Blog Archives

Help Fight Mental Health Issues With Physical Fitness

9/23/2019

My guest blogger today is mental health campaigner Jordan Langley. Jordan uses his experience as a personal trainer to help people fight mental health issues. This is his story.

by Jordan Langley

Back before I started my personal fitness journey, I used to really struggle with my own health battles; I had just being diagnosed with irritable bowel disease (IBD).

As a result of that, I felt weak! I was rapidly losing weight as I couldn’t eat anything with making repeated trips to the toilet. It got so bad that I didn’t even have the energy to get out of bed and I was rushed to hospital, where I spent the next five days.

Fast forward five years and I’m now four major operations on my core down and my colon removed with an ostomy bag fitted (feel free to ask what one is).

When health issues exist in your life, it pours over and takes control of other areas of your life as well, it’s like an overdose of negativity that can destroy your life.

It got to a point where I literally wasn't me anymore, I didn’t feel like myself and I had to do something about it. Not only was I fighting this illness I was going through my own mental health battle, thinking what the point in being here anymore is and came close to doing something stupid.

As I fell deeper into depression and wondering why me, my wife at the time decided to be unfaithful instead of supporting me which lead to me going through a divorce, which pushed me lower the low, now I had to deal with the possibility of being forever alone and this sent me to absolute rock bottom.

This went on for a good 12 months in which I became a house hermit, did nothing but cry and question why bother, but that’s when I reignited my love for sport so I started to work out for 15-30 mins for a few weeks to build strength and make a conscious note of what I was eating, as I was still learning what my triggers were.

The results I got at first were relatively slow as my focus was just on getting started and making it habit, rather than focusing on the quality of the routine.

But once I took it seriously, I started cardio training, as After all the time spent in bed after the ops it’s the one thing I needed back, as well as gaining core strength again and once I figured out my trigger foods then I implemented my own diet plan to help keep me energized. EVERYTHING changed, dramatically.

Once I saw my previous figure re appear and I felt physically stronger like I can lift the whole world again. My strength came back almost instantly and for my mindset this was more than a confidence boost this was confirmation it was my time to shine, no matter the battles I face.

To even think about what I was like before scares the hell out of me, which is why it's my mission to not let anyone else go down the same road, it’s one of the reasons I became a coach in the first place.

If my story sounds familiar to yours and you want to change it just like we did, I can help you. So if you are ready to make a difference to your world and lose weight/tone up no matter what battles you will face then please get in touch with me through Twitter, or my Personal Trainer Facebook page.

Let's see if I can help you like I helped myself reclaim my life back and become a better stronger version of myself.

My biggest love now comes from the inspiration I get of others and knowing I inspire them, I am using my experience as a personal trainer to help combat mental health issues! As it has saved me and set me on the right path so now I’m guiding others through my story.

If you wish to join my support network to help others or gain support yourself then contact me on Facebook or Twitter. Remember...your mind matters.

7 Comments

Keep That Blood Flowing - Avoid A Pulmonary Embolism

9/8/2019

1 Comment

There's a silent killer out there. And I don't mean of the Hannibal Lecter variety.

Ever since I had that pesky blood clot in my lung last year I've taken a keen interest in the subject, and discovered that one in four deaths worldwide is thrombosis-related.

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a condition in which a blood clot forms - usually in the deep veins of the leg, groin or arm (known as deep vein thrombosis, or DVT) caused by being sedentary. It travels in blood circulation, lodging in the lungs and causing a potentially fatal pulmonary embolism (PE).

I came into contact with an organisation called RBR Active™, which runs an awareness campaign of the symptoms of deep vein thrombosis, and has developed a medical device to drastically reduce the possibility of suffering a DVT. It works by significantly increasing blood flow to the legs.

Known as the RBR Legﬂow™, it's effective anywhere during long periods of unavoidable inactivity, such as air travel, working in an office, being in hospital, online gaming, recovering from an operation, or just when you spend prolonged periods of time sitting.

For almost 20 years, the medical profession has been aware that restricted blood flow in sedentary people was a key contributor to developing a deep vein thrombosis.

