HAPPY BLUE MONDAY
So today is ‘allegedly’ the most depressing day of the year. It’s of course a load of rubbish. The term was coined by a travel company who were basically trying to get people to book a holiday.
Saying that..If you are not a winter person then January and February can be a bit rubbish!
The nights are long, the days are short, there’s minimal sunshine, the excitement of Christmas is over and just to top it off it’s also a bit chilly.
I’m not a fan of winter but I’m trying desperately to be one.
So, what can we do to be happier… in winter and in life.
1. HUMAN CONNECTION – ????
Studies and research are popping up everywhere indicating that the healthiest and happiest people on the planet are the ones that have the closest communities. Despite the introduction of ‘social’ media we are currently living in one of the loneliest times in human existence. A lack of human connection is now a greater detriment than smoking, obesity and lack of exercise. People who are socially connected have been proven to be happier, experience less incidences of anxiety and depression, are healthier both mentally and physically and actually live longer.
Finland topped last years Happiest Country list and the Finns firmly put this down to the close relationships they have with family, friends and their local community.
When I reflect on things i’ve done in my life it is the people I experienced them that I think of the most rather than the things themselves.
So put down your virtual friends and concentrate on the people around you…..and if you don’t like them….find some other people to hang out with;)
2. NATURE – ????
Our love and connection to nature is etched in our DNA. We evolved living in forests and caves so it makes sense that our relationship with nature is one of the strongest there is.
Spending time in nature has been shown to decrease stress, make people feel healthier, feel more energised and feel happier. Studies have shown that people with access to green spaces report a greater sense of well being, hospital patients recover faster when they are able to view or spend time in nature and levels of cortisol dramatically decline in those in an anxious or depressed state.
Finland comprises of almost 200,000 lakes and 75% of it is covered in Forests! No wonder they are so happy!
3. KINDNESS – ????
Giving kindness, receiving kindness and even witnessing kindness releases a whole host of amazing chemicals in the body that not only make us happier but also reduce blood pressure, supress the release of cortisol, slow ageing and help us live longer.
4. EXERCISE – ????♂️????♀️
This free and simple little thing will not only make you happier but might just save your life! Exercise releases endorphins which naturally lift our mood. Exercising with a particular goal to aim for helps release dopamine which makes us feel good. Concentrating on your breathing instead of every other thought in the world helps reduce stress on your brain thus reducing the release of cortisol in the body.
5. FOOD – ????
Most people’s favourite foods are sadly often the unhealthiest ones and although that tub of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream might give you a short lived dopamine hit it will ultimately leave you in a worse state than you were in the first place….both physically and mentally.
Processed foods are filled with sugar (or worse – sweeteners) and additives that initially spike our blood sugar levels and then send them crashing.
This blood sugar crash affects our energy levels and our mood. So eat natural slow energy releasing foods that contain minerals, vitamins and vitally important fibre to keep you healthy and to keep those blood sugar levels steady.
6. GRATITUDE – ????
This is something we should all be practicing more. Focusing on what we do have in life instead of what we don’t have reduces feelings of envy, regret and failure. Grateful people experience reduced stress, anxiety, have greater self esteem and are ultimately happier than ungrateful people.
It’s the difference between complaining you need to sweep the leaves up, and being grateful that you have trees around you and a broom to sweep them up with! ????????
So gang, there you have it! So go out there grab someone you love, take them for a walk in nature, treat them to a nice healthy dinner and tell them how grateful you are that they are in your life. Done! ????
X
#bluemonday
LISTEN TO YOUR BOWEL
An award from the Prime Minister was lovely but this is the start to the year I really hoped for – a 9 year all clear colonoscopy!
I was pretty confident all would be well but once the cannula goes in and you put on these fetching paper underpants – the sudden realisation of how quickly life can change kicks in again.
Hearing…and seeing…that all was well was simply the best news I could ask for.
I know bowel movements aren’t the most talked about topic but it’s nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about.
Bowel cancer rates are on the rise so if you have any of the following issues please see a doctor as soon as possible.
