Instagram with Some Habits

Afternoon everyone, 

Stage 2: Consistency is Key

Challenge #1: Heroic Habits

Today will be used s an opportunity to develop one new habit each, something you believe will benefit your health. It doesn't have to be something of larger scale significance. All we need is something strong enough to interrupt any negative cycles we have managed to get into, one stage at a time. My habit from today until the end of the scheduled 12 weeks will be to eat three meals per day. Sound simple? I think having simple structure in place such as this, will allow me to have a greater sense of focus and reduce the likelihood of the diet falling flat. When those hunger pangs come...and they will, I will only have drinks to fulfil me until the next challenge.  

We are now on stage 2! Amazing work if you have managed to follow our stages up until now. Although not a massive amount, I managed to drop three pounds from my overall weight. More importantly, I feel better for it! It's only a small amount of weight by all means, but having that small amount of progress and greater awareness of the food I am eating has made me more energetic and healthy, which feels great.

Anyways...we are on our second stage and want to continue our progress. Let's start then! This week will be all about becoming consistent with new patterns. In order to help us achieve those goals...we need to remain consistent. As with all of our stages, we will segment this into 7 challenges to help develop our new habits. Importantly, remaining consistent with these habits is our key to maintaining long-lasting change.

I'll keep you updated on our progress as always, and you can let me know how you get on with developing new habits within our lifestyles. Feel feel free to tag your progress...

#myhealthrev

Please help share, start a discussion or leave a comment, let me know how you get on. 

Instagram With The Pigeon

Good Afternoon everyone,

Challenge #7: Peckish Pigeon

Our challenge today is all about overcoming the craves we get through these small changes in lifestyle habits. If you have been following the challenges up until now, hunger will start to creep in and those foods lying around the house might be extremely tempting. This is one of the key stages of any successful change...let's call it a tipping point, where things can go either way. The objective then becomes to maintain strong mental focus for our changes and contacting those involved for encouragement if we feel overwhelmed. Keep excited, stay motivated and begin to visualise your goals.

We are now on challenge #7, the final step of our first stage to having our own Health Revolution. I weighed myself at the beginning of the challenge and was 14st 11 pounds. I have set the 12 week challenge for myself to lose the minimum of 24 pounds.

Our challenges are taking a different approach to the norms offered by the health industry at the moment, helping trial and error what people get excited about and how to make the upcoming app work for them. As of tomorrow, we begin Stage 2. What we are offering through our challenges is the opportunity for everyone joining the movement of health for their own reasons and encourage others who may also have a similar situation. 

Stage 2: Consistency Is Key

#myhealthrev

We will be looking at ways of introducing exercise the way users want. Exercise for many is on a love/hate basis, so we'll be working to make sure we get all the feedback possible to help shape how we can deliver information to our users most effectively!

We will also be gradually introducing exercise videos and showing some new graphics to show how we think these challenges will help our users. 

Contact us at healthrevd@gmail.com with your feedback and suggestions for improvements, we'd love to hear them. 

Please help us share these challenges and help others achieve their success

Challenge #4 Done

Evening again everyone,

Challenge four done...we're well on the way to completing our first stage! Some Great feedback so far, Loving it! Hope you all have had the chance to try some new ways of including water into your diet...for me it was a matter of including one more glass with each meal, it's still surprising every time how stuffed you can become during meal times.

Instagram and Fruit: @myhealthrev

Evening everyone,

Challenge #2. Fruity Thirst

Challenge two done! Easy. Hope you all enjoyed trying some new fruits or throwing in some of the old favourites to be chopped up and demolished. My first serving of fruit shown was a pleasant change to the morning routine. I have to admit though the second one was the one that did it for me...that mango was incredible! If you took part, how did you get on? Did you get to try anything new? Let's keep the motivation high and power through the next one tomorrow. I suggest that for each stage, we practice each of our challenges to help build up an array of resources for our disposal to help us along the way.

Challenge #3. Pick-Up Those Veggies

As always, look out tomorrow for some insight into how you can get involved. Let's learn new ways to bring passion back to those dreaded bland vegetables...and find ways to re-invent our dinner plate.

See what's going on tomorrow @myhealthrev

Share with friends, start a conversation, or come and take part...let's get excited about these changes and encourage others.

