Thanks to the invention of my wife’s father, we now have a darts board. It is currently in the courtyard area of our house, but will eventually be a part of our ‘bar’ area for guests.
This bar area is the old chicken coop of the property and will feature the dart board and bar billiards table inside, along with seating. It will be partially open roofed but protected during winter months. Surrounded by orange trees, the name we have come up with is ‘The Orangery’. But this changes daily, so stay tuned.
Anyway, we’re hoping to have this open for this summer, but the work is extensive, and on top of what other stuff we have to do, it might be a project that gets finished for next year. Either way, it’s probably something that the A New Life In The Sun want to film, so it’ll have to fit in with the logistics of filming like everything else has had to!
I’ve found out this week that my eldest, Jonas, is rather good at darts. Today he beat me with a double eight finish. Finlay, his younger brother, also has good ability. He just needs to grow a little.
But Jonas seems to have this natural ability to be very good at any sport that he tries. I’ve already spoken about his football successes, where he played an important part in a successful team from the age of 5. My wife and I would also watch proudly as he often came first in his school sports day competitions. He seemed to be able to run faster, jump higher and throw further than most kids. I’ve just found out that he can throw a dart more accurately than his old man who has played darts for the past 30 years.
Most parents let their kids win, but Jonas is killing me. I’m hoping that one day, he’ll let me win at something.
When I enter the gym with a goal, it is a goal with many different aspects. I can’t pin it down. I want to maintain weight management, strength and mental wellbeing. That’s just the same as 30 years ago and will probably never change.
But if I get the little things right, then achieving the above can be fairly straightforward. So, about those little things…
I want to improve my grip. A better grip can lead to personal bests by lifting heavier or for longer. Same with my breathing. If I remain in control of my breathing then it undoubtedly helps with a tough set. I want to discover new exercises and therefore experience new challenges that will put my body under a different kind of stress. These are just a few examples of the little things that, put together over time and with consistency, will get me the big goals.
I want to get a message to anyone who set out a new year’s fitness goal, particularly those of you who have any ideas of quitting. Get the little things right.
Any grand resolution such as weight loss (by far the most requested goal in January) needs all the little things in place and working consistently if you are to reach your goal. And most people who don’t reach their goal don’t reach it because they give up, lose direction, become demoralised and get bored.
So, with what I’m about to suggest, I didn’t mean to get too technical when I start blabbering on about grip improvement. That is a personal thing to me, and, well, I make it a priority to my clients. But there are lots of little things that can be undertaken in order to really tackle those new year’s fitness resolutions this year. So, whatever the goal, here’s a few little tricks to keep you focused.
Write your achievements down. I used to go into the gym with a pen and a notebook to write down new bests for all of my programmed routine. If I had curled for 15 with a pair of 12k instead of the 10’s, I would document it. It works the same for cardio based equipment too. If you have rowed your furthest on the rower in the given time then write it down so that you know your future targets on that exercise. Indeed, with your phone at hand you can write your notes on an app and also take a picture of a cardio machine screen.
Aim to try your best, but know that every gym routine will not be a day of new personal bests. Life just isn’t like that. But also know that every routine is very useful. Footballer Eric Cantona said,”I prefer to play and lose rather than win, because I know in advance I’m going to win.” If you turn up, you are winning, even if it doesn’t always feel like it.
Put healthy options at the forefront of your mind. The best way to do this is to create visual triggers. I have recently gone a few weeks without making a fruit smoothie. It has always been a staple for my wife and I every morning, but somehow with pallets of stuff still coming over from England, the Nutribullet smoothie machine had been pushed right to the back of the cupboard to make room for new stuff. Instantly it became out of site, out of mind. The box of Celebrations, however, have lived on the kitchen table all over Christmas. You can try organising your kitchen so that healthier snacks are at hand. Also, don’t even give your gym kit time to get comfortable in a draw. Lay it out ready to pack into your sports bag or put straight on.