– Blood in your stool
– Fatigue
– Changes in bowel habit
– Bloating or pain in your stomach
– Unexplained weight loss
I was 30 when I was diagnosed and my only symptom was tiredness. I knew something wasn’t right and I kept going back to the doctor until further investigation led to a colonoscopy and the discovery of a 10cm tumour in my large bowel.
That early diagnosis by the team at UCH not only helped save my life but also helped reduce further complications down the line.
So please don’t mess around and don’t ever be embarrassed to talk about your bowel habits. It might just save your life!
PREVENTION OF BOWEL CANCER
The good news about Bowel Cancer is there are things you can do to help prevent it.
Doctors believe my bowel cancer was caused by the extensive radiotherapy I had as a child.
This radiotherapy had damaged numerous parts of my body including my bowel but looking back I definitely didn’t look after myself in my 20’s.
I let my job stress me out, I worked shifts, I ate fast food on the go at all times of the day and night so my body clock was all over the place, I binge drank, for 4 years I lived on one of the busiest roads in London, I didn’t exercise much and I spent the majority of my day sitting in London traffic going from crime scene to crime scene, seeing things that nobody should ever see.
As someone who had experienced cancer before, I was already prone to getting it again but I am confident that if I had dealt with work related stress effectively, eaten the right diet, given up drinking sooner and exercised more, I wouldn’t be sitting here now with half of my bowel missing.
So gang, here are some things you can do to significantly lower your chances of getting bowel cancer:-
– Eliminate processed meat from your diet. This includes ham, bacon, sausages etc. Processed meat has been classed as a group 1 carcinogen by the World Health Organisation. Group 1 is the same group as tobacco and plutonium! ????
– Exercise ????♂️
– Stay at a healthy weight
– Eat lots of fruit of veg and keep your system flushed!;) ???? ????
– Eat no or less red meat! This is also good for the environment. ????
– STOP or reduce your intake of alcohol. Definitely don’t binge drink! ???? ????
– Don’t smoke ????
– Avoid chronic stress ????
Live long and prosper!
X
101 HEALTH – GETTING STRONGER
Ok gang, it’s fair to say that my body has turned to cookie dough these past couple of years and it’s time to do something about it. I’ve always struggled with my strength and fitness but as I get older I am noticing it even more.
The life saving operations and treatment I received as a child have had a significant impact on my health in later life. As I was only 7 and 8 years old when I had this treatment, I was more susceptible to damage and it also means i’ve pretty much grown up not really knowing what normal is. I’ve always found exercise quite challenging, I struggle to put on muscle and fat on my upper body and i’ve always had issues with my back.
It turns out my treatment and operations have caused the following health issues:-
Scarred Lungs – a side effect of the radiotherapy used to get rid of the tumors in my lungs.
Heart Failure – a side effect of the chemotherapy where the heart muscle is no longer as efficient as it should be at pumping blood around the body. I now have the heart of your average 60 year old. (No offence to any 60 years olds out there! I’m sure your hearts are amazing;)
Upper Body Damage – Due to me being only 7 years old the high doses of radiotherapy to my chest burned away various cells which means it is difficult to put on muscle or fat.
Scoliosis – I’m not entirely sure why this is but a combination of radiotherapy and the removal of my right kidney has left my rib cage pointing one way and my pelvis the other. This has resulted in a curved spine.
THE CURE
Prior to the arrival of my beautiful baby boy 5 months ago I decided to not only do something about some of these issues but that I was also going do deal with them naturally, without the need for operations and medication.
I wanted to be in the best physical condition I could be in for Jospeh’s arrival and I wanted to be able to pick him up without feeling like a 90 year old.
I only learned a couple of years ago that if I had received physio as a child I may not have had the issues I do now with my back and upper torso.
I was offered medication for my heart but I refused it as I firmly believe that this can be dealt with via good nutrition and exercise.
See below to find out how I plan on achieving this:-
SCOLIOSIS
I booked an appointment at the Centre for Health and Human Performance in London for a one off intensive physiotherapy session. An amazing physiotherapist called Rob Madden developed a physio plan I could do on my own at home which would help strengthen my back, lessen back pain and improve my posture.