Instagram and Fruit

Good morning everyone,

Challenge #2: Fruity ThirstToday is a little different from what we may be familiar with. It is all about re-discovering some passion with fruit. Get yourself to try some new ones, put some together in a bowl, blend a smoothie or just devour one of your old favourites. Don't forget to continue our theme from yesterday, but the end of the stage we will be in strong steads to making our follow-up challenges easier.

Let us know on Instagram how you get on and some of the ideas you have come up with. This was my rather bland looking breakfast this morning (above), the bowl of fruit however was amazing, surprisingly filling. Take it nice and easy, this week is just to get us back into simple things we already know..more difficult challenges will come a little later throughout the challenge...so get ready!

Please share, discuss with friend or start a discussion.

@myhealthrev
healthrevd@gmail.com

Challenge Yourself: Instagram

Our 12 week challenge has been started, come join in.

Stage 1: Curb the JunkChallenge: Notice the 'BAD' foods

First day challenge completed! No issues. Keep yourself updated through Instagram to get clues to our daily hints. Our first stage will start slowly, but I'm looking to create lasting change, not temporary fixes...so from this moment onwards, we have to consider ourselves as our own sculptors. Gradually chipping away at those small issues until you reach the outcome you deserve, and best of all we have each other for encouragement.

Lets see some of you get excited for your own reasons and let me know if your willing to take part at healthrevd@gmail.com. Let's see and spread all of your passions through food, sports, coffee, spending time with loved ones...whatever it may be, Lets encourage health in everyone and help them however we can.

Challenge 2: Fruity Thirst

See whats going on tomorrow @myhealthrev

Share with friends, start a conversation or come and take part...let's make this happen :)

Bring On Instagram

Good morning everyone,

Hope we are all feeling great. Can we make Instagram encourage our health?

This challenge I have spoke about in previous blogs is now underway! Commitment made. Here's what I'll be doing...combining my body transformation process through the stages offered through HealthRev. I'll be uploading pictures giving slight clues to what that challenge may be...the blueprint to the results I achieve!

The process that I will be using to gain these results will be the same model offered to users of HealthRev. I'll show you the stages and the objectives that will help shape my results. Future blogs will detail my thoughts throughout this challenge which I hope will encourage you to come and take part and share your own story.

If you want to challenge yourself, come and join! I would love to support everyone to make their changes!

@myhealthrev

Share your passion for food, exercise, lifestyle and hobbies to help inspire others to make some bug changes in the new year.

Please share, discuss or start a conversation

Get in contact if you want to take part and get more details at healthrevd@gmail.com

What If Things Change?

Good afternoon everyone,

(working on myHealthRev in sunny Scotland)

Hope we are all feeling great? Let's jump right in then...

What if you could change things? When I say this, I don't refer to mundane things such as changing the carpets around your home... or better yet, the T.V channel! I want us all to get creative. Surprise yourself, surprise your friends (and blog followers ;)) then discover another piece of you to share with the world.

If you have been following the blog up until now, you'll know a rough outline about HealthRev and its purpose. If you are just getting the chance to have a look now, then welcome!...come on in the water's fine.

"That's just the way things are". How many times have you been told this? If you are anything like me, you'll have more than changing T.V channels to discuss. So what's my position on this?

When I was young, I had a form of leukaemia...surprisingly though I rarely think about this. I'll borrow a phrase that I come across that describes the 'philosophy' I was taught, "Attitude determines Altitude"...I'll give you a second to clean up the cliche-vomit all over your keyboard. Actually, the reason I began designing this app was to help those who I have grown up around...trying to take my so-called 'positive attitude' and produce something tangible to remind them 'things' matter. The 'things' can be something I could see insignificant...but that's not the point. We are all different, we need to search for what helps a person, not what hinders them...and we need to keep searching because theres people out there who may just need your advice...your voice, experience or simply, your support.

What am I looking to change? How we think about health and what steps we take towards improving it! By no means would I waste your time or my own by throwing information at you that you can get in any of the other million sites dedicated to that dreaded food pyramid. I get it...your not interested! If you are, your having to do more than rely on 'guidance' from a neatly divided triangle or my favourite "did you know your BMI says you are overweight?"...out comes the Ben & Jerry's again.

HealthRev...It's built with you and for you. Theres no other way of saying it. I need to make our concept of health become something we become passionate about..something that makes us get hungry over helping others. So here it is again...What if you could change your health? What if you could help another person change theirs? What if you inspired them to overcome any difficulty as best as possible and continued supporting them...the same way we support each others blogs. With the initial like, then the encouraging comment...then by being yourself and truly reaching out to them...

