It’s two weeks in to the new year and many of us have already fallen off the wagon when it comes to the great promises we made to ourselves about the year ahead. 

If you’re the same, a workshop taking place in Dublin tomorrow night just might help you make the changes you’re hoping for.

Olena Polyakova is a personal trainer, pilates teacher and nutritionist from Kiev, Ukraine who has lived in Ireland for the past 11 years.

She has created a ‘Total Well-Being’ programme that promises to help you discover:

• How healthy you are
• The secret of how to lose weight and control your diet
• How to get fit and increase your energy levels
• How you can change your lifestyle
• How to improve your confidence and ability to handle stress

Says Olena: “The years of my research and experience of working with people in the field of Nutrition, Fitness and Wellness helped me to understand this problem and create The Total Well Being Programme. 

“In some publicity's Formula for weight loss: Energy IN < Energy OUT = Weight loss. In short we all have this knowledge " eat less + exercise more = weight loss".

“But it is not that simple. Energy balance is a complex process. In most cases when we reduce food intake we are reducing total energy, metabolic rate slows. Truth is that Diet is not the food we have to exclude - Diet (good diet) is food we have to include! 

“Emotional eating includes, pleasure, taste and texture and can override normal signals of hunger and lead to overeating. It takes a lot of commitment, mental and physical energy and willpower to lose weight and maintain the loss. Most people are not very aware what they put in their mouth. If we want lifestyle change we need to develop a sense of wellness about our choices.”

Three steps Olena suggests to help you reach your goals: 

• Increase your Patience - We need patience with ourselves. Our focus should be on process, rather than on results. The results will come with process. 

• Keep a positive attitude - Control your thoughts. When you find yourself battling negative thoughts, be kind to yourself. Start loving yourself, and treat yourself as the most important person in the world. Take one-step solution at the time. 

• Eat well - Eat balanced. It is unlikely you will do any harm to the "MOST IMPORTANT PERSON IN THE WORLD". If you don't drink enough water or ignore your daily nutrition needs, you may find yourself in a bad mood, your energy levels will drop down and as a result your willpower will refuse to support you.

 

Olena’s new workshop takes place tomorrow evening, January 16^th, from 6-9 pm at The Connolly Counselling Centre in Stillorgan, Co. Dublin. For more info contact 01 2100600.