HEART AND BACK
My brother arranged three sessions with a cross fit instructor (pictured). I was expecting a drill sergeant and I got one of the loveliest people you could ever hope to meet. Natalie Fitzpatrick is a professional cross fit instructor and she worked with me on developing a workout plan that would improve my core and all round body strength as well as improving my cardiovascular health.
NUTRITION
My diet has been evolving ever since my second diagnosis in 2010. I’ve seen many a nutritional therapist over the years but this time I saw Deb Archibald who is a breast cancer survivor that specialises in cancer based nutrition.
I BUILT THE 101 GYM
And finally I have set up a mini gym in my garage which is freezing cold, damp and dusty and I love it! I’ll give you a better tour soon.
Jaime suggested that I share some of the things I have learnt and implemented in my own life over the past 7 years. If people ask, I am more than willing to tell them but I often find people aren’t interested in changing their diets or lifestyle which breaks my heart.
Cancer and many other forms of physical illness have been shown to be the result of a combination of environmental, life-style and biological factors. It makes perfect sense that the key to both preventing and overcoming these illnesses is an overall improvement in the exact same things that cause them.
I hope you get something from these ‘101 Health’ posts and please know that I will not post anything that hasn’t been PROVEN to have a positive effect on your physical and mental well/being.
Lets make this our healthiest year yet.
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HOW YOUR MIND CAN HEAL YOUR BODY
I have seen first hand the effects of both a negative and a positive mindset and the power of the mind is a truly incredible thing.
During my worst time with PTSD I suffered with eczema, psoriasis, insomnia and anxiety.
It has only been in recent years that I have made a point of learning the science behind how our thoughts effect our body.
I recently discovered the work of this amazing man…
Dr David Hamilton David R Hamilton PhD is a former pharmaceutical scientist who was so fascinated by the placebo effect that he made it his life’s ambition to learn the true power of the mind and how we can harness it to improve our physical health.
His book How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body is something that every single one of us should read. Packed with case studies, research and examples, it provides clear evidence of why our thinking influences our physical health.
Having things to look forward to was the first step in causing a chain reaction within my body that snapped me out of my darkness and got me excited about the future instead of fearing it.
It was only later that I understood the science behind why that happened- when we visualise ourselves succeeding in something, it releases that little bit of dopamine in the brain which gives us that feel good feeling and this can often be the first steps in alleviating depression or anxiety.
When we visualise something, the mind can’t distinguish between what is real or not therefore when we imagine being somewhere else we can experience all physical and emotional responses we would by actually being there for real.
Visualisation, people, experiences, gratitude, support, kindness, joy and love have all helped strengthen my mindset to become the healthiest and most contented version of myself.
David’s book beautifully illustrates the connections between the body and mind and how these can influence the healing process. Even the way we think about the treatment or medication we have can have a significant impact on its effectiveness.
His latest book – The Five Side Effects of Kindness is also a must read. We use some of David’s findings in the 52 Lives School Kindness Project and it is absolutely life changing. Kindness doesn’t just help someone else, it also helps ourselves both emotionally and physically.
I met with David this week and also had the pleasure of hearing him give a talk.
His books may just change your life!
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VISUALISATION AND THE 101 POSE
I spent last night trawling through just some of the many thousands of photos I’ve taken over the past few years when I stumbled upon this little beauty.
This was the very first 101 photo I ever took. My friend Gemma was taking a pic of me in front of the stunning Cathedral of Leon in Nicaragua when she suggested I turn around to get the 101 logo in the shot instead.
And with that, the 101 pose was born.
I’m going to be sharing some of the classic 101 shots over the next few months which I hope will give you inspiration for possible future destinations but also encourage you to get out there and take your own 101 pics!
101 t-shirts are now on sale so pick one up via the website and get out there and do something you love.
It doesn’t matter what it is, just as long as it helps you feel good! Send in a pic and we’ll plaster it all over 101 to inspire others.
VISUALISATION
Just visualising being in a place can evoke all the same sensations as actually being there.
Having things to look forward to helped me get over my own mental darkness during my worst time with PTSD.
Research has shown that when we visualise ourselves being somewhere or succeeding in something, it releases that feel-good chemical, dopamine, in the brain which can often be the first step in alleviating the symptoms of anxiety or depression.
