Christmas – Never Give Up PT

Barley And Me

I like Christmas. Well, I don’t mind it. The enthusiasm has come back a bit since becoming a dad. But every year when December hits and I hear the first dulcet tones of another festive Bublé effort, I strap myself in for the month ahead and hope I don’t lose my mind.

The week between Christmas and the new year hits me the hardest. It doesn’t even have a name. It’s just known as ‘the week between Christmas and New year.’

“Oh, Shay, when shall we have a catch up?”

“I dunno, should I just contact you the week between Christmas and New year?”

It’s like purgatory.

The day after boxing day is when we restock the alcohol, which is incredible really, seeing as we seem to buy the whole stock of a Wetherspoons pub on Christmas eve. This is a Christmas eve tradition as we always believe that the supermarkets are closed forever after Christmas eve when, in fact, they reopen on boxing day.

I need a stiff drink to get over another play of ‘Santa Baby’, so leading up to Christmas is when I start to drink stuff that I wouldn’t think of drinking at any other time of year. Brandy and Irish cream goes in my coffee. Whisky and dry. Jack Daniels. Snowball. I mean, WTF even is that?!

The week between Christmas and new year takes a similar path. We also discovered that many of the locals in rural Portugal have basements dedicated to brewing their own wine. So by the time Antonio had given me his last drop of rocket fuel on new year’s day I was ready to have some time away from alcohol.

A week has passed and I am still in no way ready to drink anything alcoholic.

But there is usually a strange excuse for me to have a little tipple. A birthday, a weekend, a birth or the sunshine. And I sometimes commiserate with a drink too. All it takes is for a soppy movie about a dying dog and out comes the crate of Sagres.

But, for now, it is a dry January. After all, I’m making up for a very wet December.

For now, amigos, take care!

Snow

‘Oh shit.’ I muttered as a van slowly slid down the hill towards my car with me and the boys inside.

I would usually wince at my curses if I were in the vicinity of the kids and tell myself off for using such language. Tonight, however, it’s a wonder it wasn’t something stronger.

Within a split second, which seemed to happen in slow motion, the van uncontrollably came closer to the car. It would do a considerable amount of damage to the car if it hit it, but I was confident that me and the boys would be safe. My wife, though, was the one pushing our car up the hill! Any sort of collision, considering the cars revving hard up the hill and the sliding cars coming down it, could have been very serious to anybody on foot.

Luckily, and what seemed to be just a couple of inches away, the van managed to stop as I continued to rev my car up the hill as my wife, now with a couple of helpers, got my car onto a flatter surface.

The journey back from taking our boys for their swimming lessons had turned into quite an adventure. A journey that should take 10 minutes took an hour and a half.

That evening, along with my long list of Google questions such as ‘Schools in Santarem’ and ‘Houses for sale in Santarem’, ‘Does it snow in Santarem?’ entered the search history.

Next year will be the year that I move with my family to Portugal. The weather isn’t the biggest motivation, but last night it did nudge up a few places on the priority list.

I used to like it when it snowed. I have lovely memories of snowball fights and building snowmen as a kid. But as a grown up, I only like it on a greetings card. Snow means a loss of earnings and near misses with vans.

It also means I don’t get to the gym to train myself as much. Of course, the snow doesn’t play a huge part in this. It might cause a day or two of disruption but I have a long list of work and house chores that need doing and, generally, the lead up to the Christmas week represents a rest period to my regular training schedule. And although January would usually be the green light to get stuck into my schedule again, a week away in Portugal in the first week of the new year will give me extra time to enjoy my ‘bulking’ period.

After all, who can go to Portugal and not try a pastel de nata or two?

Beating The Stress Of Christmas

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”

Andy Williams sang about this most wonderful time of year. And for many people it is true. Lots of people love Christmas and the lead up to the big day. But it can also be the cause of stress and anxiety for others.

I agree with Andy, but whilst I enjoy the festivities that occur throughout December, I can’t help but feel that I’d be happy to see the back of it too. So my song would go something like… It’s the most wonderful time of the year and it’s a relief when it’s over. Doesn’t have the same ring to it though.

Because I have managed to overcome many of my anxieties around Christmas (or at least deal with them as they inevitably crop up), I might well be in a position to give a few suggestions on how to ease this festive fear and, perhaps, even enjoy it a bit more.

Here are my top tips for not giving a crap this Christmas…

* You don’t need Christmas pajamas. Wear what you like as long as you are comfortable and warm.

* Your decorations don’t need to look like a scene from a Hollywood Christmas movie. Your tinsel might have seen better days and your tree might be a bit wonky, but it’s your tinsel and tree and if the kids have helped decorate the house then just blame them.

* Oh and you don’t need to light up Las Vegas. A few twinkling lights will do.

* Just because you have the same qualifications as someone else doesn’t mean you have to socialize with them. The people that you work with are your work colleagues. If you don’t fancy the office party then don’t go.

