Heidi Strickland-Clark

First of all I have to say this. I love my job, I’m loving life right now and I’ve had a fabby weekend. I’ve been to several of Phil’s seminars/workshops and this was by far the best yet.

Secondly, I feel incredibly lucky that it is right on my doorstep. Palm Hills Hotel in Bracknell is a mere 7 or 8 miles from my door. I don’t think anyone else lived closer. People from Ireland, Wales, Yorkshire, Sheffield and Bury St Edmunds all travel to these events. It’s really that worth it.

Thirdly, he had a fantastic line up. Phil presented passionately on heart and vascular health. Dr Eric Serrano from the USA was there speaking on hormones primarily, but this man knew a LOT of stuff, he was charismatic, said what he thought and was compelling. Dr Nigel Plummer, a digestive expert, what he doesn’t know about gut health, pro-biotics and fish oils really isn’t worth knowing. His delivery is clear, concise and moderated for the audience in front of him. Dr John Anderson, a mercury free dentist, from Wales who despite appearing quite shy, knew his stuff and the information he gave us on mercury fillings and dentistry left us in awe.

Each speaker deserves a blog post in their own right, however I am going to give you an overview of each of their presentations.

Phil: Heart and vascular health: If your cardiovascular system isn’t working properly then no matter how much you eat cleanly, exercise hard and look after yourself are you going to improve. Our heart’s function defines us. When it works optimally, so do we. If it works moderately so do we. When it’s in a crappy state, guess what? so are we! Several dietary and supplemental suggestions were recommended, but if you’re not taking additional vitamin C supplementation you will be deficient and you will be prone to vascular damage. Eating veg and fruit just isn’t enough. Patrick Holford, a well reknowned nutritionist has stated that with an AVERAGE diet we are taking in 100mg a day, a GOOD diet upto 200 mg a day but for optimum health we need about 2000mg a day. (I should state here that your government states that you need 60mg a day — this will keep you just away from scurvy, if you’re lucky). Phil explained how damaged arteries need vitamin C to stop the build up of plaque that is called in by the body to patch the holes in the arterial ‘grout’. How when we’re stressed through work, emotions or health (exercise too) we deplete vitamin C even more. If you do nothing else take a high quality vitamin C supplement 2-3g a day for maintenance. More would be required for heart health. Let me know if you need advice in this area.

Eric spoke on hormones. How synthetic hormones mess with your body. How the contraceptive pill stays in your body for 27 months after you’ve stopped taking it, how the estrogen dominance is giving men boobs (he called them ‘bitch tits’ — I love this man!), female moods are affected by their hormones being out of whack and how ‘stupid’ bodybuilders taking testosterone were ‘dumb asses’. His delivery was rapid. His knowledge vast. He was physically treating people all weekend and so generous with his time. Truly a great guy. Oh! and he gave Phil as good as he got!

Dr Plummer is a gut health god. I think he is fantastic. He loves his subject, he gave 2 brilliant presentations and that he gave me 10 minutes of his time for a video interview at the end of a very long day is truly generous. I’ll be making his video public soon. He spoke to me on gut health and how common gut and digestive problems can be managed with pro-biotics. I should say, he really knows his stuff. His research is published in the medical journals.

John-the mercury free-dentist was very enlightening. He seemed very shy and unused to presentations but he knew his topic was passionate about it and spoke from a position of experience as he got ill when he first qualified after spending so long putting mercury fillings in to people’s mouths without any protection. OK, so here is the crappy, ridiculous fact he told us.

Dentists are the only people who are legally allowed to poison you. It’s OK to put mercury in your gob, but when they have to dispose of any mercury they remove from people’s mouths they can’t just post it. Oh no. It needs special treatment, exorbitant pricing and ‘procedures’. Funny eh? It’s in your mouth, damn close to your brain and affecting all your tissues, but it’s approved as safe by the the Dentistry Council and the government. But  try and dispose of it and it becomes a toxic poison. Go figure! Take home message, even if you have only one mercury filling you should seriously consider its removal for your health (by a mercury free dentist). I have lots of information on this so please drop me a line if you are interested to know more.

Finally, I met a great group of people. Generally in fitness circles there is a lot of ego and postulating. Testosterone strutting and comparing. It didn’t feel like that this time. It was inclusive and friendly, generous and helpful. I couldn’t have asked for more.

My real claim to fame though is that I had Glenn Ross on my massage couch!! All 28 stone of ‘Britain’s Strongest Man’! He was being treated by Eric for some back / hip / leg issue and needed a sturdy base. I always have my couch in the car and offered it (a bit nervously!). It did the job. Even with Eric and Mark applying body weight to Glenn my little couch survived! I almost got him to sign it!

I hope your weekend was as great as mine was! I’m still floating on air!

I realised last night as I was stood at Fit Camp waiting for the session to start, what an opportunity I have in my job to improve people’s lives in ways they don’t even really realise.

Being healthy isn’t just about doing exercise and eating healthily. It’s about having a balance in your life between work, family, friends. Between having time to have fun and work and time to learn and grow. To being able to feel part of something and feel supported by the network of people around you.