So when you look at these photos or make a list, visualise yourself being there and I guarantee it will help light you up inside.
Happy visualising gang!
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MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK
Mental health is a topic that is very close to my heart. This week myself and the inspiring Sarah Page from award winning insurance company Insurancewith.com had the chance to chat about our personal experiences via Facebook live interviews for the International Business Times and Hello!
You can find the links to both below:-
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#mentalhealthawarenessweek
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY OF SOCIAL MEDIA
It’s Mental Health Awareness Week and, as you may have seen, I’ve recently returned to social media after taking a 4 month break. I wasn’t going to say too much about this but much like when I spoke about my experience with PTSD after cancer, I thought there may be people that feel the same way as I do. Some of you might identify with the following and some of you may not, but whatever your stance, I hope this helps you in some way.
It’s fair to say that I have a love/hate relationship with Social Media.
I love that it can connect people and help to inspire or raise awareness about important issues, but I don’t like that everywhere I look now, I see people more interested in their phones than the world around them.
I saw this an awful lot on my trip around the world. In every hostel, people were glued to their devices.
I was careful not to blog during a ‘thing’ on my list. All of my posts were written afterwards so that I didn’t miss out on the live experience around me. That’s not to say I was completely present during all of them.
Last year, I used this photo of me watching the sunset over Horse Shoe Bend in Arizona as my personal cover photo and a friend commented “you like you are so in the moment there Greig”.
She couldn’t have been more wrong. As I sat there watching the sun go down over one of nature’s most incredible sights, all I was thinking was whether I had put the timer on and if the camera was in the right position. I must have taken 7 photos to get the right one. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity to watch the sun go down over one of the most awe inspiring sights in the world and the only time I was in the moment was when the sun had eventually gone down and I had put my camera away. I absolutely love my photos and I especially love sharing these photos and places with you guys but I now wish that I had perhaps limited my time taking some of them.
Social media can be overbearing. Studies shows that it’s linked to depression, increased loneliness and anxiety. The average person interacts with their phone a whopping 3000 times a day and spends 145 minutes using it. Researchers found that the majority of that time is spent on Facebook. It’s madness.
Comparing our lives to the filtered lives we see on Facebook and Instagram is so damaging to our well-being, and so too is our need to share every moment of our lives with the world. I have always been very careful in assuring others that a trip around the world doesn’t solve your problems. Travel and experiences most definitely inject fun and optimism into life but I would never want others to look at my trip or my life and feel that it is what you need to do to feel happy. As I learned on my trip, all I was really looking for was a feeling of peace and contentment.
I left social media at the start of the year because it was causing me anxiety.
My travels and blog have brought many new people into my life. I have made lots of new friends, received thousands of messages and did a lot of work for various charities along the way.
But coming back home I struggled to keep up to date with all of the charities, messages and indeed friends. My contact with real people became limited, and I felt like I was living a virtual life. I constantly felt like I was letting people down – both online and in real life – and that I wasn’t a good friend or person.
You may be wondering why this only happened when I was back in the UK and not when my story was in the press during my trip. When my story was featured in the world press I was in the midst of travelling around South America. I made a point not to have a sim card for my phone and only used the wifi network at the hostels I was staying at. As a result I rarely got time to be online, so my time spent on my phone or on social media was brief and functional. When I got home however, this all changed and I soon realised I was paying more attention to my phone than I was to the people around me.
My world also started to feel cancer-dominated. I lost two friends to cancer and my news feeds were all about cancer. It seemed like I couldn’t even turn on the radio without hearing about yet another celebrity who had died of the disease.
CHANGES
I initially made some smaller changes to my life and switched off notifications on my phone, transferred my social media apps to a separate page on my phone and gave myself permission not reply to every message straight away. But it didn’t feel like enough.
So, at the end of 2016 I decided my health came first and came off social media completely. I was partly inspired by hearing that the singer Ed Shearan had done the same thing. He came off social media for a year, for many of the same reasons. He even went so far as to completely get rid of his phone. When was asked at a party why, he simply said “take a look around”. When they looked around the room he said that 50% of the people there were looking at their phones. “That’s why I don’t have a phone”, he said.