Think. Yes, think more. Meditate more. Pray more. Walk and observe nature. Whatever you prefer. Lay in a hot bath, lock the door with a good book (not a screen) and simply have some quiet time. As long as you give yourself time to think it doesn’t matter how you do it. This keeps your focus sharp, rather than the days bogging you down.
And lastly, enjoy it! Exercising towards a goal shouldn’t be a slog. Well, not always. It can be difficult to find the motivation in getting to the gym on a cold, dark morning or evening. And then there’s actually finding the time to get there. There’s no doubt, the gym has lots of equipment and it’s great when you find like-minded people in a class, but if life has got in the way and you don’t have the time or money, then there are some fantastic home routines that can take just 20 minutes without loads of space or equipment needed. If you start becoming frustrated by missed gym visits and feel down on yourself then it is the first sign of giving up on your fitness goals because you are not enjoying it.
I hope these ideas can really help you to stay focused on your fitness journey. Let me know how you get on!
The year began with us on the hunt for a house to buy in Sertã, Portugal. We had moved into rental properties in the area at the back end of October, so it was a difficult time to view properties with Christmas looming and two excited little boys. However, in February this year, we bought our home and business property.
It wasn’t exactly the dream home. It was an old farm house with plenty of work to do on it. But it did tick many boxes. It had land so that the boys could play in the forest surrounds and we could create our picnic and meditation areas as lou and I had always wanted. It had outbuildings which we could create rented accommodation, a gym space and a massage treatment room. Our Portugal House was ready to be regenerated into our perfect home.
The One With The Family
The hardest part of the move was fretting over our children’s wellbeing. It had to work for them or it simply could not work for us. They started in a Portuguese school at the beginning of the year. Moving to a new school as the new kid half through a school year is tough enough. But add to that a different language and new cultural expectations, it was massive for them. I’m so proud of them. Their language skills have overtaken mine, even though I’ve been learning Portuguese on an app for over two years and they have immersed themselves into their new lives.
The One With The TV Program
The filming of the English TV show A New Life In The Sun began in February to catch the beginning of the renovation to the ‘little house’ which would be our rental property. This will be aired in January next year. The added pressure of being filmed was difficult and the interviews and filming time frames did make the renovation tough to manage, but there are no regrets. I guess we will call it a tick off the bucket list now that we’ve been on telly!
The One With My Own Personal Mental And Physical Health
The move has come at a price in regards to our mental wellbeing. Physically I’ve remained very active but I’ve done very little formal exercise, which is the type that I really love. But, as I say, this process has been physically demanding so I still feel fit and strong. Mentally, though, not having the time out or the equipment to pursue my favourite pastime has been difficult to accept. It has always enabled me to ‘fix’ problems and I can think much clearer. I know, though, that this situation was always going to be a possibility. After all, literally everything that I had in England was dropped, including my personal training business and gym membership. Starting from scratch was always inevitable and would take time.
The One With The Final Message Of The Year
We wanted an experience that we could look back on and say, “We did it! Look what we achieved!” And so far we are sure getting that experience. It’s come with many laughs and proud moments, but also a good deal of stress and tears too. This experience simply would not be the full package without the lows too. One cannot look back on moments and be proud if there has been no challenge or adversity attached to it. Good things that happen in life, fulfilling dreams and hitting goals aren’t fun or worthwhile if they’re easy. So we chose not to keep things easy knowing that the pitfalls were huge, but the rewards were even bigger.
As we enter another year of working towards our personal, my only advice to my readers are that they take a moment to reflect on what they would like to achieve in 2025. It could be a career move, a financial situation, a relationship, a fitness goal or a trip to somewhere special. Whatever it might be, just remember that there will be tough moments in achieving your goals, but if they’re special enough, then the feeling that you will get once the pieces start fitting into place makes I all worth it in the end.
