Nicky Dear Health Coach

This week, I am taking a break in the beautiful Lake District here in the UK with my husband Kim and Border Collie Pip. As it’s Valentine’s Day I thought it would be remiss of me not to do a heart-themed blog.

This is my wonky attempt at a selfie (never quite got the hang of it 😂 when we stopped for our picnic by the shores of Lake Buttermere today)

Whilst my role as a health coach does not include fitness training or creating exercise plans, I do provide guidance to my clients on the types of exercises they can do to enhance their fitness levels, particularly focusing on improving cardiovascular fitness.

I also emphasise the importance of heart-healthy nutrition, good sleep hygiene, and effective stress management.

When we arrived on Tuesday, we were eager to get out into the stunning scenery and do some walking, so we planned a walk of about 8km to start us off reasonably gently…

…However, we had quite an old map with us and ended up doing a much longer detour and a total of 19km! I also made the rooky error of wearing my brand new walking boots which subsequently rubbed my ankles. Not a great start although we enjoyed the walk around Brassenthwaite lake, stopping for a huge lunch (see pic below) at the Brassenthwaite lake station (highly recommend) and back through the forest.

On Valentine’s Day we have one thing on our minds… walking! As I knew we were coming to the lakes, over the past few weeks I have been gradually increasing my “Cardio load” to prepare me for the longer, more challenging walking we are doing whilst we are here. On a normal day at home, I usually walk about an hour at a fairly brisk pace (dictated largely by Pip who doesn’t like to hang around!!) I normally combine this with some MELT (myofascial hydration and lengthening) and wall Pilates 2 or 3 times per week as well as a dance fitness session.

These past few weeks I set my Fitbit to “improve cardio fitness” and it has been giving me more challenging goals to hit in terms of how hard I work, we have included some more strenuous walks with more uphill walking involved and walking for longer at a brisk pace. I also included a couple more moderate cardio workouts a week, so despite the unexpected ‘add-on’ we did on Wednesday we both managed well (although I won’t pretend our leg muscles didn’t protest when we got up on Thursday morning). Nothing that a day of MELT to rehydrate the fascia, gentle strolls, and resting wouldn’t fix though, and after a good night’s sleep we were ready to go again this morning.

However, this level of exercise has taken me a couple of years to get back, after a long period where I was not doing much at all – mainly due to pain in my joints and muscles which prevented me from walking more than about 30 minutes at any one time. Building up slowly is really important, especially if you are struggling to sleep and have poor recovery.

Pip has been the best fitness coach we could ever have wished for, having picked her up on my birthday 6 years ago (she was just 8 weeks old) she helped me to recover from my second hip replacement for the first 6 weeks when she and I could only walk for about 15 mins at a time and we gradually built up to where we are now- she accepts no excuses, we have to walk every day. She generally walks about 3 times further than us on any given walk, scouting ahead and rounding us up if we stray behind or get ahead.

Here she is looking windswept and interesting in the sunshine with Buttermere in the background. She is infinitely more photogenic than us!

As well as all this aerobic exercise which is the best type for menopause because it ensures mitochondrial health (the energy-producing ‘factories within our cells’) by providing them with the oxygen they need to thrive and perform at their best.

Kim & I eat a diet rich in antioxidants and plant phyto-nutrients which are anti-inflammatory.

This morning we started the day with porridge made with jumbo rolled oats (rich in fiber and beta-glucans which are known to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease. In our porridge, we had blueberries & raspberries as well as a handful of nuts (almonds, walnuts & hazelnuts) all of which are fantastic for heart health and keep you full for longer because they are fibre rich. We took a picnic which consisted of wholegrain seeded bread, extra mature cheddar, and red onions (not very sociable for Valentines I know…) followed by a flask of Yorkshire tea (rich in antioxidants) and an apple (containing quercetin in their skins, another antioxidant… so an apple a day really does keep the doctor away !)

As a special treat for Valentine’s, we had tuna steaks with a miso glaze, served alongside butter beans in tomato sauce with dill and tender stem broccoli. We even enjoyed a small glass of red wine, which is rich in resveratrol—an antioxidant. However, the benefits of wine are far outweighed by the risks of excessive alcohol consumption, so we limit ourselves to just one glass with our meal.

Whatever you are doing today, look after your heart… you only get 1 ❤️