Coming off social media felt like weight off my shoulders but it was also a very surreal feeling indeed. I came off at the same time I had moved to an entirely new area. My phone rarely beeped and I suddenly noticed how few phone calls I received. My world became a lot smaller. I was more engaged with the people and the world around me and I was present. I’ve found I have spent the past few months spending more time with my family, I’ve read lots of books, written even more of my own book and I’ve been enjoying so many amazing experiences without feeling like I should blog about them.
I’ve also spent a lot of time researching why I did indeed feel this way and, as ever, been learning to overcome it.
You’re probably wondering why I came back on to Social Media. Well, it’s because I realised that social media and my phone were not the problem – it was me, and how I was dealing with them. So I plan to deal with them very differently now. The truth is I would like my purpose in life to be to help others. Whether that be my family, my friends or those who are just going through a bad time. I have learned so much over the years about physical and psychological health and I would love to share this whilst at the same time sending out some much needed inspiration. Social media is an enormous part of our lives and if used the correct way it can be a wonderful resource of hope and inspiration.
I plan on using Social Media in a less all-consuming way. Notifications will stay off and I will check it when I want to rather than when it tells me to. I now put my phone away when I’m around others and it is no longer the first thing I check in the morning or last thing I check at night. When taking in an experience I will make sure that the quest for the perfect photo is limited to just a few minutes rather than throughout the entire event. And my hope is that my unborn baby boy will never see me staring at my phone instead of his face when he’s speaking to me.
Finally, please don’t read the above and feel you can’t contact me! I absolutely love getting your messages. The support I’ve received over the past few years has inspired and motivated me to keep going (I fully believe that support is part of the cure for illness). All I ask is that you don’t judge me if I don’t reply straight away! 🙂
Much love and thanks everyone.
X
#mentalhealthawarenessweek
SURVIVOR’S GUILT
This is a post I have wanted to write for a long time now but for one reason or another I haven’t. Events in recent weeks however, have made it feel more relevant than ever now.
A few years before I was diagnosed with cancer for the second time I wrote to my childhood doctor and the man who saved my life first time round, Dr Craft.
I wanted to give him an update about what kind of person I had become. We hadn’t been in touch since I was a child but something compelled me to write to him and let him know that I grown up to be a good person.
In my message I told him how I now worked for the police as a Crime Scene Investigator and helped catch criminals. I told him I was a good person, who loved his family and was nice to people. He was very good to myself and my family when I was ill and I guess I just wanted him to know that I was now doing some good in the world by helping others.
There were many reasons I did this but perhaps the main one was to help justify my own existence. Fingers crossed you are not reading this thinking that i’m a total nutter but after meeting so many people who have either lost someone or who have come through a traumatic time, i’m guessing not.
The truth is I have always felt guilty about surviving cancer. Much like PTSD, I had always associated survivors guilt with war and veterans. Soldiers who had lost their friends and colleagues and found it difficult to understand why they had survived when others didn’t.
When I meet people who have lost someone to cancer I immediately want to curl up into a ball and not mention anything about myself or 101 Things To Do When You Survive.
After surviving cancer for the second time and then struggling with PTSD, my self loathing was at its worst. How dare I feel so sad and scared when so many others had lost their life to cancer. I absolutely hated myself for feeling this way.
When I came up with the idea of 101 so many doubts went through my mind. Would my story be seen as scare mongering, would it upset people with cancer and would admitting how scared and sad I felt after surviving cancer upset those who lost someone to this awful disease.
These fears were fully realised when my story was in the press in 2013 – 2014. Along with thousands of positive and lovely messages, I also received a few negative ones.
Some called me smug whilst others said it wasn’t fair that I had survived when their loved ones didn’t. Some just missed the point and berated me for having the money to do go on my trip.
The positive comments far outweighed the negative ones but in true Amazon and Trip Advisor style it was the negative ones that had the greatest impact. I wished I hadn’t let them get to me so much at the time. I know who I am and what I was trying to do. I was always taught growing up… ‘when you are dealt a lemon, make lemonade’ so that’s what i’ve tried to do.