What if we could change things?...would we do it?

How about this...I'll be starting an Instagram 'challenge' very soon. myHealthRev will be about my journey of losing weight (24 pounds) which I'll be showing you just how I will go about the process. I would love to see you all joining for your own reasons and together we can spread our support to those who we know. So share your passion for food, exercise, lifestyle, hobbies or your story and help inspire others @myhelthrev.

Thank you all for supporting me so far...this makes the change happen, it lets me know you are on board for our journey. I had a chance to speak to some readers who had vey personal stories to tell and it's incredible to see their input towards this project...it shows the Attitude...need I say the rest :)

So please share, discuss it with friends, or just start a conversation, let others know your story or if you have anything you want to change :)

healthrevd@gmail.com

Frame of Mind

Good afternoon everyone,

Frame of mind is an important concept when dealing with challenges towards health. For me, getting into the 'right' frame of mind for eating healthy foods seems equivalent to the difficulty mountaineers face when trekking towards the summit of Everest without appropriate foot wear on! You probably think I'm over-doing it a little...more than likely I am, but for those few who know the feeling that there is a chocolate gateau in the depth of the fridge, staring at you...laughing! You know the unlikely event that you'll go to sleep that night without lying in bed in-tears over the fact that you just devoured 1242 calories in less than 8 seconds...teeth covered in chocolate and a breath that represents a 'taster session' to everyone nearby for what you'll deliver once your stomach churning stops. "It was worth it at the time" I guess is the reply.



Anyways...frame of mind. It clearly has an impact on people's motivation and ability to deliver on performance and achieve the things they set out to complete. With that secret weapon we call 'willpower' lasting approximately 5 minutes, I think its time to re-evaluate our strategy.

So what is our strategy? I know each time I set out to lose a pound or two (or twelve) without anything to follow, it doesn't go all that well...pretty miserable in fact. So what can we do about it? Well...we can put a strategy in place I suppose. It sounds simplistic probably but think of this as our 'road map'...the way you can follow the exact directions outlined by the map to lead you to a destination. It's no different with (in this case) weight loss! Yes, the route may change a little from person to person, but we all have different starting positions...and some people have further to go than others. Give them the RIGHT directions in the first place however...and maybe they'll actually enjoy the journey instead of just returning to where they started, frustrated and feeling like there's no point!



So, through my own experience, I've discovered your 'frame of mind' is a very important concept! It doesn't give you directions, but having the correct mindset will allow you to continue again and again without giving up. I reckon by now you're expecting something like "10 tricks to trim stomach fat". Quite frankly, the quicker they're off the internet, the better.

So what advice do I have then?



Re-organise your values first! We need to get to the point where healthy living is ranked amongst our top 5 values. This will help gain a much stronger position to evaluate related actions, making it less likely that we will depend that momentary willpower when faced with a choice. So try this, Think about your top four values...really think about them for a second...

 Now, label your values in order, but try to include healthy living is at least one place.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5. (Example: Healthy living)

When we come across people from all walks of life and from different countries, we can notice that their lives lead entirely different paths based on their values. If they valued money more than themselves, how would their life look? If they valued family over themselves, how might this be different? If they valued 'junk food' as pleasurable and fruits as a painful necessity, how might this affect the persons habits?...And would this be any different if this was the opposite way?

Now. We all have values that have either been developed through experience, circumstance or just pure choice. For the next couple of days, I'd like you to consider the values that you have chosen including 'Healthy living'. Having this valued amongst other important aspect of your own life will increase your 'frame of mind' to perform in your favour...rather than weightless advice like "just be positive."



So here's the challenge for healthy living. You have to consider your actions...no matter how insignificant they seem...and compare them against the new value that we have created! This means anything from thinking of the food that you consume, the way you treat yourself or your surroundings and the actions you take on a daily basis.



Once we get experience of a new frame of mind, we will be on course to applying our strategy...but one thing at a time.



If you have any questions get in touch at healthrevd@gmail.com. If you have the time, please share, discuss and get in touch.

How To Get Success

Good afternoon everyone,


How Do We Achieve Our Success?

