At Healthkick, we're passionate about helping you to help yourself to improve your diet and exercise for a longer, better-quality life.

We empower you to enjoy a healthy and sustainable lifestyle.

There are so many fads and fallacies out there, exacerbated by incomplete and selective media reports.  How do you know what's good for YOU? 

We help you to weed out the fads and focus on the truth.

Changing habits takes time, and needs to consider your healthy history and beliefs.  We help you become self-aware, so you understand the changes that YOU need to make.

Small, incremental changes are sustainable and get results!

We don't want you to have to come back to us year after year, dollar after dollar.  Your sustainable, healthy lifestyle is our biggest interest, and it takes time, care and coaching.  We want to help you make positive changes and give you the tools to sustain these changes on your own.

Our unique services empower you to take control of your health, independently. 

Click here to find out how we can help you! 

Click  here for our philosophy on nutrition, exercise and the psychology of habits!

Melanie White, Director.

New Year, New You?

It's new year resolution time (for those among us who make them).  Last year, the number 1 resolution was to have better health.  If you made this resolution, did you keep it?  Did you do something to effect positive change?

Resolutions can be easy to keep - you just need to make a specific goal and have a specific, detailed action plan toward reaching your goal.

Your goals need to be SMART - specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic and time-framed.  I have often asked clients how much weight they want to lose, or when they'd like to lose it by........and they look at me blankly. 

Your goals and plans can be as simple as you like.  For example, if you wanted to improve your wellbeing, one aspect that affects this is hydration.  A specific goal might be:

"I want to improve my hydration by drinking more water such that my urine is very pale"

Your specific plan toward reaching this goal might be:

"I will fill a 1.5L bottle with water each  morning, and take it with me wherever I go.  My daily goal will be to have drunk all the water by dinner time."

This plan is simple, but also leaves room for you to drink any of the unfinished water before you go to bed - so there is a backup.

Whatever your goals are for 2009, give them serious consideration.  If you really want to achieve something, you can do it - starting with specific goals, and a solid plan.

All the best for a safe, happy and healthy new year!

Melanie White

www.healthkick.net.au

Christmas is upon us, the sun is coming out, and the liquid refreshments are flowing.  How do we cope with the tantalising wickedness of the festive season?

First of all, it's important to realise that there is nothing wicked about enjoying yourself occasionally.  Depriving yourself beyond a realistic level is simply setting yourself up for a fall, because total deprivation is unsustainable.

If you are concerned about overindulging during the Christmas holidays, then read on....

....Start by setting yourself some positive and achievable goals that YOU WANT.  Goals work if they are for YOU.  Sample goals might be: "I want to eat only until I'm satisfied on Christmas day."  or perhaps, "I want to wake up on New Years' Day feeling good, without a hangover."

Once you've set one or more goals, you need to make a plan to get there.  Because a goal with no plan is simply a dream. 

For the first goal mentioned above, you might visualise how full your plate will be, and what the dominant foods will be.  When the day comes, follow through with your vision - a healthy option is two handfuls of food (your hand size) for your main meal, of which at least 70% is comprised of vegetables.  Wait at least ten minutes after your main meal until you have desert.  Or perhaps you will only have desert if you can have a walk around the block or a game of cricket with the family.

For the second goal mentioned above, think about where you will be on New Years' Eve and who you will be with.  This has a large influence on your behaviour because you will have peer and environmental pressures to deal with.  There are several ways to deal with alcohol consumption, starting with choosing an event or situation where there is little or no pressure to drink (this includes the option of staying home!).  Make sure that you are well hydrated before, during and after the event.  Check this by monitoring the colour of your urine - it should be very pale yellow in colour.  Make sure you eat healthy foods during the night.  Your body will be working all night burning off the calories and 'toxins' in the alcohol and will struggle if you also consume fatty, sugary, salty or heavy foods.  Choose fresh fruit and vegetables, lean meats and unprocessed carbohydrates if possible.  Alternate your drinks with plain water and choose low-alcohol drinks.  And finally, stop drinking at least two hours before you go to bed and start drinking lots of water! 

I hope that you have a happy and safe Christmas.  Look after your body and your health - what would you have without them?

Melanie White