I, like many seem to feel guilty on a daily basis. My Facebook and Twitter accounts are filled with things about cancer which sometimes really gets to me and makes me feel sick and sometimes bad for posting a happy photo or story. The truth is, like many others, I feel happiest when I feel like i’m helping someone but I am also sent so many fundraising requests that I feel awful for not helping with them all.
Over the past few years I have met many people who have lost friends or relatives far too early. One woman, who lost her son told me that sometimes she sometimes catches herself when she feels happy as she feels guilty because he isn’t there anymore.
Survivors guilt is a very real and awful thing and something nobody should feel.
I have been doing a lot of thinking about this over the past year and especially this past week. I am truly tired of feeling guilty and bad about myself.
I thought about how I would want people to react if I had died. I most certainly wouldn’t want them to feel bad or guilty. That would break my heart. I would only want to see them happy and to enjoy the life that has been given to them.
None of us should feel guilty about surviving anything at all. I said this in a recent post but it is so true, we really do owe it to those that we have lost to live the best and happiest lives we possibly can. Otherwise what is the point in living at all.
The main reason I’m sharing this is to let people know that they are not alone in feeling this way and you are certainly not crazy. Us humans are an odd bunch and our minds are very tricky things indeed. Acknowledging survivors guilt can be the first step in overcoming it.
Live the best and happiest life you can gang. You deserve it I promise you…. we all do. The people who aren’t still here would want that for you.
X
SUN, SKIN CANCER AND THE SECRET TO THE PERFECT TAN
Summer is here and I can’t even begin to tell you how happy this makes me. When the sun is shining I feel like I’m on top of the world. Much like Superman, the sun is my life force.
If I’m honest I also love having a bit of a tan…not for vanity reasons, but simply because when I have a tan people tell me I look well, which means a lot more to me these days. But a tan is definitely not a sign of good health. It’s a sign that you’ve damaged your skin – UV rays can destroy cells, accelerate the ageing process and cause skin cancer.
Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in Britain. Cases of malignant melanoma have increased by 360% since the 1970’s. That’s a scary statistic!
For my trip I pretty much followed the summer for two years, dodging either side of the equator and avoiding winter like the plague.
The first photo was taken was taken in the San Blas Islands on my way to Colombia and this was probably the most tanned I’ve ever been in my life. I’ll tell you my non-deliberate tanning secret in a mo.
I recently visited the Mole Clinic in London for a skin cancer check up as I had a couple of dodgy looking moles and wondered what damage I may have done to my skin whilst showing off my scars on beaches around the world.
The nurse did a full body scan and, for some unknown reason, I decided to wear the smallest and loosest underpants I own so had to wrap my jumper around my nether regions, lest she be scarred for life (see pic).
It seems I have one potentially dodgy looking mole which the nurse photographed and sent for analysis. She believes that there is nothing to worry about but I was told to come back in three months to see if the mole had changed at all.
Athough the sun is amazing it is also pretty dangerous and contributes to 75% of the ageing process! Yikes! Ever wondered why your butt cheeks are so smooth? It’s because they rarely see the sun.
The sun is also the main cause of skin cancer. Brits especially love nothing more than to bake ourselves in the sun, trying to get as brown as we possibly can. We go on holiday for a week and believe that the only way to get a tan is to not use suncream.
This is not the case! I am the master of accidental tanning and I can tell you now that the best way to get the perfect tan is…….. high factor suncream! No less the 30 SPF. Anything less than this is a waste of time. I have found that high factor suncream helps protect your skin and from my experience allows for a deeper more long lasting tan!
The sun is of course very important for our necessary intake of vitamin D but research shows that just 10 minutes in the early morning sun without sun cream is enough to get our recommended dosage.
So gang, ideally cover up when you’re in the sun but if you’re not going to do that…get your high factor suncream on, get regular checks and enjoy this beautiful sunshine.
X
TRAVEL INSURANCE FOR THOSE WITH PRE-EXISTING MEDICAL CONDITIONS
If you have any type of pre-existing medical condition including cancer and need travel insurance then these guys are the people to see.
Because of insurancewith I was able to travel the world at an affordable price with all my ‘conditions’ covered!
Check them out and if you can, please share and take a moment to vote for them for the British Travel Awards. CLICK TO VOTE
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Visit their website here – insurancewith
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