First, I think we have to consider what success means to us personally, which for many of us will be completely different. This is an important distinction, because it accounts for the satisfaction we feel in ourselves on a day-to-day basis. The possible mention of any success leads us to believe that you need to have a certain threshold of earnings, a wardrobe full of tailored suits with made-to-measure pockets...for your wallet, and not forgetting, the sex appeal of Ryan Gosling.

What has this in relation to a Health App? Well...health comes in many forms, not just the extremes we spoke about in the previous blog...So imagine you had have signed in to your profile, selected your interests... then, the challenge system the App has designed gets to work!

How Will The App Help Create These Changes?

• Raising standards - This is an exciting addition to the HealthRev challenge system! It will include instructions to help you question limiting factors in your life, things which are holding you back and help you re-calibrate yourself to achieving anything you aspire to.

• Changing those beliefs  - Standards are not just something you say you have, the App helps eliminate any limiting beliefs you have about your ability...and those small moments you question yourself! It will seamlessly integrate with with SocialRev (our social media platform) to have what will be a 24/7 around-the-clock support from any of your friends and soon-to-be friends.

• Helping You Strategise - You need a strategy if you truly want to commit to change! We all know how easy it can be to have good intentions only to fall away from something before we have given it our fullest efforts, which can be quite frustrating for all of us. Having your standards raised through the challenges, then linking them through SocialRev will give you consistent reminders that you want to achieve something in particular...and, you have a community of support to help you along the way to keep on taking Action. Thats a strategy!

                "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit"

                                                                    - Aristotle

Habits are something that will be created though this feature. Habits that will benefit your day-to-day life for the reasons that are Important To You! One of the issues without setting baseline standards is that it becomes easier to accept behaviours and attitudes, or a quality of life that is miles below what you deserve! It's not good enough, you deserve better! So having this feature helps you take Action and helps you make the Decisions to change your situation in moments. 

These small steps can help improve your physical health, your relationships, your working environment, your emotions or your income. Not because I say it, but because you already know it! You already know that there can be small or big issues that you want to improve on, but often let it slip past you and declare "I'll come back to it another time." 

                                    "You can't build a reputation on what you're going to do"

                                                                  - Henry Ford

What's important for now is that you can Decide to keep on making changes, not having to know all the answers for the time being, but that you will find your way, no matter what!

Decide what you want, Now! Not later. Learn to take action. Learn everything you can from what has happened. Then Change your approach accordingly. When you can do this, you will be on the path towards Your Success, whatever that may happens to be.

As always, we would love for your support, so share it if you can, discuss it with friends or just get the word out and encourage others to take action. Get in touch at healthRev@gmail.com for more information.

Also a big thank you to everyone, we managed to reach over 2,000 people in our first week from across the globe, which has been amazing. We just got started on Facebook too, so come along and help us raise awareness. We will be doing an exciting social experiment soon, so that'll be the best way to see how you can get involved :D.  Search for Myhealthrev (with the same display picture).

Could You Help Shape A New Stereotype?

Good afternoon everyone,

I hope you have been intrigued by what has already been shown with the upcoming HealthRev application. I'll call them tasters compared to what will be shown very soon 😋

Already the reports have shown this small atom of the internet has reached far beyond bonnie Scotland, reaching viewers throughout: United States, Ireland, France, Germany, Finland and Austria. So having this blog live for just 3 days has been very encouraging seeing the response world-wide, so thank you and keep on spreading the word!

Unlike many other Apps or start-ups, HealthRev will be designed on your feedback, your experience and your needs. To be quite honest, whenever I think of the word 'health', I conjure up one of two images. The first, would be a photo-shopped male or female model with abs so sharp, it poses risks to their clothes...which I suppose may explain why they struggle to wear any. The second image, would paint a doctor's office with a waiting list able to make you feel more-ill than the original reason you were going to visit. Or, the feeling that age and ailments can fight like Mike Tyson, so you'd be better off just accepting defeat than to step in the ring and get humiliated.

So we have two extremes it seems. Whilst many people have this shared view that you are either all-in or all-out, I would like to challenge you all to make a small change...Imagine that things change. Even if you can't imagine this, by viewing this blog and passing it on, or even discussing with someone you know, you have taken me up on my challenge!

So what's next for the blog of HealthRev? Gradually, I'll be introducing concepts and ideas which I'm sure you will love! The more feedback we get, the more we can shape the app around you and many more...and we're going to show you every piece of progress made.

I'll also be sharing some videos shortly to introduce myself and give you some further details on our exciting App.