One of the things that I have always tried to to since starting to teach exercise classes is to learn people’s names. I think that the least I can do to repay someone for taking time out of their day to come to a class is for me to be able to speak with and acknowledge them personally. I know a lot of names. Sometimes I need to ask a couple of times, but usually I get it, it sinks in and it stays.

Because I know names, I can introduce people to each other. This means that the class becomes a social place to be, friendships are made and a camaraderie is formed that progresses outside of the class.  Having a community to belong to, whether it be a class at the gym a Fit Camp session or a seminar event is very healthy. Having friends to cheer you up when you get there, egg you on when the going gets tough or text you to find out where you were gets the very best out of people.

So back to last night…I was waiting for camp to start and there were large groups of people who just a few months ago or weeks even had never met and are now laughing and joking, saving mats and spaces for each other and getting sweaty and healthy together.

Perfect!

Having friends around us is incredibly important for our long term health. So next time I ask your name or introduce you to someone new, don’t be surprised,. It’s all part of your long term health plan!

There are times when you sometimes have to just make a tough decision and move on. I’ve just done this. I’ve been on a journey for about a year to get myself onto the ION Nutritional Therapist course, a 3 year commitment. A 20 hours of self study a week responsibility. A weekend a month of full on lectures. Properly cited and referenced essays. Exams. I was up for that.

Problem was, the rest of my life wasn’t! Deciding to move on (not quitting — I’ve made a decision to change path) was tough. Do I defer or do I withdraw? Do I find another course, do I move away from nutrition altogether? I’ve been through a brief period of mourning this week deciding what to do.

I decided to stop. I do not have 20 hours a week for study. I want to learn, but I don’t want to write essays, especially crap ones as I don’t have the time to dedicate to them. I realised I don’t need to have exams and essays behind me to learn and grow. I’m helping people already, I can still do that. So with new energy and vigour I’ve a new plan ready to go ahead with so I can learn in a way that suits me whilst helping others.

My first project is PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome). If you suffer with, or know of someone who suffers with this condition and you want to be included in some natural, nutritional treatment and help then please drop me a line. I’ll be setting something up in the next few weeks. You can email me at heidi@strickers.org.uk.

Sometimes you just need to let something go to let something else in.

I have had the absolute pleasure of seeing several women change right before my eyes this week. In fact it’s been so damn powerful I’ve been on a high from it all week long, sleeping less and wanting to crack on with my own tasks.

Self belief or taking personal responsibility are phrases chucked about and dismissed by some as a bit of nonsense. Usually by confident souls who can’t imagine not being able to just getting something done. However, being fearful of something and doing it anyway is character and confidence building stuff and I love seeing it in action.

We started a new Fit Camp this week. A four week programme of healthy eating and regular exercise to lose a clothes size in a month. What a week it’s been! Now I know January traditionally is the month of motivation and renewed vigor but the strength of character of the people who have joined this week is inspiring.

I met a lady who has a diet coke habit; 12 a day. Consuming anything 12 times a day is pretty serious business and I was really quite worried for her heath if she continued. (It’s a whole other blog post, but trust me on this, if you drink this crap, and you value your long term mental and physical health, stop it.  Stop it right now and don’t even think about giving it to your children… step off soap box, will post more on this another time!) So when we discussed her giving it up I honestly thought I was being placated. Imagine my delight when not 1 hour later she emailed me to say she had thrown it all out! Determined to change her health and her ways, she got rid of all of it. Withdrawal symptoms yes, but still strong and determined even though it’s a struggle.

I met 9 women today who all had to tell us why we should chose them for a special fat loss programme. Each had a very personal story to tell of why their life would be improved if they were selected. Moving and emotional stuff. They were taken out of their comfort zones several times today (from having photos taken in undies to exercising harder than they have for a while) and on each occasion I could see the mental shift. “I don’t want to do this.”. “I need to do this”. Truly amazing.

A dear friend who has had a particularly difficult and traumatic few months has shown me how you can stay true to yourself with self belief and having the support of a fantastic network of friends. Despite times when she thought life was never going to improve. It’s starting to shine a little more brightly for her now.

Finally and, most importantly, most close to my heart, I’ve seen in the space of four days our daughter Laura grow and flourish before my eyes. Accepted to work as an au-pair in Australia for a year I was listening to sobs of “I think I’ve made the wrong choice, I don’t want to go” the night before her flight on Tuesday. Completely unhelpfully, I merely said “you’re going”. Since landing and writing her blog I’ve seen the world through her eyes. And it’s amazing! Her view changed immediately she got there, her attitude to her life, her behaviour, how she cares for herself and what she experiences are all beautifully detailed in her voice, through her words. I can’t tell you how happy I am that she is happy, that she stepped up to the mark and started to believe in herself. Beautiful.

I’ve learned from these wonderful ladies this week to just get on with it. It might feel uncomfortable, it might be out of the ordinary, but oh! what a journey and what a wonderful destination. Health, happiness and independence. It’s there for the taking by anyone who is prepared to reach for it. Go on — stretch!