Gut health: Can a dietary reset give you MORE energy to exercise?
No one can deny the significant health benefits, not just physically but also psychologically of a short term reset for gut health such as; greater clarity in thinking, brighter eyes and skin, reduced bloating, more energy, weight loss and an overall sense of revitalised wellbeing. However, for many of you who regularly exercise or train, reducing your intake of foods such as sugars and carbohydrates can feel quite daunting.
You may feel that you won’t be able to train due to lack of energy and sapping your motivation, and so you avoid switching things around with your diet, even though there is lots of scientific evidence of the benefits.
I am here to tell you that you can still continue with exercise and complete a reset, without doing any harm at all. We do however advocate that the reset is for a short time only, usually 3 days is about right, to have a significant impact. Once complete is when you will see the real benefits, where you will actually have MORE energy, and motivation to continue with a healthier lifestyle change.
It all comes down to your mindset, how you think about your relationship with food and exercise, and the beliefs you hold surrounding this. This is why we also recommend wellness coaching alongside any dietary changes, so that you are more likely to succeed, and the positive effects last. Coaching helps to address any negative thinking you may be experiencing which may create a barrier to success, resulting in greater, more sustained motivation. This is often overlooked, even if you are working with a PT or a nutritionist.
Yes, you may have a little bit lower energy, but that’s not the case for everyone. It is really all to do with your metabolism, as well as being in touch with your body and how you feel.
Light gentle exercise is the key.
This is not just useful advice for when you are completing the reset, but also if you’ve recently recovered from an illness or have had a break from fitness and exercise. It’s always better to start slowly and build it up.
Here’s our advice for one daily exercise whilst completing a reset:
1. Try and go for a 30 minute walk on each day.
2. You could also try 15 minutes of Yoga, Adrienne has some great, free videos on YouTube.
3. How about a swim at your local pool? If you’ve not been swimming for a while this could be a fun way to get back into it.
4. Some floor work which could include 10 x squats, 10 x lunges and 10 x knee ups (1-2 reps). It might not feel like much but you’ll be surprised the difference this can make.
5. Your usual routine, but shorter. Only you know your own body, you want to ensure you feel great from the reset, and not have any negative effects so listen to how you feel. If you don’t want to take a break from your regular routine, then perhaps just completing part of it will still be enough for you.
The benefits of a reset, carried out in this way by combining dietary change + light exercise + wellness coaching will ensure you have the best results, therefore if you already exercise or train you do not need to worry about missed sessions. A reset can also help you have more energy and motivation for a longer lifestyle change programme.
If you would like to know more about Invigorise’s 3 day healthy reset ‘Revitalise Me’ then please click here
Why not gather your friends or family and do the reset together as a group?
Social support and wellness coaching, alongside our yummy recipes (which of course all use REAL food), has been shown to be truly effective in healthily resetting your gut microbiome. Revitalise Me is also an ideal introduction to one of our longer wellness or weight loss programmes such as Invigorise Me or Revive Me.
Got a question? Please do pop it in the comments