As always, pass it on, start a conversation, share it, or just get in touch at healthrevd@gmail.com. I'd love to hear all of your feedback 😊

Earn Your Status

Hi again everyone,

Has anyone lost weight before only to gain it back again? How about the overwhelming feeling that those dreaded scales count quicker than Einstein. Or, being almost certain you have an under-active thyroid that your night concludes tearing through that emergency tub of Ben & Jerry's...on your own. So breathe and relax, because your not alone - I'm definitely no exception!

Statistically speaking you have 83% chance of losing weight, then gaining it back again within a two year period. Which already presents a challenge of pressure, uncertainty or perhaps even a justification to start! Oh-well I can imagine people say, followed by a deep sigh...what now? Well it's time to mix it up a little then...these statistics are based on people who follow the same malnourished advice polluting the industry, and the unfortunate ones who get fleeced by an over complicated and over priced industry. 

Great! you think. Another person willing to pass on their so-called 'sage' advice...if only. How about this but. I'll figure out the way to counteract this issue through the same App i've shown in previous blogs. How about getting you to replace current habits with ones which allow you to feel fulfilled instead of being constantly frustrated with yourself? But this isn't enough is it? I didn't think so either, nor did those few who were burdened by me constantly asking them i'm sure.

Imagine this...

Every single day we get put to the test! We get new engaging challenges to test ourselves (depending on our interests) and truly put our commitment to the task! Ohh but heres the thing, unless you complete the challenges (either social or individual) you cannot proceed to the next one. Completing them means you can earn your 'stage rank' and accumulate 'bragging rights' when you get the App's recognition, which ought to be fun way to wind-up friends. 

So now, picture the scene, you wake up in the morning and you are met with this challenge...then it'll be your choice to accept or decline. To accept would be a way of showing you are up for challenging HealthRev and earn a reputation worth drooling over. To decline would only mean allowing your friends to catch up to your level and rank before you decide to race-away in front again..but that's up to you😋 

As always feel free to comment or to email me directly at healthrevd@gmail.com

How Can We Shape HealthRev?

Good morning everyone,

I got some great responses through email with readers who wanted to know what the application may do. I have drawn up the most amateur-looking materials you are probably willing to look at (hopefully), so try to forgive this. However the concept, I believe, is strong. This one feature was developed as an almost 'help' feature of the application, allowing anyone suffering any form of temporary panic or related moods to aid recovery faster. The hope is that anyone who suffers panic attacks, anxiety or depression (in this case) have a solution. The solution may seem simplistic, but this feature may hold hope for those suffering, which can apply to so many - 615 million worldwide!

United Kingdom: Anxiety (8.2 million), Depression (1-in-10)

United States: The number of people treated for depression has tripled over the past two decades (20.9 million in a given year).

In the example above the HealthRev application will guide users through a process which will gradually work through various stages of control to help whoever has accessed the feature. The reptilian brain is responsible for many functions, among them - breathing! Therefore the app can ask the users pre-made/adaptive questions to determine the issue and appropriately offer a solution.

As always, I would love feedback to the site or my direct email at healthrevd@gmail.com. If anyone likes the idea or has more things you could see this app perform, please don't hesitate to get in touch. 

I am determined to design this App for many people out there, so please share and lets see if we can all collectively find a solution.

(More to come very soon!) 

What Are Health Applications Missing?

Good afternoon everyone,

I am currently designing a health application which I hope you will all find extremely exciting. The app will have a holistic delivery from three sciences: Neuroscience, Social Science and Sport and Exercise Science (my own field).

I'll cut to the chase...

I get frustrated with false promises and gimmick health advice currently snowballing through the industry and even more-so when people are lead to believe all hope is lost and its not for them. I want to change this! Through 'life', like most of us, I have had either health issues personally or have known someone who I wished I could trade places with to overcome their struggle, whatever that may be. The mobile application I have designed (so far) has been directly influenced from personal experience and feedback already given from those it was intended to reach. It will range from managing weight all the way to helping manage depression (and more), but the opportunity for who this will benefit will be unbelievable (which I can show you all very soon).

For now, I would like to find out what's most important to its users (hopefully anyone reading this) and what the current apps are failing to deliver on...for you personally? I understand that many issues relating to health are personal, so feel free to email me at any time at healthrevd@gmail.com

If you can spare some time, I'd love some of your advice 😊