In fact, in the late 1990’s clinical research was being undertaken at the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, Victoria University of Wellington and the University of Otago, Wellington School of Medicine, which proved that individuals who led sedentary lives were 95% more at risk.

However, finding a way to address this issue – especially for those who found mobility a problem – has been a slow process.

Hospitals use compression stockings, airlines recommend foot exercises and there have been plenty of unresearched items designed at improving blood flow which have hit supermarket shelves.

But until the RBR Legﬂow™, there has not been a clinically-trialled and medically-approved product proven to reduce the risk of DVT.

It's undergone extensive clinical research, and has been independently clinically trialled. The results show an 11-fold increase in blood flow, by carrying out three simple foot exercises with it, each for one minute, while sitting...as I'm demonstrating in this picture. These exercises are shown in detail at the end of the article.

The Managing Director of RBR Active™ is Paul Westerman.

Paramedics brought him back from the dead after a clot the size of a man’s thumb, had travelled from his leg, passing through his heart and blocking both pulmonary arteries with coagulated blood. The clot had then moved on to fill the blood vessels of his lungs, so only a trace of oxygenated blood could flow.

Since that happened in 2011, Paul has built relationships with other survivors and their families, along with the bereaved. He has also offered his personal experience to inform changes in medical policy.

In 2013, he became a trustee of Thrombosis UK and the following year was appointed as a committee member of The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in its examination of thromboembolic diseases.

And in 2018 he joined a pulmonary embolism study (initiated by the NCEPOD), working to identify avoidable and remediable factors in the management of patients diagnosed with pulmonary embolism.

The RBR Legﬂow™ is the result of his collaboration with of some of the most eminent medical professionals in the field of thrombosis: Professor Richard Beasley, Peter Haythornwaite, Dr Shaun Holt and Dr Rodney Hughes.

While many VTE cases are preventable, most people don't survive a massive pulmonary embolism which, unfortunately, can easiy result from them. So, seek HELP immediately if you experience the main signs of its forerunner - a DVT - in the lower leg: Heat, Excessive redness, Localised swelling, Pain.

The RBR LegflowTM Exercises

Toe Point. Contraction of the calf muscle pump.

Place the RBR Legﬂow™ under the ball of the foot, point the toes downward, and hold for three to four seconds. Raise the toes and stretch upwards, hold for three or four seconds. Repeat this exercise for one minute.

Arch Press. Compression of the plantar reservoir.

Place the RBR Legﬂow™ under the base of your foot. Arch the foot forward, and hold for three to four seconds. Arch the foot backwards and hold for three to four seconds. Repeat this exercise for one minute.

Toe Raise. Muscle relaxation for inflow to reservoir.

Place the RBR Legﬂow™ under the heel of the foot. Raise toes upwards, stretch, and hold for three to four seconds. Point toes downwards and hold for three to four seconds. Repeat this exercise for one minute.

RBR Active™ website: https://www.rbractive.com/
RBR Active™ Twitter: https://twitter.com/rbractive

1 Comment

Superb Debut Fantasy Chiller From Teen Author

9/8/2019

2 Comments

My 5* book review of Helena Brady's The Secrets Of The Forest.

This fine debut novel from teenaged author Helena Brady may be aimed at young adults, but let me tell you, it's perfect for any fantasy lover, whatever your age.

I'm 63...and I loved it.

Helena began writing the book when she was 14, submitted it to a publisher at 15, and signed her publishing contract on her 16th birthday. Why is this relevant, you ask? Surely an author's age doesn't matter? Generally, no it doesn't. But I make reference to it because if you didn't know, you'd think it was written by an experienced, much older novelist.

This un-put-downable novel (I finished it in three sessions), displays maturity far beyond the author's years, skilfully developing the characters with depth and purpose, making them instantly likeable.

Many debut novels feature a good story, but badly written. Not this one. The high quality of the writing shines through from start to finish, as the moving (and sometimes gory) tale unfolds through a fine and balanced blend of dialogue and description. We're shown everything...not told. As soon as we turn the cover we almost become the main character, 16-year-old Sarah-Rose, seeing everything through her eyes, and feeling the tremendous mental pain and sadness she's experiencing.

