on a run to avoid the issue. I would really advise against this, especially with the hot weather we have been having.
The second is that of the few women who were brave enough to bring this up with their general practitioner (GP, aka doctor in USA) (although I hate to use the word brave as you should be able to talk to your GP about anything. I acknowledge that this is a difficult topic for most though), the GP was dismissive. In my experience with the National Health Service (NHS), the doctors are too busy and too budget-aware to address things that don’t inhibit you from going to work. Perhaps if you have a good relationship with your doctor, they will recognize that this issue is important to you and make suggestions on how a solution can be reached.
Most women in my survey knew what kegals were and 99.8% knew what pelvic for was (maybe it was the man who didn’t). To ensure we are all on the same page, kegels (named after the doctor who first described them) are exercises that involve tightening and releasing the pelvic floor muscles. Both men and women can benefit from performing kegel exercises. The pelvic floor is a group of muscles at and across the bottom of your pelvis. It holds internal organs, such as bladder, bowel and uterus, in place. A strong pelvic floor can help you control urination, defecation, flatulence, and sexual function.
Reading a few comments from women who took part in my survey, it sounds like medical experts just see occasional incontinence as a fact of life after birth. Some women said you can ask for pelvic floor physical therapy through the NHS to get help. Over the years, women’s magazines report you can interrupt your urine stream when peeing to help strengthen your muscles “down there”. But as a personal trainer, I can’t see how that will work as the “sets” would be fairly short.
I have not yet given up all hope.
Recently, I was contacted by V-Sculpt to try out their pelvic floor toner and vaginal rejuvenation device. Sold exclusively by medical professionals, it is considered an authorized medical device. I have never used anything like this (or any “toy”) for that matter so wasn’t sure how this would go. It uses LED light therapy, gentle heat and vibration to help tone and health the vaginal cells and muscles. You can use it if you have an IUD (which I do) so I was good to go.
To start with, the V-Sculpt recommends six minutes a day of toning over a few weeks, building up to eight minutes and then ten minutes four times a week. I find I need to lay down to use the V-Sculpt so will check social media or read a book while sculpting.
Ten minutes a day sounded totally doable when I first agreed to try it out, but I am finding that it is still hard to fit it in. I need to put a reminder in my calendar or go to bed before my husband (who thinks this whole thing is hilarious) so I can be left in peace. Apparently, he has never felt the urge to pee or poop his pants while running and therefore cannot relate. Some guys get all the luck. After nine weeks of initial vaginal training, you just need to be on a maintenance plan of ten minutes one to two times per week.
I have been using the V-Sculpt once a week since I got up the nerve to charge it. It was a bit weird to ask, but in my survey 68.2% of the women have had or still do have a vibrator. Therefore, the V-Sculpt might not be awkward for them to try.
There is a photogenic gel which helps the V-Sculpt work more effectively. It is extremely runny and I welcome any advice on how not to waste it when applying to my V-Sculpt or myself.
Why did I agree to review this when I don’t usually talk about lady bits? The V-Sculpt does have a peer-reviewed study supporting its claims. I have nothing to loose and everything to gain from not worrying about peeing when running. Plus I want to help other women out there find a practical solution to this very common problem. I will be checking back as I get into a routine. It takes about three months to see results if you use the V-Sculpt every day. I can say my weekly sessions are not working in my favor so far but hope to better commit to my training program and post a follow up in a few weeks time with some good news.
Here is the user guide if you want to learn more about the V-Scuplt…..
Thanks to V-Sculpt for the complimentary vaginal toner. All opinions on the product are honest (probably way too honest) and my own.
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