Have a happy, healthy and prosperous new year. See you all soon.xxx
It’s coming up to three years since I started blogging. December 13th 2001 was my actual first one. Perhaps my ability to write in a professional way or using my words in a more creative manner hasn’t improved much, that isn’t really up to me to judge. But it wasn’t ever really my intention to showcase my writing skills. There are many skilled bloggers and writers whose work I read that are expertly done.
I simply wanted to write something of a journal. Something that, occasionally, someone would read and identify with. Maybe give a piece of advice, either for the reader or my future self and make someone laugh or think.
My favourite place to write was in the gym. In-between sets I’d write another paragraph or two. The gym has always been my thinking space. But for the past year I haven’t had that space due to my move to Portugal. With the upheaval of buying a house and setting up a new business, my moments of sitting on a workbench and finding the headspace hasn’t been easy. And anyway, I don’t have a gym at the moment.
I always knew that this would be my biggest challenge. Despite my unhappiness of living in a place where I didn’t want to be, there was a part of my life that would be left with a heavy heart.
The sea at Cornelian bay was always a pleasure to look out to. Good for the soul. The gym of course, with my trainees and friends who I would see almost daily in there. It was like a community. I also helped out with coaching at schools and holiday clubs which gave me a great sense of achievement at making a kids day a bit better. And then there’s family of course.
I don’t have one bit of regret in regards to my move to Portugal, but it doesn’t mean that I can’t miss things from my previous life either.
This month was my birthday. My dad had planned a trip from England to visit for a couple of days. This would be the first time I saw him in just over a year. We talked, laughed and ate too much in the restaurants. The boys loved his visit. They were so excited. Unfortunately, despite November being a very sunny month so far, he seemed to bring the British weather with him! So it rained a lot.
I’m still working to get my gym space in order so that I can train and write my blogs in-between sets, but it hasn’t quite happened just yet. It’s all a process. I keep reminding myself of how far we’ve come to create what we have already. It’s all a process and I need to be patient. But in the meantime, I’ll leave you with a few pics from the past week during my dad’s visit.
The front of our property has been a bit of a dumping ground since we bought it. Old mattresses, kitchen sinks and rubble have littered it for months whilst the builders have been around.
But since they left and we are now an operating guest house and wellbeing centre we have been busy tidying it up and creating something more eye catching than a building site for our guests!
Below are a few photos of the progression we’ve made. The urns are broken, but we positioned them so that it isn’t obvious. The plants are succulents that will hopefully thrive all year round. We used a sprinkling of stone dust before putting down a layer of decorative pebbles and the rocks are all from the original building that is now the guest house!
At last it’s an entrance to our property that we can be proud of.
Here are a few pics from our visit to Vila De Rei today. It’s a beautiful town in the centre of Portugal and the sun was shining which made it a lovely afternoon with the family!
Here we are, Louise and Shay, proudly holding our new Alojamento Local sign. You’ll be able to see our failed DIY attempts at putting that up outside our guest house in the UK TV programme A New Life In The Sun on series 10 in January.
We’ve been in Portugal since the 31st of October 2023 (almost a year!) During that time, we bought a beautiful property in Palhais, Sertã that just needed a bit of TLC. It’s been a journey and we can’t wait to see what happens next.
Louise is a massage therapist who worked to build her business up in Scarborough and had a fantastic customer base, many became friends, and dedicated her time to provide the best service possible to those who came to visit her.
Shay is a personal trainer who has worked as a freelance PT in Leeds and Scarborough as well as online coaching and lifestyle blogging. His fun and energetic workouts meant that exercise became something that his clients wanted to do rather than endure. Both Louise and Shay are qualified meditation guides and find this a useful tool in the wellbeing for themselves, their children and their clients.
Our aim is to welcome our guests and to experience our version of tranquility. We offer the services mentioned above and also have a small snack (petiscos) menu for our visitors, but we are equally happy for our guests to just enjoy their surroundings without any other service.
Below is the link to the Pinheiros Tranquilos Centro de Bem Estar local accommodation FB page. Be a part of the journey and give it a like and follow if you would like!
Never Give Up PT 