When we take our first steps deep into the forest, we quickly met angels and ghosts, and see hints that reinforce the forest's dark and dangerous reputation.

In a way, it could be said to be a rites-of-passage story, as it revolves around Sarah-Rose's "turning," to reach "maturity." But this is no ordinary maturity...this is the maturity dictated by the forest.
There are some startling twists, and a completely unexpected climax.

The Secrets Of the Forest is probably the best book I've read this year, and Helena Brady is definitely an author to watch. In my opinion, she's got a long and highly successful career as a novelist ahead of her.

My rating of The Secrets Of The Forest: *****

For more information about The Secrets Of The Forest, and buying links, CLICK HERE.

And to read Helena's guest post on my blog, telling how this amazing book came about, CLICK HERE.

2 Comments

The Secrets Of The Forest

9/3/2019

2 Comments

Today's guest blogger is teenage author Helena Brady, who tells us here how her superb, recently published debut novel came into being. And it started life as an entirely different genre!

So, over to Helena

by HELENA BRADY

My debut novel, The Secrets of the Forest, was released into the world on July 31st 2019. It is a dream come true! I never thought I would be able to publish so young, but here I am, not even 18 years old and I already have a book out for other people to read.

I have always been an avid reader, and that love of reading turned into a love of writing when I was 8 years old. Back then, I would write snippets of stories in the back of my school copy books, some of which I still have today. As I got a bit older, I wanted to start writing actual books, but I would only get a chapter or two written before I got a shiny new idea that I jumped on, and the old one was forgotten about. I never finished writing any of my “books.”

When I turned 14, I decided enough was enough, I wanted to start and finish a book. Not stop halfway through, not give up after a few pages and move onto something else. No, I wanted to write an actual novel, and be able to hold it in my hands and say “I wrote this. This is my book and I wrote it.”

The Secrets of the Forest started off as something completely different to what it is now. Originally, it was a murder mystery story, with no fantasy elements at all. The initial idea came from a video game, and it took off from there. After I outlined it and took a step back, I knew that this was not the story I wanted to write. There was something not quite right about it, but I couldn’t figure out exactly what this was. I played around with the planning for a few months, adding things in and taking things out, switching things around to see what worked and what didn’t. The book went through multiple outlines, until one day, I had it. The perfect story. Or what I thought was the perfect story. I couldn’t wait to start writing, and as soon as I got my laptop for Christmas I dove into the book.

I’m quite a shy and reserved person, so I didn’t tell anyone I was writing a novel, not even my parents. Whenever I was writing and someone came into the room, I would slam the laptop shut to make sure nobody saw what I was doing. But regardless of this I forged on, spending every spare second in that story, typing furiously and getting as much words out as I possibly could. Nobody knew what I was doing until my uncle caught me writing the very last chapter, before I had time to close the document. From then on, my little secret was out there, and there was nothing I could do to keep it quiet anymore. Everybody knew I was writing a book, and to my surprise the reaction was overwhelmingly positive. This gave me an incredible boost of confidence, and made me feel like what I was doing was important and something I should be proud of, not something that I needed to hide and be embarrassed about. From then on, I was proud to be called a writer.

Once I had edited the book a few times, I decided it was time to step away and work on another book- Illusion. After Illusion came Somnus, and all the while I couldn’t stop thinking about The Secrets of the Forest. Being away from it for so long made me realise that it wasn’t the ‘perfect’ story I had imagined it would be, and that there was a lot I needed to fix to make it somewhat decent. Many things just didn't fit into the story, and it wasn't completely fleshed out either. It was only the skeleton of the book it is now. I didn’t want to give up on that book. I didn't want to shelve it and mark it as a failure. That book was my baby, my first-born, and I wanted to do everything I could to make it the best it could possibly be. This is when I decided I needed to rewrite the whole story.

