Busy & Successful Month
Well October has been a busy old month at Be Strong. We hope you have had a great month, focusing on your goals.
From now on, the last article of each month is going to be a little review of what has gone on in the past month, revisiting some of the main points of our articles, and making sure you haven’t missed anything.
October is the month that we say goodbye to summer and hello to autumn. Our menu’s change as do our wardrobes, as the cooler crisper days arrive, leading us to pull out our woolies from the back of the cupboards and fire up the slow cooker for delicious stews and casseroles, to warm the cockles after a day at work.
The Knowledge – Articles & Films
Our articles this month have been quite wide ranging. We have looked at calories, how to get the best value for your calorie allowance, and how to tweak it, if things don’t seem to be going the way you want it.
Next, we focused on body positivity, and how it’s more than just about accepting the way you look. It’s about treating your body with love and respect, nourishing both body and mind, focusing on what we can do, the parts we love and how it feels as well as accepting those parts we aren’t so keen on.
The following week, we looked at getting the balance right. This can be a tricky area, and one that has in the past caused no end of disagreements in my house. If you find that you are battling the rest of your household when it comes to making changes, reading this article might give you some tips, or maybe will just make you realise you aren’t alone.
Finally, we discussed habits. Identifying, understanding and potentially changing or replacing our habits is absolutely key to making lifelong changes. Being mindful of our behaviours helps us to get control of them and put our energy into changing the things that aren’t doing us any good, and picking up better habits. It’s not always easy, but the article has strategies for you to try.
Events
Wellness & Group Walks
We had a great walk from Be Strong HQ this month on the 10th, and it was great to share a picnic and a brew with everyone at the end, in the unit. I love walking in Autumn when all the leaves are changing colour. This walk took in some of mine and Rick’s favourite places to run.
We are loving the Wellness Walks too, a time to spend chatting and laughing, whilst getting out in nature – they are, honestly, a real tonic!! If you can, we would love to see some more people on these walks, if you have a day off on a Friday coming up, and have no plans, pop along and join us. We leave at 10am, from Be Strong HQ. And we can adapt the route according to who comes, abilities, whether there are dogs, prams or little legs, so everyone really is welcome! We also have the Wellness Walk on a Wednesday at 7pm, from St Christopher’s in Accrington, led by our very own Michelle and Debbie!
Route 66 @ Camp 22
We also saw the launch of our next major group challenge: The Route 66 @ Camp 22 event. This event will be the first major Be Strong event, post-covid, and we can’t wait to get back to doing these sorts of things more frequently! The best part about these events is that they challenge us all to keep on improving our health and fitness. The idea of the event is to have 3 days of walking, 22 miles each day. You can choose to walk for one, two or all three days, or you can choose to be a member of the support crew and come along for the fun and camaraderie. There will be camping available at Whittingham and Goosnargh Sports and Social Club, or you can choose to go home each evening and meet us at the location for the start of the days walk. This challenge will be exclusive to Be Strong members, so don’t miss out on this fantastic occasion!
Friday Group at Great Harwood
Our Friday groups are going well. The early weigh before work, or nipping in on your lunch break are proving popular, so make sure you tell your friends that this is available, so we can be even busier!
New Darwen Group Announced
We are pleased to announce that we will be returning to Darwen in the New Year on Thursday evenings, and can’t wait to get back to it there, but at our new bigger venue at Darwen Vale High School. We will be back there from Thursday 6th January. Make sure you tell your friends!!
Goals and Progress
Our groups were on fire, with so many of you getting really focused, we saw amazing results on the scales. We had some great goals shared with us in our groups, and on the forums.
- Dawn Wright, or very own Mrs Motivator is back, and is getting her fitness back by using the 5k improver plan, with a park run planned with me on 11th December to measure her improvement.
- Some of our newer members are finding calorie tracking and measuring portions a revelation in comparison to other ‘diets’, this is common, particularly if you have done programs where there are ‘free foods’ before.
- Dee Hartley is expanding her weekly menu by focusing on different food groups – upping her protein and increasing fruit and veg to ensure her tummy is full. She’s also got a really strong mindset too, planning ahead for where she could fall off the wagon and having a strategy in place to make sure she doesn’t. We are loving watching Dee’s story unfold.
- Some of you have reported mini-losses when you were expecting more. Whilst it is disappointing when the scales don’t reflect your perceived effort it’s so important to stay on track, and just keep doing the do!!
- Dianne Taylor, one of our Digital members has achieved her goal of a sub 40minute Park Run!! So massive congratulations on that Dianne, you should be very proud of yourself!
- Sarah Steele is on a mini challenge of 30 minutes exercise at least every day or 10000 steps. This is a great goal, as it really keeps the mind focused on being active and will have significant effects on her fitness!
We’ve had a few people return to the Be Strong fold too, and it’s wonderful to have you back, we are so glad that you are back with us and can’t wait to accompany you on the next phase of your Be Strong journey!
Wristbands were awarded in our group sessions to many of you this last month, so well done to all of you guys for all your hard work! Here’s a selection of photos from our groups!! Let us know in the comments below which awards you received this month, or if you are close to another one!
Coming Up!
November Walk
Next months walk, is Milly’s Smiles walk, on 7th November at 11am. Make sure it’s in your diary. We will meet at Milly’s Smiles, which is also Be Strong HQ, Unit 4 Alan Ramsbottom Way, Great Harwood, BB6 7UR. Lorraine has organised Pie and Peas for the end of the walk, to warm the cockles!!
Weekly Wellness Walks
Our Wellness Walks will continue too, every Friday from HQ at 10am and every Wednesday at 7pm from St Christophers, as an alternative to the HIIT session.
Knowledge Articles & Films
Our focus for November will be on habit transformation: –
- Accountability
- Hydration
- Stages of Behaviour Change
And Finally…
Thanks for your amazing contributions to Be Strong, we really appreciate your support, and as ever if there’s anything we can do to help you, just send us a message, email, post in the forums or Facebook group, and we will do all we can to help!