* This year my wife and I are having burgers on the BBQ for our Christmas lunch. A little unconventional but every year my wife gets stuck in the kitchen for hours making a roast dinner with all the trimmings. Not this year!

* Do people send Christmas cards anymore? I dunno, but you don’t have to. For special people you might not see much of, then give them a call on Christmas Day. I bet they’d be very happy with that. But if you do get a card from the Brannigan’s at number 34 then you’d best send one back or your name will be mud in the street WhatsApp group that they’ve not invited you on.

* Don’t start the Irish Cream too early. I’ve made the mistake of raising a toast on a Christmas morning with a fake Bailey’s and I’ve been slurring my words by the time Top Of The Pops came on at 2.

* Don’t worry about other people’s social media pics. Everybody looks like they’re having the time of their lives, but I bet they can’t wait for Aunty Margaret to leave so they can stop breathing in her sprouty farts.

* And finally, your kids love you and if you are teaching them right they will know that, between you and Santa, you’ve done your best with gifts this year.

I hope some of these suggestions raised a smile and put your mind at rest a little. It is indeed a wonderful time of year. You just need to stop, take a deep breath, smile and roll with it.

Coffee Cream, anyone?

At Christmas our eating and drinking habits often change. I know mine does. I keep my alcohol intake to the weekends these days but at Christmas I do allow a few weekday drinks to creep in. I’ve been known to have an Irish cream on Christmas morning too! (We left it out for Santa and he didn’t want it, so…)

I’ve talked about the ability to train the mind as well as the body before to my trainees and around Christmas time it becomes important to use your mental strength. I know that training less, which I will do, and having a few extra calories won’t destroy what I have achieved throughout the year. You need this mindset to relax at certain times. You’re not quitting your goals and you’re not even putting them on hold. You’re letting your mind and body celebrate it’s achievements for a brief moment before you crack on again. And that’s absolutely fine!

It’s half time. You’re winning. You’re giving yourself a team talk until it’s time to enter the arena again. That’s not letting yourself down. It’s just clever planning and giving your well-being what it needs.

I’m lucky in that I haven’t got a sweet tooth, so the Quality Street tin is safe with me…until Christmas. The annual event of sorting out the coffee creams while watching The 20 Most Embarrassing Celebrity Moments on Boxing night is bound to happen. I have no interest in them at all until Christmas. I start eating things I wouldn’t usually have. Turkey and stuffing flavoured crisps. Pigs in blankets. A festive slice from Gregg’s. And what the heck is advocaat?! It doesn’t matter. It’s Christmas, I’ll drink it.

But I know that I have now got a mindset and a body that is working with me, not against me. I’ve looked after it. Given it the TLC. I haven’t abused it with fad diets or training regimes that don’t work. I’ve had a plan and my mind and body will let me off for eating a bit of crap at Christmas. I don’t just design fitness plans for others. I know they work, so I design fitness plans for myself too. So I know that I’m good at it. And I’m not boasting about that. You’d expect a mechanic to say they can fix your car or a builder to say they can build you a wall.

So as long as you have put the ground work in and you have a plan for the new year, a little Christmas indulgence won’t interfere with your goals. You have to own what you eat and drink and move on. No guilt. The arena will be waiting for you in the second half.

I’m Not A Grinch… Honest!

I have typed out this first sentence a dozen times. I know what I want to say, but there’s nothing I can begin with that makes it sound sincere. So I’ll type it and you can judge…

I like Christmas, I really do.

…are you buying that? Ok, so the truth is I could probably go without the bloody fuss this year. Or any year really. But I know that this ‘bloody fuss’ I call Christmas is the highlight of my kids year and my wife was putting the tree up in November so I guess I’m strapped in and ready to go.

So much time has been lost. My kids schooling, money lost through lockdowns and my mental and physical health has taken a battering over the past 2 years, I just wanted a period of normal. But Christmas isn’t normal. The look on my kids faces on Christmas morning and the smile on my wife’s face as we sit down for our lunch will brush all of my anxieties away. I know how lucky I am. But just because we are lucky or privileged it doesn’t mean anybody should feel ashamed about feeling anxious sometimes. I’m a PT. I motivate people. But I would rather motivate people through honesty rather than an abs selfy on Insta everyday.

Christmas can be a wierd time for most people. Although I lost my mum to cancer in February a few years ago, I knew that my visit to her at Christmas would be one of the last times that I would see her. I’m not sure she would have remembered any of my visits after that. So this time of year, like for so many, can be an emotional time.

Being a PT for me was never about just shouting at people in a gym. I do that pretty well too! But I also appreciate talking to people and finding out what makes them tick. This talking to people thing is powerful, y’know? That’s what really helps me find their goals and how to achieve reaching them, not how good their squat is. A person trains for one hour of the day, but it’s the other 23 hours that make us.

I’m bracing myself for the kids breaking up, eating and drinking too much and not training enough. I have a strong family and I know that we’ll have fun. Even if it is at my expense as they watch me ice skate for the very first time.

But, and this is the absolute truth…deep down I really do love Christmas. Every bit of it.