I spent several months reworking the outline, straightening out the plot and giving the characters more depth and purpose. There was a lot that had to be taken out of the book, and a lot that had to be added. But I did it. I rewrote the story, and when I stepped back from it once again I was incredibly happy with it. This was the perfect story I had always hoped it would be. This was my book-baby, and I was proud of it. My baby had reached its full potential, and I couldn’t be happier. I had started writing this book over a year beforehand, and finally I was content with it.

After some more editing, I decided to take a leap of faith and jump into the world of publishing, just to see what would happen. I wasn’t expecting much (I was only 15 at the time), but I thought it would be a good experience and give me a taste of what lay ahead of me in years to come. Who would be crazy enough to take on a 15 year old, anyway? But miraculously I found someone who was willing to take that risk, and I signed a publishing contract on my 16th birthday.

Wheels started turning and things were set into motion- multiple rounds of editing, cover designing, conversing with the marketing team to figure out what was the best approach to take for my book. In the background, I was still chipping away at my other books. I even managed to get a short story published through Wild Words during all of this, which was amazing! Eventually, everything was ready, and I was given a release date. The excitement was immense, but so were the nerves. Suddenly everything became a reality and not a fantasy that I had built up in my head over the months it took to get me to this point. Overcoming self-doubt is not an easy process, and it is still something I struggle with, but I had to push it aside, as hard as it was, and just focus on giving this book the best shot it could possibly have, and hope that I was doing enough to make it somewhat successful. I knew it was not going to be an easy task, but I was prepared to give it my all and do whatever it would take to gain a foothold in the world of literature.

The day came quicker than I had imagined it would. Suddenly I was in the car with a boot full of my books and heading to my very first book launch party. How did I even get here? How did I manage to do all of this, at 17 years old? How was I already a published author? I wasn’t even an adult yet, how could I already be releasing my first book? It was insane and overwhelming at first, but soon the nerves gave way to exhilaration and I enjoyed the night surrounded by wonderful people in a stunning venue, and we celebrated late into the night. I was officially a published author.

It’s still hard to believe, sometimes.

Since then, I have been on the radio twice and featured in some newspapers, and I am still working on even more exciting things that are hopefully going to be happening very soon! Everything has turned out better than I thought it would. Even though I’m in 6th Year and the Leaving Cert is only a few months away, I still spend every spare second doing something with my books, whether it be drafting or plotting, or marketing and promoting The Secrets of the Forest. I am always working away quietly in my bedroom, trying to forge a path for myself and lay down foundations for my future. As of now, I have written 5 books, and I am working on my sixth. My second book, Illusion, also needs to be rewritten and I am hoping to have that done before the end of the year, so hopefully this time next year I can look at publishing it.

I know that this is what I want to spend the rest of my life doing. This is what I will be doing until I take my last breath. I love it more than anything else- being able to fabricate worlds and create people from thin air, and share my stories with the world. I am so grateful for everything that has happened to me in regards to my writing. I have met so many amazing people on my journey as a writer (people like Stewart), and have had so many amazing opportunities.

Everything has turned out better than I could have ever imagined it would be. I am living my dream, and I am loving every second of it!

- - -
To find out more about Helena and her writing, check out her website here : Helena Brady
Helena Brady on Twitter: Helena Brady

Sarah-Rose is dying. The Forest is killing her. Soon it will own her soul and decide whether she dies and is buried beside her father, or becomes a spirit wandering through its trees for eternity. She should have listened to everyone when they told her to stay out of the Forest. But after a family crisis, it's the only place she wants to be.

But there is something dark at work in the Forest. Something is hiding in the shadows. It seems the Forest holds more secrets than anyone ever realised.

Drawn to the mystery and magic of the trees, Sarah-Rose is unable to resist the urge to see what lies beyond the borders of the Forest. She's determined to discover its secrets before it takes her soul. But maybe some secrets should stay secrets. They might be the things that kill her first.

2 Comments

Help Fight Mental Health Issues With Physical Fitness

Keep That Blood Flowing - Avoid A Pulmonary Embolism

Superb Debut Fantasy Chiller From Teen Author

The Secrets Of The Forest

Author

Archives

Categories